Writer-Director Manish Gupta opens up about '420 IPC', a suspense film about an economic offence

Writer-Director Manish Gupta is back with 420 IPC - a riveting suspense film about an economic offence starring Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Gul Panag and Rohan Vinod Mehra. It will be streaming from December 17 on Zee 5. Previously, Manish Gupta scripted the screenplay and dialogues for Akshaye-Khanna starrer Section 375 and Amitabh Bachchan starrer Sarkar. Manish has also directed two Kay Kay Menon starrer films Rahasya and The Stoneman Murders.

Writer director Manish Gupta gets candid about his film 420 IPC and challenging of making it.

Manish said, “I’d got the idea for 420 IPC during my three years of research for Section 375 that brought me face to face with court procedures in economic offence cases - which I found to be an unexplored premise for a film”

On talking about challenges of making films on such realistic subjects which comes with a lot of responsibility in terms of research he said, "While writing and directing a realistic courtroom drama, the research needs to be very thorough, the dialogues need to be written very meticulously and the production design needs to be very precise. Many writers and directors do not take the pains to visit actual courtrooms to study how a courtroom actually functions. Meticulous detailing of court procedures, dialogues and production design will be evident to viewers in my film 420 IPC. Writing comes very naturally to me because I approach it as an organic process. Once my research is complete, the script flows on its own.

Directing a film comes effortlessly to me because while writing the script, I’ve already directed it on paper. Writing and Direction are very deeply interlinked. That’s why I’ve been the solo screenplay and dialogue writer for all the films directed by me, namely The Stoneman Murders, Rahasya & now 420 IPC."

Sharing about casting Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak and others he revealed, "In 420 IPC, Vinay’s character was that of an urban CA whose morality is ambiguous and whose demeanour is amusing. I could not think of anyone apart from Vinay Pathak to play this role. Ranvir Shorey and I were friends in college. We met after 28 years at the  Filmfare awards night 2020 where I was nominated for best screenplay for  Section 375 and Ranvir was nominated for best supporting actor for Sonchiriya. I spoke to him about 420 IPC, soon he read the script and instantly said a yes. I liked Gul Panag’s work in a recent web series, so I got in touch with her. Being a law student, she appreciated the intricate detailing of legal procedures in my script. I cast Rohan because the character was that of a 28-year old, urban, English-spouting lawyer. Rohan has an inherent sophistication in his demeanour. He was the apt choice for this role."

“My vision was to make a suspense film that did not involve a violent crime. 420 IPC is a unique subject. An intricate web-like plot woven around the mechanics of economic offences forms the crux of the film” said the maverick writer-director as he signed off.