Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali says the breakup of actors Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor never affected the shoot of their hit romantic-comedy Jab We Met and credited them as two extremely professional artistes.
AdvertisementImtiaz Ali went on to reveal that his original casting choice for his breakout romantic comedy was in fact actors Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta.
The director revealed an amusing anecdote of the time he narrated the film to Preity Zinta— who was the first person to compliment it.
“I had also gone to Preity Zinta.
It was when I narrated the film to Preity Zinta in her house, that she laughed.
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali says the breakup of actors Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor never affected the shoot of their hit romantic-comedy Jab We Met and credited them as two extremely professional artistes. The 2007 film was the last film they shot as a couple.
Imtiaz said the couple split at the end of the shoot, but the strain in their personal equation never showed up on set. Jab We Met was Imtiaz’s second film after his 2005 debut Socha Na Tha and came at a time for Shahid and Kareena when their pairing was also not a box office success.
“Most of the film was shot. There were two days after their so-called break-up that we had to shoot. They were absolutely professional. No blemish, nothing at all, whatever is happening in their personal lives,” he said in an interview with Galat India.
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Imtiaz Ali went on to reveal that his original casting choice for his breakout romantic comedy was in fact actors Bobby Deol and Preity Zinta. The filmmaker said he was initially trying to make the film with Bobby Deol when he was filming Socha Na Tha with the actor’s cousin, Abhay Deol.
Because Socha Na Tha took five years, from conception to release, the filmmaker spent a lot of time with Bobby Deol. “He is one of the best friends I will ever have. So I was trying to make it with him. But it never got made to the extent that many years passed… Bobby was doing some other work, so I thought let it be, let’s not make this film together. We shook hands on that.”
Imtiaz said much later, he started speaking to Shahid for the same part but when he approached him, he thought the actor looked younger than what he wanted his character Aditya to look. “He said he could wear glasses, and clothes that would make him look the age. Kareena was my first choice; I had met her earlier for this film, but it hadn’t worked out at that point of time. But then she came on board.
“That time Shahid and Kareena were not doing supremely well. But these ups and downs keep happening in the lives of filmmakers and actors. But as filmmakers we don’t have to speculate like stock market, judge what we think is right for a particular part and only that works. This is the learning of my life.”
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Imtiaz said Jab We Met, which put him on the map, was a tough project to put together as everyone, from actors to producers, had rejected the film. The director revealed an amusing anecdote of the time he narrated the film to Preity Zinta— who was the first person to compliment it.
“I had also gone to Preity Zinta. Jab We Met was the most rejected film of my life. It was being rejected everywhere. It was when I narrated the film to Preity Zinta in her house, that she laughed. I thought she is laughing at me, mocking me! But she said it was really funny. So, I continued narrating.
“That was the first time somebody had complimented the film. So I owe it to her and whenever I meet her I give her a special hug and thank her that, ‘You were the first person, who told me this film is ok.’ So Bobby and Preity Zinta is the pairing I wanted but it didn’t happen.”
Imtiaz is currently basking in the acclaim of his latest feature, Amar Singh Chamkila, which released on Netflix last month.
