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HOLLYWOOD,
HERE I COME!
MOVE over, Shekhar Kapur and Manoj Shyamalan. Yet another
Indian, this time a Telugu filmmaker, is all set to go westward.
VIGHNESH N, who made the film on AIDS awareness, Shraddhanjali,
has set his sights on Hollywood with The Last Laugh, which
he has made under the Universal Kids banner. The film, which
has an all-English cast, has an Indian technical team from
Hyderabad.
“I am not here to make kitsch masala movies. Even Shraddhanjali
had a message on blood transfusion and AIDS, if you remember,”
says Vighnesh. Setting out to produce films on par with Hollywood
standards, he formulated a story and travelled to Australia,
an ideal location for his subject. Casting agents helped him
rope in Farren Visotchi and Anna Wyohva to play lead roles
in the film, which is about the lonely daughter of a rich
business tycoon. The hero, a Casanova of sorts, angles for
her wealth, lures her into matrimony and thereafter, tries
to kill her. The family doctor is after her wealth, too. The
intriguing story talks about treacherous men and an innocent
girl who falls into their trap. “We used steadycams on
the shoots, and the colour and texture are on par with any
major English movie. We shot the entire film in Australia
and New Zealand, and returned to Chennai for the post production,”
says Vighnesh.
He plans to invite Shekhar Kapur for the premiere in December.
“It is my long-cherished dream to meet him. Hopefully,
he will like my movie and release it through his own distribution
network, which he has opened to promote English films made
by Indian filmmakers”.
The Last Laugh also stars Kristina Karhunen, Kellasky, Jane
Lian and John Williams. It has cinematography by P Diwakar
and background score by Vijay K Yugandhar..
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PLOTTING A COMEBACK
SO HRISHIKESH MUKHERJEE will direct another film, after all.
Having lost his son in tragic circumstances in Delhi, earlier
this year, the grief-stricken 79-year-old was further laid
low by near-blindness. And making another film has been the
last thing on his mind. Now, recuperating from an eye operation,
Hrishida is veering round to the idea once more.
Veering round, did we say? Well, so it seems, if producer
PD Gupta and actor-turned-director, Anant Mahadevan are to
be believed, that is. The twosome’s persistent pleas
to get him to don the directorial hat again seem to be bearing
fruit. And Hrishida has allowed himself to be persuaded.
There are a few hiccups to attend to, though. For one thing,
he still needs to have the other eye operated on, before he
gets back on the sets. That, most likely, may well take another
couple of months at the very least. And though Anant Mahadevan
has agreed to assist him in directing the film, the troika
are still to agree on a script. Several ideas are floating
in the air between them. Nailing down the most promising idea
of the lot, and allowing it to crystallise may take a while,
too.
You can bet on one thing, though. The film, if and when it
does eventually roll, will be a small-budget one with “an
entirely novel script.” Yes, you guessed it, the Phalke
awardee’s first priority, as always, will be to ensure
the producer’s money is “safe.” Hrishida, after
all, is a director of the old school.
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MAN OF MANY QUIRKS
HE’S a man of many descriptions. Now, he’s trying
on a new hat — as director of Khiladi 420, the Akshay
Kumar, Mahima Chowdhury starrer. But for NEERAJ VOHRA, it’s
just another day at work.
The former comedian, whose presence did not go entirely unnoticed
in films like Mann and Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega, is also a
sought-after writer of sorts, having penned the dialogue for
Hera Pheri. The erstwhile assistant of Abbas-Mustan’s
has even tried his hand at composing the music for films,
though not entirely successfully — with Pehla Nasha,
a Deepak Tijori, Pooja Bhatt and Raveena Tandon-starrer.
No, Neeraj isn’t the carefree, career-hopping filmman
as his track record makes him out to be. He’s eager to
stage an emphatic debut with Khiladi 420, so much that he’s
living, eating and breathing the film. That’s why unit
hands aren’t surprised when they catch him talking to
himself on the sets. With Neeraj, it’s just another quirk
of character, one they’ve learned to live with. Another
such quirk is that he carries two mobile phones with him wherever
he goes. “One’s for the Khiladis and the other for
the chaar sou beeses,” he laughs. In other words, one’s
for the aam junta, and this one’s always switched off
while he’s on the sets. The other is for himself to get
in touch with people should he need to, and this one’s
permanently on. Rather like having two email IDs, one official
and the other personal, did you say?
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SHEER PHYSICAL LABOUR
WHAT’S MAHIMA CHOWDHURY doing in a film like Khiladi
420, did we hear you ask? Well, what else, but playing the
heroine. So there she was, when we visited the sets at the
Golf Club, Mumbai. The scene she’s all decked up for
is a children’s birthday party. Her co-star, Akshay is
seen entertaining the kids with a variety of hand tricks,
and he’s dressed for the part, too, like a clown. And
Mahima, is, well, lolling around for her turn to face the
moviecam.
“The film’s been pretty hard work for me,”
Mahima sighs, “hard work as in sheer physical labour.”
We didn’t know hanging around, waiting for one’s
turn to face the camera involved physical labour, we tell
her. “Well, today’s an off day for me,” she
laughs.
The film has her in several stunts and action scenes, all
of which have been taxing on her. She isn’t a stranger
to action scenes, though. For despite the fact that most of
her films so far have been the family drama sort, Daag, for
one, involved a fair bit of action, too.
