Himmatwala Movie Poster

Music composers Sajid-Wajid have created a peppy item number for Sajid Khan’s Himmatwala. They call it the ‘mummy item’ due to the variety of features it offers.

“Like you all know about item songs, there is a ‘mummy item’ song in this film – the mother of items, ‘mummy item’,” Sajid said here Friday at the music launch.

Wajid added, “The reason is that first time you will hear ‘Sheila’ and ‘Munni’ singing together – Sunidhi Chauhan and Mamta Sharma with Bappi Da (Bappi Lahiri).”

It will feature actresses from different regions. “Five different languages and five different top most heroines of their states are there. That’s why we call it ‘mummy item’,” Sajid said.

The film’s director, Sajid Khan, said he wanted Himmatwala, the remake of the 1983 hit of the same name, to be his debut directorial.

“My first film came in 2007 – Heyy Babyy. But I always wanted Himmatwala to be my first film. I had been writing the draft keeping Ajay (Devgn) in mind. When I closed my eyes and imagined a poster of Himmatwala, I can (could) only think of Ajay,” he said.

The new Himmatwala also features Tamannah, Mahesh Manjrekar and Paresh Rawal. It hits theatres March 29.

“Like you all know about item songs, there is a ‘mummy item’ song in this film – the mother of items, ‘mummy item’,” Sajid said here Friday at the music launch.

Wajid added, “The reason is that first time you will hear ‘Sheila’ and ‘Munni’ singing together – Sunidhi Chauhan and Mamta Sharma with Bappi Da (Bappi Lahiri).”

]]> http://www.koimoi.com/videos/a-mummy-item-in-himmatwala-2/feed/ 0 http://www.koimoi.com/most-popular/sajid-ropes-in-80s-musicians-for-himmatwala/ http://www.koimoi.com/most-popular/sajid-ropes-in-80s-musicians-for-himmatwala/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 06:00:50 +0000 Joginder Tuteja http://www.koimoi.com/?p=182683

Himmatwala Movie Poster

‘What happened in the 80s stays in a film set in the 80s’ – This could well be the mantra of Sajid Khan and his Himmatwala where everything in or out of a frame is carrying a vintage/nostalgic feel to it. This is also evident in the music of the film which is all set to release soon.

“There is a ‘pucca’ 80s style of music that Sajid-Wajid have come up with the film. It is a known fact that Naino Mein Sapna and Taaki Re have been revived with the film. However what makes these songs special is the fact that musicians from the era gone by have been roped in as well to give them an edge. Quite a few of them were a part of the orchestra team that had worked extensively with the likes of Lakshmikant-Pyaarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Bappi Lahiri and R.D. Burman in the 80s. For them it was an emotional moment to go ‘live’ again”, informs a source.

Though for last so many years the trend has been to bring on electronic sound, there has been an experiment or two in the interim period with Vishal-Shekhar coming together with Pyaarelal for Dhoom Tana [Om Shanti Om]. However no one has attempted to do something like that for a major part of the soundtrack, something that would be quite apparent once the songs of Himmatwala are released.

“Whether it is Sajid-Wajid, Sameer, Vashuji (Bhagnani) or I, we genuinely felt that organic sound of an orchestra would do a lot of justice to the music of Himmatwala since it is based in 1983. When I met these musicians, they were so happy because they hadn’t been to a recording studio for more than a decade. I got so much of ‘dua’ for them since they too were reliving the days gone by”, says Sajid in an emotional tone.

A co-production of Vashu Bhagnani and Siddharth Roy Kapur, Himmatwala with Ajay Devgn and Tamannaah releases all over on 29th March.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder

Directors worth Rs.100 crore!

In this, Salman Khan bettered his own record set by Bodyguard as his Ek Tha Tiger entered the Rs. 100-crore club just within six days of release.

Filmmakers and distributors too are known to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to cross over to the right side of the much-coveted figure, say industry observers. And to recognise the importance of this coveted club and honour the entrants, the Zee Cine Awards 2013 introduced a new award, The Power Club Box Office. Winning this prestigious honour were nine directors whose films crossed the Rs.100-crore mark.

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra — who herself is a part of two Rs.100-crore films this year, Agneepath and Barfi! — handed out the trophies.

Arbaaz Khan (Dabangg 2), Sajid Khan (Housefull 2), Kabir Khan (Ek Tha Tiger), Rohit Shetty (Bol Bachchan), Ashwini Dhir (Son of Sardaar), Karan Malhotra (Agneepath), Anurag Basu (Barfi!) and Prabhudeva (Rowdy Rathore) were recipients of this award. Late filmmaker Yash Chopra was posthumously awarded for his Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Filmmaker Anurag Basu shared with the audience the tip given by producer Ronnie Screwvala. According to Anurag, Ronnie said, “No matter how many awards we win, keep getting this Rs.100-crore trophy back every year!” This had everyone in the audience in splits

The number, choreographed by Chinni Prakash, is called “Thank god it’s Friday”.

