Posts tagged farhan akhtar

Shah Rukh and I are just happy friends-Hrithik Roshan

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Hrithik Roshan deconstructs how he and Shah Rukh Khan went from being cordial colleagues to best friends thanks to their wives By Meena Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 30, 2010)

It took a decade for two of Bollywood’s biggest heroes to put their egos behind them and strike up a friendship based on “pure love”.

In 2000 when Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Mohabbatein released, reigning actor Shah Rukh Khan and one of the most talked about newcomer Hrithik Roshan most certainly didn’t see eye to eye.  In fact, the media had a field day playing up their differences.  Sources say that even when Karan Johar brought them together for his film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the two were just about cordial with each other.

However, things are quite different now. The last year and a half has seen a 180 degree turn in the equation between Shah Rukh and Hrithik, who are now best friends. Hrithik says, “We have our wives to thank for this.  Gauri and Sussanne are very very close.  And yes, in a way they have brought Shah Rukh and me closer.”

Pondering over their now thick as blood relationship, Hrithik says, “Shah Rukh has always been extremely warm even when we were not so close. I have come to respect him for that.”

“We have become very close and have partied together so often.  We have celebrated each other’s successes and also each other’s failures. Shah Rukh and I are just happy friends and we look for every little excuse to spend time with each other,” adds More >

Priyanka in Ranbir-Katrina starrer Khamoshi?

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in ,

Priyanka Chopra to play a mentally challenged role in the Katrina Kaif-Ranbir Kapoor starrer Khamoshi

By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 29, 2010)

Be it their films or their friendship, Katrina Kaif and Ranbir Kapoor are the flavour of the season. After starring in the romcom Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Prakash Jha’s soon-to-release Raajneeti, the two youngsters will be seen together in Anurag Basu’s Khamoshi.

However, the two will be far from being a cosy twosome both on and off the screen. Buzz is that Priyanka Chopra will also be playing a lead role in the film. According to sources, Priyanka, who makes an entry only after the interval and plays a mentally challenged character, loved the script and immediately agreed to star in it. This will be Priyanka’s second film with buddy Ranbir with whom she also stars in Siddharth Anand’s Anjaana Anjaani.

Priyanka Chopra Ranbir Kapoor Katrina Kaif

Among the long list of filmmakers who are keen to get Katrina and Ranbir to star in their film is director Imtiaz Ali. But Katrina turned down the offer to star in his film Rockstar opposite Ranbir and chose to star in Anurag Basu’s film instead.

However, considering that Imtiaz Ali is known to always let his lead actresses take centre stage in his films, Katrina could have second thoughts after she hears of the latest addition that she isn’t the only actress to star in Khamoshi, which has Ranbir playing a deaf and mute More >

‘Crooked’ is now ‘Game’

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

It’s not ‘Crooked’ anymore, say producers Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar

SHARIN WADER BUTANI Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; March 29, 2010)

What was Crooked has been set straight. Excel Entertainment’s Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar have changed their game plan and this time it’s final. The film that they are producing, directed by Abhinay Deo with an impressive cast including Abhishek Bachchan, Sarah Jane Dias, Kangna Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Jimmy Shergill, Gauhar Khan and Shahana Goswami, is now being called Game.

“Crooked was just the working title,” says Ritesh, who revealed the first look of his stars to BT. Handling the huge starcast has not really been an issue for the producers as “they are bonding really well,” says the much-relieved Ritesh. And why not! He and Farhan had seen to it that everyone was comfortable and at home while shooting. They presented gift hampers of champagne and chocolates to the cast on the very first day of the shoot. Including Abhishek, who has been put on a strict diet by his wife Aishwarya. “We are going to be shooting in Samos in Greece, and then Istanbul in Turkey, the entire unit is going to be there… what fun,” says Ritesh.

Though some of the actors are only required in Greece for a couple of days, the generous producers are allowing them to stay on after their shoot is done. Abhishek, who celebrates his wedding anniversary next month, will even have Ash on location where More >

‘Crooked’ is now ‘Game’

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 24, 2010)

The name of the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer Crooked has been changed to Game. “Right from the start, we were clear that we didn’t want the film to be titled Crooked. The connotation was too negative. Although we were hunting for another title from the day we started shooting, nothing seemed to fit. And what did fit, wasn’t available to us. We were really getting worried,” says a source. In a fit of desperation, Farhan (who is co-producing the film with Ritesh Sidhwani) even offered Rs one lakh to anyone in the team who came up with a suitable name.

