Shashank Khaitan: I feel comedy is the best way to communicate a message

For filmmaker Shashank Khaitan, cinema has always been about creating a complete experience — one that entertains, makes you laugh, and leaves you with something to take home. It’s a philosophy rooted in his childhood memories of watching movies in single-screen theatres in Nashik, where stories often unfolded in two distinct halves — comedy in the first, drama or intensity in the second.“Back in the day, cinema was a complete experience, right? For example, you watched a film like Shola Aur Shabnam — the first half was just a comic riot, and the second half was dark and intense. We didn’t understand the screenplay back then, but we knew the film was engaging,” he says.Those early impressions have shaped his storytelling sensibilities, especially his commitment to weaving humour into his narratives.

Shashank, known for films like Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, says humour isn’t just a creative choice; it’s personal.“I’m also self-deprecating in nature, in real life. I love stand-up comedy. Every night before going to sleep, I’ll watch one stand-up set and then go to bed. I just enjoy it. And I feel comedy is the best way to communicate a message. Someone might laugh at it, but they take it home with them.

Sometimes, I feel comedy is better than giving out a preachy message,” he explains.He adds, “I’ve tried to use that through my movies — to speak about things that affect me, maybe in small ways — and wrap them in a story that’s entertaining and makes people happy.” Shashank points to films that have powerfully delivered important messages without becoming heavy-handed. “Films like Three Idiots, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Chhichhore and even Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani told such important stories.

These are message-oriented films.”