Don’t read too much between the lines. But right after Deepika Padukone’s break with Ranbir Kapoor she’s doing film called Break Be Baad with Imran Khan.
That’s what Kunal Kohli has chosen to call his the first film that he’s producing and not directing.
Says Kunal, “Me and my director Danish Aslam always wanted to call his film Break Ke Baad because it’s about a couple Imran and Deepika who break up and want to come together. But since we didn’t have the rights to the title we didn’t want to announce it officially.”
Kunal and his team couldn’t locate the legal owners of the title anywhere in Mumbai. “We finally tracked it down to Bangalore to a 60-year old gentleman who deals in electrical goods. He owns a company called Seva Films.
He hopes to make films that would change the world. Break Be Baad is one of the titles he had registered. He loved our idea and gladly parted with the title.
Just like Break Ke Baad, while writing Hum Tum I wanted my film to be called only that. Milind Soman had that title. I called him for it and finally he sold it to us for 1.5 lakhs! I just had to have Hum Tum as my title, just as it was imperative to get Break Ke Baad. There could no other title. Fortunately there was no fuss this time.”
A token amount of money exchanged hands.
However getting permission to shoot in Delhi was far more difficult.
Says Kunal, “So many recent films have been shot in Delhi. Now the rules for shooting in the Capital have changed. I could write a thesis on what I’ve gone through to get permission to shoot in Delhi.”
Kunal’s problems as a producer don’t end there. He has been denied permission to shoot on the Gold Coast. “So we’ll have to shoot in Cape Town and fudge the Gold Coast.”
Break Ke Baad is set in Delhi and Australia.
Says Kunal, “This would be my first film as an independent producer. I did Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic which was a co- production. So many new directors are getting opportunities that we never had when we came in.”
Kunal is yet to finalize the cast for his own directorial venture. “But I’m so glad Danish has got a dream pair. Imran and Deepika together sounds good to everyone.”
