‘Munjya’ director Aditya Sarpotdar on comparisons with ‘Stree’: Similarities will be drawn | Exclusive

He also spoke about the reason why did he get an AI generated character instead of any actor wear prosthetic and perform the role.

'Munjya', a horror comedy, is going to entertain the audience today as it releases on the big screen.

Moneycontrol got in conversation with 'Munjya' director Aditya Sarpotdar, and in a freewheeling chat, he spoke about how there will be comparisons drawn between 'Stree' and 'Munjya' as they are from the same genre and from the same production house as well, Maddock Films.

He also spoke about the reason why did he get an AI generated character instead of any actor wear prosthetic and perform the role. All this and more in the interview, read the conversation:

Qs: Munjya is a horror comedy genre, with the success of Stree What do you think people are going to expect from this film?

I feel 'Munjya' is very close to me as I have grown up in that Konkan area. So, I believe that when we make a 'Stree' that also comes from a certain narrative or folklore from Karnataka and it gets made into a film, it gets connected with people. What mostly worked for 'Stree' was that it was connected to a very rooted myth, and the same, I think, is also true for 'Munjya'. I feel even if they are two different stories, they have a very common similarity of being very rooted and very relatable to the Indian audience because they represent the culture of India and the way the people have their belief systems. I do feel that in terms of story telling, they are so apart that there would be parallels drawn, but the reference to the genre 'Munjya' will definitely be looked at as in the space of 'Stree'.

Qs: Don't you think there will be comparisons drawn between Stree and Munjya?

Definitely, they come from the same production, so people expect it to be as good as 'Stree'. In a way, it is good for us because when we make a film in this genre under the Maddock banner, people relate to a certain quality that it has offered so far in all these years. We need to deliver that kind of quality, and that has been the challenge, and that's what we need to step up to. But in a way, it's great that we are considered among the films that Maddock has made, and that helps to create a certain buzz for 'Munjya'. The similarities will be drawn because there is a certain kind of fan theory that Maddock is creating its own horror universe, and I think at that point people are trying to draw parallels as to how a 'Munjya' is related to 'Stree' and how a 'Stree' is related to 'Bhediya' and how a 'Bhediya' is related to 'Munjya'. These kinds of theories are being made, and it is interesting to see that people are really investing in these ideas. So I feel that when Munjya is released, people will see how it is connected and how it is not.

Qs: You have the first computer-generated character, Munjya, for the movie, so how did this concept come to your mind?

When we went for 'Munjya', there was an option of casting an actor, putting a prosthetic on him, and having him perform. But we chose not to go that route and go the entire CGI way because I wanted Munjya to move and behave in a certain way that was beyond human life. The way he lives on the tree and jumps from branch to branch and does what he does for that, I needed certain flexibility, and there are so many things being done in Hollywood movies but never in India. Then I saw that there are so many movies made in America, but there are none made in India. But we have seen CGI creatures in India a lot but never seen humans emote dialogues and be in the same life as live actors who also come from CGI. We also felt it could be unique in telling the Munjya story, and yes, the challenges were many, but I do feel that sometimes we need to push the envelope to tell our stories and to bring in more technology and a lot of how the world makes movies. We need to advance ourselves, and this is the right approach and the right way to go. It is very challenging, and it takes a it takes a very good team of technicians to come on board who know how to go about it. We got this company called D NEG, which is a very famous company for VFX. They have done a lot of Hollywood stuff, right from Batman to Justice League to Superman, so we got that team on board, and they helped us execute this Munjya.

'Munjya' is produced under Maddock Banner, which has had hits like Stree and Bhediya.

As per the Moneycontrol review, 'Munjya' has good comedy. The film stars Sharvari, Mona Singh, and Abhay Verma in the lead roles. The movie was released today, June 7.