Fukrey 3, the third in Bollywood’s tacky comedy franchise is set to hit the theatres on 28 September. As fans await the movie, Asian Sunday caught up with Pulkit Samrat aka Anni, Varun Sharma aka Choocha and Richa Chaddha aka Bholi Punjaban.
The Fukrey stars spilled the beans on who among the cast was the biggest Fukra and will Ali Fazal join back the fourth version of Fukrey if it happens, among many fun facts.
Read the interview here
2023 has been a highly successful year for Bollywood, after having been in a rough phase – What do you feel has changed and how optimistic do you feel about this movie now?
PULKIT SAMRAT: Our producer, Ritesh Sidhwani, he puts it out in a correct manner, and I feel that it’s the right way to look at it. When Covid came, we were all spending time inside the four walls with each other 24×7, so those three four months, we were just doing that. We were hungry to get out of our houses. We were hungry to look at the green grass, to look at the leaves, the sky. As soon as the lockdown got over, people just wanted to go out. The travel industry got a boom suddenly, right after the lockdown. The air tickets got expensive; the hotel industry started booming. After a few months, or after some time, people realised that now we have to get back to the usual weekend outings, which is going to the theatres and enjoying the movie, with a bucket of popcorns and samosas, so finally that time came, that people are loving to get back to the theatres. They want to do the unity thing, coming together, watching a film together and experience that shared experience of laughing together and crying together, feeling all emotions on that 70mm screen, so I think that is what has changed more than anything else.
Are you optimistic that Fukrey 3 will follow that trend?
PULKIT SAMRAT: (laughs) We are actually the trend breakers brother. We never go with the trend, we set our own trends, but yeah, touchwood, we are expecting a positive response and the same kind of love and even more than what the first two films received.
Speaking of Fukrey, who do you think is the biggest Fukra among you and why do you feel so?
VARUN, PULKIT AND RICHA CHADDHA: (Together) Mrigdeep Singh Lamba
PULKIT SAMRAT: That’s our director. He’s the biggest Fukra, all the characters come out of him.
So, all the characters are his own personality?
PULKIT SAMRAT: Yes obviously, he has a Lalli, he has a Bholi, he has an Azhar, he has a Choocha and Pandit Ji inside him.
While we are at it, can you recall of any fun incidents or bloopers that happened during the shoot?
VARUN SHARMA: I think one of the biggest incidents, we would all agree upon, is when we were filming Fukrey 3. The minimum temperature we shot is 45 degrees, going maximum upto 55 degrees. It was crazy hot. In the song, Mashoor, where all of us are on the tank, we shot that in Amar Colony. It was so hot at that time, the metal was pinching us, so yeah I think more than the bloopers, it think it was a very vaporising experience.
Varun Sharma, seeing the success of your character, Choocha, you’ve become synonymous with the character – what are you like in real life, and what do you change when entering the character?
VARUN SHARMA: I think there are a lot of similarities between a Varun and Choocha. It’s grown a lot over the past ten years. I really relate to it; I am a little different in certain aspects. So the innocence, rawness and being ready to stand with friends, all those traits are there. But in reality, I am an overthinker, I really seek a lot of self-validation, there’s a constant thought process that happens within me, so that ways there’s a difference, because Choocha is absolutely carefree. He doesn’t think before he speaks. One think that I’ve learnt from Choocha, is to be a little stress free and carefree, in any situation. That’s one thing that I try to inculcate within me.
Richa, Bholi Punjaban is entering the field of politics now, you’ve previously done a political character with Madam Chief Minister, is there any thing that you picked up from that character, and how different is Bholi Punjaban different from other two films?
RICHA CHADDHA: Not really, because the character in Madam Chief Minister, is very different, she came from an OBC background. She wasn’t an active politician, she gets thrown into the business and gradually develops the taste. Bholi, is really calculative, she went in jail in the last part of the film, this part you see her running for Chief Minister, but you don’t really figure out before you see her at a political rally. She’s obviously going for the big money or big power. While I think that the character in Madam Chief Minister had a lot of positive shades, I can’t say the same thing for Bholi.
The third instalment, is missing Zafar aka Ali Fazal – How much did you miss Ali in the third movie, and could we see a reunion should Fukrey 4 come in?
PULKIT SAMRAT: We really miss him a lot, I think he missed us even more. We made sure that we give him a FOMO from the sets while doing face time calls with him, telling him how much fun we were having while shooting the film. At some points, we were in the similar locations, where he had also shot with us, so we would send him pictures, to make him feel bad about. To be really honest, he’s really excited to watch the film, even more than us. He’s really impatient to watch it. For Part four, whether he is there or not, you’ll have to watch the part three, to understand that.
Richa, what message would Bholi Punjaban pass on to our audience, in English?
RICHA CHADDHA: In English, Bholi Punjaban is really poor in English. So let me try, “Come one, come all, for watch earthquake in Delhi. It fight between Bholi, Choocha, and many villain, but winner only one, entertainmen
