I’m a real Desi Boy – Akshay Kumar (Interview)He is a hardcore commercial actor and, as a producer too, he has produced potboilers, but Akshay Kumar says given a chance he would love to experiment. He also reveals that he will always be a ‘desi’ boy, be it preferring Hindi to English or eating paranthas at home.
“I want to produce commercial films. But if I get a good script, I would love to make a National Award-winning movie,” Akshay, 44, who has spent two decades in Bollywood, told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.
The actor is all set to put a lid on 2011 with “Desi Boyz”. Releasing Nov 25, the film will see him teaming up with John Abraham as a co-star. Directed by Rohit Dhawan, the son of director David Dhawan, “Desi Boyz” also has Deepika Padukone and Chitrangada Singh in the female leads.
Akshay, a Punjabi who has spent many years in Delhi, says he has always been a “desi” at heart and his recent decision of communicating in Hindi shouldn’t be taken as a marketing gimmick.
“I have always tried to speak in Hindi. It is because in real life I am a real ‘desi’ boy. All my life I have believed that the day should start with touching the feet of my parents, that home cooked food is always better than outside food. I have always preferred ghar ka parantha to anything from outside,” he said.
“Even if we go out for a movie, I prefer to watch Hindi films over English. So it was there in me, always. I am very grounded that way,” he added.
The crackling chemistry of Akshay and John was the highlight of “Garam Masala” and Akshay says his friend and co-star has improved a lot since then.
“We are coming back together on the big screen after six long years. We were not offered any movies together during that period. While shooting for this film, we had much more fun than we had in ‘Garam Masala’. So, we were wondering why no one ever thought of casting us together all these years,” said Akshay.
“We have become quite good friends now. And, trust me, John has improved a lot since then, especially his comedy timings. The way he has improved his muscles, his comedy timing has also improved,” he added.
From being an action hero to doing comedies, Akshay tried different things and in his upcoming film “Desi Boyz” he will be seen stripping and doing pole dancing. And what he liked about his character, Jerry Patel, is that it was a different role.
“I had a lot of fun while doing this movie. First of all I haven’t played this kind of character ever. When the role was narrated to me, I knew this was something I wanted to do. And, secondly, its director Rohit Dhawan told me the film is based on the real-life incident of two people who had to take extreme paths to survive during recession,” he said.
The action-comedy deals with how the life of two friends turns upside down when recession hits Britain and they are left with no choice but to strip and pole dance for a living. And then the story has its twists and turns.
Akshay made his mark with hits like “Khiladi”, “Ajnabee”, “Hera Pheri” and “Namastey London” and is all set to entertain his fans with interesting projects like “Joker”, “Rowdy Rathore” and “Housefull 2″ next year.
He turned producer in 2010 with “Tees Mar Khan” and later produced “Patiala House” and “Thank You” as well. Even though these films flopped at the box-office, Akshay is undeterred.
“I will always do a film I believe in, I can connect to and my fans can relate to it as well. So even if ‘Patiala House’ didn’t do well commercially, it was critically acclaimed. I was close to the film because it dealt with the emotional bond between a father and a son,” he said.
He made his presence felt with “Thank You” and “Speedy Singhs” this year and he was also seen in a special appearance in “Chalo Dilli”.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Interview)
The new wave of realistic cinema shouldn’t undermine the “Bollywood stamp of melodramas”, says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the unapologetic maker of opulent, over the top movies like “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, “Devdas” and “Saawariya”.
“I feel that every filmmaker is in a great mood right now! There’s a new wave, a new dimension in the industry… but I only hope that in this new wave, we do not lose our great Bollywood stamp of melodramas, song-dance rituals, classic literature and all that form the very distinct Bollywood style of filmmaking,” Bhansali told IANS.
In his initial films the 48-year-old kept to traditional themes where stories played out in the backdrop of lavishly mounted sets and elaborately dressed actors. He interspersed classical and folk music and dance to add the Indian touch in films like “Hum Dil De…” and “Devdas”.
Though he moved away from the genre to go experimental and make films like “Saawariya” and “Black”, and an emotional drama like “Guzaarish”, Bhansali says he does not want the desi flavour to go away from the Hindi film industry, known worldwide for its colourful song and dance routines.
“Of course, we should have different genres like songless films, experimental films, realistic films…but we also must have filmmakers who make the kind of films that I make…films like ‘Devdas’, like the Bollywood musicals which the West is interested in.That breed of young filmmakers, able to shoot a song with lavishness, is something I am still not seeing coming in.
“Maybe they are distancing themselves from it. There’s a tendency of the young filmmaker to look down upon the traditional Bollywood film, the classical kind of filmmaking…that shouldn’t be there. Running with a hand-held camera through the lanes is as difficult as any other shot.so I think we should hold on to all different genres,” Bhansali said.
