For filmmaker Karan Boolani, a good script is one that’s humorous yet emotional

The director is overwhelmed by the recent acclaim received for the film Thank You for Coming at TIFF 2023

Karan Boolani’s directorial comedy Thank You for Coming premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) held early this September. If the reviews pouring in are to be taken into account, this Bhumi Pednekar-starrer has received much love for its empathetic gaze and rib-tickling humour about a girl who has never experienced an orgasm in her life.

Boolani, who started his career as a production assistant, and later went on to direct the Indian adaptation of the TV series 24 starring Anil Kapoor, and direct and produce the Netflix show Selection Day, is chuffed at the appreciation his “sexual whodunit” has received. He cannot wait for audiences in India to watch it in theatres on 6 October. Produced by Rhea Kapoor and Ektaa Kapoor, the movie features an ensemble cast of Shehnaaz Gill, Kusha Kapila, Dolly Singh and Shibani Bedi. In a candid chat, Boolani shares his thoughts on his debut feature. Edited excerpts:

How did it feel to have your debut film premiere at the TIFF 2023?  

I was overwhelmed. It is my first film and a mainstream comedy one. I was surprised and excited when TIFF accepted our application, because it really was a shot in the dark. For them to give us such a big platform with a gala premiere made me feel like we have something that I couldn’t see while editing the film. Toronto is such a multicultural city, almost a mini-world you are showing the film to. More than exciting, it was a learning experience to see how the jokes we had laughed at were landing [for the audience] and at the end, people were crying because it is also an emotional film. It gave us that assurance and confidence that we are on the right track. 

Why did you release this film through the festival circuit instead of releasing it theatrically or on OTT?

It has been my experience making short films and documentaries to get them into festivals just so you get a chance to show them to a wider audience With Thank You… we just decided to send it and see what happens. Our theatrical release was set a few weeks earlier than what it currently is. We pushed it to 6 October because that was the right date for distribution in India. I feel every filmmaker should send their project to a festival and show it to an unbiased audience. This is an experience that gives me a lot of comfort, no matter what the fate of the film is.

Can you tell us about the inception of the film?

The idea came from screenwriter Radhika Anand who met my wife Rhea [Kapoor] to narrate a story. Anand said she had another story, more a one-liner then, about a girl who has never had an orgasm and wakes up one morning to realise that she eventually did but  cannot remember with whom. I burst out laughing and was also extremely curious about it. I wanted to learn about this experience of what it feels like to live for a certain number of years without feeling that level of pleasure. I had to find a way to spy on their writing sessions because they would be having so much fun exploring these ideas. I was used as a bouncing board and, very soon, I learnt when I shouldn’t be saying things.

Tell us about your casting choices. What urged you to cast content creators with your protagonist Bhumi Pednekar?

A lot of it is based on real life experiences and people we know, or know of, events that are really embarrassing, shameful or awkward. It is actually people’s lives on the pages; they are not just gags. We have a close bunch of friends who are brave enough—or perhaps stupid enough—to tell us their life stories (laughs). I wanted to bring some kind of familiarity to the roles but not something with which we had an existing relationship, to cast people who relate to these situations. The influencers/content creators have been working for so many years, writing their own scripts and filming themselves in little rooms; I find them brave.  

There is a notion that women tell women stories better, yet you have directed a chick flick. What do you have to say about this notion?

While all of us have an experience as a particular gender in this world, the aim as a filmmaker is to look at a story from everyone’s point of view and to find a sense of humanity in it. There are women who are very good at directing stories with men as the protagonists. I find all this talk slightly confusing because I wouldn’t know any other way, and a woman wouldn’t know any other either. I feel we are storytellers first, over and above anything else.

Your wife Rhea has produced a number of movies that are in the chick flick genre and is the producer for Thank You… as well. Has she influenced your choices as a filmmaker?

She kickstarted this genre in India. Rhea and  I have very different tastes in cinema and music. She loves romantic comedies and I used to watch more international cinema. Over the years, she has started watching more of international cinema and I have been watching more rom-coms and we have found a common ground that we both love. We don’t agree on everything but we respect each other’s point of view. This is a space that she owns—with films such as Aisha, Khoobsurat, Veere Di Wedding, and now this one.

Do you think that filmmakers too need to experiment with different genres for their craft to evolve? 

I think one should always be going into places that are challenging and scary. At least, that is how I have made my decisions. 24 was a mammoth show—I had to keep up with the pace and tempo; we had to shoot it for television where there are advertising breaks every 15 minutes. Plus, you never have enough of the resources you need. With television, you sometimes shoot 12-13 pages [of the script] a day so you have to be really clear about what is essential for the scenes. A different genre forces you into problem-solving. With Selection Day, we set up a writers’ room which was not something common in 2016, and I had a writer from England here for it. That is how I learnt about communicating with writers, and the right way to make suggestions or ask for things. As a filmmaker, I hope to never have the exact same experience I’ve already had because it might limit my growth.

Are there any projects in the pipeline you can tell us about? 

I have been trying to make a film for 14 years now so there are a number of ideas in my head. I am also reading a lot of scripts but nothing has been decided yet. I am open to OTT as well but it is the script that decides everything, from who it needs to where it should be shot. We put in our life’s experiences into these stories and the right script is eventually what every director is looking for.

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