Adapting ‘Half Girlfriend’ for big screen was difficult: Mohit Suri

Mumbai, Apr 20: Mohit has worked with Shraddha in Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain but this romantic drama marks his first outing with actor Arjun.
Mumbai Mohit Suri is back with yet another love story Half Girlfriend, which is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same name and the director says it was difficult to translate the book into a two-hour format for the celluloid.
“It is difficult as you can’t base the entire book in a two-hour film. There is a lot that you need to edit and make sure all the essential points are not lost out. We have changed certain things and Chetan Bhagat has been quite co-operative,” Mr Suri said.
“I have never made a film that had a story that people already knew. There is definitely pressure to living up to it (response the book got). But I have tried not to let this factor (pressure) affect me and have tried my best to stay honest to the story.”
It is the story of a rural Bhojpuri-laced Hindi-speaking boy (Arjun Kapoor) from Bihar as he enrolls himself at an English-medium college and falls in love with a rich Delhi girl (Shraddha Kapoor) who wants to be his half girlfriend.
“’Half Girlfriend’ is a story about about a guy who can’t speak English and despite Hindi being a widely spoken language, the hypocrisy in India is that those who don’t speak English are looked down upon as people who speak English are forward. It’s an interesting concept. I wanted to show how two people come from different worlds and try to figure out whose world is right,” the film-maker added.
Mohit has worked with Shraddha earlier in Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain but this romantic drama marks his first outing with actor Arjun.
“We (referring to him and Shraddha) share a great relationship that has been successful on screen. This is my first film with Arjun and he is very endearing in the film.. It was interesting to work with him”, Mr Suri remarked.
Produced by Ekta Kapoor, “Half Girlfriend” will release on May 19. PTI