Did Imtiaz Ali’s Jab Harry Met Sejal Fail Due To Shah Rukh Khan’s Popularity? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Jab Harry Met Sejal was one of the most anticipated films of the year 2017. With a track record like Jab We Met and Rockstar and the star power of Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma, director Imtiaz Ali was expected to hit the ball out of the park.
However, the film failed to live up to expectations and bombed at the box office, contributing to SRK’s decision to take a break from movies. At the time, speculations were rife that Shah Rukh’s superstardom affected Imtiaz’s creative expression, which led to the film’s failure. Imtiaz has now finally reacted to these speculations.
Imtiaz Ali Says Shah Rukh Khan’s Star Power Did Not Impact the Writing of Jab Harry Met Sejal
Imtiaz Ali recently appeared for an interview with GQ, where he was asked about the rumors suggesting Shah Rukh Khan’s stardom overpowered the director’s creative freedom in Jab Harry Met Sejal, and the superstar took control of the film. Imtiaz refuted the claims and said, “Shah Rukh never imposed himself on the film. But he is a huge star with an enormous fan base.”
However, Imtiaz agreed that fans had huge expectations from SRK, and the director did not account for that while writing the film’s script. “He has a lot of expectations to fulfill and I wasn’t writing to serve that. I did not consider the scale of his stardom,” the Tamasha filmmaker said.
Further discussing what he could have done better in JHMS, Imtiaz said, “There are some boxes you have to check within your script to make it work, as many as you can, without ruining the soul of the film.” “With JHMS, we needed to be more clear about what he [Harry] is longing for. It needed some more exposition, perhaps some flashbacks, and a more traditional structure to work,” Imtiaz concluded.
Released on August 4th, 2027, Jab Harry Met Sejal could only earn Rs. 62 crore at the domestic box office against a budget of Rs. 90 crore. The film tells the story of a travel guide in Europe who helps out a girl who has lost her engagement ring. It also starred Aru Krishansh Verma, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Evelyn Sharma, Kavi Shastri, and Baljeet Kaur Nanda.
