Tag: Ashok Thakeria

  • Sri Adhikari Brothers partners with Dhamaal 4 franchise for laugh riot revival

    Sri Adhikari Brothers partners with Dhamaal 4 franchise for laugh riot revival

    MUMBAI: The venerable Sri Adhikari Brothers has thrown its  hat into the comedy ring, announcing a partnership with Maruti Films to produce Dhamaal 4, the latest instalment in the wildly popular Hindi cinema comedy franchise. The deal pairs the media mogul with the acclaimed duo of Inder Kumar and Ashok Thakeria, creating what promises to be a match made in slapstick heaven.

    With more than four decades in Indian media, Sri Adhikari Brothers brings considerable heft to the project. The company has cast its net widely across the entertainment landscape, with ventures in broadcasting, content production, digital platforms, film production, VFX studios and news publications. To date, the group has launched seven broadcasting channels, produced or been associated with more than 10 feature films, and amassed a content library stretching to 6,000 hours.

    Sr Adhikari Bros chairman Markand Adhikari could barely contain his glee at the announcement: “Our aim is always to branch out into all verticals of media and grasp new opportunities. We are delighted to be associated with Maruti Film International, Inder Kumar and Ashok Thakeria for multiple projects in coming years, including the popular franchise of laugh riot Dhamaal.”

    Industry insiders suggest this partnership could inject fresh comedic blood into the Dhamaal series, which has had audiences rolling in the aisles since its debut. Kumar and Thakeria’s knack for producing box office gold combined with Adhikari’s media savvy might just be the secret sauce needed to keep the franchise’s funny bone intact.

    For Indian cinema-goers bored of the same old song and dance, Dhamaal 4 promises to be just what the doctor ordered—a hearty dose of mirth medicine. With filming expected to commence later this year, fans should prepare their funny muscles for a thorough workout.

  • Great Grand Masti….Greater disappointment!

    Great Grand Masti….Greater disappointment!

    MUMBAI: Indra Kumar acted in and made a few Gujarati films in the era of tax exemption and subsidy offered by the Gujarat government to promote Gujarati films. Indra’s forte in those days was to thrive on vulgar gestures and double meaning dialogue. It worked because Gujarati films catered mainly to a certain level of audience. He also came to be called the Dada Kondke (the legendary Marathi filmmaker) of Gujarati films. Indra directed some notable films in Hindi with top stars.

    With corporate studios calling shots and stakes gone sky-high, survival for independent filmmakers became impossible. Indra decided to go back to his Kondke style of film making starting with Masti (2004), followed by Grand Masti (2013) to now come up with the third part of his Masti series with Great Grand Masti.

    The Great Grand Masti has the same agenda as its earlier versions which is to weave a comedy around vulgarity. The male and female anatomy is the theme around which the makers plan to play. To this end, Indra lets loose his three generally out of work male characters from his earlier films, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi. All that these three have in mind is sex 24×7. It oozes from all their actions.

    All three are married to very revealing and willing girls but all three girls carry excess baggage which keeps the trio from getting anywhere close to their spouses. Since the lads are desperate for sex and their own women are not available to them, they need to look elsewhere. They decide to embark on a village where Riteish has a palatial property to sell.

    The makers think it is time to make this film hattke from the earlier two. So the angle of paranormal is added to consolidate the comedy. This is rare because paranormal on its own has few takers in Hindi films, let alone with a blend of comedy. Last one in memory is late producer-actor Deven Verma’s Bhaago Boot Aaya, inspired from a James Hadley Chase novel, Miss Shumway Waves A Wand. But, to a disastrous results.

    In absence of a script or good gags, Indra lets his three non-actors loose on the screen as they start with trying to seduce the sexy maid, Urvashi Rautela, at the palatial house and, later, to save their lives when they realize that the maid is a ghost waiting to be seduced for the last 50 years! The hide n seek between the guys and ghost is meant to be funny but it is not and falls flat. In its 127 minute duration, the only funny scene the film has is of Viagra aftereffect which, again, has been lifted from Mel Brook’s comedy, History Of The World (1981). And, that too has been killed by stretching it too far.

    The film is a poor specimen of comedy, entertainment or whatever it may be called. Nothing works here. The performers keep to their reputation and don’t act; over two hours of buffoonery is what they resort to.

    The film is poor on all counts and has no hopes at the box office.

    Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sameer Nair, Aman Gill, Ashok Thakeria, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Anand Pandit.

    Director: Indra Kumar.

    Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela, Pooja Bose, Amar Saxena, Sanjay Mishra, Shreyas Talpade.

  • Great Grand Masti….Greater disappointment!

    Great Grand Masti….Greater disappointment!

    MUMBAI: Indra Kumar acted in and made a few Gujarati films in the era of tax exemption and subsidy offered by the Gujarat government to promote Gujarati films. Indra’s forte in those days was to thrive on vulgar gestures and double meaning dialogue. It worked because Gujarati films catered mainly to a certain level of audience. He also came to be called the Dada Kondke (the legendary Marathi filmmaker) of Gujarati films. Indra directed some notable films in Hindi with top stars.

    With corporate studios calling shots and stakes gone sky-high, survival for independent filmmakers became impossible. Indra decided to go back to his Kondke style of film making starting with Masti (2004), followed by Grand Masti (2013) to now come up with the third part of his Masti series with Great Grand Masti.

