Tusshar Gets Kool & Kandid
Riotous, boisterous and laugh out loud funny, the Kyaa Kool Hain Hum series has been making us giggle since 2005, and the latest in the series, hits the marquee this week, 22 January 2016. With a whopping 16 million hits for its trailer on YouTube, this Tusshar-Aftab starrer is expected to make quite a bang at the box office and BollyBrit® got the chance to chat to the film’s leading man Tusshar Kapoor on his upcoming laugh-a-thon and what audiences can expect from it come Friday.
Excerpts:
Do you want to tell us a bit about the film Tusshar?
It’s the third part of the Kya Kool Hai Hum trilogy, the first adult comedy franchise in India, and it’s an exciting film for me because it’s been projected as India’s first p-rn com and revolves around two individuals who end up working in the adult film industry. It’s definitely taking the franchise ahead because it’s a new idea and the trailer itself has done really well, so I guess the rest we’ll leave up to the audience of course and find out what they think of the film!
The trailer of the film’s hilarious, but in the film you poke fun at quite a few film personalities. Do you think that will cause offense to the personalities in question?
No not at all. I think imitation is the best form of flattery and we haven’t really been personal about anyone per se. We make fun of our own films too… the film’s a spoof and in the film itself, the films the characters work in are spoofs of popular Bollywood films, which is why the comedy is such. I’d in fact go as far as saying it’s an homage to those films because that’s how we pay respect to something that’s been really successful. I mean I’d love it if someone spoofed a film or a character of mine, I think it’s flattering, so I don’t see why people should be offended really! I think people are a lot more open minded in Bollywood than they used to be so it’s all good. The film is after all just make believe, and not really a personal attack against anyone!
"Imitation is the best form of flattery" – Tusshar
Is there a reason why Ritesh Deshmukh left the franchise and Aftab stepped into his shoes?
No actually that was Ritesh’s own choice, he was over committed at the time, and we had to get someone else and to be honest Aftab is the best choice as he has excellent comic timing. He has done similar films before and he was easily the next best choice after Ritesh really.
Do you think sex sells in a film?
I don’t think for this franchise its sex that will sell, it’s more about the humour and that’s what the film’s USP is. The jokes are of an adult nature, but there’s nothing really here that titillates viewers, it’s more about making audiences laugh with our brand of humour. Its like any other masala film really. At the end of the day our motto is to make a good film and we’ve done that with elements of humour and comedy and whatever else the story required from us really. So ultimately I don’t think it’s the sex that would sell, its more the situational comedy and how we’ve projected it on screen. I mean we don’t even have any kissing scenes in the film, so I think it’s wrong to assume that it’s sex that we’re trying to sell here!
As an actor do you feel critical acclaim is important? Like the franchise is unlikely to get critical acclaim or even win awards per se. Do you think that’s important for you as an actor? Or would you rather a film just did well at the box office?
To be honest award ceremonies are more TV shows and held to increase ratings. Nobody really takes them seriously anymore. If the film works with the audiences, that’s the biggest award for us to be honest. We’d rather our work is liked by the people as opposed to winning just an award for a film that nobody watched in the cinema!
Are there plans for another sequel in the Kya Kool series?
I hope so yeah! Definitely and I hope it doesn’t take as long to take off of the ground as this one did.
Who’s your target audience for this film?
The youth! Not children but more the youth from 18 years and upwards. It’s definitely not for kids but it’s the perfect comedy for people above the age of 18!
Films like Kya Kool Hain Hum run into issues with censorship – would you say that censorship and the Censor Board are too rigid when it comes to films in India?
No absolutely not! I think it’s a very fair process… I mean we weren’t really given a very tough time by them, they were actually quite fair. At the end of the day they’re doing their job and they’re doing it quite well to be honest!
"Aftab has great comic timing..." – Tusshar
Given that its an adult comedy, do you think you will limit your audience in any way? Or potentially even the box office prospects of the film?
Not not at all. The audience is much smarter these days and they’ll like whatever you do so long as you do it well I feel. Even after doing an adult comedy, if I feature in a more serious film, they’ll accept it so long as it’s a good film. The audience isn’t as closed minded as we’re led to believe! They’ve always accepted me in different films and they’ll continue to do that going forward.
Do you have anything different apart from a comedy, that we can look forward to as an audience?
There’s a film in the pipeline which is starting in the next month or so but I cant really talk about it at the moment. It’s a gangster themed film.
So there you have it! Super Kool Tusshar as kandid as ever!
Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 hits cinemas tomorrow 22 January 2016 and also stars Aftab Shivdasani Mandana Karimi, Krishna Abhishek, Gizele Thakral and Claudia Ciesla.
Get ready to have your funny bones tickled and LYAO!
You can read Aftab's interview here.
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