Meet the ‘real’ characters of revenge-comedy Bajatey Raho

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

July 11, 2013 - 11:21 AM IST

Two years after their last successful outing Chalo Dilli, filmmaker Shashant Shah and producer Krishika Lulla are back with Bajatey Raho. Touted to be Bollywood's first ever revenge comedy, the film is making waves already with it's innovatively cut promo catching eyeballs, the 'celebration' (and not item) number 'Naagin' bringing one to the dance floor and the title track Bajatey Raho by RDB bringing on the funk and rhythm.

Meanwhile with an ensemble cast comprising of Dolly Ahluwalia (who is being proudly presented as a central lead in the film), Tusshar Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey along with Ravi Kishan and Vishakha Singh, this film set in 'Dilli' promises to be a riotous outing that does 'make a statement' on corruption even if he doesn't boast of 'taking on the system'.

Meet the ‘real’ characters of revenge-comedy Bajatey Raho

Shashant introduces his characters.

Dolly Ahluwalia (Mrs. Baweja a.k.a. Mummyji)

Mummyji runs a cable network and has a mission in hand. It is personal for her and she is supported in this by her son Sukhi and his friend. Her revenge is really pivotal to the film and I was sure to have a 55 year old protagonist as the central lady. We even wanted to market the film in that way. No one has ever done that and people wondered how that would be possible. However Krishika was all for it.

Tusshar Kapoor (Sukhi)

Tusshar wanted to work with me since the days of Challo Dilli and I was all for him as well; after all he has a very good comic timing. However I told him that for Bajatey Raho, he would have to do something very different from what he has done in other comedies. Also, he had to play a 'pucca Dilli waala' and be seen in a stubble look. He agreed. In the film, he too runs the cable business with his mother.

Ranvir Shorey (Ballu)

Ranvir plays Tusshar's friend in the film. As Ballu, he owns a parking lot and is a big time 'jugaadu' (fixer). He can do anything and everything. He is in this mission only for his friend. Interestingly, in the past he has refused a lot of Dillwala roles. However once he read the script of Bajatey Raho, he was on. He didn't want to talk about remuneration. He just wanted to know when did we start.

Vinay Pathak (Mintoo Hassan)

Vinay, with whom I have worked since Dasvidaniya, plays a family friend called Mintoo Hassan who is a Muslim and a caterer by profession. He has been presented in a role like never before because inherently, Mintoo is a serious character. His wife is in a jail after being wrongly accused of a crime she hasn't committed. The only way he can get her out is by being a part of this team and bringing on his comic antics.

Ravi Kissen (Sabharwal)

Ravi Kissen is playing a part of a Punjabi businessman who has interests in everything, ranging from milk, schools and banks. When I approached him, he was surrounded by three-four other big movies. I wasn't sure whether he would be able to give time to me or not but nevertheless, in my full enthusiasm I narrated the whole film. Once it was through, he just got up and said that 'let's make some good cinema'.

Vishakha Singh (Manpreet)

Vishakha plays a wedding choreographer in the film and Tusshar's love interest. I had liked her small part in Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se. When she came to me for Bajatey Raho, I was surprised to see her and told her that she looked rather short. I also felt that she wasn't really a Hindi film heroine that we are looking for. Still, I just gave her a scene. Once she started acting, it didn't take me a minute to finalise her.

Hussan Saad (Kabootar)

Hussan is the young boy who had impressed as a Prince in I Am Kalam which is known more for the boy who played the title role. In Bajatey Raho, he is called 'Kabootar' and stays with Mummyji and Sukhi. He plays a very important part in the film since his character is that of a techno savvy whiz-kid.