Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani will mark Karan Johar’s directorial comeback after 7 years.
Shabana Azmi revealed in an exclusive conversation with News18 sometime back that she enjoyed working with Karan Johar in Rocky and Rani’s love story.
On his 51st birthday, filmmaker Karan Johar released the first look of his upcoming directorial venture, Rocky and Rani’s love story. Along with character posters of Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, netizens were also treated to a glimpse of their onscreen family members, played by veteran actors Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. While most details about Rocky and Rani’s love story are still under wraps, Johar said in a social media post that it was inspired by ‘a real-life family anecdote’ shared by her father, late producer Yash Johar. Was.
While the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director had worked with Bachchan in the iconic film, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), this is the first time that he has directed Azmi in his 25-year filmmaking career. The pair might belong to two completely different schools of cinema, but Azmi in an exclusive chat with News18 some time ago revealed that she had time to work with Johar. “Filming was a ball. I surrendered myself completely to Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra (costume designers). If people like me, it’s their credit and if they hate me, it’s their fault,” she told us with a laugh.
Interestingly, Rocky and Rani’s love story is also the first time Azmi has shared screen space with Bachchan. “Unfortunately, I don’t have much work with him and that’s something I’m really sad about,” she said. For the unversed, these powerhouse actors previously worked on late filmmaker Tapan Sinha’s 2001 anthology film, Daughters of This Century, but they were part of two different short stories in it.
Azmi shared that Bachchan was the force that led him to become a film actor. “It was because of Jaya that I joined the Film Institute (Film and Television Institute of India). When I saw him in a film institute diploma film called Suman, I was completely speechless because I had never seen that kind of acting in Hindi films.
Next, she saw Abhiman (1973) with Amitabh Bachchan, and it proved to be a turning point in her life. Talking about it, Azmi remarked, “After that, I saw his performance in Abhimaan, which I have seen only 3000 times, and I tried to apply that on the spot (laughs). That little personality I have the power…she comes on screen and you can’t take your eyes off her! Hoping to reunite with the Neerja (2016) and Halo (2022) actress soon, she said, “It’s sad The thing is I didn’t get to spend so much time with him and I hope we get to do more things together.”
A few years ago, News18 exclusively reported that Dharmendra, Azmi and Bachchan would be seen caught in a love triangle in the mature love story, a theme prevalent in many of Johar’s films. However, the production house has not revealed anything yet. While Dharmendra and Bachchan’s Guddi (1971) pair will play Singh’s onscreen grandparents, Azmi will play Bhatt’s grandmother. Rocky and Rani’s love story is all set to hit the theaters on 28 July 2023.
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