Teri Meri Kahaani () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Kunal Kohli. Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in a triple role portray three couples from three different eras. In 1910 Sargodha, they are two star-crossed lovers during the British Raj; in 1960 Mumbai, a popular Bollywood actress and a struggling musician; and in 2012 London, two university students.
Kohli conceived Teri Meri Kahaani from the idea of soulmates, showing the strength of love beyond generations by having the same two actors portray all three couples without using a reincarnation theme. He co-wrote the film with Robin Bhatt. Muneesh Sappel created three sets for depicting the different time periods, requiring months of research and detailed designs. Principal photography began in Mumbai in mid-2011 and later moved to London, where it was primarily shot at the Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Sajid–Wajid composed the soundtrack with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. The film was released on 22 June 2012 to mixed–to–positive reviews from critics, receiving praise mostly for the performances of the lead pair and their chemistry, the music and the production design, especially the re-creation of 1960s Mumbai, but were disappointed with the story's predictability. Made on a budget of 300 million, the film grossed 540 million. This film marks the first time Kohli directing a film outside Yash Raj Films.
Plot
In 1960, aspiring musician Govind and popular Bollywood superstar Rukhsar met on a train heading to Bombay, India. Ruksar had run away from her home in Lucknow with her best friend to become a film star. The two bond over their careers but part ways after arriving in Bombay. Govind befriends Radhika, a confident and modern girl who is charmed by his simplicity. Rukhsar and Govind meet again and hit it off at a party, but Govind notices a photojournalist following them. He holds Radhika's hand to mislead the journalist, unaware that Radhika has fallen in love with him. Radhika is the best friend Rukhsar had run away with, and the two tell each other about the man they've fallen in love with, not realising he is the same person. When Rukhsar, Radhika, and Govind all meet, the three realise what happened and brokenheartedly part ways.
In London in 2012, college students Krrish and Radha meet after Krrish breaks up with his girlfriend, Meera, on his birthday. After a misunderstanding between Krrish and Radha is cleared, they become friends and spend time getting to know each other. When Meera learns that Krrish is with Radha, she angrily uploads embarrassing photos of him to Facebook that go viral. Radha learns that Krrish spent the night with her on his birthday only two hours after he broke up with Meera, but when she tries to talk to him, he is too busy retaliating against Meera. Frustrated and heartbroken, Radha leaves.
The film rewinds to 1910 Sargodha during the times of the British Raj. Javed, a Punjabi Muslim womaniser with a talent for reciting poetry, meets Aradhana, a young woman in the village, while being chased by the police. They become acquainted, but Javed's flirty nature upsets Aradhana. Javed insists she is special and focuses all his attention on her. He joins Aradhana's father in a protest for freedom from the British, but when officers begin to physically abuse the protestors, Javed hides while Aradhana's father is beaten. Aradhana is disgusted with him. To appease her, Javed allows himself to be beaten and arrested in front of her. She visits him in jail and tells him their love cannot happen, but he asks her to wait. Three months later, Javed is freed, but he learns that Aradhana was married a month before. Aradhana tells Javed in tears that she only married to make her father happy. Soon after, Javed also must marry for his father's happiness. Aradhana comes to the wedding to see him one last time. During the vows, Javed realises Aradhana is wearing a widow's clothes and stops the wedding, insisting on marrying Aradhana.
To conclude, all three couples are revisited. In 1960, Govind packs up and boards a train, but is followed by Rukhsar, and the two reconcile. In 2012, Krrish speaks to Meera and Radha one more time, severing ties with Meera and confessing his true love to Radha. In 1910, Javed and Aradhana vow that their love will not only last this lifetime but for all lifetimes to come.
Cast Shahid Kapoor in a triple role as Govind, an aspiring musician (1960 in Mumbai) Krrish Kapoor, a student (2012 in London) Javed Qadri, a poet (1910 in Sargodha, British Raj) Priyanka Chopra in a triple role as Rukhsar, a movie star (1960 in Mumbai) Radha Chopra, a student at University of Nottingham (2012 in London) Aradhana, a freedom fighter (1910 in Sargodha, British Raj) Vrajesh Hirjee as Unnamed, journalist spying on Rukhsar and Govind Shankar Sachdev as Suleman Qadri, Javed's father Raj Singh Arora as Rohan / Bharat Surendra Pal as Aradhana's father Tarun Sharma as Chirag, Krrish's friend Salim, Javed's friend Aman Nagpal as Balwinder Chand Mishra as Gangadhar, Ruksar's manager Kunal Kohli as the Narrator
Production
Development Director Kunal Kohli was fascinated with the idea of soulmates and conceived the film as a tale of "the strength of love beyond generations". The premise would be a love story with the same two actors in three different time period that did not involve reincarnation. He said, "It's the story of three different lives and proves that love is a promise forever. We have chosen one hundred years to talk about love. We didn't want it to be soppy or melodramatic."
