3 cities, 2 lovebirds, 1 quest

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Aishwarya Rai and Shrishti Arya in Sameer Soni and Neelam's wedding reception

Let’s start with the music.

There is individuality in Ali Zafar’s music. Every composer or singer or lyricist has their own style. Ali’s creation has a strong melody and simplicity which really works for our movies. There are modern arrangements we’ve used. Even a child can sing if he hears the tracks. Ali has kept it simple yet diverse. You’ll remember it for a long time. I couldn’t have asked for better.

And who features in your item song?

Chikni Chameli fell into the grain of Agneepath. Our movie doesn’t lend itself to an item song. No movie works because of an item song, but yes, I truly believe it’s the positioning of the song that boosts its chances of success.

What’s it been like working with Aditi Rao Hydari and Ali Zafar?

I love Aditi Rao Hydari and Ali Zafar. They are lovely kids. Now that makes me sound like a mother, isn’t it? (Laughs). When somebody trusts you so blindly, you have no choice but to go all out and look after them.

They weren’t asking for anything so I thought to pamper them with some kind of surprises. They are too sweet. It’s the chemistry that works for me.

You can’t pretend to look after someone or trust someone. There is a genuine trust involved with my actors.

And director Anu Menon?

As a producer, I need to know what the director has in mind and make sure the director sees through their own vision. Every director has an idea and a vision but an interaction with a producer always helps to expand their idea and make it better.

Anu Menon and I have sat through this and are proud that we’ve given birth to London Paris New York. It all boils down to the selection of the subject material, the selection of the manner in which the story is told and the people and aesthetics that work out together. My aim isn’t to ghost direct, but give the creative freedom to my director.

What genre were you aiming for with the movie?

Honestly, we are here to tell stories we believe in and not to make it so creatively different that people are put off. It’s not about redefining genres or about showing people how different we can do things.

It’s a story Anu Menon and I wanted to tell. Then others came on board and creatively got involved. We never started out to make a ‘never before seen’ genre.

How influenced is your brother, and producer, Goldie Behl with you?

I think it should’ve been the other way around. Goldie and I are very different. I always say that there’s a perfect human being in-between Goldie and I. He has a great sense of story music. He’s everything I’m not. The only thing we have in common is we are extremely passionate in what we do and for movies.

What most impressed you about London Paris New York?

London Paris New York really connected so well when Anu Menon narrated us her take on the movie. It surprised us as the story unfolded; it also made us laugh.

We never knew what the next scene was going to be. That’s why we were excited to work on Anu’s idea.

Love stories are done to death. But Anu told us that in every love story there is a crisis and in every crisis there is a resolution.

But the crisis was new and how it resolves was new. It was something that surprised and challenged me to make this movie.

How do you think audiences will receive Aditi in this role?

Aditi is a darling, though this will be her fully fledged role in a commercial movie where she plays a solo lead. But honestly, she is a very giving actor. An individual with a lot of respect for her work and talent unbounded. Aditi is gorgeous and she has been very fortunate in whatever critical acclaim she has received for whatever different small parts she has done in movies. She has a great voice and she has sung a song in London Paris New York too.

And Ali?

Ali is fantastic. He is an incredibly talented actor and has a hundred percent track record in movies (laughs).

There is Ali and Aditi and both bring the freshness so you can believe the characters they portray. London Paris New York isn’t a larger than life film; it is a slice of life.

There is a certain amount of dignity that they bring. Both have been really lucky for us. Back then, even the Jawaani Deewani cast was lucky for us because both Randhir ji and Jaya ji were relatively a fresh cast for a movie of that genre. – bollywoodhungama.com