Kunal Kohli’s 2004 romantic comedy Hum Tum, starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji, was said to be an unofficial remake of Rob Reiner’s 1989 landmark Hollywood movie When Harry Met Sally…, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. But the filmmaker insists it was more of his tribute to Raj Kapoor and Woody Allen than Reiner. In this edition of SCREEN Spotlight, he recalls his struggle to acquire the official remake rights, working with late Rishi Kapoor, and why filmmakers get Gen-Z romance all wrong.You tried to acquire the rights of When Harry Met Sally… (1989) for Hum Tum, but the studio turned it down. Why was that?They said the script of Hum Tum is nowhere near When Harry Met Sally…. You’re not making that film, so why should we waste the rights? It was actually influenced more by Woodie Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) than When Harry Met Sally…. But that’s an influence, a texture, a layer that I picked up from. And the second half of the film, where Rani becomes a widow and falls in love again, that was more Prem Rog (1982). It was my ode to that film. Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally….You also paid tribute to Raj Kapoor’s Bobby (1973) by recreating Rishi Kapoor’s song “Main Shayar To Nahin”. What was his reaction when you pitched that idea?He didn’t want to do the film! He said, “I have only seven scenes in the film. I’d do it if you make the role longer.” I said, “Sir, I can make the role longer by increasing it to 25 scenes, but the impact wouldn’t be the same.” He got it, and finally agreed. From the first day I met him till his last tweet on X, I’d been very fond of him. It’s one of the few times I’ve sobbed when someone has passed. It was really, really hard.Did he have fun recreating his introduction song after over 30 years?There’s no fun on set. It’s all work. In fact, there was a delay in the shoot. Raju Khan (choreographer) did the Amsterdam portions of the film. So, Rishi Kapoor came on set and asked, “Where’s Raju Khan?” I said he’s gone back. He said, “Why? You’re doing a song. Where’s the choreographer?” I said, “I’ll do it. I’ve done 27 music videos.” He said, “Okay, Mr. 27 Music Videos, give me the full shot breakdown.” He could be very difficult when he wanted to. That was his way of testing you. And he didn’t want his intro song getting spoilt. When he heard the chatter that there are only two hours of time left, I told him we don’t have the airport’s permission beyond that. He looked at me and said, “Kunal Kohli, agar tumne mera gaana thoka na toh main tumhe thok dunga!” (Laughs). But we finished it in two hours.Story continues below this adIs is true that he also did his first ever night shoot for your 2006 film, Fanaa?(Laughs) Yes, it was a late evening shoot. That was one of his life’s night shoots. A sign of how much he loved me!Was your latest film, Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story, which released last year, a tribute to Rishi Kapoor and his 1973 seminal debut, Bobby?Yes and no. If it’s called Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story, how can it not be a tribute to Rishi Kapoor? Join the dots. It’s very small, sweet film. I was sitting at home during Covid. No work, no money, nothing. The producer came to me with this script. I said, let’s do it. People have liked it on JioHotstar. Some of the songs have done well.Story continues below this adLike Bobby, your tribute to it also has newcomers, Kaveri Kapur and Vardhan Puri. But it was made over 50 years after that film. How do you make romance relevant to Gen-Z?I just wanted to tell a story. I think there’s too much being spoken about Gen-Z. In every decade, there are teenagers. And everyone thinks this is some other species. In the 1960s, they must’ve looked at the teenagers then, listening to rock and roll, and said, “Who are these people?” In the ’70s, they’d have looked at teenagers with long hair listening to heavy metal, and said, “Who are these people?” In the ’80s, they’d have seen them as punks and said, “Ye log kahan se aa gaye?” So, every generation looks at teenagers and thinks who they are. They’re the same — the bottomline is they don’t know what they want, and they think what they want. And I’m speaking as a father of a teenager. She knows exactly what she wants and also doesn’t know what she wants, at the same. I was also like that. But suddenly, there’s a name now — ‘Gen-Z’, because we want to put a name to everything.Also Read — ‘Aamir Khan tujhe 6 mahina god mein bithaega, will then say no’: What Aditya Chopra told Kunal Kohli before FanaaAre you suggesting concepts like situationship have existed for all these decades?Story continues below this adYes, there was just no Instagram to give it a title. We were just fooling around on roads. Now, they’re fooling around on Instagram. Situationship, shipping, parking, arey shut up yaar! You’re just confused about love. You can name it whatever you want. It’s just words. These words will change tomorrow. That doesn’t mean you’ve to make a film with these words. That doesn’t mean talking to Gen-Z. Talk sense to them. Give them the respect. Give them something new. They’ll come running. Did they say all of this in Saiyaara (2025)? No. Gen-Z only loved it.