20 Years of Dil Chahta Hai: Farhan Akhtar reveals that Asad Dadarkar, the man who played Subodh, is a ‘timetable’ even in real life

By Fenil Seta -

August 10, 2021 - 12:30 PM IST

The iconic film, Dil Chahta Hai, completes 20 years today. The film worked with the audiences in all respects, especially when it comes to the humour quotient. Viewers loved the fact that the characters added for comic relief were unique and something not seen in cinemas and yet straight out of life. One such character was that of Subodh. Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) calls him timetable as he had a schedule planned for the whole day and even the next and would remember unnecessary details. What’s more, he would even buy balloons every day for the girl he loved, Pooja (Sonali Kulkarni). The character was hardly there for a few minutes but was immensely loved and brought the house down. And it’s no surprise that even 20 years later, audiences fondly remember Subodh and his eccentricities.

20 Years of Dil Chahta Hai: Farhan Akhtar reveals that Asad Dadarkar, the man who played Subodh, is a ‘timetable’ even in real life

As Dil Chahta Hai completes 20 years, we bring to you some interesting trivia about who played the role of Subodh and how the actor, Asad Dadarkar, was cast. Writer, director and producer of the film, Farhan Akhtar revealed some interesting details about it while talking to Rajeev Masand in his audio show ‘Picture Ke Peeche’.

Farhan Akhtar revealed that Dil Chahta Hai is the only film in which he worked and that Asad is a friend. He joked, "Asad Dadarkar neither acted before nor since Dil Chahta Hai because he thought it was his Oscar-winning performance and that he should quit while he's on top!"

He then explained, "The reason I cast him in the film is that when he was a student at the University Of Bakersfield, USA, I had visited him there in 1996. He had decided that when I come, we both will drive to Las Vegas from where we'll drive up to Fresno and then we'll drive on the Pacific Highway and go back to Bakersfield. I was like 'wow what a great plan'. It was my first time being alone in the USA with my friend and his car. "

Farhan Akhtar then laughed as he revealed, "He had planned everything to the T. For example, when we reached Fresno where we had never been before, I loved it. I told him that let's stay back here for a few more days as I didn't know when I was going to come back. And he was like 'No no, we've got a lunch planned in Santa Barbara on so and so day'!"

Farhan Akhtar then said in a lighter vein, "I had to avenge this somehow! So I wrote a character who is like Asad and then I realized that I'll not find anyone to play it. It's not that he's trying to annoy you. That's just who he is. He's very sincere and he doesn't care if you don't like it. This is who he is."

So how did Asad Dadarkar come on board? Farhan revealed, "So I spoke to him and told him 'listen just do it'. And he did. That's how Subodh came into being."

Asad Dadarkar and Farhan Akhtar are still friends and meet whenever possible. Farhan stated, "We speak even now. He doesn't live in India anymore. He was in Dubai for some time. So when I used to travel, I used to always meet him. He says that it’s amazing that to date people address him as Subodh."

Also Read: 20 Years of Dil Chahta Hai: “I wanted Akshaye Khanna to be Akash, Hrithik Roshan to be Sameer and Abhishek Bachchan to be Sid” – Farhan Akhtar