After Kaminey, Haider and Rangoon, Vishal Bhardwaj and Shahid Kapoor are all set for the release of their fourth collaboration, O Romeo, on February 13. It comes nine years after Rangoon. And interestingly,
it wasn’t the acclaimed director who took the script to Shahid. At the trailer launch of O Romeo, Shahid revealed that it was producer Sajid Nadiadwala who called him to offer the part of gangster Ustara in the film that also stars Triptii Dimri and Avinash Tiwary.
“I feel fortunate to be a part of his filmography. I’m thankful to him for calling me after seven-eight years of us not working together. But to be honest, I got the call from Sajid bhai and not Vishal sir. He said that this is a film I should have in my filmography. I would like to thank him for offering and bringing it to me,” Shahid said while addressing the media. His remarks drew a sharp response from Vishal, who told him, “Kyunki tumne mere message ke jawaab nahi diye the.”
Reacting to him, Shahid seemingly took a dig at reports of there being a tiff between the duo years ago. “Sir, aisa ho sakta hai ki maine na diya ho? Rekha [Bhardwaj] ma’am, don’t you feel like your marriage is a simpler relationship than my equation with him? I’m his first wife,” the actor said with a laugh. For the unversed, during the filming of Kaminey, there were speculations of alleged disagreements between Shahid and Vishal but the former later clarified that it was a creative difference as opposed to a major fallout.
Vishal thereafter played along with Shahid and added, “PeeCee [Priyanka Chopra Jonas] would ask Rekha how she can live with a person like me.” To this, Shahid remarked, “No comment.” Talking about his professional dynamic with the Maqbool and Ishqiya maker, Shahid shared, “Vishal sir has won six National Awards from the time that I started working with him to now. It’s always a very, very adventurous and crazy journey whenever I’ve collaborated with him. He said that mujhe shaayad talent viraasat mein mili hai.”
Shahid further continued, “Maybe what he couldn’t do with dad [Pankaj Kapur], he’s doing with me. They’ve done some iconic works, so I don’t know what more they could’ve done. When I got to work with Vishal sir for the first time, I was very intimidated. He has worked with the best actors of the country. When I was offered Kaminey, I had asked him why he wanted to cast me because I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. He told me that he sees something in me.”
Recalling his first meeting with Vishal during O Romeo narration, Shahid remarked, “Even after all these years, I met him in the same way like we always used to. We sat at a Japanese style table. He narrated the film to me for two-and-a-half hours. He played the song Hum Toh Tere Liye Hi The and said that it’s the heart of his film. He told me it’s a love story and that he wanted me to play Ustara. After the narration, we shook hands and I told him ki yeh film humein saath mein hi karne chahiye.”
