‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ is not a rom-com: Karan Johar

The title of Parineeti Chopra-Siddharth Malhotra starrer,Hasee Toh Phasee may mislead you into thinking that the film is a romcom. “But it’s not”,says Karan Johar,who has co-produced the film along with Vikas Bahl,Anurag Kashyap,and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Phantom Productions. “I think sometimes when we call a film a romcom,we tend to slot it. Hasee Toh Phasee is actually a film about two characters,their journey,and the manner in which their paths meet. It’s a lot to do with their families,and their characters. By calling it a romcom we’re trivialising the content of the film. Hasee Toh Phasee is a coming-of-age film of two people,in an environment which is not only emotional,but also very warm,” he says.

The film sees a fresh lead pair in which Chopra will be seen playing a scientist. “I wish I could say more about my role. But,as of now,I can just say that it’s the role of a scientist,who’s actually a little mad. And it’s something that I’ve never seen on screen. I had to really work hard on my role,because the only thing similar between me and my character is the energy. So,I had a lot of readings and workshops with my director Vinil Mathew and writer Harshvardhan Kulkarni. I prepared for 15-20 days before I faced the camera. There were a lot of technical aspects involved in this role,” says Parineeti,who’ll also be sporting different looks in the film.

Karan Johar who has co-produced this love story,confesses,“I actually find it difficult to write a love story anymore. I feel I’ve lost that innocence that I had when I wrote Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,and Kal Ho Naa Ho. For some reason,I feel that the love scenes I write are very synthetic and artificial. So,whenever I read a truly organic,honest love story,it moves me to make it. That’s what happened with Hasee Toh Phasee. It’s quirky and yet it makes you emotional towards the end. I think no other script could justify this combination of Phantom and Dharma. The quirkiness of the film is from Phantom,and the slight-teary-eyed end was Dharma’s contribution.”

Talking about the trend of co-producing films and collaborating with Phantom,Johar adds,“It’s the way forward. Collaborations and co-productions may be new to film production in India,but if you see films in the west,there are sometimes 100 people coming together to make a film. I’m all about providing content and software,and I’m greedy for good content. So,when Phantom came with this script,I was completely open to the collaboration for Hasee Toh Phasee. Sometimes you need somebody else’s content to provide good cinema.”

Hasee Toh Phasee is slated to release on February 7,2014.