Lisa Ray, Jaaved Jaaferi to play a divorced couple and RAW agents in Ishq Forever

The star cast of Ishq Forever at a mall in Chandigarh on Saturday (February 6). (Express Photo by Sahil Walia)

Once it hits the theatres this February 19, Hindi film Ishq Forever is going to have a lot of ‘he said, she said’ moments. With Lisa Ray and Jaaved Jaaferi playing a divorced couple and RAW agents, the film, say the two, will have its share of ‘crossfire’. In Chandigarh for the promotion of the film and for CCL match along with Ishq Forever’s stars Ruhi Singh and Krishna Chaturvedi, Ray and Jaaferi give a quick lowdown on their characters. “I play an Indian RAW agent overseas, and she is put in charge of the security detail of the Indian Prime Minister’s daughter who is in South Africa. A brat that she is, the girl breaks free, and is kidnapped, and so I jump into action, little realising that my partner in this wild chase is my ex-husband played by Jaaved,” says Ray. It’s a tough, all-guns-blazing role, one that reminded Ray of Hollywood flick, Mr and Mrs Smith. She calls it’s a ‘ro-venture’, a romantic adventure, where she and Jaaved take quite a few potshots at each other while cracking the case. As for the witty Jaaferi, this is one ‘raw agent who has not been cooked properly’. “Jokes apart, it’s an interesting role for it brings out the dynamics of this estranged couple and it makes the story more entertaining,” says Jaaferi, who showcased his grey side in Bang Bang and Besharam and is now looking forward to Dhamaal 3.

A romantic musical drama, Ishq Forever has been directed by Sameer Sippy, and will also see music composer Nadeem Saifi’s comeback after almost a decade. Speaking of which, Ray says this has been the best decade of her life — fighting cancer, getting married, and returning to Mumbai.

“I divide my time between Mumbai and Hong Kong where I live with my husband, and now am focusing on lot of work in Indian industry,” says Ray, who feels that Hindi cinema is evolving and getting interesting, and she has made it her ‘personal mission to make the best of Indian cinema’. Ray will soon be seen in the horror thriller, Zahhak, directed by Prawaal Raman and is an official adaptation of Oculus.

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On the other hand, Jaaferi is open to all mediums of entertainment— be it penning satirical and impactful songs like Mumbhai and Mera Bharat Mahaan, doing comedy and dance, acting in films, exploring the web or going viral with his impromptu poetry on religious tolerance.

“I am an entertainer, and it is important that people get entertained, especially with humour, for there is enough pain, angst and suffering and everyone wants to escape that,” says Jaaferi, who lives by late Robin Williams’s words, “we put the funk in sysfunctional”.