“Only Induji believed Grand Masti could do 100 cr” – Milap Zaveri

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

October 3, 2013 - 10:53 AM IST

Grand Masti has done the impossible. Though it's shows have been curtailed considering the onslaught of Besharam in theatres across the country, the job has been done for the Indra Kumar directed venture which has managed to nett over 100 crore worldwide. Meanwhile even in India, it is sitting pretty at the 97 crore mark and with some stroke of luck, it could well stretch towards the 100 crore mark. Well, if not immediately but then in the long run at least. While for the entire team associated with the film this is a first, one man who can't stop grinning from ear to ear is its writer Milap Zaveri.

“Only Induji believed Grand Masti could do 100 cr” – Milap Zaveri

100 crores for Grand Masti - Can something like that be planned, especially for an adult comedy?

Who can? Today we are leading from the front but look at the elite company we have in the highest grossing adult films. There is Vidya Balan's The Dirty Picture and Emraan Hashmi's Raaz - The Mystery Continues. To have our film surpass these superhits and even achieve a 100 crore milestone is surreal indeed.

Apparently, no one from the cast, including Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi or Aftab Shivdasani were laying bets on such a high number.

Neither was I even (laughs). Yes, it was fun and entertaining when the writing process was on. The dialogues were turning out to be funny and the actors felt that a lot of it was unbelievable. Everyone enjoyed what was heard and read but to bring it in front of the camera was a different ballgame altogether. We knew that for something as outrageous as Grand Masti, only an 'A' certificate would have been appropriate. That further meant reduced audience. To go ahead and score a 100 crore for a genre and set up like this was a near impossible task.

Still, Indra Kumar was confident, even though his last big hit Double Dhamaal had just about managed to come close to the 50 crore mark.

And imagine, he always believed that Grand Masti had a potential to touch 150 crore mark (laughs). Right through the film's making, one man who was 200% positive about Grand Masti turning out to be a huge blockbuster was Induji himself. He used to push us all the time to think big and come up with something that didn't restrict itself to just a 100 crore milesetone. We were the ones who used to tell him ki 'Sir, itni expectations nahin rakhte. Agar 60-70 bhi ho gaya toh let us be happy'. However once he saw the final cut, he told us all to brace ourselves for a century in the making. That's the kind of confidence he had.

He also had confidence in you to deliver.

I have always maintained that two men who are hugely responsible for my second innings are Sanjay Gupta and Indra Kumar. In 2004 they gave me Musafir and Masti respectively. Now almost a decade later, I am seeing a big time revival in my career with Shootout at Wadala and Grand Masti. It is their faith in me which has turned out to be a game changer indeed. I was out there in darkness when these men showed me the light.

What lighted up all these naughty jokes in Grand Masti though? It cannot be just your fertile imagination; after all there would have been anecdotes from the past being revisited by you, right?

Oh yes, of course. After all, reel life always imitates real life. You can't just invent jokes, they are either out there waiting to be grabbed or turn out to be inspiring enough for you to take it to the next level. We all have gone through our growing up years and the college life. When you pick up a subject like Grand Masti, it is imperative that you end up recollecting the many conversations you have had with your friends during night outs, events, hang outs, the works. Moreover, along with co-writer Tushar Hiranandani I formed a good 'jodi' for the film. We had a blast putting it all together.

What are you planning to pull together now?

Well, a lot (smiles). For now I am waiting for '24' to premiere on television tomorrow. I have written dialogues there. I hope that after Shootout at Wadala and Grand Masti, there is a hat-trick of success with '24'.