On a wild journey
Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai — the movie, that is, and not Shah Rukh's infamous dialogue in Om Shanti Om — is touted to portray the struggle of any person who is seeking their passion and facing innumerable hurdles, with a liberal dose of comedy. Written and directed by Rajnish Rakj Thakur and starring Suniel Shetty in a central role, the movie's music was recently launched.
Present on the occasion was the man of the moment, Suniel Shetty, along with Shayan Munshi, Rakesh Bedi, Razzak Khan, Amitabh Dayal, director Ashu Trikha, composers Rajendra Shiv and Parvez and more. The cynosure of all eyes was Suniel Shetty, whose efforts have seen the film getting its due.
The movie picturises the journey of Amar Joshi (played by Suniel Shetty), who runs a video library in Benaras and aspires to be a film-maker. Despite facing objection from his father, Amar Joshi decides to sell his video library and join a film institute in London. The film continues on a wild journey inside the dreamy world of Bollywood, where one will see the reality of the largest film industry in the world. Suniel Shetty, Rajpal Yadav, Udita Goswami, Shayan Munshi,Shawar Ali, Neena Gupta, Razzak Khan, Deepak Shirke, Rakesh Bedi, Akhil Mishra, Avtar Gill, Rajiv Varma, Deepak Qazir, Mumait Khan and Gopi Desai star in the film.
A refreshing pair on screen
After making a hit pairing with Sanjay Dutt in the Munnabhai series, actor Arshad Warsi feels it's time to move on. He will create another on-screen jodi with Sunny Deol in Bhaiyaaji Superhit.
Directed by Neeraj Pathak, the film is an action-comedy and rumour has it that the screenplay of the film is on the same lines of Raj Kumar Hirani's hit comedy series. But Pathak has denied the rumours, saying it was Arshad's idea to create a new male-pairing with Deol.
"Arshad said since he has made a good pairing with Sanjay Dutt in the past, why couldn't he and Sunny bring on a new association? Bhaiyaaji Superhit isn't exactly on the lines of the Munnabhai series but it has ample moments that would demonstrate good chemistry between a veteran like Sunny as well as Arshad, who has been around for a decade and a half now. It is going to be magic for sure," says Neeraj.
Arshad will be seen playing the character of a film-maker and Neeraj said that the 44-year-old actor was the first choice for the role. "I was convinced that Arshad was the only actor who could play this role. It is tailor-made for him. Even though Arshad and I haven't worked together, we share a great equation. The moment I narrated the script to him, he realised that there were some excellent sequences that he would share with Sunny," he says.
The film-maker, who started his career two years ago with Deol starrer Right Yaaa Wrong, adds that selecting actors that suit the script is very important.
"Since I am a writer first, I personally feel character-detailing has to be perfect and the pacing just right. Moreover, to compliment that, you need to have actors who come with the best comic timing — I see that in my actors. When you have this combination in place, the script has to be designed in such a way that it never becomes boring when translated on screen," he explains. The film, which also stars Ameesha Patel and Tusshar Kapoor, will release early next year.
Delicacies for Junior B
Abhishek Bachchan has always been known as one of the biggest food lovers in tinsel town, and apparently, he has struck again.
Recently, the team of Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan went to the sets of the popular television show Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma, and the team from the show displayed some outstanding hospitality by arranging for some delicious food for Ajay Devgan and Abhishek.
The show's lead actress, Daya Ben — who is known to cook delicious Gujarati food — offered Abhishek Gujarat's most popular delicacy, the jalebi fafda.
Abhishek not only ate the jalebis and fafda, but went around with the dish and took the food tray to everyone personally! Not only this, he even made sure that everyone on the sets tasted it, including the staff and the technicians.
Says a source on the set, "Daya Ben couldn't believe that Abhishek actually loved her jalebi fafda and was overwhelmed with his humble behaviour."
It seems that Junior B is one down-to-earth superstar.
Set to battle the odds
After having been in the making for nearly two years, Aaalaap is now finally being readied for release — and producer Nisdhant Tripathi can't be happier about it. "Aaalaap is a film which believes in youth power and music. Make music, not war, is what they preach," he says. The director, Manish Manikpuri, adds to the general picture of the film by commenting, "It is the journey of a rock band — a band that promises to be the voice of the youth, a band that promises to fight violence with music. In a terrain infested with Naxalism, these four young men set off on the journey to change the world, knowing well that they may need to make the ultimate sacrifice in an effort to gain what they have set out to get."
Interestingly, the movie marks the Hindi movie debut of India's number one rock band Agnee as full-fledged music directors. It also stars Miss Sri Lanka, Gamya Wijayadasa. "The film, set in Chhattisgarh, is the first Hindi film indigenously produced out of the Central Indian state," concludes co-producer Abhishek Mishra. Aaalaap also stars Raghubir Yadav, Onkardas Manikpuri, Rituparna Sengupta, Amit Purohit, Ruhi Chaturvedi, Pitobash, Vijay Raaz, Abhimanyu Singh, Murli Sharma and Krishna Shrivastava.
Maharaja Features