Blending neo-noir, comedy, and tragedy

Sunny Singh with Abir Sengupta and Anushree Mehta; (right) Sunny Singh

After doing a slew of comedies, Sunny Singh is attempting something that has the potential of changing his image as a performer. Giving him a new direction with Ricky Romeo is writer-director Abir Sengupta, who is currently enjoying rediscovering his film in the post-production. The movie's genre is a combination of neo-noir, comedy, and tragedy. The filmmaker says that mixing the three genres gives a refreshing spin to exploring heartbreak in the film.

"Sometimes, you feel your heart is broken, but did it really break? You don't even know. Time not only heals your wounds but also reveals that it was all about closure, not a broken heart. The film captures the journey of self-discovery in the most unusual way. It's a dark idea, but it has colours. We are trying to find humour in a dark situation," says Sengupta, who also produces the film along with his business partner Anushree Mehta under Jaadugar Films, in association with Priyanka Mehrotra and Rameshchandra Yadav of PR Motion Pictures.

Crediting Singh for being willing to commit to his character and explore dark emotions, Sengupta shares how the actor got into his head to understand the character. "The character comes from a deep-rooted trauma. The prep was internal. We spent more than a month together to crack its mental space before going on floors. We spoke about everything under the sun. All those conversations helped him on set," shares the director.

The filmmaker believes that Singh of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015) and Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018) fame was always meant for more than delivering comic punchlines. "[I always felt] he could break into many shades. It was just a matter of [doing a project] that would bring out his other personalities and, at the same time, give the film an edge," he says, adding that Singh's performance is like a breath of fresh air.

With Risky Romeo, Sengupta has aspirations not only as a storyteller but also as a consumer of mixed genre stories. The filmmaker says he will consider it a win if Risky Romeo is able to widen the market for mixed genre films in the industry.

"I really want acceptance for this genre of neo-noir comic tragedy. I feel mixed genre films either completely blow your mind or the audience feels that it's better to watch when genres are explicitly mentioned like romance, comedy, drama so that it becomes simple for them to (comprehend). So, I want that even if there is an audience of 10 for mixed genres, it increases to 30 or 40 after Risky Romeo. I know so many filmmakers and writers, who have such unique voices, but they have fear of unacceptance. If that fear begins to reduce, a lot of new stories, interesting characters will start coming out," he says.