Made sure ‘Laalo’ should not look similar to ‘Trapped’ and ‘Oh My God’: ‘Laalo’ director Ankit Sakhiya

Mumbai, Jan 9 (PTI) Gujarati-language film “Laalo – Shree Krishna Sada Sahaayate” may remind viewers of “Trapped” and “Oh My God” and director Ankit Sakhiya says he made a conscious decision to not get “influenced” by the two Hindi films.

The film is about a rickshaw driver named Laalo (Karan Joshi), who gets trapped in a house after he enters it with the intention of robbery. The film then takes a suprising turn when Lord Krishna (Shruhad Goswami) arrives at the scene.

When he was writing the script with co-writers Krushansh Vaja and Vicky Poornima, Sakhiya said they watched the two movies.

"We saw 'Trapped' first and then 'Oh My God' and we instructed everyone what not to do, like it should not look we're making 'Trapped' or 'Oh My God' because usually one gets influenced by films (subconsciously),” Sakhiya told PTI in an interview.

“Nothing should look similar be it in terms of acting or direction, and it should not look like we've copied anything (with these two films). It should not look like a scene-by-scene copy," he added.

When the trailer was released, a lot of people told the director that movie seems to be in the same vein as "Trapped", which was directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, and Umesh Shukla's "Oh My God".

"We were aware that this would happen. But no one said this after we watched the film. If people would’ve said that, then we would’ve failed (as a team). Our idea was to give our best and get 100 out of 100 and no marks should be cut, and that was our focus,” the director said.

Released on October 10 last year, “Laalo” has scripted history for Gujarati cinema by becoming the highest grossing film, amassing over Rs 100 crores at the box office. The Hindi version of the movie debuted in theatres on Friday.

The director said the idea for the film came to him sometime in 2023 and initially the character of Lord Krishna wasn’t part of the plot.

"We wanted to make a small film because of the budget constraints. We had to shoot in a house, where a man gets stuck. That was the main concept. Later, when we were talking about the film, amongst ourselves like between the writer and Karan, we thought, ‘The man (hero) will get a Bhagavad Gita since he is stuck there’, then, we thought, ‘What if God comes himself’." A visit to MAMI festival in Mumbai in 2023 with his lead actor Karan Joshi and creative director Vicky Joshi pushed him further to make “Laalo”, Sakhiya said.

“We had seen ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘Pedro’, and we had seen a few other foreign films, we got the inspiration and courage that we can make a film that we wish to make and not complain that we don’t have this or that." Sakhiya revealed that he was set to team up with Goswami for the second time after their 2021 TV series, “Pehla Gulzaar”, on a big budget film but things didn’t materialise and they ended up working on “Laalo”.

“I was working on a film with Shruhad and the prep was going on, but the budget was very big and somehow, it was not happening. Then, we realised that we will have to do something small, so we started going in this direction (of making ‘Laalo’),” he said.

Joshi, Shruhad and actor Reeva Rachh, best known for “Kutch Express” and “Tari Mari Mulakato”, said the feeling of being part of a successful film like “Laalo” is yet to sink in.

Rachh, who plays Joshi’s wife, said people have started recognising her by face and name.

"Even though I had done work before but this level of recognition, I hadn't got before. Like, you walk on the road and you're recognised,” she added.

Joshi, who made his acting debut with “Laalo”, said he never imagined that with his first movie he would attain success.

“This is my first movie. I knew that someday I'll reach a place where I'll be recognized but little did I expect that this magic would happen in my first movie itself,” he said.

The debutant actor, who has been an ardent admirer of movie stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Clint Eastwood, said he feels happy that his family has been rejoicing in the success of “Laalo”.

“It is because of my father, who is a Pandit, that I would watch old songs and films of actors like Sean Connery, Gregory Peck, Dev Anand, and Guru Dutt. Today, when I see my family, especially my father happy, I feel that I've achieved something. I'm 30 years old and I've taken the first step towards my dream, I'm happy and I’ve a lot more to do and achieve,” Joshi added.

Goswami, who plays the role of Lord Krishna, said he is feeling happy that people have warmed up to his character.

“Like my character I also have faith in God... So, I explored what I feel about God and I tried to bring that aspect in the character,” the actor said.

Asked if he was worried about making a movie with religious themes, Sakhiya said he wasn’t because his intentions were “pure”.

“I hadn't thought about all this... Sentiments get hurt when our idea about god is corrupted,” the director said. PTI KKP RB RB