Debutant director Vishal Devrukhakar’s Boyz isn’t one of those movies revolving around teens; it is rather a beautiful take on friendship and relationships. The film stars Parth Bhalerao, Sumant Shinde, Pratik Lad, Santosh Juvekar, Shilpa Tulaskar, Zakir Hussain and others. Produced by Lalasaheb Shinde and Rajendra Shinde, it is presented by singer-composer Avdhoot Gupte.
Vishal says that there are various elements in the film. “As the generation changes, so do the techniques of teaching. Earlier teachers used to beat up students but not anymore. There are both positive and negative aspects to this change. Also, the number of single parents and divorced parents has gone up. This affects children, specially during adolescence when they are undergoing physical and psychological changes. It gives rise to a lot of mood swings among them,” says the director during his recent visit to Sakal Times office.
He has three protagonists revolving around this theme of his. “After doing 20 films, I knew I had to do Boyz and tell the story. Thankfully, my producer Ranjendra Shinde agreed with me,” he says.
Going by the trailer, the film is about a young boy (played by Sumant) staying in a hostel. His life takes an interesting turn when two village boys get admission into the school (played by Parth and Pratik) on a scholarship and the three end up sharing the same room. Sharing their stories, Vishal says, “Sumant’s mother is a single parent and he goes to live in a hostel after having a fight with her. Though he promises to be back in six months, he doesn’t return home for two years.”
Popular TV actress Shilpa Tulaskar who plays the role of the single mother says that though the length of the role was small, it had a crucial impact on the story. “What’s interesting about the character is that she is not a perfect mother. She keeps committing mistakes throughout. But she is completely dedicated to her son,” Shilpa shares.
Not many know that Sumant is Rajendra Shinde’s son but Vishal says that he wasn’t sure if Sumant will be able to carry off the role. “Sumant has auditioned for the role but we had selected someone else. That actor dropped out of the film 10 days before the shoot. Rajendra ji told me that we should get Sumant on board but I wasn’t sure about it. I wanted my characters to be perfect. I had two options — I drop out of the film or shut the project — but I was amazed with Rajendra ji’s confidence. After a lot of thought, we decided to go ahead with Sumant and gave him a few weeks’ time.”
Vishal says that Sumant had to go through rigorous training to get into character. “I used to show each one of them the scene and they were to enact it in their own style.”
Sumant says that his personality has changed since he started the film. “I have become more confident,” he signs off. The film releases on September 8.