Interestingly, however, as a producer, Bhansali is treading a new path with projects like “My Friend Pinto”, “Rowdy Rathore” and “Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi”. But as a director, he wants to go back to his original love.
“I’m dying to make a full on song-dance melodrama. I am in a full, upbeat mood…it will be in the ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ space, but I am giving finishing touches to the script. In some time, I will get down to begin work on it.
Prodded a little further, he added: “It will be my style. The audience comes to me and tells me – ‘We loved ‘Black’, we loved ‘Guzaarish’, but we want ‘Hum Dil…’, we want ‘Devdas’.’ So I wonder what is it about those films that still holds and makes the audience hungry for it.
“Also, it is best to do what comes naturally to you. I’ve done ‘Black’, I’ve done ‘Guzaarish’…I have explored and experimented, but now it is important to go home and do a masala film with my sensibilities intact.”
Dharmendra (Interview)Over five decades in the film industry and still going strong. Dharmendra has just had a new release but admits to being media shy and is clearly uncomfortable in the movie world of today where good films suffer because they are not promoted and where everything is commodified.
When celebrities are looking for extra media mileage, the veteran actor, whose “Tell Me O Kkhuda” released Friday, says he is not game for too much exposure.
“They (people) call me media shy: I am media shy because I don’t want so much exposure. We make films, they work and people like them, that’s enough for me. I try to maintain my privacy; that’s why we don’t make so many public appearances,” Dharmendra told IANS in an interview. His sons Sunny and Bobby Deol too avoid the limelight.
“In our times, people were very curious to know about stars like Nargis, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar – how they used to live, who they were. But we don’t see that today, as there has been a lot of exposure. Everyone today knows how actors live, what they do,” added the 75-year-old, who has been part of Bollywood for 50 years.
Bollywood’s original He Man entered showbiz in 1960 with “Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere” and went on to work in all kind of films — from the lyrical “Bandini” and the serious “Satyakam” to comic classics like “Chupke Chupke” and, of course, the cult entertainer “Sholay”.
Dharmendra remained a private person through the decades of fame and stardom.
“Everything has become more of a drama. We have started commodifying things. Someone in Bikaner has opened a studio in my name and is enjoying his work. People organise my birthday parties and call me to attend my birthday celebrations. I don’t feel comfortable doing all these things,” he said.
“We have started taking advantage of everything. Love has also been commodified; people have started exploiting love. I miss the time when everyone used to stay together with all the love, exchanging things with neighbours.
“I still live in that environment. That is still in my roots. It has given me life and I have the same environment at my home. Even my kids have stuck to their roots,” he added.
Born in a Jat family, Dharmendra had girls swooning over his looks during his heyday.
“I connect with everyone and I want everyone to be happy,” said Dharmendra, who will be seen in his actress wife Hema Malini’s directorial venture “Tell Me O Kkhuda”, which marks his daughter Esha’s re-launch in films.
Promotions have become an inevitable part of the film industry due to which other good films do suffer, rues Dharmendra.
“Filmmakers have made the audience so used to promotions that if a film is not promoted at a certain level, people feel that the film is not worth watching,” he said.
Giving the example of two of his films, he added: “Good films fail to work because they are not promoted the way they should have been. ‘Apne’ was a bigger film than ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ but the producer did not have enough money to promote the film.
“We extensively promoted ‘Yamla Pagla Dewana’; moreover the script was also good and people enjoyed it completely. However, it’s true if the films today are not promoted in the right way, they tend to stay behind.”
Even after so many years, the actor is unable to understand what the audiences want.
“I have still not been able to understand today’s audience. Everything is so hyped. Now we can see heroines using abusive words on screen, which doesn’t suit them. I feel really sad,” he said.
Amitabh Bachchan (Interview)Amitabh Bachchan, who turned 69 Tuesday and is the busiest entertainer in the country, says there are still many things that cross his mind which he feels he should be doing.
“There are many things that cross my mind which I feel I should also be doing. Someday perhaps I shall find time for them too,” Amitabh told IANS in an interview.
Asked whether the excitement of becoming a grandfather has sunk in yet, he quipped: “Yes, long ago.” Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan are expecting their first child soon.
The megastar also said he finds his life unworthy of biographical documentation by him.
“My life has been blessed and I am ever grateful to the Maker and my parents for giving me that. Beyond that I find it unworthy of biographical documentation.”
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. This year your birthday is also special because there is a new member of the household on the way. Does the excitement of that new arrival add a special sparkle and sheen to your birthday this year?
A: Everyday is special, every birthday therefore is special – for those born and those yet to be born.
Q: Has the excitement of becoming a ‘Dadajee’ (paternal grandfather) sunk in yet?
A: Yes, long ago.
