Good Luck Jerry, a remake of the 2018 Tamil-language comedy crime film Kolamaavu Kokila, released on Disney+ Hotstar this Friday. The film sees actor Deepak Dobriyal playing the role of Shekhar, a local hero in love with the titular character, which was originally played by actor Yogi Babu. Dobriyal, who’s receiving praises for his performance, says that though he’s a fan of the Nayanthara starrer, he made sure that his character in Good Luck Jerry wasn’t a frame-to-frame version of Babu’s character in the former.
“Yogi Babu played that role so amazingly that nobody could match up to him. He approached the character with a very interesting sensibility and added a whole new layer to it. The backdrop against which Good Luck Jerry is set is completely different, and so, I had to play this character differently. Yogi Babu delivered a promising performance and I tried to bring a different flavor to it,” he elaborates.
Working with actor Janhvi Kapoor made for a special experience for Dobriyal as he shared a connection with her mother, late actor Sridevi, who presented him the first mainstream award for his performance in Omkara (2006). “That’s why I felt like I’ve a personal connect with Janhvi. Even when I wasn’t shooting, I used to be on set to motivate her,” he says.
Praising Kapoor’s performance as the docile Jerry, who goes on to become a drug peddler, the Angrezi Medium (2020) actor states, “Her upbringing inspired me to bring my children up too in a certain way. Her innocence, passion for work, curiosity to learn, and risk-taking attitude are amazing. She was surrounded by theater actors on the sets of Good Luck Jerry and she was trying her best to absorb new things about the craft from them. She was on a constant hunt for knowledge and that’s something I admire about her.”
Quiz him on his thoughts about star kids being trolled and canceled for having the cushion of an illustrious family name, and Dobriyal says, “Janhvi is Sridevi ji’s daughter and there’s a lot of pressure on her. She’s very young and yet they don’t spare her. It’s tough for the audience to judge her talent solely based on her performance because they want to constantly compare her to her mother.”
