Mumbai: Siddharth Malhotra's We Are Family is ready to hit the screens and the young director says his directorial debut is a homage to his two favourite directors - Sooraj Barjatya and Karan Johar.
"Soorajji's Maine Pyar Kiya and Karan's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai are my two favourite films. When I saw the first, I wanted to be part of Hindi movies. When I saw the second, I wanted to direct a film. We Are Family is a homage to both Soorajji and Karan," said Malhotra.
"It's also a homage to my father (Prem Kishen) who's a big fan of Elvis Presley. In fact my father used to sing Elvis' 'Jailhouse Rock' live for me. He still does. That's how that track has found its way in We Are Family."
Karan purchased the rights for Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" for Malhotra's film. "We used just the leading refrain of Elvis' song. The rest of the track has been composed differently by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, and we got Anushka Manchanda, Akriti Kakkad and Suraj Jaggan to sing for Kajol, Kareena and Arjun Rampal. The number just brought the house down when we shot it. Who danced the hardest? Me!"
Sooraj, who has become ultra-reclusive in recent months, has agreed to watch the film. "Sooraj-ji will be the first to watch We Are Family. My film is just 1 hour 55 minutes long. I hope I make him proud," said Malhotra.
The film starring Kajol, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal is releasing on September 3. If Karan has decided not to let his production We Are Family clash with Salman Khan's Dabangg, it is because his good friend Shah Rukh Khan advised him to avert the clash.
Apparently Shah Rukh felt doubly protective towards We Are Family since it involved two of his closest friends Karan and Kajol.
In fact, when Shah Rukh came to know Kajol was expecting, he went out of his way to accommodate his dates for Kareena in Ra.1 with We Are Family. Every time Shah Rukh relented and let Kareena get on with Karan's picture show.
"Shah Rukh understood that Karan's film needed to be shot with as much speed as possible. He repeatedly let go of Kareena's dates for Ra.1 for the sake of We Are Family. In fact, he will now let go of Kareena's dates for the promotion of We Are Family, since Kareena will not have Kajol to support her in the marketing."
So grateful and happy is Malhotra that he wants to show the first print to Shah Rukh. "Both Karan Johar and I are very eager to show We Are Family to Shah Rukh who proves that he is indeed part of the family. We also want to show it to Soorajji (Barjatya) as soon as the print is ready," said the young director.
"Dabangg and Shankar's Robot are releasing on Eid. So we have the Bollwood's Rajnikant (Salman) and Rajnikant on the same day. It just made no sense for us to release with them. We are coming a week earlier, araam se," said Malhotra.
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