Shooting for 'Doordarshan' the film was 'a nice ride of nostalgia'

MUMBAI: Manu Rishi Chaddha and Mahie Gill, the lead actors of the upcoming comedy film "Doordarshan", say the film shows how the fastpaced lifestyle of the modern era has snatched away the simple joys of life that used to exist in the nineties, when the national television network Doordarshan used to be a prime source of entertainment.

"I think in the last 20 years our lives have changed because of Internet. We are busy creating memories in the virtual world and missing out the togetherness and the joys of face-to-face human interaction. When Doordarshan was the only channel on television, we used to value entertainment differently. Watching TV together was a different kind of joy and a way to have family time. These days, living in the same room, five people of a family watch five different programs on their phones. By connecting to the world, we are disconnecting from the immediate surroundings," Manu Rishi told IANS.

Mahie agreed, saying "Watching TV with family and discussing it were one of the major ways to pass time in the evening. Perhaps that is why those shows were for a family audience. Now, we create content for entertainment for every audience. Earlier, we would wait for an episode to come on air and now we do binge-watching. So, there is no fun of real-time watching or planning your day and family time, keeping a TV show in mind."

The film "Doordarshan", Manu Rishi added, is about reminding that bit. "During the shooting of the film we really had a nice ride of nostalgia," he added.

The story of the film revolves around an old lady, played by Dolly Ahluwalia, who recovers from a coma after 20 years and is unaware of the change that has happened over the past few years in her family. The doctor suggests that she should be allowed to live in the world she believs in, and the whole family goes through hilarious extremes to re-create the nineties in the present time.

Asked about her favourite show, Mahie said: "I used to watch ‘Nukkad' and also 'Fauji', which featured Shah Rukh (Khan). I used to also watch ‘Rukawat Ke Liye Khed Hai'. Now when I talk about all these shows, it sounds like I am talking of another life."

The film is produced by Ritu Arya, presented by Arya Films and directed by Gagan Puri. Apart from Manu Rishi and Mahie, the film also features Supriya Shukla, Sumit Gulati and Manoj Bakshi among others.

The film releases on Friday.