Three blind men rob a bank. That premise led to a gripping heist drama in filmmaker Vipul A Shah’s Aankhen (2002). With his next, Hisaab, the director promises a bank robbery “with a twist”. The cherry on the top is its cast — Jaideep Ahlawat and Shefali Shah.

“After Aankhen, I always wanted to make another film on a bank heist, but I was not getting the right idea. Hisaab is as unique a story as Aankhen was — a kind of heist film that India has not seen before. It’s taken us a long time to write it. Comparisons with Aankhen are unavoidable, though there is nothing common between the two films [except] the bank robbery. So, we wanted to make something that had strong content,” shared the director.

An ace up Vipul’s sleeve is the casting, as he has reunited Ahlawat and Shefali after their tender love story, Three Of Us (2023). In them, the director found the strong performers he was seeking.

“Jaideep and Shefali are two phenomenal actors who can deliver performances with ease and depth. [No matter] whether they have done Three Of Us or 30 films together, they will be a pair to watch out for. The scenes light up when they are together, and it’s beautiful for me as a director to watch it happen.”

With the shoot complete, Hisaab is being readied for a theatrical release. The director will zero in on a release date after his production, The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond — a film through which he wants “to be the voice of the victims” — arrives in cinemas.

“Do you want me to write a song for it?” That was lyricist-singer Swanand Kirkire’s reaction when director Avinash Arun offered him Three Of Us. His response was natural since acting offers don’t come too often to him —this, even though he won a National Award for his performance in Chumbak (2017). 

“Acting has never been my bread and butter. But I loved the script of Three Of Us. When Avinash said he wanted me to play the husband’s role, I was happy because that’s the character I love the most,” says Kirkire.

The drama revolves around Shefali Shah’s Shailja, who revisits her former lover Pradeep—played by Jaideep Ahlawat—as she begins losing her memory to dementia. Kirkire as her husband Dipankar completes the love triangle.

“You see the film through his eyes because you’re as uncertain about Shailja and Pradeep’s friendship as he is. He is the only one who shows his insecurity, the only one with a reconciliation graph. Another thing that drew me to him was that he didn’t understand poetry and music. That was a challenge for me because I earn my bread and butter through them.”

At a time when larger-than-life cinema is drawing audiences, it’s a feat in itself to have a mid-sized film on the big screen. Kirkire credits Arun’s compelling storytelling for it. For him, the film’s victory also lies in the fact that it is fronted by middle-aged actors.

“There was a time when at 40-plus, female actors’ careers would be over. Today, they are ruling the OTT space—from Sushmita Sen to Raveena Tandon. Shefali is one of the examples of a great talent leading many series, and now a film. Young people also need to see such films because they will get old some day.”

Sometimes, a seeming loss turns into an unexpected gain. That’s what happened with Avinash Arun. When the production of Paatal Lok’s second season was delayed due to the pandemic, the director had no idea that it would lead to the creation of Three Of Us. “When Paatal Lok 2 got pushed, I had no work. I got nervous. One night, after meeting director Chaitanya Tamhane, I got so inspired that I returned home and started writing. Within a week, my two friends, Arpita Chatterjee and Omkar Barve, and I wrote the screenplay for Three Of Us,” recounts the director.

What followed was a smooth ride as lead actors Shefali Shah, Jaideep Ahlawat and Swanand Kirkire, dialogue writers Varun Grover and Shoaib Nazeer came on board quickly, and the film was ready to roll in three months. It reminded Arun that when a movie is destined to be made, things fall in place.

“When I sent the first draft of the screenplay to Shefali, she replied, ‘I am on.’ After I sent the dialogue draft to Jaideep, he video-called me and said, ‘This is so beautiful. I am doing it.’”

Arun is aware that things are usually harder than this. After all, it took him eight years to get his second feature film as a director, even though his debut feature Killa (2015) earned a National Film Award. But he agrees that the stupendous success of Paatal Lok has given him an impetus. Now, as he presents an unrequited love story with Three Of Us, the director wants to bring forth the lost magic of films rooted in simplicity.

