Kamal Ghorui
Filmmaker Priyadarshan is loved for a long list of movies he’s made, but largely, he’s known for his comedies which continue to be loved by the audience, years after they’ve released. Though, in a recent interview, Priyadarshan confessed that he now prefers to make serious movies and not comedy, despite the fact that people relate to the director only making comedies. The ‘Hera Pheri’ director said in an interview with Pinkvilla, “Frankly speaking, I like to make serious films now. I don’t like making comedies anymore; I am forced to now. I think I have run out of ideas. I am finished. I don’t want to repeat what I did in the past. I will make one more comedy film, and I am done,” he said.The filmmaker also reflected on the theatrical failures of two films he was particularly fond of, ‘Dhol’ and ‘Khatta Meetha’. While the films struggled during their theatrical runs, Priyadarshan says their popularity on streaming platforms has brought him some comfort.“I loved both these films, but they didn’t work in theatres. But thanks to OTT, people are finally enjoying these films now. When I made Dhol, I really thought the film would do well. Now I am very happy when I see people like Virat Kohli and others say they watch Dhol before their cricket matches to relax. They even quote the dialogues from the movie to each other.”Although Kohli has not publicly spoken about watching the film, he has worked with Priyadarshan before. The director had helmed an advertisement for the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore featuring Kohli along with Chris Gayle and Shane Watson. Impressed by Kohli’s performance in the ad, Priyadarshan even suggested that the cricketer could consider acting in the future.Calling ‘Dhol’ one of his personal favourites, the director also discussed why the film may not have succeeded commercially at the time. Speaking to Mashable India, he said the industry often fails to support projects without major stars during their release period.“Something I hate about Bollywood films is that, at least during that period, when you are trying something without a big star, it won’t get the appreciation it should. It’s only later that they would. That disappoints you. Dhol is now a cult movie,” he said.Interestingly, he said that ‘Malamaal Weekly’ proved to be the opposite case. Despite lacking big-name actors, the film performed strongly at the box office. Priyadarshan also opened up about his tendency to frequently work with the same actors in his films. According to him, understanding an actor’s comic timing makes a huge difference in comedy filmmaking.He pointed out, “Akshay Kumar has a certain body language that I understand. The same can be said about Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav as well. I really like the way they perform. They give exactly what I expect. It’s very difficult to perform humour, mainly because of the timing factor. Govinda has that (timing), and Shah Rukh Khan also does, to some extent. So, it’s all about giving them situations to perform.”He explained that these recurring collaborations mostly happen in his comedic films because strong comic timing is rare and difficult to find. The director said, “When it comes to humour, I am very much afraid that I can’t find actors whose timing is as good as the others. When I have these people, my job is very easy because I know how they will perform.”The director also praised Akshaye Khanna for his versatility, noting that he can handle both comedy and serious roles with equal ease.“He did a fantastic job in movies like ‘Hulchul’ and ‘Hungama’. I think both the Akshays bring me luck.”
