When Karan Johar Yelled, ‘Are You Mad?’

‘When

Bad
Newz
was
given
to
me
to
direct,
the
first
thing
I
did
was
go
back
to
my
childhood.’
‘It’s
an
ode
to
Hindi
cinema.’

Anand
Tiwari
broke
out
as
an
endearing
Bunny,
the
third
wheel
of
the
hilarious
troika
in
Director
Raj
and
DK’s
zombie
comedy

Go
Goa
Gone.

He
went
on
to
star
in

Finding
Fanny,
Charlie
Kay
Chakkar
Mein,
Detective
Byomkesh
Bakshy!,
Chhapaak
and

Nail
Polish.

But
acting
was
only
part
of
his
plan,
as
Anand
simultaneously
worked
as
director
and
helmed
OTT
projects
like
the
popular

Love
Per
Square
Foot,

Maja
Ma
and

Bandish
Bandits.

Making
his
leap
to
the
big
screen
with

Big
Newz,
Anand
says
his
vision
was
always
to
become
a
film-maker.

Starring
Vicky
Kaushal,
Tripti
Dimri
and
Ammy
Virk,
the
film
is
a
creative
marriage
between
Karan
Johar’s
Dharma
Productions
and
Leo
Media
Collective,
a
production
company
owned
by
Anand
and
his
business
partner,
Amritpal
Singh
Bindra.

“Nobody
would
trust
me
to
direct
because
I
was
largely
acting.
I
had
no
film
school
degree,
no
real
experience
of
assisting
directors.
Why
would
anybody
back
this
guy
who
is
roaming
around
with
a
script?”
he
shares
with

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com.

Kunal
Kemmu
directed

Madgaon
Express.
You
are
coming
up
with
this
film
and
Vir
Das
is
directing

Happy
Patel.
Did
the

Go
Goa
Gone
trio
make
a
pact
about
turning
to
direction?

(Laughs)
It’s
a
very
funny
question.

I
met
Raj
and
DK
(Director
duo
of
Go
Goa
Gone)
a
few
months
ago
at
the
Amazon
event
and
told
them
that
look,
so
many
directors
have
come
out
of
that
one
set!

Besides
Kunal,
Vir
and
me,
Amar
Kaushik
(director,
Stree,
Bala,
Bhediya)
was
the
chief
AD
(assistant
director)
on
that
film.

Kemmu
and
Vir
are
very
creative
minds.
Vir
has
been
running
Weirdass
Comedy
for
the
longest
time.
He
is
the
OG
English
stand-up
comic
in
India.

Kemmu
had
script
ideas
from
the
word
go.

Actors
backing
their
subjects
as
directors
is
something
that
is
done
across
all
industries.
I
don’t
consider
myself
in
that
realm.

I
consider
myself
a
director
first
and
then
an
actor
because
that’s
what
I
always
wanted
to
do.

Acting
is
something
that
ran
my
kitchen.

For
me,
personally,
I
always
wanted
to
become
a
film-maker.

I
started
directing
in
2015.
While
I
was
shooting
for

Go
Goa
Gone,

Love
Per
Square
Foot
was
already
written.

Have
you
drawn
inspiration
from
directors
you
have
worked
with
in
the
past?

I
would
shadow
Raj
and
DK,
and
try
to
understand
how
they
ran
their
sets.

I
got
to
assist
Sai
Paranjpye
ma’am
for
something,
a
bit
for
Vikramaditya
Motwane,
Dibakar
Banerjee,
Anurag
Basu
with
whom
I
worked
as
an
actor
in

Kites.
I
learnt
from
all
my
directors.

Even
makers
like
Homi
Adajania
and
Meghana
Gulzar,
who,
in
random
conversations,
offered
me
roles.

I
took
small
roles,
it
didn’t
matter
to
me.
I
just
wanted
to
be
on
those
sets
to
understand
how
different
directors
operate.

Are
you
still
in
touch
with
Vir
and
Kunal?

Very
much.

I’m
happy
to
say
that
when
they
started
their
journey
to
direct,
they
called
me
excitedly
and
I
told
them,
‘F*****s,
you
don’t
know
what
you
are
in
for.
Forget
your
vanity
vans,
you
are
f***ed
from
here
on.’

Pardon
my
French.
(Winks)

Eventually,
they
called
me
and
realised
what
a
gruelling
experience
a
director
has
to
go
through
because
you
really
have
to
champion
it.

Both
have
fantastic
minds.

Kunal
has
made
a
fantastic
film.
I
read

Madgaon
Express
many
years
ago,
when
he
had
just
envisioned
it.

