Kohli hooked on to love stories, prefers creating romantic sagas

Romantic comedies may be the latest fad in B-town, but Kunal Kohli's heartlies in pure love stories. And the director says that the key to a successful romantic movie lies in the right chemistry between the script, music and lyrics.

"I have grown up watching Yash Chopra and Raj Kapoor's films. They have always made most iconic films and have always made love stories," Kohli, who is gearing up for the release of his next love story, "Teri Meri Kahaani", told IANS.

"These days people are trying different genres like rom-com, action and comedy. But my belief has always been with romantic films. I have nothing against rom-com, but I prefer love stories and that world of cinema," he added.

Kohli says even the most romantic couple's chemistry will not work unless the film's script, music and lyrics are in tandem.

"I strongly believe that the chemistry has to be in the script, music and lyrics. Everything has to be justified or else even the most romantic couple's chemistry will not work. The dialogues have to be written properly. The chemistry comes after all that. The music then takes things further," said the filmmaker.

He has roped in Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, whose chemistry in "Kaminey became the talk of the town, for "Teri Meri Kahaani" that travels through three different eras. The film is coming out June 22.

The filmmaker says when it comes to music, he would not like to follow any trend.

"Everyone talks about youth and we feel that youngsters like particular kind of music. But the fact is that we have a desi youth. We should stop saying what they want and we should give them something different like qawalis, shayaris and all," said Kohli who has adapted in "Teri Meri Kahaani".

Shahid will be seen reciting poems in the movie, and the filmmaker said that "the shayari that Shahid delivers has all been written and Shahid has done a wonderful job. Both Shahid and Priyanka look absolutely stunning and the result is there for everyone. Acting is all about reacting and both of them have done an outstanding job."

In a period film, sets are important and Kohli gives credit to his art director Muneesh Sappal for creating perfect backgrounds to shoot romance in various time periods.

"My art director (and his team) has done a terrific job. They played a vital role in recreating the era. They created Bombay in the 1960's when we had very less traffic. It is fascinating to go back and see when there were no cell phones how people used to communicate. All these things make the era all the more interesting," he said.

-Uma Ramasubramaniam