Titas Chowdhury (HINDUSTAN TIMES; March 20, 2020)

Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, who recently marked her debut with a web film, says that acting has always been her big dream. Despite being friends with a young brigade of actors and coming from a film lineage, she says that she had to audition for her part in the film. “I auditioned for Guilty without knowing much about the project other than the fact that it was a digital film. Once I got shortlisted, they asked me to come for a meeting and then told me that I was locked. I had to wait for only 13 days as against any other film where you need to wait for a month or so,” elaborates Kapoor, who reveals that her first audition was for Lekar Hum Deewana Dil (2014).

The young actor says that she’s happy to be part of the industry at this time. “It’s such a great time to be an actor. Nobody cares about how pretty you are or the kind of body type that you have. What matters is that you are a good actor. The Dangal (2016) girls (Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra) are doing so well. If you are a good performer, you’ll be respected for your work, and eventually, you’ll get more work,” says the 26-year-old.

Going ahead, Kapoor shares that she would want to strike a balance between doing commercial Hindi films and the ones that send out important social messages. “It’s always better if you can bring about a change in society. Actors and cinema have a way of influencing society. That being said, I won’t deny the fact that I want to do a mainstream film and there’s no two ways about it,” she says and adds, “But thankfully, the lines between commercial and content-driven films are blurring now. Thappad is a shining example of that, and I’m desperate to work with Zoya (Akhtar), Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Anubhav Sinha.”

BOMBAY TIMES (February 25, 2015)

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 4, 2014)

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 9, 2014)

Dinesh Vijan's directorial debut with business partner Saif Ali Khan and Parineeti Chopra in the lead, is being re-scripted. Mirror has learnt the decision comes after it was found that the second half of the rom-com bears an uncanny resemblance to the recent release Lekar Hum Deewana Dil-the directorial debut of Imtiaz Ali's younger brother, Arif Ali, which was produced by Dinesh and Saif. The film didn't work at the box office.

Revealed a source close to the production, "Once Dinesh had completed his script, there was a discussion within the team and everybody pointed out that post-interval, the story was exactly like Arif's film. Dinesh insisted that he'd give it a 'different treatment,' but nobody was impressed."

Now, Dinesh will re-work the script while Saif moves on to his next film with his Cocktail director, Homi Adajania. "They will be leaving for Australia this winter," added our source.

Talking from Vancouver, Saif said, "Yes, Dinesh's film is not happening at the moment." Was it because of the resemblance to their last release? "That could be one of the reasons. Dinesh just changed his mind," said the actor. Will Parineeti, a self-confessed Saif fan, now be a part of Homi's film? "She is a good actress and I hope to work with her. But it is Homi's decision," he said.

WILL VIDYA REPEAT A KAHAANI WITH BOBBY JASOOS?

Even in today’s times, it is difficult for an actress to single-handedly attract viewers in hordes for a film. But Vidya Balan is an exception. She was terrific in The Dirty Picture and it’s success helped her in Kahaani, where she played a pregnant woman and which became one of the biggest hits of 2012. Hence, nobody is questioning the prospects of Bobby Jasoos, which releases tomorrow and which sees Vidya in the lead role. After all, it’s a Vidya Balan film and hence one never knows, it might turn out to be a sleeper hit!

Bobby Jasoos features Vidya as a detective based in Hyderabad. The highlight of the film is that Vidya has 12 disguises and each one is brilliantly done. In fact, the first look of the film showed Vidya dressed as a beggar and it wowed one and all as Vidya looked completely unrecognizable! Besides Vidya, the film stars Ali Fazal, Supriya Pathak, Zarina Wahab, Tanve Azmi, Rajendra Gupta and Kiran Kumar. However, from the promos it is evident that it’s Vidya who is completely the backbone of the film. Also from the trailers, it looks like a fun entertainer. Moreover, it’s a clean film (it has been granted ‘U’ certificate by the Censors) and hence, it is a family entertainer.

Bobby Jasoos sadly has quite a few challenges to face. The buzz is limited and this would surely impact the collections. The songs of the film haven’t worked significantly. Also, one wonders why the film, which has a strong Muslim setting, is releasing during the Holy month of Ramadan when the Muslims don’t normally venture out to see movies. A good word of mouth will help the collections grow but a negative response will prove to be detrimental.

