Imtiaz Ali says he wanted to make Jab We Met with Bobby Deol and Highway with Sunny Deol: ‘Didn’t make a film for two years after Socha Na Tha’

The filmmaker revealed that Bobby kept delaying Jab We Met because he was getting offers from big directors. “But he was getting other offers from big directors, so he was waiting for that to happen. He kept postponing my film, but then a time came when I didn’t find it correct because a lot of time went by. Because I did Socha Na Tha for five years and I didn’t do a film for two years after that, so it was putting financial strain on me. Then I told Bobby, ‘Let’s not make this film. Let’s shake our hands and decide we will not do this film together because then our thing will be affected,” he added.

In a 2017 chat with HuffPost, Bobby had said that he was supposed to do the film until one day he got to know that Kareena had gotten him replaced with Shahid Kapoor. Kareena and Shahid were dating at the time.

Imtiaz also shared that he was planning to make Highway with Sunny Deol and then later took it to Subhash Ghai as well. He said, “I was trying to make Highway with Sunny Deol. It was a very different film. It had revenge drama, which is the kind of films Sunny Deol does. That film would have also done well. I also tried to make Highway with Subhash Ghai. He told me that the film’s script resembles his 1983 film Hero. I have seen Hero 25 times so maybe that story is inside me.” Highway was later made with Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda.

Currently, Imtiaz is awaiting the release of Chamkila, a film delving into the life and legacy of the renowned singer Amar Singh Chamkila, who captivated Punjab with his music. The movie stars Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra in leading roles.