Vicky Donor's return to the big screen is a boon: Shoojit Sircar

For Shoojit Sircar, the re-release of Vicky Donor is not just a moment of nostalgia - it’s an emotional ride. "I can't control my excitement as a director, that the film is re-releasing," he says with disbelief and joy. "This thought itself is addictive to me because aisa hua nahi hai. I’m in awe. Aise hota nahi hai normally that a film is re-releasing.For a director and a technician, and for everybody associated with the film, the film coming on the big screen is like a boon. I'm over-excited, not excited. I'm over-excited," he says,

Thirteen years later, the humour in Vicky Donor still lands, the warmth is still felt - but what remains for him as a director when he returns to it now?
He says, "Somehow, it doesn’t feel like a 13-year-old film. It just feels like - Abhi yaar, kuch saal pehle hi banaya hai. It doesn’t feel 13–14 years have gone by."
In conversation, he walked us back through the film - what it was, what it became, and the nostalgia of seeing it again.

'I was just watching the film and I was thinking -did I make this film?
Shoojit Sircar watched the film again while preparing for the re-release, and says it stirred more than just excitement. He says,"I was just watching the film and I was thinking - did I make this film? Am I the same person I made this film?I was really amazed." he says.
Talking about the cast, he says,"Such an amazing cast, such amazing performances, such exuberance in their performances. There's so much joy," he says, crediting the film’s energy to the team behind it.
"The way Juhi wrote the film, the way Ayushmann came and the way my friend Ronnie came to produce the film, the way Annu Kapoor came, Yami was cast, Dolly ji and Biji came, and the songs. The entire thing - I think ho gaya hoga. Ho jata hai na kabhi kabhi," he adds.

'After Vicky Donor, a question came up in conversations - are you a Punjabi?'

Shoojit Sircar shares that he hadn’t anticipated the film’s success. He says,"Three things happened. The film became quite a talk of the town, which I didn't expect. I was really scared when the film was released because I thought this film is not a regular subject to deal with."

The film on sperm donation, touched on a taboo subject.

He adds,"Second, a lot of conversations came up tha - are you a Punjabi? That question came up - 'how do you know Punjabi, how do you know Punjabi culture so well?"

He reveals, "Then I tell people that I have spent time in Delhi, I have so many Punjabi friends. Somewhere I'm a ghost Sardar. Even after being a Bengali, somewhere there is a lot of punjabiyat in me.

The cultural richness of Delhi - particularly the Punjabiyat of Lajpat Nagar - flowed into the film naturally. “Those little things that we picked up in the Punjabiyat of Delhi, especially among Delhi Punjabis and Lajpat Nagar. All my friends are from there. And they actually got married to a girl from CR Park, so that has happened.If we actually start showing culture clashes (in movies), it can be much bizarre than this. We have shown it in a very conservative way (in Vicky Donor), but actually mein toh abuses aa jayenge, gaali-galauj aa jayega.”

He says,"Third was Dolly ji and Biji drinking together.That one scene was talked about a lot - how beautifully Juhi had written it, and what the two of them brought to it. I often look back at that scene - Will I be able to pull off that scene today or not?I think we all go through everyday drills. But at the end of the day there is some kind of warmth in relationships that also exists."


'If we actually start showing culture clashes (in movies), it can be much more bizarre than this'

That cultural clash in Vicky Donor - between the Punjabi and Bengali families, especially the wedding scene really stuck with people. The ‘Rum rum whiskey’ has become a go-to track on reels.

Talking about the scene where the families meet, he says,"What Jayanto Da (who played Yami Gautam's character's father) has done – and between him and Dolly ji and Ayushmann and Pishi (Swaroopa Das) - she is too good. I think what happened there in that room that day was amazing. Jayanto Da has actually lived in CR Park in Delhi. He knew that elite Bengali – talking about culture."

He says that the cultural contrast between Biji (Kamlesh Gill) and Dolly Ahluwalia on one side, and the Bengali family on the other, required no forced staging. "It was naturally flowing because Dolly ji and Biji were as frivolous as they could be. They were just talking. When we were writing the character of Dolly ji, we told her – we are writing you. I think that cultural clash, we live with that. Even in Bengal, and when I talk about Punjabi, there is an understanding, love, criticism – everything. You can understand when a Bengali girl is married to a Punjabi, and in this kind of marriage discussion, this is just evident," he says.


'Lajpat Nagar is in my blood'

In Lajpat Nagar, almost every house has a biji and Dollyji - small houses, interconnected terraces. Vicky Donor took out Lajpat Nagar from Delhi and made it a city in itself in Hindi movies. How did he create that identity for Lajpat Nagar.
Shoojit Sircar recalls his good old Lajpat days,"Lajpat Nagar ke chhole kulche, chhole bhature and all the garment shops, all the ladies being there for that salwar and dupatta shopping. My school was KV, Andrews Ganj, a short walk away. From my school days, every Friday, Saturday, Sunday I used to spend in Lajpat Nagar."

During his theatre days, he would frequent the area with friends, jamming, writing at Piyush Mishra's place in Lajpat Nagar. “I'm a south Delhi boy. My upbringing was in CR Park and in other parts of Delhi, but Lajpat Nagar never left me. I knew every house there. 75 gaj wala ghar hota tha wahan pe – chhota se entrance, straight lamba sa. Then there was Nirula’s below the flyover – so Lajpat Nagar never left me.Lajpat Nagar is in my blood.” (laughs)

The writer of Vicky Donor, Juhi Chaturvedi, also lived there. “Lajpat Nagar and Connaught Place – I don't think I will ever forget Lajpat Nagar,” he says. Back then, many of his friends from Lajpat Nagar were just starting out. “Some have become actors, writers, directors, some big producers. Lajpat Nagar is a city in itself.”

The interiors for the film were shot in Rajouri Garden. “We actually shot in Rajouri Garden. We shot exteriors in Lajpat Nagar and we shot interiors somewhere in Rajouri Garden because there are many parts of the city that actually look like Lajpat Nagar.”

He says glimpses of Delhi can be found across his work - in Piku, October, and beyond. “You will get a reflection of Delhi in all my films.”


'Vicky of Vicky Donor is so much Ayushmann than Ayushmann being Ayushmann'
In an interview, Naveen Kasturia said that when Vicky Donor came out, he would tell people, ‘This is my story,’ because he identified so strongly with Ayushmann’s character as he is also from Lajpat Nagar. How did Shoojit Sircar create such a Lajpat Nagar boy?

Shoojit Sircar says,"The character of Vicky that we created - he knows jugaad, he knows where to get his things done, but he is clueless about his life. Some kind of jugaad work he will do and he will manage."

And then there’s Ayushmann Khurrana - for whom Vicky Donor was a breakout. He says,“Ayushmann will always be known as Ayushmann for Vicky Donor. I had a very strong feeling about it.” What stood out, Shoojit Sircar says, was the sensitivity of his performance. “It’s not just the loud Vicky that he played, but it's his delicate performance. Vicky of Vicky Donor is so much Ayushmann than Ayushmann being Ayushmann, I would say." He remembers Ayushmann once telling him - ‘Dada, that will always be there. I’m also doing a lot of films that seem inspired from Vicky Donor.’