His creation - the mischievious Kanpur cop Chulbul Pandey - has almost
become a fixture in every moviegoers' memory. And with "Dabangg 2",
scriptwriter Dileep Shukla promises to recreate the magic, despite the fact that his cowriter, director Abhinav Kashyap,
is not a part of the sequel. "Ek insaan ke jaane se itna farak nahi
padta," shrugs Shukla, and adds, "A film is a creation of many people's
thoughts, ideas and inspirations. You mark my words, "Dabangg 2" will be
great."
Confident words, no doubt, and
according to Shukla what adds to the magic of the "Dabangg" franchisee
is its UP connect. Indeed, Shukla, who himself hails from Lucknow, says
there is so much that he has seen and felt of the city and its environs
that he can spin filmi yarns about the area all his life. "Itna colour hai yahaan ki life mein," he says in explanation, "Our culture, bolne ka lahzaa...
all of it is very interesting. UP ki life can provide masala to any
movie and that is what people are looking for. They want masala."
Indian films need that kind of variety. Woh hamaare mizaz mein hai. Even in the food we eat, there is such variety, nahi hai toh maangenge," he adds. And hence, his hometown's motif will continue in the films Shukla scripts. Talking about "Dabangg 2", Shukla reaffirms what the filmmakers have been promising all this while, that parts of the film will be shot in Lucknow and/or Kanpur. "Of course, we plan to come here and shoot for "Dabangg 2", he insists, even though there were reports to the contrary some time ago. "We are all for real locations. I have not even bothered to rename actual locations in my film. For instance, there was this Bajariya Thana in Kanpur which retaines its name in "Dabangg 2". Why should I change names, I'm not writing anything controversial."
Shukla may be keen to stick to real names and locations while penning a film, but pen a reality-based film he will not, he insists. "I would never want to make a film on a real incident. That's not my style. Why would I want to offer to my viewers a slice of life, don't they already have it around them?" smiles Shukla, even as he takes in the continued reports of Fiza and air hostess Geetika Sharma suicides on the telly. "I will always want to make people laugh. Say for instance, ek project mila ki ek ladki hai who wants to get a job, but in the correct manner. I will talk about it, but in a manner which is funny and yet manages to tell her story. That's my kind of film," Shukla adds.
Talking of his own Lucknow connect, Deepak goes on, "Yaheen Alambagh mein ghar hua karta tha mera. I have studied here. I was heavily involved in theatre and even directed a few plays. Phir pata laga logon ko mera kaam pasand aaya, so I thought of moving to Mumbai. Socha achcha kaam bade parde pe aur achche se dikhega. But yes, the initial years were full of struggle. Ab, I can say I have adjusted." With an impressive line-up which includes hits like "Damini", "Andaz Apna Apna", "Ghayal" and the "Dabangg" films, not to mention the critically acclaimed recent release "Gattu", 'adjusted' just about describes Deepak's position in Bollywood.
Shukla is justifiably proud of his UP antecedents, but interestingly, like most others who hail from Lucknow he is not exactly pining about the city losing its tehzeeb. He says, "If I were to write a film on Lucknow, my thrust would be on Lucknow mein kya bacha hai. If people insist that the city is losing its unique culture, I would want to stress on how the little that remains, carries on in modern day Lucknow, how people manage to keep in touch with their roots while striding ahead."
Indian films need that kind of variety. Woh hamaare mizaz mein hai. Even in the food we eat, there is such variety, nahi hai toh maangenge," he adds. And hence, his hometown's motif will continue in the films Shukla scripts. Talking about "Dabangg 2", Shukla reaffirms what the filmmakers have been promising all this while, that parts of the film will be shot in Lucknow and/or Kanpur. "Of course, we plan to come here and shoot for "Dabangg 2", he insists, even though there were reports to the contrary some time ago. "We are all for real locations. I have not even bothered to rename actual locations in my film. For instance, there was this Bajariya Thana in Kanpur which retaines its name in "Dabangg 2". Why should I change names, I'm not writing anything controversial."
Shukla may be keen to stick to real names and locations while penning a film, but pen a reality-based film he will not, he insists. "I would never want to make a film on a real incident. That's not my style. Why would I want to offer to my viewers a slice of life, don't they already have it around them?" smiles Shukla, even as he takes in the continued reports of Fiza and air hostess Geetika Sharma suicides on the telly. "I will always want to make people laugh. Say for instance, ek project mila ki ek ladki hai who wants to get a job, but in the correct manner. I will talk about it, but in a manner which is funny and yet manages to tell her story. That's my kind of film," Shukla adds.
Talking of his own Lucknow connect, Deepak goes on, "Yaheen Alambagh mein ghar hua karta tha mera. I have studied here. I was heavily involved in theatre and even directed a few plays. Phir pata laga logon ko mera kaam pasand aaya, so I thought of moving to Mumbai. Socha achcha kaam bade parde pe aur achche se dikhega. But yes, the initial years were full of struggle. Ab, I can say I have adjusted." With an impressive line-up which includes hits like "Damini", "Andaz Apna Apna", "Ghayal" and the "Dabangg" films, not to mention the critically acclaimed recent release "Gattu", 'adjusted' just about describes Deepak's position in Bollywood.
Shukla is justifiably proud of his UP antecedents, but interestingly, like most others who hail from Lucknow he is not exactly pining about the city losing its tehzeeb. He says, "If I were to write a film on Lucknow, my thrust would be on Lucknow mein kya bacha hai. If people insist that the city is losing its unique culture, I would want to stress on how the little that remains, carries on in modern day Lucknow, how people manage to keep in touch with their roots while striding ahead."
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