The other release of the week is Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, which marks the directorial debut of Imtiaz Ali’s brother Arif. It is the launch vehicle of Raj Kapoor’s fourth grandson Armaan Jain and South actress Deeksha Seth. The trailer of the film has been appreciated but what has helped the film significantly is its beautiful music composed by A R Rahman. Though Saif Ali Khan has co-produced the film, he hasn’t really come out to talk about the film and has allowed the newcomers to promote. Though for a music concert, Armaan’s cousins – Kareena and Karisma Kapoor – were present. Just like Bobby Jasoos, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil will have a poor opening and a good word of mouth is what can only help the movie.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE BOBBY JASOOS OR LEKAR HUM DEEWANA DIL AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!
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EK VILLAIN IS A SUCCESS!

The buzz for Ek Villain was high and hence everyone knew that a huge opening was on the cards. But the manner in which Ek Villain opened to full houses from the morning shows itself stumped even the producers of the film. The first day collections of the film came to around 16.50 crore. This is the 11th highest opening figure of all time and higher than the first day collections of Holiday – A Soldier Is Never Off Duty, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-leela and Gunday. This is huge for a film that stars Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor and Riteish Deshmukh – the first two are newcomers and still don’t have that kind of a pull as the Khans while the latter has given hits only in multi-starrers/sex comedies.

However, the real hero of the film was its soulful music. Galliyan turned out to be a huge chartbuster from the day it was launched and the other songs too found acceptance. In fact, the success of Ek Villain and Aashiqui 2 proves that it’s the soulful songs and not necessarily item songs that help in creating excitement for a film. Are producers/music composers listening?

Ek Villain will cross 75 crore mark by the end of its first week. It can cross the 100 crore mark as well, if the second week is strong. Sadly, it might not happen as the response for the film is mixed. Even then, what the team of Ek Villain has achieved is incredible and kudos to them!

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; July 3, 2014)

Arif Ali, 39, is the younger brother of the romantic filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. He is curious, experimental and secure. He believes in family and human beings and is not in a hurry to do things. To him, quality of life is more important than material things. Over an hourlong conversation ahead of his upcoming romantic film Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, he talks to Bombay Times about his beautiful mother, his insightful brother Imtiaz Ali and his dream of re-uniting with his wife and children. Excerpts:

You have debuted as a director at 39. How did you become a director?
We come from Jamshedpur where there are really no good colleges, so you have to move out after Class XII. Imtiaz had already moved to Delhi and by the time I finished school, he had come to Mumbai and was studying at XIC (Xavier Institute of Communications) and then was working at Zee.

My parents were happy to send me as Imtiaz was already here and I did my Eco Honours at St. Xavier's College. My friend's dad Shridhar Kshirsagar was making this television serial called Khandaan and needed Hindi writers who could translate from English. Since my Hindi was good, he called me to Bangalore for a couple of months while I was still in first year of college. He gave me my first air ticket to go to Bangalore. Prior to that, I had travelled only second class, and many a times even ticketless, from Jamshedpur to Mumbai and back. Invariably, we would be too many boys and just a few girls so even if we got a berth, we would give it to the girls. Ultimately, during the three years that I was in St Xavier's College, I travelled only without a berth. We would spread newspapers on the floor and sleep on it. All the chaiwallas in the train had become my friends and knew my taste. Travelling in AC was neither affordable nor considered macho. So you can imagine how I would have felt traveling by air first time, staying in a nice hotel, that too in a city like Bangalore that was considered so cool. Imtiaz had been working as the  Rs 1,500 flunkey, who would deliver tapes in Zee TV. He was always in the office 24x7 surviving on his tea and a packet of Bourbon biscuits. But by the time I was in second year of college, he had left and I took up the flunkey job at Zee alongside studying. Post completing my graduation, I took up a job at Cinevista, where I wrote for a detective show and then wrote Sanjivani, after which I started independently producing and directing TV shows. I then joined UTV full-time as creative director for about five years, where I did a gamut of stuff before I left them in 2009 to pursue making my own film. To sustain my family, I needed to keep writing for TV. Imtiaz and I had decided that he would not help me and I thank him for that. Being an elder brother, there is a natural tendency to help, but he had learnt by swimming in the water himself and he allowed me to do that. When I was doing TV at UTV, Vikas Bahl (Director of Queen) was in the films division and he used to like my writing a lot. He asked me to write a film for him and while that film did not happen, I later wrote Lekar Hum Deewana Dil and the first person I sent it to was Vikas. He loved it and said, `I think you should direct this film.' Vikas quit UTV and I continued doing TV till I met Dinoo Vijan, whom I knew due to Imtiaz doing Love Aaj Kal. Dinoo loved the script and decided to produce it.

