Ranveer Singh shares if he wants a girl or a boy as his first child while promoting ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’

PTI

Mumbai, April 19

Bollywood star Ranveer Singh on Tuesday said the treatment of his upcoming film ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, about a man on the run from his overbearing father to save his unborn girl child, is similar to Charlie Chaplin’s films where a pertinent social issue is highlighted in an entertaining way.

Directed by debutant filmmaker Divyang, the upcoming social comedy is backed by Yash Raj Films and Maneesh Sharma and revolves around Singh’s Jayeshbhai, the son of a village head who is under pressure from the family to produce a male heir.

Things come to a head when his family gets to know the gender of his unborn child and decide to terminate the pregnancy, forcing the mild-mannered Jayeshbhai to finally step up.

“What I found amazing (in Chaplin’s films) is that you can’t stop laughing but it is talking about something tragic. This would happen in Charlie Chaplin’s films.

“That is what resonated with me the most about this film. Charlie Chaplin had once said ‘to truly laugh you have to take your pain and play with it’. That is what I love about tragic humour, I find it the funniest because under the humour and entertainment, lies something that is all too real,” the actor said at the trailer launch of ‘Jyeshbhai Jordaar’.

Singh said the aim of the film is to tackle a serious issue like female infanticide, domestic violence and other issues but the rendition is comedic.

“The things that Divyang is able to communicate with regards to these themes will hopefully reach and resonate with you through all the laughter and entertainment.

“The film will give you something, a message. Our hope is that you make a film with pertinent social issue and it resonates with you in an entertaining manner,” Singh told reporters here.

The 36-year-old actor said in real life, he has heard about the grave issue of female infanticide during his school days and said it is unfortunate that it still happens in society.

“It was taught to us in school. It’s very tragic and an unfortunate reality (that) these things happen and these are social ills that are still prevalent that Divyang has attempted to draw light on and tell people in his own way,” he said.

When asked what he would prefer to have as a child in real life- a boy or a girl, Singh, who is married to actor Deepika Padukone, repeated a dialogue from the film and said, “It is not my choice, it depends on the god.”

Divyang said his primary job is to entertain the audience through his stories. “My first duty is to entertain. I am in sync with Ranveer’s vision. I want to entertain with inclusivity, like people across all age groups should enjoy. The challenge was the issues that we have faced. Be it patriarchy or masculinity, we all are fighting at our own level, be it men or women. My primary job is to entertain but after you go home, if a seed is planted then…,” he added.

In addition to Singh, ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’ also stars ‘Arjun Reddy’ fame actor Shalini Pandey, Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah.

It is set to release theatrically on May 13.