No intimacy between Saif, Deepika in ‘Aarakshan’: Jha

MUMBAI - There is anticipation about the “Love Aaj Kal” pair sizzling again in “Aarakshan”, but director Prakash Jha clarifies that there are “no torrid moments” between the lead pair in his movie about the reservations issue.

“There’s no room for any physical intimacy between Saif and Deepika. Though that’s what is expected of them, I’m not forcing any love scenes into the script. And if that is a problem for the distributors and the audience, so be it. I can’t shuffle around the cards in my screenplay just to get the audience tantalised,” said Jha who is busy shooting the movie in Bhopal.

The relationship between Deepika and Saif unfolds and develops on a college campus and Amitabh Bachchan plays Deepika’s father who is also principal of the college.

A similar scenario had unfolded when after the grand success of “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” when distributors expected a feast of fireworks between Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif in “Raajneeti”.

But Jha had desisted all attempts to armtwist him into making his lead pair sizzle for the camera and he is doing the same for “Aarakshan”.

“‘Aarakshan’ is not that kind of a film. The film is set on a college campus. We’re shooting in a college named Oriental in Bhopal. But we’ve changed it to Shakunatala Thakral College. The entire atmosphere and ambience is academic. The classes are going on normally while we shoot in one corner.

“We can’t have Saif and Deepika taking a break for a kiss or a song. Their relationship is more implicit and built on suggestions and hints formed from a long and dependable association. Sorry, there are no torrid moments between Saif and Deepika and I am not forcing them in,” said Jha.