It was a last minute intervention by Karan Johar that saved the day for Kareena Kapoor. A generous KJo allowed his good friend Bebo a chunk of dates from 'Shuddhi', so she could work with Farhan Akhtar in a Dev Benegal film.
“'Shuddhi', which will be directed by Karan Malhotra, requires a straight 200 days from Kareena. She was sure that for almost a year it would be only shooting for 'Shuddhi' with Hrithik Roshan, and nothing else. That’s why she hadn’t signed any other project,” she says.
However, when Farhan approached her with the Dev Benegal film, which is said to be a musical drama with elements of action in it, Kareena was tempted. “Though Dev’s last two films ('Road Movie' and 'English August') have been niche affairs, this one is out-and-out commercial. Kareena was totally bowled over by the script, but unfortunately for her, the dates were clashing with 'Shuddhi'. While Farhan and Dev wanted to shoot in March and April, Kareena’s diary was already blocked for Karan’s production,” the source adds.
This is where the long-standing friendship between with KJo and Kareena came into play. Kareena says, “I had to call up Karan and chalk it out. I didn’t want to miss out on the Farhan-Dev film but then it couldn’t have been at the cost of 'Shuddhi' either. I requested Karan if in the interim period he could manage to shoot with other actors while I was away. Dharma is like my own production and I knew I could afford to make this request. Karan was very adjusting and allowed me this flexibility.” Perhaps this is how Karan manages to be everyone’s favourite.
Eventually, it turned out to be a win-win situation for Kareena, whose next film 'Gori Tere Pyar Mein' releases this week. Friendship pays and how in Bollywood.
