Zoya AKhtar reveals how Bagwati in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara came into being | Exclusive

Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti

Zoya Akhtar's films have been inspired by things she loves. Gully Boy was fueled by her love for hip-hop music. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara started with her penchant for road trips, she told Mid-day during our latest Sit With Hitlist conversation. She said, "I love taking road trips and I wanted to do a road movie and that's how it started. And I had come off a big ensemble with Luck By Chance (her debut directorial) and I was just like I want to do a smaller film, so I will do a small ensemble."

With Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif and Farhan Akhtar in the lead, it was hardly a small film. "That is Zoya's idea of a very small film," joked Reema, who co-wrote the screenplay with Zoya. "After Luck By Chance, she said I just want three boys, no hair makeup, and I am going to follow them around in a car. It started like that, it didn't end that way though."

Reema and Zoya did lot of trips together before the film. Reema said, "We did, and a lot of it actually. There were five or six of us. And we took trains through Europe and a lot of…"

"Before Luck By Chance or so, it was ages back," Zoya finished her sentence. "A road trip but a little bit of everything."

Reema added, "There was a lot of that holiday actually put into ZNMD, the spirit of it, may not be the specifics."

One of those inspiring trips was when Reema, a "broke AD", was in Goa, having spent all her money, with none left for a bus ticket back to Mumbai. She hitched "a car ride with the sister of a friend. Throughout, [the host was] cautious of a plastic bag in the backseat, because it had an expensive vase, or something. We named that bag Priscilla."

This is how Bagwati in ZNMD came into the scene. Only, Reema hadn't even heard of a Birkin: "What's that Berk, Berk, whatever. When Zoya told me about it - I'm like, why would someone pay lakhs for a bag? I wanted [the motif] to be something breakable in the film. Zoya's the director. I had to go with her!"

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was so universally loved, that people still hope the makers will revisit it for a sequel. Apparently, Abhay Deol already has an idea about that. "He is threatening to meet me," Zoya said. "He said, 'I have an idea I want to meet you,' so I am going to meet him," she added.

Another film of theirs that everyone is waiting for is Jee Le Zara, which was supposed to be made with three female leads. What is happening with that. "That's waiting on dates," Zoya said.