BOLLYWOOD MEET THE

The film released 10 years ago, today. Ali Haaji recalls cracking jokes with Rani Mukerji, learning diction from Saif Ali Khan

Remember Champ, actors Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan’s on-screen son in the 2007 film Ta Ra Rum Pum? Here’s catching up with Ali Haaji, that cute kid who earlier played Aamir Khan and Kajol’s son in the 2006 film Fanaa, also directed by Kunal Kohli. “For Fanaa, I had long hair. So for Ta Ra Rum Pum, I had to chop it off and sport spikes. I was excited,” recalls Ali, who was six years old when he did the Saif-Rani starrer. Now 16, he says it was a “really cool film” to be a part of as a kid. “It was about car racing. Being a boy who loves cars, we had some mad moments on the sets. Having seen New York City and Times Square and Manhattan in so many films, it was nothing short of a dream come true going to that city; and we stayed there for almost two months, so that was crazy. We even went to the Disney Store and that has stayed with me the most,” says Ali.

The actor, who has been part of over 100 commercials so far, says shooting with Saif and Rani was fun. “I often called them by their screen names to make things simpler. With Rani, we used to crack a lot of jokes and had a good laugh pretty often. And Saif is a really cool and chilled-out

guy. As a kid, my pronunciation was not always correct. He’d correct me. I’d say ‘flim’ for ‘film’, and Saif would laughingly correct me,” recalls Ali who now owns a theatre production— Clean State Studios. As for his on-screen sister, Princess [Angelina Idnani], Ali says they had a love-hate relationship both on- and off-screen.