Jabariya Jodi director Prashant Singh on how leading man Sidharth Malhotra rechristened movie that was originally named Shotgun Shaadi
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; July 20, 2019)

Call it a coincidence or what you may, but Sidharth Malhotra has mostly played urbane characters since he forayed into the movies with Student Of The Year (2012). In that regard, Jabariya Jodi comes as a breath of fresh air — he plays a gun-toting, groom-abducting Bihari character in the Prashant Singh-directed venture.

"This is precisely the reason we were keen on him," says Singh, who worked as an assistant to filmmakers Aanand L Rai and Onir before making his debut with the love story. "Sidharth took on the role to break the mould. We conducted workshops, but he also insisted on having a private tutor to get into the skin of the character. We too wanted to showcase him in new light. Casting an actor who has played such characters would have been the easy way out."

If Malhotra has the director to thank for a role that he has never attempted before, Singh too credits his leading man for suggesting the perfect title for the Parineeti Chopra starrer. "We were initially toying with the title, Shotgun Shaadi. When we were discussing options, I mentioned that it [the practice of groom kidnapping] was referred to as jabariya byah. It was Sidharth who came up with Jabariya Jodi."