Shoojit Sircar talks about humour in 'Piku': There's no comedy as such

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) National Award-winning filmmaker Shoojit Sricar said that the humour in “Piku” was a conscious choice, inspired by the natural, everyday quirks of family life, which are inherently funny. He wanted the film to reflect real-life situations with warmth and subtle humour, rather than using overt comedy.

Asked if the balance of humour and emotion in Piku happen by design or instinct, Shoojit told IANS: “I ask people that please just look at yourself or look into your drawing room, what you do from now on, like, you wake up in the morning until lunch, you will laugh at yourself. I mean, it is funny. We repeat the same things every day.”

“So our family, everyday life is actually humorous. And I wanted to keep some of that humor angle, so it was very clear from the beginning that we will see it from a humorous point of view. And it is, if you see the film, there is no comedy as such.”

He added: “It is a natural everyday going on, which is hilarious, everyday life. So, yeah, the approach was always the way we have shown the film. Okay.

“Piku” is set for a re-release on May 9. The comedy drama, which is set to clock 10 years since its release, stars Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Irrfan Khan along with Moushumi Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta and Raghubir Yadav.

The film revolved around Piku, an architect and her ageing but nagging father Bhaskor Banerjee, who come close via a road trip to Kolkata despite their disparate ideologies and fights over trivial issues.

Shoojit made his directorial debut with the romantic war drama Yahaan in 2005. He gained the spotlight with the top-grossing social romantic comedy Vicky Donor in 2012). He followed it a year later with the political action thriller Madras Cafe.

His home production, the legal thriller Pink. He subsequently directed and produced the coming-of-age drama October and the Amazon Prime Video's comedy Gulabo Sitabo. The filmmaker gained further prominence in 2021 with the biographical historical drama Sardar Udham.

--IANS

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