Interview | Remo D'Souza on Be Happy, being tagged as someone who 'only makes dance films': Dance is not my comfort zone

Remo D'Souza talks about his new film, Be Happy, and why directing Abhishek Bachchan is better than choreographing him.

Remo D'Souza began his career in films as a dancer and choreographer with films like Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and Saathiya. A decade later, he turned director with Faltu. Now, as he makes his OTT debut with Be Happy, a sweet father-daughter story set against the backdrop of dance, the artist sits down with HT to talk about the film and his journey so far.

Remo DSouza's new film, Be Happy, releases on Amazon Prime Video on March 14.

Remo D'Souza on choreography vs direction

Even though he began his directorial journey with Faltu and made actioners like A Flying Jatt and Race 3, Remo is associated more with dance films like the ABCD series. But he admits that dance was never a comfort zone for him. "Had dance been my comfort zone, my first film would have been a dance film. But I made Faltu, an educational film that had nothing to do with dance. I love making films that have a nice story and emotional core. Dance just happened because I did a dance reality show, and I thought I should make a dance film because that genre did not exist in India," he says.

But Remo understands that once his dance-based films worked, the success and his image of being a choreographer worked against him. "I made that, and it became a huge success. Then, I made the second one (ABCD 2), which became a big hit. And here, you get tagged pretty quickly. So, I got that tag that he makes dance films. But I made a superhero film and action film too," he explains.

Remo wears many hats now. He is a choreographer, reality show judge, and director. Ask him to choose, and the answer is simple: "Whenever people ask me what I prefer, directing or choreography, I always say direction because then I can even do choreography the way I want, not through someone else's vision." He adds that Be Happy allowed him that. "That's why in this film, I could choreograph (Abhishek Bachchan) the way I wanted. It's much more liberating."

How Be Happy is personal

Be Happy is the story of a father who learns to dance reluctantly to help his daughter live her dream. Remo says that the story is about emotions, and dance 'just happens to be there'. "It's a cute father-daughter story for me," he says, "The dance could have been anything, but it fit the story here." The story also sees the daughter (Inaayat Verma) not thinking that her dad (Abhishek) is anything cool. Remo laughs when asked if that's relatable, adding, "In the house, you are just the father. You are not the guy who comes on TV and has people asking for autographs. It is a great reality check."

Be Happy also stars Nora Fatehi and Nassar. It releases on Amazon Prime Video on March 14.