Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is a love story of two best friends who are stuck in a situation where nothing but eloping seems to be the right option. The situation is such that Karishma’s (Deeksha’s character in movie) parents are conservative in spite of being from a modern background. They think that a girl should get married by the age of 21 or 22, but because Karishma belongs to the modern generation, she wants to work, live life and love before getting married. So, to avoid all the confrontations and arguments she elopes with her friend Dinesh (Armaan Jain). The theme revolves around the fact that eloping is not only about the happy times, it also has its set of adverse effects. To talk more about the movie and their shooting experience, debutant director Arif Ali, debutant actors Deeksha Seth and Armaan Jain were recently present at PVR, Cannaught Place, New Delhi.
Armaan, tell us something about your role in the movie?
My role is of Dinesh (self chosen- DINO). Someone who loves thrill & adventure is full of energy, full of life and who never thinks before doing anything. It is only after doing things he thinks or probably not even care to give a thought on it. The character would be quite relatable to people because at some point of our lives we all have done something without giving a thought to it and often such decisions can be a problem but eventually, you learn from them.
It’s your first movie, how are you feeling?
I am nervous, excited, actually I am going through mixed emotions. It’s more of positive anxiety.
Armaan, what are the tips you got from your family members as they all are huge stars?
No tips at all. At home we just talk about food. There is a lot of noise pollution, the volume and decibels are so high that you just can’t talk.
At this moment, Deeksha and Arif Ali laughed, looking at them Armaan says to the media, let me tell you why they are laughing they think my English is poor. But they don’t understand my sophistication. Followed by which Deeksha told that when the script was given, his first few lines had long English words which he didn’t understand but asked the meaning after a year, That’s why we pull his leg. After this incident he keeps learning new words and then boasts about them.
And then for next few moments they kept fighting like kids, after which Armaan came back to answering the question asked to him.
Growing up was not filmy at all. We would talk about everything but movies. We wear the same clothes and talk like any other family, so, nothing different at all and definitely no tips.
Arif Ali, are you inspired by your brother’s (Imtiaz Ali) style of film-making?
I am inspired by his process of film-making and also the purity and dedication with which he works. It quite about inspires me and I have tried to put that into my work as well.
Deeksha, you have worked in Telugu movies before, so, how was your journey from Tollywood to Bollywood?
The journey has been really good. I have done six movies in Telugu and one in Tamil. I never planned to come in Bollywood, but definitely I wanted to be a part of it and now, when I am working here, there is an ease that the language brings in which I cannot deny. The transition has been really smooth and the ‘Lekar Hum Deewana Dil‘ team has always treated me and Armaan as kids.
Armaan, you’ve been slapped 200 times for a single shot, tell us the story behind it?
My mom has always been sweet to me. Since childhood, I have never been slapped. But yes she would put me in a dark washroom when she had to punish me, but within five minutes she would feel bad and take me out. I was scared of darkness as a child. So basically, in the scene I have come back home and my parents are really upset and they don’t even want to see me. Quite naturally, my mother wants to slap me hard. In reality, the slaps on screen are fake but as I have never been slapped before, I wanted to know what it feels like. So, I asked my mom to slap me and in the first-take she gives me a tight slap. The moment the shot got over I was completely shocked and my face went red. I was speechless and tears rolled out.
In every cut I wanted to look natural so I asked her to keep slapping me and in no time the number reached to 200. And since Arif sir was enjoying, he continued taking shot after shot.
Deeksha, how difficult was the leap from Tollywood to Bollywood?
There were no such difficulties rather it was exciting. The feeling is very different. I was speaking my own language and I could understand what others are speaking and could react to it. Also, when you have worked earlier, you understand the pattern of handling a script. But as this movie was real, I realised that I would have to learn from the basics instead of applying what I already know and it was certainly quite challenging for me.
Armaan, what would you have to say about it?
I think Deeksha is very talented as for her, nothing is difficult but an opportunity.
Deeksha and Armaan, How similar are you with the character’s you play?
Armaan: When I was seventeen I was like Dino- unreasonable and carefree. Doing this movie made me miss those times. And, if I lived life on those terms I would get disowned (followed by a laugh).
Deeksha: At a emotional level I do connect with the character. She is an alive and free spirited girl who says that she would marry only the one she loves. She does things she believes in and on that level I completely relate to her. I remember when I auditioned, I got a little written piece about the character and at the end it read ‘high on life’ and that’s what I go by. I enjoy every moment and that’s what even my character Karishma does in the movie. And I guess this question should also be asked to Arif sir because he has auditioned us and created these characters.
Arif: I casted them in a way that their reel characters shouldn’t be completely opposite to what they are in real and I just had to align. The way we have conducted workshops during the movie, the way they have lived the character during the shooting period, you cannot separate the characters from their real personality.
Talking about energy, Armaan, how much of it has been regained from those days?
I think I have tried to get back the energy, but the carefree attitude gets one into trouble and in real life I have experienced such thing. So, I think the moral of the story is that the characters in the movie learn from their mistakes and grow up and as a person I never want to grow up.
Ending the conversation Deeksha tells us why she chose this movie as a debut in Bollywood, “The reason of starting my Bollywood career with this movie is that I was completely into it when Arif sir narrated me the story for four hours. And this passion, I didn’t feel for very long time.”
Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is all set to release this Friday. It is directed and written by Arif Ali, produced by Dinesh Vijan and Saif Ali Khan under Illuminate Films and Maddock Films productions. The music has been given by Oscar winner A.R.Rahman.
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