When fortune ran out, and other stars turned her down, Zoya Akhtar didn't look too far. She caught and cast brother Farhan in her directorial debut Luck By Chance. The siblings look back on the experience, as well as those early days when movies became everything to them.
Zoya is 36, Farhan's 35, but the two admit that people are often confused about who's older. "I guess people think Farhan is older because he made the movie first and is married with children," says Zoya.
Zoya wanted to make movies, but Farhan got there first. So she put her writing on hold to get Dil Chahta Hai on the road. When she was ready with her first film script, he said he would produce it. But then, turned down by a host of actors including Hritihik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan, she needed someone to play the lead role. As luck - or Luck By Chance - would have it, he stepped up.
"There was also a point when I couldn't shoot the film for some reason and I suggested that Farhan directs himself," says Zoya, laughing.
Brother and sister have worked together for over 10 years, and while they talk about the early years, making movies and their rapport, it's clear they share an easy camaraderie.
Image: Farhan and Zoya Akhtar | Photograph: PEOPLE magazine
Text: Karishma Upadhyay | PEOPLE magazine
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