Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra starrer Anjaana Anjaani clocks in 14 years today. On the special occasion, director Siddharth Anand sat with Zoom and revealed how he came up with the film’s intriguing storyline.
Siddharth, how do you look back on the Anjaana Anjaani experience?
Fourteen years of Anjana Anjani, wow! I have only the fondest memories of that film. It was lovely working with Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra.
How did Anjaana Anjaani happen?
Yeah, it was after my Bachna Ae Haseeno. I had already directed three films prior to that. I was sitting down and figuring out what to make next. And I had sort of a brain freeze.
What was that about?
I think that having made three films back-to-back (Salam Namaste, Tara Rum Pum and Bachna Ae Haseeno), I was trying to contemplate what to make next and I had a complete brain freeze.
What happened next?
That is when Mamta, my wife, who is now my partner at Marflix Pictures, came up with this opening scene of two people meeting on a bridge and both are there to commit suicide. And I just found that so exciting that just that idea, I was like, wow Mamta, I think now I’ve found my film.
Were Ranbir and Priyanka your first choices?
Thereafter we wrote it and obviously I wanted to make it with Ranbir. We had a great equation back then, and I wanted, obviously, Priyanka Chopra, and I think both of them just came together and we had a ball making this film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvgo6N89I80
The songs added quite a bit to the mood of the film?
It has the best music of my career. Vishal-Shekhar outdid themselves. Today also when I look back, it's just the kind of music that just lives on. It's timeless and it stood the test of time. Any song fromAnjaana Anjaani that you put on today just sounds so contemporary. I have only the fondest memories ofAnjaana Anjaani.