Will Ranbir Kapoor Turn Director Soon?

After spending years in front of the camera, Ranbir Kapoor is now eyeing the spot behind it. Just seven films old, the actor already harbours dreams of being a director someday, just like his grandfather Raj Kapoor.

In an interview with NDTV, the actor said “I won’t call it a revival. I am an actor and I’d like to direct a film someday.” Ranbir has shown interest in the technical aspects of filmmaking before. Prior to becoming an actor, he was an assistant director in PremGranth, Aa Ab Laut Chalen and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black. Ranbir is also known to have picked up a few tricks of the trade on the sets of Prakash Jha’s Raajneeti.

Ranbir, who made his debut in 2007 with Saawariya, has given some memorable performances in films like Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year and Wake Up Sid. He has just wrapped up shooting for Rockstar and has begun filming Barfee with Priyanka Chopra. How soon before he brings back RK Films?

“The film has strong character based roles like the ones you have seen in Kalicharan, Karz or Hero. Hence, getting the casting right is very important for me,” Ghai told Koimoi.com, speaking on the sidelines of a workshop held at Whistling Woods International. Ghai will be producing and directing the film.

Sources indicate that Subhash Ghai had approached Anil Kapoor for an important role in the film. Any more details at this point of time are not forthcoming. So well, we will all have to wait till October 24^th then…

Subhash Ghai and October 24th
Why an announcement only on October 24^th, you might ask? Well, October 24^th happens to be the D-day for Subhash Ghai, who got married on this date to his wife, Rehana Ghai. The veteran filmmaker has since been making film announcements and launches on this date, year on year. In fact, he has launched many of his big films on this very date.

Rohit is super charged up as his remake of the Tamil hit Singham is all set to hit the floors on 2nd March.  The news is that Rohit has conceptualized, designed and will be executing the action for the film himself!

The action of the film has been designed on an extravagant level. For the very first sequence, the director plans to blow up 20 cars! When quizzed Rohit on this particular action sequence, he said, “The scene is set in a parking lot, where a kidnapping takes place. It is a chase scene between Ajay and some gangsters for which we will require to blow up cars. In the shot, there will be about 200 cars out of which we will be blowing up 20 cars.”

Produced by Reliance Pictures, the film stars Ajay Devgan and Kajal Aggarwal as the lead who will soon be joining the team of ‘Singham’ in Goa. ‘Singham’ hits theatres this July.

Producer Kumar Mangat and producer-director Madhur Bhandarkar are waiting to throw a party to celebrate the success of their film, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji. However, they are waiting patiently because all their three heroes – Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya – have been shooting out of Bombay/India ever since the film hit the screens. Ajay is shooting for Rascals in Bangkok whereas Emraan Hashmi is busy completing Murder 2 in Goa. Omi is away in New Zealand for a shooting. The three actors will fly in to attend the celebration party some time next month.

Though we don’t know much about newbie Siddharth Malhotra…

…the fresh-faced Alia Bhatt is filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt’s 17-year old daughter.

Another star-child making his debut in ‘Student Of The Year’ is Varun Dhawan, director David Dhawan’s 23-year old son.

The last time Karan directed a teenage-romance was in his directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol & Rani Mukherjee. Surprisingly, this is the first film Karan Johar is directing without his best friend, Shah Rukh Khan. But if its any consolation, the film is a joint production by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment and KJo’s Dharma Productions.

Abhinav Kashyap: What more impact could a new director have created with a film about the heartland of India when fancy foreign locations are the order of the day? With Dabangg, Kashyap has shifted the focus to India, Indian stories, Indian characters, Indian locations and Indian sentiments. Yuppie directors, take note!

Punit Malhotra: He may have got his spellings wrong in his debut film, I Hate Luv Storys, but the sms-age director sure got his luv story – sorry, love story – right in his first film.

Parmeet Sethi: The critics may have bashed Badmaash Company but the film did manage to yield a profit to its producers. In other words, actor Parmeet Sethi should not regret his decision to multi-task. He can continue to act and direct.

Abhishek Sharma: His comic sense was quite different from the other directors and that’s what set Tere Bin Laden apart – besides its odd title, of course. Not only did he direct the comedy but also wrote it himself.

Abhishek Chaubey: Dil to bachcha hai ji & Ibn-e-batuta may have been Vishal Bhardwaj’s gift to his assistant, Abhishek Chaubey, when he went independent with Ishqiya, directed for the mentor & Shemaroo, but the scenes had an unmistakable stamp about them – and one is not just talking about the ultra-bold scenes between Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah & Arshad Warsi. Even if it didn’t get the desired ishq of the audience, Chaubey has a future in the industry.

Vijay Lalwani: Karthik Calling Karthik may have been found to be too weird in its last part but, in all fairness to debut-making director Vijay Lalwani, the first half had a certain freshness about it. Success may not have come calling but Bollywood could call Lalwani yet another time.

Vikramaditya Motwane: There must be something in this guy to have gotten away with his young teenaged hero slapping his father in his Udaan. There are some things which you simply can’t show in Hindi films for fear that they just don’t go with the Indian psyche – & slapping one’s parents probably tops the list. But Motwane made the father’s character so detestable that the audience rejoiced rather than squirming in their seats, when the young boy slapped his dad.

Anusha Rizvi: To carry off an entire film as a satire without caring to include other ingredients such as emotions, romance and action – that too, with some rank newcomers who weren’t great-looking – must have needed guts and talent. Peepli Live may have had the Aamir Khan stamp in marketing but it is a fact that it was Anusha’s script and direction.

Maneesh Sharma: He may not have rounded off the story of his debut film, Band Baaja Baaraat, effectively, but his characters, Bittoo and Shruti, were cute enough to find a place in people’s hearts.

Habib Faisal: So heartwarming! That was the best way to describe Habib’s first directorial venture, Do Dooni Chaar. The film may have neither doubled nor quadrupled its investment, it may not even have recovered its cost, but still, Habib Faisal is here to stay.

Anurag Kashyap plays a troubleshooter in it. Ashok Pandit and Aditya Bhattacharya will also be seen in TKHJ. The fourth director who has faced the camera is Sudhir Mishra himself. Or, should one say, he has not faced the camera, because whenever he appears in the film, his back is to the camera. Explains Sudhir, “There is this character whose face is never seen in the film, only his back is seen. The sole reason I cast myself in the role is because I wanted someone tall and hefty like me, and when I couldn’t find anyone else suitable for the role, I decided to enact it myself.”

Also find out why Abhishek Bachchan calls Ashutosh a frustrated actor in this interview with koimoi editor, Komal Nahta.

Eros International, which has recently announced its acquisition of the worldwide rights of Excel Entertainment’s Game and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, has now announced the release dates of the two films.

Director Abhinay Deo’s ‘Game’, starring Abhishek Bachchan, Kangna Ranaut, Jimmy Shergill, Shahana Goswami and Bomab Irani will hit theaters on 18^th March. Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ with Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, and Kalki Koechlin will release on 27^th May.

Both the films are produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar.