Actor Vir Das has opened up about making films with big ideas on modest budgets, comparing the budget of his film Happy Patel to the “catering budget of Dhurandhar”. He also revealed plans to produce five films under his banner Neeche Films.Talking about the idea behind the five-film slate, Vir said it came from his experience of making Happy Patel and Baara Number. He believes smaller-budget films should not be limited to serious or artistic subjects and that there is room for fun, experimental stories as well.“We are making a slate of five films. The idea comes from how we made Happy Patel and Baara Number. We don’t believe films have to cost the sun and the moon to be made. When people make films on smaller budgets, they often feel they have to be serious or artistic. Nobody seems to be making silly films, horror or comedy with really high concepts on small budgets. We want to change that,” he said.Vir Das says Happy Patel encouraged young writers to approach himVir Das said that after Happy Patel, several young writers approached him with ideas for films. He revealed that they received nearly 100 scripts and realised many of these stories could be made on smaller budgets.“After Happy Patel, we became a sort of lighthouse for young writers. Many people wrote to us saying they loved the film and had come up with some crazy ideas after sitting with their friends. We received nearly 100 scripts and realised that many of these could be made on smaller budgets if we followed two rules,” he said.Explaining one of these rules, Vir said he wanted to offer actors roles they would not normally be considered for. He cited Mona Singh’s performance in Happy Patel as an example, saying she had never been offered a character like that before and thoroughly enjoyed playing it.“We make it a rule to offer actors roles they don’t normally get. Look at Mona Singh in Happy Patel. She had never been offered anything like that before, and she did a fantastic job. For Baara Number, we approached 15 actors and offered them different roles. We want to make films that are really high-concept, unusual and fun,” he added.Story continues below this adALSO READ: Bollywood villain Danny Denzongpa spent Rs 40 cr to keep Vijay Mallya out of SikkimWhy Vir Das named his production banner Neeche FilmsVir Das also explained the story behind the name of his production banner, Neeche Films. He said it came from an incident in which a producer told him that his audience was “neeche”, intending to say “niche”.“We are calling it Neeche Films because we are supposedly on one of the lower rungs of the ladder. I also remember once being with a producer who told me, ‘Beta, tumhara audience bahut neeche hai.’ He meant to say niche, but kept saying neeche. So we thought, let’s just call it Neeche Films,” he said.Vir explained that the idea is to make films on budgets that allow filmmakers to experiment freely without worrying about traditional Bollywood expectations of box office recovery. He also believes that these films can find their audiences through digital platforms and online communities rather than relying on expensive marketing campaigns.Story continues below this ad“We want to make films at budgets where we feel completely free creatively. You are not burdened by the old-school Bollywood ways of measuring recovery. You can have boutique releases and be innovative about how you release a film. We are making five films across different genres, and the audience we are targeting isn’t difficult to reach. Comedians can reach them much more easily without marketing agencies and standees. It is a young, online audience that is already accessible to us,” he said.Vir Das on Aamir Khan giving him creative freedom for Happy PatelVir Das further spoke about his experience of making Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos with Aamir Khan, who backed the film under his production banner. He said Aamir gave him complete creative freedom and encouraged him to make the film the way he had originally envisioned it.“Happy Patel was a tiny film. I keep saying we were the catering budget of Dhurandhar. But Aamir gave us complete creative freedom. He spoils you in that sense. I remember when he greenlit the film, he told me it would be a small movie and that people would either get it or they wouldn’t. But he asked me to go out and make the film I had narrated to him and the one I wanted to make. Once you have experienced that kind of freedom, it becomes difficult to work any other way,” he said.Vir lastly spoke about how unpredictable the business of films can be. He pointed out that even when filmmakers do several things right, there is no guarantee of how a film will perform. Referring to the success of Dhurandhar, he said that even its sequel releasing just a week after the first film might have resulted in a similar wave of audience interest.Story continues below this adAbout Vir Das’ Baara NumberVir Das is currently working on Baara Number, his next directorial venture. The found-footage horror film is rooted in Mumbai’s folklore and revolves around a Maharashtrian demon. Vir has co-written and directed the film, which features an ensemble cast including Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chaddha, Arunoday Singh, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Ahsaas Channa, Puja Sarup, Navin Kaushik, Niharika Lyra Dutt and Suhail Nayyar.