First reason to take up Fryday was that Govinda was to act in it: Director Abhishek Dogra

Abhishek Dogra's second directorial Fryday will hit the screens three years after his debut film Dolly Ki Doli (2015) released. He won't take that long to move on to his third one as he has already signed on to direct a romantic-comedy film.

Asked what took him so long to direct his second movie, Dogra told IANS, a news agency, in a telephonic interview from Mumbai, "A personal tragedy had happened. That's why it took me three years."

"I have signed a film. Once Fryday is done, I will get on to my next. That is a romantic-comedy. Actors are yet to be finalised, but the script has been finalised. I am just directing it."

Fryday, also a comedy, had some hiccups in making it to the theatres. The film was scheduled to be released on 11 May. Then its release date got shifted to 25 May. Now, it has a new date - 12 October.

"It's basically the producers' call to release the film at the right time. They wanted me to have a couple of songs in the film. Initially, we had just one song. Also, the post work wasn't completed. We were hurrying it up. We took a call. It's a well made film and we wanted to promote it well. And in between, we didn't get very good dates. There were so many movies coming in," he said.

Fryday is presented by Inbox Pictures Pvt. Ltd., produced by Sajid Qureshi and co-produced by PVR Pictures.

He is hopeful about the movie doing well as it stars the "comedy legend" Govinda.

"I have been an ardent fan of Govinda sir. The first reason to take up the film was that he was going to act in the film," said the director.

He is aware that the Hero No.1 (1997) actor's last few films didn't create fireworks at the box office, still he is positive about the success of Fryday.

"I think there was too much of experimentation happening and leaving behind what Govinda's strengths are [in his last few films]. I have not experimented. I know that he is good at a certain type of genre.

"There is a certain way and style that he works on. There is a certain script that suits him. So I have not experimented. I have kept it little low on slapstick comedy and more on situational comedy.

"We know that he is one of the biggest entertainers that we have. People are excited to see him. There are people who are looking forward to see this film just because of him," he said.

Commenting on Govinda's new  partner, Fukrey (2013) actor Varun Sharma, Dogra said, "When I heard the story, I knew that Govinda was doing it. We were looking for somebody else in the same category. I had worked with Varun in Dolly Ki Doli. So when we were discussing about the other actor, Varun came naturally to me.

"I thought Varun could be that struggling salesman who is there to sell a product to Govinda. We wanted to have a 'jodi' that had a legend whom we all know and at the same time, somebody who can match up to his comic timing."

"Fryday is about that one day in the life of a salesman. That day is Friday. He has a deadline to sell his product. It shows how the Friday gets fried and becomes 'fryday'," the director added.