Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
is all about living one's life to the fullest, while staying rooted to
values. Here's a sketch of the characters and a glimpse of those special
moments that took them on a roller-coaster rideMeet Bunny and Naina
Bunny ( Ranbir Kapoor): Charming and fun loving, Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) is full of life with an indomitable spirit for adventure. He rejects mediocrity and wants to travel, see the world and embrace the freedom of being unattached. He wants to be answerable to no one but himself. Bunny grows from a young student full of unconventional ambitions to a hard-working videographer on a travel show. The film also traces his coming of age vis-a-vis his responsibility towards his parents and love.
Naina ( Deepika Padukone): Deepika Padukone A simple, good-natured and extremely focused girl. Frustrated by the restrictions she has put on herself to fulfil her dream of becoming a doctor, she decides to go on a trek to Manali for a much-needed break. However, Naina is strong, dependable and stands firmly for rooted family values. In the film, Naina transforms from the claustrophobic person she thought she was, to a free-spirited woman with a new-found love.
.. and their buddies, Avi and Aditi
Avi (Aditya Roy Kapur): After his first solo-hero film did great at the box office, Aditya Roy Kapur, who plays Avi in YJHD, seems confident about this movie. "Ayan has made a warm film, which will surely strike a chord with the audience," he says.The actor says playing Avi took him down memory lane. "Avi, Aditi and Bunny are best friends since school. Avi loves his friends and drinks. He is someone who lives in the moment and doesn't think too much about the future. I could completely relate to him because I was exactly like that in college. For two years in junior college, I absolutely did nothing. And I didn't even know what I wanted to do with life."
The young actor got along extremely well with Ranbir. Says he, "Ranbir is a brilliant guy and I am sure we will stay in touch even after the film wraps up. I have always admired him for the way he has conducted himself and handled his stardom. He is very chilled out and doesn't take himself too seriously." Aditya's brother, Kunal Roy Kapur, will also do a cameo in the movie. "I have seen him on stage. I have watched all his plays, but sharing the frame with him was unbelievable. He is a great actor and he intimidates me," he says. After Aashiqui 2, his female fan base has considerably shot up. So, is he enjoying the attention? "I have no complaints. I still have to get used to it, but it's cool. It is awkward, but it is a good thing to happen to an actor," he smiles.
Aditi (Kalki Koechlin): Kalki Koechlin plays Aditi, a free-spirited, feisty tomboy. The actress says she was unsure of taking up the role, but Ayan made it difficult for her to say no. She explains, "I was working on another movie at that time and I don't like to multitask. When I went to meet Ayan, he said, 'I have this fantastic role for you'. By the time he had finished narrating the script, I was sold."
Talking about her role, she says, "Aditi is full of life and will go to any lengths to protect her best friends. Aditi is probably closest to the real me — a tomboy. People close to me know that I have more guy friends than girls. I'd rather have beer than a cocktail and prefer jeans over skirts."
While Kalki did not know any of her co-stars before she started shooting, now the four of them have become friends for life. "It took us a 10-hour road trip from Chandigarh to Manali to get to know each other. Deepika is probably the busiest among all of us, but she is never stressed out and never loses her temper. She's like my mother because she is always asking me if I need something. I know when she is around, I'll be taken care of," she recalls. About Ranbir, she says, "He is very much what he is famous for. Ranbir is friendly and very chilled out. We would be screaming at each other one day, and the next day we would be sitting together and chatting." However, Aditya is whom Kalki bonded the most with. "Adi is this simple, hippie child. We connected a lot on music, as he would play the guitar. I was also carrying my guitar, so we would often be jamming."
Some desi music and a raita number too...
Unlike the soundtrack of his earlier film, Wake Up Sid, Ayan wanted a massy score for YJHD. Says music composer Pritam, "Ayan told me that he wanted quintessential Hindi film songs. He and Karan Johar wanted a catchy desi album with vibrant sounds to retain the energy of the movie." Pritam says that the Ghagra song was composed even before Madhuri Dixit was approached for it. "Amitabh Bhattacharya had already written the lyrics and Ayan liked the lines a lot," says the composer, adding that Madhuri agreed immediately after she heard the song.
Interestingly, Pritam didn't approve of the words 'Badtameez Dil'. He says, "I hated those words and told Amitabh to come up with something else. But he was super confident it would work." Of course, now the composer admits he's glad that no one listened to him earlier.
When Ayan first heard Dilliwaali Girlfriend, he called it a 'raita' number. "I had the melody when Kumar came to meet me, expressing a wish to write something. I asked him to write for this one. When I played it for Ayan, he said he wanted it. It was perfect for the situation he had in mind," recalls Pritam.
"As for Balam Pichkari, it's Ranbir's introductory song and Ayan wanted it to be a Holi track. Both Amitabh and I were against the idea as we felt it would be played only during Holi," says the composer. However, the director was adamant and as Pritam says, "Ayan has shot it amazingly well. It's my favourite picturisation in the movie."
How the cast and crew hit it off behind the camera...
For a wedding sequence, Ranbir was supposed to give everyone vodka shots. When the shoot began, he replaced water with alcohol.
While shooting the Balam Pichkari song, Ranbir and his staff threw all the crew members into a water tank.
A location in Manali was chosen to shoot snow camps. But on the day of the shoot, strong winds blew the camps away. As a result, the shoot was cancelled that day.
The unit survived on instant noodles and egg bhurji while shooting in the snow, as it was very difficult to serve regular hot food there.
To reach many of the locations, the cast and crew had to trek. While most struggled, Ayan — the best trekker in the group — always reached first.
While shooting in Jalori (Himachal Pradesh), the crew had to stay in hotels which had no electricity or hot water. And the actors got so fed up of walking up and down the mountains for the shoot daily, that they decided to slide down.
The wind played the villain again when a skimmer fell on Ranbir's makeup artist. The actor rushed him to the hospital. He needed a few stitches, but was otherwise fine.
Aditya and Kalki play best friends in the film. She came up with an idea that in every scene of theirs, she would either hit him or throw something at him. In the process, she's thrown bags and water bottles at him. In fact, she even slapped her 'best friend' on multiple occasions, forcing Ayan to call 'cut' since Aditya would be in pain.
In Kashmir, the team shot at locations that were waist deep in snow. The minimum temperature was between 15 and - 5 degrees.
Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah invited Ranbir, Deepika and Ayan for dinner while they were shooting in Srinagar. He also visited the sets in Gulmarg to meet the actors.
During the wrap-up party in Kashmir, Ranbir, Deepika and Aditya danced all night with the crew. Ranbir danced with each and every crew member.
Ranbir and Ayan treated the crew to a special Kashmiri Wazwan, with 32 dishes!
When Aditya had to play drunk in a scene, Ayan encouraged him to actually keep drinking through the day.
In Rajasthan, the shoot had to be cancelled a few times due to thunderstorms — yes, it happened in a desert in peak summer.
Ranbir was supposed to put haldi on Kalki for a scene. But her skin reacted badly to it and she didn't recover from the rashes for days.
Ranbir made Ayan do a special shot for a song. The result: they smashed a cake and sprayed him with champagne.
While shooting in a market in Udaipur, over 1,000 people blocked the streets. When they made it impossible for the actors' cars to leave, Ranbir and Deepika hired an autorickshaw to return to the hotel.
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, produced by Dharma Productions, releases May 31.