I
am
very
much
in
touch
with
Vir
and
what
he
is
making.
Let
him
speak
more
about
it.

How
did
you
get
on
board
to
direct

Bad
Newz?

Somen
(Mishra;
Creative
Head
at
Dharma
Productions)
found
an
article
and
he
got
Ishita
(Moitra,
writer)
to
write
a
draft.

Karan
sir
sent
a
draft
to
Amrit
(of
Leo
Media
Collective)
and
me.
I
read
it
and
thought
it
was
a
great
concept.

I
also
googled
‘Heteropaternal
Superfecundation’,
wondering
if
this
really
happens.
I
discovered
it
is
a
true
thing.

Then
I
took
Ishita
and
Karan
sir’s
permission
to
add
a
few
things
to
the
script
because
I
feel
comedy
is
personal
and
one
has
to
vibe
with
it.

How
involved
is
Karan
as
a
producer
once
a
project
is
greenlit?

The
beauty
about
Karan
Johar
is
that
he
trusts
you
a
lot.
It’s
very
spoiling.

Once
he
sees
your
vision
and
has
you
on
board,
he
wants
to
see
the
film
eventually.
Until
then,
he’s
never
interested
in
being
involved
in
the
little
things.

Yes,
if
you
want
his
involvement,
he’s
there
for
you.

There’s
a
funny
story.

Amrit
and
I
are
’90s
kids.
We
have
seen
legends
like
Amitabh
Bachchan
and
Subhash
Ghai
giving
the

muhurat
claps
on
the
first
day
of
shooting.

I
thought
why
not
get
Karan
sir
to
give
us
a
clap?

So
we
told
him
that
the
first
clap
should
be
yours
and
he
said,
‘Are
you
mad?
In
the
history
of
Dharma,
I
have
never
done
this!’

We
insisted,
saying
that
it
would
mean
the
world
to
us.

Apoorva
(Mehta;
CEO
of
Dharma
Productions)
and
he
sweetly
came
and
gave
us
the
first
clap
of
this
film.

What
are
the
challenging
aspects
of
making
a
commercial
Hindi
entertainer?

So
many!
My
biggest
challenge
was
to
go
back
to
the
cinema
lover
that
you
are.

I
come
from
Matunga
in
(central)
Bombay,
which
is
not
at
all
connected
to
the
part
of
Bombay
that
is
the
Hindi
film
industry.

It’s
a
different
Bombay
altogether.

I
grew
up
watching
Govinda-David
Dhawan
films,
Anil
Kapoor,
Shah
Rukh
Khan…
films
like

Andaz
Apna
Apna,

Dil
Hai
Ke
Maanta
Nahin
and
also
Karan
Johar’s
work.

Later,
I
got
exposed
to
Hollywood
films,
world
cinema
and
to
films
that
were
more
related
to
the
fine
arts
and
the
indie
world.

When

Bad
Newz
was
given
to
me
to
direct,
the
first
thing
I
did
was
go
back
to
my
childhood.

As
an
audience,
I
liked
watching

Simmba,

Rocky
Aur
Rani
or
a
Rajkumar
Hirani
film.
When
I
see
great
makers
make
big
commercial
films,
I
enjoy
it
as
an
audience.

I
went
back
to
those
learnings.
That’s
the
kind
of
tonality
I
have
tried
to
put
in
this
film.

It’s
an
ode
to
Hindi
cinema.

The
trailer
gives
you
hints
of
hat-tips
and
odes
to
various
cinematic
jokes.
There
are
many
more
surprises
that
I
hope
you
catch
in
the
film.

At
the

trailer
launch
of

Bad
Newz,
Tripti
talked
about
opting
for
acting
workshops
with
you.
What
was
the
process
like?

I
do
some
amount
of
workshop
with
all
my
actors
because
I
come
from
theatre.

With
Vicky,
Tripti
and
Ammy,
we
did
a
lot
of
readings.
Ammy,
I
knew,
was
set
because
he
has
done
comedies
in
Punjab.

Vicky
hadn’t
done
this
kind
of
commercial
comedy.
Just
like
Tripti.

So
we
made
a
safe
environment
for
us
to
try
different
things
and
those
trials
and
errors
is
what
has
helped
them
feel
comfortable
on
set.

The
thing
is,
a
film
set
is
a
very
chaotic
place.
Sometimes
a
clapper
is
in
the
frame
or
light

dada
is
doing
some
adjustment
or
your
dress

dada
is
fussing
with
the
costume.

