Posts tagged honeymoon travels pvt ltd

Rani and Kareena are completely different-Reema Kagti

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6 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Director Reema Kagti on how both the actresses vary in their approach towards acting

Shakti Shetty (MID-DAY; November 11, 2012)

 

IT’S BEEN over five years since she made her directorial debut with Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, but Reema Kagti doesn’t seem bothered. After all, her second venture Talaash — after months of delays — will release later this month. Furthermore, the director feels the film’s postponement has been a blessing in disguise as the complexity of the project required the extra time. Reema talks about her experiences, the difficulties of filmmaking and working with acclaimed actors.

What are the stereotypes you’ve faced as a female director? None, whatsoever. Personally, I haven’t faced anything yet that would even marginally discourage me but I’m quite sure that others might have.

Which filmmakers inspire you? A lot of filmmakers, actually. I don’t like to drop names but they don’t necessarily have to be internationally reputed as such. My life inspires me. (Pauses) Newspapers inspire me too (laughs). Whenever I sit down to read, I always end up having solid ideas for film stories!

Don’t you feel like a newcomer working with established actors like Shabana Azmi and Aamir Khan? Let me put it this way — their experience covers my ass (smiles)! There’s nothing to complain about as they reduce the stress and make you feel comfortable behind the camera.

Do you have a wishlist of actors you’d like to direct in the future? I have tremendous respect for a lot of More >

I am ready to suffer for my art-Reema Kagti

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6 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Jayoti Soor (DNA; November 5, 2012)

DNA

Filmmaker Reema Kagti is just one-film old, yet she managed to rope in Bollywood biggies Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji for her second film Talaash. Her years as an assistant director and then scriptwriter for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara stood her in good stead and helped her overcome the hurdles she faced while scoring her second outing in Bollywood. Here, she spills the beans on her rollercoaster ride in the industry…

How did your journey as a filmmaker begin? I started out as a film buff. By the time I was eight, I used to write short stories and plays. It was in my teens when I was watching Salaam Bombay, and I consciously thought that I want to do this. I bunked school often to go and watch the film. I joined a film club during college that showed films that I otherwise didn’t have access to. That was the time when I got obsessed with cinema and I knew that I had never felt so passionately about anything in my whole life as I felt about films.

Your first film, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd had a lot of sub-plots and interweaved different emotions and layers… I think films should involve people and they should not be just watching films. As a director I have camera, costumes, sets, sounds as tools at my disposal to make people feel differently. Also, I feel that adding layers to a story will lend itself to a better film too as the audience has a lot more to take home that just what can be grasped at face More >

Didn’t get Aamir on board because Kiran is my friend-Reema Kagti

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7 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Talaash director Reema Kagti in conversation with Mirror

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 26, 2012)

 

It’s been six years since your last film Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd… I had stopped counting. But you certainly haven’t (smiles). It was a forced sabbatical. I was working on a couple of other scripts apart from Talaash and things weren’t working out. I was getting really frustrated.

So who or what was the calming influence? Zoya and Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani from Excel Entertainment. They told me, ‘Aisa hota hai. Hang in there’ (pauses).

Go on… We took the script to Aamir Khan. And I didn’t think it would happen so soon (smiles). I was participating in a poker tournament in Goa. One day, I woke up at nearly 4pm having played the previous day till late. That’s when I saw umpteen missed calls from Ritesh and Zoya. I was delighted.

Expectedly, you lost the next game? I crashed out of the tournament in no time. I was so happy I wasn’t able to focus. Ritesh had even fixed a meeting between Aamir and me but I couldn’t reach in time. However, Aamir was gracious enough to send me a text saying, ‘All the best for your tournament’.

And then? I approached Rani Mukerji. She is very exacting but finally, she was convinced. Kareena Kapoor too took her time before giving her nod.

We hear Aamir pulled a lot of strings? I’ve known Aamir since the time I was an Assistant Director on Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. I wasn’t heading into a situation where I would be working with More >

FTII never took me in-Reema Kagti

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10 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

The director explains why obsession isn’t such a bad thing after all

Dhamini Ratnam (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 29, 2012)

 

The room Reema Kagti meets us in at her producer’s office is sparse. An iMac, a glass-top table, ivory-upholstered sofas that are comfortable, but not the sort you’d sink in to, and mellow yellow lights. Basic. Barebone. Silent. Not the sort of room that lets you in on the fun it has witnessed the previous night.

A similar description would hold for Kagti, too.

