The upcoming Vishwak Sen-starrer Laila has created quite an uproar with its recently released trailer. Featuring the Gangs of Godavari actor in a woman’s disguise and brimming with risque dialogues, the trailer promised a film that delivers a completely contrasting brand of comedy, as compared to the recent blockbuster Sankranthiki Vasthunam. However, Laila director Ram Narayan claims that his film is very family audience-friendly. He explains, “It’s a bold subject. However, there is nothing discomforting about the film’s visuals. Even when other characters are flirting with Vishwak Sen's Laila, it will only seem comedic. I do prefer naughty jokes, and some phrases might seem bold, but visually, the film is clean.”
In fact, Ram Narayan asserts that the team behind the film took special care in costume design for Laila. “We were quite concerned about how the female costumes would look on a male physique; they shouldn’t look vulgar. Even small fumbles on execution level can cause big damage to the movie, so we took great care of the fittings and styling, and our costume designer Harshitha designed great costumes for Vishwak,” he adds. Shot over 63 days, Laila also had special care taken for the prosthetics of its protagonist’s feminine avatar, says Ram. Elaborating on the meticulous work behind the same, the director mentions that he had certain colours and style in mind when he wrote Laila’s character. “I wanted to present this differently since nobody has seen Vishwak in this style,” he adds.
Produced under the banner of Shine Screens, Laila tells the story of a savvy make-up artist who is compelled to take up the disguise of a woman to protect himself, only to end up attracting more attention from other men around him. Talking about how the idea for Laila came about, Ram Narayan says, “I wanted to do different with a unique subject when the idea of a hero in a female get-up came up. It’s a unique idea, but not done that often in the recent past. The idea of a protagonist being a make up artist came up because it would be a nice justification for how the hero can use his own talent to get into that look. Believability was very important here.”
Ram Narayan is full of praise for both his lead star Vishwak Sen and producer Sahu Garapati for signing up for this film. He says, “First of all, it is Sahu gaaru’s greatness that he agreed to produce this. He is the one who suggested Vishwak Sen as the lead.” Talking about how he wasn’t sure about Vishwak at first, Ram states, “Vishwak has a massy image, and he was still doing Gangs of Godavari. However, when I narrated the film to him, he told he always wanted to do one such role. Once Vishwak came on board, I decide to scale up my film to match his standard.”
While Vishwak Sen’s character will largely be the focal point of his film, Ram Narayan states that Abhimanyu Singh, playing a thug, will be the real surprise element in it. “When I saw him in the Ram Pothineni film Ongole Githa, I realised he can do comedy so well, but nobody has used him in this element. My film will show him in a new shade altogether.”
Further talking about the nature of comedy in his film, Ram Narayan says that he believes more in situational comedy than the kind that relies heavily on punchlines. “Comedy happens when someone is fooling either someone else or themselves. That’s when laughs arrive, when a balance is struck without insult comedy. Laughs are purely situational here,” he concludes.