Stars help, but script vital, says ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ producer

NEW DELHI - After series of flops, producer Arindam Chaudhuri is now concentrating on script and screenplay and says his forthcoming film “Do Dooni Chaar” will connect with masses because of the powerful storyline that puts the spotlight on conflicting issues in a middle-class man’s life.

Chaudhuri feels “Do Dooni Chaar” deals with regular middle-class issues as shown in movies like “Khosla Ka Ghosla”.

“The story is about the sweet journey of a middle-class man from a two-wheeler to a four-wheeler. It is about how he copes with the demands of his children and at the same time competes with neighbours,” Chaudhuri. “The movie has pure Punjabi feel and is very Delhi-centric,” Chaudhuri told IANS.

Releasing Friday, the social comedy is the directorial debut of Habib Faisal, and Neetu and Rishi Kapoor play main leads in it. He admits it will be a big challenge for them to get the audience to theatres.

“Yes, big stars definitely help in bringing the audience to the theatre, but if your script is not good, audience will not relate to it. Getting a star is not an issue, but getting a good script definitely is. We have confidence in our script,” he said.

He admits his last production ventures “The Last Lear”, “Mithya”, “Faltu” and “Rok Sako Toh Rok Lo” haven’t done well at the box-office because they lacked good script and tight screenplay.

“Do Dooni Chaar” higlights the poblems faced by middle-class men through the protagnoist Mr. Duggal, played by Rishi.

“In the movie, the character of Mr. Duggal, who is a teacher, has come out very strongly. He is an underpaid man who throughout his life sees his students getting fat pay packages. The common question the teacher asks when he looks at his student, who is just 25 and owns a car, is why at 55 he is still riding a scooter?”

“So, his way of looking at the life is different than a normal man and that is what the movie is all about. It is about a middle-class teacher who deals with these conflicts in life,” he said.

Chaudhuri candidly admits Neetu was not the first choice for this role.

“While we finished with the script, we knew the person who fits in the character was Rishiji, though we would have loved to have Neetuji opposite him but he said that she won’t be interested,” he said.

“So we approached Juhi Chawla, but for some reasons she didn’t do it. One day Rishiji asked Neetuji to hear the script and you won’t believe, she liked the script in one go and said yes immediately.”

The movie is made at a budget of Rs.70 million and Chaudhari says after this they are planning to go big.

“We are shifting strategies as we have learnt from our mistakes in the past. Our focus is not only on a good story idea, but on a tight script, with good dialogues and screenplay,” said Chaudhuri.