Exclusive! Vikrant Massey and Kriti Kharbanda: 14 Phere ticks all the boxes of a family entertainer

The songs from Vikrant Massey and Kriti Kharbanda’s 14 Phere already promise a fun family entertainer with liberal doses of comedy. The excitement is also visible on the faces of its lead actors as we caught up with them recently. The comedy-drama follows the story of a couple who want to get married but don’t want to hurt their families. So, they arrange two fake weddings in order to tie the knot peacefully.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, Vikrant and Kriti talked about the Devanshu Kumar directorial, OTT platforms, family entertainers and more:

Talking about how 14 Phere happened, Vikrant reveals that the film was actually called something else at first. “I read the script and it was a three-day turnaround. I decided to do this film because the story is so beautiful. When I got to know that Kriti is a part of it, I was extremely excited. I had seen her work in the past and I knew that she is an actress of a certain calibre and I wanted to collaborate with her.” Kriti, meanwhile, adds that Vikrant was already cast as Sanjay when she got her part after an audition.

Ask them if it matters who their co-actors are while taking up a new project and Vikrant says that he is only concerned about the project. “To be honest, I’m not in the position to influence any other thing and I would rather just focus on my work. I’m fairly too young to get into all of that and besides that, I’m not comfortable getting into that domain. I trust my producers and directors for that matter,” he says.

Concurring with him, Kriti too says that it depends on the script. “The director is the captain of the ship and we should trust them with everything,” she explains.

On if there was any scope of improvisation while shooting the film, Vikrant says, “The kind of actors we are, we both prefer bringing a certain sense of spontaneity at work and you play within the boundaries. I think it’s healthy as well.”

Kriti had previously done a couple of films that revolve around weddings such as Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana. Ask her the difference between her earlier film and 14 Phere and she explains, “I know it’s called 14 Phere and it feels like a typical marriage film, but the truth is we are trying to tap into how important the family and parents’ love and care is for their children.”

Vikrant recently played an intense, layered character in Haseen Dillruba. So, was picking a light-hearted film like 14 Phere a conscious decision? “It’s been that way for the past two years. Especially, post A Death in the Gunj (the 2016 thriller film), I try to do at least one film in a year that doesn’t drain you physically and emotionally like my other films. So, it’s a very conscious decision to tap into different genres to showcase whatever I possess, as I’m fairly young in my cinema career right now,” says the actor.

Does having an OTT release ease the pressure of box office numbers? “If we are playing with box office numbers, then we are playing with the viewership on OTT, so there is risk at both the places and it certainly does not ease the pressure,” Kriti explains.

Agreeing with his co-star, Vikrant opines that both can co-exist. “Cinema viewing has been inherent in our country and nobody can take that away. There is a general tradition of community viewing that has been in every middle-class family and it will always be there. Unfortunately, we are living in a very uncertain time, but it’s bringing out the best in us. If this is the new normal, we have adapted it beautifully but there is no direct comparison at all,” he says.

The actor, however, adds that as a member of the audience he does miss going to the theatres. “At the same time as an actor and as a storyteller, in the last five years, OTT has given me a constant opportunity to reach out to my audience and share the stories I want to share with them,” he explains.

Expressing his thoughts about censorship on OTT, Vikrant says, “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Censorship has been a debate for the last 4-5 years and unfortunately like so many other things this particular topic also has a political connotation to it. Even after being given a particular certificate, the central government or certain agencies can revoke that certificate and that is borderline fascism and I really think it’s not a good sign for a healthy democracy.”

Kriti has been a part of the South film industry, where she worked in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films. Ask her the difference of working in Hindi and South industries and she says, “Everyone makes films because they are all following their passion; they enjoy what they do. Our prime motive and focus is to entertain our audiences. I’m a Punjabi girl and I started down South and then I came to Hindi cinema, but honestly, I didn’t find any difference between the two. ”

Speaking about the lack of family entertainers in the recent past, Kriti says, “It has been a while that we’ve had a good family entertainer come our way. Especially through this pandemic, we have seen a lot of things that are dark and serious.”

So, would you say that 14 Phere is ticking all the boxes of a family entertainer? “Definitely,” says both together before singing off.