After Newton, the industry is buzzing with the news of Ranchi Diaries by debutant director Sattwik Mohanty who has extracted truth from his surroundings. By Angela Paljor
I always wanted to make a comedy film which will be both stylish and rustic. I have grown up watching Guy Ritchie’s films which are always action-oriented, yet stylish with a wicked pinch of humour,” says Sattwik Mohanty, who is busy promoting his directorial debut film, Ranchi Diaries.
The story revolves around Gudiya (played by Soundarya Sharma) and her friends who hail from a small town Ranchi, who dreams of becoming a pop sensation like Shakira. However, her talent draws the unwanted attention of the local Mafia kingpin, Thakur bhaiya. Following which she elopes with Manish, her childhood lover, creating a ruckus. To get out of this trouble, Gudiya and her friends plan for a bank heist. Their ambitious bank heist becomes the joke of the town when they attempt it.
Hailing from Bhubneshwar, Mohanty found it more relatable to keep the setting of the film in a village. “I feel that one can write well about the environment he/she is accustomed to.” He took more than six months to finish his script and calls himself a slow writer. “I never had the habit of reading books so I borrow characters from life and fictionalise them. This story is very organic in itself — a character-driven film where songs and the entertainment factor are just a part of it. The fact that everyone can relate to one of the characters makes it more special,” shares the debutant director.
The casting was definitely a challenge but he takes it in a positive aspect. “Fortunately, I had an edge over the established directors as I was actually able to look for raw and untarnished talent. When I was looking for someone who can play the character of Gudiya, I met Soundarya (Sharma) who was new to the industry. She had just come in from Delhi, untouched from the realities of Bollywood. I auditioned her and it clicked immediately. But I wanted to train her before she knew that she was selected. So, we went through numerous auditions and the best part was her sincerity — she read the script and not only did she memorised her dialogues but she knew everyone else’s too,” he shares.
Parallelly, Mohanty was looking for other characters and for Monu, he wanted someone really good looking and stylish. The guy everybody fell for but he would be attracted to just Gudiya and develop a very protective, yet a genuine feeling. “Monu is a selfless guy and all he wants is Gudiya to be happy. Something that’s too good to be true in today’s scenario.”
Thakur Bhaiya is unlike all other stereotypical villains. He is khandani guy who lives in a haveli and has a BMW as his ride. “When we work on films with a rural background, we automatically tend to deglam it. Contrary to it, Ranchi is not a place where people are totally unaware of fashion. They are very much similar to us. And it was Soundarya who suggested Anupam Kher.” However, he couldn’t picture him as a villain but the more he thought about it, Kher soon became his perfect villain. “I somehow managed to get his number and met him. Fortunately, he loved the story and though I didn’t have a producer, he didn’t back down.” Few months after their meeting, Kher called him up and looking at his devotion and sincerity, he decided to produce it.
Mohanty, who started his journey as a trainee assistant director in 2011 with My Friend Pinto, feels that Kher is extremely compatible. “Working with him, I never felt we had a generation gap. Rather it was him who taught us how to tweet. The amalgamation of senior actors and the new ones was very interesting. As it was a calculative step that I had taken. Anupam and Satish Kaushik who have been marinated with talent and experience boosted the overall flavour of the new ones.”
Meanwhile, Soundarya came up with the idea of Himansh Kohli, known for his debut film Yaariyan. The dedicated director was happy with the looks but his main concern was his extreme polished nature. “When I met him and I narrated the script, Himansh was able to read my hesitation of him being able to deliver the kind of acting that I wanted, especially with the difference in the dialect. But when he auditioned, he was perfect and I had the cast that I really wanted.”
Mohanty is very optimistic about his film. Only time will tell if the ensemble chemistry works.