Your relationship with your older brother Imtiaz Ali?
I call him bhaiya. We are best friends and grew up together. He has broken my head twice and I got stitches when we were younger. I would try to hit him back but physically , he would overpower me. He was very popular in Jamshedpur. Our schools were next to each other and in a small town like Jamshedpur, everyone knows everybody . He was good at everything, be it studies, sports, speaking and drama. He was very agile and could jump over the fence at once. He would not practise, but would still walk out with medals in sports. And on top of that, he was good-looking. In my school, there were girls only in Class XI and XII and even though they were my seniors, they would come to me and be nice to me. And I would feel kicked till one day when I realised that all that attention was because they wanted to be introduced to my brother. I was envious of him. But when he moved to Delhi, I realised the void in my life and really missed him. That is when we became best friends. He is very intelligent, aware and insightful about people. He has always taken himself seriously and that is a good thing as it's a sign of confidence. He is more self-absorbed than I am and unlike him, I am a bit of a fool and a tubelight in a way. But meri tubelight jalti hai ultimately, and woh bhi brightly. He has always been giving relationship advice to everyone from the time he was 18. There would be his friends queuing outside his house to take his advice and there was this joke that anyone who took advice from him would land up in a broken relationship and yet everyone wanted it. He would tell me also, 'You are a duffer and should do this.' Fortunately, I didn't listen to him. I love him the way he is and we can talk about everything. The only thing I would like to change about him is that at times he can be obstinate and headstrong and he may even regret it later. But that's him. Even though I am most attached to my mother, she is most attached to Imtiaz. She is beautiful and he has got his looks from her.

Why did you choose to make a youth love story?
I vibe with 20-year-olds very well. Even my tastes in life are that of a 20-yearold. For instance, the colour of my car is electric blue, I listen to their kind of music. As against fine dining, I like eating out at canteens, I like using trains abroad and will go everywhere with my backpack. I love sports and whenever I can play, I do that. I feel I am still 20 mentally .

How different are Imtiaz and you?
We both love our kids and our parents. Our parents are conventional but have given us a lot of freedom and encouragement. We are both extremely loyal. He is very grounded. He lives frugally and does not have a fancy car or apartment and is interested only in making films. Imtiaz is sufi and has always done his own thing and is a little aloof. I have always been the most dependable guy in the family who a relative will call if they come to Mumbai. With Imtiaz, either they will not call him or he will find a way to put them on to me. The only thing my mother likes me more for, over Imtiaz, is that she knows I will take her calls and, if busy, return her call immediately. With Imtiaz he may not call her back even in a week and may totally forget about it also. I am much more responsible than him, take fewer risks and feel that I have to work harder than him to achieve the same thing as he has a natural flair and intelligence. I do things slowly but surely. Imtiaz is mentally much older than I am though I have a stronger sense of responsibility.

Which was the toughest part of your journey?
I was 30 when I got married to Atiya Hussain who I have known from Jamshedpur since we were kids. She is an economist and a journalist and for the past one year is working in Geneva with the World Trade Centre where she lives with my two kids Nafisa (7) and Zafar (5) along with her parents who live there. She had to take up this job as, after the film happened, it took a financial toll as you don't really get paid for your first film. In the last one year, while making this film, I came close to breaking down as after my family left, I once went to the bank and realised that after paying off my EMIs, I was left with only Rs 400 and had no cash to withdraw. I had no idea where I would pay my driver from. I came close to selling my car and actually put it out on sale. I cut down my expenses drastically wherever possible. I saw my kids after 11 months, two months back. On the flight, I was overtaken by the anxiety as to how they would react to me and wondered what if we don't feel connected to each other. I reached there, changed quickly and went to their school that was a five-minute walk. They were playing. Usually, I would spot my child immediately but it took me some time, but I managed to spot Zafar. He came forward, hugged me and spoke to his friends in French and I said, 'Wow.' They didn't come and stick to me though they acknowledged me, but then slowly they kept coming back again and again and finally we had a really amazing time.

Atiya may need to work there for another one year, but eventually I am looking forward for them to return to India. A lot depends on how my first film is accepted. It just takes one film to change your life. Inshallah! I hope so.

BOMBAY TIMES (July 3, 2014)

The first day of shooting, that too for a song, in Mumbai's J J School Of Art was difficult. Reason being its close proximity to Mumbai Police Headquarters. As director Arif Ali says, “Every time we played the song, cops would come and ask us to stop the music. How could we shoot without the song? We had lots of shots lined up for the day and I was worried if I'd be able to get through as we had permission only for that day to shoot there."

