Kunal Kemmu on 'Vibe', Preity Zinta, Sharmila Tagore & Taking the Driver’s Seat

Kunal Kemmu on working with Preity Zinta, and calling action on his legendary mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore

Kunal Kemmu returns to the director’s chair with Vibe, his second directorial venture after Madgaon Express.

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

Kunal Kemmu is returning to the director’s chair with Vibe, his second directorial venture after Madgaon Express. This time, he is also stepping into the role of producer, while continuing to act in the film. Backed by Drongo Films, the banner he launched with Chirag Nihalani, Vibe brings together Kunal, Preity Zinta and Sparsh Shrivastava in this comedy.

In a conversation with The Quint, Kunal talks about why he chose a theatrical release for Vibe, calling action on mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore, working with Preity Zinta — whom he was "too shy to talk" to earlier —earlier — and answers if the industry has become risk-averse.

The director spoke about calling action on mother-in-law Sharmila who plyas a cameo in the film.

He recalls how Soha Ali Khan told him, 'Amma said there better be a cameo for her in the film.'

"I thought it was a joke, but it wasn't. I went to her with the role and she accepted it immediately. I didn’t even know directing a legend like her was on my checklist,” he says, adding that she was “extremely professional.”

Speaking of driecting Zinta, Kemmu recalled, being in the same room as the actor in the past, but never having spoken to her, because he was 'too shy'.

I had no idea what Preity was like in real life, so that was a discovery on its own. She’s a vibe — very entertaining to talk to, and you get lost in her stories.

Kunal Kemmu

Speaking of hat his debut would look like in 2026, the actor said, he owuld still do 'Kalyug', adding that it would do "far better numbers today than it did when it released.”

The conversation also touches on the changing nature of the Indian film industry, from a time when people would lease their houses to make a film to the arrival of corporates and the business-driven nature of filmmaking and more.

Vibe releases in theatres on September 18.