MUMBAI: Imtiaz Ali has given Bollywood some of the most romantic tales in the recent past. His take on modern times love and relationships make him the most loved filmmaker amongst youth. He accepts that having to make a modern-day adaptation of the legendary Laila Majnu brought him sheer happiness but what was incommodious was to get the title of the movie – Laila Majnu.
Says Imtiaz, “Ï always knew that Laila Majnu is the only title that this film could go by. The star, the plot of the film is Laila Majnu. We have known the legendary lovers for years and years before any one of our names were known.” He also admits that it was almost a breakdown situation for him to get the title and it seemed impossible for him to crack through the situation until he found out that the title rights are with the owner of Tips, Mr. Ramesh Taurani.
“Ramesh ji knew the value of this title and I am sure did not find it very wise to give it away to anyone like that but he was very gracious to agree as a goodwill gesture without demanding anything in exchange. I am thankful enough to him for being so generous, without him we wouldn’t have been able to take this forward,” he added.
“I never considered having a different title for Laila Majnu because the film is actually a very faithful rendition of the famous Laila Majnu just in the modern time and placed in Kashmir. The setting is so because Kashmir gives the exotic backdrop to the film. The actors playing Laila and Majnu in this film are new so it was more important for us to get the title so that those actors could also go by the name ‘Laila’ and ‘Majnu’ for a while before they get to be known as what their original names are,” said Imtiaz.
The trailer of the movie will be launched on Wednesday, 25th July. The film is slated to release on 24th August. Laila Majnu is presented by Imtiaz Ali, Directed by Sajid Ali and Produced by Balaji Motion pictures and preety Ali’s Pi films.
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