Matrimonial ads aren’t exactly known for their creativity or their ability to entertain. For debutant director Ali Abbas Zafar, however, the ads in the classified pages of newspapers were what inspired him to make ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’.
“I used to see the matrimonial page of newspapers on Sundays. It’s a very creative page. There are so many ads well written seeking brides or bridegrooms. It has ads of every caste and culture – be it Hindu, Muslim, Sikh – and what’s most interesting is that all have almost same requirement,” Zafar said. “It’s so entertaining. Then I thought that if a film is made based on that subject it could be hugely entertaining with a lot of mass appeal,” he added.
The director wanted to avoid another ‘star’ with Imran and Katrina and so he put Pakistani singer Ali Zafar in the cast with them. “It’s a three-actor film and Ali has a very important role. Imran and Katrina were getting paired for the first time; so we wanted a face that had not been seen at that light. Had I cast any star, people would say it’s a very generic film. I wanted to bring that X amount of freshness. He has just played a role in ‘Tere Bin Laden’ and people have liked his role. He was a good actor and a great singer… all these things were very calculative. He has also sung a song in this film. When I saw him in the ‘Tere Bin Laden’ promo I had decided if this guy shows good work in the film, I am going to take him. After the film released, he came, met us, was liked by all and then we approached him. Being his first mainstream offer, he was excited, heard the script, liked it and came on board,” said Zafar.
