Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
Aishwarya
Bachchan's
on-screen
chemistry
with
Hrithik
Roshan
got
more
passionate.
To
enhance
the
intensity
between
the
Dhoom
and
Jodhaa-Akbar
pair,
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
(SLB)
decided
to
include
material
from
Franco
Zeffirelli's
1968
classic
screen
adaptation
of
Romeo
&
Juliet
.The
cult
blockbuster
had
catapulted
Olivia
Hussey
and
Leonard
Whiting
to
instant
stardom
and
made
Shakespeare's
romantic
play
a
worldwide
bestseller.
As
a
complementary
referential
source
to
Hrithik
and
Aishwarya's
intense
mutual
feeling
for
one
another
on
screen,
SLB
decided
to
incorporate
original
dialogues
from
Zeffirelli's
film,
forcing
his
efficient
but
flabbergasted
team
(many
of
whom
had
never
heard
of
Shakespeare,
let
alone
Zeffirelli)
into
a
hysterical
worldwide
hunt
for
the
material.
The
producers
UTV
gently
suggested
that
searching
out
and
acquiring
rights
for
the
original
Shakespearean
dialogues
in
the
voice
of
Olivia
Hussey
and
Leonard
Whiting
from
Zeffirelli's
film
at
this
late
stage
when
the
film
was
approaching
release,
could
prove...
a
tad
tough.
But
SLB
was
adamant.
And
with
reason.
Explains
the
director,
"I
wanted
a
correctly
intense
reference
point
for
Hrithik
and
Aishwarya's
feelings
and
conversations.
I
thought
the
sentiment
of
thwarted
passion
and
smothered
intensity
of
star-crossed
lovers
in
Romeo
&
Juliet
expressed
my
protagonists'
inexpressible
feelings
very
well.
So
yes
I've
included
dialogues
from
Zeffirelli's
Romeo
&
Juliet
in
my
film."
But
why
Zeffirelli,
whose
Romeo
&
Juliet
came
41
years
ago,
when
those
Shakespearean
lines
have
been
done
a
million
times
since
then?
Says
Bhansali,
"To
me
Zeffirelli's
version
of
Romeo
&
Juliet
is
the
ultimate
tribute
to
Shakespeare's
love
story.
So
many
times,
I've
wanted
to
do
my
own
version
of
Romeo
&
Juliet.
But
one
look
at
Zeffirelli's
film
makes
me
feel
I
can
never
equal
his
beauty
grandeur
harmony
and
principal
casting.
Where
I'll
find
as
perfect
a
Romeo
and
a
Juliet
as
Leonard
Whiting
and
Olivia
Hussey?"
Was
it
easy
getting
permission
to
use
material
from
Zeffirelli's
film
in
Guzaarish?
Laughs
SLB,
"Not
really.
We
had
to
seek
out
people
who
were
either
long
gone
or
in
retirement.
But
I
was
adamant.
This
was
my
only
chance
to
pay
homage
to
one
of
my
all-time
favourite
screen
romances."
Story first published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 16:29 [IST]