Dinesh Vijan on his next, which tells Ayushmann Khurrana’s bald story, and informs that plagiarism case against him is withdrawn
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 4, 2019)

For someone who has been redefining content with films like Badlapur, Hindi Medium and Stree, it must feel like a bad dream to be accused of plagiarism by the makers of Ujda Chaman. Yet, you have chosen to remain silent on the charges.
When something like this happens, a part of you wants to explain yourself. But since we were just three weeks away from release, I needed to see my film through without losing focus. It will be out this Friday and then you will know that Bala is a completely original concept. We are credible filmmakers. Forget a subject, I’ve never even signed a director working for another production house.

How did the issue blow up?
Before we started, Luv Ranjan and Kumar ji (Mangat, producer of Ujda Chaman) approached me on the similarity in the plots of the two films. Since Kumar ji’s film was a remake of a Kannada film (Ondu Motteya Kathe) I didn’t need to listen to his subject, but I narrated mine to Luv who assured us that there was no resemblance between the two. Twenty days after we wrapped up, they went on the floors. I reiterate our film is nothing like the South film or the 2011 Hindi film Hair Is Falling or any other on the subject. More than hair loss, Bala propogates self-love. There are things we don’t like about ourselves, be it our hair, height, or complexion, yet, it’s important that we love ourselves for others to love us. That’s what our film is about and it’s Ayushmann’s (Khurrana) best performance to date. He’s known for brave choices but this one is all heart.

Why, then, did you push the release forward, from November 22 to November 8?
After Karan (Johar) called to say that his Bhoot was moving, we thought of coming with Bala on November 8. My studio partners felt that with November 11 being Guru Nanak’s birthday and a holiday, it'd give us an extended weekend and a two-week run at the box-office.

What’s the status on the plagiarism cases against you? Even Dr Zeus threatened legal action for recreating his song, “Don’t Be Shy”.
The Ujda Chaman makers have withdrawn their case and as far as the song goes, we have officially taken the rights from Kamran Entertainment, the copyright owner of the original song.

Some don’t like the fact that Bhumi Pednekar’s skin tone has been inordinately darkened on screen since she is playing a dusky girl...
Bhumi is an actor playing a character which demanded this, just like Ayushmann’s Bala needed him to sport a balding pate. The idea here is to sensitise people with respect to terms like ‘takla’ and ‘kala’, which begin as jokes in school and whose scars we carry all our life, unless we can love ourselves for who we are.

What went wrong with Arjun Patiala and Made In China?
The former, as a spoof, fell flat. I stand by Made In China’s script and its intentions. Raj (Rajkummar Rao) was outstanding. I think we faltered with the release date. If Agent Vinod taught me to be brave with Badlapur, and Raabta with Stree and Luka Chuppi, Made In China has made me realise the importance of timing a release right.

Given how big a hit Stree was last year, we had expected Roohi Afza, which is in the same genre, to arrive before the year was out.
We started filming only three months ago and still have two songs to shoot, followed by four months of post-production. A film, like a baby, takes nine months to deliver. Roohi Afza, my first film with Janhvi (Kapoor) and my third with Raj, comes in April 2020. In March 2021, we plan to release another horror-comedy, Munjha, which goes on the floors next year in August. All three— Stree, Roohi Afza and Munjha—will have a part 2 which will arrive over the next five years, three years after the original opened, each answering the question the first part ended with. Then, all three will come together in my horror universe in a series of two films which deal with the bigger picture and a larger conflict. All of them and their sequels are being written by separate writers and will be made by different directors over eight years. Now, isn’t that exciting?

Very much so. Now, tell us about the Love Aaj Kal sequel. Can Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan’s real-life split affect its box-office prospects?
I didn’t even know Sara and Kartik were dating. They are both strong actors who have the love of the audience, and with Imtiaz Ali, the master of heartbreaks, telling us how love has changed in the last decade, I am confident this film will be a much-awaited 2020 Valentine Day release. I remember little Sara present at the pooja when we started Love Aaj Kal with her father (Saif Ali Khan). Now, she’s the leading lady of the sequel. Taking the journey forward with her, Imtiaz and Kartik, with whom I had a hit in Luka Chuppi earlier this year, has been heart-warming.

The Irrfan Khan-starrer Angrezi Medium followup to Hindi Medium was another reunion project for you. What was that journey like?
There is an almost Sufi quality to Irrfan now. He’s made me realise that the mind is living our lives, making us chase success instead of valuing the here and now. Thanks to my mother, Irrfan and my wife Pramita, I’ve become a better person—calmer, more balanced and mature. I’m still passionate about my work, but when I go home now, I can disconnect and feel grateful for all that I have. Perhaps that’s why the recent controversies didn’t rattle me, nor do box-office results. You can’t get it right every time, but it’s important to work with good people, give my best and enjoy the moment.

That’s why it’s exciting to reunite with not just Irrfan on this film but also Homi Adajania. I started my career with his directorial Being Cyrus, and have collaborated with him on Cocktail, Finding Fanny and now Angrezi Medium. My Badlapur director-actor duo, Sriram Raghavan and Varun Dhawan, and I have also joined hands on the biopic of Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal. The film is a big responsibility towards the late martyr's brother Mukesh Khetarpal and to the Indian army. It’s wonderful when actors, writers and directors trust you enough to want to work with you again.

You’ve reunuited with your Luka Chuppi director, Laxman Utekar, and actress Kriti Sanon too on Mimi but isn’t she a little too young to play a mother?
Mimi, the remake of Marathi film, Mala Aai Vhhaychay, is about surrogacy and till it was banned, it was young girls who agreed to be surrogates to support their families. This young girl wants to be an actress but ends up becoming a mother. I believe a child gives birth to a mother and if with Laxman sir’s help, Kriti who has not experienced motherhood yet, can bridge that gap between herself and her character, Mimi will be her best performance.