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| Rakul and Himansh pose for the t2 camera at Hotel O2 on VIP Road |
The Yaariyan team — debutants Himansh Kohli and Rakul Preet Singh and first-time director Divya Khosla Kumar — were in town on Thursday. t2 chatted with the trio about the January 10 release.
What is Yaariyan about?
Divya: I won’t call it a college romance. It is a youth film. It is entertaining. It pays tribute to college life which is the best period of one’s life. I think it will touch people’s hearts.
Rakul: If you want to relive the best days and best memories of your life, then come and watch the film.
For all three of you, Yaariyan is your debut film...
Divya: It’s taken years of hard work and struggle to reach here. Directing is one of the toughest jobs. I was always very creatively inclined. My husband (Bhushan Kumar of T-Series) helped me. But creatively, I was on my own.
But the trailers have a been-there-seen-that feel...
Divya: I have grown up watching films. Hence, I am bound to get inspired by many filmmakers. I am enamoured of filmmakers who create big visuals like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Subhash Ghai and Yash Chopra. That is reflected in Yaariyan.
You have shot the film extensively in Darjeeling and Sikkim...
Divya: The film is set in a boarding school. While researching boarding schools across India, I found the best boarding school in Darjeeling (St Joseph’s School, North Point). I couldn’t take my eyes off that building. The entire schedule of Sikkim and Darjeeling was for one-and-a-half months.
Rakul and Himansh, tell us about your roles.
Rakul: Saloni is a sweet, simple, nerdy, introverted girl-next-door. She is dedicated to her work and doesn’t like bunking classes. She doesn’t like boys whose only job is to run after girls! She is comfortable in her own space.
Himansh: I play Lakshya, a chilled-out regular college guy who doesn’t have any idea about his future. He runs away from responsibilities. He doesn’t care about his family and studies. What he always looks for are girls, girls and girls! In fact, he has that ‘hormonal locha’ in him! Even while kissing a girl, he looks at another girl. The role has shades of Salman Khan’s character in Maine Pyar Kiya.
How much do you relate to the characters you play?
Rakul: Saloni is good with numbers and is known as a human computer in the film. I did my graduation in mathematics. That’s the only similarity! (Laughs)
Divya: During casting, I was flipping through channels and I saw a bit of Himansh on his TV show (Humse Hai Liife on Channel V). I saw him standing on a truck and running after a girl. The character was similar, but a lot of homework was later done on Himansh.
The music of the film (by Pritam, Honey Singh, Mithoon, Arkopravo Mukherjee and Anupam Amod) has really caught on...
Divya: Yaariyan’s music is doing really well. All the tracks have become hits. Aashiqui 2’s music, which was our production, also did well.
Rakul: It’s a fight between Sunny Sunny, ABCD and Baarish. People can’t make a choice which is better. All are chartbusters.
Divya, you started off as an actress and have a film like Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo with Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar to your credit…
Himansh: People keep asking her about that!
Divya: (Laughs) But after that, I didn’t act.
