Jee Le Zaraa- When Alia Bhatt suggested Dil Chahta Hai sequel with Shraddha, Parineeti: ‘Should I call Farhan?’

Farhan Akhtar announced on Tuesday that he will return to the director’s chair with Jee Le Zaraa, a road trip movie starring the all-female cast of Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt. However, did you know the seeds of the movie were sown by Alia herself in 2015?

During an interview with Hindustan Times, around the promotions of her movie Shandaar, Alia had expressed her hope to someday star in a ‘sequel’ to Farhan’s Dil Chahta Hai. She even added that Parineeti Chopra and Shraddha Kapoor could star with her in the movie.

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“Pari (Parineeti), Shraddha and I should work in the sequel to Dil Chahta Hai (2001) as three friends. I think that’s a superb idea. It will be so much fun. Should I call Farhan regarding the film, and make it happen,” she had said.

Excel has so far produced two road trip movies, starring three men in the lead each time. Dil Chahta Hai starred Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which was directed by Zoya Akhtar, starred Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Farhan himself.

Later, Farhan was told about Alia’s idea in another interview with HT. Farhan laughed off the idea at first but later said that it stuck with him. “Through you guys, I got to know that Alia wants to do a DCH part 2 with Shraddha and Parineeti. That (thought) stayed in my head, and I am thinking about it very strongly, but this time with three girls (as the protagonists). We will see how it goes,” he had said.

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Farhan also had a discussion with Alia about the movie. “I met her at the Kapoor & Sons screening. After the screening, I told her, ‘Alia, I guess you told someone that there should be a Dil Chahta Hai part two with three girls, and I wanted to tell you that I may be considering it.’ And she was like, ‘Oh, really?’ And I said, ‘Yes, and you will love it when you watch it (laughs).’ She was like, ‘How sick! How mean!’”

Jee Le Zaraa will mark Farhan’s comeback as director after almost a decade. His last film was Don 2 with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. He has also directed Lakshya and Don.