Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani emerged as one of the highest grossing films of 2009. It marked Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif’s first onscreen collaboration. Ranbir had once confessed that it was during the shoot of the film that he fell in love with her. And in 2010, rumour mills were abuzz that they had parted ways with their respective partners – Deepika Padukone and Salman Khan. Interestingly, Salman had a cameo in the Rajkumar Santoshi directorial and how their dynamic played out in the film bore an uncanny resemblance to situations in their real lives.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, however, Ramesh Taurani who had produced Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, reveals, “There was never any tension on set.” His biggest takeaway from the film, in fact, was the opportunity to work with Ranbir, who he says has kept in touch with him even after more than 15 years. “Ranbir is the kind of actor who if you work with once, you’ll feel like collaborating with on every film. He’s so good,” says Taurani.
Lauding Ranbir for not letting stardom get to his head, Taurani remarks, “He has never questioned his producers or directors. He’s still the same and that’s a very good quality that he has. No matter what is asked of him, he obliges with a simple ‘okay’. Uske chehre pe aapko kabhi shikan nahi dikhegi.”
The veteran producer refers to the Animal and Brahmastra actor as ‘a treat to work with’. Recalling instances from the set of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani that bore a testament to his ‘professionalism’, he shares, “He’s such a good actor and human being! We had put up the set of ‘Happy Club’ in Ooty. We shot there for about 35 days. We would leave from our hotel at 7:30 am and it would take us an hour or so to reach the set.”
He further continues, “On some days, we used to shoot from 9 am till 10 pm and on others, we would have night shoots. Ranbir would reach his hotel at eleven o’clock at night and still would reach the set on time next morning. He never cribbed or whined about it. He never demanded us to let him leave early. He was accommodating throughout the shoot.”
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani also gave Taurani the opportunity to interact with Ranbir’s father, Rishi Kapoor. “Though Ranbir had agreed to do it, we still wanted to narrate the script to Rishi ji because Raj ji had a great equation with him because of Damini and other films. Rishi ji had told us, ‘Mujhe kyun sunaate ho? Ranbir ne okay kiya hai toh banaao picture!’ But he never came on set because he liked keeping his personal and professional dynamics separate,” Taurani says.
While the late actor was known for his sharp tongue and brutal honestly, he heaped praises on the film after watching it. “I remember that we had showed him the film and he was very happy with it. He loved it,” states the Ishq Vishq Rebound and Merry Christmas producer.
