‘The CGI Was Very Challenging Because Nothing Like That Has Been Done Here’

‘Not
many
films
have
a
reference
to
a
creature
who
talks,
emotes,
acts
in
a
film.
And
Munjya
is
doing
all
of
it.’

Aditya
Sarpotdar
burst
onto
the
film-making
scene
back
in
2008
and
helmed
several
successful
Marathi
films:

Classmates,
Faster
Fene,
Mauli.

His
most
recent
film

Zombivli
introduced
the
zombie
genre
in
Marathi
cinema
and
this
cool
experiment
was
very
well
received
by
the
audience.

Aditya
now
makes
a
leap
into
mainstream
Bollywood
giving
a
new
direction
to
his
filmography.

He
directs

Munjya,
the
latest
entrant
in
Maddock
Films’
ambitious
horror
comedy
universe,
starring
Abhay
Verma,
Sharvari,
and
an
eerie-looking
villain
created
completely
by
using
computer-generated
imagery
(CGI).

“The
Hindi
film
industry
is
realising
that
regional
film-makers
are
very
good
at
telling
stories
in
small
budgets,”
Aditya
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com,

This
is
your
second
horror-comedy
film
after

Zombivli.
What
draws
you
to
this
genre?
How
tough
is
the
horror
and
comedy
blend?

Making
people
scare
and
laugh
are
two
drastically
different
emotions.

To
try
to
combine
both
makes
it
very
difficult.

When
people
walk
into
theatres
they
want
a
certain
cinematic
experience,
more
so
after
the
OTT
platforms
that
are
so
easily
available.

The
combination
of
horror
and
comedy
genres
lends
to
that
cinematic
experience.

Zombivli
was
an
attempt
to
see
whether
I
can
do
well
at
this.

I
got
some
fairly
decent
feedback
and
really
good
reviews
for
that
film.
It
gave
me
a
little
more
confidence
to
see
whether
I
could
do
it
better
with
another
film.
And
then
this
movie
happened.
There
was
no
way
I
could
say
no.

Munjya
is
apparently
based
on
Marathi
folklore
from
the
Konkan
region.
What
fascinated
you
about
this
subject?

I
have
spent
a
lot
of
my
childhood
during
my
vacations
going
back
to
my
ancestral
town
in
Konkan
and
spending
time
there.

I
used
to
hear
all
these
very
interesting
stories
that
happened
to
people
or
somebody
knew
of.
Stories
generated
from
Konkan
that
talks
about
creatures,
monsters,
spirits,
ghosts.

The
world
of
Konkan
is
so
unique
because
of
the
nature
that
it
lends
to.
It
can
be
pretty
creepy
in
the
night
or
in
the
monsoon.

Growing
up,
I’ve
heard
a
lot
of
stories
about
Munjya.
As
a
kid,
I
used
to
be
terrified
to
go
to
a
peepal
tree.

The
belief
is
that
Munjya
resides
on
top
of
the
tree.
At
night,
kids
or
birds
should
not
go
near
the
tree
because
it
will
attack
you.

When
you
grow
older,
you
realise
that
this
is
just
folklore
and
it
doesn’t
have
any
logic
to
it.
But
these
stories
stay
with
you.

How
did
you
ideate
this
film
from
those
stories?

I
used
to
feel
that
in
a
country
like
ours
there
are
many
such
folklore.
So
why
do
not
we
tell
stories
that
come
from
the
origins
of
where
we
all
come
from?

When
I
happened
to
meet
the
team
at
Maddock
Films
(the
production
house)
we
wanted
to
collaborate
on
something.
They
had
this
story
of
Munjya
and
I
knew
Munjya.

I
just
jumped
at
it
and
I
started
building
on
this
story.

How
did
you
envision
the
title
creature,
which
is
a
CGI
character?
What
were
your
key
challenges
during
the
production?

The
CGI
was
very
challenging
because
nothing
like
that
has
been
done
here.
I
didn’t
have
a
reference
point.

Sure,

RRR
had
so
many
animals
and
creatures.
There
was
a
humanoid
in
Rajinikanth’s

Robot.

But
not
many
films
have
a
reference
to
a
creature
who
talks,
emotes,
acts
in
a
film.
And
Munjya
is
doing
all
of
it.
He’s
an
actual
actor
emoting
and
performing.

For
that
we
needed
the
best
VFX
team,
so
we
approached
DNEG
(Double
Negative,
the
British
VFX
studio).
They
have
done
a
lot
of
films
from

Dune
to
Marvel
and
so
many
others.

I’m
not
making
it
too
technical,
but
there’s
this
one
basic
thing
called
motion
capture
where
you
have
an
actor
performing.
He’s
performing
in
a
mo-cap
suit
on
the
studio
floor
and
he’s
captured
by
more
than
60
odd
cameras.
His
movements
are
then
recreated
in
the
model
of
Munjya
that
we
see
on
screen.

It
was
a
good
one-year
long
post-production
process
that
we
had
to
go
through
to
achieve
the
desired
look.

So
far
Maddock’s
horror
comedy
universe
has
featured
big
names
like
Varun
Dhawan
(Bhediya),
Rajkummar
Rao
(Stree),
Janhvi
Kapoor
(Roohi).

