'Making People Laugh Is A Big Job'

'When a child is born, he is born crying, and he grows up looking for laughter.'
'So comedy films should be made more, as people want to watch comedy films.'

Raaj Shaandilyaa wants to make people laugh, and that's one of the reasons why he made his new film, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video.

"Over the years, there have been many such cases where someone's video gets leaked, someone's CD gets leaked, someone's MMS gets made... it has happened in the film industry as well, see what happened to Pamela Anderson and her husband," Raaj tells Subhash K Jha.

Just days before the release you had litigation claiming that your film was a copy of a 2015 project?

Har Taj Mahal bante hi kuch nakli Shahjahan apna haq jamaane aa hi jaate hain. Humne legally reply kiya hai. Iss Taj Mahal ke majdoor bhi hum hain aur Shahjahan bhi hum.

After two back-to-back hits with Ayushmann Khurrana (the Dream Girl movies), why Rajkummar Rao?

I wanted to work with Rajkummar from the beginning.

I am a big fan of his.

The character Vicky comes from a small town and loves a girl. It's a story of 1997, so I found Rajkummar a better fit than any other actor.

Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video released alongside Jigra.

Yes. I am a huge fan of Alia Bhatt.

I really want to work with her and am very happy that both films are released on the same day.

They are different films.

Our film is a comedy. Theirs is a revenge drama and action.

People should love both films; both are good for the box office.

Do you feel laughter to be the need of the hour?

I have been doing it since the beginning.

Even when a child is born, he is born crying, and he grows up looking for laughter.

So comedy films should be made more, as people want to watch comedy films.

I feel making people laugh is a big job and I should be able to do whatever I can to bring laughter into our lives.

Are you working with Ayushmann again?

Of course. I am writing something for him, as soon as it gets completed, will let you know.

How do you manage to do comedy without sleaze?

I try not to write something that the family cannot watch.

There are some things which we cannot do it in front of our family members or relatives, we cannot show them in a movie. I always try to reach out to people in a light way.

Your film has been marketed well.

I don't know about marketing, I know about karma, so I work very hard.

The film gives us a new thought, which has perhaps not been shown before.

It is a good comedy, has a good message, there is a responsibility for the youth.

This is not just that kind of movie in which people laugh and go away.

Every year, many people commit suicide. They suffer loss in many ways.

So it was very important for such a subject to reach people, whether it reaches through music or dialogue or even our interviews.

Over the years, there have been many such cases where someone's video gets leaked, someone's CD gets leaked, someone's MMS gets made... it has happened in the film industry as well, see what happened to Pamela Anderson and her husband. So there have been a lot of such cases of leaked videos.