With the film being 50 per cent ready, the need to get a fix on the title had become urgent. Says Farhan, “The title Game was registered with Percept Pictures, but Shailendra Singh was extremely gracious in organising the transfer of the title to us.”

Hrithik, Abhay, Farhan, Katrina all set for road trip

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar to take on an exciting journey with three hot babes

SHARIN WADER BUTANI Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; March 21, 2010)

Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar are at it again. The producer duo, who rocked Bollywood with their mega blockbuster Dil Chahta Hai in 2001, a story about three best friends — Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan — have once again brought together three hunks for their next big one. So there’s Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Farhan himself in this untitled film to be directed by Zoya Akhtar, which has Katrina Kaif, Kalki and another hot babe from London. A road trip to Spain is what the story is about and insiders say, one will get to see places unheard of, after all, Ritesh and Farhan themselves have gone on a road trip to Spain for the same. Ritesh, who was boarding a flight to Spain, said, “I can’t reveal much about the plot. We begin shooting this summer and the film will release in the beginning of next year.”

That’s going to be a long wait for Hrithik, Farhan and Abhay’s fans and besides, there’s also the hot Katz and Hrithik pairing which has never been seen onscreen before. In all of Excel Entertainment’s films, the look of the stars in this film will also be different.

Working on their looks is stylist Arjun Bhasin. “The film’s going to be shot in one schedule from May to August this year. All the stars have given bulk dates for the same. It starts and More >

Boom time for Bollywood as big trading returns

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Meena Iyer | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; March 17, 2010)

Mumbai: Bollywood pashas are on the move again. After a lull of almost a year, when the economic slowdown robbed showbiz of its glitter, there has been some serious trading happening in Bollywood in the last three weeks.

Trade reports say that Eros International has closed the deal on an Imtiaz Ali-Ranbir Kapoor project at Rs 55 crore; UTV Motion Pictures will get the worldwide rights of the Farah Khan-Akshay Kumar flick Tees Maar Khan at Rs 55 crore reportedly; and Reliance Big Entertainment is said to have acquired the Farhan Akhtar-Shah Rukh Khan project Don 2 at an alleged Rs 105 crore.

A trade source confirms that Big is also keen on adding the Shah Rukh Khan-Anubhav Sinha project RA 1 to their roster and the prices being circulated for the acquisition are reportedly even above the price of Don 2. Besides these, leading film corporations are bidding for the rights of one more project with a star son.

Trade analyst Amod Mehra says, “The reason big projects are being sought after by the film corporations is that a couple of the corporations are going in for their IPOs. They need to acquire big projects to open well.’’

A trade insider says Eros (one of the film corporations that is reportedly coming up with their IPO) is part-producing Rockstar with Ashtavinayak Cine Vision.

Independent producer N R Pachisia says, “It isn’t as if the market has opened up. B- and C-grade projects More >

Zoya’s Hrithik-Farhan-Abhay starrer gets a title

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
After playing dysfunctional, introverted characters, both Farhan Akhtar and Hrithik Roshan are eager to let loose in Zoya Akhtar’s Running With The Bulls, a road film about male bonding which will be shot in Spain By Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 05, 2010)

Both Farhan and Hrithik have recently played or are playing dysfunctional and largely introvert characters. While Farhan voluntarily went into a shell to play the loner Karthik in his latest release Karthik Calling Karthik, Hrithik has been undergoing his own share of solitude as the paraplegic in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s forthcoming Guzaarish.

However, both will now get into more gregarious territory with Zoya Akhtar’s, Running With The Bulls. Incidentally, the film is about male bonding, a similar subject to Farhan’s directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai in 2001.

Commenting on the film, Farhan says, “It is in my destiny as a filmmaker and actor to keep returning to films about male bonding. For Karthik Calling Karthik, I was shut off from the outside world as far possible for me – I do have responsibilities beyond an actor, you know. Karthik has been my toughest role so far, not only in terms of the character’s solitude but also because this was my first solo hero film. It exhausted me emotionally. So yes, Zoya’s film, which is a fun-filled, male bonding road story, is just the excuse I needed to get out of the feeling of desolation.”

