Dulquer has no starry airs: Karwaan director Akarsh Khurana

Set to release on August 3, Karwaan, a film about the mix-up of two dead bodies and three lost souls, looks like a slice-of-life, mad-cap comedy. Director Akarsh Khurana, who has earlier written the scripts of Krrish, Krrish 3 and Kites, spearheads the theatre company Akvarious Productions, too. In a conversation with THE WEEK, he talks about his fascination for comedy, collaborating with Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan and Mithila Palkar, and why one shouldn't get into the box-office numbers. Excerpts:

When and how did the idea for Karwaan come?

The basic idea for the film came from director Bejoy Nambiar. It was during the shooting of the film, David (2013), that he told me and Adhir Bhat about the mix-up of two dead bodies, and a person's journey to reclaim the right body. We liked the idea a lot and immediately started fleshing it out, sketching out the characters. Later, Husain Dalal saw the script and really liked it. He came on board to write the dialogues. The script was ready almost three-and-a-half years ago. For almost two-and-a-half years, we were trying to get it made, till finally, Ronnie Screwvala and Priti Rathi Gupta got together and decided to make it.

It's a slice-of-life road movie, but watching the trailer you know that there's a lot of comedy in there too. Your last film, High Jack, was a stoner comedy, and most of your theatre work has been comic in nature, so have the web-series. What draws your interest to comedy as a genre?

It stems a lot from the theatre work that I started doing. I have had my theatre company (Akvarious Productions) since 2000 and in the first 10 years, we tried to do as many different kinds of plays as possible. We realised that when we were doing contemporary comedies, at times, even meaningful comedies with contemporary voices, they did well. Those turned out to be plays that lasted longer. Theatre, per se, has helped shape our voices very clearly. Comedy with a little bit of emotion, or comedy with a message, or maybe a comedy rooted in sorrow... we realised were getting more audience. People came to watch it, and also think about the subjects dealt with in those plays. So, when I started writing independently (for different mediums), for example when I wrote TVF Tripling with Sumeet Vyas, I used all of that—the humour that we were using in theatre and humour from our lives.

As you said, you have been associated with theatre for a long time as writer, director, producer, and have just started directing films. What are the differences between the two mediums?

In terms of the process, the two mediums are completely different. Filmmaking is a far more technical process. There are so many departments working on so many different things. It is far more complex compared to theatre. But the one thing that is common, which is also perhaps why I enjoy it so much, is the process of working with the actors. It is always the same irrespective of whether it's television, web-shows, films or theatre. The interaction with the artistes to get them to bring their own personalities to telling a story that you want to tell, is a beautiful thing that doesn't really change. And I enjoy that part a lot.

The three main actors in Karwaan are from three different backgrounds. It's Dulquer's debut in Hindi, Mithila is more popular for her work in the digital space, and Irrfan is a veteran. How did you get the three of them?

Both Dulquer and Irrfan were suggestions that came from the producers. Shubh Shivadasani, who is the associate producer on the film, suggested Dulquer. I had only seen a few films in which he has acted. After the suggestion, I watched a couple more and realised that he has a tremendous range and that he would be the right fit. We had a lovely meeting with him, and he was on. We had never imagined that we could get Irrfan in the film. But Ronnie suggested his name, and asked us to go and meet him. At worst, he would have said no, but we didn't mind taking that chance. It was a big opportunity to just go and narrate to him and when he said yes, it was a dream come true. Mithila is someone who I have known for a while. But she gave an audition which I really like, but then we wanted to make sure that for Tanya's part there are more auditions. After auditioning 30 to 40 more girls, Mithila was still in the top three choices. That's how she came on board.

And, what was the energy like on the set, considering the three actors had different backgrounds, plus you from a theatre background?

Between each other, there was a sense of curiosity about each other's work. Like, Irrfan was very interested in talking to Dulquer about Malayalam cinema—the films he should watch in Malayalam, the good directors and writers who are worth working with. Both Dulquer and Irrfan were very curious to know about the internet world where Mithila is a star. They were talking a lot about the content on digital. Dulquer has already been a fan of Irrfan, so there was that equation, too. And fortunately, they all got along quite well. It was nice perhaps that they came from different worlds, because then there was so much to talk about and understand what exactly works, what doesn't.

As far as I am concerned, I have known Mithila for sometime now. Dulquer is a very easy person to get along with, he doesn't have any starry airs and is quite comfortable to talk. It might have been his first Hindi film, but he is a very experienced actor. The fact that we were shooting in Kerala (Kochi and Ooty), maybe that also helped because that's his home ground. With Irrfan, you are always a little intimidated because he is so senior and you respect him so much. But in three days of shoot, we realised that he is very accessible and very open. And I guess he sensed that people on the set seem to know what they were doing, that probably put his mind at ease, and everyone opened up with him. He also enjoyed being in Kerala.

He has been in London for his treatment. Are you in touch with him and has he watched the film?

We have been in touch with him on and off. In fact, he watched the final cut of the film a couple of weeks ago. He was happy with it and spoke to me after watching that. But Ronnie has been in touch with him constantly.

You have had a constant collaborator in co-writer Adhir Bhat. Your play Dhumrapaan (written by Bhat, directed by Khurana) has been doing so well. How has that partnership evolved?

It has to be theatre. Both Adhir and Husain Dalal have worked closely with me in theatre. I think there is a different kind of joy when you grow together. Plus, our sensibilities matched, so we get along very well. We try and work with each other as much as we can from time to time.

You have been working in almost all the forms of entertainment that exists. How do you manage?

A lot of people ask me how I manage to juggle between so many things. But a very interesting thing is that I began my theatre company in 2000, and I started writing Krrish in 2003, besides the assisting and stuff. So, since the beginning, for me, things have been going on parallelly. It's not a choice, this is the only life that I have known ever. I have been simultaneously doing films and theatre, and when the digital world opened up, that too. It's a way of life for me. I start getting nervous when I don't do too many things.

There's always a pressure to perform at the box-office when it comes to movies, theatre not so much. Does the pressure affect you?

It's not completely true about theatre either. As theatre producers, especially when some plays are on a big budget, the number of shows [we get] and the number of people who come to watch it, is very critical. Of course, the stakes are not as high because the amount of money [invested] is much less. But the feeling of putting money in something that has to recover its cost, is there. I have been through that, maybe at a smaller level. The bottom line is that economics plays a very important part. The stakes in films, and eventually the pressure, is a lot higher. Fortunately or unfortunately, the box-office numbers are equated with the performance of the film. There is a lot of pressure, but I think getting caught in the pressure is not going to lead to anything productive. One has to just keep making the best possible film one can, with honesty and sincerity, and hope that it appeals to audiences and translates into success.