Interesting facts about Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer ‘2 States’

‘2 States’ was one of the most successful movies in Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Bollywood career. Though it was an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s best-selling novel, the Bollywood tinge that was added to the story stole our hearts. Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor’s sizzling chemistry made headlines which also led to speculations of them being in a relationship. However, both the stars rubbished these reports and soon these rumours died down. As the movie completes 4 glorious years, here are some of the most unknown facts about the Punjabi-South Indian love story we bet you didn’t know.

While Alia seemed like the perfect South Indian girl to play the role of Ananya in the movie, it was reported that Anushka Sharma was Karan Johar’s first choice. Anushka turned down Karan’s offer reportedly citing that she wasn’t convinced about the role that was asked to play. But few reports also claim that the talented actor couldn’t accept the film as she was too committed to Rajkumar Hirani and Anurag Kashyap’s ventures.

Alia played the role of a Tambrahm girl who believes in doing things her way no matter what the society says. Despite her family’s opposition, she still tries to convince them about her love Krish (Arjun Kapoor).

Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same name ‘2 States’ happens to be one of the 5 novels which were adapted into full-fledged Bollywood films. ‘3 Idiots’, ‘2 States’, ‘Kai Po Che’, ‘Hello’ and ‘Half Girlfriend’ are all based on Chetan Bhagat’s novels.

For the uninitiated, ‘2 States’ is a story about two individuals who hail from completely different regional backgrounds and fall in love with each other in college. Despite numerous oppositions from their respective families, they choose to stick to each other. However, tensions keep resurfacing in their lives which eventually make them part ways. But, do they end up together, in the end, is something to watch for in the movie.

Anushka Sharma wasn’t the only one who was approached for ‘2 States’, but Priyanka Chopra too was supposed to play the lead in the movie. In December 2010, a media portal reported how Priyanka Chopra after being confirmed for the lead role in ‘2 States’ was suddenly dropped, thanks to the leading actor Shah Rukh Khan and his belief that the script demanded a fresh face.

However, Shah Rukh later apparently changed his mind and convinced Priyanka to come on board for the film, but PeeCee’s alleged fallout with Vishal post ‘Saat Khoon Maaf’ added to her decision of refusing the movie. Initially, it was Vishal Bhardwaj who came on board as the director of the movie. The fact that she was a Punjabi and the character was that of a South Indian girl, also worked against the actress.

Not just Alia, even Arjun Kapoor wasn’t the makers’ first choice for playing the lead actor in ‘2 States’. As per reports, the movie ‘2 States’ was earlier offered to Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor as well as Saif Ali Khan before the ‘Ishaqzaade’ star, Arjun Kapoor was roped in.

During the trailer launch of the film, producer Sajid Nadiadwala had said, “Look at the journey the film has taken. It started with Saif Ali Khan green lighting the project. Then Shah Rukh Khan and later Ranbir. After that, Karan came to me saying let’s make it with Arjun and I fell off my chair. However, when we started making the movie and I saw the final product, I thought Karan was right in his judgement.”

After Priyanka refused the offer, it was reported that ‘Ghajini’ actress Asin Thottumkal will play the lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan in ‘2 States’. Given her South Indian background, the makers thought of her as the perfect choice to play the role of Ananya Swaminathan in the movie. It was also reported that even Deepika was too approached for Alia’s role.

Asin had already worked with the other two leading Khans of Bollywood and if this casting was confirmed then she would’ve been the first among her contemporaries, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor or Anushka Sharma to have worked with all the three big Khans of Bollywood. It was also reported that even Vidya Balan was being considered for the role after Priyanka Chopra, since the female lead in the film is South Indian. However, none of these actresses came on board for the film and the role finally fell on Alia’s lap.

There's a slight difference between the film and actual story. While the movie shows a happy ending with Krish and Ananya getting married after their parents’ consent, in real life novelist Chetan Bhagat’s father did not agree to his marriage to his wife Anusha. So much so, that he didn’t even turn up for their wedding.

Chetan also revealed that giving this love story a happy ending helped heal his turbulent relationship with his father as well. Speaking about the same, Chetan said, “He lives in Delhi and I rarely meet him. I last met him at a family function two years back. Even if not forgiven completely, there is no anger in me today and at least I have reached a stage of indifference. I am still working on it. I have a disproportionate influence today, so I can say these things and I am sure he has his own side.”

‘2 States’ was shot in IIM Ahmedabad where Chetan and his wife actually studied. The team even released a proper wedding invite to promote the movie. Given the rumours about Arjun and Alia dating, for a moment, fans and media got tricked that the stars are engaged. Getting immense popularity for the plot and the actors, the movie the film made 100 crores at the box-office which was Alia Bhatt's first 100 Crore Club movie. This was also Arjun's first romantic role after ‘Gunday’ and ‘Ishaqzaade’ where he essayed the role of an angry young man. '