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I am getting back to the comedy - Shyam Benegal
After
making
hard-hitting
and
serious
films
all
your
life,
you
are
venturing
into
a
comedy
like
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur...why
so?
I
have
made
all
kinds
of
films.
Some
have
been
hard
hitting,
some
have
been
nostalgic,
some
were
romantic
dramas
and
some
have
even
been
patriotic.
So
there
has
been
a
good
variety
in
all
the
26
films
that
I
have
made
so
far.
Even
as
far
as
comedy
is
concerned,
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur
is
not
my
first
attempt
at
comedy.
This
is
in
fact
my
third
comedy,
the
first
one
was
Charandas
Chor
(way
back
in
1974),
and
then
Mandi
(1982)
was
my
next
comedy.
So
yes
it's
been
after
a
considerable
time
that
I
am
getting
back
to
the
comedy
genre
but
it
certainly
is
not
my
first
attempt
at
comedy.
How
did
the
idea
for
this
film
come
about?
The
idea
for
this
film
came
from
a
little
incident
that
took
place,
which
I
found
really
interesting
and
funny.
One
of
our
peons
was
not
a
literate
person
and
he
had
to
get
letters
written
and
read
them
out
as
well.
When
he
got
married,
even
his
wife's
letters
had
to
be
read
out
to
him
and
considering
that
she
used
to
write
lovey-dovey
stuff,
he
used
to
get
embarrassed
by
the
fact
that
his
wife's
love
letters
were
read
out
to
him
by
someone
else.
That
formed
the
base
of
my
story.
So
is
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur
a
comedy,
a
love
story
or
a
family
entertainer?
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur
is
a
comedy.
It's
a
story
set
in
a
village
and
talks
about
the
only
graduate
of
that
village
-Mahadev
(played
by
Shreyas)
who
finds
it
difficult
to
get
a
job
anywhere.
He
realizes
that
the
best
way
to
make
a
living
is
to
become
a
letter-writer
because
literacy
in
his
village
is
very
low.
He
sits
next
to
the
post-office
and
writes
and
reads
out
letters.
He
plays
the
central
protagonist.
The
film
also
has
a
host
of
other
important
characters.
So
even
though
it's
a
romantic
comedy,
the
film
is
also
a
satire
on
the
system,
politics
and
the
conditions
of
people
living
in
villages.
Does
the
film
also
send
home
a
message?
See...if
you
wish
to
see
a
message
you
will
find
some
but
it
is
not
designed
as
a
message
giving
film
per
se.
What
made
you
cast
Shreyas
for
the
lead
role,
as
barring
Iqbal,
he
has
yet
to
make
his
mark
as
a
solo
lead
actor?
You
should
see
Shreyas
in
the
film
and
then
decide
for
yourself
if
he
has
done
justice
to
the
character
and
film.
In
his
first
film
Iqbal,
he
carried
the
entire
film
on
his
shoulders
and
was
brilliant.
Even
in
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur
he
has
more
than
lived
up
to
my
expectations
and
has
been
truly
exceptional.
How
did
you
zero
in
on
Amrita
Rao
for
the
female
lead?
I
needed
somebody
who
is
fresh
and
has
a
great
deal
of
innocence
in
her
face.
I
had
seen
Amrita's
film
Vivah
and
felt
that
she
would
best
suit
the
part
of
Kamla.
The
film
has
a
host
of
talented
supporting
actors.
Could
you
tell
us
a
little
about
their
roles?
There
is
Divya
Dutta
who
has
given
an
excellent
performance
as
usual.
Rajeshwari
Sachdev,
who
has
worked
with
me
in
many
films
since
1992,
has
done
a
great
job.
Ila
Arun
is
hysterically
brilliant
but
the
real
discovery
for
me
has
been
Ravi
Kissen.
He
is
wonderful
and
has
given
a
great
comic
performance.
Did
you
have
any
special
workshop
for
the
cast?
No...but
I
did
have
some
reading
sessions
for
the
main
cast.
Shreyas&Amrita
hadn't
worked
with
me,
nor
had
they
worked
with
each
other
before,
so
I
had
some
script
reading
sessions
with
them
so
that
they
could
get
familiar
both
with
their
characters
and
with
each
other.
