Posts Tagged ‘rohan sippy’
Priyanka Chopra is a sharp woman with a firm business head on her shoulders. Knowing that her jodi with Abhishek Bachchan had proved to be popular, she sees no reason to let a little tiff come in the way of another hit together. So, she has decided to extend the olive branch to Bachchan Jr. The actress has been sending feeler messages to Rohan Sippy to be cast in his next opposite Abhishek Bachchan.
The Abhishek-Priyanka jodi became quite a hit in Rohan Sippy’s Bluffmaster. The duo worked in a couple of movies thereafter and was appreciated. But it may be recalled that the friendly bonding between the two had been strained last year at a film award event when the two wanted to dance to the same number and a misunderstanding ensued.
Abhishek, who had even jokingly called Priyanka his heartthrob on national television in the past, hadn’t taken kindly to Priyanka’s obstinate behaviour at the event, and thereafter the two never crossed paths again.
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A source reveals, “Priyanka has sent feelers to Rohan and is keen to work on this project. She has heard the gist of the script and she liked it. Moreover, Abhishek Bachchan’s presence has attracted her to the film. She finds him fabulous as an actor and loves their on-screen pairing.”
The director, of course, takes the diplomatic route. Rohan says, “I would definitely love to work with Priyanka, as she is a fabulous actress and I really enjoyed working with her. However, I have not yet approached anyone for the female lead for this film till I lock in some other critical casting.”
Even if he hasn’t made up his mind, has Priyanka been artfully bringing herself to his attention? He says, “That’s totally flattering. She is one of my favourite actors.”
Producer-director Rohan Sippy’s gritty, hard-hitting film on the drug racket in Goa, inspired by Hollywood’s Traffic, has finally found a second hero.
The role, which was initially offered to Farhan Akhtar and Emraan Hashmi, has now gone to Rana Daggubati, the Telugu star-on-the-rise, based in Hyderabad. Abhishek Bachchan is playing the lead role in the film.
Rana is a rage in the Telugu film industry after he made his acting debut with the hard-hitting political thriller, Leader. He was chosen to play Abhishek Bachchan’s co-star because he fit the bill.
A source says, “It is the character of a Goan musician. When Rohan saw Rana’s picture, he was stuck by how Goan the Telugu actor looked. The Sippys saw Rana’s film, Leader, and knew he was right. The role is as powerful as Abhishek’s.”
The formalities were completed last week. Incidentally, Rana is not new to the film world. He comes from an illustrious film family. His grandfather is Andhra-based producer D Rama Naidu (who has produced 110 films including superhits in Hindi like Prem Nagar and Tohfa). His father is a distinguished producer Suresh Babu, while his uncle is the popular Telugu star Venkatesh.
Rana will now be another South Indian actor trying his luck in Hindi films after the likes of Kamal Haasan. Rajnikant, Chiranjeevi and Rana’s uncle, Venkatesh (who was launched opposite Karisma Kapoor in Anari by his father D Rama Naidu in 1993).
Rohan Sippy confirmed the casting, “Yes, I have signed Rana for the film I am directing.”
Producer-cum-actor Abhishek Bachchan says the experience of producing Paa has made him grow up. He says, “High time it did so. People keep asking me what we are producing next. At the moment I don’t want to leave Paa behind. I’m completely engrossed with Paa and how to take it forward, including the DVD release.”
Abhishek says Paa had recovered its costs only two days after its release but he chooses to be cautious in his exuberance. He says, “My very dear friend Aditya Chopra told me, ‘It’s very rare when the audience decides to love you and when they do you must be very thankful for that. I feel no sense of vindication. I didn’t make Paa to prove any point to everyone. I just wanted to make an A-grade product with a cast to match within a given reasonable budget and without compromise.”
Now there are plans to make a film with the Bachchan parivaar — Amitabh, Jaya, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan together, to be produced by AB Corp Ltd. Confirming the news, Abhishek says, “Most definitely, we are coming together. All four of us are completely for it. We need to sort out certain variables. The scripts that we had been given didn’t justify our collective presence.”
