Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

About the film

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (transl. That's me and you) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Shakun Batra in his directorial debut and produced by Karan Johar and Hiroo Yash Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions, alongside Ronnie Screwvala of UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, with Ratna Pathak Shah, Boman Irani and Ram Kapoor in supporting roles. The plot centers on an uptight architect named Rahul Kapoor, living in Las Vegas, Nevada, who loses his job and, following a night of debauchery, accidentally marries a free-spirited hairstylist named Riana Braganza. After mutually deciding to annul the marriage, Rahul begins a one-sided attraction for Riana, which threatens to ruin their new friendship.

Development began in 2010, when Johar signed Batra and Khan for a film to be made under his banner. Inspired by the Woody Allen style of film-making, Ayesha Devitre and Batra worked on the script, with principal photography taking place in Vegas, Los Angeles, Pataudi and Mumbai. The film features music by Clinton Cerejo and Amit Trivedi, with the former composing the score and the latter composing the songs. The lyrics for songs were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. Originally slated to release during the fall of 2011, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu eventually released on 10 February 2012, to positive critical reception, with major praise directed towards Kapoor and Khan's performance, and proved a moderate commercial success.

Plot

Rahul Kapoor, an architect, has always been on the road to perfection as per the wishes of his domineering father, Sushil Kapoor, and socialite mother, Seema Kapoor. After suddenly losing his job in Vegas, he hides the truth from his parents and looks for another job. Unable to cope with unemployment, he goes to a psychologist and runs into another patient, Riana Braganza. A series of events lead Riana to believe that he is sent by her ex-boyfriend to stalk her, and she ends up taking his file by mistake.

Riana, who later realises her mistake, calls him and apologises for her behaviour. They meet up on Christmas Eve, and Riana invites Rahul to have a few drinks with her. A few drinks turn into a night of intoxicated revelry, and they end up marrying each other. Horrified the following morning, they decide to get it annulled as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Riana, who is also unemployed and has not paid her rent, loses her accommodation, and an initially hesitant Rahul lets her stay with him till her problem gets resolved. During these few days, they get to know each other better. Rahul is revealed to be interested in photography, while Riana recounts her ambition to be a ballet dancer, which was destroyed after she broke her ankle in childhood. Their friendship develops as Riana gives Rahul the long break he always wanted. As they grow closer, Rahul develops feelings for Riana, who fails to reciprocate them.

As New Year's Eve approaches, Riana plans to visit her family in India and asks Rahul to accompany her. He disagrees initially, as his parents live in Mumbai, but later gives in. Upon arrival, she introduces him to her family, making his feelings towards her grow. The next day, Riana takes him to visit her school. Amidst reflecting on her past relationships, he unsuccessfully tries to kiss her. Realising that she does not feel the way he does, he angrily leaves the school, only to almost run into a car revealed to be his mother's. He lies and tells his mother that he is in India for a research trip and that Riana is a colleague. They have lunch with Rahul's parents, where he spins a web of intricate lies to avoid telling his father the truth. He leaves Riana's house and returns to his parents, trying to tell them the truth, but once again is overpowered by his father.

Production

Pre-production work on Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu began in 2010 when Karan Johar announced his plans of making a new project with debutant Shakun Batra. Following the success of their previous collaboration I Hate Luv Storys (2010), Khan was contracted by Johar to play the male lead. In an attempt to sign in an actress who had never worked with Khan before, Kapoor was confirmed to play the female lead several days later. She had to cut her hair short and sport red streaks for her role. On casting Khan and Kapoor, Johar commented, "They could get their real life personality onto the film. Imran is meant to be this very perfectionist young man. So while he is a very stuffy kind of a character, he is also very focused and doesn't let himself go. On the other hand Kareena plays this woman who is like a modern version of Geet from Jab We Met."

Batra mentioned, "It's a slice of life film, driven by characters. The plot is not primary, emotions of the characters are at the forefront. It is set on two weeks of the life of two characters, played by Imran and Kareena." On the other hand, Johar said it was inspired by the Woody Allen style of film-making. He added that there would be "lot more conversation happening here" and there would be "these walk-talk sequences where it is just you and the camera in motion."

Principal photography commenced in November 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada after Khan had completed working on Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and later continued in Los Angeles. After completing the film's first schedule, the crew shifted to shoot in Pataudi, in the Indian state of Haryana, followed by Mumbai. As photography began in Vegas, media sources began to report that it could be an adaptation of the American romantic comedy, What Happens in Vegas (2008). Johar, however, went on to deny these reports, claiming that, if he wanted to remake the film, he would have bought the rights to it. Originally referred to as Short Term Shaadi, the title and first look was launched by Johar in August 2011 via Twitter. According to him, "Short Term Shaadi was just a working title that attached itself to this film through the making. Neither the director nor I were happy with it from the start." The name Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was derived from a song from the Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh starrer Khel Khel Mein (1975).

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