'She needed to kiss, to wake him up:' Why Katrina Kaif said yes to her first on-screen kiss with Hrithik Roshan in ZNMD
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'She needed to kiss, to wake him up:' Why Katrina Kaif said yes to her first on-screen kiss with Hrithik Roshan in ZNMD")
Katrina and Hrithik in ZNMD Photograph: (X)
Over a decade after Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara released, director Zoya Akhtar spoke about Katrina Kaif’s first on-screen kiss with Hrithik Roshan. She said Katrina, who plays Laila in the movie, agreed to the scene because it was essential for the character.
Zoya Akhtar’s Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is one of the films that still holds a special place in fans’ hearts. Released in 2011, the movie went on to achieve cult status for several reasons, be it its songs, dialogues, or storyline. Now, with talks about a second part continuing to grow, Zoya, in a recent interview, spoke about Katrina Kaif’s first on-screen kiss with Hrithik Roshan.
In the film, Kaif played Laila, who shares chemistry with Hrithik Roshan’s Arjun. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter India, Zoya discussed Katrina’s first on-screen kiss and why she agreed to do it.
Over a decade after the movie was released and became a hit, Zoya talked about how she made Katrina agree to do it. “When I met Katrina, she had never kissed before on screen. She read it, and she said, ‘I understand you need it for the screenplay.'”
Explaining the character arc of Katrina's character, she said, “Laila lives in the moment and does her thing. But till then, we had never seen her doing anything in that moment. So, we needed this. Beyond saying goodbye, we needed her to do something completely impulsive that kind of cemented her character and who she is. He is the sleeping beauty, and she is the prince. She needed to kiss him to wake him up.”
Katrina and Hrithik are two of Bollywood’s biggest heartthrobs, and this was their first time working together. Their pairing alone was enough to create buzz. But having their characters involved became the main focus for their management as well.
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Speaking further, Zoya revealed that how interested their management team was in this collaboration, revealing how they kept asking for the two heartthrobs to be involved in a dance number, pitching ideas from a beach song to bringing Katrina into Senorita.
"Everybody, including their management, was like, ‘They have to… You have Katrina and Hrithik for the first time; how can they not be dancing? I was like, ‘I don't know where. I don't know how to fit that in.' They further asked, ‘Can he imagine it at the beach?' I was like, ‘No! He can't imagine this at the beach.' Then they asked, ‘Can she come into the Senorita song?' I again said no: ‘She's gone. Only then would it feel fresh once she comes back. You know what I mean?'" she said.
While a song featuring Hrithik and Katrina would obviously benefit the movie, she didn’t want to add one just for the sake of it.
“Of course it would have been a great plug, and a great audience puller. They're both incredible… They look incredible; they are both incredible together. Their chemistry is great, and they're both great dancers. But my gut felt it wasn't working and that it would be a force-fit," she explained.
