What went behind creating viral Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor ad? Filmmaker Deven Munjal reveals inside deets

The ad is directed by Abhishek Varman–of 2 States and Kalank–and produced by Shaza Morani and Priyaank Sharma. The commercial is written by Deven, Vaibhav Misra and Shrinivas Gaddam. It features Alia reprising her role as Shanaya from her debut film Student of the Year, while Ranbir revisits his role as Barfi. Shah Rukh, meanwhile, sports his now iconic bald look from Jawan.

In this interview with Indianexpress.com, Deven Munjal talks about what went behind the scenes in mounting the Rungta Steel campaign, why the idea of spoof excited them and what Shah Rukh Khan, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor improvised on sets.

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Edited excerpts:

When did the process begin?

Me, Vaibhav Misra and Shrinivas Gaddam have been associated with the brand for the last two years. We came to know that they have signed Shah Rukh Khan, and Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were already part of their team. We wanted to come up with something interesting for the three of them to come together. This was about 3-4 months ago, and we started to brainstorm. We wanted to make it light, funny and not have the typicality of a TMT bar ad. When the idea of a spoof came to us–not exactly this–we got excited. We all know that Shah Rukh, Ranbir and Alia are fantastic actors but to show them as their memorable characters, the audience loves that!

But Jawan released in September, and you guys were working on it since the last three-four months. At what point did the Jawan integration happen then?

The timing was bang on. Jawan prevue had Shah Rukh sir saying, ‘Chahiye toh Alia Bhatt’ and of course we hadn’t seen the film back then. We had other ideas, but when this came, it just rang a bell! We thought it can be a beautiful connect and can lend itself to a modern spoof setting. It was as if we found a missing link, and everything just fell in place.

How many other spoof ideas were discarded before the Jawan spoof was approved?

(Laughs). I can’t say much, but a lot of hard work and collaboration has gone into this. Inputs were coming in from everyone, the actors and director Abhishek Varman. So, it was an extremely collaborative effort.

Why Shanaya for Alia and Barfi for Ranbir?

We wanted the two characters quite distinct from each other to give a flavour of their spaces. Shanaya as a character was a ditzy one and Barfi was a mute character. So, the fun was in that combination, that even the ditzy character isn’t taking his name right– and that’s the only word he says! We thought now if these two were married and had to make a house together and if there was Jawan, this master who is trying to tell them something. The combination was very interesting.

When we were writing it, Ranbir’s face was very Barfi-like in our heads and we thought what if he doesn’t have to say much? Normally in an ad, one is questioning, the other is answering. But here we thought what if this guy is trying to make a point–that his name is Barfi–which is random and not related to the conversation. That brings about a smile.

How was the energy on set?

It was magical. We were laughing throughout, rolling on the floors. There were some out takes, which are not part of the one-minute commercial. A lot of such moments which were so much fun. The three of them had a blast. It wasn’t a physically draining ad. It was a good vibe and Shah Rukh sir obviously knows them very well, so it was a lovely space. When they are in their costumes, I feel good actors can lend their energies to that. The characters were then talking. You can’t write nuances on paper; you can just say something and then that’s the actor’s brilliance to fly with it.

I would have written ‘Barfi’ five times, but it was Ranbir’s brilliance to say it with a different dialect, have a different expression, keep it cute, energetic, angry. Alia’s character is of a sweet, prim and proper girl and the way she is doing it–she is proud of making a pink home–is on point! It was lovely to have them on set and we finished it on time.

Was there a line that was improvised on set by them?

There is a nod of their heads, Ranbir and Alia’s, which was theirs and not part of the script. When Jawan asks them if they have indeed used the same TMT bar, they nod cutely! Or that Shah Rukh sir moment from Jawan here, where he is laughing and then coughing, or the way he is swinging the bar, asking Shanaya to come to the point! Those moments were really funny. The shoot time was limited, but those three-four hours when we got to do it was an unforgettable experience.