As a part of the actors' workshop before the shoot, Arif and producer Dinesh Vijan took Armaan Jain and Deeksha Seth to a nightclub in Goa. After partying hard, they intentionally left Armaan behind, without any mode of transport. He managed to return to the hotel only by 4 am.

After another night of partying, the four were returning to the hotel on motorcycles. Unfortunately, Dinesh and Deeksha's motorcycle ran out of fuel on the way. Arif and Armaan were oblivious to this fact and reached the hotel. Meanwhile, the actress and the producer were left stranded until a jeep stopped by and the driver offered to help them.

Dinesh calls the director 'the youngest guy on the team' because of his youthful exuberance. He recalls, “At the party after wrapping up the Goa schedule, Arif jumped into the pool and landed on his head. The next two weeks, he shot with a cast around his neck."

When on the set, Armaan would always be asking questions. The makers joke that the actor would be a clear winner in college contests like JAM - Just A Minute, in which the participants are required to talk non-stop for a minute. “Armaan would easily ask the most questions in a minute," smiles Arif. Deeksha was called 'Google Rani' on the set. “She's very curious and is an avid reader. She'd give gyaan on everything,“ says Arif.

While Deeksha was told to click a picture every day, Armaan was asked to do breathing exercises and practise meditation. The actor was also assigned the task of making short films, as that would enable him to perform better as an actor.

Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, produced by Illuminati Films and Eros International, releases July 4. 

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; July 1, 2014)

Raj Kapoor's fourth grandson has acting in his genes. When an actor is normally shown being slapped on screen, the director usually cheats the scene to show that he was slapped, though, in reality, he may not have been. Armaan had a scene in his upcoming romantic film Lekar Hum Deewana Dil where his screen mother, played by Anita Kulkarni, needed to slap him.

Armaan has never been hit by his parents in real life but wanted the scene to look authentic, so he insisted that she actually slap him.

Reluctantly she did, but it was almost 200 slaps before Armaan felt satisfied with the slap. He obviously returned home with heavy eyes and a swollen cheek but telling us about it, he said, “It was fun. I remember on another occasion, I needed to eat a sandwich. I didn't cheat and actually landed eating about 20 of them till the take was to my director's satisfaction." While we don't expect anything less than perfection from a Kapoor, we wonder what Armaan would do if he had a love making scene in the film. 

Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; June 30, 2014)

Deeksha Seth, who will make her Bollywood debut with Arif Ali's Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, has seven outings down South to her credit -six in Telugu and one in Tamil.

In LHDD, Deeksha plays Karishma Shetty, a fun-loving and rebellious college girl from Mangalore, who is passionate about photography. She wants to marry for love and elopes with her best friend, played by Armaan Jain. “The story is about our journey, and my character has a beautiful emotional graph," she says.

Interestingly, debutant Armaan was a bit intimidated by his co-star in the beginning. “Somebody told him that I had already done half a dozen movies. So, he was a little reserved and I thought he didn't like me. Then one day, we got chatting and realised that we were wrong about each other," recalls Deeksha, saying she was never jittery about entering Bollywood.

“I was familiar with the whole film environment, but LHDD is a very real story and I have never done anything like this before. So, while Armaan was learning, I was unlearning," says the actress, who is great friends with him now.

Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, produced by Eros International and Illuminati Films, releases July 4.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 19, 2014)

Director Arif Ali had planned to start the score of his directorial debut Lekar Hum Deewana Dil with a party song and sketched out the situation to his composer, double Oscar winner, AR Rahman. "But as is usual with Rahman sir, we recorded Beqasoor, a song we were in no hurry for, first while this one kept getting pushed," laughs Arif.

Rahman explain that he didn't want to do a regular club song and was wondering how he could make it different. Arif didn't believe in forcing a deadline on Rahman since pressure never works with him, and let this song simmer on slow fire.

Then, one day, on a flight to Chennai, with his lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya and producer Dinesh Vijan, Arif fell asleep. To keep himself from getting bored, Dinesh took his cell phone and started playing the scratches Arif had taken from Rahman earlier. When Arif awoke, Dinesh told him that one of them, Nainon se, nainon se, might work as a party number. The director conceded that with the right words it might work and the duo turned expectantly to Amitabh who excused himself to take a loo break.

He came out of the bathroom and told them excitedly that he had got it. Khalifa came to him in a moment of epiphany. In Chennai, while recording Tu Shining, they sounded out Rahman.

