Posts Tagged ‘illuminati films’
Agent Vinod’s budget slashed?
Posted on: December 3, 2009
Considering the fate of some of the recent films bombing at the box-office and the aftereffects of recession, corporate are entirely rethinking their film financing budgets. Apparently, this is why Eros International, the financers of Agent Vinod starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, has considerably slashed the film’s budget.
The buzz in trade circles, based on a conversation overheard between a leading producer and a couple of distributors is that Eros International is renegotiating their deal with Illuminati Films, producers of Agent Vinod. The budget of the film has been brought down considerably from Rs 65 crore to Rs 40 crore. Illuminati Films is co-owned by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan.
Agent Vinod is a spy thriller with Saif and Kareena playing undercover agents. In fact, buzz is that Kareena plays a full-on action star on the same lines as Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.
In today’s time, when having a big star in one’s film does not guarantee money recovery, it is not surprising that Eros is having second thoughts about the budget of the film. Apparently, the dismal performance of the recent Saif-Kareena starrer Kurbaan at the box-office has also played a big role in Eros deciding to cut costs. Incidentally, this is the third time recently that the real life couple failed to set the screen on fire. They had not too long ago worked together in Roadside Romeo and Tashan.
However, our source insists that the slashed budget of Agent Vinod has nothing to do with the box-office failure of Kurbaan. The source says, “It is a wise business decision which can be termed as a precautionary measure. It has got nothing to do with Saif and Kareena per se. For all you know, Agent Vinod may be a hit and a cut in its cost will benefit Eros and Illuminati all the more.”
Sriram Raghavan, director of Agent Vinod, says that the film will be going on the floors in the next two months. Commenting on the slashed budget, he says, “I don’t know if there is any such development, but I can’t downsize my script. There are a lot of foreign locales and action in the film. So, it’s definitely a high budget film. However, I cannot reveal its budget, producer Dinesh Vijan is the right person to comment on it.”
Eros International and Illuminati Films declined to comment on the story.
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 59
Posted on: July 30, 2009
DON’T EXPECT JAB WE MET IN LOVE AAJ KAL!
This weekend is bound to be very interesting. Whatever response may tomorrow’s release Love Aaj Kal (also one of the most awaited films of the year) get from the audience (and critics), it’ll surely result in an exciting situation. The film is expected to take a hurricane start and if the film manages to connect with the audience, it can easily be Saif’s biggest hit ever!
When it comes to Love Aaj Kal, discussions are only centered on the lead man and producer Saif Ali Khan, actress Deepika Padukone, director Imtiaz Ali and also Kareena Kapoor (even though she’s not a part of the film!)! However, two important people connected to the film are miles away from the limelight. One is the second actress of Love Aaj Kal (LAK), whose identity has been deliberately kept a secret by the makers and the other is Saif’s producer-partner Dinesh Vijan (see pic) who is ignored by the media, since he’s not known name.
However, the fact is Dinesh Vijan is as much a producer of LAK as Saif. Dinesh’s first film as a producer was Being Cyrus, which also starred Saif. Dinesh and Ambika Hinduja were two of the four producers of Being Cyrus and had formed a production company, Serendipity Films. He and Saif realized on the sets that both have similar tastes and views regarding films and felt that they should jointly make movies. Post-Being Cyrus, both of them went their own ways. Dinesh then produced Shiney-Esha Deol starrer Hijack along with its director Kunal Shivdasani under the banner, Aleya Motion Magic. Finally, Dinesh and Saif got back again and made their own production house, Illuminati Films. However, they won’t be parting after LAK’s release. They have decided to jointly produce more films, which are qualitative as well as interesting. Their next film is already on the cards. Titled Agent Vinod, it stars Saif and Kareena and is produced by Johnny Gaddaar director, Sriram Raghavan. There are also plans to produce a film of Being Cyrus director, Homi Adjania.
Regarding the mysterious girl in Love Aaj Kal, there are around 10 people who have asked me as to who she is and her name, because she looks beautiful and I am the one who’s supposed to know everything about Hindi films! Unfortunately, this time, even I am ignorant since the producers have wonderfully kept her under wraps! Her name has not been disclosed and she has not made any public appearance till date. Only her screen name is available-Harleen Kaur. Hopefully, one would know who she is in 24 hours, when reviews start pouring in. Check out her pic!
Finally, the film is hugely awaited also due to its director-Imtiaz Ali, who impressed everyone with his last film, Jab We Met (JWM). One may feel this time things would be easy for him but I feel that things would be even more difficult. One didn’t had much expectation from JWM as no one expected it to be such a brilliant film in all respects. Viewers would naturally expect a lot from LAK. However, one should not expect something like JWM from LAK as both films are as different as chalk and cheese. That’s why, Imtiaz was even against the idea of inserting the card ‘Fromthe director of Jab We Met’ in the promos of LAK!
Saif, Deepika, Imtiaz, Dinesh, mysterious girl, Pritam (music), Irshad Kamil (lyrics)…all talented and all are youngsters. So LAK is surely a film for the youth, by the youth! Here’s wishing lots of luck to everyone associated with this fresh-looking film!
P.S.: Neetu Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna and comedian Vir Das are also a part of the film!
——————————
CHAL CHALEIN SEEMS IMPRESSIVE!
A small film releasing next week, Chal Chalein, seems to be very impressive and interesting. It deals with the topic of suicide committed by students, due to the fear of either their parents or of scoring less marks in examinations. The film centers around eight friends, studying in Class 11. One of them commits suicide after he is unable to bear the pressure burdened on him by his parents (Kanwaljeet and Rati Agnihotri). His friends realize that not only parents, but even the education system is to blame for such suicides. They start a movement and manage to take it to court, with the help of a lawyer (played by Mithun Chakraborthy). Chal Chalein also stars Chak De girl Shilpa Shukla. The film seems meaningful and if handled well, can manage to impact the viewers greatly. However, like every small film, it is not well promoted and the promos on TV don’t show what the film is actually about. Please spare some minutes and watch the exclusive theatrical promo below. The film is releasing next Friday, Aug 7.
Also releasing on:
JULY 10-SANKAT CITY; MORNING WALK; DEKH BHAI DEKH
JULY 17-KISSAN; BAHCELOR PARTY
NOTE:
SANKAT CITY INITALLY SCHEDULED TO RELEASE ON JUNE 26 BUT NOW RELEASING ON JULY 10
AGYAAT INITALLY TO RELEASE ON JULY 24 BUT NOW IT WILL HIT THE SCREENS ON AUGUST 7
KAMINEY RELEASING ON AUGUST 14
Fenil and Bollywood 