Kohli was joined in Toronto by his two lead stars, who both agree that although it’s an Indian film, the unique storyline — or storylines rather — still has universal appeal. “I think it’s a very fresh concept. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hindi or an English film which talks about soul mates who have met in different lives and yet is not really about reincarnation,” Shahid told Tribute. “I think it’s the kind of film which, if you believe in love and if you like seeing romantic comedies, I think it’s a film that you’ll really like because all three worlds are very different from what I’ve seen in movies before.”
While Bollywood may be a world of its own, there has been a lot of crossover in recent years, particularly with veteran Indian actors making appearances in big-budget Hollywood films, like Anil Kapoor in Slumdog Millionaire and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Irrfan Khan in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man. So will Teri Meri Kahaani’s young leads be making the transition to Hollywood anytime soon? Shahid doesn’t have anything lined up as yet but he’s got his sights set on who he’d like to team up with. “I’d love to work with Christopher Nolan or with Martin Scorsese. They’re my favorite directors right now.”
Kunal also has one big name in mind. “I like [Steven] Spielberg a lot for his larger than life cinema…it’s just above and beyond. Whenever you think he’s gone larger than life, then he goes larger than that. He goes even bigger than bigger. It’s like cinema is Spielberg and Spielberg is cinema.” The director also hopes to one day reintroduce his own films in a slightly different spotlight. “I’d love to remake one of my films in Hollywood,” he says, though he may have a hard time narrowing down his cast. “In India, we have six or seven good actors, male and female. In Hollywood, it’s endless…there’s a lot of talent.”
Priyanka, on the other hand, has a slightly different plan for her big Hollywood break, and it’s already been set in motion. The actress has been working on her debut album — a collection of English pop tracks — for the past year and was recently signed by Creative Artists Agency, the L.A.-based talent agency whose client list includes the biggest names in Hollywood. “I feel like pop music has been represented somehow by every part of the world except India. In Latin America, you have [Jennifer Lopez] and Marc Anthony. In South America, you have Shakira. If you think about Europe you have David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia. Why not India, considering how much music is in our veins? We’re the most musical culture ever,” she explains. “I really hope this opens up an avenue for so much talent from India to foray into global music. When we decided to do this, I wanted to create something which represents my culture, my ethnicity, and yet is English and pop. So that’s when CAA came on board.” If her career continues on the same trajectory as other CAA clients, it’s only a matter of time before this young star takes over Hollywood too. ~Soriyya Bawa