Housefull has a Pirates of the Caribbean connection

A lot is heard and said about monkey business. Mostly referred to in plain humour, seldom does it happen that 'monkeying around' takes any serious connotation.

This is what happened during the shooting of Sajid Khan's Housefull where a monkey plays a key role in a funny fight sequence. Though the film does boast of an A plus setup with the likes of Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal and Jiah Khan towering the cast, it was the pint sized monkey that demanded most attention. Reason? Its Hollywood roots. This is the same monkey who is nothing less than a star after having worked in a mega blockbuster like Pirates of the Caribbean. No wonder, 'starry' tantrums were at its peak during the shooting of Housefull.

Laughs Sajid Khan, "It was as amusing as it gets. My first film Heyy Babyy was a multi starrer and it went along so smoothly. People asked me that how would I handle my three heroes and three heroines in Housefull but I used to laugh it away wondering what was the fuss all about. After all most of the cast members are my friends first, and have immense faith in me and each of them was quite clear about his or her role in the film. This is why I always believed that the shooting of Housefull will go on smoothly. Little did I know that of all characters in my film, it would be a monkey that would end up throwing so many tantrums."

For a highlight sequence in the film, Akshay Kumar gets all troubled due to this monkey which snatches Deepika's mobile and runs away. In the incidents that follow, Akshay gets all beaten up by the monkey; so much so that there are multiple slaps that he ends up receiving with tell tale marks all over his face. While Akshay was sport enough to live with the on-screen humiliation, all for the sake of his audience and the fun that the sequence promised, it seemed that the monkey had other ideas. He wanted to give that 'perfect take' and the makers of Housefull had no choice but to give in to the demand.

There was an entire cast and crew at a location on London where they were paying lakhs by day and here was a monkey, correction - a star monkey, which needed at least 15 days to get into the 'skin of the character'. So it took its own time to get trained, get into a completely perfect state of mind to 'act' with its co-stars and then arrive on sets.

So is it just a monkey that found itself to be in constant spotlight or is there anything more that Housefull has to offer, as far as its non-human cast is concerned? Well, for audience, it indeed seems that there is a promising entertainer ahead once Housefull releases with its mega stars that include human beings as well as animals. As for the rest, watch this space for more developments as the film readies itself for a 30th April release.

Ghajini director signs Shruti Haasan for his next

Filmmaker AR Murugadoss, the man behind the blockbuster ``Ghajini``, has signed Kamal Haasan`s daughter Shruti and Tamil superstar Suriya for his next project.

Suriya, who will soon be making his Bollywood debut, has previously worked with Murugadoss in ``Ghajini``, whose Hindi remake starred superstar Aamir Khan.

Shruti, who made her movie debut with Hindi ``Luck``, has been creating waves not only in Bollywood but also in the South. She had composed the music for ``Unnaipol Oruvan`` and is currently working on a Telegu movie.

The new untitled film with Murugadoss is her debut in Tamil cinema. The music composer for the film is Harris Jayaraj and the cinematographer is Ravi K Chandran.

Udhayanidhi Stalin will produce the movie, which begins shooting this April

Ranbir Kapoor, who has replaced superstar Shah Rukh Khan

Actor Ranbir Kapoor, who has replaced superstar Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador of Pepsi and actor Hrithik Roshan in ITC`s John Players, feels obliged to get the opportunity to take forward their legacy.


"As far as replacement is concern, Shah Rukh Khan is a legend and his contribution to Pepsi was immense. I am taking forward his legacy. As far as John Players is concerned, Hrithik Roshan is a style icon for whom I have immense respect. I believe that I am fortunate enough to get a chance to take his legacy forward," Ranbir told reporters after the logo launch of John Players at ITC Hotel here today.

Ranbir maintains that comfort should be the primary criteria while choosing clothes.

"It`s not about wearing expensive or brands. It`s something that makes you feel comfortable. There are no strict rules. It`s about what you want to wear and how you carry it," said Ranbir.

Ranbir admits that he is not brand conscious at all.

"I am not brand conscious at all. I don`t understand fashion. God has been very kind to me that I could sign up with this brand and I hope my knowledge on fashion increases," said Ranbir.

As most actors do, Ranbir would try to endorse this brand in his films as well.

"I hope so. I will try so that the producers take the help of John Players. The costume designers take clothes from John Players. All I can do is try," said Ranbir.

Print this page Print E-mail E-Mail Bookmark and Share People, not critics, decide my film`s fate: ‘Housefull’ director

Funny man-turned-director Sajid Khan doesn`t mind the `big mouth` tag. He is ready with his second film ‘Housefull’ and isn`t really bothered about reviews as he believes people, not critics, decide a movie`s fate.
"The fact is that critics don`t have to tell me whether my film is good or not. It is the job of the audience and they would decide if `Housefull` works for them," Sajid told reporters.

"Also, one thing I can state on record is that critics may give a one-star or a five-star rating to `Housefull`, but in their hearts they would like the film for sure. The same holds good for audiences who will any way watch `Housefull` multiple times regardless of the review ratings," he said.

‘Housefull’ stars Akshay Kumar in the lead along with Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan, Boman Irani, Chunky Pandey and Randhir Kapoor.

