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Tag: David Dhawan

  • Anupam Kher in a triple role in revamped Chashme Buddoor

    Anupam Kher in a triple role in revamped Chashme Buddoor

    MUMBAI: After a total image revamp of its title, director David Dhawan has revealed that Anupam Kher would play a triple role in Chashme Buddoor.

    “Anupam‘s character is completely new to my Chashme Buddoor. He plays three brothers namely Suryakant, Chandrakant and Prabhakant,” Dhawan said.

    The idea of taking Kher for a triple role apparently materialised when the unit descended to Goa.

    According to a source, Kher was meant to be a character who keeps showing up everywhere at the most inopportune time. Everyone in the team thought it would make more sense to have three of Kher around.

    It may be noted that the director had asked for suggestions for an alternative title for Chashme Buddoor on Twitter and other public forums.

    “The titles being suggested are incredible. From Buree Nazar Waala Tera Mooh Lal to Khatte Angoor to Nazarbattu…I‘m very confused,” he said.

  • Viacom 18 Motion Pictures unveils 2012 film release slate

    Viacom 18 Motion Pictures unveils 2012 film release slate

    MUMBAI: Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, the movie production and distribution business under Viacom18 Group, has unveiled the movie lineup for the next year.

    Starting from Abbas-Mustan‘s Players on 6 January, the company will release Pen India and Boundscript Motion Pictures‘ Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani on 9 March.

    It would be followed by Vishesh Film‘s Blood Money on 23 March. On 20 April, the company will release Wide Frame Pictures and Viacom18 Motion Pictures‘ JV Bittu Boss.
     
    The company has also announced other films, for which release dates are yet to be finalized. The list include Anurag Kashyap‘s two-part feature offering Gangs of Wasseypur, Ram Gopal Varma‘s Department, David Dhawan‘s Chashme Baddoor, Rani Mukherji-starrer Aiyaa, an untitled film starring Arjun Rampal and Chitrangda Singh being directed by Sudhir Mishra, Son Of Sardar and Sunny Deol‘s Ghayal Returns.

    “With the lineup, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures is well on track to achieve its goal of being in the list of the top three production houses in India within three years of its existence,” Viacom18 Motion Pictures COO Vikram Malhotra said in a statement.

  • Desi Boyz is a feel good romcom

    Desi Boyz is a feel good romcom

    MUMBAI: Desi Boyz is the directorial debut film of a chip of the old block, Rohit Dhawan, son of David Dhawan, who regaled the audience with many an entertainer .

    Producer: Krishika Lulla,Vijay Ahuja, Jyoti Deshpande.
    Director: Rohit Dhawan.
    Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Chitrangda Singh, Omi Vaidya, Sanjay Dutt (cameo), Anupam Kher, Mohnish Bahl.

    Wisely, Rohit Dhawan chooses a romantic comedy as his launch vehicle and proceeds to add all that such a film would need, including a dash of emotions – just enough to moisten your eyes but not so much as to flood them.

    Akshay Kumar and John Abraham share a friendship going back 15 years; while John finishes his graduation in economics, landing a cushy job as an investment banker, and has Deepika Padukone as his fiancée, Akshay has done nothing worthwhile since he arrived in London except for changing his name from Jignesh Patel to Jerry. He is a college dropout, has no fixed job and mostly survives by scrounging off John Abraham. To add to that, he is the guardian of his seven-year-old nephew, who has been orphaned.

    All is hunky dory until the recession takes its toll and establishments sack staff left, right and centre. The signboards read: ‘we fire, don‘t hire‘. As Akshay Kumar loses his job as a security guard at a mall, John Abraham too loses his banking job. Their search for work is futile. John is overqualified and unaffordable while Akshay has no qualifications worthy of a job. Akshay Kumar stands to lose custody of his nephew and they are soon to lose their apartment as well. There is just one option available to them, join Sanjay Dutt‘s escort service, Desi Boyz, with the job profile being to gratify bored rich women. Reluctantly, both turn gigolos and money is no problem anymore; the bubble bursts when Deepika finds out what her fiancé is up to and walks out on him. For his part, Akshay loses custody of his nephew.

    With this debut, Rohit Dhawan sure shows a lot of promise as a writer as well as director; his handling of the film is mature and shows his flair for feel-good cinema. However, choosing a younger star cast-oriented film would have given him a better start.

    Music is on the good side with Subah hone nade…..giving a touch of melody while the title song and other numbers are foot tapping. Photography is good. Choreography is away from the routine and offers no loo breaks. Dialogues are appropriately witty.

    Akshay Kumar looks a little fresher than his recent films but is his usual self in the acting department. John Abraham is restrained and good. Deepika Padukone is so-so. Chitrangda Singh, in a brief role, does the needful – look sexy as well as perform ably. Anupam Kher, Mohnish Behl and Omi Vaidya provide good support. Sanjay Dutt fits his character.

    With the lead stars of Desi Boyz being out of favour with the audience, Desi Boyz has lost out on the required and expected opening draw; since it has appeal for both, multiplexes as well as single screens, its collections should improve over the weekend but not enough to justify its price tag.

  • K Sera Sera to pump in Rs 2.5 billion for 20 movies

    K Sera Sera to pump in Rs 2.5 billion for 20 movies

    MUMBAI: K Sera Sera is planning a production pipeline of 20 movies and has announced an investment outlay of Rs 2.5 billion over the next two years.

    The company will also foray into regional film production. “We have been looking at aggressively scaling up and have signed up big ticket directors. We plan to produce more than 20 films, which will be released by end-March 2008, at a total outlay in excess of Rs. 250 crores,” said K Sera Sera managing director Parag Sanghavi.

    The company has signed up a wide spectrum of directorial talent like David Dhawan, Abbas Mastan and Priyadarshan which it believes will give it a definite edge in the battle for market share in the Hindi feature films business. “We are in advanced stages of discussions to forge an alliance with yet another leading Bollywood director who has won immense critical and popular acclaim. We shall share details at an opportune time in the near future,” Sanghavi revealed.

    How does the company fund these projects? In the first phase, K Sera Sera will require Rs 1.1 billion, of which it has deployed Rs 550 million for the four movies which are on floor. Besides, it will use Rs 300 million from the money it raised through a follow-on public issue. The debt component will be around Rs 250-300 million.

    K Sera Sera recently launched its first initiative of film distribution as a test case in Mumbai. Elaborating on the plans to release more films in the near future, Sanghavi said, “We released Malamaal Weekly with a total of 150-plus prints including digital prints in Mumbai. The film achieved a revenue of close to Rs 40 million, which was much more than what was achieved by mega starrers like Family and Zinda in the same time.”

    The company is planning to make 8-10 movies a year, scaling up from three movies it produced for the current fiscal. “We should see a topline growth of over 100 per cent year-on-year in FY 07 and 08 from the expected March 06 figures of Rs 700 million. Profitability too is expected to grow at the same rate,” said Sanghvi.