Did you know Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra were being considered for 2 States? Chetan Bhagat reveals
Chetan Bhagat also revealed that at one point, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj had considered adapting his book 2 States into a film.
Actors Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor won hearts with their sweet romance in 2 States, but they weren’t the original choices for the film. Author Chetan Bhagat recently revealed that Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra were initially considered for the project before Arjun and Alia eventually came on board.
Chetan Bhagat reveals
During an interview with Pinkvilla, Chetan revealed that at one point, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj had considered adapting his book 2 States into a film.
Chetan said, “There was a time Vishal Bharadwaj was going to make it. There was a time when Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Priyanka Chopra’s names were talked about. I think 2 States sabhi ke naam ka article to aaya hi tha (I think articles mentioning names of most of the actors did come out).”
He added, “To be honest, when they said, there is a new director and it's Arjun Kapoor who had one movie and Alia Bhatt who had one movie, Student Of The Year. I was like ‘okay’, but this is not what was discussed. It was such a nice casting, and it made the movie fresh because they were young. If it were older actors, I don't know, maybe they would have done a great job. But it was very surprising.”
About 2 States
The film also stars Ronit Roy, Amrita Singh and Revathy. The 2014 film is based on a bestseller by author Chetan Bhagat and has been directed by Abhishek Varman. The movie is about two states, different cultures and families and one love story. It was praised by celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhudheva, Riteish Deshmukh and Sonakshi Sinha and performed well at the box office.
About Arjun and Alia’s work
Arjun was last seen in Mere Husband Ki Biwi, which failed to elicit expected response at the box office. Before that, he was seen in Singham Again as an antagonist, who kidnaps Kareena Kapoor like Ravana abducted Maa Sita.
Meanwhile, Alia was last seen in Jigra, which was released in October. It also failed to rake in expected numbers and turned out to be a dud. Now, Alia is focusing on her next project and is busy shooting for Alpha.
