20 years of Chalte Chalte: Vani Tripathi Tikoo recalls shooting for the film felt like being at home

It was actor Vani Tripathi Tikoo’s character, Sheetal’s engagement scene in Chalte Chalte, when she asks her fiance about Raj and Priya’s (Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji) married life, and the film shows a flashback into their love story.

“That’s one reason the film was very special for me because I’ve never played a central character before. In Chalte Chalte, the whole story of SRK and Rani was being narrated to the Sheetal, the character that I played,” says Vani, recalling how being on set felt more like being at home.

“It was my second film with (director) Aziz Mirza and SRK, as I made my debut with Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000). So, except Rani, most of the actors were people I had worked with before or we had done theatre together,” adds the actor as the film completes two decades of its release.

The actor takes a trip down memory lane and recounts many fun moments while shooting. “Lunch time used to be one big party everyday on set. I remember Shah Rukh Khan would keep the entire unit like a family. He was also producing the film, and he goes that extra mile to make people comfortable. He always used to ask the actors, ‘How are you doing today? Do you need something? Did you eat enough food? Did you get enough sleep last week?’ He’d often say, ‘This is the least I can do’. It was this bond and compassion that made the film so special,” says Vani.

Ask if Chalte Chalte was a breakthrough in her acting career, Vani calls it her “growth period” in the Hindi film industry. She elaborates, “I had already done Dushman (1998) and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, so Chalte Chalte was a different role for me. It helped in shaping my career further in so many ways. Not just career, it helped in shaping my life because the film was so realistic about relationships and married couples in urban cities when they are trying to be aspirational.”

Stating that it feels like Chalte Chalte happened just yesterday, the actor-turned-politician says, “I still get calls and messages from people whenever they are watching the film. It was so beautiful, deep, and realistic. It can be redefined two decades later, again, and I hope someday somebody thinks of making a sequel to it.”