Out of the ordinary

Raj Nidimoru andA Krishna DK, better known as Raj and DK from Andhra Pradesh made an impact in Bollywood with '99' and 'Shor in the City'. Their latest project 'Go Goa Gone' a zombie comedy, the first of its kind in Hindi cinema is releasing on A May 10 radhika rajamani Directors Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (better known as Raj and DK) made an impact with '99' and 'Shor in the City', their second and third films although their first film 'Flavors' too fetched them awards, accolades and critical appreciation. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, they made a paradigm shift to making movies after being software engineers, doing their masters in the US and working in high-paid cushy jobs before giving it all up. After relocating to Mumbai they have been making Hindi films which are unique, hilarious ('99') and gritty ('Shor in the City'). Along with Sita Menon they think out of the box and their latest project is 'Go Goa Gone' (GGG), a zombie comedy � an almost unheard of and first of its kind in Hindi cinema, releasing on May 10. For this film they have Saif Ali Khan along with an ensemble cast of Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand and Pooja Gupta. Amidst hectic post-production Raj spares a few minutes to talk about this zom-com and their forthcoming Telugu production venture 'D for Dopidi'.

What triggered the idea to make 'Go Goa Gone'? Basically after 'Shor in the City', a gritty dark film we felt like doing something contradictory � something out of the blue. We had this idea of doing a zombie film for a long time but we found a a slacker comedy - about three slacker guys who get lost in a jungle kind of an idea. So we clubbed both these ideas of a zombie film and a slacker comedy and that's how 'GGG' started.

This zombie comedy is first of its kind in Indian cinema I think. What's unusual about this one? Horror and comedy are two separate genres. They are usually treated separately. Whatever comedy is there in a horror film is usually unintentional. So, the idea was to combine these two primal instincts of horror and comedy in a film which becomes one of those rare ideas, rare treats where you are scared and laughing at the same time.

Do you think this will attract people to theatres? I always believe the audience are one step ahead than filmmakers even though filmmakers come up with a new subject. We always believe that content is the king and if you have something that is entertaining, no matter what genre it is comedy, horror, drama, anything for that matter that can get people to like it even if there is no precedence to it. From the trailer the reaction has been terrific.

What is the film essentially about? The core of it is essentially about how the new generation is dependent on technology. They are at home on their phones, watching TV. The idea is what happens if they are put in the middle of the jungle and there are foreign scary objects like zombies. What determined the casting of the film? You have Saif, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Pooja Gupta? Saif was the only choice we had in terms of Boris because he's such an unusually cool character. He had to have a lot of coolness, the macho traits while at the same time has a funny side to him. So, that balance was automatic with Saif. With Kunal we wanted to do another film after '99' because he's such a naturally terrific actor and he would play it in a very lazy slacker way. Vir got the film immediately when we talked to him about the idea. Anand is a terrific theatre actor. Together their camaraderie and chemistry is the highlight of the film in a way.

Whenever one thinks of fun, one thinks of Goa always. Why is Goa always a destination for fun, drugs and all negative things? (Laughs) I didn't think of negative things at all. We are just thinking what's the coolest place for zombies to land in India? There were only two options we could come up with. Where can aliens come to India? Where can supermen come for dinner? We had choices of zombies coming to the middle of Mumbai which will be a huge film to tackle or they could land in the middle of paradise � in Goa.

Your previous films didn't have big stars but has having Saif helped this film? It definitely has because we have a face to the film where it reaches a wider audience in terms of a market and the audience which comes to see it. Saif's gone blonde here. Was it necessary and part of the characterisation? Well, he plays a Russian guy � a gangster so we had to make him look a bit Russian. Blonde hair was necessary, and the tattoos and the whole grungy look that he looks like a Russian gangster who's throwing a party in Goa but when we break the character the transition had to be dramatic and cinematic.

You also got his production house to produce this film? Right. When Saif gave a call out of the blue to us asking if we had a script for him we went with two scripts. This is the script he immediately fell for. 'Wow we have to do this as this is something new, fresh and hilarious. I not only want to be in the film, I want to produce it,' he said.

Sita Menon is a creative collaborator in this film too? Yes, she's a creative producer of it. She's been with us from the beginning. We have done four films together. We have always been a team. We are called a trio sometimes. Each one has their strengths. She's now taking care of 'D for Dopidi'. You are producing 'D for Dopidi' in Telugu... 'D for Dopidi' is pretty much done. We were waiting for 'GGG' to get over so that we could give our personal attention to market and release 'Dopidi'. We are hoping to release it in end of May. I loved the way the film has shaped up. We are very proud of the fact that we are able to pull it off and produce it.It's a heist comedy.

You have got a young cast in the film comprising Varun and Sundeep Kishan... Basically it's a young film � young at heart, young in spirit and energy. Varun is doing a role which he has never done before. He's not a romantic lead in the film. He's just one of the boys in the middle of a crime comedy and these guys act like characters. Both of them are hilarious in the film. It's an avatar you haven't seen both of them do before.

Sundeep worked with you both in 'Shor'. What determined Varun's casting? When I met Sundeep he was like a regular guy, very unassuming. We thought we could give this guy a gun, put him in a bank and he'll look awesome as a guy caught in a lot of 'Shor'. I did not see much of Varun's films. We had a very fresh take when we met him as we felt this guy would be great. Don't you have any plans to direct a Telugu film? We do have big plans to direct in Telugu. We are just waiting for another new thing before we can announce a film later in the year.