Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 7, 2017)

After bagging three National Awards, including best direction, best editing and best sound mixing, Mirror has learnt that the Marathi comedy-drama Ventilator, produced by Priyanka Chopra and directed by Rajesh Mapuskar, will now be remade in Gujarati by Falguni Patel and Lawrence D’Souza. A Gujarati play is also in the works. The play will be produced by actor Sharman Joshi and Kamlesh Oza and directed by Rajesh Joshi.

“I had seen Rajesh’s play, Code Mantra, and had loved it. So, when this offer came along, I was like ‘Oh he is the same guy!’ I’m fascinated to know how will they come up with a stage version but I am sure it can be done as the film is set in a single location and is about a man who you don’t see but everyone’s talking about him. I am really looking forward to this,” beams Mapuskar, who won’t be involved with the play but is the creative director on the film remake.

The 49-year-old filmmaker started working on Ventilator in February 2015 and admits he had never thought that it would become so popular and nor imagined it would make him travel so much. “Today, I am flying off to Poland with it for a festival and after that I will be going to Italy, South Korea and several other countries,” he exults.

Rajesh adds that there were offers to remake the film in Bengali, Gujarati and also down South even before they bagged all those National Awards. “This subject can be explored in any language and can be set in culture even if the dynamics of the relationships change,” says Rajesh.

Wouldn’t he want to direct the Gujarati version of the film? “No, I want somebody who understands that culture and its nuances to bring it into the film. Otherwise I would be copying my own film which I wouldn’t enjoy,” he reasons.

And will Priyanka be a part of it in any capacity? “I don’t think so as it’s not the exact copy. Everything will depend on the script,” he says, adding it would interesting to make the film in English as well.