The Bollywood flick, Brothers, stars Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra. Bollywoodhungama’s JOGINDER TUTEJA takes a look at the close bond formed between the actors and director Karan Malhotra on the set of the recent release.
For producer Karan Johar, it was like being back in the ’70s when he was making Brothers even though the film is not set in that era. However, the camaraderie that he saw between the three Punjabis – Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra and his director Karan Malhotra – was enough to make him believe that he had stepped back into the era when Bollywood sets were buzzing with Punjabiyat.
A source said: “The three men got along famously right from day one. Akshay is known to bring his Punjabi elements both on and off the screen and loves to talk in his mother tongue whenever he gets a chance. The two Malhotras, though unrelated, come from Punjabi families, too. Since each of them knew the language, it became an official conversation tool for them. They got along famously and Karan Johar, who is also a Punjabi, joined in. As a matter of fact, except for Jackie Shroff and Jacqeline Fernandez, most of the people on the set were Punjabis.”
Ironically, the film has the protagonists playing Christians, which means in front of the camera, it was a different lingo altogether. However, the moment the camera was turned off, the trio turned on their Punjabi side.
“Akshay and Sidharth play David and Monty, and along with Karan, they used to discuss their scenes in Punjabi; can you imagine how it seemed when they’d mouth their dialogue in Punjabi while preparing,” chuckled Johar. “I used to burst out laughing. It was like a Punjabi set from the ’70s when filmmakers were all Punjabis.”
The men also used to bring with them rich Punjabi food from home, resulting in the sets almost turning out to be a highway dhabha.
“Yes, they all got very close to each other and the food along with language element integrated them all,” said Johar.
“Karan Malhotra was the first to realise that Akshay and Sidharth actually looked like brothers. He found something similar about their jawline and body language. He took the casting decision and I was happy to go ahead with his call. Guess he was right after all.”
It seems that the “Punjabi Band of Brothers” have indeed left an impression for Karan Johar to savour. – Bollywoodhungama.com