KJo confirms next with Aishwarya, Ranbir & Anushka
Earlier this week, BizAsia reported that Karan Johar was looking at casting Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor in his next directorial. Now, the filmmaker himself has confirmed the project which will also feature Anushka Sharma.
The film is titled ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and Johar has given details in an interview with TOI. Talking about how the project came into place, Johar said, “I had developed a film for over a year-and-a-half that needed another 3-5 months of screenplay work. That film is still going to be made and I will make it immediately after Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. That film is tough and a challenging narrative and is about a husband, wife and a daughter and I have already cast the husband. But when I went to New York, this film suddenly came to me. I think it is about getting out of Mumbai. I wrote it in just 30 days. I have never done that before. One day, I was chatting with my friend Apoorva Mehta on the phone, telling him that I am writing this and I am writing that. We had a long hour-and-a-half chat and suddenly after that, he says, ‘But Karan, you have the screenplay.’ And I said, ‘Yes, actually I do.’ I had not written a word anywhere. I rushed back to the hotel room and just made some notes, so that I didn’t forget it. I had decided that I had to make it. I never write down a thing on paper as it’s always in my head.”
“When they say that a film is born within you and it comes right out, it’s true. I landed back in India a day before Diwali. And I spoke to all three of them one after the other (Aishwarya, Ranbir and Anushka) and they were all on. All three of them sat on the same spot of my house and I now consider it my lucky corner…” Johar continued.
The filmmaker also admitted that this would be his dream being fulfilled of working with the Bachchan bahu, “I have always wanted to work with Aishwarya. She and I have missed working with each other on several opportunities. I had first offered her Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and at that time, she was doing Jeans. There was a juncture when I thought Kajol would not do Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham as she had just got married. But I remember Kajol and I had this emotional moment. She did the film and I landed up not calling Aishwarya. Then at one juncture, I wanted to cast her in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna and things didn’t work. It’s been a hit-and-miss scenario with her literally. This time we hit it, literally. And it’s a very special role.”
Johar also spoke about the film itself, “Love is the theme and conflict of my next directorial endeavor. When I worked with Ranbir and Anushka in Bombay Velvet, I knew their pairing and undeniable chemistry warranted another film and I am extremely excited to direct them. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil also fulfills my big dream to work with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. It is possibly her most unusual and contemporary character and I can’t wait to work with her. It is too early to talk about the film, but for now, all I want to say is that it is not a conventional love story or love triangle. It’s a film that dwells deeply on relationships, heartbreaks and how love completes you, defines you and yet leaves you wanting for more. I have never had, in my entire career, a film that has come to me so fast, so organically and so from within.”
The release date is also something he has also zeroed in on – 3rd June 2016. Johar also said it will be a musical and he has finalised Pritam as the music director.
The film is expected to be shot in London, New York, Paris and parts of Delhi, he also confirmed.
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