Alaya auditioned like any other normal struggler, says Nitin Kakkar
Having directed films such as the National Awardwinning Filmistaan (2012), Notebook (2019) and Mitron (2018), director Nitin Kakkar is now trying his hand at a comedy drama peppered with emotions with his upcoming film Jawaani Jaaneman that is also the debut film of actor Pooja Bedi’s daughter Alaya F. The trailer received a lot of love when it came out, and while Nitin is understandably happy, we ask what changed for him over the years, that he went from directing a smallbudget comedy Filmistaan to a teenage drama like Jawaani Jaaneman. “Filmistaan was also a commercial film, it’s a different thing that it got the National Award and got love from film festivals. As a filmmaker, I try to not repeat myself. Once you watch the film, you won’t be feeling ‘yeh Filmistaan ka director nahi hai’ I am still the same. If I feel I cannot direct a film, that’s when I say ‘yes’! I have not done anything like it before, so it excites me,” he says.
What made him zero in on a new face like Alaya and not go with the more experienced ones? “After looking at several auditions,” says Nitin, adding, “Alaya auditioned like other normal strugglers. I didn’t know she was related to someone in the industry. But after watching her audition, I liked her energy and it was then when I was told that she’s so and so. I liked her energy. I requested Alaya to come and meet me briefly, and we all unanimously felt she was the right choice for us.”
Actor Saif Ali Khan who also stars in the film, returns to the image he’s all too known for — the cool dude partying all the time, like the one we saw in Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Cocktail (2012).
The film is about a 40 yearold playboy whose life turns upside down when he comes to know that he has a 20 year-old pregnant daughter.
“The whole film could also have become about an alcoholic daddy, that’s a different take altogether. But we wanted to have fun,” says Nitin.