Packs in a Punch

The story of three happy-go-lucky friends-cum-flatmates,who get into 'serious' relationships with three women from the corporate world,may not sound like a novel idea.

The story of three happy-go-lucky friends-cum-flatmates,who get into ‘serious’ relationships with three women from the corporate world,may not sound like a novel idea. But debutant director Luv Ranjan’s Pyaar Ka Punchnama ( PKP ) gives an energetic and quirky twist to it to get thumbs up from the audience.

While the reviews rated it from mediocre to good,the opening weekend saw a steady rise in numbers at the ticket window. At the cost of sounding arrogant,I can say that I knew the film would be well received from the day I wrote it. Nobody had faith in it — none of my actors nor my friends, says Ranjan,who started writing this ‘satire’ almost one-and-a-half years ago. The film may not be the strongest we have seen in recent times,but the sardonic humour and dialogues grab the audience’s attention and make PKP a rugged rom-com.

However,the director isn’t the only one who is feeling overwhelmed by the response,the cast of PKP is on a high post its release. Nushrat Bharucha,who plays the role of hyperactive Neha,confesses,I did not have the slightest of hint that this movie would get such good response. Not many films helmed by a debutant director and six new faces end up having a good run at the box-office. But when I saw the audience clapping and laughing at the theatres I was convinced. Bharucha agreed to play Neha after much contemplation. She had earlier worked in Dibakar Banerjee’s Love,Sex Aur Dhokha and was looking for a comedy to prove her versatility in the industry.

The best reviews,however,have come in for Divyendu Sharma,who plays Liquid,a loser-with-a-golden-heart to perfection. Sharma,an FTII graduate,came to Mumbai five years ago chasing his dream of becoming an actor. PKP happened after years of struggle. I was called for the audition after Luv saw my Virgin Mobiles ad where I play a sardar , he racalls.

It took Ranjan six months of arduous auditions to zeroed in on the six new faces. I knew no star would work with me,nor did I want to succumb to their tantrums. Hence,I went with all new faces, he says. Once the cast was decided,the movie took just six months to complete. We were all newcomers and all we wanted to do was prove ourselves. This left no room for tantrums from anybody, says Ranjan.

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