Saif Ali Khan and Viveik Oberoi wanted her to change the ending. They didn't want to play a Bollywood struggler in Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut. Zoya virtually had to bang on all the big doors of Bollywood until Big Brother barged in.
Being the illustrious Javed Akhtar's daughter and the cool-dude Farhan's kid sister didn't help Zoya Akhtar. She had to go through the grind with one hero after another.
"It doesn't help to be this one's daughter and that one's sister. I got a foot in the door. Farhan's name got me access to the stars. But no one does a film for who has sent you. I went through these times when I felt I just didn't fit in. I went through these lows when I wondered when I'd finally be able to make a film. But the trick was to hang in there. Thank God for family and friends. Thank God for Farhan. They kept my morale from sagging to ground level."
Finally, the wait was worth it for Zoya. "I got the cast I wanted and now the climate in the movie theatres has changed drastically. Audiences are open to all kinds of experiences. This is the best time for me to come out. When I started casting for Luck By Chance not that many directors were willing to push the envelope. The thing about my film is that the hero is a bit of an ambitious, user and liar. A lot of our heroes were apprehensive playing a grey character. They wanted me to change the end to make the protagonist look brighter. I refused. You've to stick to your convictions. "
According to Zoya, Farhan getting the part of the Bollywood struggler was the best thing to happen to Luck By Chance. "It was Reema Kagti (who directed Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd) who suggested I sign Farhan in the lead. She was the first person to approach Farhan for a part. He was supposed to play Abhay Deol's part in Reema's film. But the dates clashed with Don. Reema suggested I do Luck By Chance with Farhan. It was the best decision I could make. He knew the script in and out. He was part of it from the first draft. And every time an actor would say no to my film I'd discuss it with him and wonder where I was going wrong. I didn't feel insecure. I felt sad and angry. I never felt what I was making was wrong. No one close to me suggested that I make change in the script to make the hero less grey."Recalling those months of waiting Zoya says, "The hardest part was the endless waiting to find the actor. I was dying to get behind the camera. My producer Ritesh Sidhwani kept telling me not to get low we'll find the right guy. Little did we realize that the right guy was sitting in the room with us."
Before signing Farhan, Zoya saw Farhan in his acting debut The Fakir of Venice which never got released. I've grown up with Farhan. I always knew he wanted to be an actor. In fact when he announced he wanted to be a director we were surprised. We knew he was a performer. When I spoke to him about Luck By Chance he was totally cool about it."
Farhan signed Luck By Chance before Rock On. "Rock On needed less preparation than Luck By Chance. Farhan gave me the option of doing my film before or after Rock On. I chose to let him do Rock On first. I'm not afraid of the comparisons. He plays a completely different character in Luck By Chance. There's no rock star act in my film. I'm very happy with my brother's performance."
Being a casting director, Zoya has seen these strugglers first-hand. "I know the character Farhan plays. I've met him before this film. And I've cast lots of actors and stars from the industry either as themselves or as characters. Anurag Kashyap doesn't play himself. He plays a writer in two scenes."Zoya can't praise her leading lady Konkona Sen Sharma enough. "She completely spoils a director with her disciplined approach. I wonder how I'll find another actress to match her easygoing professionalism. She was literally a part of our crew. Where will I find someone who's brilliant and so easy to work with?"
Hrithik Roshan is not doing an item song alone. "He plays a star named Zafar Khan. Getting him was quite easy. I was working with him in another film Kismat Talkies. And when that got delayed I started to go back to the one that I wanted to do earlier. He liked Luck By Chance too and wanted to play Zafar Khan. His song is homage to all the item songs in Bollywood."
On the sets Zoya had to forget her leading man was her brother. "I maintained certain decorum with Farhan, it was hard. I tried to keep him not involved with what was going on off-camera, so he'd focus on what he was doing. Farhan and I share a very close relationship. I've worked with him in various capacities."
She ends, "My film is about success and failure, winning and losing and self-worth. It could've been set in any other industry