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Over the years, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali has acquired a Zen attitude to his films. The director of the upcoming period drama Main Vaapas Aaunga shared that
his approach is that one should enjoy the work that they do and be thankful for what they receive. Imtiaz has worked with big stars in his feature films; some have gone on to become big successes and others haven't. One film that didn't do well was Jab Harry Met Sejal with Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma in the lead. The filmmaker shared that he would be keen to work with Shah Rukh again and not worry about the fate of the box office.
Imtiaz Ali on Jab Harry Met Sejal and working with SRK again
In an exclusive interview with Zoom, Imtiaz explained that he didn't feel the burden of stardom in Jab Harry Met Sejal while also acknowledging that the film didn't work with audiences. He said, "The director is the captain of the ship. I have to be responsible for what I decide. As I said, certain things go right and certain things don't go as well as expected or desired. But it's not so simplistic either. Now there are readings and learnings from Jab Harry Met Sejal but it's not as though it's anybody else's fault or it was not any situation that was amiss.
He continued, "I had the prospect of working in a certain way. I always work with actors as actors and I don't consider that there is an image and there is an expectation that people will have. Was that a good thing or not working with Shah Rukh Khan? That's something that I have learned."
However, the filmmaker went on to add that his takeaway from Jab Harry Met Sejal was not that he couldn't work with stars. Imtiaz shared, "I think every experience is unique and I'd work with Shah Rukh again and maybe that will be a very successful film so then whatever I've done will be a success formula till it fails in some other film. Everything is very individualistic."
More about Main Vaapas Aaunga
Imtiaz's next romance film, releasing on June 12, is set partly in the Partition era. The film stars Vedang Raina and Sharvari as the doomed lovers while Diljit Dosanjh and Naseeruddin Shah are part of the modern-day setting of the Hindi film. Composer AR Rahman and lyricist Irshad Kamil are also returning to collaborate with Imtiaz.
