Khaali Peeli, starring the young pair of Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday, came in for its fair share of controversy from the day it dropped its first teaser. With the nepotism debate raging in Bollywood, the film was attacked on social media for starring two star kids, translating into the teaser garnering 1.8 million dislikes as opposed to 165k likes. Then, a song from the film had to change its lyrics after it was accused of being racist.
Today, Khaali Peeli — a thriller set in Mumbai — streams on Zee5 and will also be available on Zee Plex on a pay-per-view basis. More importantly, it will be the first film to release in theatres in India in more than six months, with the film slated to show in drive-in theatres in Gurgaon and Bangalore. The Telegraph caught up with the film’s director Maqbool Khan to know more.
Apart from the huge number of dislikes that the film’s promotional material has come in for based on the whole nepotism debate, what are people looking forward to in Khaali Peeli?
Most of the calls I get tell me, ‘Bhai, bombaat hain, tod phaad hain’, in typical Bambaiyya language (laughs). They are liking the energy of the trailer. It gives off the vibe of a commercial Bollywood masala film. I haven’t really been interacting with too many people but the reaction from friends and colleagues has been very positive. They like the cool vibe of the film as well as its background score.
Have these positive reactions helped offset the negativity surrounding the film?
Honestly speaking, not really. As a maker, it’s my baby and you don’t want to hear anything bad about your child. Initially, it did come as a shock. It takes a lot of effort to make a film. There are thousands of people working on any film. After any film, one has to just stay back in the movie hall and see the number of names in the end scroll... it’s a never-ending list, from spot boy to light man to gaffer... They all get together for more than a year to make a film. Itne saare logon ki effort ko agar aap judge karoge on the basis of certain unfounded preconceived notions, then it’s very demoralising. But then you also realise that there is an agenda behind their dislike, and after a point, it stops mattering, honestly. Hopefully, when people watch the movie, their perceptions will change. In fact, there are some people who came in with the idea of not liking the trailer, but they ended up liking it.
Honestly, such reactions are not something new. Abhi aisa waqt hain, aagey jaake badal jayega. Logon ke andar abhi thoda josh hain, they’ve come out of lockdown after six months and they are expressing themselves in different ways. Theek hain... I have moved on. If the film is good, people will watch it.
You’ve said that Khaali Peeli is an ode to Mumbai. What made you want to write a love letter to the city?
I’ve always wanted to make a film that captures the essence of Mumbai. And what better than the Padmini cabs... the kaali peeli... on the streets of the city? I have met a lot of taxi drivers in Mumbai who are very colourful and interesting characters. I wanted a street-smart guy like that as the hero and that’s where Ishaan came in.
And then was the girl (played by Ananya) who also belongs to the same milieu... the two bump into each other one night and their adventures begin from there. It’s in the real space and yet quite larger-than-life and commercial. The film has a Guy Ritchie-meets-Bhindi Bazaar vibe.
My only choice for the boy’s part was Ishaan. Jab maine aankhein bandh karke tasavvur ki toh mujhe sirf Ishaan ka chehra nazar aaya. He loved the script and wanted to do it from the get-go. I loved what Ananya did in Student of the Year 2.... her punchlines in a few scenes were very good. My character needed a bold girl as well as a pretty face, and Ananya fitted the part. We had a lot of workshops with them because Khaali Peeli uses a typical Mumbaiyya lingo... very popular words like lukkha, tapori, shaani, katli.... Getting the accent was very important and the two of them have got it spot on.
A song from the film (‘Beyonce sharma jayegi’ that has now been changed to Duniya sharma jayegi) was criticised for being guilty of racism and colourism. Did that catch you off-guard?
Yes it did. We’ve now changed the lyrics. Yaar, humne kisi ne socha hi nahin tha ki gaane ko iss tarah liya jayega. None of us had that intention, trust me... we are all very responsible people. Vishal-Shekhar have been in the business for decades, and the word ‘goriya’ is something that we have been using in Hindi film songs for ages. Goriya is never used for colour in Hindi film songs, it’s used to refer to a girl. But it didn’t go down well with some members of society. So we went on record and apologised and corrected it. We never wanted to hurt anyone’s sentiments.
Despite the pay-per-view and drive-in theatre screenings in addition to its streaming release, how disappointed are you that your film isn’t releasing on the big screen?
Mere bas mein hota toh main abhi print leke bhaagta aur theatre mein lagaa aata! (Laughs) But that’s wishful thinking right now. We have to be responsible and can’t be selfish. This film was made to release in theatres... it’s a complete ceeti-taali film. We waited for four months, but how long can one wait? Everything is in limbo right now. There is money involved in the film, standing costs and all that. The practical option right now is to release it on OTT, that also promises a wide and varied audience. Plus, people are looking for new and good content.
I am also very excited that my film is going to release in drive-in theatres. During my childhood, in the mid-’80s, I remember watching this film called Abdullah, starring Sanjay Khan, in a drive-in theatre in Bandra. That experience left an impression on me. And I am happy Khaali Peeli will give people that experience... outing bhi ho jayega, people will get to watch a brand new film with a great sound system connected to their cars and social distancing bhi ho jayega.
