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Rajkumar Hirani remembers Raj Kapoor in 3 Idiots
Rajkumar Hirani pays a tribute to Pyaar hua ikraar hua in 3 Idiots, the only love song with Raj Kapoor’s granddaughter and Aamir Khan. Choreographed by Bosco, the song took eight days to wrap.
Zoobie doo… that’s the only romantic number in the campus caper, 3 Idiots, and director Rajkumar Hirani has turned it into a tribute to all larger-than-life cinematic clichés he grew up swooning over on screen and the love songs he loves, including the Shree 420 classic, Pyaar kua ikraar hua…
What a song!” he exclaims. “I was in college when I first saw it and I was completely blown away. I still marvel over it. The sets, the passion, the feel of the rain, Raj Kapoor and Nargis… it’s the perfect image of romance.”
Kareena gets glam
Fifty-four years later, Hirani roped in Raj Kapoor’s granddaughter, Kareena, to recreate the passion of the ‘50s with Aamir Khan. The chemistry is just as sizzling and Kareena for the first time in the movies gets to shed her deglam look and her granny glasses and don Manish Malhotra designer wear.
“She’s a fabulous dancer and a delight to watch,” beams Hirani, confident that this Shreya Ghoshal-Sonu Nigam number will not only be a hit with collegians but their parents.
He’s not worried about comparisons with the yesteryear chartbuster or even the dancing-in-the-rain number from Chameli featuring Kareena. “My song is only shot partly in the rain and this is one of the four looks the stars sport. It’s romantic, funny and a part of the narrative,” he points out.
More umbrellas please
Choreographed by Bosco, the song took eight days to wrap. The artificial rain portions were shot in an air-conditioned studio and required plenty of umbrellas because the chatris kept breaking.
“Every time the dancers opened their umbrellas, that of one of the other’s would snap. Fortunately, we had plenty of spares,” laughs Hirani. Ask him if Pyaar hua ikraar hua… was one of the songs he wooed his wife with and he guffaws, “I’m a terrible singer, so I never sang. That’s been her perpetual grouse. But thank God I didn’t because I’d probably have picked up a patriotic song and then she would have killed me.”
