Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra‘s Hasee Toh Phasee is less than two months away, so the team came together yesterday afternoon to launch the trailer of the film at an event in Mumbai. Interestingly, four producers are coming together for this film: Karan Johar from Dharma Productions, and Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane from Phantom. They all attended the press con yesterday, and I found it hilarious that despite the fact that two of the country’s hottest new stars were sitting in front of the media, most journalists chose to direct their questions at Karan instead. Guess that says a lot about how articulate and witty he can be. We noted down some of the most interesting things he said and rounded them up for you here!
1. “Never say never.”
Dharma Productions and Phantom are two very different production houses, and it’s kind of hard to imagine them working together for one film. In fact, some years ago, KJo himself would’ve never believed that they’d collaborate. The producer/director revealed, “Earlier on I had decided two things – I would never collaborate with Ram Gopal Varma, and I would never collaborate with Anurag Kashyap. Then I realised, never say never.” Anurag also told the media the idea to work together originated when he and Karan met some time ago: “Karan told me, ‘I’m sad your films don’t make money. I want you make money.’ And I told him, I want you to lose money. The result is this.”
2. “I think I’ve lost that innocence.”
Karan was asked why he keeps saying that he finds it increasingly difficult to make a romantic film now. He replied saying, “I actually find it very difficult to write a love story anymore. I think I’ve lost that innocence, which I had when I wrote Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Kal Ho Naa Ho. For some reason, I’m feeling that the love scenes I write are very synthetic and artificial. So whenever I read a truly organic, honest love story, it always moves me to make it.” Which is why, he says, he decided to come on board with Hasee Toh Phasee.
3. “I’m hungry to put out a good film.”
When asked why there was a need for so many producers for this film, Karan said, “Actually, it’s the way forward. Collaborations, co-productions may be new to the Indian zone of film production, but if you actually go to the west and read the titles, a hundred people sometimes come together to make a film. I’m all about providing content and software, and I’m very greedy for script and content. If somebody brings me a screenplay, it doesn’t matter how many names are attached to it. I will want to be a part of that film. I’m hungry to put out a good film.”
He went on to talk about Hasee Toh Phasee in particular: “When Phantom came to me, I was completely open to the collaboration. In fact, I’m open to even more collaborations with them. I’m open to collaborating with almost anyone. We can’t be self-elevatory and think our brand is everything. Sometimes you need someone else’s content to make good cinema. And sometimes that doesn’t come organically within your organisation. If it comes from elsewhere, why not?”
4. “The title Hasee Toh Phasee has nothing to do with the film.”
According to Karan: “Hasee Toh Phasee is a cool expression that we thought went with this film’s energy. Actually, I don’t think the title has anything to do with the film. It was a good title, it had a nice ring to it, everyone liked it, it looked good on the poster too… so we used it.” They also said that Vikas Bahl from Phantom came up with the title, and he laughingly said that it came to him because he had a fight with his wife that morning and he thought, “Agar woh aaj hasee, toh phasee.”
5. “Seedi baat ko thoda gandi baat banana par jaata hai.”
Then they were also asked about the tagline, “love goes cucking frazy” and why they decided to use it. Karan said, “See, if we say something straightforward in this country, it becomes a problem. Seedi baat ko thoda gandi baat banana par jaata hai.”
Apparently, the tagline was also the brainchild of Vikas, which prompted Sidharth to quip, “Tell us what else happened with your wife that morning.”
6. “Main phasata hoon.”
When asked if he’s ever got trapped by someone’s smile, Karan said, “No. Main phastha nahin hoon itni asaani se. Main phasata hoon. Main phasne walon me se nahin hoon.” (“I don’t get trapped that easily. Instead, I trap. I’m not amongst the people who get trapped.”)
7. “Shaadi pagalon ke liye hai.”
Along the same lines, KJo was asked whether he thinks now he should get trapped – and by that, the journo of course meant married. “Not at all. Shaadi pagalon ke liye hai. Jo log shaadi karte hai, woh phas jaate hai, meri jaan. Main toh single hi best hoon. Jaisa gaana hai na, ‘Shaadi kar ke phas gaya yaar, main acha khaasa tha kunwara.’ Yeh meri zindagi ka mantra hai.” (“Marriage is for crazy people. Those who get married are the ones who get trapped. I’m better single. There’s that song, ‘I got trapped after I got married, I was better off a bachelor.’ That’s my life’s mantra.”)
8. “Kaash mera ghar Bigg Boss hota or woh cameras aapke ghar tak aa jaate.”
He handled the marriage question, but the media isn’t really going to give up that easily. 🙂 Karan was then asked when we will at least see him “cucking flirting.” In response, Karan quipped: “Kaash mera ghar Bigg Boss hota or woh cameras aapke ghar tak aa jaate. Mere ghar pe bahut cucking flirting hota hai, aapko kya pata? Bas cameras nahin hai aur aap ghar pe nahin dekh paati.” (“If only my house was Bigg Boss and those cameras reached till your house. There could be a lot of cucking flirting happening in my house, how do you know? It’s just that there are no cameras and you can’t see it from your house.”) *Hahaha*
9. “We fail with writing content.”
Karan thinks this year was good for Bollywood, but believes that if we are to do even better, we must empower our writers. “Unfortunately, we fail with writing content. I hope we can empower writers to make sure that we have better films. That’s the one community within the movie industry that needs empowering. We need to give them as much importance, even economically. I think they’re the most underpaid and yet the most required entity within the parameters of our fraternity.”
10. “Mujhe bahut paise milte hain un sawaal poochne ke liye.”
Of course, Koffee With Karan had to come up at one point: a journo asked Karan why he gets to ask controversial questions on his show, but when the media tries to ask the same questions, they’re told that they can’t. Karan started off by saying, “I’m doing your job, you should be happy.” He then said, “They won’t tell you, they’ll tell me. That’s why my show is special. Mujhe bahut paise milte hain un sawaal poochne ke liye. And however I ask a question, it’s not offensive. I have a few personal relationships, so I don’t offend someone or ask a question where they’re uncomfortable. It’s a casual, irreverent atmosphere. They have the kind of relationship with me where they’ll answer.”
Now that you’ve read all of his quotes, check out the trailer of Hasee Toh Phasee below and let us know what you think:
More pix here:
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Photos: Viral Bhayani for MissMalini.com