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It’s all about the Vibe.
The second Kunal Kemmu directorial, Vibe, is set to release on September 18, clashing with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Kemmu’s sister-in-law’s Daayra, a dark thriller. Kemmu now turns producer with this film besides being writer-director (he made that debut with Madgaon Express in 2024. This film is a thriller too, but in the comic caper space, and as per its trailer, it is crazy and quirky, a la his directorial debut.
Featuring also Preity Zinta (her second release in two months after the misfired Batwara 1947), Sparsh Srivastava of Laapataa Ladies fame, newcomer Vanshika Dhir and Yashpal Sharma besides Kemmu himself. Sharmila Tagore, Kemmu’s mother-in-law, makes a cameo. Amit Trivedi composes music.
Kemmu, whose journey began at the age of 8 as a child star in 1993’s Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and turned leading man with Kalyug in 2005, stated that for him, as a film lover all his life, it was all about enjoying his work.
Very candidly, a smiling Kemmu stated, “I know that life is what happens when you have other plans, but I have learnt one thing—that opportunities do not come again and again, so whenever they do come, I just seize them! So, when I got the opportunity to make Madgaon…, I grabbed it. But when people appreciated it, a responsibility was added as I could not take success for granted. When I wrote Vibe, and greenlit it, and got a complete free hand in making it, I did the same. I am still getting a surreal feel, and am nervous.”
“But now, I have filled up the examination form, and the test will be on September 18. Box-office,” he added matter-of-factly. “Is the real barometer, your report-card, and only that will decide what you will be making next. Trust will reduce even if your good film flops, but will be there if your bad films succeed! That’s the best and worst about the box-office. But now, I think, content is working again, like films picking up from the fourth week!”
He went on, “Had I not enjoyed directing Madgaon Express, I would never have made another film even when that did well. Acting and directing together is a shade mushkil (difficult), but if I enjoy what I am doing, I don’t see the difficulties but just go through the journey. It is production that is the tough part, which is why I joined forces with Chirag Nihalani. Whatever happens, Chirag was always calm. If you found Chirag stressed, it means that baat hadh se badh chuki hai (things have gone beyond limits)! But now that I have got Chirag, I would do all of these jobs over and over again!”
Preity Zinta, for Kunal, was a seemingly impossible dream that happily came true, as she was living in America. Zinta said that she wanted to do something light after her previous movie. “I first met Chirag when he was 12 years old. I wanted to do action and beat up everyone else. It wasn’t an easy shoot with 18-hour and 16-hour days back-to-back! And when you are making a comedy, only the audience laughs. But we are serious when shooting it!”
Sparsh Srivastava quipped that he had enjoyed putting on weight fast because Kemmu wanted it that way, as he had slimmed down for a film down South. “I used to actually eat chips on set!” he grinned. “And if Kunal ever makes a Vibe 2, I would love to become even fatter by eating all the good things like pizzas and samosas!”
Vanshika Dhir, said Kunal, was cast even as a lot of girls were being auditioned. A Punjabi based in London, she could speak proper Hindi, English with a British accent (needed for the film) and English as Indians speak the language. That made her clinch the role among the girls casting director Mukesh Chhabra had shortlisted.
Character artiste Yashpal Sharma (who was in a bearded getup for one of his forthcoming films) recollected meeting Kemmu as a child on the sets of Bharat Ek Khoj, the Shyam Benegal serial, in which his father, Ravi Kemmu, was an assistant director. Sharma said that Kemmu remembered him for this role.
A late but celebrated entrant at the event was Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ the Bhojpuri superstar who has now made Mumbai his home. Acclaimed recently for his gray turn in the comedy, Gram Chikitsalay Season 2, the affable actor had to smilingly ‘suffer’ Preity’s cheeky, “Don’t blame him! He was on a secret mission for India!”—his character in Vibe.
