Veteran filmmaker Priyadarshan says he had initially approached big names like Ayushmann Khurrana and Kartik Aaryan for the sequel of his 2003 comedy ‘Hungama’, but none of them showed interest in the project.
The National Award-winning filmmaker, who roped in one-film-old Meezaan Jaffery to star in ‘Hungama 2’, believes popular stars must have thought he is an “outdated” director.
“I didn’t go directly to meet them but my concept was narrated to a lot of actors like Ayushmann Khurrana, Kartik Aaryan and Siddharth Malhotra. They all refused to do the film ‘Hungama 2’. Now, I am working with Meezaan. They all refused because maybe they thought I am an outdated director, because I was out of the Hindi film industry for five years,” Priyadarshan said.
Priyadarshan has directed films in various Indian languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. He is best known for his films in the south such as ‘Kanchivaram’, ‘Kaalapani’, ‘Oppam’, ‘Thenmavin’ ‘Kombath’, whereas some of his most notable movies in Hindi include ‘Virasat’, ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Hungama’, ‘Hulchul’, ‘Chup Chup Ke’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ among others.
The director said he prefers working with actors who believe in his conviction. “They seemed disinterested. They don’t tell it to you on your face. I don’t like to beg to actors and (I) prefer to work with somebody who believes in me,” he said.
“Many times when you request an actor to do a film, they show respect to you, offer you coffee and nicely they will avoid you, because maybe they don’t trust you,” he added.
The 2003 original film featured Paresh Rawal, Shoma Anand, Akshaye Khanna, Aftab Shivdasani, and Rimi Sen in lead roles. The second part features Rawal, alongside a new cast, which includes Meezaan, Shilpa Shetty and south actor Pranitha Subhash.
‘Hungama 2’, produced by Ratan Jain, is scheduled to be released in August.