Sajid is known for taking digs at actors and filmmakers. A few weeks back, he even made fun of critics at an awards function. Did he think twice about it?

"What did I do wrong? I just picked on select critics who seem to be completely oblivious to what audiences want. May be most of them know what they are doing but then there are indeed some big critics who have goofed up repeatedly in the past," the director said.

Asked to cite some instances, he said: "I will give you an example where a critic gave three stars to both `Aladin` and `3 Idiots`. Are you telling me that the biggest flop and hit ever are alike in the way they were created? See, there have been so many instances when such critics have given a single star to films that go on to become the biggest hits of the year while movies that get four or five stars have turned out to be flops."

So isn`t he worried about his stance regarding critics backfiring? After all, his own `Housefull` is round the corner and a lot of money is at stake?

"Perhaps not all critics would be kind to `Housefull`, but what`s the guarantee that they would have been nice with their reviews had I not spoken about them at the awards function?" he asked.

According to him, ‘Housefull’ promises to be one of the biggest entertainers of the year. With music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, the film is set to release April 30.

Bipasha Basu sports nine stunning looks in Pankh

Priyanka Chopra played 12 characters in "What`s Your Raashee" and now Bipasha Basu is doing much the same in "Pankh" where she sports nine different looks.
The actress plays an imaginary character in director Sudipto Chattopadhyay`s film and her different looks will reflect the attitude and mood of the hero, played by debutant Maradona Rebello. Releasing April 2, it is produced by Sanjay Gupta.

According to Bipasha, whenever Maradona feels vulnerable, she has been given a soft look and whenever he is agitated or in self doubt, she is made to look harsh.

Bipahsha also feels that designing her look was the complete teamwork of designer Rocky S, director Sudipto Chattopadhyay and new age producer Sanjay Gupta, who were instrumental and involved in designing the right look to match the attitude of the character.

"Pankh" traces the life of a boy (Rebello) who plays a female artiste as a child in movies. When he grows up and wants to be launched as a hero, he goes through gender confusion and falls in love with an imaginary actress, played by Bipasha.

"`Pankh` is a wild ride through the underbelly of the film industry. Bipasha plays an alter ego, a fantasy and we wanted her to look like the two divas - Sophia Loren and Liza Minelli from `Cabaret`. The conception and execution of the looks were a collaborative effort between the Sudipto, the director and designers Rocky S and Gavin Miguel," Gupta said in a press statement.

The film also features Mahesh Manjrekar, Lillette Dubey, Ronit Roy, Sanjeeda Sheikh and newcomer Amit Purohit.

Priyanka Chopra witnessed Ranbir-Katrina’s blossoming love

There was one person in the film industry, who knew all along that Ranbir and Katrina are love-birds. She was none other than Priyanka Chopra, who incidentally came across Katrina Kaif, when she was discreetly meeting Ranbir in the US. According to a news daily, Katrina Kaif had frequently flown to the US to meet Ranbir where he was shooting for Sajid Nadiadwala`s ‘Anjaana Anjaani’ with Priyanka Chopra.

During her visits to her beau, Katrina always made sure that she stayed away from the set of Ranbir’s film, and no-one spotted her there. She had an alibi that she was in UK with her family for the holidays but this was not the reality as she would frequently fly from UK to the US. However, Priyanka Chopra spoiled the plans by running into her and she had to be taken into confidence.

Although Katrina`s spokesperson refuted the news calling it ‘ridiculous’ and ‘sheer rubbish’ but it’s now more than confirmed that Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina are in love and it was one of the major reasons for the actor’s break-up with Deepika Padukone. It all began during the shoot of ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’, continued during ‘Raajneeti’ and is still growing strong.

Sources reveal that Katrina and Ranbir visit each other’s house often but they are not revealing their relationship. Well, we are waiting for the official announcement.

`MNIK`s smooth release not a political stunt`: Chavan

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today said that his government`s move to ensure smooth release of Shah Rukh Khan starrer MNIK in the backdrop of Shiv Sena`s threat to stall it was not a `political stunt`.


Chavan shared stage with Shah Rukh at the inauguration of FICCI-FRAMES conference here for the first time after last month`s controversy over the film`s release in Maharashtra. The government can`t react to every development. But, when things go beyond a point and democracy is at stake, the government has to intervene, he said.

A film which has already obtained a certificate from the Censor Board need not succumb to pressures, he said. The Chief Minister thanked people of Mumbai and Maharashtra for not allowing a second censor board (Sena`s diktat). He assured total support to the film industry in terms of policy and infrastructure in the state. Chavan also sought co-ordination from FICCI to address the grievances and problems faced by the industry.

Shah Rukh said it was only because of Chavan that his film got distributed and released in Maharashtra. Yash Chopra, chairman of the FICCI Entertainment committee said the film industry has made plans to celebrate the centenary of Indian cinema in 2013.

"We will begin preparations from this year itself and seek the government`s help to organise it in the city of cinema`s birth - Mumbai," Chopra said.

India offers incredible inspiration to filmmakers and the growth potential is tremendous. Great stories and great talent have no borders, Fox Filmed Entertainment, CEO and chairman, Jim Gianopoulos said. Fox`s first Indian production MNIK is a truly global film for Bollywood, he said, adding, Fox is for forming meaningful partnerships at the local level.