Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che! is a big hit at the domestic box office and is a success even in the overseas markets.
A big screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, the film is produced by UTV Motion Pictures. Made at a budget of Rs.12 crore it features Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh and Raj Kumar Yadav.
“Kai Po Che! has received an incredible positive word of mouth in all overseas markets. We are very happy to see a movie of this genre with new cast perform well in theatres across the world. Our marketing efforts and the word of mouth on the movie have made this happen,” said Amrita Pandey, Executive Director – Syndication, International Distribution and Disney Media Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV
Director Abhishek Kapoor describes “Kai Po Che!” as a film for youth.
“‘Kai Po Che!’ is about the innocence of youth and their coming of age… not a witch hunt… accept it for what it is… and you might see the light,” he tweeted.
Asked to describe what Kai Po Che means, Kapoor says “it is a victory call. In Gujarat, as in other parts of the country, on the occasion of Makar Sankranti kites are flown, and when one kite flier cuts another flier’s kite, the war cry that goes out is Kai Po Che. Not many people understand the title and are curious to know what it means. But once they know its meaning, it stays with them since it’s catchy, unique, and metaphorically suits the story of the film, which is youth-centric.
“It is much more than the inter-personal relationship between the three characters. The film is set against the backdrop of two very significant events in Gujarat that took place between 2000 and 2002 – first the earthquake, and then the riots. The boys’ friendship is affected by these two events. Much more than the bromance is the fact that it’s a very Indian film. From bromance, it escalates into something much bigger that also encompasses religion and politics, but always held together by the thread of friendship.
As for adapting Chetan Bhagat’s book, Abhishek said, “I enjoy reading Chetan’s books. I think he writes very simply and effectively. I liked Two States, and I was offered to make a film on it. But there was nothing very substantial in there to sink my teeth into. I read The 3 Mistakes of my Life, and found parts of it very fascinating and the characters interesting. The fact that he refers to real events in the book made it even more attractive. His book gave me the idea, and then I added a lot to it. In many ways, I think my film comes closest to Titanic in its structure and content. The ship did sink and the love story was woven around it and made believable too. My film also blends fiction with facts to create a story that is credible, real, and very significant. This seemed like an ambitious project to take on, and challenging too.
Chetan Bhagat’s view
Writer Chetan Bhagat says, “The fact that the protagonists are not played by established names was a general concern, initially. I was always confident.
“Lots of films have been made on friendship, but ours is as real as it can get. There are no flashy convertible cars and rich kids going to discotheques. It is very Indian and deals with the everyday pressures that everyone faces – making a career, achieving your goals and keeping your parents happy. The film conveys that real friendship is all about standing up for each other when the going gets tough. When we started out, many people were not sure how the film would work with newcomers, but we were always confident,” he explains.
Bhagat took two years to write the screenplay of the film, which has music composed by Amit Trivedi. “Though it was my book, to limit myself to two hours of movie time was a challenge. It is a simple story, but it has big backdrops. A lot of what India cares about is in it and that had to be handled with care,” he says.
