The director of Oh My God and 102 Not Out, Umesh Shukla, wrapped up his next, Aankh Micholi, on March 6, just before the nationwide lockdown was announced. He is currently locking the final edit. “We shot for around 15 days in Switzerland, followed by a 40-day schedule in Punjab. We are lucky to have completed the film just in time,” admits Umesh who doesn’t make films only for laughs, but also weave a social message into the narrative. “This one talks of family values, it’s a blend of magic and logic. My films are clean and devoid of darkness because I want families to enjoy them.”

Prod him for details and he says, it’s a comedy in the Yash Chopra world. “Imagine Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge as an out-and-out comedy and you get Aankh Micholi,” he quips. It features Abhimanyu Dassani and Mrunal Thakur and the director points out that his hero Abhimanyu showed spark in his comic scenes with Mahesh Manjrekar in Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota and even Mrunal is a blend of histrionics and humour.

The film, produced by Sony Pictures Films India with Umesh’s partner, Ashish Wagh, reunites him with Paresh Rawal after OMG Oh My God and Umesh informs that the two have known each other since 1986. “I started doing backstage work for his plays. Paresh bhai liked my temperament and made me an assistant director. Then, I acted with him in a couple of plays and finally, I directed him in two-three of them. It’s because of his large heart that I am here,” he says humbly.

Paresh was recently elected as the Chairman of National School of Drama. Considering that both come from a theatre background are there any plans of collaborating on NSD. “Yes, recently we discussed changes and improvements in the current structure. He has a bound progressive plan for the future of theatre and I will help him in whatever way possible,” he promises.

Meanwhile, Umesh’s next is a biopic of Ujjwal Nikam who worked on prominent criminal cases and helped prosecute suspects in the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where he was the public prosecutor in Ajmal Kasab’s case. “Yes, my next is on public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam. The script is almost locked and I will start approaching actors soon, I am very excited,” he asserts, saying that, as a producer too, he will roll with multiple projects by early next year, one of them with Nawazuddin Siddiqui to be directed by Sejal Shah. “It’s an incredible story, you won’t believe it’s true,” he signs off.