Twinkle Khanna says she, Kajol turned ‘insurance agents’, ‘telemarketers’ to get Bollywood guests for Two Much: ‘We made cold calls’

Leading ladies of the 1990s — Kajol and Twinkle Khanna — are uniting for the first time. It’s not for a film, but for a chat show called Two Much, which will premiere on Prime Video India on September 25, with a new episode dropping every Thursday. The trailer of the talk show was launched in Mumbai on Monday — and the line-up of guests is as star-studded as it comes — including Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Alia Bhatt, Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Chunky Panday, Vicky Kaushal, and Kriti Sanon among others.

Kajol revealed at the trailer launch that she was approached first for Two Much by the production house Banijay Asia, with whom she’s already collaborated on the JioHotstar legal drama The Trial, season 2 of which is dropping this Friday on August 19. They agreed that the only person who’ll be able to give equal amounts of sarcasm and unfiltered comments was Twinkle.

Also read | Two Much trailer: Salman Khan says he’s ‘surviving on just three expressions’; Twinkle Khanna demands more money as Kajol hits her. Watch

Twinkle admitted that it wasn’t easy to invite their “friends” from the film industry on the chat show. “Who said they’re our friends? They are not. We became insurance agents and telemarketers, and made cold calls to everyone. Whoever said yes, we got them on the show,” quipped Twinkle, as Kajol laughed out loud. The former added that the only two criteria to make it to the shortlist of their guests are: “they should be breathing” and “be available.” She spelled out her only request to the guests: “Leave your dignity behind.”

But jokes aside, Twinkle claimed that Two Much is more layered than other celebrity chat shows. “What’s really special about our show is that while there’s a lot of laughter and joy, there is also an unravelling of psychological and societal layers and viewpoints. We tried to go a little bit deeper than other chat shows. That’s our USP. It’s fun, irreverent, but it’s not so frivolous at all. It’s got some gravitas,” she said.

When asked to pick their favourite guests on the chat show, Kajol initially picked Salman and Aamir, but then corrected her answer to Govinda, as Twinkle nodded. “He was so super entertaining! Not to say that everybody was not nice or whatever, but Govinda is Govinda! Nobody can argue with that. He’s an icon,” said Kajol.

She added that while the audience can expect a hilarious ride, the best of fun was reserved for what transpired behind the scenes. “We had to edit so much of it. But it was so much fun. What the two of us say to and around each other is really, really funny. Because when I look back at it, I am like, ‘How the hell did we say this.’ It’s really not politically correct,” said Kajol.

Twinkle agreed and called her co-host her “behen” on the show. “It’s really true because like sisters, we bicker and make fun of each other, but we also have each other’s back. I think that’s very important to have on a show like this,” she added. Twinkle also gave a peek into the BTS of Two Much: “We’d put on our rollers and then bang our heads together to decide who’s going to ask the worst questions to the most boring people!”

While many of the guests on Two Much have also shared screen space with Kajol and Twinkle in the ’90s and 2000s, there were some very obvious names missing from the trailer. For instance, Shah Rukh Khan, who is reportedly going to be on the grand finale. “It’s a rumour, confirm it with him. If he comes on stage, do ask him,” said Kajol. However, Twinkle dealt with the inquisition in a lighter vein. “Shah Rukh came, we asked him questions, he didn’t answer anything. After some time, he went to the bathroom and they took him away. We were quite disappointed, and then we realized we couldn’t get Shah Rukh’s dates so we got his carboard cutout. So, we have him,” she quipped.

Story continues below this ad

Another pair expected to join the hosts are their respective husbands Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar. Twinkle remarked that their husbands have anyway been worried about how they both have no filters, and when put together, there’s no chance they’d be remotely diplomatic. “No more censorship. It shall not happen again. It’s a law, we’ve passed it,” said Kajol, while Twinkle added, “My husband always tells me, ‘Chashma pehen lo’ (wear your spectacles), which is a codeword for ‘Keep quiet.’ So I told him, ‘Mera chashma toot gaya’ (I broke my spectacles).” But are their husbands boycotting the show then? “There are a lot of AKs on the show. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the one you want,” Twinkle hinted.

Both Twinkle and Kajol haven’t spared their good friend and filmmaker Karan Johar even when they appeared as guests on his chat show Koffee with Karan. For a change, Kajol complimented Karan and said, “Karan is a very, very good speaker. He has done this chat show for so many years (since 2004). We did try to make him uncomfortable, but I have to say, hands down, he’s spoken very, very well,” said Kajol. Butb Twinkle objected, adding, “She’s being very nice. We’ve troubled him off camera, on camera, and he tries to wriggle his way out of it. I’m not sure if he succeeded.”

From the homepage