The 39-year-old director-scriptwriter was recently in a storm that involved Aamir Khan, his obsession with quality (pre-release tactic? elephant in the room?), Kagti’s second directorial venture, Talaash, and its release date. She wishes to clear the air: “There is no problem between Aamir and me. The film will release on November 30. Aamir will definitely promote the film,” she says, emphatically.

We only wish she’d let on more. “How open are you to suggestions that an actor may make to a director?” we ask. “You have to be open,” she replies. “Filmmaking is collaborative work. So I’ll take a good suggestion no matter whose it is — my lead actor’s, or my AD’s.”

“For instance, I wanted Aamir’s uniform to have a frayed look. I was getting really ‘micro’ into how many washes it would take for the shirt to look like that. Then Aamir told the wardrobe guy, ‘Don’t give a clean shirt for laundry. Dirty it with mud and polish first, else the laundrywala will think we’re mad to ask him to wash a perfectly More >

Working with new directors a learning experience-Ritesh Sidhwani

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11 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

IANS (MID-DAY; June 6, 2012)

 

Ever since he has ventured into filmmaking, producer Ritesh Sidhwani has launched new directors like Reema Kagti and Abhinay Deo. He says working with fresh talent is a learning experience.

“Working with new talent is always beneficial as one gets to learn a lot from them,” Sidhwani said.

“They have an eye to learn new things. We give them complete freedom in whichever way they want to execute their idea. We give them a platform and just see what value they can add to the film. Right talent with good team always works,” he added.

Sidhwani ventured into the movie business along with his friend Farhan Akhtar with the 2001 blockbuster ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Khanna. It was also Farhan’s directorial debut.

The film won him his first National Award. He won the second one for ‘Rock On!!’ which marked his friend Farhan’s acting debut. His other hits include ‘Don – The Chase Begins’ and ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd’.

Sidhwani’s last hit ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ leads the nomination list of the soon-to-be-held International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Singapore Saturday.

Farhan and Sidhwani jointly run a production company Excel Entertainment. They experimented with storylines and treatment, giving the Indian audience a platter away from typical masala potboilers, and exposed it to youthful and urban cinema.

“I would say it is just the sensibilities. Why would one not make a film look good? It is not More >

I think I’m very funny-Minissha Lamba

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

In an exclusive chat with MM.com, actress Minissha Lamba speaks about the business of Indian cinema, her choice of films and her next film, ‘Bheja Fry 2′. The beauty with brains confesses that she’d love to do more commercial films than before.

Varun Vazir | MM Online Bureau (April 06, 2011) Minissha Lamba

Your next big release is Bheja Fry 2. How different is the treatment from the previous one?

The setting of Bheja Fry 2 is completely different from the previous one. The central character of the film Bharat Bhushan, played by Vinay Pathak, is in new situations with new people around but we’ve managed to carry the same essence of the previous part.

What’s your role in the film?

I play the role of an executive producer for a reality television show.

Do you think you have a funny bone?

I definitely do have a funny bone and I think I am a very funny person but I have a very dry sense of humour. Bheja Fry 2 has humor along the same lines of the first one.

Would you agree that you’ve tasted more success whenever you’ve done more off-beat cinema?

I don’t think so. I’ve stopped making distinctions between off-beat and commercial cinema. I want to do commercial cinema. I feel the comedy genre falls very much under commercial cinema as it’s got much wider audience. Comedy never limits its audience.

But you’ve been more appreciated in experimental roles in films like Well Done Abba, Shaurya and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd?

I feel appreciation happens More >

I don’t have a ‘fun role’ in Game-Shahana Goswami

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Joginder Tuteja, April 2, 2011 – 13:21 IST

She got a tag of being an actress pretty soon in her career when she excelled as a working wife (of Arjun Rampal) in Rock On. Films like Firaaq and Jashnn further acted as a stamp of approval as far as coming up with a convincing act was concerned. Though she may not have found herself in an advantageous position after Break Ke Baad, the young woman is continuing to find her feet in hardcore commercial cinema with films like Game and Ra. One. As she manages to find herself in the company of actors like Abhishek Bachchan and Kangna Ranaut in Game, Shahana talks to Joginder Tuteja about her journey so far.

An edgy thriller like Game – now that’s a first for you Shahana. I am sure you must have had a totally different experience while making a film of this genre? It’s my first movie in this genre and yes, I was very excited because I love murder mysteries and thrillers. Playing a key suspect is great fun. I loved the character. She is very young but edgy, disturbed and dark. The flow of the screenplay also really pulls you in. I loved working with all the actors and Abhinay (Deo) really knows what he wants. Excel (production house of Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani) is always a pleasure to work with. I can’t forget my Rock On and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd experience with them.

