Imtiaz Ali recalls Dolly Ahluwalia's reaction to non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him: ‘I'll feed you in jail'

Indian Express

19 hours ago

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali recently opened up about an unusual legal controversy stemming from one of his most iconic films, Jab We Met. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Ali recounted a bizarre incident involving a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him due to the film's depiction of 'Ratlam ki Galiyan.' For those familiar with the 2007 romantic comedy, the scene in question involves Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan's characters checking into a shady hotel in Ratlam. However, Ali revealed that the depiction led to unexpected legal trouble. 'The first time there was a court summons for me and then I had a non-bailable arrest warrant because of Ratlam ki Galiyan,' he said. 'The chargesheet said that the town, erstwhile known for places like chivda, fafda, and mixture, has been defamed by Imtiaz Ali being the place of red light.'
The matter escalated after a legal notice was sent to the production house after the film had wrapped up. Ali, by then working on his next film Love Aaj Kal, was unaware of the mounting trouble. 'So one letter went and then disappeared. I was shooting in Calcutta when Dino [Dinesh Vijan] came running to me and said, 'Sir, there's a non-bailable arrest warrant and if they come to know you are here, they will come and arrest you.' I said, 'Yaar, just yesterday it was in the papers that we're shooting here.' And Dino said, 'Mera toh bohot loss ho jayega agar tu arrest ho gaya (I'll suffer a huge loss if you get arrested).'' Despite the tense situation, Ali recalled a light-hearted moment on set that helped break the tension. 'While everybody was very nervous and tense, Dolly Ahluwalia was there, I was shooting with her. She said, 'Main apne haathon se roti bana kar laungi, salakhon ke beech se aapko niwala khilaungi.' And everybody broke into laughter (I'll personally make roti and feed it to you through the prison bars).'
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Reflecting on the incident, Ali added wryly: 'If you make Jab We Met and still get summons, then how careful can you ever be?' In the same interview, Ali also shared his thoughts on what freedom truly means to him, a theme that often echoes through his films. 'I think one of the parameters is to be able to speak truth in a public forum — that is freedom. It's not only freedom, but it's a symptom of freedom that you must be able to do if you are free. If you speak every word the truth, then you are free.'
Imtiaz Ali's most recent directorial project was the Netflix musical biopic Amar Singh Chamkila, which garnered critical acclaim. He is currently preparing for his upcoming web series O Saathi Re, a romantic drama starring Aditi Rao Hydari, Avinash Tiwary, and Arjun Rampal.