Anjaana Anjaani
Production
Production
----------

### Development

After having directed three back\-to\-back [romantic comedies](/wiki/Romantic_comedy "Romantic comedy"), namely *[Salaam Namaste](/wiki/Salaam_Namaste "Salaam Namaste")* (2005\), *[Ta Ra Rum Pum](/wiki/Ta_Ra_Rum_Pum "Ta Ra Rum Pum")* (2007\) and *[Bachna Ae Haseeno](/wiki/Bachna_Ae_Haseeno "Bachna Ae Haseeno")* (2008\) (also starring [Ranbir Kapoor](/wiki/Ranbir_Kapoor "Ranbir Kapoor") in the lead), [Siddharth Anand](/wiki/Siddharth_Anand "Siddharth Anand") wanted his next film to be a romantic comedy\-drama, yet different from the usual films which were being made at the time. Anand felt he had run out of plot ideas, believing he was writing just "another story". His wife Mamta then came up with the core narrative concept about "two suicidal strangers meeting and falling in love". Anand revealed that this changed his viewpoint, saying: "It was a scene that got me completely excited and we started writing immediately. It is a scene that dictates the story."

[thumb\|250px\|right\|alt\=A photograph of Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra looking from the camera\|[Ranbir Kapoor](/wiki/Ranbir_Kapoor "Ranbir Kapoor") and [Priyanka Chopra](/wiki/Priyanka_Chopra "Priyanka Chopra") were in talks to star together in another film by [Siddharth Anand](/wiki/Siddharth_Anand "Siddharth Anand") and [Sajid Nadiadwala](/wiki/Sajid_Nadiadwala "Sajid Nadiadwala"), which did not happen.](/wiki/File:Priyanka_Chopra%2C_Ranbir_Kapoor_at_the_launch_of_%27Barfi%21%27_promo_05.jpg "Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor at the launch of 'Barfi!' promo 05.jpg")
Anand then approached [novelist](/wiki/Novelist "Novelist") [Advaita Kala](/wiki/Advaita_Kala "Advaita Kala") to develop the story into a feature\-length script. Although a bit hesitant, she accepted the offer. Intrigued by the premise of the story, Kala started sketching the characters over the next few days, and began writing the script, which she found very different from writing novels. Anand helped her understand the process of writing screenplays and co\-wrote with her. Kala wrote the first draft, approaching it like writing a book, and sent it as chapters to Anand, saying: "Writing a screenplay can also be a lonely process like writing a novel, but along the way when others get involved, it becomes a fun, collaborative effort."

In an interview with the *[Deccan Herald](/wiki/Deccan_Herald "Deccan Herald")*, Anand talked about how the American [sitcom](/wiki/Sitcom "Sitcom") *[Friends](/wiki/Friends "Friends")* influenced the film's two characters revealing he wanted viewers to respond to the titular characters in a similar way. He said: "I remember when I watched *Friends* I wanted to meet and know every character. That's how I want audiences to feel about Kiara and Akash." He also wanted the two to resonate with the audience the way the characters in *[Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge](/wiki/Dilwale_Dulhania_Le_Jayenge "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge")* (1995\) did. In another interview discussing the film, Anand revealed that he wanted to make it different from his earlier films, aiming for it to be a "subdued romance", which is not sexy. He said: "Everyone is going to be covered up in scarves and mufflers and trench coats and boots. This is a rare instance that you’ll see Indian actors dressed full up without skin show."(sic) In September 2009, it was announced that [Sajid Nadiadwala](/wiki/Sajid_Nadiadwala "Sajid Nadiadwala") would produce the film as he was highly impressed by the script.

