People confuse reel chemistry with real life: Farhan Akhtar

Mar 10, 2016 IANS

New Delhi: Ever since the news of his separation from his wife of 15 years emerged, Farhan Akhtar's personal life has been surrounded by rumours of link-ups with his co-actors. The actor-singer-filmmaker only laughs at it and says people sometimes confuse onscreen chemistry of actors with their real life.

Farhan, who announced in January his separation from his celebrity hairstylist wife Adhuna Bhabani, with whom he shares two daughters -- Shakya and Akira -- has been linked to his "Wazir" co-star Aditi Rao Hydari, his "Rock On!! 2" actress Shraddha Kapoor and even with Kalki Koechlin, with whom he worked in the 2011 film "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara".

Asked why actors end up in the midst of such link-up rumours in the first place, Farhan told IANS: "Well, I really don't know why the rumours spread like fire and why the rumours have started. I guess people enjoy what they watch on screen and feel the chemistry that is happening on screen... maybe (they) confuse it with what is happening in real life."

Farhan and Adhuna had issued a joint statement to declare their mutual and amicable decision of ending their marriage and had stated that their priority remains to be their children.

Farhan has since been busy with his new projects -- whether it is filming "Rock On!! 2" or his music journey. In fact, for International Women's Day, he came up with a new song dedicated to the ladies, and said that it was inspired by a painting by his younger daughter.

Talking about the increasing existence of Bollywood songs on girls, parties and alcohol, the 42-year-old son of veteran writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar, said: "I don't agree that (Bollywood) music is only about that (girls, alcohol and parties). There is a lot of music that is not about those things.

"There is a lot of music that talks about other aspects of human emotions and eventually it is up to the listener on what they want to listen to."

The actor strongly feels that "each listener and viewer have to decide for themselves as to what they would like to hear", and he is especially happy that filmmakers are bringing out projects "that are content-driven...".

"We are relatively at a place in the movie world, where a film like 'Aligarh' talks about a serious issue. It talks about things that are important to discuss. So, for audiences like us who want to see something beyond the popcorn entertainment, I think it is important to talk about these films," said Farhan, who has helmed films like "Dil Chahata Hai", "Lakshya" and the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Don".

While the Hindi film industry is at its experimental best, one still wonders why there's preference towards actioners or mostly films which fall in the romantic zone, instead of delving on an art form like music or dance.

To that, Farhan said: "The producers, actors and directors have their own choices. It is very difficult to comment on why someone makes an action or romantic movie."