Bollywood royalty Kareena Kapoor Khan and Imran Khan flew down to London to promote their upcoming film Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, directed by Punit Malhotra and produced by Karan Johar.

Synospsis: Sriram Venkat (Imran Khan) is the most shallow guy on earth who doesn’t value relationships, family, friends, life or the country. Not necessarily in that order. Because he couldn’t care less about the order. This makes him the clear ‘black’ sheep of the family.

At some point this shallow man begins to narrate the story of the crazy relationship he shared with Dia Sharma. His ex-girlfriend. A firebrand social activist who wanted to change the world. An attraction which was physical initially but then got emotional and finally veered into complex territories resulting in a clash of ideologies and mindsets which drove them apart. Bitterly. Sriram believed that charity begins and ends at home. Whilst Dia felt that you have to be the change that you want to bring about.

However, Sriram realizes that he is not over Dia and still loves her and that she is the best change that ever happened… and will happen to his life.

But Dia has moved on and is now in an obscure village in Gujarat called Jhumli.

Sriram lands up in Jhumli to take his love back… But Dia refuses to return with him. Frustrated and faced with the ultimate challenge, Sriram realizes the only way he can impress upon Dia to come back with him is by making Jhumli independent. By helping others… something he is just not accustomed to do. This is the biggest irony of his life.

What he doesn’t bargain for are the various road blocks he might face, in the face of politics, corruption and clueless villagers. But the biggest hurdle he faces eventually is himself. His own moral fabric which isn’t upto the challenge he has undertaken.

Will Sriram be able to win back his love? Will he be able to bring about the change in Jhumli as well as in himself??? This is the story of a boy and his struggle to cross a bridge… a bridge that bridges the love and gap between two people.

The film is set to release in UK cinemas on 22nd November and the two stars caught up with Bollywood reporter Sunny Malik to talk about the film and much more…

 

Imran, you have flown in from New York where you were promoting Gori Tere Pyaar Mein. How did it go?
Imran: It was mad. It turns out New York is not on route from Mumbai, you go way past into a different time zone (laughs). I slept through all of the interviews and just when I got into it, I had to leave for London.

 

Kareena, you were in Beirut for Arabs Got Talent and your fans there were pretty excited to see you perform.
Kareena: We had lots of fun. They were very warm. I think that is their culture. They are loud and warm, which is nice as they are very much like us.
Imran: Basically, they are Indians (laughs).

You were honoured at the House of Commons by the British Government and Asian Sunday Newpaper. How did that go?
Kareena: It was great. I am thankful to all of my British Asian fans who made this possible. I am sure they won’t let me down with my new movie as well.

 

The title of your new film, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, is quite unique. How did that come about?
Imran: I honestly don’t know.
Kareena: I guess, because we are both fair. What else could it be (laughs)?
Imran: The script that Punit had written was called Jhumli. That is the name of the village where Kareena goes in the film and I follow her. The script that I signed on was called Jhumli and when we started filming, we had no title.
Kareena: I am just glad that the film is not called Jhumli (laughs).

Your director Punit Malhotra was an AD on Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Imran worked with him on his directorial debut I Hate Luv Stories. How was your experience working with him on Gori Teri Pyaar Mein?
Imran: Obviously, it was very different for Kareena from the first time she worked with Punit. At that time the power equation was a little different (laughs).
Kareena: So you agree that you guys bullied me?
Imran: That is not true. He was a clapper boy on that film and now he has been bumped up slightly (laughs). Punit and I were basically two love sick puppies running behind Bebo. We were both running around after her seeking her approval and affection (laughs).

 

You both have worked with Dharma Productions in the past. How would you describe your association with Karan Johar’s production house?
Imran: I Hate Luv Stories came to me when I was sitting at home for eight-nine month without work and then Karan offered me the film. I owe him a lot.

Kareena, you are sort of an in-house heroine for the banner.
Kareena: It’s like home turf for me. Karan Johar is like a brother to me. Apart from working together, we are mentally connected. He is my brother, best friend and confidante. We go beyond having a professional equation.

I was surprised to see the heroine of Punit Malhotra’s second film as a social activist. What was your reaction when you first heard the script?
Kareena: Dia is a social activist but don’t forget it’s a Karan Johar film so it as socially activist as it can be (laughs).
Imran: Don’t expect Satyagraha (laughs).
Kareena: I mean she dances on Chingam Chibake and Tooh. She is a modern girl of today. She has her ideologies and it’s a lot of fun.

There is a funny dialogue you say in the film about the Tomatino Festival that has become famous in Bollywood after Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara.
Kareena: That entire scene is actually quite good.
Imran: You have seen the funny part of it. It’s actually a very intense and dramatic scene.

 

Imran, you usually ask directors to make changes to their scripts before you sign their films. Did you do the same with this film?
Imran: It was a long journey. Punit’s initial draft of the story was of two guys who go to this village to woo these two girls back. Funnily enough, he wanted me and Saif Ali Khan to play the two roles. Imagine what fun that set would be. At a very early stage, it wasn’t working for him so he cut out the second storyline and made it about one boy and one girl. I gave Punit a hard time. I really liked the first half which is more of a rom-com but didn’t really like the second half where my character goes to win Dia back to a village. I didn’t understand the whole point about the bridge. I was settling for less but Punit stuck with it and made it better.
 

The audience now looks at films differently. People constantly want to see something new. How is this film different from other rom-coms you have done?
Imran: That is what the second half of the film adds. I swear, if Punit had listened to me and just made the film in the space of the first half, it would have been a very mediocre film. 
 

Imran, in I Hate Luv Stories your character was largely based on Punit Malhotra. How much of him will we see in this film?
Kareena: Sriram is completely like Punit.
Imran: I am pretty much playing the same character again. Sriram is not that different from Jay of I Hate Luv Stories. There is always a lot of Punit in his films (laughs).

Kareena, who was his inspiration for your character?
Imran: There was a girl…
Kareena: Yes, I think, there was a girl whom he actually went after to.
Imran: Maybe not to a village but I feel that there was a girl like that (laughs).

 

The music is being liked by audiences…
Kareena: I like Shake that Tooh and Dhat Teri Ki. They are both wild numbers and fun. You just want to get up and shake your tooh. 

Were you apprehensive about dancing to a song like Tooh because of its lyrics?
Kareena: No, it’s a sweet song. The atmosphere of a Punjabi wedding is like that.
Imran: People are taking these things too seriously.

On ‘A date with Ek Main aur Ekk Tu’, Imran you said that you wanted to compare your ‘Tooh’ with Saif Ali Khan and Kareena will decide who has a better one. Did that ever happen?
Kareena: Oh, we still have to do that.
Imran: I think, Saif is freaking out because he knows he can’t win it. He is backing down from the challenenge (laughs).
Kareena: Don’t be so sure. You both can’t win to me (laughs).