Imtiaz Ali on 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' failure: 'Didn't make provision for Shah Rukh Khan's stardom'

Poster of Jab Harry Met Sejal, Imtiaz Ali

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who spent much of his time at Delhi's Theatre Action Group (TAG), where he studied acting under the mentorship of theatre director Barry John had left by the time filmmaker Imtiaz Ali participated while studying at Hindu College. On the latest episode of Mid-day's Sit With Hitlist series, the movie maverick gets candid about working with the King of romance.

Imtiaz, who made the 2017 film ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal' with Khan alongside Anushka Sharma asserts, "I never thought that I'd make a movie with Shah Rukh Khan when I came here (Mumbai). Never. No, I didn't think of it at all. It wasn't a possibility and I wasn't thinking about it. I don't know, I thought he's too big. And he was, and he is, but then you realize, somehow it was not on the anvil."

For those unversed, Shah Rukh and Anushka had previously worked in ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' which was released in 2008.

That being said, when Imtiaz Ali did make the film with SRK, it tanked brutally. Taking accountability for the same, he explains, "Sometimes the film doesn't work doesn't mean everything was wrong. There was something very very nice in it as well and I think that very many precious things also get lost. I wanted to become more accessible and common. Then I realized that that's not how it is. You have to just make films that you want to make."

Imtiaz Ali describes Shah Rukh as, "A very charming, intelligent, and kind person." He elaborates, "Shah Rukh has the confidence to reach out and talk to people." As an actor, "He is very aware. He's also from theatre so he's also in a way studied performance and he's got much more knowledge about acting," adds the filmmaker.

When asked if he'd change anything about the movie, Imtiaz avers, "I have always done films like I have done television, like how I've done theatre. There's a story, there are actors and you, through these actors, tell the story. The story comes first. I feel that Shah Rukh is the biggest star I've worked with. But Shah Rukh is such an accessible person otherwise that he never gives you the impression that ‘I am somebody'. Never at all. He's just a regular guy. But the fact that he's such a humongous star is not something that I had calculated or made provision for at all. I had written the film and I directed the film as I would for anybody."

He adds, "I would have written the film differently. I'd have a flashback and I'd have him come and do scenes where Shah Rukh could be used to the best of his strengths. Both as an actor and a star. I didn't figure that out."

‘Jab Harry Met Sejal' stars Shah Rukh Khan as a Punjabi guy named Harinder Singh Nehra and Anushka Sharma as a Gujarati girl named Sejal Parikh. His character is a take on one of Bollywood's veteran Dev Anand's most iconic roles Guide (1965), where the legendary actor had charmed the entire nation with his act. The movie was presented by Red Chillies Entertainment.