FRESH AND EXCITING
As audience lap up new pairings in Bollywood such as Hrithik Roshan-Yami Gautam and Akshay Kumar-Bhumi Pednekar, here's a look at fresh jodis and what makes them work
What’s common between the films Airlift, Ki & Ka, Baaghi and Dear Zindagi? For starters, they all released last year, but what’s more interesting is that all these hits featured fresh, new actor pairings that were lapped up by audiences.
FRUITFUL PARTNERSHIPS
The trend continued in 2017, too, starting with Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam, who teamed up for Kaabil. Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar also worked together for the first time in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. Akshay also had a new co-star — Huma Qureshi — in Jolly LLB 2.
Clearly, such pairings were received favourably by audiences, but the partnerships have also worked well for the actors. Yami says, “Working with Hrithik in Kaabil was a great experience. And that’s because he is such a lovely person; he is so selfless and collaborative.”
Bhumi also feels that working with Akshay felt “very easy” despite him being a big star. “Romancing Akshay sir (on-screen) was like performing any other emotion with him. It’s easy, because he makes everything very easy. He doesn’t try and intimidate you, as he comes down to your level as a friend and a peer and he expects you to treat him like that. I think that works really well,” says Bhumi.
Shraddha Kapoor, who starred opposite Arjun Kapoor in this year’s Half Girlfriend, also has good things to say about her co-actor. “Everyone is different, but hats off to Arjun for giving so much of himself to his character. He is very entertaining and hardworking, and he has a very good sense of humour offcamera. It was a blast working with him,” she says.
NOVELTY AND FRESHNESS
Other new pairings in films include Arjun and Ileana D’Cruz in Mubarakan; Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana in Bareilly Ki Barfi, as well as Irrfan Khan and Pakistani actor Saba Qamar in Hindi Medium.
Experts opine that new pairings will always result in excitement for audiences. Exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi says, “If two popular actors come together, it’s always an exciting proposition for audiences, as such pairings bring in a lot of novelty and freshness. This adds to any film’s appeal.”