Boman Irani plays a sexologist in his latest film, Made in China.
Mikhil Musale, Made in China's director, joins Boman and tells Patcy N/Rediff.com, "Every joke, every dialogue, which might sound funny to people, has some insight and information to it."
You were a doctor in Munnabhai MBBS, and you play one here as well. What's the difference between the two doctors?
Boman: They are two different human beings.
Every doctor doesn't have to be the same.
Every policeman doesn't have to be the same.
Every school principal doesn't have to be the same.
They are two different human beings with two different objectives in life.
What they want out of life, their life experiences are different and their specialities are different.
I feel it's odd to characterise people by their professions.
How did you approach this character?
Boman: Every character is a new human being; you create him yourself.
Dr Vardhi is from Gujarat.
He has lived in Uganda for a bit.
He has a bit of a history; he had to run away from Uganda.
He is in Ahmedabad now, and is dealing with people's marital and sexual problems.
He has a loud voice, is slightly arrogant.
He's more like your old family doctor.
You play a sexologist in Made in China. Any tips for our readers?
Mikhil, from your National Award-winning film Wrong Side Raju to Made in China, how was your journey? Was Bollywood always your goal?
Mikhil: The period after the National Award was disappointing for me.
I had been expecting a lot of scripts to come to me, but that was not happening and I got disappointed.
But the story always finds you.
This story found me.
It started from a one-line idea that I got from my co-writer Parinda Joshi, who is from America.
We wrote for 18 months and then Maddock Films happened.
When you came to Mumbai, how did you pitch your idea?
Mikhil: I knew this is a different kind of film, with a different format.
I knew I needed to find a producer who would understand this, so I was very sure that I would not pitch it everywhere.
Sachin-Jigar, the musical duo who also work in Gujarati films, connected me with Dino (Dinesh Vijan, producer).
When I met Dino sir and told him the story, he understood the spirit of the film because he has also been an entrepreneur, apart from being a producer.
Something just connected, and the process for Made in China began.
Boman, you have been the only entrepreneur in real life, among the cast. You ran a shop. Did you share any tips with Rajkummar?
Did you ever think the dialogues may get vulgar?
Boman: More than the dialogue, it's the way you pitch the dialogue.
If you want people to get a social message, it is important to package it with humour.
It's also very, very important to package it in such a way that the humour does not become smutty and vulgar.
So even though the way it is put across can be a bit naughty sometimes, the doctor puts it across as information, as a teaching.
If we wanted to go for an all-out adult comedy, just for the sake of adult jokes, we could have easily done that.
But the film is about the social message attached to it, so there's a fine line.
Mikhil: Every joke, every dialogue, which might sound funny to people, has some insight and information to it.
Do you think people in India are opening up to topics like sex and its problems?
How did you tread the fine line?
Mikhil: To be honest, we are not the first one talking about this subject.
There have been films before this.
But this is my writers' and my sensibilities and perspective on this subject.
Of course, the core idea is the entrepreneurial journey of Raghu’s character, played by Raj.
Boman, when will we see you in the next Munnabhai movie?
That film is a cult.
If Munnabhai 3 is announced, it will make more money than the first two films put together. Whether it is a good or bad doesn't matter.
But I think the producers and the director really want to put a film forward that we love, not to make money.
It will make money in any case.
They have been taking years to crack a nice film because they are afraid they will disappoint their fans.
You had a reunion with the Munnabhai gang on Gandhi Jayanti. How was it?
Boman: It was beautiful meeting Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) and Arshad (Warsi).
Mikhil: We were just talking about it.
On October 2, we still revisit the film. Gandhi's portrayal is still so relevant in today's times.
Boman: I think the movie made Gandhi relevant to these times.
Something that was considered just a picture on the wall of government offices was brought alive.
Otherwise, he would remain as a picture on a banknote or the wall of a government office.
He was made relevant in this day and age and we must thank the film for making this possible.
We love you seeing in comedy movies. But which is your favourite genre?
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