Writer Milap Zaveri is ready to test waters with his first directorial venture JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI. The film, starring Riteish Deshmukh as a loser and Jacqueline Fernandez as an alien, has had the film fraternity [those who watched the screening of the film] praising it for its simple and interesting narration.
Not many are aware that it was Riteish who prodded Milap to try his hand at direction, while shooting for HEYY BABYY in Australia [Milap had penned the screenplay of the film]. So when Milap returned to Mumbai, he decided to give direction a serious thought.
Milap approached Riteish to head the cast of the film and by the time the story narration concluded, both Riteish and Milap knew that Riteish wouldn’t do the film. Two days later, Milap approached him with a different script – JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI – and also insisted on giving a narration in the veranda of Riteish’s house. “The room we sat for the first narration, I joked, was jinxed,” Milap reminisces.
Riteish and Milap share a good camaraderie and that’s evident when they talk about each other. “I hadn’t done a romantic film after TUJHE MERI KASAM and was waiting for that right script to come my way. In between, I got stuck with comedies and like it happens, you get typecast easily if your movie works. That’s what happened to me as well,” Riteish tells me.
So when Milap narrated the story of JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI, Riteish knew his search for the right romantic film had ended. “The reason for accepting the film was simple. Its story worked for me. And now when I look back, I am genuinely happy that Milap decided to make a love story and offered me the role,” Riteish adds.
Milap adds at this juncture, “The last two years – right from the time JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI was born, to the time it hits the screens [April 9] – have been the best phase of my life. I’ve enjoyed every moment making this film and I hope the audience enjoys it as well, when they watch it.”