[Priyanka Chopra](/wiki/Priyanka_Chopra "Priyanka Chopra") and [Ranbir Kapoor](/wiki/Ranbir_Kapoor "Ranbir Kapoor") were the original choices for the film and their casting was confirmed by Anand in August 2009\. After Chopra had starred earlier in Nadiadwala's *[Mujhse Shaadi Karogi](/wiki/Mujhse_Shaadi_Karogi "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi")* (2004\), both had wanted to work together again, but nothing had materialized. Much later, Nadiadwala reached out to her to discuss a film he was developing with Anand and Kapoor. Chopra met Anand to discuss the script, but the project did not work out. Later when Nadiadwala approached her again with the script of *Anjaana Anjaani*, Chopra accepted the role. [Manish Malhotra](/wiki/Manish_Malhotra "Manish Malhotra") designed Chopra's clothes, while Mamta Anand designed Kapoor's. [Salim\-Sulaiman](/wiki/Salim%E2%80%93Sulaiman "Salim–Sulaiman") composed the background score, while Rameshwar S. Bhagat edited the film.

### Filming

[thumb\|250px\|left\|alt\=A photograph of Golden Gate Bridge\|The film's opening suicide attempt scene features the 2 characters at the [Golden Gate Bridge](/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge "Golden Gate Bridge").](/wiki/File:Golden_gate2.jpg "Golden gate2.jpg")
[Principal photography](/wiki/Principal_photography "Principal photography") began in [New York City](/wiki/New_York_City "New York City") in late December 2009\. The setting of the film required filming in winter during the festive season of Christmas leading up to New Year's Eve. [Ravi K. Chandran](/wiki/Ravi_K._Chandran "Ravi K. Chandran") handled the cinematography, while [Sharmishta Roy](/wiki/Sharmishta_Roy "Sharmishta Roy") handled the film's production design. Filming was done in various locations in New York City, [Las Vegas](/wiki/Las_Vegas "Las Vegas") and [San Francisco](/wiki/San_Francisco "San Francisco"). Anand wanted to capture the distinct flavor of each city.

Anand selected the cities to augment the characters' backgrounds. San Francisco was chosen to depict Chopra's character, Kiara, as he thought it was "the right backdrop to highlight her life and character". He chose New York City for Kapoor's character, Akash.  Anand described "Blush", the car driven by Chopra's character, as the film's third lead character as it is featured extensively. After going through several car options, he chose a vintage red 1963 [Ford Falcon Sprint](/wiki/Ford_Falcon_%28North_America%29 "Ford Falcon (North America)"), which was later purchased especially for the film as Anand thought the car should represent all of Kiara's attributes. This allowed the art director to modify the car's interior with a lot of detailing to suit Kiara's character.

The ice\-skating scenes were filmed at [Wollman Rink](/wiki/Wollman_Rink "Wollman Rink") in [Central Park](/wiki/Central_Park "Central Park"), requiring the rink to close to the public for three consecutive days. Some scenes with the leads were also shot at Cafe Lalo, the same restaurant where *[When Harry Met Sally...](/wiki/When_Harry_Met_Sally... "When Harry Met Sally...")* (1989\) was shot. The film was also shot at the [Rockfeller Center](/wiki/Rockfeller_Center "Rockfeller Center"). The producers had earlier scouted for a public bridge in India that they could use for four days, but due to the [2008 Mumbai attacks](/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks "2008 Mumbai attacks") obtaining permission from the local government was difficult. The search ended in [Kuala Lumpur](/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur "Kuala Lumpur"), where a scene of Kiara and Akash attempting suicide was shot. The opening suicide attempt sequence was filmed at the [Golden Gate Bridge](/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge "Golden Gate Bridge"). Several scenes were shot in Las Vegas, Nevada. Additional filming was done in [Malaysia](/wiki/Malaysia "Malaysia") and [Thailand](/wiki/Thailand "Thailand").

[Ahmed Khan](/wiki/Ahmed_Khan_%28choreographer%29 "Ahmed Khan (choreographer)") handled the song choreography of the film. In June 2010, it was announced that a new song would be shot for the film. Shooting ended in July 2010 after filming for the club track was completed. In September 2010, a promotional video for the remix ballad version of "Tujhe Bhula Diya" was shot in [Film City](/wiki/Film_City%2C_Mumbai "Film City, Mumbai"), [Mumbai](/wiki/Mumbai "Mumbai").


Are there any plans to recreate the ice-skating scene in another movie?