Imtiaz Ali says he didn’t factor in Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom while making Jab Harry Met Sejal: ‘Wouldn’t have made it very filmy’

Imtiaz Ali confessed that he made Jab Harry Met Sejal just like his other projects without considering Shah Rukh Khan's humongous stardom. The film also starred Anushka Sharma.

Jab Harry Met Sejal released in 2017, marking Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma's third collaboration.

Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal is considered as one of the biggest flops of Shah Rukh Khan’s career and in a recent interview, Imtiaz opened up about the flaws of the film. Imtiaz Ali called it “an unfortunate child” in one of his earlier interviews, and he now said that he could not utilise Shah Rukh’s strength as a superstar to the fullest

The filmmaker, in a chat with Mid-day, said, “I have always done films like how I have done television and theatre. There is a story and there are actors and through these actors, you tell the story. The story comes first and the story is the only thing. Everything fits into it and so do I.” Imtiaz Ali revealed how Shah Rukh Khan’s accessibility kept him from factoring in the actor’s stardom.

“I feel that Shah Rukh is the biggest star I worked with, but he is so accessible person that he never gives you the impression that ‘I am somebody’. He is just a regular guy, sitting over here and talking”, said Imtiaz Ali.

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He added, “But the fact that he is such a humongous star is not something that I had not calculated or made provision for at all. I had written and directed the film like I would for anybody. But, he is Shah Rukh. It manifested in ways I wasn’t thinking. I would have written and showcased the film differently. I wouldn’t have made it very filmy, but I would have added flashbacks and scenes where Shah Rukh could be used to the best of his strength, both as an actor and a star. I didn’t figure that out.”

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In an interview with Telegraph India, Shah Rukh Khan addressed Jab Harry Met Sejal’s box office failure and said, “I let people down. I didn’t want to let anyone down. I just liked the fact that there was no story, but for a ring’s sake two people cross each other’s path and get caught in a situation. It was very organic, slice-of-life kinda story.”

The superstar jokingly added, “The other day I met a director who mentioned the term ‘slice-of-life’, and I said, ‘No, this time I need a whole pumpkin.” Jab Harry Met Sejal released in 2017 to negative reviews from both critics and audience. The film marked the third collaboration between Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012).

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On the work front, Shah Rukh Khan is currently working on Sujoy Ghosh’s King.

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