Dosti: Friends Forever (2005), starring Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Lara Dutta, completed 20 years on December 23. The film is remembered for its casting, music, funny moments and an emotional climax. On its 20th anniversary, its director, producer and writer, Suneel Darshan, spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama about the film and a lot more.
How did you get the idea to make a film on friendship?
My journey with cinema has been oriental in the sense that it has always evoked strong emotions, music, and more. The story of Dosti had been in my mind for quite some time. I had done films on other relationships. This is how I generated a desire to do a film on friendship.
The film had a huge star cast…
I wanted to do it with two different stars. Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar had to drop out of Barsaat (2005) and he assured me that he would do my next film. That’s how he came on board for Dosti. As for Bobby, he had signed a contract with me to do a certain number of movies. The contract was signed when I got him on board to replace Akshay in Barsaat.
Barsaat was made in a short timeframe, which I felt was quite difficult at that point in time. It was shot in just 2 months. I had the actors’ dates. We did outdoor shoots in South Africa, Kullu-Manali and Mumbai. Later, I had the dates of the actors of Dosti. So, I decided ‘Barsaat can wait for some time’ and I took Dosti on floors.
Surprisingly, Dosti became a star-studded movie, which was unintentional. Kareena walked into the film at the very last minute. She asked, ‘How can you and Akshay be doing a film without me? I want to be a part of it’! I informed her, ‘But we are shooting in 5 days’. She requested, ‘Please don’t have any of my scenes in 5 days. Give me 3 more days. I’ll join the film after 8 days’.
As for Lara Dutta, I launched her in Andaaz (2003). So, I decided to cast her opposite Bobby Deol. There was another important role in the film, for which I decided to call Juhi Chawla. I had worked with her earlier in Lootere (1993) and Ek Rishtaa: The Bond Of Love (2001). With this ensemble star cast in place, I took Dosti on the floors.
I started the film in February 2005 and finished it in May of the same year. Just one song remained, ‘Let's Boogie Woogie’. We put up a huge set for it. Unfortunately, Akshay Kumar was held up with Humko Deewana Kar Gaye’s (2006) shoot in Canada; it was getting indefinitely extended. With no other choice, we had to shoot that song without Akshay and Kareena. It featured Bobby and Lara.
Usually, for a leading man’s role, you need 60 days. But since Akshay didn’t have that many dates, I finished his work in just 26 days! He came later to shoot for 2 more days for a song. That’s still half the time that I actually wanted.
But it didn’t seem like that at all…
Yes, both he and Bobby have crucial roles. The film is about them.
As per IMDb trivia, you wanted to bring back the Ajnabee (2001) gang and hence, you wanted Bipasha Basu for Lara Dutta's role. Also, it is said that Ameesha Patel was also considered…
No. Bipasha had just worked with me in Barsaat (so I didn’t want to repeat her opposite Bobby). Ameesha wanted to do the film. I had worked with her in Mere Jeevan Saathi (2006). Actually, everybody wanted to do this film (laughs). However, Kareena had come on board and I felt that Lara was apt.
Dosti: Friends Forever is also memorable because it was the last time Nadeem-Shravan worked together. While working with them on this film, did you feel that this would be their last film together?
No. Nadeem was composing music for all the films of mine. As for Shravan, he would handle the recordings in India. I never had the inkling that they would never work again in the future at that point in time, at least to my knowledge.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Luv Ranjan was one of the assistant directors on Dosti: Friends Forever…
He was with me in quite a few films, actually. He worked with me in Dosti, Barsaat and Mere Jeevan Saathi. In fact, I was the only person he actually assisted.
Final thoughts about the film after 20 years?
I thought that the film had beautiful music. I gave the film a full scale. The film had huge sets, costumes and outdoors. I tried to provide everything to the film to the best of my ability. I just wish some actors had given a little more dedication to the film. Then, I could have achieved 100% of what I set out to achieve. I achieved most of it, though.
Lastly, what next after Andaaz 2 (2025)?
I need to devote some time to my business. The business of cinema has become very difficult today. There’s tremendous potential for cinema even today and for good cinema, there always is and there always will be. So, I am just trying to sort out things on that front and then get into a movie next year.
More Pages: Dosti - Friends Forever Box Office Collection , Dosti - Friends Forever Movie Review
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