Director Vipul Shah recently spoke to ETimes on OTT content, his movie ‘Sanak’, farmers’ protest, box-office clashes, and much more. Excerpts from the interview:

Why did you cast Vidyut Jammwal for your upcoming project ‘Sanak’?


Vidyut and I have been working for a very long time. We enjoyed creating a special brand of action which is Vidyut’s style of action and we have been able to create some interesting stuff there. We were doing ‘Commando’ so far and this was a new story that Kanishk Verma brought to me. I thought it was a very interesting story where the whole fight is about protecting love. It is an emotional action space so I thought it was a great space for Vidyut and he also loved it. Actually, Vidyut and Kanishk had been discussing it before it came to me. So, he was also aware of what was happening and that’s how we got together; this is our fifth collaboration. It is very exciting to be doing back-to-back films together.

What thought process do you follow while making a movie?

If I don’t instinctively feel charged about the subject, then somehow I don’t get very excited about doing the film. That is the first and most important thing for me–the storyline should instinctively appeal. In the case of ‘Sanak’, that’s what happened when I was being narrated the story. Of course, as a director, whatever subject I select, I try not to repeat my genre. ‘Human’, which is about a medical scam, is something that I have never done in the past. If you look at my films, none of my films are similar except probably ‘Namastey London’ or ‘Namaste England’, which were in the romantic space. But apart from that, I’ve not repeated my genres. I try to venture into different genres every time I decide to direct and that’s a risk also because you are going away from something that’s been successful and not repeating its success but trying new stuff. So, in that sense, it’s a challenge but I think it also keeps you on your toes and makes you work harder. The effort is to challenge yourself at all times and do something interesting and new. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, and you take it in your stride and move on.

How difficult has it been shooting in the midst of a pandemic?


It is challenging because the whole filmmaking process is about teamwork and being together and working in different environments and various locations on a daily basis. Now, because of Covid-19, you have to keep social distancing, you’ve to be worried about sanitisation, you’ve to be really careful. Luckily for us, between the two projects, we have shot approximately 85 days now and taken enough precautions. Not one case has been reported on our sets. We do regular tests for Covid-19, and there are sanitisation processes in place. There is a very strict code of conduct for everybody to follow. Everybody has to wear masks, there are bands for people who are allowed to come for the shoot. There are green bands for people who are allowed and another colour for those who can’t enter. This has minimised interaction which, in a way, is very challenging because the whole fun of shooting was working together. But you have to respect the situation and work within the limitation of the present situation, and respect and help the government to achieve the target. We are okay with it, it is a new thing. It is not as usual but one has to now make it as usual.

It’s a rat race when it comes to releasing films in theatres right now. Do you also find it difficult while planning for a release for your projects in the theatres?


It is not a rat race. If you look at it, the producers in the Hindi film industry and studios, theatre owners, and exhibition centres, and distribution sector has suffered so much in the last year. They all held on to their films. Yes, many did go to OTT platforms directly, but many films are ready for release in theatres and the producers have spent a lot of money on that. They’re sitting with huge investments. So, it is not a rat race, the film industry should be applauded for the kind of restraint they’ve shown and worked with the government, without criticising or opposing anything. The same goes for distribution and exhibition sectors. The whole industry has unitedly accepted the challenges of Covid-19, suffered losses but yet supported the decisions of all the government, whether it is Central or State government. Now, when the theatres have been allowed to open, it is natural that they’ll all line up for releasing their films. Sooner the better because the cost of holding onto these films is huge. It is a very positive and constructive effort the industry is putting in bringing the audience back. I’m not worried; I think somewhere I, too, will find a date for my film’s release, we will announce it and go ahead with it. There are going to be many Fridays in this coming year where there’ll be more than one film releasing because of all the films that are ready. We just need a good release date. We will all eventually lose some amount of films because of the clashes but that’s the price the industry will have to pay and move on.

What are your thoughts on the ongoing farmers’ protest?


I am not very well clued in on farmers’ protest or politics because I’ve been busy with two projects since October. But, in principle, I feel that today the way farmers are struggling, they need all the protection and all the benefits that the country can afford and the government can give. I think that there is a huge political battle that has erupted out of the protest and the truth is lost somewhere about these three bills and I hope that the truth comes out fast. I think there is no problem if something has gone wrong, corrected immediately, and taken forward if there is a mistake. At least, I will not be able to know what was the wrong side or the right side, because it all got muddled in the politics and I’ve not been able to follow it properly. So, my knowledge is not enough to comment on it.

Right now, a lot of Bollywood celebs are getting trolled on social media…


From the inception of social media, I felt that it was a medium of immediate reaction and that reaction was never permanent. They’ll love you or they’ll hate you depending on the moment, and you’ve to learn to take it in your stride. Today, if they’ve some issues or grudges or some negative thought about films or film industry, tomorrow it will all change and they’ll all be back to being the heroes that they were. Today also there is a herd mentality on social media, unfortunately. If one person starts writing something, the word ‘abused’ is viral and once it goes viral, everybody has an opinion on that whether they understand the topic or don’t want to understand. And they start writing it and they forget it before even we realise. We have been giving it too much importance, and we actually think that it’s very serious. Whereas actually 90% of those people, write just for the heck of writing it because they want to feel present in the moment. I think 90% of them don’t even have a clue about why they’re writing what they’re writing. They just write it and quickly move on to the next one, and they’ll also quickly move on to praising the same people moments later. I don’t think social media should be taken seriously, I think it should be taken with a pinch of salt and if you’re on a public platform, you’ll get praises and you’ll get criticism, which I think everybody understands and is okay with.

While we spoke about social media being a negative platform, it has its positives too and often funny trends like ‘Pawri Ho Rahi Hai’ or meme challenges cut through the tension…


As I told you, it’ll be positive on some days and negative on others. I don’t think social media is negative all the time. And one has to live with both. Sometimes it is good fun to see a meme and laugh about it when under stress. There are some amazingly creative people out there who make some really funny creatives and I think we should learn to laugh and learn to enjoy them, and have a good moment in a day that is full of stress, and move on.