'Friday Night Plan' is rooted in director Vatsal Neelakantan's childhood experiences

Babil Khan (left) leads the comedy, `Friday Night Plan`

Often, one borrows from their own life for their first film. It's particularly true of Vatsal Neelakantan, whose maiden directorial venture Friday Night Plan is readying for release this week. The Netflix comedy, starring Babil Khan and Juhi Chawla, revolves around two bickering brothers, whose Friday night plans turn into a misadventure.

Neelakantan

"For the script, I drew a lot from my life, my experiences of going to school in Mumbai, my friends and the challenges we faced. I tried to make it true to my childhood. Even as a viewer, I like watching such movies - the happy ones that make you feel positive and hopeful about the world. That's the hope with which I started writing this film," says the director.

Neelakantan has previously worked as an assistant director on several Excel Entertainment projects, including Raees (2017), Mirzapur and Inside Edge. He is thrilled that Farhan Akhtar's production house is backing the coming-of-age movie. "Everyone thought the film would bring a smile to people's faces. The idea the film is trying to convey is: do the right thing, have faith in the world and things will work out."