Director Ritwik Pareek on 'Dug Dug': Inspired by a true story from my childhood

The idea for Dug Dug, a satirical exploration of faith through a deceased mans wish-granting motorbike and the growing cult around it, first came to Ritwik Pareek in his teenage years when he became fascinated with a real-life story.

The idea for ''Dug Dug'', a satirical exploration of faith through a deceased man's wish-granting motorbike and the growing cult around it, first came to Ritwik Pareek in his teenage years when he became fascinated with a real-life story. During a road trip to Mehrangarh Fort with his family, Pareek saw people offering prayers to the motorcycle at the Bullet Baba (Om Banna) shrine between Jaipur and Jodhpur. ''As a kid, you don't have a choice, your parents take you wherever they want. I just went there and I remember I saw that temple on 'Mano Ya Na Mano' with Irrfan Khan... I revisited it around 2012. There was a Zee News story as well. So, the idea kept coming to me and eventually I thought, 'That's a nice story to make'. Initially, I wanted to make a documentary, but then I created my own story,'' the Jaipur-born director told PTI in an interview. The film, which released in theatres on Friday, follows the bizarre phenomenon in a village where a deceased man's motorbike is believed to grant wishes, provided devotees pray to it and offer alcohol. As word spreads and prayers begin to be answered, the belief snowballs into a full-blown, commercialised religious spectacle. ''Dug Dug'' was made in 2021 and as it travelled around festivals in India and outside, it started getting glowing reviews with Anurag Kashyap being an early champion of the movie. He has now roped in his filmmaker friends Vikramaditya Motwane, Nikkhil Advani and Vasan Bala to back the movie's theatrical release. Kashyap has also been a mentor to Pareek, who studied design from NIFD Hyderabad and then worked as an art director in Ogilvy advertising agency in Mumbai for years before leaving it all to pursue his filmmaking dreams. In ''Dug Dug'', Pareek blends satire with beliefs and religion, using a Luna motorbike as the protagonist to drive the narrative forward. The filmmaker said he was careful about the colour of the bike as he did not want that to be associated with any religion. The Luna in the film is blue with a pink seat. ''Colours play a major part in every religion, and I don't want to offend any community,'' he said. After wrapping the film, Pareek screened it at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, MAMI Mumbai Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Kerala. Kashyap watched the film at a festival screening in Los Angeles and reached out to the director. Pareek met Kashyap later and still remembers the advice from the filmmaker that changed his approach towards his career. ''He (Kashyap) asked me, 'What are you doing now?' I'm like, 'I'm waiting for this film to get released'. He told me to never do that. 'Never wait, as soon as you finish your film, immediately start your next one. Otherwise, you will be stuck for years','' the director said. Pareek is now working on new projects, including a science-fiction film, a genre he is particularly passionate about and cites filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve and Stanley Kubrick as inspirations. ''I'm going to make a big cinematic experience (film) soon with a horror sci-fi (story). I'm hoping to make it with bigger actors,'' he said. ''Dug Dug'' is produced by Bottle Rocket Pictures, led by Pareek and his sister Prerna Pareek, in association with Ranjan Singh's Flip Films. It stars Altaf Khan, Gaurav Soni, Yogendra Singh and Durga Lal Saini.