Exclusive! 'Satyaprem Ki Katha' director Sameer Vidwans: Cast Kartik Aaryan for his innocent laughter

SatyaPrem Ki Katha

Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani starrer 'SatyaPrem Ki Katha' recently collected more than Rs 75 crore at the box office, making it a box office success. The film gained attention and praise for it's subject that of a rape survivor finding her ground again, with the help of her husband. At the same time there was a section of the audience who felt the message was lost in the commercial aspects of the film and Kiara's character deserved more attention. Sameer Vidwans shared his thoughts in an interview with mid-day.com.

Did the box office numbers come as a surprise and what do you feel worked in favour of the film?

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There are multiple factors that worked in favour of the film having a successful run at the box office. Though it is a love story, it gives the audience a message. The idea was to make an entertaining film not just an intense once. There is empathy from the audience and they are able to relate with not just Kartik and Kiara's characters but the rest of the cast as well. Of course, I'm very happy with the reactions and box office collections.

How did Kiara and Kartik come on board?

When Karan Sharma wrote the film, Kartik was the only actor who came to mind. We required an actor with inherent humour and innocence. Kartik's has innocent laughter and is a good actor too. His appeal is just like 'Sattu.' Kiara has a certain calmness that Katha's character required.

What was your reaction to criticism that the message would be lost among all the commercial aspects and the feedback on Sattu and Katha's characters?

There are many ways of making a film and ours is a commercial one. We handled the subject with sensitivity but at the same time wanted it to reach a large audience. To make that possible, we had to keep commercial aspects in mind. It's not like we added illogical songs, every song helped the story move forward. While I accept the criticism I also believe that if the message hadn't reached the audience we wouldn't have got such a fabulous reaction.

The story is not just about Sattu and Katha's love but also that of a feminist husband. I hope after watching our film, people are less judgemental and more empathetic. I hope people learn to stand with the victim and are more humane.

What would you say were the major challenges while pulling off the film?

We had many locations which turned out to be the challenge but besides that not losing track of our theme was what we constantly kept in mind.