Raj Mehta on Jug Jugg Jeeyo: ‘The film portrays a mature side of love'

Director Raj Mehta struck gold with his debut film Good Newwz (2019) which was headlined by huge stars like Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. While his first film revolved around a mix-up at the fertility clinic, his upcoming film  JugJugg Jeeyo, a family comedy drama starring Anil Kapoor , Neetu Kapoor , Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani, is a tale of divorce – not one but two generations longing for it. Mehta, whose next is Akshay Kumar-starrer Selfiee (official remake of Prithviraj’s Malayalam comedy-drama, Driving Licence) opens up on the challenges making a family entertainer, the “shift in viewership habits post pandemic” and box office collection jitters, desire to venture into action-comedy and more. Produced by Dharma Productions and Viacom18 studios, Jugjugg Jeeyo releases theatrically on 24 June.

Excerpts from the interview:

Jug Jugg Jeeyo comes across as a wholesome family entertainer but what are the challenges when you are doing a film that appears easy-breezy, has a big star cast but then you don’t want to get repetitive?

Every film has its own sets of challenges but this one specifically had because you wonder what new you bring to the table in terms of a family drama and a story and it starts from having a story that is unique like a one-liner. From that one-liner it is easier to build on to that. Like in  Good Newwz  the one liner was what if two couples have a sperm mix-up that are different from each other. You come up with situations and it keeps it entertaining and yet emotional and try and say something within that space. If you have an interesting concept then it is slightly easier to build on from that.

But don’t you think a lot has been revealed in the trailer?

It is good that you bring that up because we had a lot of back and forth about what to reveal and what not to reveal. It is always a very challenging thing. We tried a version where we don’t reveal the plot points but then we felt the trailer seemed a bit ambiguous about what the film is all about. You have to tell the people this is what the story is, especially in times today where audiences are very selective about what they will go to the theatre and watch. If we try to hold back we will risk not getting the audience to understand what the film is about and its entertainment quotient. Hopefully when you see the film in the theatre you realise that it is actually a lot more than what is shown in the trailer.

You have been with this film for a long time. All of you have been on it pre-covid, post covid and some of you were also tested positive. How difficult was it to keep up the morale of the whole team?

We started the film right after the first lockdown, we started shooting for it after staying home for so long. We were a little scared because we didn’t know where it was going to head. But we were also very excited to finally be shooting. I remember shooting a little ad with Varun in his house during the lockdown and we were happy that we had a camera and we were doing something. But then we had another delay because a second wave came in which was really bad. But morale was not so much a problem; it was easy to get the team back. What was difficult for me as a director was to see to it that every actor gets into their character and then you have a break, then you bring them back and ensure that the performance is consistent, film is consistent. Film should not look like it was shot over a period of time.

How was the experience working with different generations of actors?

I don’t think generation matters, it is just that they are different actors. We can say that there is a difference between say Anil Kapoor and Akhay Kumar. Anil likes to rehearse more, be more prepared. He takes the script and then writes down each line of his, memorises it, whereas Akshay is more spontaneous. Talking about Varun, this is my third film with him. I have worked on Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania as chief assistant director and with Kiara I worked on Good Newwz. We treated Varun like an AD on sets basically (laughs). I was kidding. With Varun and Kiara I have a friendly relationship where I could tell them a bit informally to do things that I wanted. In my very first film I got to work with Akshay and Kareena and I had the same moment with Anil sir and Neetu ma’am. You have to be respectful and yet realise you are the captain of the ship so you have to get what you need to get done.

Also, while doing this film I realised that Varun is actually a younger version of Anil sir, or the latter is the older version of the former. They are so passionate that after we’d packed up at 6pm I would start getting calls from both of them to discuss the next day’s scenes.

Was it difficult convincing Neetu Kapoor to do the film?

Yes, but thankfully Karan (Johar) had already done half my job before I even met her and narrated the story. She was unsure, she was a little nervous because Rishi sir had just passed away. She did take some time to think about it but when she heard the story she was on.

Is there stress about the box office collection considering the current scenario when larger-than-life pan India films from South are dominating the market?

Numbers are always important but times are such that good films unfortunately aren’t doing great numbers. I saw Jayeshbhai Jordaar couple of days ago and I really enjoyed the film. I don’t think today anyone knows what would be the fate of the film. Though I don’t agree that only certain kinds of films are working, I think just good films are working in whatever genre or category it belongs to, whether larger-than-life or slice-of-life. But yes, post pandemic there has been a shift in viewership habits and we have not fully understood how and why it has changed. Hopefully, in the next few months and over the next few releases we will find out if there is actually one type of film that the people are watching. The Pan India films that worked are really good films. There have been so many regional films – Punjabi films, Marathi films that are working. Now what has become most important is the trailer of the film, people these days see the trailer and decide whether they want to go watch the film or not.

The kind of conversations that we are having right now, do you think we have become too analytical about everything?

Yes, we have, I agree 100 percent. We as an industry, filmmakers, have started analysing a lot partly because certain films have not worked which we were expecting to work. That is the human tendency to now try figuring out what went wrong, how do we change things and the makers have started analysing more than before. But when it comes to the audience, if they like something, they feel they want to watch, they will do that.

Kiara said that you had to tell her and Varun to be more mature while shooting …

Yes that is true. It was very easy for them to go into that lovey-dovey couple space and I had to keep telling them that, ‘Guys you have been married for five years, you are going through divorce, stop acting like … I had to pull Varun out of that romantic mode and had to tell him, ‘Varun, here you are not Humpty, be more mature’. When you shoot for one long schedule everybody is in that mode, they are in their character but when you take three months off and everyone goes their own way and you have to bring them back, it becomes a bit difficult. But they are very understanding and flexible actors.

Does Jug Jugg Jeeyo break any kind of stereotypes that already exist in Bollywood movies when it comes to love, marriage, couples…?

The film portrays the slightly more mature side of love which happens after marriage and we have also dwelled into the dynamics in the marriages in the younger generation as opposed to marriages in our parents’ generation and what love meant in after marriage then. It is not that typical young couple romance, it is a slightly more mature romance that we have tried to portray.

How did you zero upon the film’s title?

That was Karan’s suggestion absolutely; he read the script and decided. The film was earlier called Happy Anniversary but the film is so desi, mitti se judi hui, so we felt Jug Jugg Jeeyo is a relevant title.

Since the film talks about marriage, divorce…was there any pressure of what society approves and disapproves and was there any fear of offending people? 

Maybe at the writing stage we were a bit careful…now we are in times [social media> where we must have made some ‘mistake’ that people will point out. Something will definitely come out (laughs). So when you are writing you think about what people might say. You are extra careful that this association might come up if you show this. But then again you want to be true to the story and if a scene requires something then you don’t compromise.

You have directed two comedy family dramas and your next is Selfiee with Akshay Kumar which is again a comedy, what are the other genres that would interest you?

Action-comedy. I am not married, I don’t have kids and my first film was about pregnancy and now my second is about divorces. Action is one genre I really want to do and anything I do from here-on will always involve comedy because I feel that laughing is very important.

Seema Sinha is a Mumbai-based mainstream entertainment journalist who has been covering Bollywood and television industry for over two decades. Her forte is candid tell-all interviews, news reporting and newsbreaks, investigative journalism and more. She believes in dismissing what is gossipy, casual, frivolous and fluff.

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