Vibe, Trailer launch: Preity Zinta hits the nail on the head
Vibe, Trailer launch: Preity Zinta hits the nail on the head
Drongo! How is that for the name of banner? Actor-writer-director, and now co-producer, Kunal Kemmu (it seems he has dropped the h from Khemu), who began his career as child-star, at the age of 8, has chosen this name for his maiden production, Vibe. Don’t get me wrongo, but Drongo is actually a long fork-tailed bird, with glossy black plumage, usually found in Asia, Africa and Australia. His co-producer is Chirag Nihalani. Kunal is clear about one thing: he did not the p..r..o of producing, and Chirag’s coming on board was a great help. Also of great help was the confidence Amazon MGM Studios reposed in Kunal, from the time he narrated the script till its completion.
Yashpal Sharma, Dinsh Lal Yadav, Kunal Khemu, Vanshika, Sparch Shrivastava, Preity Zinta, Chirag Nihalani and Nikhil Madhok
Besides Kunal and Chirag, the event, held on 02 September, at PVR Lido, opposite the S.N.D.T. University’s Santa Cruz/Juhu campus, attracted the presence of almost all the members of the main cast: Preity Zinta, Yashpal Sharma, Vanshika Dhir and Sparsh Shrivastav, and Nikhil Madhok—Director and Head of Originals, Prime Video (SVOD) and Amazon MGM Studios India. For the uninitiated, SVOD is an acronym for Subscription Video on Demand. Also present was Soha Ali Khan Kemmu, whose mother, that is Kunal’s mother-in-law, Sharmila Tagore-Pataudi Khan, puts in a cameo in the film. Beginning about an hour and quarter after the scheduled time, the event lasted about an hour. It consisted of an exuberant, over-enthusiastic, OTT compère, introducing the team, the team speaking to the audience and each other, a quiz, with T- shirts as prizes and a Q&A.
All the speakers were tight-lipped about the plot of the film. Going by the trailer, it is about a couple of nerds, who happen to be friends, recruited as spies by Indian intelligence, and the funny situations they land in. In one scene, Yashpal tells Kunal that he will have to wear a wire for the mission. He replies that he would be more comfortable wearing regular clothes. That’s a joke, but not one intended by the character. When faced with danger, Kunal remembers God. His friend remarks, “So now, from a ‘naastik’ (non-believer), you have become an ‘aastik’ (believer). Responds Kunal, “In this situation, I am even willing to become a plastic.” You got the joke, the rhyme?
Sparsh plays Kunal’s friend. In another scene, Kunal reads Rs. 75,000 as Rs. 75,00,000! When show two capsules, Kunal pays attribute to the Matrix franchise too. Preity Zinta plays their no-nonsense boss, while Sharmila Tagore, I guess, will appear as a Minister, or Director of Indian Intelligence. After the success of his debut as writer-director of Madgaon Express (2024, a crime comedy, produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani), Kunal felt they would enjoy another comic caper, so he struck upon the idea of making Vibe, which is scheduled to release on September 18. None of the cast of Madgaon Express is repeated in Vibe. After Vibe, Kunal said he might diversify into other genres.
Fans of Preity Zinta were delighted that she had started appearing regularly in films again. For several years, she was seen in cricket stadia, as the co-owner of Punjab Kings, a team that is part of the annual Indian Premier League, but not on the silver screen. Just a few weeks back, she was seen in Batwara 1947, which came seven years after her last releases, in 2018, Welcome to New York and Bhaiaji Superhit. For an actress who made her debut in Dil Se (1998), and wrote-produced Ishkq in Paris, which failed at the box-office, in a career spanning 28 years, she has appeared in just above 30 films. She has been living in Los Angeles, after her marriage, with businessman Gene Goodenough, where she has raised two children. “I have always dreamt about a role in which I get to do some action, some real action. But none of the films I did had any action scenes with me. Naturally, when Kunal told me that Vibe will have quite a bit of action for me to perform, I was delighted.” Someone asked her whether she felt any danger performing stunts, and she said, “The action has been very effectively and very professionally choreographed. I was never in danger of getting hurt. Full credit to the stunt team.”
A true sport, she asked the audience to encourage Vanshika, who is making her debut. Kunal added, “I was looking for an Indian girl who would speak English with a British accent and Hindi in a Hindi accent. It was very difficult finding such an actress. Luckily, I found Vanshika. We had to work on her diction a bit, but, in the end, she fitted-in fine.” Yashpal Sharma opined averred that it was great fun and a learning experience, working with very young team.
“How excited and hopeful are you about Vibe performing at the box-officer?” queried a fellow journalist. Kunal was clear about it, “I do my best and then leave it to the audience. They can rate the film anything, from zero to ten.” Nobody explained the title Vibe, which sounds odd, considering the premise of the film. And why the singular?
In the end Preity Zinta hit the nail on the head, “You guys keep asking the team how they felt working with the director and their co-stars. Has anybody ever said that he or she had a bad experience?” Absolutely not, Preity. They wouldn’t dare. In fact, you echoed my feelings about redundant, rhetorical questions. At every trailer launch, the compère asks the team leading questions, and they always give positive answers. The proceedings include mostly redundant questions from some film journalists, and a large dose of back-slapping by the team, praising each other to the skies. Moreover, the compère insists that the journalists among the audience applause, and cheer the team, like the invited fans are obliged to.
