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EXCLUSIVE: Driving Licence remake; "Malayalam audience doesn't appreciate too much drama"- Raj Mehta
Recently, during an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, director, Raj Mehta explained how his approach to storytelling changed for the Malayalam film, Driving Licence remake.
Driving Licence, a 2019 Malayalam hit starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu is being remade in Hindi. The film's official Hindi remake, titled Selfiee is directed by Raj Mehta and produced by Karan Johar, and it stars Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles. Recently, during an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, the Jug Jugg Jeeyo fame director, Raj Mehta explained how his approach to storytelling changes for a certain audience when it comes to remakes.
"You have to adapt it for a certain audience. The Malayalam audience is different, so I will give you an example, there were a few scenes that we were rewriting...like the Malayalam audience doesn't appreciate too much drama and we love it here so I was trying to adapt it to that. So there's a scene where two protagonists come face to face so the way it happens in the original film was very, I was talking to Prithviraj (Sukumaran) done like it comes and goes away and when I was watching, I was like this is the main conflict, there were no drama touches and the way I shot it, the way I approached it was high speed. Like they look at each other, drama...so it is about adapting the scene. If its a story you like, you have to adapt it and spend time writing, add all the other elements of it and then present it, pitch it in a way that is attractive to the audience you are catering to," said Raj Mehta who sat down with other most celebrated Bollywood filmmakers like Anees Bazmee, Abhishek Pathak, Jasmeet K Reen, Anvita Dutt and Amar Kaushik to discuss all things cinema.
Adding to Raj Mehta's point on remakes, the director of Drishyam 2, Abhishek Pathak said, "When a remake is hit in certain language, there is more additional pressure when you take up a remake and want to make it for a certain audience."
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Earlier, director Raj Mehta had clarified about the film being an adaptation and not a scene-by-scene remake.
For the unversed, Driving Licence Hindi remake will be co-produced by Prithviraj Sukumaran. As earlier Pinkvilla revealed, while Akshay plays the role of a superstar in this edge-of-the-seat drama, Emraan Hashmi will be seen as a cop, who happens to be a die-hard fan of the Khiladi. The film is an ego battle between the two powerful personalities, which keeps the audience on the edge of their seat.
Malayalam film Driving Licence
Directed by Lal Jr., written by Sachy and produced by Prithviraj Productions, the original version did not just entertain the audience but also delivered a wholesome community experience. Lead actors of the film, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj play the star-fan roles admirably well.
Did you know Akshay Kumar suggested Driving Licence?
"Akshay sir was the one who suggests me the film, I watched it and really liked it. After that, I have not seen the film because I wanted to adapted the plot for our audience," director Raj Mehta revealed in a throwback interview with Pinkvilla.
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