Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar (2011), starring Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri, gave audiences fresh chemistry, one of RK’s most versatile performances and an epic music album. It emerged as a cult classic and also became one of the highest grossing films of the year. But the epic musical drama also gave us one of the most heartbreaking, bittersweet and tragic endings of all time. While Ranbir successfully transformed into Jordan from Janardhan Jhakar and achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a rockstar, he lost Heer, the love of his life. But did you know Nargis aka Heer was not meant to die in the original script of Rockstar?
Yes, you read that right. At a recent fan meet-up event held in Mumbai, filmmaker Imtiaz Ali revealed that Nargis Fakhri’s character Heer in the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Rockstar was not supposed to die originally. Imtiaz shared, “I wanted her to be alive. I wanted so many different things in Rockstar. In fact, I had written a full draft, but unfortunately I lost it and then years later when I got the chance of making Rockstar, I tried looking for it and I had lost it. It wasn’t in the computer.”
But when Imtiaz sat down to write the story again, it evolved in a different direction inspired by the Punjabi love story Heer Ranjha. The filmmaker explained, “So I wrote it again. This time when I was writing. I don’t know what happened. At the end of it, Heer was no more. I think it was also because I was following Heer Ranjha a lot. That is why the girl’s name was Heer and that she dies before Ranjha, so the movie ends before the death of Jordan.” At the end of Rockstar, Ranbir aka Jordan performs at a concert in Verona Arena, Italy. Losing Heer leaves him in a permanent state of grief, ultimately reaching a level of stardom much like his idol Jim Morrison.
Years ago, in an old interview with TBIP, Ranbir had opened up about the lasting impression Rockstar left on him, off-camera. RK had stated, “I just was uninspired. Not saying that, oh, I’ve done such a great work, I was simply uninspired. I just didn’t have anything in me. I stopped hanging out with my parents. I used to just be like a vegetable lying on my bed, not watching TV. I started to read a lot, a lot of biographies. But I was… I was empty. You know, I was sad. I was… I don’t know what it was. It was sad that such a special film was over. It was sad because I gave so much to it. And I started questioning myself, do I have more to give somewhere else?” Then came along Barfi (2012), which acted like sunshine in RK’s life.
Up next, Ranbir has Ramayana: Part 1, Animal Park and Love & War in his line-up.