"I liked the word Khalifa. There's a popular American rapper by the name too. The word's significance in the religious context dates back to a 1000 years, but it is also used today by the younger generation as a synonym for 'Hey Chief'," the composer explains.

And so while simultaneously recording Tu Shining, Rahman started on Khalifa, orchestrating everyone's moves. Amitabh started writing the rap portions, the lyrics a mix of Hindi and English. Shweta Pandit who was sleeping in one corner of the studio, was roused and pushed behind the mic. Hriday Gattani who was singing Tu Shining was told to sing Khalifa too.

But later when they were brainstorming on the album, it was felt that song needed Rahman's voice to add punch to it. "I was supposed to sing Allahda but they wanted me to hum Khalifa instead," reminisces Rahman who was persuaded to sing a couple of lines. And the verdict was unanimous-it had to be Rahman.

The promos had to come out in two days time and Rahman had to leave for Los Angeles so they were on a tight leash. On the day of the recording, Rahman was down with a bad cold. "Finally, we recorded Khalifa at 2.30 am. We were under a lot of pressure but when I heard it the next morning it sounded all right and I felt at ease," recalls the Mozart of Madras.

Khalifa took off a year after it was first planned. And Arif was a satisfied director. "It is not a usual Rahman song yet I was confident it would work. But with all the music that is happening, I was not surprised that it took time to pick up," says the director.

Rahman however was worried by the initial reactions. "I knew people would take time to digest Khalifa but when they ripped it apart saying, 'What is this song?' I tried to figure why they didn't like it. People are so quick to judge," he sighs. But the initial reactions changed and today, Khalifa is playing everywhere.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; June 17, 2014)

Ranbir Kapoor is a full-on football fan and recently, even acquired rights to own his own football team. His younger cousin Armaan Jain, who will be debuting in Arif Ali's Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is also crazy about the game. The two cousins will be playing a friendly match with brothers Imtiaz and Arif Ali in Chembur at one of the foot ball grounds today . What's interesting is that both Ranbir and Armaan will be wearing jerseys of the countries they support.

And while we know that Ranbir is a good player, we will wait to see how Armaan plays. Who knows he may find a place in Ranbir's football team if he is good enough.

Imtiaz Ali talks about life after divorce and explains his role as a mentor
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 17, 2014)

The Jab We Met director was busy with pre-production work but looked relaxed when Mirror caught up with him. Excerpts from a conversation:

You look like a different person after splitting from your wife Preety?
Yes, I am. I had become very formal in my approach to everybody. Marriage is so artificial; it comes with so many dos and don'ts that not only make you claustrophobic but also mediocre. It reduces you to a ch***a version of yourself, you play roles to meet someone else's expectations. Today, I say things as they are. I'm not hypocritical. I am as open-minded as when I was in school and college.

Would you say you are happier now?
(After a pause) I'd say I'm angrier and sadder as well. It's a mixed bag of emotions.

Do you hate the institution?
Actually, the men who stay married hate the institution of marriage more (smiles).

Will you marry again?
I don't know. Who can predict the future? Right now, I'm focussed on my next film, Tamasha. Ranbir (Kapoor) and I had been talking about it for ages. It takes off in July.

What is Tamasha about?
It's a personal story which will be played out in an effervescent manner.

Is it your signature theme again--boy and girl unsure about whether they are friends or lovers?
Not exactly, but yeah, it'll definitely have something in common with my earlier films.

Which film is closest to your heart?
Highway.

Not Rockstar? Ranbir was flawless...
Yes, Ranbir was terrific, but Rockstar was a defective film. There were many jumps in the story and things which no longer make sense to me. And I faced so much criticism for casting Nargis Fakhri.

Do you regret the decision?
No, the film may not have worked for her, but working with another heroine who knew Hindi better would have fostered mediocrity. The challenge to work with Nargis raised the film's intensity.

Highway did wonders for Alia. How did you zero down on her?
Ranbir used to tell me that Alia is very talented and I should meet her. I had met her when she was five years old. And I still thought of her as a kid. Then, one day, I bumped into her at a screening. One look and I knew I had to make Highway with her.

