Dibakar Banerjee says people were ‘disappointed’ with Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye when it released; calls it ‘anti-Khosla Ka Ghosla’

Dibakar Banerjee thinks that no matter how much praise Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye receives now, people were 'disappointed' when it came out in the theatres back in the day.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | December 23, 2023 07:43 PM IST

3 min read

Manu Rishi and Abhay Deol in a scene from Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.

Dibakar Banerjee’s Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye, starring Abhay Deol in the lead role, was released just two days after the 26/11 attacks on 28 November 2008, and given the state of the country, the film did not draw much attention at the time. Banerjee thinks that no matter how much praise the film receives now, people were “disappointed” when it came out in the theatres back in the day. He also explained how the film was “anti-Khosla Ka Ghosla”, his other superhit film, which has gained a cult status over the years.

While speaking to Samdish Bhatia for his show, Unfiltered by Samdish, Banerjee said, “Nowadays people take names of Khosla (Ka Ghosla) and Oye Lucky (Lucky Oye) in one breath. But when Oye Lucky came out, many were disappointed because of its straight anti-middle class stance.”

The filmmaker remembered his brother-in-law calling him after the film’s release and asking him, “He’s a shady guy? I said yes, of course, he’s a shady guy. He said, ‘All of them are shady guys?’ I said, ‘Yes, all of them are shady guys.'”

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Banerjee further explained that he had made the film after observing middle-class people and their mannerisms. “I saw it, that’s why I made it. I got to know what the middle class does, what fraud they do, what types of compromises they do, what kind of violence they do to others with people who have less money comparatively,” said the filmmaker.

Released two years after Khosla ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye, Banerjee’s second directorial, was centred around Lucky (Abhay Deol) who transforms into a ‘superchor’ to fulfil his aspirations of becoming wealthy. Banerjee claimed, “Oye Lucky is the opposite, an anti of Khosla.” He also explained why Lucky can’t be a younger version of Khosla Ka Ghosla’s villain Kishan Khurana, played by Boman Irani. He said, “Lucky can never be Kishan Khurana because Lucky is a defeated villain. If the villain wins, then he is no longer a villain. He becomes a rich man who has a big house.”

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Besides Khosla Ka Ghosla, Dibakar Banerjee has dabbled in various genres of filmmaking in movies like Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (2010), Shanghai (2012), Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), and Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (2021). He has also directed anthology films Lust Stories, (2018) and Ghost Stories (2020).

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