20 years of Aitraaz: Subhash Ghai recalls how the film got Priyanka Chopra the offer for Krrish
As Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor's Aitraaz clocks in 20 years, Subhash Ghai and Sameer Anjaan go down memory lane to celebrate the milestone
Rarely does it happen that the antagonist of a film becomes the true hero for the audience after the release, especially 20 years ago. But that was the case with Aitraaz as actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas began her own era with the film. Playing the gold-digger and conniving Sonia Roy in the film, Priyanka became the highlight of the film that touched a concept like sexual harassment in the workplace, a subject rarely touched in Indian cinema prior to that. As the Akshay Kumar, Priyanka and Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer clocks in two decades, here’s celebrating it with producer Subhash Ghai and lyricist Sameer Anjaan with unknown facts about the film.
The sexual theme
While Aitraaz became much-talked about for the sexual theme in it, Subhash Ghai saw the film from a different lens. He says, “It had to say something about an ambitious girl and a loyal wife. It was a story about two women played by Kareena and Priyanka. Even Akshay said yes to the film instantly, and even though the film is about these two women, he wanted to do this film.” But did he feel conscious about the portrayal turning vulgar? “Every few years, society changes, value changes and thought changes. And as a producer, I feel there is no vulgar way even if you are portraying a bold subject,” he says.
The rise of Priyanka Chopra
Playing the femme fatale Sonia, Priyanka became the most-talked about part of the film post release. She received unanimous praise from all over. But interestingly, initially the actor didn’t want to take up the role. “I had to convince Priyanka a lot to take up this role. Initially she was hesitant that she will get stereotyped as a vamp. But when she performed, she won all awards. Negative characters give actors the chance to explore their full potential. Her first two films didn’t work as well but this one brought her to the limelight. Such bold and aggressive characters leave an everlasting impact,” Subhash shares.
But she thanks her stars for choosing to say yes to the film. In an Instagram post she shared on the film’s 16 years anniversary, the actor had said, “It was by far the boldest part I had taken on, which was a big risk at the time since I was very new in the film business. I must admit I was scared as hell but the artist inside me was crying for a chance to do something interesting and Sonia was exactly that... wicked, predatory, complicated and self-serving for the most part, but also surprisingly vulnerable and emotional... As I look back, Aitraaz was a game changer for me. It taught me to play my characters with conviction and not judgement.”
How Aitraaz got Priyanka the offer for Krrish
The producer also reveals it was Aitraaz that got Priyanka the offer for Krrish (2006). “Priyanka had this doubt that whether she would get heroine roles after this film or not. Before the film had released, (filmmaker) Rakesh Roshan and (actor) Hrithik Roshan had told me they were looking for the female lead in their film Krrish. I told Rakesh to watch the rough print of Aitraaz, when we were just halfway done shooting the film. I showed six to seven reels of Priyanka’s performance to Rakesh and Hrithik and they immediately cast her for Krrish the next day. She even sent me a bouqet of flowers to thank me for it,” he reveals.
Music for the (y)ears
The album of Aitraaz marked a reunion for composer Himesh Reshammiya and lyricist Sameer Anjjan. One of highlight of the album was the song I wanna make love to you, which was one of the few Bollywood songs made on sex. Talking about the process behind it, Sameer shares, “Himesh always tried to follow the trend of the time. When we were doing this film, we understood the theme of the film and felt that let's create a seductive number in a very different way. Abbas-Mustan had also given us full freedom to explore and my track record with them has been very good. Himesh and I presented the song in a way that the passion was there, the seduction was also there and the poetry was also there.”
The lyricist reveals that producer Subhash Ghai has asked him and Himesh to present the entire album to him in one sitting. “These things give you so much kick to write something different and exciting. Everybody talked about that song during that period. It was even shot very well,” he says, adding that the song still stands the test of time is because of their conviction: “The problem is that today there is no conviction. No producer is serious to sit on music and do hard work on music.”