In the 1990s, most of us grew up on David Dhawan’s comedies. Over two decades on, entertainers in that genre have reduced in Hindi cinema, with Shashank Khaitan being one of the few filmmakers attempting it. From his debut film Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) to his latest work, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, it’s easy to see that Khaitan is influenced by the senior director’s school of cinema, blending romance and comedy to make an all-out entertainer.   

Ask him what led to that brand of comedy’s decline, and Khaitan analyses that it was perceived as “easy”. “A narrative was created that these films were not real cinema. People started believing that only films with intense messages were serious cinema. It made filmmakers apologetic about the genre. But the truth is that someone like David Dhawan could teach cinema to anyone, given his understanding of editing and craft. The genre was unjustly treated. It’s as tough to make a Sunny Sanskari… as it is to make a Homebound. Our definition of entertainment needs to expand. Entertainment isn’t only laughing and clapping. Homebound was entertaining to me because it engaged me, taught me about a different worldview,” he shares.