In the world of cheating spouses when a film titled Pati Patni Aur Woh Do gears up to arrive in cinema halls, you can only expect the subject to be of adultery. But trust noted writer-director Mudassar Aziz to throw a googly at us.Master of three Cs — comedy, chaos and commentary — if comedy for him is a reflection of society, dare he mock the sacred institution of marriage. Since his last outing Khel Khel Mein affirmed his strong belief in marital relationships, his forthcoming, he insists, ‘is anything but a tale of an extramarital affair or a man going astray.’In times, when people are easily offended, is he playing safe or has he tailored his subject in deference to his lead hero, Ayushmann Khurrana? Indeed, he loves that glint in his hero’s eyes as well as his innocence and sums up his onscreen predicament — “Kuch shikari hote hain aur kuch halaat ke shikar hote hain.”In short, his hero is caught in a piquant situation, meant to tickle our funny bone. Not the easiest task on the earth. He says, “Making people laugh is the toughest business. Humour as against universal emotions of love, pain and hurt is a very personal affair. Some find slapstick cringe, others think subtle humour is too vanilla, and then dark shades of it raises the hackles of a lot many.” Critics too, he agrees, impose harsher standards of criticism. He does not understand why fun films are so underrated and terms like ‘mindless fun’ beat him completely. He adds, “But then, even Hollywood rarely celebrates comic films.”But Mudassar has grown up idolising legends like Johnny Walker, Mehmood, Kader Khan and makers such as David Dhawan and Anees Bazmee. He explains “In our formative years, we all gravitate towards our kind of cinema.” His all- time favourite films are Aankhein, Welcome and No Entry. Without batting an eyelid he rates his Khel Khel Mein actor Akshay Kumar as the ultimate in the field of comic timing, who has changed the face of Indian comedy. He thinks he is equally blessed to have worked with Kartik Aaryan (Pati Patni Aur Woh) and sums up his comedic touch thus, “He has a keen front-bench commercial sense of comedy.” What is magical in Ayushmann, according to him, “is not just his timing and vulnerability but his sense of rhythm, his grasp on the language.”Mudassar’s language ‘purzor hindi and Joshili Urdu’ is laced with incisive political and social commentary. He finds it a bit ironical that while his films like Khel Khel Mein have won acclaim and not tasted box-office success, hits like Happy Bhaag Jayegi and Pati Patni Aur Woh have met with lukewarm response from film reviewers. He observes, “They must realise what seems like fun and games on screen is actually tons of preparedness and thoughtful writing.”Of course, he understands, “We Indians are harshly opinionated as people. We are sharp with our reactions.” But at the same time, he is adamant, “As makers, we need to go at our audiences harder, woo them with greater fervour and energy. Films like Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara and many regional gems like Laalo too have proved audiences do flock to theatres.”As for Dhurandhar changing the landscape of entertainment, he is cryptic. Though he has not seen the blockbuster sequels, he would rather make films which unite us. A great votary of Ganga-Jamuni tehjeeb, this proud Indian rooted in its mitti would like to tell stories which his mother can watch and his daughter can be proud of.Pati Patni Aur Woh Do releases in theatres on May 15.