Akarsh Khurana who has been running his own theatre company, AKvarious, for 18 years now and claims the end game wasn’t direction. “I don’t think there was a plan for me, it felt like a natural progression because I’d been directing for stage and a television film for Anurag Basu. One thing led to another. If I was planning things, then High Jack and Karwaan would not be happening so close to each other!” joked the debutante director. High Jack, which releases this Friday, stars Khurana’s long time friend and collaborator Sumeet Vyas along with a ensemble featuring Mantra, Kumud Mishra, Shiv Subramaniam, Amey Wagh and Sonnalli Seygall. His second feature, Karwaan, stars Irrfan, Dulquer Salmaan and Internet star, Mithila Palkar and will hit screens in June this year.
Creative high
“High Jack is an experiment and it’s heartening [to see] people responding well to the trailer. Sumeet plays a DJ called Rakesh, whose family’s going through some financial trouble. It’s a very relatable situation. The hijackers are also not professionals but they have earnest agendas. The comedy in the film really comes from the situation in which the characters find themselves. I feel it’s a fairly accessible film, not too eccentric in terms of comedy,” says Khurana The director is also gung-ho about the film’s soundtrack, “It’s a fun music album with three songs by Nucleya. People are calling us ‘the first stoner comedy’! Let’s hope it translates,” he says.
Having been a writer for over a decade, Khurana has experienced the struggles of sustaining his creativity without much monetary support. “When I started writing, the money wasn’t very good. Being involved in many things at the same has always helped,” he says. The director seems happy that things are looking up when it comes to respecting film scripts. “I certainly think that there is a change coming and writers are getting a lot more respect. Their value is understood a lot better. In the trailer of Shoojit Sircar’s October, ‘written by Juhi Chaturvedi’ came right after the name of the director - this is a great sign of respect for the writer,” Khurana emphasises.
Partners in craft
Moving on to talk about his co-writer for TVF’s Tripling and now actor, Sumeet Vyas, Khurana’s tone takes on an affectionate note. “We are friends,” he says. We have a very comfortable and casual relationship. I really enjoyed writing Tripling with him because working with Sumeet never really felt like work. I’ve known him for too long and too well. So his equation with me is very different. We have a mutual understanding and respect for one another.”
