Director Vinil Mathew on 8 years of ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’: We were not making a statement on mental health or infidelity, love is blind – Times of India

Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotra starrer ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ is among the heart-warming romantic comedies of Bollywood that still remain an evergreen choice among the audience. The film recently marked its 8th anniversary and on this occasion, ETimes had an exclusive conversation with director Vinil Mathew who rightfully takes the credit for ‘Hasee Toh Phasee‘ and says he is looking forward to ‘Gehraiyaan’.

Excerpts:


8 years of ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’. Are you celebrating with another big announcement?


Oh, well, I wish I could do that. I’m overwhelmed with the kind of love the film is getting increasingly over the years. We all want to do another version or sequel for it. But I think both Harshavardhan Kulkarni who wrote the story and I agree that we don’t want to make another story just for the sake of it. When we find a good story that will do justice to ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ then only we should think about a sequel or announce something, till then we will keep trying. I don’t know when we can make that announcement but if it happens, it will be great!

Does it bring back any specific memory?


Yeah, I think I look forward to this anniversary date now. Every year people who have loved the film, start trending it on Twitter and other social media platforms. I think it just is very heartening to see the kind of love it’s accumulated over the years. People who did not see it in the theatres eventually saw it on television or OTT platforms, and they loved it. And, you know, the fact that one could keep remembering the song or the film theme, it’s very satisfying. It is quite personal for me because this has happened so many times, especially during the first wave of the pandemic, a lot of people who were stuck at home messaged me on social media that they could relate to the film.

Do you think Sidharth and Parineeti have evolved as actors, now that you see their films?


I haven’t worked with Sidharth on a film after ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’. But, I’m sure that with every film, every individual grows. When I made the film, I knew Parineeti was always someone on my wish list. She is one of the rare people who’s not only a good actor, but she has very great comic timing. Keeping in mind that the character has to make the audience cry and laugh at the same time, I felt that she was the only person who could do it at that time. Parineeti is a born actress. You know, she was good from the beginning.

For Sidharth, it was his second film. Obviously, he has grown leaps and bounds and when I saw him in ‘Shershaah’. I’m sure, therefore, like everybody, they grew with each film. When I see both of their films now, like, be it ‘Shershaah’ or ‘The Girl On The Train’, there has been such a big growth.

The film focuses on Parineeti’s character falling in love with her sister’s fiance. This kind of reminds us of the soon to release ‘Gehraiyaan’! Isn’t it uncanny? What are your thoughts on infidelity and modern relationships?


I don’t have an ethical take on it. Love is blind, you can’t help yourself from falling in love. And sometimes it does lead to messy situations with all kinds of problems, but in the case of ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’, our perspective is very clear. The idea was that the character of Nikhil (Sidharth Malhotra) falls in love with Meeta, despite being in a relationship with Karisma for seven years.

In modern relations, people say that you have to work at relationships, you have to make it work. And our take was that why do you have to make it work? You have to be crazy about love, therefore, it shouldn’t feel like you’re doing some job that needs so much effort. The film’s perspective was certainly an old fashioned concept of love where the character finds love in seven days after being in a relationship for seven years and still he wasn’t sure if they were in love or they were just habituated with each other. All in all, sometimes love takes different paths and I don’t think we had a moral judgement on infidelity there.

Of course, my take on it personally would be to not do it in real life but there was a climax scene where Adah Sharma’s character Karishma says, ‘If you break the relationship right now, it’s just a breakup. But after marriage, it becomes a divorce.’ So our take was that love cannot be a burden or chore. You have to be crazy about it. At the same time, you should be true and honest about your own feelings.

With ‘Gehraiyaan’, I don’t know what exactly the relationship situation is going to be there. Shakun is a good friend and I will be watching it soon.

The film also talked about mental health and depression. How important do you think it is, as a filmmaker?


When we made the film, it was, of course, an innocent time. We were necessarily not making a statement on mental health. It is just about a girl who was very lonely and did not find love from people. She was different from others and chose her own path.

While we don’t think our intention or our focus was to talk about mental health as much as about a lonely person, it was rather focused on two misfits who understand each other. Of course, she does take those anti-depression pills in one scene, but it was never a serious take, or a statement on mental health. When a film is out of your hands, it’s up to the audience. I know a lot of people who also felt that there was a touch on mental health but that wasn’t the intention.

But I think in the current times, it’s important for a filmmaker to be responsible because everything leaves such a deep impact and influences the audience. And I think, today, if I make a film, I would be far more sensitive and careful as to what statement my team would make, either, directly or at the sub-conscious level. We all have a responsibility as filmmakers to put out the conversations correctly. All of us are now more sensitive, aware, and careful about such topics.