The philosophy of "Do what you like" in “3 Idiots” came back to haunt filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani in a funny way when son Vir Hirani used it to justify his decision of choosing acting over filmmaking as a career.
Hirani, who had initially nudged his son towards direction, said he was taken aback when the latter decided to pursue acting despite showing promise behind the camera.
"He was in school, he learnt (filmmaking) by himself, and he was making short films, and very good short films. I was surprised when one day he came and said, ‘I don't want to make a film’. So, I said ‘Okay, don't make it, no problem, what do you want to do?’ "I thought he wanted to do something else but he said he wants to act. I was like, ‘What has happened?’ because he had worked with me on ‘Sanju’ for six months, so I think something happened to him, watching Ranbir (Kapoor) perform and all,” Hirani told PTI in an interview.
The director, who has now launched Vir in the upcoming series "Pritam and Pedro", admitted that he tried to “dissuade” his son from acting.
“I had never seen him act, so I was totally pushing him to this side (filmmaking). He heard me out and then he said, ‘You made ‘3 Idiots’ in which you said that you should do what you like,’ so it (the dialogue from my own film) came and hit me,” Hirani recalled.
Left with little to argue, the filmmaker, an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where he studied film editing, said he asked Vir to learn the craft.
"After that I couldn't (tell him anything). I just told him don't just get up and say that I want to do it, do theatre, go and learn somewhere. So, then he spent five to six years doing all that." When asked if he gave any piece of advice to his son as a senior director, Hirani joked, saying, “I can give a piece of advice to every actor, but not to my son. Kids don’t listen to their father, that’s the truth.” In “Pritam and Pedro”, Vir, who earlier acted in short films such as “Yoon Hota Toh”, “The Doctor Will See You Now” and “Apna Apna Andaz”, will feature alongside Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani, who were an integral part of Hirani's “Munna Bhai” franchise.
"Pritam and Pedro” is the first OTT project from Hirani, known for movies such as “Munna Bhai MBBS”, “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”, “3 Idiots”, “PK”, “Sanju” and “Dunki”. The show, based on cyber security, is directed by Avinash Arun of “Pataal Lok” fame.
The filmmaker, who serves as a creator, co-writer and producer, described exploring long-format storytelling as challenging and said the streaming platforms demand a certain pace and style to maintain the audience’s fleeting attention span.
"I realised that you have to write it differently. Like, you have the liberty to open up multiple tracks as you will see later (in the show), which you can't do in a film. Also, you have to keep creating hooks so that people don't leave the show, every 10 minutes something important has to happen, or at least something very important has to happen at the end of the episode,” Hirani said.
"Pritam and Pedro” revolves around two people: a seasoned cop (Warsi) who prefers old-school methods and a tech-savvy guy (Vir Hirani) who relies on modern technology for investigations, as they navigate their partnership in solving crimes.
Hirani said he is not a frequent consumer of the crime genre and watches very little content overall, whether on the big screen or on OTT. Instead, he was drawn purely by the stories penned by Amit Dubey in his books, “Hidden Files” and “Return of the Trojan Horse”.
“I got fascinated with the short stories I read about crime, like how it's done. But after writing it, I had shown it to people to ensure this hasn't been made earlier... As you progress in the series, you will see that there’s a subtext,” he said.
"Pritam and Pedro” will premiere on JioHotstar on July 3. It also stars Vikrant Massey and Mona Singh, with cameo appearances by Sanjay Dutt and former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag.
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