35 years of Aashiqui: Anu Aggarwal says remakes cannot be the real thing but it’s unfair to judge
Aashiqui, the 1990 blockbuster film, completes 35 years of release today. The film starred Anu as the female lead.
It’s been 35 years since Hindi cinema’s cult classic film Aashiqui (1990) released in theatres, making the lead actors Anu Aggarwal and Rahul Roy a star overnight. As the film clocks this milestone today, Anu recalls the crazy fandom she experienced.
“I still remember the call when Mahesh Bhatt told me ‘Aashiqui is a hit!’. It felt like a 1000 watt lightning has struck me. There were hundreds of fans outside my house, guys were writing ‘I love you Anu’ on the walls!’. It was crazy,” shares the actor, who was paired alongside Rahul Roy in the film.
The actor also recalls how once a group of school girls from Bengaluru “screamed and ran” towards her at the Mumbai airport , making the actor realise how big the film had begun.
After the humongous success of the film, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, a remake was made in 2013 starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead and directed by Mohit Suri, which also received a positive response from the audience. A third Aashiqui 3 was also in making with Kartik Aaryan but the film was dropped due to legal issues
{{/usCountry}}After the humongous success of the film, directed by Mahesh Bhatt, a remake was made in 2013 starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead and directed by Mohit Suri, which also received a positive response from the audience. A third Aashiqui 3 was also in making with Kartik Aaryan but the film was dropped due to legal issues
{{/usCountry}}Ask her thoughts on these film led by younger generation taking the baton and leading the franchise ahead and, the 56-year-old says, “The thing is as far as my Aashiqui goes, our tagline was “love makes life live” and which is weirdly the reality. Romance and love, throughout the ages has been, especially for Hindi movies, a pushing factor. You have to understand that each generation has its own way of expressing that love. Therefore an Aashiqui that was made 35 years ago would be different that is made 10 years ago and the idea of love is also changing and evolving. So the way you show and make a movie will be different.”
In her opinion did the remake do justice to the original film?
Anu says,”Let’s be honest. A lot of remakes try to be like the original...There will be some changes but on the other hand, the remakes always cannot be the real thing and will always be different. To say weather they have done justice or not - I do not judge. Each person is trying to express in best way to express art. I think it’s unfair to judge”
