Kapoor and Kapur: Why the hindi version of 'OK Kanmani' will be an 'Aashiqui 2' reboot

The great Mani Ratnam’s favourite pupil Shaad Ali, who earlier remade Ratnam’s Alai Payuthe as Saathiya in Hindi, is all set to take his latest urban romantic-comedy OK Kanmani to a Hindi-speaking audience. But hold on. Before we start celebrating in advance, what is this we hear about Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor stepping into the roles played by Dulquer Salman and Nithya Menon? The novelty of the plot about two commitment-phobic people trying to settle down together, and the sheer newness of the pair would be completely lost in translation. [caption id=“attachment_2583558” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani, and Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor.[/caption] In the public’s mind, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shradha Kapoor are that other couple from Mohit Suri’s Aashiqui 2, the sozzled singer on the skids and his spunky middleclass protégée. Much was said and written about Kapoor and Kapoor, while they shot for and marketed Aashiqui 2. Apparently the two were a real-life couple during and after the film. They virtually swamped the movie-going public’s subconscious with their togetherness in the film. Aashiqui 2 was no great shakes as a drama, but nonetheless hugely successful at the box-office. Now to watch them again going through the romantic paces just makes no sense. Mani Ratnam was very keen to have the original pair Dulquer and Nithya in the remake. But Karan Johar, forever counting the number of people who would flock for his film, felt the pair was unknown to the North Indian audience. But Mr Johar, that is exactly the point. Dulquer and Nithya were so convincing as Adi and Tara, the live-in partners who would rather not get married, because they were so new to the public eye. When we see Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor play Adi and Tara, all we see is a tipsy guy and his pixie protégée doing a very filmy version of A Star Is Born. OK Kanmani in Hindi requires a virgin-fresh pair. Not a couple whom we have been reading about for two years now. Are Aditya and Shraddha a real-life pair? Who cares, as long as they can pull of Mani Ratnam’s urban legend convincingly. It seems unlikely though.