Director Mudassar Aziz is back again to tickle your funny bones with the sequel to his romantic comedy Happy Bhag Jayegi. While Jimmy Shergill, Piyush Mishra and Ali Fazal will be seen taking forward their roles from the first part, this time Happy’s role will be essayed by Sonakshi Sinha.Slated for August 24 release, Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi also has Punjabi singer-actor Jassie Gill and Aparshakti Khurana in prominent roles, and Diana Penty in a special appearance.
Though Sonakshi’s last few films—Noor, Akira, Force 2 and Ittefaq—didn’t do well at the box office, the actor is now looking forward to the rom-com and says she has got a good feedback from audience on the trailer.
Not many know that she was Aziz’s first choice for the role of Happy. “Mudassar had approached me to play the lead in Part 1 of the film, but I was busy with Akira and could not adjust my dates. I had a feeling that he would approach me for the sequel and he did. It’s a wonderful happy clean film. I have watched Part 1 and I loved it. He gives each character its due. The entire mould was there and I had to just fit into my character,” she says.
Jimmy, whose last film was Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3, says, “The film is an extension of the first part just like Tanu Weds Manu. The story had a scope to move ahead. And when a film is a hit and the producer makes money from it, he decides to make a sequel. And I still play Daman Singh Bagga who wants to marry Happy.”But in the film, Bagga has to go all the way to China to find Happy this time.
Though this was Sonakshi’s first film with Aziz and producer Anand L Rai, she says it was a great experience and the team was like one big happy family.
Jimmy, who was a part of Rai’s first film Strangers and has also worked with him several times, says, “I and Mr Rai have formed a bond over the years. When he asked me for Happy Bhag Jayegi, I didn’t take it seriously. But the role turned out so well and was appreciated.”
The confusion in the film is because of two girls—Diana and Sonakshi—of the same name (Happy).
About Diana’s extended role in the film, Sonakshi says, “I was so glad that she was a part of this film. I was looking forward to working with her. We have a couple of scenes together.”
Adding that it was fun working with both Sonakshi and Diana, Jimmy says, “They are wonderful girls and they have their own quirks. They are both talented and come with their own energy on the sets. It was a great experience.”
Sonakshi will be seen playing a Punjabi character for the second time after Son of Sardar. “I was waiting to play a Punjabi character. I have a lot of Punjabi traits in me. I am always happy like them and love to dance.”
While Jimmy is a born Punjabi, and Punjab is in his blood, he doesn’t want to restrict himself to area or language-specific roles. “I try to do something different every time. The moment directors approach me with some different role, I grab it. I enjoy the roles I do. As an actor you are always nervous while doing a new role. Like, we wanted to do Mukkabaaz differently. So, Anurag Kashyap and I sat down and worked on the character to make it look different from the typical Hindi-movie villain. When you know the role, you just get into the mould and it becomes easier,” says the actor.
Most of the actors say that comedy as a genre is difficult to attempt but both Sonakshi and Jimmy say that they enjoy this genre the most. “I find it easy. It comes from the person that I am. I love to laugh and make people laugh. I don’t take things seriously in my life,” says Sonakshi. While Jimmy adds, “You have to go with the flow of the film. You cannot force yourself into comedy films, it has to come naturally.”
Sonakshi has just returned from the successful ‘Dabangg Tour’, which she says was a fantastic experience. “We visited 20 cities and the entire group made it more exciting and I love performing on stage,” she says. Sonakshi has Abhishek Verman’s Kalank in her kitty. “Later I will start shooting for Dabangg 3 as soon as Salman is done with Bharat,” she says.
Expressing his desire to work with Gulzar again, Jimmy says, “I will start shooting for Luv Ranjan’s next De De Pyaar De, which is being directed by Akiv Ali. Meanwhile, work on some Punjabi films is also going on.”