Munjya,
on
the
other
hand,
is
led
by
fairly
new
actors.

Unlike
all
the
films
that
you
mentioned,
you
will
see
Munyja
throughout
the
film.
He
is
the
main
character.

For
us,
our
entire
focus
was
to
build
this
creature
character
the
most
and
support
him
with
some
real
actors.
We
did
not
want
to
take
the
focus
away
from
him.

We
needed
good
actors
who
will
be
able
to
perform
and
deliver.
We
are
in
the
phase
of
the
industry
when
you
really
do
not
care
about
a
big
actor
anymore.

You
have

Kantara
where
you
don’t
know
the
actors
but
it
still
did
super
business
in
Hindi.
Same
goes
for

Manjummel
Boys,
where
you
don’t
know
the
actors
but
it
did
great
business
outside
Kerala
also.

You
have

Laapataa
Ladies,
you
have

12th
Fail,
these
films
had
mostly
newcomers.

I
feel
we
should
not
put
too
much
of
pressure
onto
the
film
by
demanding
a
cast
there.
We
should
go
with
actors,
whether
known
or
unknown,
who
best
fit
the
role.

Munjya
is
trying
to
do
that.

As
a
regional
film-maker,
what
is
the
lure
of
working
in
Bollywood?
Is
it
the
budget,
stars
or
a
bigger
pool
of
audience?

It’s
the
other
way
around.

It
is
the
Hindi
film
industry
that
is
realising
that
regional
film-makers
are
very
good
at
telling
stories
in
small
budgets.

The
way
Marathi
cinema,
Malayalam
cinema,
or
other
regional
industries
are
able
to
tell
great
stories
in
limited
budgets,
puts
the
Hindi
cinema
in
those
spaces
where
they
want
to
tell
similar
kind
of
stories
but
on
a
larger
national
platform.

People
like
me
who
have
been
working
in
the
regional
industry
know
how
to
make
a
film
purely
content
oriented
and
in
a
budget
that
doesn’t
go
overboard.

For
me,
it’s
been
very
organic.
I
had
never
decided
that
I
want
to
make
a
Hindi
film.
I
am
very
happy
making
Marathi
films
because
it
gives
me
that
space
to
tell
my
stories
where
the
director,
the
film,
the
story
is
the
hero.
Marathi
gives
me
that.

What
Hindi
gives
me
is
a
little
better
budget
to
make
a
more
ambitious
film.
A
film
like

Munjya
would
not
have
been
attempted
in
Marathi
because
the
budget
wouldn’t
allow
it.

I
am
glad
that
works
because
now
people
are
open.

You
are
the
fourth
generation
in
a
family
of
film-makers.
What
was
your
fascination
about
cinema
while
growing
up?

My
great
grandfather
(N
D
Sarpotdar)
was
a
film
producer
and
director,
who
set
up
his
company
in
1927.
It
was
called
Aryan
Film
Company.
We
did
around
40
plus
movies.

The
whole
environment
growing
up
used
to
be
about
cinema.

I
come
from
Pune.
We
used
to
run
two
theatres
there.
I
have
spent
most
of
my
holidays
and
post
school
time
in
the
theatres,
projection
room,
and
back
office.

From
a
very,
verym
young
age
I
realised
that
this
is
what
I
wanted
to
do.

Because
this
world
of
cinema
was
something
I’ve
known
so
closely,
I
could
not
think
of
anything
else
but
this.

When
you’re
watching
movies
and
seeing
how
they’re
made
and
seeing
the
way
this
whole
magic
unfolds
behind
the
camera,
you
just
cannot
stay
away
from
the
excitement
of
it.

I
started
making
short
films
at
the
age
of
15
or
16.
Since
then
I
have
always
been
sure
about
this
as
my
career.

Who
were
your
favourite
film-makers
back
then?

It’s
been
different
directors
from
different
genres
and
different
industries.

There
are
two
directors
who
have
really,
really,
been
a
major
inspiration
for
me.
One
is
Steven
Spielberg,
for
the
of
range
of
cinema
he
does.
All
of
them
are
extremely
fascinating.

Another
name
is
Mani
Ratnam
sir.
He
is
a
prolific
film-maker
and
highly
iconic
in
the
way
he
told
his
stories
on
a
very
commercial
level.

What
are
your
all-time
favourite
films?

It
would
definitely
be

The
Shawshank
Redemption.
I
think
that
it
is
one
of
the
best
films
ever
made.
I
watched
it
at
a
very
young
age
and
I
was
blown
away.

Then
I
am
a
major
fan
of
the

Dark
Knight
series.

The
Dark
Knight
is
one
of
the
best
films
I
have
seen.
It
has
an
amazing
blend
of
commercial
cinema
and
great
storytelling.

Your
next
film

Kakuda
is
also
from
the
horror
genre.

Yes,
it
is
a
horror
comedy.
It
stars
Riteish
Deshmukh
and
Sonakshi
Sinha.

It
is
going
to
have
a
straight
to
OTT
release.
We
will
make
an
official
announcement
very
soon.