A tinge of comedy lends entertainment value to movies, especially if a filmmaker intends to drive home a worthy message on socially pertinent issues, says National Award-winning filmmaker Subhash Kapoor who has tackled themes like the recession, judiciary and honour killing in his movies.
Credited with films like "Phas Gaye Re Obama", "Jolly LLB" and the recently released "Guddu Rangeela", Kapoor told IANS: "If issues dealing with serious subjects like judiciary, recession and honour killing are told with the same tone in films, then filmmakers will end up excluding audience because, fundamentally, people demand entertainment when they step into a theatre.
"But when I put a certain amount of comedy or satire in a film to talk about these serious issues without making a change to the perception, then it becomes easy for me to reach out to a vast number of people."
A former journalist, he believes comedy enhances a filmmaker's reach.
"It helps connect with the audience innovatively. Usually, people don't mind issue-based films, but if the same thing is delivered to them with a certain amount of humour and fun, then they will love it even more," added Kapoor, whose latest film "Guddu Rangeela" -- starring Arshad Warsi, Amit Sadh and Aditi Rao Hydari in a story with honour killing at its core -- has been appreciated by critics.
Kapoor, who mostly delves into woes of people in small towns through his storylines, feels obliged that an increasing number of filmmakers are travelling to the country's interiors for shooting as it's bridging the gap between rural and urban India.
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He likes to slot his films in the "social commentative" genre.
"My films will be more on social comment, recession, judiciary and honour killing. It's very important not to forget what is often called in media, 'Bharat'. It's great to see so many people making films on small towns. 'Tanu Weds Manu', 'NH10' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur' are best examples of small town stories.
"People are basing films on the real world and that is really exciting," added Kapoor, whose experience as a political journalist in the past helps him in telling socially relevant tales in a nuanced way to the audience.
"As a journalist, I have covered various elections - 1996, 1998 and 2001. So, I've had the opportunity to travel in north India, especially in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Also, I've interacted with a lot of people and seen the society and culture that they live in. That's where I get my humour and satire from," said the director, who is now focussed on the sequel of "Jolly LLB 2".