Kohli co-wrote the screenplay with Robin Bhatt. He found it difficult to represent three time periods, but felt that the film could appeal to everyone if he chose to "keep some of it in the past and still make it youthful and modern." He said, "I have created humour and situations which would be liked by everyone". For instance, he chose to display a different side to the Indian independence movement of the 1910s as opposed to the "unromantic and non-colourful" depiction. Kohli said "everyone takes a very serious approach to that part of the history," so he instead used it to frame a love story between a Punjabi belle and a Casanova.
1960s Bollywood also fascinated Kohli, who wanted to pay tribute to Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, and Dilip Kumar. However, rather than remaking films of the past, he "remade a whole era. It is much easy to remake a film, remaking an entire era is not a cakewalk; it is a very challenging task."
Through the final storyline of the film, set in 2012, Kohli wanted to demonstrate a modern romance, which mostly happens through SMS, instant messaging apps, and Internet chat. Kohli described it by saying, "Today people flirt, communicate and connect through smses and you get that feeling of being with somebody even when you are not with that person because that person is telling you everything that is happening in their life. You are constantly updating the other person with your thoughts and that is what keeps you connected to that person."
In February 2011, it was announced that Kohli would be producing the film with Eros International. Amitabh Shukla was chosen to edit the film while Sandeep Shirodkar was brought in to compose the background score.
Casting In November 2010, Kohli announced that Shahid Kapoor would be starring in his untitled upcoming film and stated that he was looking to sign the leading actress in the next few days. In January 2011, Kohli confirmed Priyanka Chopra's casting on Twitter. This became the second film collaboration between the two actors after Kaminey (2009). Kohli said that he had always wanted to bring Kapoor and Chopra together for a "quintessential musical love story." Kohli had approached Kapoor for a different film while the script of Teri Meri Kahaani was still in development. When Kapoor asked about working together on a different film, Kohli proposed the as yet unwritten love story. Kapoor was confused but interested, and after Kohli explained the concept, he agreed to the role.
Kohli had been in discussions with Chopra for a different project before, which would have paired her with Saif Ali Khan. At that time, Khan and Chopra had been asked to star together in a number of films, including 2 States, Cocktail, Race 2 and Vishal Bhardwaj's Dreams. Siddharth Anand's adaptation of 2 States would film at the same time as Kohli's proposed film. Anand and Kohli met and agreed that Chopra would act in 2 States. Later, Kohli approached Chopra with a new script, and she agreed to join the cast for Teri Meri Kahaani. Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra were cast to play Kapoor's love interests in the 1960s and 2012, respectively.
Kapoor said that of the three characters he plays—Javed the poet, Govind the struggling musician and Krish the college student—Krish is the closest to himself, but Javed was the most interesting, a type of character he had never played before. Javed uses shayari, a type of poetry, to flirt. "Shayaris are his pickup lines and very often he does succeed to getting the girls," said Kapoor. "He is not a sophisticated shayar and that is part of his charm." He also called Javed "the funniest and naughtiest character of 1910 I have ever seen." Despite the role being his favourite, Kapoor faced problems with the era-appropriate costume, which required him to wear traditional mojari shoes and clip-on stud earrings; he suffered from both shoe bites and red ears during filming.
Chopra faced the challenge of her triple roles by playing each one as differently as possible. She used the script to identify unique characteristics of each—Aradhana is a Punjabi girl, Ruksar speaks with the manners of a popular Bollywood actress from Lucknow, and Radha displays a contemporary confidence. Of the three, Chopra found playing a girl from 1910 to be the toughest. She said, "There was no reference point for it except some books," and the few sketches Kohli was able to provide for costume design. Even with only written sources, she worked toward developing an accent that would have been typical for a Punjabi girl from Pakistan. In contrast, Chopra was able to consult Saira Banu, a leading Hindi film actress of the 1960s, to understand the way her character Ruksar lived. Like Kapoor, Chopra enjoyed the novelty of playing a character in 1910, "a certain period which normally [she] would not get to play," and she related best to her contemporary character Radha. But for her Ruksar was the most interesting. "I got to play a superstar actress of the 1960s," she said. "I got to wear the glamorous clothes of those days, don big hair-dos and speak the way actresses spoke then. I loved all those things."
Manish Malhotra and Kunal Rawal designed the costumes for Chopra and Kapoor respectively. Malhotra also consulted Asha Parekh, who gave several insights into the life of actresses in her day, to design Chopra's costumes and look to play Ruksar.
Filming Muneesh Sappel handled the art direction while Sunil Patel did the cinematography. Sappel created three sets depicting the 1910, 1960s and 2012 settings for the three storylines. He did extensive research for six months, visiting each location in person to ensure that the sets looked authentic and real, and using visual effects (VFX) to complete the designs.
The 1910 portion, which is set in Sargodha, Punjab, during the British Empire, was easy to recreate with "a temple, mosque, market, a small village, brick houses etc." Initially, the crew wanted to use an actual village as the set, but were unable to find one that had not changed in the past century. Instead, they chose to construct a set that would be historically accurate. Sappel said that the set for 1960s Mumbai was much more time-consuming, with "trams, chawl, guest houses, old studios and old cinema houses" to create the intended atmosphere.