    The Great Grand Masti has the same agenda as its earlier versions which is to weave a comedy around vulgarity. The male and female anatomy is the theme around which the makers plan to play. To this end, Indra lets loose his three generally out of work male characters from his earlier films, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi. All that these three have in mind is sex 24×7. It oozes from all their actions.

    All three are married to very revealing and willing girls but all three girls carry excess baggage which keeps the trio from getting anywhere close to their spouses. Since the lads are desperate for sex and their own women are not available to them, they need to look elsewhere. They decide to embark on a village where Riteish has a palatial property to sell.

    The makers think it is time to make this film hattke from the earlier two. So the angle of paranormal is added to consolidate the comedy. This is rare because paranormal on its own has few takers in Hindi films, let alone with a blend of comedy. Last one in memory is late producer-actor Deven Verma’s Bhaago Boot Aaya, inspired from a James Hadley Chase novel, Miss Shumway Waves A Wand. But, to a disastrous results.

    In absence of a script or good gags, Indra lets his three non-actors loose on the screen as they start with trying to seduce the sexy maid, Urvashi Rautela, at the palatial house and, later, to save their lives when they realize that the maid is a ghost waiting to be seduced for the last 50 years! The hide n seek between the guys and ghost is meant to be funny but it is not and falls flat. In its 127 minute duration, the only funny scene the film has is of Viagra aftereffect which, again, has been lifted from Mel Brook’s comedy, History Of The World (1981). And, that too has been killed by stretching it too far.

    The film is a poor specimen of comedy, entertainment or whatever it may be called. Nothing works here. The performers keep to their reputation and don’t act; over two hours of buffoonery is what they resort to.

    The film is poor on all counts and has no hopes at the box office.

    Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sameer Nair, Aman Gill, Ashok Thakeria, Sri Adhikari Brothers, Anand Pandit.

    Director: Indra Kumar.

    Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela, Pooja Bose, Amar Saxena, Sanjay Mishra, Shreyas Talpade.

  • Eros International acquires worldwide distribution rights of Grand Masti

    Eros International acquires worldwide distribution rights of Grand Masti

    Eros International, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, has acquired the worldwide distribution rights of the highly anticipated comedy Grand Masti. The film releases on 13 September.

     

    The film is a sequel to the 2004 smash hit Masti and features Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani and Riteish Deshmukh reprising their roles from the original and is directed by Indra Kumar.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Eros International MD Sunil Lulla said, “We are happy to continue our long association with Ashok Thakeria and Indra Kumar. Grand Masti is one of the most eagerly awaited sequels this year and with the huge success Masti enjoyed, we are confident its sequel too will be a winner at the box office. The film promises double the dose of laughter and masti as is evident from the promos and we are anticipating a very encouraging response to the film.”

     

    Producer Ashok Thakeria added, “Grand Masti is a sequel to India’s first adult comedy, carrying forward the tone set in the first part. We are positive the film will deliver what it promises and are very happy to have Eros releasing the film worldwide. Our relationship with Eros goes back a long way with them distributing all our films overseas – from Raja to Masti. This is the first time they are releasing our film worldwide and we couldn’t have asked for a better platform for its showcasing.”

     

    Grand Masti is the story of three married guys Vivek Oberoi as Meet, Aftab Shivdasani as Prem and Riteish Deshmukh as Amar go out on fun experience in their college reunion, finally to be trapped in danger. The film also features Bruna Abdalah, Karishma Tanna,Sonalee Kulkarni, Kainaat Arora, Maryam Zakaria and Manjari Fadnis in key roles.

  • Masti sequel to release in summer next year

    Masti sequel to release in summer next year

    MUMBAI: Eight years after Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Desmukh and Aftab Shivdasani went chasing Lara Dutta in the pursuit of extra-marital fun in Ashok Thakeria‘s Masti, the makers are back with a sequel Grand Masti (GM) produced by Maruti International.

    However, the sequel will have the three leading men having girlfriends of their own.

    When asked about the eight-year gap, director Indra Kumar says, “We have filmmakers making sequels after 20 years. Considering that, we‘re coming out with our sequel at the right time.” Calling the 2004 hit Bollywood‘s Hangover, the filmmaker adds, “While Masti has nothing to do with that Hollywood film, it surprised, shocked and entertained the audience.”

    Producer Ashok Thakeria also feels the same. “Masti was the first film where the lead characters boldly sought extra-marital fun. In GM, the story gets bolder,” he says. Not surprisingly, the sequel has a lot more double entendres. “It‘s an adult comedy no doubt, but it‘s going to be more entertaining than the first,” says Kumar.

    It is said that the producer-director, who churned out hits like Dhamaal and its sequel Double Dhamaal discarded a few drafts before zeroing in on the final one.

    “We didn‘t want to make a sequel just for the sake of it. The idea is to come out with something that‘s better than the first, ” says Indra Kumar.

    Having already shot for 15 days, the filmmakers plan to wrap up the schedule by November and release the film in the summer of next year.

  • Masti sequel planned

    Masti sequel planned

    MUMBAI: Going by Bollywood’s penchant to churn out franchises of their last hits, producers Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria have shown interest to take the Masti series forward.

    The duo have now approached Sanjay Dutt to replace Ajay Devgn‘s character from the original.

    Other than Dutt, the other principal cast seems to remain the same including Aftab Shivdasani, Riteish Deshmkukh and Genelia D‘Souza.

    The producers have been regularly featuring Dutt in the sequels of Dhamaal.