The movie’s director, Sajid Khan, wanted to give Sonakshi the look of Sridevi and Parveen Babi. He roped in designer Manish Malhotra and Sonakshi, who admits working hard for the song, is happy with the result.

“Manish has done a fantastic job and I absolutely love both my looks. I also watched the videos of their (the actress’) old songs before I started shooting. I would even watch other songs in the vanity to understand the dancing and the style of that era,” Sonakshi said in a statement.

Sonakshi Sinha in a retro avatar for the song ‘Thank god it’s Friday’ in Himmatwala Movie Stills

For her first avatar in the number, Sonakshi has sported a vintage sequined golden dress and headband, which bears a striking resemblance Parveen Babi’s look in the song “Pyaar karne waale” from the film Shaan.

Sonakshi’s other look where she is wearing black-coloured tight pants, a jacket and boots, is inspired from Sridevi’s disco look from Chaalbaaz.

Himmatwala, a remake of 1983 hit movie of the same name, features actors Ajay Devgn and Tammanah. Co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani, it will release on March 29.

The song was picturised on Jeetendra and Sridevi in the original movie. It will now see Ajay Devgn grooving a la Bollywood’s Jumping Jack alongside actress Tamannaah.

The song was recently shot in Mumbai. Ajay feels the song for the new Himmatwala is a perfect replica of the original.

Tamannaah and Ajay Devgn in Tathaiya tathaiya song in Himmatwala Movie Stills

“It is one of the most popular numbers from the 1980s. Right from the sets to the costumes and the choreography, everything has been perfectly recreated,” Ajay said in a statement.

Director Sajid Khan is confident that he has done complete justice to the original movie, and says he doesn’t mind comparisons between the movies.

“I want people to make comparisons because I have done justice to the original. Of course, it will be unfair to compare Ajay to Jeetendra, especially since Jeetendra’s image as a dancer was strong at that time,” Sajid said in a statement.

Recently, it was revealed that actress Sonakshi Sinha will shoot a disco number “Thank god it’s Friday” in the movie.

The movie is expected to release March 29.

With couples as diverse as the young and vivacious Jay Bhanushali and Mahi Vij; the ‘just married’ duo Karan Mehra and Nisha Rawal; new parents Smita Bansal and her husband Ankush; and ‘Swayamvar’ couple Rahul and Dimpy Mahajan – the line-up promises to be much more than just “nach”.

Nach Baliye 5

Rightly so, says Nachiket Pant Vaidya, General Manager, Star Plus. “We have seen the show with a new angle, and have added a layer of seriousness to it. We want it to reflect the message, that just like in dance, if you work with team spirit in your relationship, it will be great,” Vaidya said here at the show’s glitzy launch here Monday night.

“Through the show, we want to say that a lot of times you may not get to choose your partner, but it is important to understand your ‘baliye’, and be in sync with each other. Your life will be successful,” he added.

The show is entering its fifth season. It will go on air on Star Plus starting Dec 29. As many as 11 well-known couples from the TV industry have been brought together for the comeback season, to be judged by power trio – Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, director Sajid Khan and ace choreographer Terence Lewis.

The show will be spiced up by handsome hosts, Gautam Rode and Karan Wahi. Other contenders on the show include “Kaanta laga” girl Shefali Zariwala and her husband Parag; carefree couple Amar and Charlie of Channel V fame; actress Suhasi Dhami and her hubby Jaisheel; actor couple Sargun Mehta and Ravi; actress Deepshikha and her partner Kaishav and actor Kushal Tandon and his Bulgarian partner Elena.

Small screen’s ‘Bhabho’ Neelu Waghela and her actor hubby Arvind are the eldest couple on the show, but are also being considered one of the strongest ‘jodi’. The show will be shot at Filmistan Studios, and considering the launch of the show, which was marked by a sneak peek into the contestants’ performances, one hopes “Nach Baliye 5″ will be one grand affair.

Sajid Khan

Director Sajid Khan, who is remaking the 1983-hit Himmatwala, guarantees that it will not be easy to get tickets for the film in the initial three days of its release.

“We will talk about Himmatwala in the press conference of Himmatwala. But please watch Himmatwala, I guarantee you will not get tickets for the first three days,” the 41-year-old said here Monday at the launch of the reality dance show “Nach Baliye 5″.

