Though he does not intend to get back to direction anytime soon, he has his hands full as a producer. Producer and director Dinesh Vijan talks about his new production ‘Luka Chuppi’, tasting failure as a director with ‘Raabta’, plans to create a horror comedy universe, ‘Hindi Medium 2’, ‘Go Goa Gone 2’ and plans to create a horror comedy universe.
All the songs in the film are recreated tracks. Is there a particular reason behind that?
I have had original music in most of my films so far. While doing this film, I thought it would be interesting to curate an album. I got a few tracks I liked reworked. The film provides a good platform to pop artistes like Karan and Akhil as their songs can now reach out to a much larger audience. ‘Poster Chapwa Do’ is the only film song we have recreated, the others are recreated versions of pop songs.
You had earlier recreated ‘Main Tera Boyfriend’ for ‘Raabta’.
Yes, but I wish I had not done it. Ideally, I would like one composer to do the entire film. For ‘Luka Chuppi’, since we did not have a composer on board, we thought of curating a soundtrack by using recreated versions of popular songs.
‘Arjun Patiala’ was shot before ‘Luka Chuppi’ but it is releasing later.
Yes, ‘Arjun Patiala’ started rolling a few months before ‘Luka Chuppi’ but it is a very post-heavy film. It took a while for us to finish the post-production process on that film. Also, it gets very cold in Punjab in February and we have a big Punjabi star like Diljit (Dosanjh), so it makes sense for us to release the film in May.
You are known to repeat your actors.
Yes, I have worked repeatedly with a lot of actors but that was never a conscious decision. I believe the story should choose the actor. Even, Kartik will now do another film with us. We worked with Rajkummar (Rao) for the first time in ‘Stree’ and we are working together again in ‘Made In China’. It was great directing Sushant in ‘Raabta’ and I hope to work with him again soon. I am also working with two new actors.
It has been two years since ‘Raabta’ released. Do you plan to direct a film soon?
I do not have any plans of directing a film in the near future. ‘Agent Vinod’ taught me how to make ‘Badlapur’. ‘Raabta’ taught me how to make smaller films like ‘Stree’, ‘Luka Chuppi’ and ‘Arjun Patiala’. What ‘Raabta’ also taught me is that we are no longer aspirational towards the West. People are more interested in Indian stories now. Right now, I have a bunch of directors making films for me. Whenever I plan to direct next, I would need a producer to back me as a director. It is difficult for me to wear two hats at the same time. I was happy with the first half of ‘Raabta’ but I think we went a little wrong with the second half. So, I need somebody to guide me while I am directing a film. I think I will have to go to another producer and ask him to make a film for me. We are making multiple films at the moment, so I think my company needs me to be there as a producer.
There has been a lot of speculation about ‘Hindi Medium 2’.
I will not be able to talk about it at the moment. Irrfan has just come back to India. We are just getting done with the script. I will probably make an announcement in the next month and a half.
Saif Ali Khan and you were partners in Illuminati Films. Do you plan to collaborate with him on a film soon?
Yes, in fact we were talking about this just last week. There are discussions on ‘Go Goa Gone 2’ but we need to come up with a good script first. There is no point doing a sequel unless you have a script that is as good as the first one.
What else are you making next?
I am planning to create a horror comedy universe. I am making a film called ‘Munjha’ which is a horror comedy. Then, there is another horror comedy which stars Varun (Sharma). So, you can have a character from ‘Stree’ being in ‘Munjha’ or the other way around. I do not like watching horror films, so I am happy making horror comedies