To
not
get
affected
by
it,
your
core
should
be
strong.

The
censor
board
reportedly
ordered
to
trim
a
few
intimate
scenes…

I
don’t
know
where
is
this
coming
from
because
the
film
that
you
will
see
is
the
film
that
the
board
saw.

We
are
a
U/A
film.
You
can
bring
your
kids
with
parental
guidance.

There
are
no
cuts
in
the
film.

People
are
reacting
negatively
to
the
song
remix
of

Mere
Mehboob
Mere
Sanam
by
calling
it
‘unnecessary’.
How
do
you
address
such
criticism?

If
people
think
the
remix
is
unnecessary,
it’s
fine.
No
stress.

Any
piece
of
content
you
put
out
will
be
talked
about,
that’s
the
nature
of
the
Internet.
I
am
just
happy
that
people
are
talking
about
our
film.

This
is
a
fully
meta
film
with
thousands
of
Hindi
film
references.

The
song

Mere
Mehboob,
Mere
Sanam
has
been
re-used
like
that
and
it
just
fits
into
the
film.
We
also
got
Udit
sir
(Narayan)
to
sing
it.

Some
references
you
will
catch,
some
you
will
not.

Gen
Z
will
not
understand
something,
millennials
will
not
understand
something.

But
I
have
put
all
my
joys
of
Hindi
cinema
into
this
film.

You
said
you
always
wanted
to
become
a
director
and
acting
was
a
path
that
led
there.
What
inspired
this
pivot?

I
studied
advertising
as
my
graduation.
I
applied
to
FTII
but
I
failed.

I
didn’t
have
money
for
private
film
schools.

I
was
doing
theatre
as
an
actor
and
really
enjoying
that.

I
started
getting
ads,
and
it
was
running
my
kitchen.

I
got
film
offers
like

Aishaand

Udaan.

I
made
short
films;
they
are
available
to
watch
on
YouTube.

I
almost
said
no
to

Go
Goa
Gone
and

Detective
Byomkesh
Bakshy!

The
vision
was
always
to
direct
and
I
had
pinned
all
my
hopes
on

Love
Per
Square
Foot.

How
difficult
was
it
to
get
your
first
directorial
job?

I
wrote

Love
Per
Square
Foot
about
seven
years
before
it
actually
got
made.
It
was
a
very
difficult
period.

At
that
time,
nobody
would
trust
me
to
direct
because
I
was
largely
acting.

I
had
no
film
school
degree,
no
real
experience
of
assisting
directors.
Why
would
anybody
back
this
guy
who
is
roaming
around
with
a
script?

Most
people
thought
I
wanted
to
act
in
it.

I
got
the
opportunity
of
working
with
Anurag
Basu
as
an
AD
(on
Barfi)
and
he
was
the
one
who
pushed
me
to
start
making
short
films.
Once
I
started
doing
that,
it
gave
me
the
confidence
to
direct
more.

Bad
Newz
marks
your
first
theatrical
release
as
director.
What’s
the
joy
of
seeing
your
work
on
the
big
screen?

It’s
still
sinking
in.

When
the
trailer
was
playing
at
the
Raj
Mandir
in
Jaipur
or
when
it
gets
played
at
the
different
places
that
Vicky,
Ammy
and
Tripti
are
going,
that
feeling
is
crazy.

Amrit
and
I
always
wanted
to
be
film-makers.

OTT
happened
at
the
same
time
we
started
making
content
and
because
we
were
a
new
company,
we
did
that
first.
But
the
dream
was
always
to
make
big
Bollywood
films.

With
theatrical
release
comes
the
Friday
pressure.
Are
you
nervous?

I
am
not
dealing
with
any
pressure,
Amrit
is.

It’s
a
very
easy
marriage
between
Amrit
and
me,
and
he
takes
care
of
the
commercial,
logistical
and
financial
hassles.

I
focus
on
the
product
because
if
the
product
lands,
those
will
be
taken
care
of.
But
he
has
to
do
those
things
so
that
the
product
lands.

The
marketing
has
to
be
right.

The
number
of
screens
has
to
be
right.

The
reach
has
to
be
right.

Finally,
any
update
on

Go
Goa
Gone
2?

Please
ask
Dinu
(Dinesh
Vijan)
and
Raj
and
DK.

Kunal
Kemmu
and
Vir
Das
are
still
looking
the
same
but
Bunny
(Anand’s
character
in
the
film)
has
definitely
grayed.

Before
Bunny
grays
more,
they
should
make
it.