It has been 10 years since Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara released, a film that has undoubtedly made it to the list of India's cult films on friendship and life, joining the likes of movies like Dil Chahta Hai and 3 Idiots.
Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film has been a benchmark for most Indians when judging other movies of the same genre, and even for events in their personal lives (remember the craze behind having an all-friends trip in Spain in 2011?)
For a film like this, there has to be a lot that went behind the scenes to make it this legendary. Here are some fun, relatively lesser known facts about the movie that you probably didn't know.
1. Hrithik Roshan Almost Killed Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar
When shooting for a scene where Arjun, played by Hrithik stops the car in the middle of the road to attend a meeting, he almost ends up killing Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol.
As narrated by Deol in a chat with Tiger Baby Films Production House, Hrithik stopped the car at the side of the road that overlooked a hill. As he got out, he forgot to pull the handbrake, and the car kept moving forward towards the edge of the hill as Abhay and Farhan were still sitting inside.
In Deol's words, "Farhan was really fast. He jumped out immediately, and I sat there thinking I’m going to die now."
Hear it in his own words:
2. Hrithik and Abhay Weren't the First Choices for Arjun and Kabir
That's right! Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan were first offered the roles of Arjun and Kabir respectively. They were then taken to Hrithik and Abhay who got interested. Talk about missed opportunities!
3. Farhan Is Actually a Certified Skydiver
Unlike his character Imran, that is terrified to skydive, Farhan Akhtar loves the sport, and is actually a certified skydiver. Out of the three, he was the only one that actually skydived for the shoot, whereas Hrithik and Abhay used body doubles.
The same goes for Hrithik Roshan, whose character, Arjun, is scared of deep sea diving. In reality, Roshan is quite familiar with the activity and has done it more than once. In fact, Katrina Kaif, who plays the role of Laila, the confident scuba diving instructor, was actually feeling scared and claustrophobic when shooting for the underwater scenes. Roshan was the one who consoled her through the whole thing and helped her with her part.
4. Tomatina Festival
The famous Tomatina Festival that the characters go to was actually shot during off-season, which meant that the tomatoes had to be brought in from elsewhere. To shoot that whole song, 16 tonnes of tomatoes were flown in from Portugal to Spain.
5. The Movie Is a Case Study
After the movie became an overnight hit, Spain's tourism shot up by a whopping 65 percent. Because of this, the movie has now been included as a case study for a marketing management course in Spain.
6. Katrina’s First Scene Was Shot on a Nude Beach
Laila's entry scene was on a beach where she meets the guys for the first time. This scene was shot on a nude beach and the crew had to repeatedly keep asking people to move out of the shot.
7. Farhan's Request to Abhay Deol
The trio, Farhan, Hrithik, and Abhay have collectively lent their voice to the song 'Senorita'. After listening to Abhay's voice and how different it was, Farhan reportedly asked Abhay never to sing again so that this song and Abhay's voice in it would remain unique forever.
8. Sussanne Khan Pushed Hrithik to Do The Part
Hrithik Roshan was earlier skeptical about taking on this role, and went ahead with it after his then wife Sussanne Khan encouraged him to take it.
9. Alternate Titles
'Running With The Bulls' was one of the titles that was considered for the film before the current title was finalised.
10. Deleted Scenes
The scene where Imran opens up to Nuria about his father and their relationship was going to be deleted, but director Zoya Akhtar insisted it be included in the final cut. "I was told to cut the scene from the movie where Imran and Nuria are in bed talking because we were looking to make some edits to cut the film’s length… it’s the one in which Imran is talking in Hindi about his father. And I said absolutely not – that scene was the heart of their little romance," said Zoya.
Imran's goofiness, Arjun's all-serious attitude and Kabir being the mediator between the two as the friends navigate their lives and the issues each one is dealing with individually, it is truly admirable how well the film has aged, and how it will continue to be a landmark film on friendship for years to come.
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