Boman Irani and director Mikhil Musale met veteran sexologist Dr Mahinder Watsa several times to help prep for the actor’s role in their film
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 10, 2019)

Boman Irani, who plays sex expert Dr Vardhi in Mikhil Musale’s quirky comedy, Made In China, starring Rajkummar Rao and Mouni Roy, met several professionals to get into character. The most relevant material came from renowned sexologist and Mirror columnist Dr Mahinder Watsa.

Mikhil, who researched the subject and wrote the script of the Dinesh Vijan production, says, “Dr Watsa was the most honest, experienced and articulate, he’s been working in this field since the ’50s and his knowledge, whether clinical, psychological or societal, is vast. He was of great help.”

The debutant director goes on to share that according to Dr Watsa, sex is a subject people are the most confused about. “Even though there’s so much information available online and it is discussed widely on the internet, a lot of people continue to be misled by incorrect information,” sighs Mikhil, admitting that both Boman and he were surprised by some of the queries posed to the 96-year-old veteran.

Many of these queries relate to basic birds and bees questions that you would think would have been answered by biology textbooks by now. “Boman and I were shocked to hear that people still ask if a man and woman masturbating together can lead to pregnancy. A lot of men have queries about the size of their penis, premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction, issues which have been discussed ad nauseum, but doubts still persist,” points out Mikhil.

He goes on to add that while a woman confides in her mother, friend or a gynaecologist, men share their insecurities anonymously for fear of societal embarrassment. “It’s surprising how inhibited we are about the subject given that we are a country of 1.3 billion,” Mikhil notes, sharing that his co-writer Karan Vyas once met a quack with the story that he was apprehensive about his performance on his wedding night. “He was told to stop masturbating till the wedding. When Karan pointed out that innumerable articles on the web state that masturbation is harmless, the quack got angry and told him that if he knows so much from the internet, then why did he come there to waste his time?”

Instances like this made Mikhil and his team realise that there are few qualified sexologists in our country whom our people can go to without any inhibitions. “That’s the reason we made this film. The issue needs to be addressed but in an entertaining yet sensitive manner.”

Ask him if Boman’s Dr Vardhi is inspired by Dr Watsa, and he shakes his head, “No, Dr Watsa is a Punjabi who is from the North and went to college in Mumbai, while Dr Vardhi is Gujarati. But the queries they get are common.”

Debutant director Mikhil Musale on his ‘most collaborative’ leading man, getting his dream cast in place and telling an unusual story of a Gujarati businessman
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 17, 2019)

In debutant director Mikhil Musale’s social-comedy Made in China, Rajkummar Rao plays a Gujarati character for the second time in his career, after Kai Po Che. And according to the filmmaker, he was rather keen to get under the skin of Raghu Mehta, an Ahmedabad-based entrepreneur in the film, which also features Mouni Roy as the female lead.

Mikhil goes on to inform that his leading man slipped into the character the day he heard the script. “When he signed the film, he was already thinking ahead and making mental notes about the aspects he would need to work on,” says the director, adding, “Raj and I had many conversations to crystallise Raghu’s world. Next thing I know, he calls me to inform that he is in Ahmedabad. This was a month before the shoot.”

As part of his prep, Rajkummar went to the busy streets of Ahmedabad to get a hang of the Gujarati culture and get the nuances of his character right. “He took a video camera and visited the busy areas of Ahmedabad, from Lal Darwaja to Gandhi Market and Manek Chowk, and talked to local store owners and young people shopping in those areas,” Mikhil reveals.

The film, produced by Maddock Films and presented by Dinesh Vijan and Jio Studios, went on the floors in September last year with a startto-finish schedule and is slated to hit the big screen this Diwali. “When I met him closer to the shoot, I saw a completely different man. Raghu had evolved even beyond my script. Right through the shoot too, Raj asked me and my co-writer Karan Vyas to talk to him in Gujarati so that he develops an ease with the language and accent,” Mikhil recounts, describing his first Hindi film—he has previously directed the National Award-winning Gujarati feature film Wrong Side Raju (2016)—as a “an unusual entrepreneurial journey of a Gujarati businessman.”

Besides diction, Rajkummar also worked on his physical appearance for the turn, piling on eight kilos. “I don’t know how he did it in such a short span. That’s his secret. I think, he has spoiled me as a director; I was fortunate enough to work with possibly the most collaborative artist on my first Hindi film,” Mikhil shares with a smile.

The film features an ensemble cast, comprising of Boman Irani, Paresh Rawal, Sumeet Vyas and Gajraj Rao. “It’s a dream cast for me because this is my first Hindi film. All these are my favourite people, and I look up to them as actors. They have been cast for very particular characters in the film. Characters that are written in a way that could only be played and justified by them. Apart from the roles, the script and Dinoo (Vijan) sir’s credibility was instrumental in getting all of them on board,” the filmmaker signs off.

On getting the ensemble in place for the film, Dinesh Vijan says, “I am a strong believer that certain energies gravitate towards each other and that’s how this film has been made. We are excited for the audience to see the endearing chemistry between Raj and Boman and also the special part that Gajraj and Paresh play in Raghu and Dr Vardi’s (Boman) entrepreneurial journey.”


Mouni Roy; Mikhil Musale; Rajkummar Rao in the film (above)