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Imran Khan as Jai Singh Rathore ('Rats')
Hailing from the town of Ranjhore in Rajasthan, Jai
Singh Rathore is everything a Rathore from Ranjhore
is not supposed to be- pleasant, warm, funny, kind,
sensitive and pathologically non-violent.
Jai's father passed away when he was still an infant,
and he has been brought up by his mother Savitri. The
few years she endured as the bahu of a Rajput joint-family
remain a nauseating memory for Jai's mother. After her
husband passed away, Savitri ran away from this insane
clan and came to Mumbai, where she now works as a professional
social worker struggling with human rights issues.
Savitri's upbringing has ensured that Jai is the most
unlikely Rathore either sides of the Aravallis. Her
staunch belief is that Indian mothers are responsible
for their sons turning out to be such jerks- so she
has never pampered Jai. Everything, from preparing breakfast
to doing laundry, Jai does himself. They share a great
friendship, but also completely respect each other's
space.
The most important thing in Jai's life is Aditi. They
connected the first day they met, and nobody has ever
seen them apart since. When they are not together, they
are on the phone. And so, to friends and family, it
is simply a question of time before the two get married.
Genelia as Aditi ('Meow')
Aditi had once, in a fit of honesty, admitted to Jai
as a child, she had been teased Kali Billi by her neighborhood
friends. Jai upgrades this to 'Meow' and the name sticks.
While Aditi will murder anyone else who tries calling
her Meow, she also feels a flinch if anyone, especially
another woman, calls Jai 'Rats'.
Aditi is high on life. She loves everything to do with
life and living. She laughs easy, cries easy, gets into
scraps, adopts stray kittens, will try everything at
least once and loves good scrap. In spite of all this,
she is not exactly a tomboy. She dresses with a stylish
disregard for style. She is quite attractive; the only
problem is that she intimidates men too much, for them
to do anything about it.
An interaction with Aditi is exhausting, a friendship
just barely possible and an affair would be murder.
And the world wonders how Jai survives.
But no one doubts this. Should someone else trouble
or hurt Jai, that person would have made a vicious,
vengeful and foul-mouthed enemy for life!
Karan as Ravindra ('Rotlu')
Rotlu as the name suggests, is the whiner of the group.
Show him a silver lining and Rotlu will find you a dark
cloud. Show him a light at the end of the tunnel and
he'll think it's a train- never mind that there are
no tracks. The saving grace however is that Rotlu is
the first person to admit that he is a pessimist. He
thrives on sympathy. He knows he whines. He knows he
cribs and complaints, and that some times he tries their
patience. But the thing that makes Rotlu special is
that his love and friendship knows no bounds. He will
do any thing for a friend, especially for Aditi, whom
he secretly pines for.
Alishka as Sandhya ('Bombs')
Bombs is slow on the uptake. If she was any slower,
she would be backward on the uptake. As Aditi once remarks,
her plane needs two runways to take off.
Bombs can drive you insane with her naiveté
and innocence. She wears playboy 'Bunny' T-shirts and
accessories because she thinks rabbits are cute. She
is always the last to laugh at a joke, often without
quite getting it. She also thinks it's very funny that
they call her Bombs. Her capacity to miss compliments
or smile casually over flattery makes her a pretty frustrating
girl to woo, second only to Aditi.
Bombs is in love with Jai. So obviously, she doesn't
like Aditi too much. Mainly because she won't let Bombs
call him 'Rats' but also because she is always the center
of attraction, exactly where Bombs wants to be.
Nirav as Jignesh Patel ('Jiggy')
Jiggy is a complete miser. A rich Gujju boy with a
taste for all things loud and colorful, he is constantly
complaining about being broke and hates paying for anything.
Jiggy always forgets birthdays but hates anyone forgetting
his. He will start reminding people a week in advance
on a daily basis, along with 'subtle' hints as to what
gifts he might like to receive.
However, his friends have figured him out and there
is very little sympathy extended towards Jiggy for his
perpetual 'poverty'. The thing that Jiggy hates most
is that he is automatically expected to pay for Rotlu,
and he hates Rotlu for it. However, Rotlu is such a
masochist that he makes himself feel terrible about
this before Jiggy can even start, and sometimes Jiggy
is happy to pay just to have Rotlu shut up.
For some unfathomable reason, Jiggy gets very upset
when he hears about someone getting an American Visa.
Sughanda as Shaleen
Shaleen is so normal, you wonder what she is doing
with this lot. She is clever, perceptive, warm, and
somehow free of the hormonal angst that seems to characterize
others' lives.
She is very, very close to Aditi; they often stay over
with each other and talk long in to the night. The only
reason Aditi doesn't share all her secrets with her
is that Aditi has no secrets. In any case, it is very
difficult to keep a secret from Shaleen. She often sees
things that others have missed, and can see the course
friendships and relationships will take.
The coolest girl in college, she also adores Jiggy
and his silliness for some reason- presumably a premature
maternal instinct.
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