Shashank Khaitan: The Day I Decided To Make Dhadak ,I Knew There’s Going To Be A Section Which Is Going To Hate Me

We at UrbanAsian caught up with the director Shashank Khaitan of the upcoming love drama, Dhadak. He spoke at length about the film, its schedule, and the actors – Janhvi Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter. He also spoke about the comparisons between Sairat and Dhadak.

Read on to know all Shashank Kaithan had to say about Dhadak and more here:

When asked about what is the similarities between Dhadak and Sairat, the director said,

“We have definitely not played around with the essence of Sairat, I can assure everyone of that.”

He continued,

“The reason for making the film, is that when I saw the film I was so impacted by it that – it’s almost like aap kissi ke biography dekte ho ya kisse ke story sunte ho, you almost want to tell that story.”

And here’s how Dhadak happened,

“I immediately called up Karan (Johar) and said I want to make this story.”

He further elaborated,

“The next day we again saw the movie in the theatre and he’s like ‘It’s a very good film but if you want to make the same film I’m not interested in producing it, but if you have something new to say then let’s discuss it.’”

Post this Shashank said he presented Karan his idea of what he wants to retain from the original film and what new he wants to add and change.

Talking about his films, Khaitan said,

“I think I am trying to grow with every film”.

He continued,

“Humpty – which was my first film was a complete rom-com. With the second one Badrinath Ki Dulhania, I kind of explored some parts of what women empowerment means, battle of the sexes – had my take on it, it had a slightly darker essence but still had a happy ending. And with the third one I’m hoping I am growing more as a filmmaker.”

Taking about making Dhadak and having it compared to Sairat, the director said,

“This story impacted me, I wanted to tell the story in my own language, never bothering about what people had to say. The day I decided to make it, I knew there’s going to be a section which is going to hate me. There’s going to be a section going to say aapne humari Sairat barbad kiya hai.”

“When I see my film today – what I’ve made, I am extremely proud of what I have made. I am very, very sure people will see my sincerity and honesty of the subject I am dealing with as well. And if they still choose to criticize me – very welcome and if they praise me – very welcome. I’m just a story teller, I’m going to tell my story, people are open to their opinions.”

Elaborating on the comparison he said,

“120% (I was ready for the comparison). I mean the day I choose to make it, I knew it was going to happen. The day we decided we are going to retain the songs, we knew comparisons were going to happen.”

He continued,

“When I made Badri (Badrinath Ki Dukhania) it was compared to Humpty (Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania), when I made Humpty it was compared to DDLJ. Tomorrow if I make a warrior film it will be compared to Bahubali. Something or the other is always going to get compared.”

Talking about his two actors – Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor – Shashank had to say,

“To be honest, everybody who comes in (the industry) today, needs to be hardworking and dedicated, No one can survive in our industry if he isn’t hardworking and dedicated. What’s special about the two of them is that they have a certain understanding of cinema – and not just our cinema, but world cinema.”

He elaborated,

“They are very appreciative of cinema in a unique way, which I found very incredible.”

Talking about Ishaan and Janhvi being compared to their Marathi counterparts Shashank said,

“The two things we did for that were – I stopped watching Sairat and I told the two of them to stop watching the film – because when you see good films you want to try and copy that, and if you’re a good actor you can copy that expression – bad actors can’t copy that also.”

“After I write the film you behave like that. I changed the setting from Karwada, Maharashtra to Udaipur in Rajasthan – it changes. The grammar changes, the way the characters response to a situation changes. I wanted them to be true to that region.”

Talking about working with Janhvi post the demise of actress Sridevi, Shashank said,

“A lot of credit to her and her family. They were very dignified and strong and pretty much a week later -13 days later we started shooting again and they never once told us change the style of shooting. We on our end were trying to be as professional, because we are always there for her but we didn’t want to make a scene like manipulate anything. We stuck to our schedule. Credit to them they never told us to go easy, nor Janhvi ever said go easy or difficult. The first day she returned we did a proper 7 to 7 shift, we worked a 12 hour shift.”