From Tuffy in Hum Aapke Hai Koun to Entertainment in It’s Entertainment – dogs are often seen playing pivotal roles in our Bollywood flicks. The latest one to join their bandwagon is Pluto Mehra in Dil Dhadakne Do. When I caught up with the Mehra family (Ranveer Singh aka Kabir Mehra, Priyanka Chopra aka Ayesha Mehra, Anil Kapoor aka Kamal Mehra and Shefali Shah aka Neelam Mehra), I realised that there’s someone else who is very much a part of their clan in the film. It seems he has a full-fledged role to play in the movie and his dialogues are written by ace lyricist and writer, Javed Akhtar. Some recent reports claim that Aamir Khan has lent his voice to Pluto’s character. When I asked Mr. Singh about Pluto yesterday, he just mimicked Aamir and smilingly said, “Kisi star ki awaz toh di gayi hai par woh kaun hai, woh aapko baad mein pata chalega!” From his demeanor, it seemed like it is Aamir indeed! (Won’t it be so cool if it’s his voice?) Elaborating more on Pluto’s character, he shared:
Pluto ek mazedaar character hai. His dialogues are have been written by none other than Javed Akhtar. Aur woh kutta kya kamaal ka tha yaar, very handsome and healthy boy! He’s so fit, he’s such a hero dog! The way his handlers used to pamper him, we would wonder ki itna peeche kyon bhaagte hain iiske; aisa treatment insaan ko nahin milta! What he delivers is incredible. He’s a true actor. It was my first experience of working with an animal in a movie and it was just wow, takatak. We used to control ourselves and always tried to keep a calm environment around him so that he doesn’t get distracted and is able to perform. But when I saw a scene of his during one of the sessions, uusne jaan hi le li! He’s so cute. He’s a beautiful Bullmastiff with a beautiful face. And Zoya Akhtar was very clear about the kind of face she wanted this dog’s character to have. She wanted a certain melancholy in the dog. So she chose this one. You will understand why when you see the film.
Can’t wait! CAN’T WAIT!
(PS: My friend and teammate Shreemi had declared Pluto to be the star of the movie the moment she finished watching the trailer!)