Tamil remake of hit Hindi film Badhaai Ho is gearing up for theatrical release. RJ Balaji has co-written and co-directed, besides stepping into Ayushmann Khurrana's role from the original. In an exclusive conversation with Pinkvilla, RJ Balaji opens up on making a few major changes in the Tamil remake reasoning, 'sensibilities of the state is different than what it is in North.'
Speaking at length on the same, the multifaceted RJ Balaji said, "Badhaai Ho is a very good film but you cannot just translate the film totally into the other language, you have to remake the film. The sensibilities of the state are different from what it is in the North. Second thing, there are certain things in the film which personally, as a filmmaker (co-writer and co-director) I don't agree upon. For eg, the mother character in Badhaai Ho says abortion is a sin but to me, it is pro-choice. I don't believe abortion is a sin and since I don't believe that, I had to change that in the remake. Likewise, certain things from the film, we had to change for the Tamil version. And I think, it has come out well."
Tamil audiences like high point intervals, very massy but there was nothing much in the original version.
R Balaji
Also known for his stint as a cricket commentator, Balaji revealed that he didn't want actors Sathyaraj and Urvashi to copy Gajraj Rao and Neena Gupta from the original.
Asked if remakes are a bit tricky though you have a structure ready, the writer turned actor replies, "We have to create a new world and that world has to be believable for the people watching in Tamil Nadu. Yes, the film has a skeleton and a good structure and we don't have to do much with that but we had to create the world and artists that are relatable, that bit was very tricky. Also, we have India's 2 best actors Sathyaraj sir and Urvashi ma'am playing father and mother. Imagine asking them to do what Neeta Gupta ma'am or Gajra sir have done in the film? The first day when I went to the sets, I told them I don't want you to do any of what they (Neena and Gajraj Rao) did in the film. I cannot say to them 'please do this scene like Neena Gupta or such' because that would be an injustice to these (Sathyaraj and Urvashi) actors. When these 2 came on board, it became a very different flavoured film, the humour has come out even better than the original. Original, I loved the film that's why agreed to do this remake but it wasn't tricky as we created a new world."
The LGK actor is currently living in a manifested moment. Spilling the beans on the same, "When the trailer was released in 2018, I called a leading producer in Tamil saying I want to do a remake of this. He said no it is a big film and they will quote a lot of money for the remake. So, I thought chuck it and I started working on my other films. Last year, Boney Kapoor sir suddenly called me and told me we have Badhaai Ho rights and want to make this film with you. I wanted to do this 3 years ago and it came to me. He mentioned to me another director's name and I was ok but I wanted to write the film. He was fine and happy but after a few days, he asked me to direct and write both."
Asked if he took any reference from Ayushmann Khurrana's character or spoke to him in order to step into his shoes for the remake, the Mookuthi Amman director shares, "I didn't speak to Ayushmaan but I spoke to the writers who were involved in the film because we were little confused about the interval part of the film. We watched it 2-3 times on OTT but were not able to find out which was the interval point. Tamil audiences like high point intervals, very massy but there was nothing much in the original version. So yes we spoke to the writers about it but I didn't speak to Ayushmann Khurrana because, I thought, I should probably not do anything that he did in the film, but I ended up doing a few things which I liked about him in the OG version. He owns the frame like anything and more, the dialogue part, the silence, pause he takes between the two words is a big takeaway for me as an actor because my energy is too high onscreen but here, I had to melt down and whenever I would do that, Sathyraj sir would say, 'I saw Ayushmann.'"
The RJ-turned-actor-turned-director adds, "I didn't want people to compare and even if they compare, I don't want them to say that 'Ayushmann did a better job'. This is my best work so far as an actor, I think. I usually don't look at my stuff when movie releases but with Veetla Vishesham, I'm pretty confident."
