In the upcoming comedy Jhootha Kahin Ka, two students (Omkar Kapoor and Sunny Singh) travel to Mauritius and decide to settle down in the island nation. However, the quickest route to avail citizenship is to marry a Mauritian national. This spins a web of lies which ensnares several others, including Rishi Kapoor as ‘Papaji’ and Jimmy Sheirgill as ‘Tommy Bhaiya’.
Helmed by Smeep Kang, best known for directing the Punjabi comedies Chak De Phatte (2008) and Carry on Jatta (2012), Jhootha Kahin Ka is, in a way, a Hindi sequel of Carry on Jatta. After the success of Carry on Jatta, Kang wrote its sequel but the project got stalled when actor-politician Gurpreet Ghuggi, who had appeared in the first film, got busy with state elections. Unwilling to shelve his script, Kang reworked it in Hindi. “Since the characters were Punjabi, it was an easy rewrite. We introduced a Bihari character, Tommy, to make the film more Pan-Indian,” he says. Interestingly, Kang later made Carry on Jatta 2 with a different script.
Jhootha Kahin Ka pays homage to Rishi Kapoor’s 1979 eponymous film, co-starring Neetu Singh. “Rishi sir was delighted with the idea. The film holds nostalgic value for him, as he and Neetu ma’am were engaged on the day of its Delhi premiere,” says Kang. This is Kapoor’s first release since his move to New York last September for his cancer treatment.
Updating us on the actor’s health, the director shares, “His cancer is in a nascent stage. I saw him in good shape. He is doing well. We are all looking forward to his return.”The filmmaker pegs Jhootha Kahin Ka as a comedy of errors. Unlike ‘no-brainer’ comedies, which utilise slapstick or in-your-face humour, the genre requires closer surveillance of characters and plot. “In confusion comedy, the humour comes from dramatic irony. You need to remember who had said what and how others are interpreting it. It is a slightly more mentally demanding genre, both for the viewer and the makers,” he says.
Speaking about his comedic influences, Kang says, “William Shakespeare is the obvious godfather of this genre. I admire the middle-class, family-oriented films made by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, especially Gol Maal (1979). There’s also French filmmaker Francis Veber, who makes wonderful movies [The Dinner Game, Ruby & Quentin].”
Kang, a graduate in Chemical Engineering from Punjab University, made his acting debut in the 1999 film Mahaul Theek Hai, directed by Jaspal Bhatti. Since then, the 46-year-old filmmaker has witnessed the Punjabi industry to expand its territories.
“My first film came out in just six prints, which travelled around the state. Today, even the smallest Punjabi film is released in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Leaving out the big star vehicles, our films have started competing with Bollywood releases. Earlier, Punjabi filmmakers mostly dished out comedies. Today, even action and serious films, such as last year’s Qismat, are doing well.”