Is
the
film
set
in
a
fictional
town
or
does
Sajjanpur
actually
exist?
Sajjanpur
is
a
fictional
town.
But
apart
from
the
name
it
could
represent
any
village
in
North
/
Central
India.
We
reconstructed
a
village
(modeled
on
several
small
villages
in
Madhya
Pradesh)
at
Ramoji
Film
City,
Hyderabad.
We
needed
large
open
spaces
and
hence
decided
on
Ramoji.
Also
the
topography
and
physical
features
of
the
land
are
much
closer
to
where
I
actually
wanted
to
shoot
but
couldn't
due
to
logistical
problems.
The
film
was
earlier
titled
Mahadev
Ka
Sajjanpur.
Why
the
name
change?
Mahadev
Ka
Sajjanpur
was
the
working
title.
The
marketing
team
of
UTV
felt
that
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur
was
a
more
welcoming
title.
Hence
we
stuck
to
the
latter.
The
music
of
the
film
has
been
composed
by
Shantanu
Moitra.
How
do
you
think
has
the
music
evolved?
The
film
has
wonderful
music.
We
have
6
songs,
out
of
which
5
have
been
shot.
It
is
very
enjoyable
kind
of
music
which
you
can
listen
to
anytime
of
the
day.
There
are
a
couple
of
dance
numbers
which
have
the
potential
to
work
even
as
remixes.
You
made
Zubeidaa
in
2001
and
Bose-The
Forgotten
Hero
in
2005…why
such
a
long
gap?
After
Zubeidaa,
it
took
me
four
years
to
release
my
next
film
because
I
had
to
do
a
lot
of
research
for
Bose.
I
had
to
do
a
lot
of
location
hunting,
as
the
film
was
shot
in
different
parts
of
the
world
and
not
just
India.
Between
Bose
and
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur,
there
has
been
a
gap
of
3
years.
There
were
a
couple
of
projects
which
fell
by
the
wayside.
We
worked
a
lot
on
it
but
couldn't
put
it
all
together
in
the
right
way.
Do
you
think
the
film
has
mass
appeal
even
in
metros
or
will
it
find
an
audience
only
in
the
interiors
and
smaller
towns?
I
hope
people
in
the
city
will
also
like
it
apart
from
people
in
the
smaller
towns.
Comedy
seems
to
be
the
flavor
of
the
season.
Which
comedy
films
have
you
liked
in
recent
times?
I
can't
remember
anything
that
excited
me
so
much
in
recent
times.
Probably
the
last
comedy
film,
which
I
thoroughly
enjoyed,
was
Jaane
Bhi
Do
Yaaron.
After
that
I
haven't
seen
any
other
film
of
that
quality.
Bollywood
has
seen
a
lot
of
new
and
young
talent
in
the
last
few
years.
Who
has
managed
to
catch
your
fancy
among
the
younger
lot?
There
are
many
of
them
who
have
been
really
impressive.
I
don't
remember
all
the
names
but
I
do
remember
the
films
which
I
liked.
I
enjoyed
Aamir
and
Mumbai
Meri
Jaan
in
recent
times.
I
also
like
Vishal
Bharadwaj's
films.
Even
Anurag
Kashyap's
Black
Friday
was
an
excellent
film.
He
is
a
really
talented
director.
What's
next
after
Welcome
to
Sajjanpur?
There
are
a
couple
of
projects
in
mind.
One
will
be
a
comedy
and
the
other
will
be
a
musical.
We
still
have
to
decide
on
the
cast
and
other
details.
People
have
a
certain
preconceived
mindset
of
a
Shyam
Benegal
films
that
it
is
serious
cinema
and
works
mainly
in
the
festival
circuit.
How
would
you
like
to
welcome
people
to
Sajjanpur?
Well...I
think
the
film
should
work
well
with
the
general
public.
The
subject
is
universally
interesting
and
at
the
same
time
it's
very
contemporary.
It
has
a
good
story
and
that
should
be
the
main
reason
why
people
should
come
and
check
out
the
film.
