Punjabi star Gippy Grewal is back with Shinda Shinda No Papa. The hilarious Punjabi caper is all set to release on May 10 and has generated tremendous excitement. Bollywood Hungama spoke exclusively with Gippy about the film and a lot more.
The trailer of Shinda Shinda No Papa is hilarious. What feedback have you got? And how do you come to know about the reactions?
I don’t really get to know about the reaction, to be honest. But there are certain people in the industry who give honest views. Then there are relatives and family members who straight away tell me ‘Yeh accha nahin lag raha’ or ‘Yeh theek theek lag raha hai’. Then, the cinema owners correctly gauge the buzz and they know whether or not people are excited to see our film. That’s how we get the idea. Before the trailer, we had unveiled the teaser which got a rocking response.
What has gone in our favour is that social comedies don’t come often. Even in Hindi, proper aisi koi film nahin aayi hai. The parents, I guess, have realized that they can take their kids for this film. The kids would enjoy and would learn something good from the film. Also, the big problem is that baccho ki film hi nahin aati hai. There are a lot of kids in the film as well. I remember 100-200 kids were there at the shoot since they have an important role in the film. Also, it was so entertaining to work with them!
Why don’t we make films for kids? The Hollywood filmmakers, meanwhile, have aced the genre…
I guess filmmakers often follow trends. The super-success of Pathaan and Jawan have given rise to the action trend. The trend will continue until 8-10 action films don’t flop. Rather than making what we want to make, we start aping others.
Your son, Shinda Grewal, plays your son in the film. How was it shooting with him for the first time?
Yes, as an actor, this is the first time we are working together, though he had a small role in Carry On Jatta 3 (2023). I had directed him in Ardaas Karaan (2019). I knew ki isse kaise kaam karwaya ja sakta hai (smiles)! After that, he had a bigger role in Honsla Rakh (2021). During the shoot of Shinda Shinda No Papa, the whole family used to come to witness our work. Hence, we had a lot of fun making it.
Your characters share a unique bond in the film. In real life, do you guys have a similar equation?
(Laughs) No, no, we are not like this in real life for sure! I remember for a scene I had to scold him aggressively and he had to cry. My wife happened to be on the sets. She started crying and asked me, ‘Aap itne gusse se kyun baat kar rahe ho hamare bacche se?’! I explained to her that it’s a part of the scene. My son also told her the same thing. Still, she said, ‘Woh theek hai par itna mat daanto usse’!
Shinda Shinda No Papa is about a kid, who has grown up abroad and is startled to see how things function in India. This aspect must be relatable to a lot of people and will go in favour of the film…
Absolutely. Their life is so different there that they can’t believe it when we tell them about how we have grown up. For example, if we tell them, ‘School mein humein teacher maarta tha’ and ‘Ghar pe yeh bolte the toh ghar pe bhi maar padti thi! Fir gharwaale school le jaate the aur principal ke saamne maarte the!’. The NRI kids refuse to believe that something of this sort is possible. Abroad mein parents aankhein nikaalenge toh bacche police bula sakte hai! Not just the parent-child behaviour, but everything going around in Punjab gives the kid a novel experience.
A big film like Shinda Shinda No Papa is releasing in the middle of the Lok Sabha Elections. Meanwhile, Bollywood filmmakers are staying away from cinemas, citing the election as the reason. Do you think this reason is fair?
I don’t think the Lok Sabha Elections can affect a film’s business. Voting is your right. But it’s not like you can’t watch a film when you have to vote!
Your 2023 film, Carry On Jatta 3, is the biggest Punjabi grosser ever. Also, this year, apart from your films Warning 2 and Jatt Nuu Chudail Takri, none of the movies have worked in the Punjabi cinema. Does that put pressure?
Yes, touchwood, my films have worked in this period. Shinda Shinda No Papa’s buzz also seems strong. Let’s see how it performs. Of course, we would hope that it’ll cross the record of Carry On Jatta 3. We are sure it’ll work. How well it works remains to be seen.
The humour in Punjabi films is quite strong. But in Hindi, we rarely see comedies nowadays and most of them don’t work as intended. Where are we lacking when it comes to humour?
Firstly, Punjabi mein waise hi humour ki pakad zyada hai. Just like how South cinema has powerful action, humour is our strength. Also, we work a lot on the material. Like when we were working on Carry On Jatta 3 or even other films, we would discuss, ‘Iss scene mein dialogue kam rakhenge; physical comedy karte hai’, Then, we would figure out as a team how to get the physical comedy right. Shinda Shinda No Papa is a film meant for kids. So, the punches are such that even the ones under 18 can understand and enjoy. That’s how we came up with the scene, also shown in the trailer, where the kid is asked about a country’s capital. This is something that everyone will understand. But we often alienate children or ladies with humour.
I also observed that comedy in Hindi films gets repetitive. Like we make a lot of effort – whether the comedy should be situational or punch-to-punch – and then we work hard on it. I guess lack of effort also is a reason for not-so-great comic Hindi films.
Last year, Aamir Khan was the chief guest at the trailer launch of Carry On Jatta 3. He expressed interest in doing a Punjabi film. Has there been any update in this regard?
(Laughs) No, we don’t have any script that we can narrate to him. Once we get the right subject, we’ll approach him.
Have you shown Shinda Shinda No Papa’s trailer to him?
Not yet. I messaged him a few days back when I saw his episode in The Great Indian Kapil Show. I haven’t even informed him that I have come to Mumbai as the promotion has been quite hectic.
You promote your Punjabi films in Mumbai and it’s very rare. What brings you here? Are you trying to expand your base?
Not exactly. I come here for work and then once I get free, I meet a few friends. Like I might drop into Aamir bhai’s place or Kapil bhai’s place.
How do you manage to do so much work and also promote extensively?
It’s not difficult since I shoot for a month and promote the film for 2 weeks. So, even if I shoot 4 films, it is equivalent to 6 months of work. You still have 6 months left in a year. Also, it doesn’t matter if you have 3 or 4 or even 5 releases in a year, as long as the genres are different. Warning 2 was a hardcore action flick, in which I had no dialogues. Jatt Nuu Chudail Takri was a horror comedy while Shinda Shinda No Papa is a social comedy. My next film, Ardaas Sarbat De Bhalle Di, is going to be a social flick, in which I will be in a different avatar.
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