In the early 2000s, Zoya Akhtar was planning to make her debut with a film titled Kismat Talkies with Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead, however, that never materialised. Soon after, she took up the director’s chair with Luck By Chance and it featured HR in a cameo. After Luck By Chance, she collaborated with Hrithik on Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and ever since then, there have been reports about another probable reunion between the two. The reports range from a fresh script to a sequel to their journey on ZNMD. However, nothing really materialised.
Very few know that right after Zindagi… Zoya went to Hrithik with another script in 2012. The director was looking to pull a casting coup of sorts by bringing Hrithik, Ranbir Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif together in the same film. What separated this tale was the fact that Hrithik was to be paired alongside Kareena in the film, whereas it was Ranbir, who would romance Kat. Interestingly, Ranbir and Kareena were to play siblings on screen. The script in question eventually materialised as Dil Dhadakne Do.
While all the actors were excited by the idea, things eventually didn’t fall in place for the reasons best known to the stakeholders. Eventually, Zoya modified the story a bit and went ahead to cast Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar as leads of the film. She also reworked on the characters keeping in mind the traits of the actors on board following the change in cast, and took the film on floors in 2014.
After DDD, Zoya jumped into writing Gully Boy, and she was looking to pull off another casting coup. The director was keen to get Ranbir and Ranveer together in this tale of rappers, with the two-playing mentor and protégé. Yet again, the casting coup didn’t happen and it was eventually made with Ranveer and Siddhant Chaturvedi, who won appreciation from all quarters for their portrayal of rappers. So, what’s Zoya doing next? Is she planning a casting coup again? We would wait to hear from her. Meanwhile, stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more such trivia.