Later on our way out, we catch her cooing into her mobile,
and co-star, Akshay in the other room, apparently doing the
same. “Probably talking to each other,” a friend
on the sets tells us.
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THE SUICIDAL LEAP
KHILADI 420, make no mistake, has AKSHAY KUMAR playing a Khiladi
with a difference. “The script is the film’s main
highlight,” he tells us. “And the role’s exciting,
simply because the character I play is the most cunning of
all characters I’ve ever seen in Hindi films. If I have
to compare him to an animal, the first one I’d come up
with is a jackal.”
Never mind the fact that when we visit the sets, we catch
him all decked up as a clown, entertaining kids with his sleight
of hand at a birthday bash. The TV channels have already been
beaming his special stunts for the film, canned in Canada.
One of these has him standing precariously atop an aeroplane
flying at an altitude of about 8000 meters. Much to the amazement
of the seasoned Hollywood pros on the sets, he jumps off the
plane with practised ease. “They called me the Indian
version of Jackie Chan,” smiles Akshay.
So, has he forgotten the old promise he’d made to his
mom, that he wouldn’t attempt another risky stunt again?
“Don’t remind me of it,” he pleads. “It’s
a promise I keep breaking all the time. And these days, I
only tell her after the deed’s done!”
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NEGATIVE, YET POSITIVE
ALSO on the Khiladi 420 set, the other day, was MUKESH RISHI.
He has all but a minuscule, negative role in the film, we
find out. No, despite the rave reviews his role in Kurukshetra
have fetched him, Rishi isn’t about to insist on bigger
roles, or even a change of shade from the negative.
“Why would I want a change of image, now?,” asks
Rishi, reacting almost in outrage at our question. “I’ve
had to struggle to get thus far. Negative roles have given
me a certain standing in the industry, a name. Why would I
jeapordise my hard-earned image now? In any case, where are
the meaningful character roles in Hindi films?,” he asks.
That one, we admit, had us stumped for an answer.
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FINALLY, A DEBUT
HERE’S yet another model, who’s turning actor in
films. The name’s SUDHANSHU PANDEY. Yep, the same hunk
who’s currently all over the boob tube, with serials
like Kanyadaan and even a cookery show with Tarla Dalal to
his credit.
Unlike other wannabe actors, Pandey hasn’t been desperate
to sign on the dotted line. The “hyper-selective”
actor has turned down at least eight offers, as in the Deols’
Dillagi, because he thought the roles weren’t enticing
enough. In Khiladi 420, he plays a cop, a childhood pal of
Mahima’s. After playing so hard to get thus far, this
one had better be a good one, we tell him. “Oh it is,
that’s a promise,” he tells us. Well, seeing is
believing.
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A WELCOME DISTRACTION
FOR SUNNY DEOL and AMISHA PATEL and the rest of the unit of
Zee Films’ Gadar, each day at work has meant arduous
18-hour shifts. The unit has been wowing the sleepy town of
Bikaner. And though the sand and desert terrain of Bikaner’s
suburbs look good on film, sand keeps getting in the way all
the time, into one’s eyes, ears, nose and yuch, into
one’s shoes.
The stars have descended on Rajasthan’s rural folk. Apart
from Sunny and Amisha, others like Amrish Puri, Lillette Dubey,
Samar and Ehsaan have also swarmed the towns. Their racing
Tata Sumos have been a feature on the roads, where the preferred
means of local transport still are camel carts.
The film’s climax features the lead pair escaping in
a train pulled by a vintage Canadian steam engine, with the
Pakistani army in antique jeeps and trucks in hot pursuit.
The train is attacked from all sides, even set on fire. Sunny,
a peace-loving romantic till then, is cornered. Suddenly,
like a lion uncaged, he is transformed. Director Anil Sharma
and stuntsman, Tinu Verma — Mumbai’s John Woo, have
been hard at work on each detail of the chase and the climax.
For Bikaner’s townsfolk, all the action has been a welcome
distraction. Sunny is very popular around town, thanks to
Border, which was also filmed in the vicinity. Amrish Puri
gets asked, “Kya Mogambo, khush hai?,” at every
turn. And the younger crowd chants, “Amisha, Amisha,
Kaho na pyaar hai!"
A PROBLEM OF PLENTY
FOR the versatile ex-alumnus of the National School of
Drama, life has taken a new, heady turn. ANANG DESAI, yes,
the known face on the small screen, has landed not one, but
three major roles in films. And Anang, for sure, is very upbeat
about the windfall. Who wouldn’t be, when the films in
question happen to be Subhash Ghai’s Yaadein, Suneil
Darshan’s Rishta — The Bond and Anil Kapoor and
Satish Kaushik’s Badhai Ho Badhai.
Obviously, the roles have all come in the wake of Anang’s
stellar turn in Boney Kapoor’s Hamara Dil Aapke Paas
Hai. But the windfall in films doesn’t mean the end of
the road for TV offers — for he has as many as five serials
on hand — Samay, Kasak, Pratishod, Chattan and Chingari.
“I can’t tell you about the distant future, but
as of now, I feel both TV and films can co-exist. Others have
proved it’s possible, and I hope I can strike the right
balance, too,” says the modest actor. Well, way to go,
Anang!
Shaju George Alex
With inputs from Ayyappa Prasad & Shoma A Chatterjee.
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