Imtiaz Ali Recalls ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’ Debacle: Mujhe Bohot Dard Hua, It Is An Unfortunate Child

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali, who has been basking in the glory of his last success ‘Chamkila’ on Netflix, recently mentioned how he doesn’t get swayed by success or failures. He asserted how he knows that not all “risks” will pay off, including his 2017 romantic drama ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma. Imtiaz Ali saw his first failure with the film, after his consecutive acclaimed films, like ‘Socha Na Tha’, ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Tamasha’.

During an interview with Ranveer Allahbadia, Imtiaz Ali talked about the debacle of ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, and said, “‘So what if it didn’t do well, it is still your film,’ I was told. Toh mujhe bohot dard hua. It is an unfortunate child. I felt a sense of ownership over the film, I felt like telling it, ‘I am not embarrassed of you brother, you are mine, as much as any other film of mine.’ So, in that moment, I felt a strange melancholy, ek ajeeb sa dard mehsoos hua, that oh this was an unsuccessful film.”

The filmmaker further stated how he “processed the pain over a period of time” but eventually decided to let it go. Adding how he feels lucky about all his failures because there was something good happening, Imtiaz said, “You shouldn’t be so bothered with success or failure.”

Mentioning how he was trying to make a light film with ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’, Imtiaz said that he wanted to be different. “That was a pure thought. Some experiments won’t work,” he added.

Imtiaz Ali recently helmed the much-loved ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, which starred Diljit Dosanjh and Parineeti Chopra. The Netflix film has emerged to be one of Imtiaz’s most celebrated works in recent times.