Filmmaker Luv Ranjan, looking forward to the release of his film “Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety”, says his movies capture the north Indian milieu because it helps him remain true to his stories and his world.
Whether it is “Pyaar Ka Punchnama”, “Akaash Vani” and “Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety” – Ranjan has created a niche for himself with movies that encapsulate the conflict of the modern relationship among youngsters and various shades of the city Delhi.
There’s a monotony. Is he bothered about it’
Ranjan told IANS here: “Delhi… Uttar Pradesh… In short, the northern part (of India) is my world. Why should I change the city just for the sake of it’
“The way I know Delhi and can capture its nuance, I doubt if I can do the same with Mumbai. Neither have my stories demanded that so far. This is how I am trying to stay true to my story and my world.
“If you find my films somewhere similar, that is because all the stories are set in Delhi. So, the colour, tone, people and their speaking style seem similar,” said the filmmmaker, who belongs to the capital city.
Ranjan says credit must be given to filmmakers like Dibakar Banerjee and Shoojit Sircar who gave Delhi prominence in Hindi cinema from 2006.
While films like “Khosla Ka Ghosla” and “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!” brought a huge change in the new-age Hindi cinema from 2006, the trend continued with movies like “Pyaar Ka Punchnama” and “Vicky Donor”, “Piku” and “Pink” the trend continued. And in all these films, Delhi city played an important character.
There’s also Imtiaz Ali, whose films feature Delhi.
Ranjan said: “As a filmmaker, I do not find that ‘sur’, that element, in Mumbai. Keeping those big budget films aside, I think even our audience love watching stories of the small towns of north India.
“We have examples like ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’, ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ from last year. So, yes, I am not planning to shift the city of my story soon.”
Another common factor in his movies is the tussle between friendship and love in all his films. Ranjan said friends are the new extended family members in a modern relationship, and that’s what he attempts to capture.
“Prioritizing one over another between two equally important people in our life is a task and that is one of the quite interesting elements for me to explore.
“In modern time, where people are migrating all over places, friends are equally important as family. My film is a reflection of that.
“So in my film, I am trying to capture that pulse of relationship where the tone of the story is very relatable. I am showing a new perspective of our regular relation without giving ‘gyaan’, in a light-hearted manner,” said the filmmaker.
“Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety”, featuring Kartik Aaryan, Sunny Singh and Nushrat Bharucha, will release on February 23.
