“Never felt Arif was influenced by Imtiaz” – Armaan

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

July 1, 2014 - 4:01 AM IST

Imtiaz Ali has made a name for himself in the world of Hindi films. Now that his brother Arif Ali is looking at debuting with Lekar Hum Deewana Dil this Friday, all eyes are on the first time filmmaker. Considering the fact that both brothers are said to be coming from the same school of cinema (well, figuratively, and not literally), one can almost sense quintessential Imtiaz Ali touch in the Armaan Jain-Deeksha Seth film as well.

"Well, I never thought about it but now that you say it, I am forced to think if this is really the case," says Armaan, before pausing and then beginning to speak again, "See, they are brothers, so it is but natural that they have sort of similar thinking, especially since they have seen the same life. When I look at me and my brother, there are bound to be similarities since we have shared a common upbringing. Same could well be the case with Arif and Imtiaz as well."

“Never felt Arif was influenced by Imtiaz” – Armaan

The fact also remains that Arif has been a part of the same team (Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan, Imtiaz Ali, and Sunil Lulla) which has earlier collaborated on Love Aaj Kal as well as Cocktail. Now Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is pretty much being looked at as one film which would complete the trilogy of such real to life musical romantic entertainers.

"What I like most about Arif is his confidence and patience. All of that makes you believe that you can play a particular character and do the film convincingly," says Armaan. "I did 3-4 auditions for the film before Arif was confident that I could pull it off. On the other hand, even though this is his first film as a director, he comes across as someone who has made 10 films. He is one guy who has discovered India so well and this is the reason why 90% of the locations in the film are real. This brings in further freshness to the film as the proceedings appear to be from Arif's own personal journey. It is his show all the way."

Still, as is the adage, there is many a slip between a cup and the lip. Did at any point in time Armaan wonder that Lekar Hum Deewana Dil , for all its space and setting of being a truly different affair, may end up turning out to be a usual rom-com which plays safe and conventional?

"I will tell you something. Those few years that I spent at Dharma Productions as an Assistant Director gave me reasonable experience to gain some script sense," says Armaan, "I could pretty much visualize how a script would actually unfold in front of the camera and then look like on the big screen. From the very first meeting that I had with Arif, I could sense how the written word would translate into something fantastic. Thankfully, it has been double of what I had imagined. I have full faith in the people involved with the film. I am very lucky and happy to have found Lekar Hum Deewana Dil as my launch pad."