Girlfriend (2004) completed 22 years on June 11 and is remembered as a rare Hindi film at the time that dealt with homosexuality. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, conducted around the film’s 20th anniversary in July 2024, writer-director Karan Razdan spoke about the film’s adult themes, the Censor process and sequel plans.
Nowadays, a film featuring intimate scenes often gets heavily censored by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Did Girlfriend also face cuts? Karan Razdan said, “Anupam Kher was then the CBFC chairperson. There were allegations that since he was my friend, he passed the film (without major modifications). Poor Anupam had no idea. And it was unfair to put pressure on him. It was cleared in the first instance with minor cuts.”
Karan Razdan then recalled the premiere night, “Kareena Kapoor’s Dev (2004) released on the same day. She missed Dev’s premiere and came to our premiere because Amrita was her friend! I remember meeting them in the interval and Kareena giving me the ‘You are very naughty’ look! I had met her often at one point when her sister Karisma Kapoor was a part of Barsaat (1995).”
The veteran filmmaker further said that the reactions in cinema halls were unforgettable, “Dabboo Ratnani, Sanjay Verma and Praveen Bharadwaj and I went to Fame Adlabs (present-day PVR Citi Mall in Andheri, Mumbai) to see the reaction just before the interval. We stood at the steps. During the interval point, the audience got up and they clapped! I was stunned. I looked at my team and was like, ‘They are clapping! But for what?’! I remember Taran Adarsh coming out and telling me, ‘You have a hit in your hands’!”
We pointed out that people must have been shocked to see such a bold Hindi film at that time. Karan Razdan replied, “When I wrote Diljale (1996), people groused, ‘Aapne hero ko terrorist bana diya? Kaise?’. The tagline of the film was ‘A love story of a terrorist’! It shocked people. They were like, ‘Iska kya matlab hai? Aur tu Ajay Devgn ko terrorist bana raha hai?’. But that’s how it has always been with me.”
Lastly, does he ever plan to make Girlfriend 2? Karan Razdan said, “Even if I make, the original cast can’t be there anymore. Isha Koppikar anyway dies in the first part. Also, I feel that people are scared to back a project like that, not that I have even written the script. A web series may be explored. This is especially after I saw the Netflix series, You. They have copied Girlfriend’s plot in as many as 3 episodes!”
More Pages: Girlfriend Box Office Collection , Girlfriend Movie Review
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