The story behind the making of Abhishek Varman’s Kalank (produced by Karan Johar) which turns 6 on April 17, is perhaps even more interesting than the ill-fated but not entirely unmeritorious film.
It is widely believed that Madhuri Dixit replaced the irreplaceable Sridevi after her death. Not entire true! Madhuri Dixit was the first choice for Kalank. But she was hesitant to be cast opposite Sanjay Dutt. The role then went to Sridevi. But after her death, Madhuri graciously stepped into the part as a gesture of respect for her colleague and contemporary.
The film’s stellar cast had undergone many changes. Varun Dhawan’s role was to be originally played by Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji was to do Alia Bhatt’s role. Sridevi was replaced Madhuri Dixit. The two divas were fierce rivals in their heydays. It is ironical that destiny willed them to swap roles. Only Karan Johar could pull this off.
Dixit’s character of the goodhearted tawaif was inspired by Meena Kumari in Pakeezah, Rekha in Umrao Jaan and Madhuri Dixit in Devdas. Apparently Ms Dixit Nene’s Bahaar Begum is a mélange of all three classic courtesans.
The original choice for Sanjay Dutt’s role was Rishi Kapoor who unfortunately fell ill and had to leave the country for medical care. This is how the original Chandni pair of Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi converted into the Khalnayak pair of Dutt and Dixit.
Karma comes a full circle.
Alia Bhatt’s look was inspired by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jodha Akbar and the Pakistani actress Sanam Saeed in the television series Zindagi Gulzar Hai. At a running-time of 2 hours and 48 minutes Kalank was one of the lengthiest films Karan Johar has produced, 3 minutes longer than My Name Is Khan.
Enthused Alia, “It was my first multi-starrer. It was absolutely fantastic. It was one of most challenging films I’ve done so far … There is enough to do for every actor. Every character is well-etched. It is a world that I’m walking into for the first time, you know, the quintessential Hindi commercial cinema, and yet it is a story never told before, though the language is very commercial, mainstream. The characters are contemporary, though it’s a period film.”
Alia had to learn classical dancing from scratch for Kalank. “I am not very confident about my dancing. So I trained for a whole year. I spent a couple of days with the legendary Pandit Birju Maharaj learning Kathak. I am really grateful for that opportunity. It gave me a chance to hone my skills as a dancer. To my good fortune I didn’t have to share the dance floor with Madhuri M’aam. But she’s standing and watching me while I dance. For me that was a reason to be nervous enough… that she was watching me dance. I’d keep pleading for her to sit in her vanity van. But of course she had to be in the shots. So imagine, I had to dance in front of one of our finest dancers of all times.”
