Although actors Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor ultimately won audiences over with their endearing romance in the film 2 States, neither actor was the original choice for the lead roles. Author Chetan Bhagat recently disclosed that, prior to Arjun and Alia’s casting, Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra were initially considered for the film adaptation of his book.
Chetan, while recalling the casting for ‘2 States’, in an interview with Pinkvilla, 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).”
“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,” the author added.
He also remembered how birthdays before and after 2 States brought more messages than usual. Chetan shared, “People used to send me food whenever an announcement regarding one of my movies arrived. People would start sending sweets and gifts to my house, trying to get cast in my film. I don’t blame them; it’s part of the hustle.”
‘2 States’ featured Arjun and Alia as Krrish and Ananya, the lead characters from Chetan’s novel of the same name. The book was inspired by his own love story with wife Anusha Suryanarayan. The movie also featured Amrita Singh, Ronit Roy, Revathy and late actor Shiv Kumar Subramaniam in key roles. It was directed by Abhishek Varman and co-produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiadwala.
Arjun also featured in the screen adaptation of Chetan’s novel – ‘Half Girlfriend’, opposite Shraddha Kapoor. The actor was last seen in ‘Mere Hsuband Ki Biwi’, featuring Rakul Preet Singh and Bhumi Pednekar.
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