Zoya Akhtar's dysfunctional family drama Dil Dhadakne De had received positive to mixed reviews upon its release in 2015, but soon the film found its own place among the families. Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra played the Mehras, a rich, affluent Delhi family who go on a 10 day cruise across the Mediterranean Sea with their friends and extended family members to celebrate Kamal Mehra (Kapoor) and Neelam Mehra (Shah)'s 30th wedding anniversary. The ensuing drama leads to a rollercoaster of emotions between them strengthening their bonds and relationships.
Before Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra came on board to play Kabir Mehra and Ayesha Mehra, Zoya Akhtar wanted the real-life siblings Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan for her film. As per reports, Ranbir had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and then, Kareena also left the film as her only motivation to be a part of the film was to play sister of her cousin.
This was recently confirmed when Anil Kapoor shared that when he agreed to be a part of the Zoya Akhtar directorial, Ranbir Kapoor starred in it. In a promotional video for Animal's OTT release on Netflix India, Anil told Ranbir, "When I said yes to Dil Dhadakne Do, you were doing it." Anil played Ranbir's father in the 2023 crime drama Animal.
Kareena also talked the same in an interview with Hindustan Times in 2014 when she said, "It’s my loss because I love Zoya, but couldn’t be part of her film. I am dying to work with her. Inshallah, this isn’t the last film she is going to make, and it’s not the last film that I’m not able to do. Aage bhi bahut padi hai zindagi (there’s life ahead). Whenever she has a role for me, I’ll definitely do it."
It has also been reported that Zoya Akhtar had signed Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif to play Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor's love interests in the film. These roles were eventually played by Farhan Akhtar and Anushka Sharma as Sunny Gill and Farah Ali, respectively.
Apart from Ranveer, Priyanka, Anil, Priyanka, Farhan and Anushka, Dil Dhadakne Do had an ensemble cast consisting of Rahul Bose, Zarina Wahab, Vikrant Massey, Parmeet Sethi, Pawan Chopra, Manoj Pahwa, Divya Seth, and Ayesha Raza Mishra amongst others including the voice over and narration by Aamir Khan as the dog Pluto Mehra.
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