Asked about his place as judge of a dance reality show, Sajid said, “We judges are not experts in judging. There are better people than us who are experts in judging.”

“I feel that every person watching a reality show is an expert judge. I don’t see myself as a big judge, but, yes, I do see myself as a representative of the audience,” he added.

As many as 11 well-known couples from the TV industry have been brought together for the comeback season, to be judged by power trio – actress Shilpa Shetty, director Sajid Khan and ace choreographer Terence Lewis.

The show will be spiced up by hosts, Gautam Rode and Karan Wahi.

Other contenders on the show include “Kaanta laga” girl Shefali Zariwala and her husband Parag; carefree couple Amar and Charlie of Channel V fame; actress Suhasi Dhami and her hubby Jaisheel; actor couple Sargun Mehta and Ravi Dubey; actress Deepshikha and her partner Kaishav and actor Kushal Tandon and his Bulgarian partner Elena.

Check out the video right here:

Sajid Khan at an event

Heyy Babyy, Housefull, Housefull 2 – Three releases and each of them being successes; with such fabulous record in play at the box office, Sajid Khan is indeed a confident lot as he shoots for Himmatwala. While prior to him only Rajkumar Hirani has this enviable record of 100% success rate, it is pretty much expected that Sajid Khan is going to maintain that with the Ajay Devgn starrer early next year.

With the filmmaker maintaining that it is the ‘entertainment quotient’ that works most for him, especially since he understands the pulse of the audience, over a period of time, even those stray voices that criticised him in his earlier years have finally been subdued. What was a gradual development resulted in a major turnaround, especially after Housefull 2 which brought him, Akshay Kumar, Sajid Nadiadwala and many others into the 100 crore club.

No wonder, one can well expect Sajid Khan to be indeed happy about finding himself into the current situation.

Says Sajid after a pause, “See, at the end of the day you have to ask yourself that who you are working for. In fact even when I used to host shows, I wasn’t worried as much about the producer or the TV channel but about my audience. Same holds good for my films too. I don’t care for trade, critics, certain other directors, different cinema makers etc. etc. They can say what they want to say; after all, even the greatest cricketers have been criticised even in their prime. However records are there to be seen. These are something that cannot be cheated or manipulated, especially in today’s day and age when business of cinema has become so transparent.”

As for critics and their views about his films, Sajid adds, “Please, I don’t need your (critics) approval, I don’t respect you either and that’s because I know my cinema. I have put my money in mouth after delivering three hits. At the end of the day if you are giving five stars to a film jiska theatre hi khaali padha hai, then it is you whose credibility is
going down.”

Today when he is working with one of his closest friends, Ajay Devgn, Sajid is delighted to be in his company professionally as well.

“He has always been a friend. However over a period of time I am seeing him in a different light today. See, there are certain things about him that haven’t changed while there are others which have over the years. The way he has balanced his life out is simply amazing. Moreover, he is also one of the best sons that I have come across,” says Sajid before signing off.

Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder

Himmatwala Movie Poster

Sajid Khan’s much ambitious remake of the 1983 film Himmatwala has been stalled. Now, Don’t let your grey cells do much of a thinking. The Ajay Devgan starrer action flick has always been in news since its announcement. Now, as per speculations, B-Town’s Singham has tentatively fallen ill on the sets, causing a setback to the entire team.

Ajay, who was busy shooting in Hyderabad for the 2013 release had been throwing up for the last two days but managed to continue with the shoot, in order to avoid any delay. Known to be a hard task master for himself, he embodies strength and perseverance and fought against his weakness to avert any further logjams for the film. But matters became worse as other technicians, along with Devgan supposedly fell sick. Stomach infection, as the doctors suggested, was caused mainly due to the water that the team was consuming during their shoot. As news stands now, the shooting for the film has been temporarily stalled for the moment.

Known for his stances and generosity, Ajay has announced that the entire crew would only consume bottled water from now on and they would resume shoot as soon as they are fit. With the story of the filibuster hitting everywhere, we just wish the team recovers soon and there be no further hindrance to it anymore.

The film which also stars Southern starlet Tamannaah is all set to hit the screens in March 2013 and recreate the magic that the Jeetendra-Sridevi created with their version of Himmatwala back in the 1980s

Lately, Bollywood has witnessed many new directors on the rise, who have led their films to the hit-superhit-blockbuster clubs. A great example of this would be Abhinav Kashyap, whose debut direction ‘Dabangg’ went on to become a blockbuster hit. An ordinary story was well-treated by Kashyap, and his unique style and the presence of brand Salman Khan kicked off the trend of hits and superhits at the box office.

