Dinesh Vijan

Ayushmann Khurrana

Bhumi Pednekar

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan

quirky romcom

Bala

film

Irrfan Khan

Ayushmann Khurrana experiments with his voice in Dreamgirl In his next, a quirky comedy which rolls in Mathura next week, Ayushmann Khurrana will be seen experimenting with his voice

Amar got so emotionally attached with the story that we decided that he would be the best person to direct this quirky comedy –Dinesh Vijan

Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar, Kubbra Sait flag off Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare in Noida Alankrita Shrivastava’s coming-of-age story takes off with lots of laughs and bites of kababs in Noida

andare gearing up to complete a hattrick. After Dum Laga Ke Haisha and, the duo will soon reunite for a. Amar Kaushik who directed one of this year’s biggest hits, Stree, will helm it. The fi lm is expected to roll in March and is targeting a September release. Ayushmann is riding high with two back-to-back hits this year—Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun and Junglee Pictures’ slice-of-life comedy Badhaai Ho, which is still going strong at the box-offi ce.Producer Dinesh Vijan confirmed the news, saying Bala revolves around a guy who is balding prematurely and a dusky girl who is at odds with a society that is obsessed with fair skin. “Through their journey, theimpresses on the fact that most of us are usually attracted to outward beauty and don’t go beyond that to understand the real person. That’s one of the reasons so many relationships are falling apart today,” points out the maker of offbeat entertainers like Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor’s horror-comedy Stree and’s educative Hindi Medium. “It’s a hilarious story but at the same time it makes you think. The two characters are very interesting and easy to relate to, so is their milieu,” reasons the filmmaker.Quiz him on his choice of the 34-year-old actor and Dinesh insists that Ayushmann is second to none in this quirky space given his comic timing and innovative films like Vicky Donor, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and Badhaai Ho. “I’m really happy to be doing our first film with Ayushmann,” he asserts. And will the role call for prosthetics? “Partly,” he admits, saying they are getting the best guys in the business from the West to come down and create the look for the character. “I can’t wait to get started,” he says.Dinesh is equally excited to collaborate for the first time with Bhumi, pointing out that she’s a terrific actress with an interesting body of work. “In our film too, she has an author-backed role of a modern-day girl in a country that has long celebrated fair and lovely,” he asserts.Amar was initially supposed to be associated with the project only in the capacity of a creative director. “But he soon got so emotionally attached with the story that we decided he was the best person to direct the film. I had a great creative equation with him during Stree and I am happy to take the alliance forward,” says Dinesh.Endorsing this, Amar adds that he is completely in love with the way the script of Bala is shaping up and is excited to have Ayushmann and Bhumi on board. “They are two of the most talented actors of our time. Bala is going to be a fun and very relatable film for the audience, bringing to the fore problems that many of us face every day,” he promises. “Associating with Dinesh and his team once again is just so lovely and emotional after the super experience we had on Stree.”Why is the film titled Bala? After a long pause, Dinesh confides that Ayushmann’s character in the film is named Bala.“It’s his nickname really but I thought it was an apt title. It is also a tongue-in-cheek pun on his life story. Bal Aa Aaa Aaa,” he signs off with a laugh.