Did you know: Imtiaz Ali replaced Bobby Deol with Shahid Kapoor in Jab We Met

The movie Jab We Met, directed by filmmaker Imtiaz Ali was released in 2007. The movie featured Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in key roles. Shahid played the role of a businessman, Aditya Kashyap, while Kareena played a bubbly girl from Chandigarh, Geet. However, did you know that not Shahid Kapoor, but Bobby Deol was to play the role of Aditya Kashyap in Jab We Met?

Back in 2017, Bobby Deol had opened up about losing the role of Aditya Kashyap to Shahid Kapoor. During an interview, the Ashram actor had said that Kareena Kapoor had gotten Shahid to act opposite her in the Imtiaz Ali directorial.

Speaking with HuffPost, Bobby had said, “There was a studio called Shri Ashtavinayak who wanted to sign me. I told them that let’s sign Imtiaz. He has a script ready. And let’s talk to Kareena Kapoor (Bobby had worked with Bebo in Ajnabee). The producers were like, oh no, that guy will make an expensive film. Kareena, on the other hand, didn’t even want to meet Imtiaz. I took them to Preity (his close friend and Soldier co-star). She agreed but said she can do it only after 6 months. So we were stuck.”

 

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Deol had further shared, “Days passed. And suddenly I read that Ashtavinayak has signed Imtiaz for Jab We Met and Kareena is doing the film! And she had gotten her then-boyfriend, Shahid Kapoor to act opposite her. I was like, wow. Quite an industry.”

Opening up about his bond with Imtiaz Ali, Bobby had further mentioned, “We were also to do Highway together but he again did his own thing. But I have no hard feelings against him. He is a great director and doing so well. We’re still friends. But I always tell him: ‘Imtiaz, I won’t watch any of your films until you make one with me. That’ll be your best film.”

Meanwhile, during an interview with Film Companion, Kareena had opened up about her role in Jab We Met. “In fact it was Shahid who actually said that I should hear this script of this film. He was like, ‘It’s amazing, the girl’s part is amazing and you should do it.’ He kind of actually got this entire project together and both of us ended up doing this film,” Kapoor had said.

Also Read: Imtiaz Ali recalls casting Asif Basra in ‘Jab We Met’; says, “I wanted him to be threatening and funny at the same time”