FRESH PAIRINGS LIVEN UP 2018
Several established Bollywood actors are cast opposite each other for the first time this year — and the list includes some unusual onscreen couples, too
Fresh pairings in Bollywood is something that the audience looks forward to each year. With a host of top actors being cast together for the first time, 2018 will see as many as 15 fresh on-screen pairs.
While some of the highly publicised ones include Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma, there are a few unusual ones, too, such as Rajkummar Rao and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Mouni Roy, Sanjay Dutt and Chitrandga Singh. So what is it about these fresh pairs that click with the audience?
WHOLE NEW GAME
When viewers see something new on-screen, there’s a fresh vibe, of course. Producer Rahul Mittra, who is working with Sanjay Dutt for Torbaaz and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3, explains, “I’ve always believed in casting coups and I’m extremely conscious while choosing actors. With proper casting, there’s this whole new freshness that the audience is able to savour. So, rather than the typical casting, I prefer [to keep [it] a bit unusual.”
Actor Taapsee Pannu, who has been cast as the lead opposite Diljit Dosanjh in Soorma, says in agreement, “Audiences always crave new interesting pairs on-screen; we as actors, too, always look forward to working with new people. It helps bring out a fresh side to us... especially if a filmmaker brings two unlikely people together on screen.”
NO BAGGAGE
Watching a Shah Rukh-Kajol or a Shah Rukh-Rani movie would mostly lead to viewers comparing their previous performances, but with fresh pairings, such comparisons don’t exist. Actor Vicky Kaushal, cast opposite Alia Bhatt in Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, says, “[Then] the audience has no pre-conceived notions of its expectations from the pair. At the end, however, it’s the story that clicks and the honesty with which the actors have lived their characters.”
AGE OF EXPERIMENT
Film critic Omar Qureshi points out that earlier, films had more or less a set formula and, hence, we saw hit pairs such as Dharam-Hema, Amitabh-Jaya, Rishi-Neetu being cast again and again. “Today, with experimentation in cinema at an all-time high, characters are more important than stars,” he says. “So, if the shoe fits, go for it.”
The audience has no preconceived notions of its expectations from a fresh pair VICKY KAUSHAL ACTOR
Audiences crave new pairs onscreen; we as actors, too, always look forward to it TAAPSEE PANNU ACTOR