To reveal or not to reveal the plot of Dunki became Shah Rukh Khan and Rajkumar Hirani’s banter-filled bone of contention, while Taapsee Pannu wondered aloud about the ‘romantic’ tag attached to the movie as it required her to perform stunts in an exclusive video shared by Red Chillies Entertainment on Monday.
Dropped ahead of Dunki’s release on December 21, the 29-minute video featuring the film’s lead stars and director commences with Shah Rukh’s trademark humour, nudging Hirani to spill the entire story of the film. However, Hirani managed to sidestep as he retorted that revealing too much might spoil the cinematic experience. Laughter ensued as Shah Rukh playfully acknowledged Hirani’s knack for keeping audiences on the edge with his trailers.
Hirani then dived into the genesis of the film, sharing how he was fascinated seeing miniature aeroplanes adorning houses in rural Punjab. He later found out that these mini-planes signify a member of the family has migrated abroad. This planted a seed in Hirani’s mind as he researched further about illegal migration via Donkey flights and thus the concept of Dunki was born.
“Dunki means being apart from your loved ones,” Shah Rukh further elaborated, quoting a dialogue from the film. “We live apart from our loved ones so that we can come back to them and stay together,” he explained before sharing images from the shoot.
The camaraderie among the trio sparkled as they discussed various aspects of the making of the film, including Taapsee’s unexpected foray into action sequences, leaving her bemused about the film’s romantic premise. “After doing five or six sports films, I was finally relieved, thinking that I was going to do a romantic film with SRK. And then the first thing I was asked to do for Dunki was to learn wrestling. And then I was told that the one I needed to beat up was SRK himself. I was left wondering what kind of romance this was,” Taapsee quipped with a bemused look, making both Hirani and Shah Rukh break into laughter.
Shah Rukh also shared playful anecdotes about his co-actor Vicky Kaushal, highlighting their on-screen bond. Recalling an incident where both of them shared the same lemon for a scene, Shah Rukh said, “People become blood brothers, but we became nimbu-brothers. We were in love. A few times, he even shared that he married Katrina Kaif too soon or else he would have married me.”
Hirani had some amusing anecdotes about Vicky’s father Sham Kaushal, who is the action-director of the film. He revealed that Sham Kaushal wanted to be associated with Dunki from the scripting stage itself. Hirani also said Sham was worried while Vicky was doing the action scenes.
The behind-the-scenes glimpses then extend to Taapsee posing as a living statue during a London shoot, even managing to pocket some pounds from unsuspecting passersby, much to the amusement of the cast and crew. The trio also shared a hearty laugh reminiscing about a romantic scene shot at a graveyard.
