MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Studios has announced its next film ‘Khoobsurat’, a wholesome family entertainer in association with actor-producer Anil Kapoor and producer Rhea Kapoor. The film is being directed by writer and an ace ad-film director Shashank Ghosh and will star Sonam Kapoor in the lead role.
The film has great ensemble cast which includes Kirron Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah and Amir Raza Hussain. The film narrates the story of Mili (Sonam Kapoor), an exuberant, vivacious and fun girl, who turns the lives of a royal family upside down.
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For a long time now we were looking for a script with Disney’s values and we’re happy to have found that in ‘Khoobsurat’. A delightful film, I believe that ‘Khoobsurat’ is entertainment with a heart. We are also looking forward to working with Anil Kapoor Film Company on this lovely film,” said Disney UTV senior creative director – studios Rucha Pathak.
“We are so excited to bring you ‘Khoobsurat’ with Disney India. Disney always stood for wholesome and heartwarming entertainment and we look forward to creating that with this film as well. Shashank’s take on the film is unexpected, colourful and fun everything you find in your favourite Disney movie!” added producer Rhea Kapoor.
The film went on the floors recently in Bikaner, Rajasthan and will hit the screens by mid-2014.
Yes we have some challenges facing the industry. There is a dearth of good script writers, most of the stories that come to us are unfortunately cut and paste jobs, either from movies or from across different shows. Original thinking is surprisingly missing. Then if you look at the comic genre, there are hardly any good comedy writers, in fact you can count them on your fingers. So either there is a genuine dearth or we haven’t been able to scout & nurture talent as an industry. We like to work with the same people who are so overloaded with work and are unable to devote 100 per cent to one story (There ofcourse are exceptions to the rule). Production houses have become executors, the channel EP’s take credit when a show does well but blames the production house, script writer, everyone else when the show flops. We need to move to a system where the production house takes cent per cent accountability to deliver a show and its ratings. A system where they are both incentivised and penalised for performance. The channel EP’s must strictly supervise that all deliverables are met & quality check. The producer of the show must have a skin in the game so that they are fully involved.
Television is a very potent medium. The beauty of TV is, you take anybody and put them on television a couple of times and they will become a celebrity. TV fiction stars are more popular than film stars even though they may not get the same adulation as a film star. But the truth is they invade millions of drawing rooms and bedrooms day in and day out 365 days of the year in the remotest parts of the country. I have had legends in the field of art and culture or even very eminent people from different walks of life wanting to meet some of the characters from their favourite shows. I have seen film actors’ parents wanting a picture with their favourite TV star…The problem with TV stars is their life span is comparatively short and their fortunes are linked to the performance of, at most times, just one show. Once the show is successful some of them forget what got them there in the first place and there is no one to counsel them or professionally manage them. So that is another area, that we need to work on and develop as an industry.