Q: At 69, you continue to be the busiest entertainer in this country with an engagement diary that challenges the 24 hours granted to a day. Are you able to do all the things that you would like to?
A: Not entirely! There are many things that cross my mind which I feel I should also be doing. Someday perhaps I shall find time for them too.
Q: Are there any unfulfilled desires? Anything that you’d like to do? What have been the most important events of the past one year?
A: I hope there are unfulfilled desires within me but to say what they shall be is difficult to put a finger on. I can tell you what is important for me today, not what has been important for me in this past year. That I shall not be able to remember. And that is how I would like it to be.
Q: The name Amitabh Bachchan means many things to many of us. What does it mean to you?
A: My name given to me by my parents.
Q: You are often asked why you don’t write your autobiography. Now that you are putting your thoughts on your blog wouldn’t you like to put the story of your life together?
A: My life has been blessed and I am ever grateful to the Maker and my parents for giving me that. Beyond that I find it unworthy of biographical documentation.
Q: You’ve been shooting regularly for Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC). How has television influenced your entire perception of mass entertainment?
A: Television has been a huge revelation for me. Its reach, its value, the impact it creates, have all been a great learning exercise. I had been involved in its functioning long before it became so big in India. It is a most influential medium and has now become the mainstay of most entertainment in this country, out-beating cinema.
Its immediacy in today’s time of rapid and instant communication is its greatest asset. It is tedious and exhausting but a most satisfying creative medium for me as I am sure it must be for many others that contribute to it.
Q: What are the films that you have signed or are about to sign?
A: I have not signed any new project, in the real sense of the word. But yes, there are many that are under discussion. It would not be ethical to talk about them until those formalities are executed.
Q: Finally, what are the things that you’d like to change in your own life and in our country this birthday?
A: Why a birthday to think of making changes? If one strongly feels about them any and every day day is good. My life is as I said, satisfactory beyond my hoped imagination, but for the country I would wish for it to progress much beyond its cliched label of a ‘third world country’. I want it to be the ‘first’, not ‘third’!!
Emraan Hashmi (Interview)Poor Emraan Hashmi! There seems to be no getting away from the “serial kisser” tag despite his many protestations and he’s back to locking lips in his forthcoming film “The Dirty Picture”.
If people wish to remember him for his on-screen kisses, so be it, says the somewhat exasperated actor who has for long been looking for an image change.
The 32-year-old actor came to be known as Hindi cinema’s serial kisser after numerous lip locks in films like “Murder”, “Zeher”, “Aashiq Banaya Apne”, “Gangster” and “Jannat”.
“The tag would never go. I tried to get rid of it, but it follows me everywhere. I have done so many films with it (kissing) and so many people went and watched those films. So probably they want to remember me for that. And if kissing is a great way to remember me, I have no complaints! My audience base is there and I can’t change overnight,” Emraan told IANS in an interview.
“I am trying out different things in my forthcoming films. Hopefully it would be another dimension, which would change people’s perception about me,” he added.
“The Dirty Picture” is said to have Emraan in yet another kissing scene, this time with actress Vidya Balan. He however stresses that the film, based on the life of the late southern sex icon Vijayalakshmi aka Silk Smitha, takes sexuality to a different level.
“It’s a different take on sexuality. Sexuality in my films was shown differently before this. ‘The Dirty Picture’ takes it to a different level,” said Emraan.
The first trailer of the movie has already created a buzz, with Vidya in a bold new avatar. Emraan plays one of the three men in her life, while the other two male characters have been essayed by Tusshar Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah.
“I play a movie director who believes in artistic cinema. He is one who doesn’t really give a damn about commercial viability of a film. He would rather make a film, which critics will appreciate; he sticks to his guns creatively, never budges from his creative instincts of a film and the content the film. It’s a very different character that I haven’t played before,” said the actor.
“The Dirty Picture”, produced by Ekta Kapoor, and directed by Milan Luthria, will release Dec 2, which happens to be Silk Smitha’s birth anniversary.
Even though the movie is being promoted as Silk Smitha’s biopic, Emraan says it has been spiked with fiction for commercial value.
“It’s basically a fictional film. It might have been taken from different sources and it’s about the southern film industry, about the actress, her rise, her stardom and her relationship with these three men…Eventually, lots of comparisons can be made but lots of things have been added for commercial effect. So I wouldn’t say it’s truly a biopic,” he said.
This is the first time that Emraan has teamed up with the critically acclaimed Vidya. “Vidya is a great actress. Our combination is new. It’s a great experience working with her. Every character in the film is very intriguing and interesting; so we share a very different kind of chemistry on screen.”
He is also in awe of veteran actor Naseeruddin.
“Naseeruddin is god of acting. I did a couple of scenes with him, which was a great learning experience,” said Emraan.
