Director of Luka Chuppi, Laxman Utekar, has worked as director of photography in several big films and says he has learnt a lot in his journey - learning decency from Shah Rukh Khan to admiring megastar Amitabh Bachchan's maturity.
Laxman has been behind the camera for films like 102 Not Out, Dear Zindagi, English Vinglish and Hindi Medium among others.
"I've learnt from all the people I've worked with. There is so much to learn from them. When you work with Shah Rukh Khan, you learn decency. He is a thorough gentleman. He knows how to talk to people, how to handle them," said Laxman. "Bachchan sahab's maturity and experience reflects when you work with him. I feel lucky that I've got to work with such talented people," he added.
Laxman has previously helmed Marathi films like Tapaal and Lalbaugchi Rani. Luka Chuppi marks his Hindi directorial debut, along with his writer collaborator Rohan Shankar.
The film, produced by Dinesh Vijan, features Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon. The filmmaker said he was extremely impressed with his film's leads and realised they are more than just glamorous faces.
"I hadn't seen much of their films but when we started our reading session, I got to know their sensibilities because the kind of questions they used to ask, the way they used to discuss nuances, it made me happy. "I realised that Kartik and Kriti are not just glamorous stars. They are also very talented and intelligent performers. There are very few like them. In our industry, you'll find people who are good looking but may not be that good as performers and vice versa."
The romcom, set in Mathura, chronicles the story of a couple in a live-in relationship and how family dynamics come into play.
Recently, filmmakers in Bollywood have trained their lens towards the hinterland and Laxman says the trend is in vogue because for a long time the audience was used to seeing romances set in abroad where the most of India that was shown was only Punjab.
"Across the world, the audience changes its choice after every three years. Right now our audience wants to see Indian culture and colour, which was absent from the big screen until Aanand L Rai's Raanjhanaa," she said.
"Every after 100km we have a different dialect and culture. People want to see all that today. They are loving it. This trend will go on for three years more, and then the trend might change again," he added.
Luka Chuppi is scheduled to release Friday.