Recalling the Ooty schedule

Actor Darshan Jariwala, who featured in the 2009 film 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani', recently shared his memories of the sets, particularly the chemistry he observed between lead actors Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, Jariwala was asked about the apparent romance that seemed to be developing between the co-stars. He responded, "Where do you think an actor brings his material from?" adding, "It is from his surroundings and personal experience. Some purists call it emotional memory. But it is often the actor's personal experiences and emotions that they put into their characters. It must have been the same with Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. There is no doubt that there was a chemistry between the two of them."

Jariwala also recalled the film's long schedule in Ooty, describing the atmosphere on set in glowing terms. "We had a forty-day schedule in Ooty, when all of us were together the whole time for the shoot," he said. "The kind of atmosphere we had on set was so full of life, laughter and fun. It was a film with a lot of good humour."

Salman Khan's cameo

The film, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, also featured Salman Khan in a cameo appearance that generated significant buzz. When asked about the reports at the time about the personal lives of the lead actors, Jariwala said he had not been aware of their personal relationships. He did, however, praise the casting decisions, saying, "I am not aware of that but I know it was a great casting coup by Santoshi Ji. The entire scene between Salman and Ranbir in the film is very funny. It was genius of Santoshi Ji to work out these things."

A recurring question at the time was whether there was any nervousness among the actors while filming the scene together. Jariwala responded, "I am not sure if they were but I know that Ranbir Kapoor is supremely confident." Speaking about Salman Khan, he added, "Salman is destiny's child. For him to be present is enough. He is a huge star. He was playing himself in the film, so Santoshi Ji didn't give any specific cue to Salman."

Background

Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor sparked dating rumours when they worked together on the film. At the time, Ranbir was said to be dating Deepika Padukone, and Katrina was believed to be with Salman Khan. The two later got into a relationship of their own, which stayed in the news for years before they broke up in 2016.