‘Alia Bhatt’ line in Jawan came at Shah Rukh Khan’s insistence: Writer Sumit Arora admits he was ‘apprehensive’ about it

Sumit said, “I was honestly a little apprehensive about ‘Alia Bhatt’, but SRK sir was like, ‘No, it’s nice, let’s keep it’. It was at his insistence that we did the Alia Bhatt line. And I’m glad that everybody liked it. I’ve seen people chuckling at that line, I’ve been to Gaiety Galaxy, to PVR, to different theatres, and everybody reacts to the same things in different ways. I’ve seen people erupting in a similar way all across.”

Previously, Sumit spoke about the famous ‘bete ko haath lagane se pehle…‘ line delivered by SRK’s second character, Vikram Rathore. “That line was never there in our draft originally. The ‘moment’ where SRK sir’s character says the line was always there and we all knew that it is a powerful moment even without a dialogue. But while shooting, it was felt that there should be a line, that this guy should say something,” the writer said in a statement.

“I was there on the set, so I was called in, and the first words that came out of my mouth given the situation were: ‘bete ko hath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar’. It felt like the most obvious and most apt thing he should say at that moment. It just fits (in). Director Atlee and SRK sir both felt it’s correct and the shot was taken,” he added.

The second line gained attention when it was first heard in the film’s trailer. Many saw it as a meta reference to the arrest of Shah Rukh’s son Aryan Khan a couple of years ago, and the trouble that SRK had to go through to get him released. Jawan has grossed over Rs 700 crore worldwide.