28 Years of Ram Jaane: Vinay Shukla reveals he had reservations with ‘Ala La La’ song: “I insisted to keep a tapori song; that is what naturally would come to Shah Rukh Khan’s character”

By Fenil Seta -

December 6, 2023 - 7:30 PM IST

Ram Jaane (1995) completed 28 years on December 1. Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, this action entertainer had a huge opening and was a decent success. However, it isn’t as memorable today as it had a mixed word of mouth. On a podcast called ‘Love Of Cinema’ by Himanshu Joglekar, Ram Jaane’s writer Vinay Shukla explained, in April 2021, what went wrong with this film. He explained that Shah Rukh became ‘indulgent’ and overused phrases like ‘halwa hai kya’ and ‘khallas’. He further told Himanshu that Puneet Issar talking in tapori lingo along with Shah Rukh also dented the impact. He also blamed the film’s ‘loose editing’ and how director Rajiv Mehra and editor M S Shinde refused to cut Shah Rukh’s scenes as he had become a star after the release of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).

28 Years of Ram Jaane: Vinay Shukla reveals he had reservations with ‘Ala La La’ song: “I insisted to keep a tapori song; that is what naturally would come to Shah Rukh Khan’s character”

Towards the finale of the podcast, Vinay Shukla revealed one more trivia to Himanshu. Vinay said, “There was a song in Ram Jaane, 'Ala La La' (set in the restaurant). I had taken it from the film, Once Upon A Time In America (1984). My idea was to keep a tapori song. That is what naturally would come to him. Remember how Aamir Khan behaves in the restaurant scene in Rangeela (1995)? That’s how his character was.”

Vinay continued, “Hence, I was surprised when he chose this song. I told them ‘Keep a mawaali song. That’s what his culture is. He won’t sing this song’. These are inconsistencies of the character. It takes away from the film.”

Later, on the podcast, Vinay Shukla spoke about his bond with Shah Rukh Khan to Himanshu. Vinay said, “During the release of Ram Jaane, I met a journalist. He asked me, ‘What have you done to Shah Rukh?’. I replied, ‘Why? What happened?’. He answered, ‘Shah Rukh speaks about you as if he’s talking about Shakespeare!’”

Vinay continued, “We had gone for a premiere in Delhi. The way SRK praised me in front of the audience, I was flattered and overwhelmed. At that time, he sent 3 producers to me.”

Also Read: 28 Years of Ram Jaane: “As Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge had become a huge hit, director was not ready to cut any footage of Shah Rukh Khan; I told them, ‘The shot is over. Why are you keeping it?’” – Vinay Shukla