10 years of Fukrey: Manjot Singh signed the film without reading the script, only asked ‘Main poster par hoon na?’

Manjot Singh had already made an impressive debut in the 2008 film Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, however, he credits Fukrey for giving boost to his acting career, and hence, he’ll always hold the film close to his heart.

“This was the first film where I was one of the leads (along with actors Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal and Pulkit Samrat). I had done a few films before Fukrey, but I was never on the poster. And that was one of my wishes,” he says, adding, “When I got the call for the role of Lali Halwai, even before listening to the script, my first question was, ‘Main poster par hounga na?’ And our director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba said all four lead men would be on the poster. Also, since I hail from Delhi, I could relate ki Fukrey hote kya hain (laughs). So, I signed the film even without reading the script.”

Interestingly, the 30-year-old reveals that his character was one of the first ones to get finalised, before any other member came on board and he didn’t even audition for it. “Mrighdeep knew that I was his Lali. He wanted me, and I was locked in his mind while he was still in the process of writing the script. I was very happy to listen to this, as I didn’t even have to give an audition for this part,” he tells us.

As the film clocks 10 years, Singh takes a trip down memory lane and narrates an off camera funny incident from the set where he fell for a prank.

“A day before the shoot, there was a rehearsal on set. I was late for the workshop and was made to stand outside for 15 minutes. The director said that I can’t attend it now. Later, I got to know the prank was played by Pulkit, and it was to teach me a lesson, so I’m not late in the future,” says Singh, quickly adding that Pulkit was also the one co-star who used to pamper him a lot.

“Mujhe kuch bhi chahiye hota tha, toh woh cheez kahin na kahin se aa hi jaati thi. So, he was that guy on the set who’d always provoke our director in such fun ways. Woh bohot maze leta hai, bahut fun karta hai,” shares Singh.

Given that Fukrey became a success story and achieved a cult status in comedy genre, we ask the actor if he anticipated the kind of love and appreciation that the film got and he confesses he didn’t expect such amazing response.

“I never thought it would become a cult film. I get so many calls and messages from people saying that they watch this light-hearted film to brighten up their mood whenever they are upset,” he continues, “This film is very close to my heart. Yeh pehli film hai jisne humein bada banaaya hai. It is an important part of my life,” he beams.

As there’s a lot of anticipation and excitement for the third instalment of the popular franchise, Singh assures that Fukrey 3 is going to be three times more fun. “The level and shoot of the third part are more grand than the previous two instalments. The concept is also very different. The audience is going to love the upcoming film,” he ends.