Was Shiddat too painful for Karan?

By Nichola

on October 04, 2017

Casting-wise, it’s almost a Student of the Year scenario revisited! We’re talking about Karan Johar’s upcoming Shiddat, which sees Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan coming together with the third part of the triangle being played by no, not Sidharth Malhotra but Aditya Roy Kapoor.

Apparently, the film will see Varun and Aditya cast as brothers who both have their hearts set on Alia. This is no teeny-bopper romance though; the film is set during the Indo-Pak Partition era and a simmering tension exists between the brothers, compounded by their rivalry over the same girl.

The film will also see Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt coming together to play the parents of the boys.

Apparently Manish Malhotra has already started working on authentic era-specific costumes for the cast, while a huge set recreating the ’40s is to be built in the city to shoot the film.
To be directed by Abhishek Verman, Shiddat has been in the air since many years. The idea for this Partition drama had apparently come from Karan’s late father, Yash Johar. It is only now that the concept has been fleshed out and the film will take on a life of its own. It is bound to have a special meaning for Karan, who was extremely close to his father. The story will not be lacking in poignancy, as the late Yash Johar himself lived through Partition, having been born in 1929, in Lahore, Punjab, undivided India.

Back in 2012 it had been reported that post the success of Student of the Year, Karan was keen to start work on the film based on the script that his father had been working on. Touted to be a period love story, apparently Johar Sr. had already conceptualised and researched the film, even spending three months in Lahore for the same. The project has been occupying Karan’s mind space since the past 13 years at least. Apparently, it was Karan’s emotional attachment to his father’s script, and the memories linked to his father, which had made it difficult for him to follow through.

Finally he has been able to make that transition… and Shiddat is set to go on floors early next year.