Film producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who has backed biggest blockbusters such as 3 Idiots, PK and Sanju, revealed that there was a time — a short but dismaying time — when he experienced suicidal thoughts.

At the trailer launch of his upcoming production Shikara, which he is also helming, Chopra said that he once tried to kill himself because of significant self-esteem problems.

"There was a time and not many know about this; I'm sure my son doesn't know this that I was in Khandala and I was about to kill myself because I was so disillusioned with the world. All of us go through a crisis of sorts but the important thing is that we have a function to serve," Chopra said.

The producer further said that he is in a much better place today and is happy that his long-gestating project is finally going to see the light of the day.

"Today, I'm at peace with the world and so happy that finally Shikara has been made after so many years of hard work. I feel this film will definitely bring about a change in the lives of people, especially those four lakh Kashmiri pandits who are in this film."

Shikara – The Untold Story of Kashmiri Pandits is about the exodus of the community from the Valley in 1990 and how they became a refugee in their own country.

“It is a 30-year-old story of a Pandit couple, Shiv Kumar Dhar and Shanti Dhar that began in 1987 when everything was alright. It is their story of 30-years and 30 years of India. It took a lot of time to write and make this film, which is a story of those people who are refugees in their own country for 30 years and it is very unusual,” Chopra said.

“Whatever film we make we hope, like with ‘3 Idiots’ we did hope some students will do something different in their life; with ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ we thought Mahatma Gandhi will bring peace in the country; with this film, I hope the community, with whom I have had a very close relationship, there will be some changes in their lives and that their life will become better than before. So that’s the intention," Chopra added.

The producer also said that he has not shown the faces of militants in the movie as the motive of the story is to bring everyone together.

“The so-called militants do not have any faces. I wanted faceless violence. There is not a single face that you will see throwing a stone, it is all shadows. I worked very hard to convey those shadows. The idea of the film is to join, not break the lakir (line),” he added.

Shikara marks the return of Chopra to the direction after 13 years. His last directorial feature film was Eklavya: The Royal Guard in 2007. The music of the film has been composed by AR Rahman.

It is scheduled to hit the theatres on February 7.