Imtiaz Ali reminds me of the late Yash Chopra, says SRK

Actor feels ‘Jab We Met’ helmer has same sensibilities as legendary director

Imtiaz Ali's knack for telling love stories, affinity for travel and penchant for adding a touch of Punjab to his films is reminiscent of the late film-maker Yash Chopra, says Shah Rukh Khan. The actor worked with the Jab We Met director for the first time in Jab Harry Met Sejal.

The upcoming romantic drama, which will release on August 4, will see Shah Rukh with his Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Jab Tak Hai Jaan heroine Anushka Sharma. The film has been widely shot in Prague, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Budapest.

"The film travels a lot but it is not on travel. It's about a tour guide, but it's a love story... Two people meet somehow and somewhere down the line, as they are moving around, they kind of fall in love," Shah Rukh said recently, giving an insight into what the upcoming movie is about.

"It was really nice because of two things: One, Imtiaz knows Europe very well. So, we have shot the film in Budapest, Amsterdam, Prague and then Punjab. In a certain way, he reminds me of Yash Chopra because he writes love stories which travel all over India too and have a Punjabi taste. His writing is fantastic," the ‘Bollywood Badshah’ added.

Additionally, the 51-year-old actor found shooting for the film very easy as he finds Imtiaz "a very gentle” person. "I guess that part shows in the film," Shah Rukh added.

The film's title was being speculated on for a long time until it was finally revealed on Thursday night. To many, it's a throwback to the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally, but Shah Rukh says the resemblance ends there. "It is a throwback to that. The film is not like that at all. When Harry Met Sally is perhaps one of the most revered love stories. But Jab Harry Met Sejal is an unabashed love story,” he explained. "It is a happy film as the poster suggests... And the character's names are Harinder 'Harry' Singh and Sejal. It is kind of the Punjabi, Gujarati combination."



Shah Rukh, who is also presenting the film, has just averted a box office clash with Akshay Kumar's Toilet: Ek Prem Katha by shifting the release date to August 4 from August 11. He feels it's best to avoid clashes in Bollywood as far as possible.

"I think whenever you can, it's nicer for both films. If you can't, then you have to release on the same date because when you are looking for alternate dates so that two films don't come on the same day, you request and talk to each other,” he said. “And mostly, what we do on the big ticket films is that since our films are expensive and big, my logic has always been that if a date change can be done, it's nice."

A successful film producer who owns the Red Chillies Entertainment banner, Shah Rukh added, "Our films are also capacity films. I think they have the capacity to take on 4,000 screens and fill them up. If we come with another film, unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to fill in so we are running at half capacity... We haven't been able to exploit what our market gives us."

Shah Rukh is confident Jab Harry Met Sejal will have a long run.

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