Kunal Kemmu returns as Hardik in Amazon MGM Studios’ Vibe, leaning into the character-driven comedy he loves as a viewer. He cites classics like Andaaz Apna Apna and Go Goa Gone as touchstones, insisting comedy is “serious business,” not spoof or parody. Fans suspect he’s secretly building a connected comedy universe, but he says IP rights are the real hurdle.
Kunal Khemu has all the ideas ready for the further adventures of Hardik, a memorable character he has played across several of his films, most notably now as the lead character in his upcoming Amazon MGM Studios film Vibe. Widespread online chatter has built a conspiracy theory of sorts, that Kemmu has been building a comedy universe of his own all along.
The writer, actor and director himself wishes it was true.
Speaking at THR India's Vibe Screening Room ahead of the release of his film, Kemmu said his investment in character-driven comedy is rooted in the fact that those are comedies he's always liked best as an audience member himself.
"I've enjoyed watching comedies which are character-driven. If you take the best of the comedies — Andaaz Apna Apna (1994), Deewana Mastana (1997) — you think of what the plot was and where it went, but it doesn't matter because you remember the characters for what they are."
He brought up his own film, the hit 2013 action comedy, Go Goa Gone. "Even in that film, Hardik, Bunny and Luv were your takeaway."
Kemmu also elaborated on how his character-driven thinking leads his films, and how he feels comedy is a serious business. "I just love characters, but the idea is not to just put them and put gags in. I feel that comedy is a serious business. I was not trying to make a spoof, or a parody, or even like a Mike Myer kind of a film where the villains are also like doofuses."
On whether he already has ideas for a sequel to Vibe, he was direct.
"I have some ideas but of course everything depends on how this film does, and if it does well there are ideas that I will get to write."
The more important question, that Kemmu's fans have long been wondering, is whether he has been laying the groundwork for a connected comedy universe across his films. The evidence cited: Hardik appearing in Go Goa Gone, a cameo in Madgaon Express (2024), and now Hardik returning in Vibe. Kemmu did not deny the intention. "Honestly, if it was just up to me, I would 100 per cent do that!"
The obstacle, he said with a chuckle, is intellectual property rights. "There's something amazing in this industry called intellectual property, which is not all mine. I hope to get into a place one day where I can own all of the IP. But like I said, if it was my cup of tea, we would have already had Go Goa Gone."
Producer Chirag Nihalani also added that the franchise potential for Vibe was built into the project from the start. "Right at the onset, when Kunal created Hardik and his sidekick Bugs, we knew these were characters that were 'franchisable.' What we were aspiring to build is not just a comedy film — we were looking to make a complete entertainer, a complete potboiler, with comedy as the thread that carries it forward."
Nikhil Madhok, Head of Original Content at Amazon, said the script made its case clearly enough when Kemmu and Nihalani first came in to narrate it nearly 18 months ago. "We stopped the narration twice because we were laughing and just couldn't continue." He confirmed that the team hoped for a franchise from early on in the process.
"I think when the script was created, both Kunal and Chirag always had the idea that if this first part lands, then the adventures of Hardik and Bugs can continue. If the audience reaction is anything to go by, and if the movie does well, I really believe that this is a franchise that we can take forward."
Vibe releases in theatres on September 18.