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I was reminded of my college days while shooting ’Dhol’. I

have employed quite a few situations that occurred then.

PHoto: R.V. Moorthy

comic caper Priyadarshan says his primary job as a filmmaker is to make people laugh.

He successfully remade the mega Tamil hit “Thevar Magan” as “Virasat” in Hindi. His “Hera Pheri” was a remake of “Ramji Rao Speaking”, and “Hungama” of “Poochakkoru Mookkuthi”. “Godfather” was remade as “Hulchul” and “Garam Masala” was lifted from “Boeing Boeing”. His last hit, “Malamaal Weekly”, was modelled on the Hollywood flick “Waking Ned”.

And as expected, his latest film “Dhol”, releasing this Friday, follows suit. This time though, Priyadarshan has made an exception. He has made a remake of a Hindi film. Shares the filmmaker, popularly known as Priyan, “Some 15 years ago, a film called ‘Parda Hai Parda’, directed by K. Bapiah, was released.

It was a flop. ‘Dhol’ takes its plot from there. But it is not a ‘remake’ of ‘Parda….’. In fact, ‘Parda Hai Parda’ was a remake of ‘In Harihar Nagar’, a Malayalam film.”

Priyan says, “I have taken the part of the plot in which a sister comes to a city in search of a wife for her brother. The film, through several comic situations, turns into a thriller in which a ‘dhol’ becomes an important instrument that everyone wants to get. Because it is a mystery, I can’t give out its story. But it is new wine in an old bottle.”

Like his other comedies, this is “also a neat and clean film with no double meaning dialogues or embarrassing scenes.”

“I don’t want to miss on my family audience,” he adds.

The film, one learns, is about four unemployed boys who try to make a quick buck by wooing a rich girl. “I was reminded of my college days while shooting this film. I have employed quite a few situations that occurred then. I myself was a very ‘seedha saadha’ guy. I never chased a girl but my class fellows did.

I learnt from their mistakes and have tried to reflect that in ‘Dhol’,” he laughs.

Priyan is known for breaking David Dhawan’s monopoly over successful comedies in Bollywood. Reasons Priyan, “I chose to do comedy because I began to be associated more with serious films. I wanted to explore the pulse of the Hindi film-going audience. I didn’t have much problem with the language as Hindi was my second language in college.”

He says, “I saw lot of people re-making comedies but they flopped because they used to ‘translate’ the film that included dialogues and characters. I have never done that. I always based my comedy films taking ‘local’ factors in mind. I write new scenes and dialogues keeping the local flavour in mind.”

But is he not accused of plagiarism, for lifting scenes in toto from other films? “So what? I don’t care what people say. For me, what matters is that my films should be able to make people laugh. I make films for the masses and if they are happy, my job is done. Today, 99 per cent films are copied,” he responds rather agitatedly. But aren’t most of his comedy films aimed at a younger audience? You give him the instance of “Jane Bhi Do Yaron” made in the 1970s which attracted viewers from all age groups.

Priyan quickly replies, “My ‘Maalamal Weekly’ was one such film. It was loved by the elderly people. It is the biggest hit of my career so far. It has given me a profit of 26 crores which is far more than what I got through ‘Hera Pheri’.”

Priyan then adds, “In a country like India where 80 per cent people are below the poverty line, intellectual or black comedy doesn’t work. Those who make it try to be smart but they fail.”

The filmmaker whose dream of becoming a cricketer was shattered by an injury, says, one day he will make a film on cricket too. He is already making use of his degree in psychology in his next film, “Bhool Bhulayyia”.

“Through the character played by Akshay Kumar, I prove that ghosts exist. I have employed my study of psychology to do that,” he adds.

And now, Priyan says he is slowly getting back to serious cinema. He has been quoted mentioning ‘retirement’ plans from commercial cinema in a few years. “I have already made a beginning,” he says. “I have made a film called ‘Kanchivaram’. It is about the Communist Movement of the 1920s and the weavers of Kanchivaram saris and how the movement left the weavers homeless. This 199-minute film is only for the festival circuit. I have released only 125 prints.”

Priyan continues, “I am planning to make more films on serious subjects that I feel for.” There has been news of him making “Chandralekha” too.

He clarifies, “There is no such film I am making. I made this film long back in Malayalam with Mohanlal and Pooja Batra. It was a great hit. Later, Sajid Nadiadwada remade it in Hindi as ‘Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega’. It was directed by Raj Kunwar.” The filmmaker adds, “I am getting several queries on this. It happens when some irresponsible bloggers post it on the Internet. It causes me a lot of damage. I am constantly nagged by queries on films that I have never made or am planning.”

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