Game appears to be one film that must have allowed yourself to let your hair down, right? Well, this isn’t exactly a ‘letting your hair down’ More >

Abhay Deol on cover of The Man

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Bollywood Hungama News Network, March 9, 2011 – 19:29 IST

It’s noon at the sprawling Deol estate in Juhu, Mumbai. Pictures of their scion, Dharmendra give you sharp looks from the walls around. Abhay Deol is usually never late, his manager and the family’s manager for over 30 years, informs me. Yeah, I know. Our last two meetings, the latter of which was probably one of the wildest shoots I’ve ever seen in progress, were as clockwork and precise as a Swiss watch. It’s also rather strange that the Deol oddball isn’t at family lunch in the dining room outside – Abhay rarely misses a family meal despite moving out of the large joint family estate and living on his own. As I converse with an age-ing stuntman and one of Dharmendra’s closest aides, Abhay hurries in. He’s been busy trying to re-schedule a Krav Maga lesson and other commitments just to make this interview. In a t-shirt and pair of jeans with a bag slung across his shoulder, he’s an everyman – someone who doesn’t afflict you with whiplash as he passes by despite his tall, lean structure and features uncannily akin to younger version of his uncle, Dharmendra. In short he’s the opposite of what a Deol is commonly perceived as. The youngest of the Deol men, he’s not a beefy, brawny action star or a love-struck Romeo. He’s just another guy – a disarming tactic he’s perfected over the years. After courteously greeting his manager and his uncle’s friend and a few quick apologies, Abhay guides More >

Arjun Rampal does a cameo in Rascals

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Subhash K. Jha, February 10, 2011 – 11:13 IST

On Monday night, Arjun Rampal left for Bangkok to do a longish 20-day cameo for David Dhawan’s Rascals. Arjun, who has lately become extra-picky about his projects, was in two minds about doing a cameo at this juncture of his career when he’s trying very hard to consolidate his position as an actor with a distinctive identity.

Says a source, “Although Arjun was tempted to work with David Dhawan for the first time, the last thing he wanted do was to get into the cameo space again. Repeatedly, filmmakers have put Arjun in the cameo space with the promise of bigger roles later. Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar had given Arjun walk-on parts in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. These led to sizeable parts in We Are Family and Rock On. But now Arjun is done with cameos.” Apparently, Arjun duly informed David Dhawan of his inability to do a cameo in a film that already features Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgn.

This is where Dutt who turns producer with Rascals stepped in. Not too many people would be able to say no to Sanjay Dutt, especially when he is on the verge of entering a new phase in his life as a producer. Apparently, Dutt met Arjun and told him that he must do the part since it was written specially for him.

Just before flying out to Bangkok on Monday night, Arjun said, “Yes I finally agreed to do Rascals. I always wanted to work with David Dhawan. And it is Sanjay Dutt’s first production. So all More >

Farhan Akhtar refuses to sing for Aamir in Reema Kagti’s film

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 09, 2011)

Eighty years ago, singer and actor KL Saigal vowed to sing only for himself and no one else. Farhan Akhtar, it seems, is determined to strike a similar chord. Farhan’s company Excel is producing Reema Kagti’s thriller with Aamir Khan in the lead role.

Reema, who has been Farhan’s protégée for five years, was very keen that Farhan lend his voice to at least one of the songs picturised on Aamir in the film. But Farhan refused.

Says a source, “Reema has a fabulous music sense. The songs in her directorial debut Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd were big chartbusters. She has big musical plans for the Aamir starrer. In fact, the film has a theme song just for Aamir’s character.”

Last year, Farhan turned down A R Rahman’s offer to sing a song for Blue. Farhan also declined Rohan Sippy’s offer to play the lead and sing his own songs in Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum. And now, the singer-turned-actor has declined Reema’s offer as well.

Farhan takes pride in singing only for himself and insists that there has to be an inherent connect between the character and his voice. “I enjoy singing,” he says, “It is true, I haven’t sung for anyone else on screen apart from myself. But it’s not because I am possessive about my voice. I don’t know if my voice will work on anyone else. My singing adds to my performances. I don’t know if it would do the same for the other actors.”

The actor-singer-filmmaker says he did not sing in Karthik More >

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