Seven years ago, Abhinay Deo shot into the spotlight with his quirky hit Delhi Belly. On April 6, the filmmaker is back with Blackmail, a dark comedy about a husband (Irrfan Khan) who discovers his wife (played by Pink girl Kirti Kulhari) cheating on him and starts blackmailing her and her lover (Arunoday Singh). A t2 chat with Deo.     

You have a winner already in the Blackmail trailer!

I’ve got a lot of reactions, to be honest. But one of the reactions that was really funny was that a random man called me and said, ‘I really need to know how the film ends… please tell me what happens to the character (played by Irrfan Khan)’. He kept asking me and even said he wouldn’t tell anyone. I suspect this person is going through the same situation in his life! (Laughs) 

The film has the look and feel of Delhi Belly. Could we call it a companion piece to Delhi Belly?

Not really… it wouldn’t be fair to say that. You know, how the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) make films in the same genre, this is also an attempt to make a very, very different story in the same genre as Delhi Belly. I don’t really know if Blackmail is darker than Delhi Belly, but it’s definitely quirkier. Since the scenario is the same and so is the director, it’s obvious that the audience will find some similarities. It’s definitely a mad, mad ride. 

This was apparently the 48th script you read and you okayed it almost immediately. What hooked you?

For one, it was the kind of script that once I started reading, I couldn’t keep it down. It was so compelling… it’s quirky and bizarre and yet grounded, in the sense that I could relate to almost every character even though all of them are incredibly dark. I felt like this could happen to anybody. Irrfan’s character (Dev) is an aam aadmi… he could be anyone from the 1.2 billion people in this country. Anyone can go home and find that his wife is cheating on him. The blend of all these factors made me want to make this film. 

What made you sign on Irrfan Khan?

When I read the script, I couldn’t think of anyone but Irrfan. I felt he could convincingly look like an aam aadmi who is in the rat race of life and who is working continuously to pay his EMIs. Secondly, the humour in the film is very understated and I feel Irrfan is one of the best when it comes to understated performances. He has an incredible sense of timing, and comedy is all about timing. And I needed someone who could play a comic character by doing very little. He’s got the least amount of lines in the film but just by his expressions, he will make you crack up. He was the perfect choice for the role. 

Not having him around to promote the film with us is tough. But his health (Irrfan has been diagnosed with Neuroendocrine tumour and is out of the country for treatment) comes first, before any film. Our best wishes and prayers are with him to come out of this soon and hopefully, he will be there on April 6 with us to watch the film. 

 

It’s been seven years since Delhi Belly. Have you ever thought of a sequel?

We did, actually. The writer of Delhi Belly, Akshat Verma, made a film recently, called Kaalakaandi. Probably now I can talk to him about attempting to write the second part of Delhi Belly. It’s easier said than done, though. He took nine years to write the first film… I hope he doesn’t take that long to write the second one! (Laughs) 

Can we expect a new season of your TV show 24, starring Anil Kapoor?

With the advent of the digital medium and web series in the Netflix-Amazon format, for 24 to come on a GEC (general entertainment channel, in this case Colors) is not really the best thing. The dynamics of the industry have changed with digital coming in. There are technical reasons why we won’t be able to come back with 24 immediately, but I hope we can crack an idea and do it. We are ready with some thoughts on it.     

You’ve proved your forte in comedy with Delhi Belly and in action with Force 2. What other genres do you want to try?

I enjoy comedy and action a lot, but I don’t like to be limited to any genre. I would love to try drama. I am working on a script that’s a relationship film and high on drama. I would want to make a romantic film, a script for which is being written right now.  

Priyanka Roy