Nirnayakam: Now revisit V K Prakash's socially relevant film in Hindi with 'Kaagaz 2'

V K Prakash known for films like 'Beautiful', 'Trivandrum Lodge' and 'Silence', among others, is back with a Hindi film 'Kaagaz 2'. The movie, which was originally set to be directed by Bollywood director Satish Kaushik, is the official remake of Prakash's 2015 national award-winning Malayalam film 'Nirnayakam' featuring Asif Ali, Tisca Chopra and Nedumudi Venu.

As 'Kaagaz 2' hit theatres on March 1, V K Prakash shared his excitement about the Hindi remake. “It was the late director Satish Kaushik's idea to remake the film in Hindi. He was the chairperson of the 2016 National Awards jury when 'Nirnayakam' received the national award for best film on a social issue. After five years, he called me up and said the film was still lingering in his mind and he wanted to remake the movie. Soon enough, he purchased the rights of the film,” said Prakash. “His words were bigger than any national award for me,” he added.

Though Satish had plans to helm the movie initially, Prakash was later asked to take over as director by the veteran filmmaker and actor. Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta and Satish Kaushik play prominent roles in the film, which was shot mostly at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. “In Nirnayakam, Asif played an NDA cadet, so the film was shot mostly in Mysore, Kochi and Pune. Revisiting this film was special, since I got to work with some of the greatest actors,” said Prakash.

He added that they brought in some changes for the movie to cater to the North Indian audience. Satish Kaushik reprises Nedumudi Venu in the movie, while Anupam Kher plays a lawyer who is battling cancer that was essayed by Prem Prakash. Darshan Kumar reprises role Asif Ali's role. Prakash says it was Satish's dream to tell stories of social relevance and name them 'Kaagaz', which means paper in Hindi. “His first film 'Kaagaz' revolved around a death certificate. 'Kaagaz 2' revolves around an elderly man's fight against a government rally. He wanted to release more such films, but unfortunately he is no more,” said Prakash.