“I miss those times when Hrishikesh Mukherjee films were mainstream. We have grown up watching films by him, Sai Paranjpye, Basu Chatterjee and Gulzar saab. Such stories are gone. So, this is my attempt to get that genre back to the mainstream.”

Lyricist Swanand Kirkire grew up in a musical family, with his parents always teaching him the importance of leading a good life. “But, I was more interested in theatre than music. Before I learnt about the National School of Drama, I would offer a helping hand to the local theatres in Indore,” says Kirkire, who subsequently arrived in Mumbai to write for a TV serial named Swaraj, and work as filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s assistant.

It is perhaps this amalgamation of the craft he pursued and the one his family exposed him to, which enables Kirkire to don several hats at once. His upcoming slate of projects is only testimony to this fact. “I’m [acting] in a film with Jaideep Ahlawat and Shefali Shah. It is called Three Of Us. We still don’t know whether it will be released on OTT or in theatres. It was a pleasure to work with director Avinash Arun, who has received much love for his previous works like Pataal Lok, Drishyam and Masaan.”

Artistes across the industry have attempted to distinguish between the demands of cinematic projects and web offerings, but Kirkire believes such segregations are inessential. “I don’t think that the audience has been segregated. Earlier, there were two sources of entertainment  — TV and theatrical films. Now, with the addition of OTT, there are three. This platform has attracted many people, but the TV circuit will always be a beneficial market as it is vast in nature. Every platform is equally important to us. When it comes to revenue, cinema is a direct medium — a film is either a hit or a flop. But, on the web, it’s tough to decipher if a film is a hit or a flop. The generation of revenue is also not linear. So, for an artiste, the [medium via which] revenue is direct, is good. Gradually, people are trying to learn the tropes required to succeed in each platform. The main motive is to entertain, that’s it.”

Up next for him is a musical with Ankur Tewari. He lights up while discussing the project, stating, “Ankur and I had a terrific time working on that show. It will be released soon, and I’m sure people will love it. Apart from this, I will also release an album with different composers. I have created a band with two young musicians named Shrey Gupta and Harshit Mishra.”

Jaideep Ahlawat, Shefali Shah, and Swanand Kirkire

(L-R) Sanjay Routray, Huma Qureshi, Sikandar Kher, Rajkummar Rao, Vasan Bala, Radhika Apte, Dikssha Jyote Routray and Sarita Patil at the success party of Monica, O My Darling

Matchbox Shots, the production house that backed the recently released neo-noir crime comedy thriller Monica O My Darling, directed by Vasan Bala, has received a lot of praise. The film follows the National Award-winning film Andhadhun, which was directed by Sriram Raghavan that broke new ground in Indian storytelling. Having set the tone with their unique cinematic sensibilities, partners Sanjay Routray, Sarita Patil and Dikssha Jyote Routray are all set to unveil a stellar lineup of quality stories for OTT platforms and theatres. Their next project is Scoop, which is a dramatic adaptation of a real-life journalistic incident by director Hansal Mehta.

Sanjay Routray said, “We are overwhelmed by the love Monica O My Darling received after Andhadhun. Regardless of the genre, we pull out all stops to support the project. While Matchbox Shots is proud to be working with filmmakers like Hansal Mehta, Anubhav Sinha, Navdeep Singh and Vasan Bala who have made their mark, we are also excited about our new voices like Avinash Arun, Varun Grover, Pankaj Kumar, Smita Singh and Abhijeet Singh Parmar.”

Sarita Patil says, “Good stories have no geographical limitations, which is why we are collaborating internationally with Mammoth Screen, UK, the producers of The Serpent, the hit show on Charles Sobhraj. Dikssha Jyote Routray is creating a limited series based on the 2008 Goa murder case of a young UK teenager Scarlett Keeling with them.”

As for now, the partners are delighted after filmmaker Avinash Arun’s Three Of Us premiered at IFFI, Goa, in the Indian Panorama section, while Varun Grover’s debut feature film All India Rank will soon be screened at an international film festival. Amidst the celebrations, the partners continue working hard to make the production house a perfect home for storytellers.