The story of Thai Massage is inspired by the lives of my parents: Director Mangesh Hadawale

Writer-Director Mangesh Hadawale, whose latest film Thai Massage is a heartwarming tale of Atmaram Dubey (played by Gajraj Rao), struggling with erectile dysfunction, in an interview reveals that the film’s story is inspired by the lives of his parents.

He shares, “This movie’s story holds a very special place in my heart because it was based on real events in my life. My father experienced a paralysis attack at the age of 51. My mother was 41 years old at the time, and I had been living away from home in a hostel. I remember, when I used to visit them during my vacations, I would see my mother taking care of my father – from helping him take a bath to changing his clothes to almost everything.”

Hadawle adds, “In a situation like this, your husband is alive but your physical desires cannot be met because he is not fit. And I am sure my father must have lived through a similar situation. So that became the inspiration for my story,” he adds.

Malaal’s director goes on to discuss the most challenging aspect of making a movie that addresses a serious subject but in a lighthearted manner. “Mujhe ek serious baat bataani thi, but jab ek serious baat serious tareeke se btaao toh log nahi dekhna chaahte. That’s why, we decided to approach it with humour.” Hadawle says, when we do that, “extreme caution needs to be exercised so as to avoid straddling the line between comedy and vulgarity. Aise kahaniyo me phisalne ke chances bahut zyada hote hain. That is why it was a very difficult task.”

Elaborating more on the challenges, he reveals that 36 drafts were discarded before finalizing the final script of the movie. “Meri pehli 5 films me likhne me itne kasht nahi hue the jitna isme hue. It was a challenge to write what I wanted to, without making it sound vulgar. Ek line likhte samay bahut baar sochna padta tha kyuki ek aise insaan ki kahani dikhaa rhe hain jo aapke maa-baap ki umar ka hai. After all this, paper se screen pr laane me b khyaal rakhna padta hai”

As for the dialogues, Hadawle says, “after writing the first draft of dialogues, I collaborated with Asheesh Thakur, Sajid Ali and two more people and their expertise was instrumental in giving the final shape. ,” he explains.

The basic intention behind making this film, Hadawle says was to give a good experience to the audience. “After watching the movie, I want that they could go back and look at their parents from a different perspective. That would be the real success of our movie,” he concludes.