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When Farhan Akhtar was shooting for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), he got reminded of the fun he had while making Dil Chahta Hai. Farhan’s maiden directorial project released exactly a decade before ZNMD happened. “The energy was the same,” he said. Though a section of the audience continues to draw parallels between the two blockbusters, there’s a great deal about ZNMD that sets it apart.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara revolves around a bachelor road trip of three best friends, who in the course of the film face life head-on. They reunite, resolve, and rebound from their insecurities and vulnerabilities. Despite being set in an urban frame, the movie has a universal heart with each character experiencing a drastic growth and graph.
Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol played the three friends, each one strategically cast to bring their own nuances to the screenplay, be it through their acting chops or the way they slipped into their roles. It also starred Katrina Kaif and Kalki Koechlin.
According to Farhan, ZNMD was a “high, upbeat film” where everyone was happy. They are undertaking intense adventure sports, jumping off planes, diving deep into the sea, falling and coming out of love, and giving life another chance. And this during their life-altering road trip through the dreamy terrain of Spain, enough to force anyone to book their next vacation.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was a brainchild of two writers – Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, both 38 back then. Interestingly, it was a movie about male bonding, written by two women and directed by one (Zoya Akhtar). But, as against expected, this turned out to be an advantage. Zoya said this helped them design their men how they’d wish to see them in reality. “Our men are a particular way. Those are the men we want to see in the world. They are not extra macho or masculine. They would be in touch with their femininity a little bit. The women will be a little in touch with their masculinity. It is a more balanced world,” Zoya shared on the occasion of the film’s tenth anniversary last year.
For Hrithik, it was “Zoya’s magic touch” that worked for ZNMD. It managed to connect for its fresh and innovative style of storytelling, that was loaded with relatable humour, emotional chords and every man’s highs and lows.
But Zoya revealed many told her the movie won’t work. “ZNMD was not considered commercial. The industry folk had seen it before it released and said it won’t work, they said that it was a slow film— but the audience got it bingo,” she told Spotboye in 2016.
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has a delicate heart at its core. It proves how every millennial, deep inside, is caught in a storm of success, ambitions and compromises. And that’s beautifully presented by Javed Akhtar’s haunting and soulful poetries. There’s one for everyone – in happiness, sadness and self-discovery.
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