Another instance would be that of director Maneesh Sharma, whose debut film Band Bajaa Baraat struck gold with the audience, as the entire cast grabbed many eyeballs for the excellent work done by them.

Directors Karan Malhotra, Sujoy Ghosh and Anurag Kashyap

If the new bunch of directors is creating ripples in the industry, the experts of the business are not letting themselves be far behind in the rat-race. The very name of these directors and the fact that they cast cleverly in their films gives them a decent opening at the box office. Karan Johar, Rajkumar Hirani, Rohit Shetty, Sajid Khan, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar are some of the names which have successfully delivered back-to-back hits and handled big budgets tactfully.

Not just these, directors from down south are also making a grand entry into the industry with their superhit remakes. If Murugadoss hit it right with Ghajini, Siddique hit the blockbuster with Bodyguard! And not to forget the latest sensation ace choreographer-turned director Prabhudeva, who hit the jackpot twice with Wanted and Rowdy Rathore. These filmmakers have got it in them to make it big in Bollywood.

Let’s take a quick look at such star-directors and captains who added great numbers to the Bollywood 6 month Profit and Loss Account:

Karan Malhotra:

Director Karan Malhotra and Agneepath Movie Poster

The year 2012 began with a smash hit, thanks to a certain Karan Malhotra along with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. A first-time director, Malhotra made the remake of Agneepath quite intelligently and earned the blockbuster status. The presence of Hrithik Roshan also helped a great deal.

Sujoy Ghosh:

Director Sujoy Ghosh and Kahaani Movie Poster

The way he made his ‘Kahaani’ known to the audience was commendable. Vidya Balan was the right choice for a film like that, and Mr. Ghosh proved that at the end of day, a film works due to its content.

Sajid Khan:

Director Sajid Khan and Housefull 2 Movie Poster

He took his Housefull legacy a step further by delivering Housefull 2. The film became a bigger hit than the original production of the franchise, grossing more than a 100-crore and also maintaining Sajid Khan’s identity as an ace-hit director.

Shoojit Sircar:

Director Shoojit Sircar and Vicky Donor Movie Poster

Another director who proved that a film does not become big with the presence of big names. It is the story and its reproduction to the audience that matters. Vicky Donor launched Sircar as a new director, John Abraham as a producer and television stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam as the coming-of-age leads.

Prabhu Deva:

Director Prabhudeva and Rowdy Rathore Movie Poster

His first Bolly directorial venture Wanted, starring Salman Khan, turned out to be a massive hit. And he did it again with Rowdy Rathore, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha. The film got mixed reviews, but who cares if it earned a 100-crore at the BO??

Habib Faisal:

Director Habib Faisal and Ishaqzaade Movie Poster

The director, who became known for his films like Do Dooni Chaar, Band Bajaa Baraat and Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, continued the trend with Ishaqzaade. Newcomer Arjun Kapoor was well-received and Parineeti Chopra became a hot property, thanks to Mr. Faisal!

Anurag Kashyap:

Director Anurag Kashyap and Gangs of Wasseypur Movie Poster

He is not new to the industry, and he knows how to play his cards well. His Gangs of Wasseypur turned out to be the dark horse of the first half, and became a surprise hit. Part II of the same film is ready for release.

The next time you watch a film, think of the efforts put in the by the director. If you like the film, praise him, and if you don’t, then you know who is to be blamed!

Ayushmann Khurrana in Vicky Donor, Akshay Kumar, Farah Khan, Sajid Khan

“Everyone has stood up and noticed the young bloke”, informs a source, “The ones who have been lavish with praise are the likes of Akshay Kumar, Farah Khan and Sajid Khan.”

Incidentally the common element here happens to be John Abraham who has worked with Akshay and Sajid already and has also been roped in by Farah Khan for Happy New Year.

“It was John who had put his faith in Ayushmann and now that he has done well, the talent-starved industry is already putting it’s money on Ayushmann”, says a close associate, “Though there hasn’t been a concrete offer yet from any of the three bigwigs, the very fact that Ayushmann has turned out to be ‘lakhon mein ek’ (as is the film’s tagline as well) is a reason to rejoice for the youngster.”

Though Ayushmann has interacted with all of them earlier due to his stint as a TV host, the situation is different now since any talks from this point on would be pure professional.

When contacted, Ayushmann didn’t deny the kind of calls he has been getting and the attention being garnered upon him. “Yes, John told me about that. Though I can’t call them as my friends since they are way too senior, I am glad that they spoke about me”, he says.

Would the trio of Akshay, Farah and Sajid be the early birds to catch him? Let’s wait and watch.