One for the family
ANUJ KUMAR
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Director Sangeeth Sivan on "Apna Sapna Money Money" releasing this Friday.
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Photo: Rajeev Bhatt
RIB TICKLER! Sangeeth Sivan says comedy is all about situations and timing.
After changing the mainstream Bollywood comedy format with "Kya Kool Hain Hum", director Sangeeth Sivan is ready with "Apna Sapna Money Money."
Panned by critics for double entendres, "Kya Kool... " was a major box office success, and Sangeeth wants to clear the allegations of the past before talking about the present.
"See, right from the mahurat of the film we made it clear that we are making a sex comedy, so nobody could say that we cheated the audience. I hate critics judging the film on the basis of their tastes. A sex comedy should be judged and compared with others in the genre."
As for the charge of taking comedy to obscene levels, Sangeeth says nothing was forced. He agrees it was the first of its kind where the Dada Kondke brand of humour was given an urbane touch.
"Everything was shown from a perspective whether it was the cigarette in the pants or the cat scene. And the success at box office shows that audience accepted it."
Over to "Apna Sapna... " and Sangeeth, who started his Bollywood career with "Zor" quickly points out, "It is a family entertainer where we are looking to tap in larger audience. In fact, I wrote it before `Kya Kool... .' A laugh riot, there are 12 characters in the film, you take out one and the film will fall flat."
He shares Ritiesh is playing a con man, who changes his looks every time he is caught. Jackie Shroff is playing an underworld don, Koena is a wannabe singer and Rajpal Yadav plays a U.P. ka bhaiyya, "Sarkar" fan who wants to make a film "Chote Sarkar". "All of them have a dream and need money to make them true. Some of the dreams are honest but the means to achieve them are not. The most honest character is played by Shreyas."
Situation and timing
Sangeeth feels comedy doesn't require a great technique and skills from actors. "It is a misconception. It's all about the written word and timing. You have to write situations that are comic and ask the actors to perform within that framework. You don't need big names. The technique or style comes in when you have to justify the character. Like Jackie who plays a don in Bangkok. For the writer, the main worry is that situations should not get repetitive. That's why I keep it fast paced. Though there are 12 characters the film is only 135 minutes long."
Brother of ace cinematographer and director Santosh Sivan, Sangeeth, is a known face in South India and has directed Mohanlal in many films.
"Bollywood has its own cinematic grammar and it took me some time to understand it. Santosh has captured seven of my films but we have to yet to work together on a Hindi film. He no longer wants to shoot typical dance and fight sequences and I don't want to pressurise him."
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