Farhan and Hrithik intend to whoop it up, More >

Bollywood was on my bucket list!-Sarah Jane Dias

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

READY TO MAKE A SPLASH: Sarah Jane Dias and (inset) Ritesh Sidhwani

Perky new actress Sarah Jane Dias credits her Miss India title for the break in Bollywood

NIMISHA TIWARI Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; March 4, 2010)

Miss India aspirants, take inspiration from Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2007 Sarah Jane Dias, who has signed on a huge three-film deal with the Ritesh Sidhwani-Farhan Akhtar production house Excel Entertainment and is already shooting her first film opposite Abhishek Bachchan for them.

Mumbai is this 5’9 VJ-turned-actress’ city of dreams. She won the PFMI World title here. “I cannot forget the crowning moment. It took some time for it to sink in,” she recalled in a good luck message to the participants of PFMI 2010. That feeling was euphoric. “Just as my big break opposite Abhishek Bachchan is,” Sarah added, “how many newcomers would get that kind of a break?”

But, yes, she credits the Miss India pageant’s team of experts for giving her the edge. “Most importantly, they instilled the confidence in me to take on life in an effortless and beautiful manner. And thanks to the pageant, I am ready to take this forward,” said Sarah who came to Mumbai from Muscat when she was 21 and with no family around here to help her but just a set of close pals, made this city her home and working turf. She’s enjoying every moment of her work opposite Abhishek (Sarah plays his love interest in the film, lucky girl!) for Ritesh More >

Filmfare Awards-Prize and shine

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Stars, style, saluting talent and scintillating performances – the 55th Idea Filmfare Awards had all this and more

MUMBAI MIRROR; March 02, 2010

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When Bollywood says ‘awards’, more often than not they are referring to Filmfare Awards. Not surprising then, that preparations start weeks in advance of the big night with the lovely ladies and men ordering the best in clothes and gossiping for hours about who is likely to win (or not win for that matter) what.

Given all that, this year’s event went a notch higher with two superstars playing host and all the others in attendance. Shah Rukh Khan, who had the audience laughing uproariously along with co-host Saif Ali Khan, was there with gorgeous wife Gauri. Kareena Kapoor was sorely missed as she was shooting for an ad. Hrithik Roshan carried a kite for obvious reasons.

After many denials, Lara Dutta chose the event to make her relationship official by attending with tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi. Vidya Balan made an individualistic fashion statement in a yellow and orange sari and rudraksh jewellery. The reclusive Tabu made a rare appearance and the statuesque Rekha was her resplendent self. Bipasha bonded with Sridevi and the two held hands like long lost sisters as did Kajol and Gauri.

While all the high voltage action was happening on and off the stage a dignified ceremony took place as veterans Shashi Kapoor and Khayyam were lauded with Lifetime Achievement More >

Deepika Padukone causes mid-air excitement

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Subhash K. Jha, February 27, 2010 – 11:41 IST

It was a flight from Jaipur to Mumbai that the passengers won’t forget in a hurry. On Monday, Deepika Padukone and her Karthik Calling Karthik team were to fly back on a private jet. But the pilot informed the team that they couldn’t head for Mumbai due to a cyclone threat.

Says Deepika, “We had to return on Monday night because many of us had to leave for Dubai for the premiere on Tuesday morning. So from Jaipur to Mumbai we all booked ourselves into the economy class of a commercial airline.”

What could’ve turned out to be a nightmare turned out to be a joyride for Deepika and her team and perhaps not such a pleasurable experience for the other late-fliers on-board.

Says Deepika gleefully, “We had blocked a whole row and instead of sleeping after a super-hectic day we started playing Mendicot. We forgot we were in a commercial flight. So we were yelling and screaming in excitement while the rest of the passengers were trying to sleep.”

And now for the first time in her life Deepika is seriously addicted. “I can’t stop playing Mendicot. Ritesh and Farhan introduced me and director Vijay Lalwani to the game. When we took off on Sunday from Mumbai on our private jet the first thing Farhan and Ritesh did was to teach us this game. I’ve become addicted.”

This could qualify as the biggest irony of the entertainment industry in recent times. While going on a whirlwind tour of cities across the country More >

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