Saurabh Shukla: I have a lot of respect for Kamal Haasan

Actor Saurabh Shukla is busy shooting the Hindi version of superstar Kamal Haasan’s directorial Sabaash Naidu, titled Shabhash Kundu in Hindi.

Saurabh Shukla is penning the Hindi idioms for Shabhash Kundu, the Hindi version of Kamal Haasan’s directorial Tamil-Telugu film Sabaash Naidu. While actor Brahmanandam plays the role of Apparao in the South Indian film, Saurabh essays the same character (named Robin Roy) in the Hindi version of the movie.

Saurabh Shukla is writing the Hindi idioms for Kamal Haasan’s film Shabhash Kundu. (Yogen Shah/HT Photo)

Shukla says that only dubbing or remaking a film in another language doesn’t help. One needs to also add the essence of the language it’s getting made in, or else at times the film fails to make a mark. Saurabh explains his point giving the example how Gang of Ghosts (2014) failed at the box office, but the original Bengali film, Bhooter Bhabishyat (2012), was a hit.

“Straight translation (of dialogues) or exact remake doesn’t work. Otherwise Gang of Ghosts would have done well. The Hindi audience couldn’t relate to a lot of things unlike the Bengali audience. The flavour of the language was missing. Hence, we decided to work on the Hindi idioms for Sabaash Naidu. I am currently working on the same,” says the Jagga Jasoos actor.

Saurabh says that he shares a bond with Kamal Haasan and also praises him for his body of work. (Hindustan Times)

This is not the first time that Saurabh is collaborating with Kamal Haasan. They have earlier worked in Mumbai Express (2005) and Hey Ram (2000). Talking about working with Kamal again, he says, “It always feels great to work with someone like him. I have a lot of respect for his work. We share a nice bond with each other. Having worked with him earlier, I know a bit about the way he functions,” says Saurabh, whose play Barff was recently staged in the city.

Asked when the film is going to hit theatres and Saurabh says, “Not before the end of the year. The shooting got stalled in between, but we have again started working on the film.”

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