Recently, you collaborated with Vinay Mishra to mentor directors on short films...
Vinay is a school friend and I like being associated with short films. Today, with technology taking giant strides, wouldn't you like to watch interesting content on your phone? Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl, Anand Gandhi and I are on board. I've mentored young talents like Krishna Hooda, Atanu Mukherjee, Ankit Yadav, Shikher Kalyan, Amrit Raj Gupta, Ankit Tripathi, Palash Vaswani, Premendra Sawant, Rukhsana Tabassum, Shikher Kalyan and Priyank Vyas. I gave them some suggestions but I have yet to see the final scripts.

And did you mentor your brother Arif Ali who is making his directorial debut with Lekar Hum Deewana Dil?
I was involved with the story when it was being written. But later, when I got busy with Highway, Arif handled things on his own. He was the one who messaged (A R) Rahman sir who instantly replied with a 'yes'.

It's being said that Rahman has become repetitive and should focus on Indian films rather than Hollywood...
I disagree; every composition of his brings a smile to people's faces. When he puts a composition like Jai Ho on the world map, India gains from it.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 16, 2014)

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 11, 2014)

His last movie-centric concert was for Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar,back in 2011. And now three years later, A R Rahman will once again be seen on stage, but this time for Imtiaz's brother, director Aarif Ali.

Mirror has learnt that the producers of Lekar Hum Deewana Dil have planned a concert at a five-star hotel in Mumbai tomorrow to introduce the film's lead pair - Armaan Jain and Deekhsha Seth.

Around 45 artistes from Rahman's troupe will fly down from Chennai for the show and a grand piano too is being jetted down.

The concert will have some special guests in the audience. Imtiaz, Deepika Padukone and Armaan's cousins, Karisma and Kareena Kapoor. The film's spokesperson confirmed the news saying, "Yes, Kareena and Karisma will be attending the event to cheer the new Kapoor kid. We're hoping to get them on stage with him for an impromtu act." 

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; June 11, 2014)

Armaan Jain is Raj Kapoor's favourite daughter Rima Jain's eldest son and his fourth grandchild to be launched in the movies. We lay our hands on exclusive pictures from the first day of shoot of Lekar Hum Deewana Dil at JJ School of Art, where his mamas Randhir and Rajiv Kapoor were there along with his mami Neetu Kapoor, cousin Karisma and his mother Rima Jain. Looking at the pictures, one can easily tell that this is one close-knit family .

BOMBAY TIMES (June 29, 2014)

There seems to be some connection between A R Rahman, Raj Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali. In 2012, the musical maestro composed one of his most memorable albums for Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar, which coincidentally had Raj Kapoor's first grandson Ranbir Kapoor in it.

Rahman had also performed at an unplugged concert for the film then. Rahman fans can feel happy as once again on June 12, he will be coming to Mumbai to perform live unplugged. But, this time, coincidentally, it will be for Imtiaz's brother Arif Ali's film Lekar Hum Deewana Dil's music, which will see Raj Kapoor's second grandson Armaan Jain getting launched into films.

Armaan happens to be the youngest star for whom Rahman has lent his voice (in the song Khalifa) and it will be fun to see the two unplugged.

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; May 14, 2014)

Saif Ali Khan’s upcoming production, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, marks the Bollywood debut of wife Kareena Kapoor’s cousin, Armaan Jain. The film was initially titled Locha.com. But the makers were not too keen on the name and eventually, it was Karan Johar who suggested the title.

Says a source, “The film’s script had the title Locha.com. However, throughout the shoot, Saif was not too thrilled about the film’s name. Even after the film was complete, there was great deliberation over it. Later on, when Karan Johar was shown portions of the film, he suggested its current title.” Armaan has previously worked as an assistant director for KJo’s productions such as Student of the Year ( 2012) and Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu ( 2012).

On the other hand, the film’s spokesperson maintains that the title was co-producer Dinesh Vijan’s idea. “Initially, they toyed with the title Dekho Magar Pyaar Se, but later, they settled for Lekar Hum Deewana Dil as it had a musical ring to it.” KJo remained unavailable for comment

Incidentally, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is a chartbuster from Nasir Hussain’s 1973 film, Yaadon Ki Baaraat.

BOMBAY TIMES (May 14, 2014)

A R Rahman’s next venture in Bollywood is director Arif Ali’s Lekar Hum Deewana Dil. LHDD, as we told you a few days ago, marks the entry of Raj Kapoor’s grandson Armaan Jain and South import Deeksha Seth in Bollywood. The film is all about making mistakes and growing up. It takes audiences through the journey of two friends who take decisions, face consequences and learn from them. 

As in the case of other Illuminati films like Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail, the USP of LHDD is its music. Khalifa is the first track to come out and is programmed with an electronic music base.