Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Filmmaker Karan Johar recently opened up about basing his 2016 film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, on his own unrequited love story. He also recalled the moment Ranbir Kapoor realised that he was playing Karan in the film, and what happened next. A the the Film Companion’s directors’ round-table, Karan shared that Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was inspired by his own heartbreak. He shared, “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil arrived as a love story which was my story. That was my story because I, in those six years, fell in love with somebody that was not mine and I understood what one-sided love is.”
He continued, “Then I realised that there is a creature called unrequited love that is heartbreaking it can shatter you to pieces to smithereens actually, and there’s a physical pain. When we say heartache, it is not symbolic, it is true, it hurts and it hurts like hell. You feel like literally the earth has slipped by you, and you don’t know what to do. Making that film, that was the most cathartic journey I’ve had with the film.”
Karan shared that during the shoot of the film, Ranbir asked him if he’s playing the filmmaker. He said “Everybody said the end is polarised, (asked) why have you gone this way? But it’s just the way I took the narrative. At one point Ranbir actually caught me, because I was so invested in the material, because it was coming to me, the way I was saying the lines, the way I was expressing the scenes. He said, ‘One second, am I playing you?’ And I was like, yes, and he’s like, ‘Anushka is?’ And I said, ‘A person I’d not like to meet for a while’. So, it all came together, he sat me down and took me to his room. I think we got drunk talking about my love story and the next day, I felt he had a spring in his step because he had all the tools that he needed.”
Earlier, Karan had shared how Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is one of the most personal films he’s ever made. He had opened up about the ‘terrifying’ experience of feeling ‘one-sided love’ for another person, and said that he would never wish it on anyone. He also revealed that the film was born out of this inner turmoil, and that the movie helped him move past a particularly difficult period in his life.
On Sit with Hitlist on mid-day, Karan was asked about this phase in his life, and he said that the person in question is still a part of his ‘ecosystem’, and that he considers them to be family. Asked if they ever watched Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Karan said, “It was initially awkward because his character dies. The character obviously went through a fictional arc as well, but it was cathartic for me to tell that story, because I felt that really helped me get over that love situation.”
Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.
