Dr Shaheen’s bank transactions, call records, and travel data between Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Lucknow are now being scrutinised to trace possible terror financing routes.

Farhan Akhtar recently recalled his directorial debut with Dil Chahta Hai. He opened up about casting the right actors for the movie. Sharing about Aamir and Saif’s casting, Akhtar revealed to Rajat Sharma, “I had never even thought that Aamir Khan would agree to do this film. So, I met all the actors and nobody wanted to do a multi-hero film. The trend during the late ’90s was that of a love triangle, and they wanted to do a film on that. However, in the end, I went to Aamir Khan because I didn’t have a choice.”

Opening up about the movie, he recalled rewriting the dialogues in English. “When I had given him the script, it had dialogues written in English. He told me that I should make the film in English, but I said I will come back with Hindi dialogues,” he added. He also shared changing Hindi dialogues to English before the film began. “When I read him the script with Hindi dialogues, he told me that he wants to listen to the script again after three months. I kept waiting after three months, but he got busy with work. Like that, eight months passed,” he added.

Now coming to Saif, Farhan shared how he backed out from the movie ten days before the official shooting began. “Ten days before the shoot, Saif called me and told me that he has gotten a good film, which has a love triangle and his role is really good in the film and he wants to do that instead of my film,” the 120 Bahadur actor revealed. He then had an emergency meeting with Javed Akhtar, producer Ritesh Sidhwani and Aamir Khan to change Saif’s sudden decision. “We all convinced him to stay on in the film, and Aamir even told Saif that he will make the biggest mistake of his career to leave this film. Somehow, he got convinced,” he added.

In fact, Aamir had even told Farhan to take up Saif’s role in case the actor does not agree to do it. However, the 2001 film, with Aamir, Saif, Akshaye Khanna and Preity Zinta became a cult classic eventually.

Also Read: Is Dil Chahta Hai Still Iconic or Outdated? A Gen Z Perspective

Filmmaker Suparn Varma recently sat with Filmfare for a tête-à-tête about the movie HAQ, casting Emraan Hashmi and Yami Gautam and more. He spoke about Emraan being the first choice to play the titular character Abbas Khan. However, having seen Emraan in romanticised roles until now, fans have been particularly curious to know about the casting.

Suparn shared that Emraan was the first choice for this role. In fact, the director manifested the actor working on this project. “Emraan was the first choice where I kind of believe in manifestation. So, I really thought he would be ideal for it because the kind of panache and charm is remarkable. We have seen through the years, the intensity that he brings in all the high-intensity dramas would be a very interesting way to make him understand Abbas’ character. And when I met him and told him the idea, he loved it.”

The director also shared, “He had certain questions. I asked him to read the script as all my answers are in it. In four hours after the meeting, he read the script and called me. He had a few doubts. But I only asked him to trust me and he was onboard in no time.”

“It was he who went in fearlessly. He asked me not to play shy with him. He told me he wants to go all out. He also asked me not to be worried about the character not being understood. He said,  ‘I’ll make sure he’s understood,'” Suparn added. “And with the power of his acting, because he’s at the peak of his abilities, he made sure Abbas is understood. And that was key and necessary for the film to work. On one hand, you’re understanding Shazia. In another, you understand Abbas’s point of view,” he noted.

Also Read: Box Office Report: Here Is How HAQ Performed on Day 3