Archive · 18 Aug 2026
Zoya Akhtar Explains Katrina Kaif’s First On-Screen Kiss
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a 2011 movie directed by Zoya Akhtar.
Katrina Kaif played Laila, and Hrithik Roshan played Arjun.
In one scene, Laila rides a bike a long way to kiss Arjun.
Zoya said it was Katrina’s first kiss in a movie.
Katrina agreed because the kiss was needed to show something important about Laila.
Laila usually lives in the moment, so the impulsive kiss helped explain her personality.
Zoya compared Laila to a prince and Arjun to a sleeping beauty who needed to wake up.
The teams representing both actors wanted them to appear together in a romantic dance song.
Zoya refused because she believed the song would not fit naturally into the story.
Zoya Akhtar said Katrina Kaif had never performed an on-screen kiss before Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
Kaif agreed to kiss Hrithik Roshan because the scene was important to the screenplay and Laila’s character.
Akhtar described Laila as the “prince” and Arjun as the “sleeping beauty” who needed to be awakened.
The director rejected pressure from the actors’ teams to add a romantic dance number for Roshan and Kaif.
Akhtar said a beach song or an appearance in “Senorita” would have felt forced and disrupted the story.
- Who
- Director Zoya Akhtar, actors Katrina Kaif and Hrithik Roshan, and producers Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.
- What
- Akhtar explained Kaif’s first on-screen kiss and why she rejected requests for a Roshan-Kaif romantic dance number.
- When
- The film was released in 2011; Akhtar discussed the scenes in a later conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India.
- Where
- The discussion concerned the Bollywood film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and took place in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India.
- Why
- The kiss was intended to reveal Laila’s impulsive nature and advance the screenplay, while Akhtar felt a romantic song would be forced.
Zoya Akhtar’s Story-First Approach
The Actors’ Teams’ Commercial Proposal
Adding a romantic dance number
Zoya Akhtar’s Story-First Approach
Akhtar said she could not find a natural place for a Roshan-Kaif duet and believed a beach song or “Senorita” appearance would be a force-fit.
The Actors’ Teams’ Commercial Proposal
The actors’ management teams argued that Roshan and Kaif’s first pairing, chemistry, and dancing ability made a romantic song commercially attractive.
- Film
- Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
- Release year
- 2011
- Director
- Zoya Akhtar
- Kiss scene
- Laila kisses Arjun after riding a bike for miles
- Kaif’s experience
- Akhtar said it was Katrina Kaif’s first on-screen kiss
- Rejected ideas
- A beach song or Kaif’s appearance in “Senorita”
- Key producers
- Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment
- Sequel status
- The existing summary says Akhtar confirmed that a sequel is in the works
