Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 20, 2017)

After making his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed comedy, Filmistaan, Nitin Kakkar returns after three years to direct the Hindi remake of Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam’s 2016 Telugu romcom, Pelli Choopulu. The Vijay Deverakonda-Ritu Varma starrer had bagged two National Film Awards for Best Telugu Film and Best Screenplay-Dialogue. The remake, as yet untitled, will be produced by Phantom Films and features Jackky Bhagnani, Prateik Babbar and popular Gujarati actor, Pratik Gandhi. Kritika Kamra of TV shows like Kitani Mohabbat Hai and Kuch Toh Log Kahenge lands her Bollywood break with this one.

Madhu Mantena says, “We have been trying to work with Nitin for a long time and when he came with this script, we knew we had to make it. He has beautifully adapted the original for a wider audience. It’s a fresh, relevant story for youngsters.”

Pelli Choopulu begins with the “pellichoopulu” or arranged meeting between Prashanth (played by Vijay Deverakonda) and Chitra (Ritu Varma). Fed up of his care-a-damn son, the boy’s father believes marriage will make him a more responsible man. Chitra turns out to be an ambitious miss and meeting her changes Prashanth’s life for the better.

The remake is set in Gujarat and Jackky has been shooting in Ahmedabad for almost a month now. Interestingly, the 32-year-old actor has played a Gujarati before in Ashish Mohan’s Welcome 2 Karachi. “I’ve made some changes in the original script so the Hindi film audience can connect with it,” says Nitin.