‘We had already sold him’: Shaleen Malhotra’s funny story about casting Karan Wahi | Exclusive

Shaleen Malhotra, Suyyash Rai, Karan Wahi and Surbhi Jyoti (Pics via Instagram)

Shaleen Malhotra is stepping into a new creative space with Seven and a Half Dates, a musical romantic drama he has co-directed alongside Suyyash Rai. In an exclusive conversation with mid-day, the actor-director opened up about his long-standing love for writing, the emotional core of the series, and the amusing story behind casting Karan Wahi in the project.

Shaleen Malhotra on his transition journey

Talking about transitioning into writing and direction, Shaleen revealed that storytelling has always been a deeply personal passion. "I've always written things, but I've never really published them or sent them out to the world. I never really felt the need of it," he shared. Despite exploring new creative avenues, he emphasised that acting remains his primary identity. "I've always been an actor, I still am an actor, and I still choose to be known as an actor. Direction is just a part of it and writing has been a part of me since the very beginning."

Reflecting on how his creative instincts developed over the years, Shaleen spoke about writing poetry and stories from a young age. "Starting when I was probably very young, I used to write poems, stories, short stories. Then came me being an actor, so your understanding of scripts comes with it. Then of course you do research, you read the theory of cinema so you understand filmmaking, and then you watch, you explore and hence the writing came into place."

The idea for Seven and a Half Dates came together unexpectedly after a conversation with Suyyash Rai. Recalling the moment, Shaleen said, "One fine day Suyyash called me and said, ‘I want to make a musical. The story should go with the songs.' I told him there's one thing, I'll send it to you. So I sent it to them, they loved it, they called for narration and we narrated it. That was as simple as that. We didn't have to go door to door selling the story."

On casting Karan Wahi for the series

Shaleen also spoke about the emotional intention behind the series and why he believes audiences will connect with it. "When you're watching anything dark or serious, it's because people want to see it. But when there's a show like this and there's a smile by the end of it, or butterflies in the stomach, or even an ache in the heart that's why we made it. It has to touch you. Whether it's heartbreak, love, sadness, or just the music that makes you smile, any of those feelings matter."

One of the most entertaining moments from the interview came when Shaleen recalled how casually Karan Wahi was brought on board for the project. "We had already told the producers that Karan is doing it. He didn't even know! On the fifth day of the shoot, he got to know he was also getting paid," he joked. Shaleen further shared, "I called him and said, ‘Brother, we've sold you. You are doing it.' He said, ‘At least tell me something!' I asked him, ‘Will you refuse after reading the screenplay?' He said, ‘No, but at least let me know what I'm going to do.'"