“They were easily identified with, and I thought, this is the best. “Everyone identified with one of the characters, or at least identified with knowing somebody like that,” Akhtar tells Variety. In a Bollywood entertainment landscape then littered with fantastic scenarios or sagas tailored to the moneyed Indian diaspora, here was a script with characters that urban audiences could instantly relate to.

What sold Sidhwani on the script was the sheer relatability of it. And I mean, at the end of it, I was saying, ‘let’s go ahead and make this’, having no clue or having anything to do with any film, and no idea.” “And I went over the next day, and I heard the narration from him. “We were at a friend’s house having dinner, and he said, ‘I’ve written this script,’” Sidhwani tells Variety. Akhtar had lost touch with Sidhwani after school, but a mutual friend informed him that he was keen to explore the film business.

The result was “Dil Chahta Hai,” a tale of three upper middle-class urban friends who are driven asunder by their varying approaches to relationships. It was perhaps inevitable that Farhan Akhtar, after a stint in advertising and serving as an assistant director, turned his hand to a screenplay. Javed Akhtar co-wrote “Sholay,” “Deewar” and “Don” amongst several in a fruitful writing partnership with Salim Khan and his solo screenplay credits include “Meri Jung,” “Betaab” and “Arjun.” Irani has “Lamhe,” “Darr,” “Kaho Naa … Pyaar Hai” and the “Krrish” franchise among her credits. Their writing credits include some of the all-time hits of Indian cinema.

Sidhwani’s family owned a successful home appliances manufacturing business, which he worked in for six years and developed strong marketing, business development, team building and motivational skills, attributes that would stand him in good stead in his later career as a producer.Īkhtar’s father, Javed, is one of India’s most celebrated screenwriters and poets and mother Honey Irani a well-known writer-director. There are several films in the works, including the long-awaited return to direction from company co-founder Farhan Akhtar a continuing relationship with Amazon Prime Video and a new deal with Netflix.Įxcel was founded by Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, schoolmates with very different backgrounds, in 2001. Indian studio Excel Entertainment is on a roll.

Lakshya 2004