Imtiaz Ali: Jaipurites are really proud of their city and heritage

The lead actors of upcoming movie Laila Majnu, Avinash Tiwary and Tripti Dimri, along with director Sajid Ali and writer Imtiaz Ali, were recently in Jaipur for the film’s promotions. Before promoting the film in Jaipur, the team visited Ajmer Sharif Dargah. Imtiaz, who has shot for a few scenes inside the Dargah premises for his film Highway, shared, “It was a very fulfilling visit. It is said that when the Khwaja invites you, only then somebody gets a chance to visit Ajmer Sharif Dargah. But I am fortunate that I could make it along with the entire team of Laila Majnu.”

Imtiaz and Sajid Ali

Talking about Jaipur, Imtiaz, who gulped down two glasses of lassi just before the interview, said, “Jaipur is a beautiful city. My memories of Jaipur are all around Lassiwala on MI Road, which I love. I just had two glasses of lassi. I think Jaipur knows how to protect, preserve and respect its heritage. The best thing about Jaipur’s people is that they have, to the best of their abilities, maintained their old city. I love the fact that the old market doesn’t have many hoardings and the names of the shops are still handwritten by paint. This is the kind of love and respect that we should imbibe from Jaipur. We sometimes decimate our heritage. Jaipur, on the other hand, is an exception where people are really proud of their city.”

(L-R) Avinash Tiwary, Tripti Dimri, Imtiaz Ali and Sajid Ali

Avinash has been to the city multiple times. Some of his cousins have studied at Banasthali Vidyapith. “I used to come here to meet them. Since it’s a women’s university, I used to get a lot of attention,” he said jokingly. “I love Rajasthani food. Mere ghar par bhi banti hai dal baati and gatte ki sabzi. I love the taste of authentic Rajasthani food,” he said. Tripti too has come to Jaipur once. “I had come here for an ad shoot, but I didn’t go around anywhere. The city looks beautiful to me. I might come to Jaipur again just to explore the Pink City,” she said.

Tripti Dimri

Laila Majnu is set in Kashmir and the story revolves around Kais (Avinash) and Laila (Tripti). “While shooting, I was extremely nervous about how well I would be able to do my job. Now that we are done with the shooting, the nervousness has disappeared. Strangely, I am calm right now as I don’t know what to expect. This is very new to me,” he said.

Avinash and Tripti relishing Rajasthani food

Talking about working with Imtiaz, who has turned a choreographer for the film, Tripti said, “There was a shot where I had to just walk from one point to another. I have grown up watching films of Kajol and Madhuri Dixit ma’am and I went a bit overboard with my expressions. So Imtiaz sir told me, ‘Laila ka role kaafi kar liya tumne. Ab tum Tripti ban jao.’ Working with him was indeed very special.”