Behind the scenes on Zoya’s movie

Published Jun 15, 2015

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With the release of Dil Dhadakne Do (DDD), here are 10 things you might not have known about the film and its cast, collated by Bollywoodhungama’s SUBHASH K JHA

1. Anil Kapoor was not sure he wanted to play Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra’s dad, especially since director Zoya Akhtar wanted him to sport a mop of grey hair. Anil finally agreed… to the role and the grey hair.

2. An interesting bit of role swapping: Anil’s wife was to be played by Tabu. And Shefali Shah was to star in Meghna Gulzar’s Talwar. But then Tabu decided to do buddy Meghna’s film and Shefali did Tabu’s role in DDD.

3. Another interesting role swapping: Ranbir Kapoor was offered Ranveer Singh’s role. But Ranbir was doing Bombay Velvet. The role went to Ranveer who had been offered Bombay Velvet.

4. Ranveer-Priyanka as siblings seemed dicey, what with the two playing husband and wife in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani. But Zoya and Farhan convinced them to do it. From raksha bandhan to kaurva chauth is this dare pair’s journey this year.

5. Singh and Chopra’s sibling bonding is based on real-life siblings Farhan and Zoya Akhtar. Zoya has so far directed three films. All star her brother Farhan.

6. Kareena Kapoor was supposed to play Chopra’s role. But when Ranbir Kapoor opted out, Kareena too said ‘no’ to the film. She didn’t want to play Ranveer’s sibling.

7. Akhtar and Chopra agreed to sing their own duet in DDD. Later, breaking their own rule that they will only sing for themselves, they allowed other members of the cast to also lip-sync to Chopra and Akhtar’s voices. Sporting, is what we say.

8. The film was shot on board a luxury cruiser sailing along Europe. None of the 25 principal actors were allowed to carry along his or her staff. Austerity during times of unimaginable luxury.

9. Films shot on board luxury ships have not been particularly successful in India. Ajay Devgn directed U Me Aur Hum and Indra Kumar’s Mann are films which encountered a lot of drama on a luxury cruiser.

10. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobaara boosted tourism in Spain. Dil Dhadkane Do is likely to boost the volume of holidaymakers on cruise ships. Titanic notwithstanding.

bollywoodhungama.com

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