‘An opportunity lost’ — Imtiaz gives it a 3 out of 10
Imtiaz Ali isn’t one to sugarcoat his own work. In a candid chat on ‘Unfiltered by Samdish’, the director was asked to rate his 2017 film Jab Harry Met Sejal out of 10. His answer? A blunt 3. The filmmaker admitted that while the idea behind the Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma starrer had immense potential, the final product just didn’t live up to it.
‘I feel it was an opportunity lost, because of the potential of the story,’ Imtiaz said. ‘I should have dealt with it in a different way.’ He further revealed that he liked the ‘potential of the story more than the story and definitely more than the film.’
The romantic comedy-drama, which marked his first collaboration with both SRK and Anushka, had generated huge buzz before its release. But after hitting theatres, it received largely negative reviews and failed to meet box office expectations. For a filmmaker known for classics like Jab We Met and Rockstar, the misfire hit hard.
The character that never fully came alive
During the conversation, Imtiaz delved into the character of Harry. He had envisioned a man from a small Punjabi village who goes abroad with innocence and tenderness, only to be hardened by life. The character’s emotional response to intimacy shaped his journey — Harry carried deep hurt and trained himself to walk away after intimate moments so he wouldn’t have to face tenderness again.
‘The potential of that idea was massive,’ Imtiaz explained. But somewhere between conception and execution, something got lost. The filmmaker believes the core of Harry’s pain didn’t translate fully on screen, leaving the story feeling incomplete.
This isn’t the first time Imtiaz has reflected on the film’s failure. In an earlier interview with Ranveer Allahbadia, he recalled someone telling him, ‘So what if it didn’t do well, it is still your film.’ The remark affected him deeply. ‘Toh mujhe bohot dard hua (It hurt me a lot),’ he remembered.
Bohot dard — the emotional aftermath
Imtiaz also called Jab Harry Met Sejal ‘an unfortunate child’ and admitted he feels ‘a strange melancholy’ every time he looks back at it. The disappointment around the film was palpable, and to make matters worse, he was battling dengue fever for a month during the release period. The physical and emotional toll made the failure even harder to process.
But the filmmaker isn’t dwelling in the past. He’s now gearing up for his next directorial venture, Main Vaapas Aaunga, which is scheduled to hit theatres on June 12. With a fresh canvas and lessons learned, Imtiaz is ready to bounce back. As he put it, the idea of Harry’s story was always bigger than the film itself — and maybe that’s something he can channel into future projects.