Jee Le Zaraa: Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt In A Road Trip Movie Directed By Farhan Akhtar? Yes Please!

Jee Le Zaraa: Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt In A Road Trip Movie Directed By Farhan Akhtar? Yes Please!

Trust Farhan Akhtar to stir up a Toofan on an unsuspecting Tuesday morning with his announcement that has gotten movie buffs, industry members and fans squealing with excitement. The man who gave us Dil Chahta Hai and the people who brought us Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara are finally listening to years worth of pleas from their female audience and finally giving us a film about female friendships! Announced on the 20-year anniversary of Dil Chahta Hai (Yes, I feel old!), Jee Le Zaraa will be a road trip film starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt! If that cast has you excited, wait for the best part. The film will have Farhan Akhtar, the multi-hyphenate, return to the director’s chair after nearly a decade (his last outing was Don 2 in 2011)!

 

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A post shared by Farhan Akhtar (@faroutakhtar)

 

Farhan Akhtar posted the announcement video on his social media on the occasion of 20 years of DCH and Excel Entertainment, the production house he co-owns with Ritesh Sidhwani. The three leading ladies—PeeCee, Katrina and Alia—also shared the same post on their’s. The video doesn’t reveal much except the A-lister cast and the road trip car which, from the looks of it, makes me think this trip will go on Indian roads. The video is set to the song ‘Firefly’ by the band When Chai Met Toast, which is even more exciting because their music resonates with the millennial and Gen Z audience that is going to watch this film.

Vaise, there were two announcement videos, and the second one made me smile so wide because I loved how clips of the ‘mental buouys’ from DCH and ZNMD were used to tell us that this time, the girls were taking the car out for a trip. The end is perfect!

 

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A post shared by Farhan Akhtar (@faroutakhtar)

In an exclusive interview with Variety, Farhan Akhtar said, “It’s a road film, a slice-of-life film, with three women on the road.” The film, which will begin shooting in September 2022 is written by the Akhtar siblings—Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar—and Reema Kagti. Zoya and Reema’s Tiger Baby Productions will also co-produce the film. In keeping with the trend in Excel movies, where Rock On’s title track inspired the title for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, and a phrase from ZNMD’s song got turned into the title Dil Dhadakne Do, Jee Le Zaraa also gets its title from the song ‘Jee Le Zaraa’ of the Aamir Khan starrer Talaash (2012), a film that Reema Kagti wrote and directed, and Excel produced!

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I was in high school when Dil Chahta Hai released, and stirred up a change in Bollywood that I was too young to understand. What I did know for sure was that some day, I wanted a Goa trip with my friends, like Akash, Sameer and Sid got to do. I was in college, and had played out my ‘chamkeele din’ fantasies at the DCH fort in Goa multiple times when Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, directed by Zoya Akhtar, released. ZNMD set new standards, inspired more mature conversations about life, love and urban friendships, and self-discovery, and made every young heart beat for a new destination: Spain. Full of adventure sports, bonding and once again, an ‘open-wali car’. While these movies appealed irrespective of gender, there was always that question: Why should boys have all the fun? Why indeed.

And that’s why the announcement of Jee Le Zaraa has stirred such a frenzy on social media, particularly amongst young women.

https://twitter.com/PsButran/status/1424986405160185859?s=20

Also Read: Toofan Review: Farhan Akhtar Is Unbeatable In A No Frills Story Of Second Chances And The Reformative Power Of Love

If Jee Le Zaraa can do what DCH and ZNMD has done for male friendships, that would be incredible. But also, there’s a lot more nuance that is needed when telling a story about female friendships that isn’t frivolous and cliché and told with the male gaze, and also addresses the various and complex facets of being a woman in this world. When you consider this angle, it’s only natural that some might question why Farhan Akhtar and not a female director will be helming this film. However, recently, there have been films like Thappad, and shows like Delhi Crime, where male directors have been able to tell women’s stories brilliantly. With Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti writing, and with Farhan Akhtar being such an inspiring and stylish storyteller, I am eager to see where this road takes us! Oh to be a fly on this writing room’s wall!

The cast is easily bursting with talent here. I can see a clear ZNMD connect with Katrina Kaif on board. And we all know Alia Bhatt is Kat’s gym buddy, so that’s going to be one friendship I cannot wait to see translate on screen. As for Priyanka Chopra, she adds the surprise element in this trio, because we haven’t seen her work with either of the other two actresses before.

To say that I have high hopes from Jee Le Zaraa is an understatement. I hope that it is stylish, funny, sassy, heartwarming and hits all the right emotions, because it has been a long time coming for us ladies!

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Jinal Bhatt

A Barbie girl with Oppenheimer humour. Sharp-tongue feminist and pop culture nerd with opinions on movies, shows, books, patriarchy, your boyfriend, everything.

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