Interview by Suhas KM    Words by: Charishma Thankappan    Featured image source: Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, indiatimes.com

Bollywood has been seeing waves of change with several films exploring different themes with the likes of Vicky Donor, Dum Laga Ke Haisha. The recently released Shubh Mangal Savdhan has also garnered rave reviews for its as yet unexplored subject in Bollywood with the lead duo Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana. A remake of Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham, Shubh Mangal Savdhan’s director RS Prasanna talks to us about his experience.

Shubh Mangal Savdhan is the remake of your Tamil film Kalyana Samayal Saadham that came out in 2013. Why did you take so long to remake it?

The film is culturally rooted as well as talks about the subject of erectile dysfunction, so the two subjects need to be balanced. There is a lot of work that is involved in transporting the story from Kalyana Samayal Saadham to the context that is there in Shubh Mangal Savdhan. One needs to have a sensitivity towards the subject. The writer has to have a sense of humour. It took us a long time to find the right writer. It was a unique situation where the director, producer, and the cast were ready, but we didn’t have the scriptwriter yet. Once we got Hitesh Kewalya as the scriptwriter on board, things moved swiftly after that.

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The subject of this film is erectile dysfunction. You have presented it as a family film. How challenging was it to do so?

The challenge is the beauty of the film. We were always sure about presenting it as a family film. I didn’t face much trouble recreating it in Hindi.

This subject has never been explored before in mainstream films. Why did you choose to make a film on this subject?

In today’s time you need to make a movie which is very different, otherwise people are not going to go and watch. The attention span is very small. Only when you make something new can you catch people’s attention.

Both the films – Kalyana Samayal Saadham and Shubh Mangal Savdhan give a very different feel. What were the difficulties in relating the story from the Tamil context to Bollywood?

There wasn’t any difficulty. I was absolutely unattached. It was completely rewritten according to culture. When a film is being remade for another culture, one cannot duplicate it scene by scene; it is only the concept that can be cloned. Some of the Malayalam films that were hits in Kerala were remade into other languages but may not have been a hit, and I think it is because of the way in which you adapt it. When you reproduce a film, the screenplay has to be different.

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Aanand L Rai has been a director of films such as Tanu Weds Manu, Raanjhana, etc. How did he come about becoming the producer of Shubh Mangal Savdhan?

He really loved the story after watching Kalyana Samayal Saadham and he gave me an offer. Both of us knew we would take time as he was busy with Tanu Weds Manu Returns and I was also in the middle of working in an English film about Swami Chinmayananda.

One of the biggest strengths of Shubh Mangal Savdhan is the chemistry of Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana. Did you always have them in mind as the cast for this film?

I was extremely clear that I wanted to cast Ayushman as the character Mudit even before the writing started. Once the script was completed, we all saw Bhumi as the perfect fit for the female lead as she is very real and natural.

What is the difference in the working pattern between Tamil and Bollywood films?

Bollywood is definitely a larger scale. But it was easier as I was working with friends.

You have signed your next project with Sidharth Roy Kapoor. Can you tell us more about it? Apart from this, what are your other future projects?

I cannot reveal many details now. Sidharth is someone I admire, so I am very happy to get such an offer from him. He has produced a lot of good films so I am very fortunate and I look forward to the project.

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