Apparently one or other Bachchan has not liked the scripts offered so far. “Each individual of the family has to be willing to be part of the film. All four of us are unique actors. It’s very difficult for any script to please collectively.”
Meanwhile, Abhishek is planning to produce a film that will cast Amitabh and Abhishek together again after Paa. He says, “Everyone wants to know what’s next with the two of us? I think a comedy is ideal. So that’s what we would do together.”
The year 2009 has been eventful for Abhishek as he worked in his most challenging role to date, for Mani Ratnam’s Raavana. Talking about his experience, Abhishek says, “It has been a gruelling year, but no complaints. Most of the year was taken up by Raavana. Unfortunately, at the start of the year, Mani fell ill after the first schedule. We had to push the second schedule ahead by a few months to give him the time to recover. In the interim, I finished Paa… Raavana has been the most challenging experience of my life, both physically and emotionally. It has sapped me every which way. I was really anxious about Raavana. Mani, Aishwarya and I had to go beyond Guru, which is one of my favourite films. I knew Raavana could do it. It is now going to be released in summer. Mani has completed the editing. We will start dubbing soon.”
Abhishek looks back on the year with much gratitude. “It has been a fantastic 2009. I started with Delhi 6 and ended with Paa. I have no reason to complain. I continue to get the opportunity to work with fantastic directors. I love working with new directors. I like to challenge myself as an actor. It would be terribly boring to be doing the same roles again. Now I am raring to take on the challenges in 2010.”
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He has almost wrapped up Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se. Commenting on his busy schedule for the forthcoming year, he says, “I am almost done. We shot it in Goa at a stretch. I start 2010 with a film produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani, but it’s not called Crooked. It has no title. After that I go into Rohan Sippy’s film, then Dostana 2, followed by Abbas-Mastan’s film, which is the official remake of The Italian Job. Finally, at the end of 2010, I’ll go into Neeraj Pandey Special Chabbis. I saw Neeraj’s A Wednesday and loved it. He’s a very no-nonsense director. He doesn’t believe in frills. What he has written for me is very exciting. Is that a lot? No I have always had 4-5 releases per year. All my years have been packed. Only Raavana required more time because of Mani’s illness.”
Abhishek admits he’s worried by his father’s workload. He says, “Any son would be worried. I am no different. Having said that, as his fan and co-actor, I am glad I get to see him quite often in movies. But at the same time I think he’s just starting. After doing five films with him, I can say with some authority that what we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.”
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (BOMBAY TIMES; December 18, 2009)
A lot of films try to lay claim to the old ‘most anticipated film of the year’ tag, but on Tuesday night, it was clear that Avatar was indeed the biggest Hollywood film of the year amongst Bollywood’s celebrity film buffs; it brought the Bachchans and the Khans onto the same blue carpet in a premiere rivalling the big Bollywood premieres. After 14 years of incubating in director James Cameron’s brain, Avatar, the once-ultrasecret project known as ‘Project 800’, finally premiered to an enraptured and appreciative Bollywood crowd. But before the 160-minute-long saga of 10-foot-tall blue aliens on a distant moon called Pandora began, the blue carpet was walked by larger than life superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Gurinder Chadha, Harman Baweja, Vivek Oberoi, Ram Gopal Verma, Rohan Sippy, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani, Anthony D’Souza, Rohit Shetty, Shirish Kunder, Tisca Chopra to name a few.
At the end of the film, as the news channels spoke to the guests leaving, some admitted to tears, many felt it would be difficult to watch “normal movies again” and most were ready to take another trip to Pandora right then and there. Networking sites were instantly flooded with more gushing praise.
Aryan had his school exams and couldn’t make it, but Shah Rukh Khan was so amazed by the experience that arranged a screening for his family and friends over the weekend. … Hrithik, who was stuck at the shooting of Guzaarish and couldn’t make it in time to the venue, is also looking to have a private screening of the film. Amitabh Bachchan told the media “It was a fabulous film, a wonderful experience!” Abhishek, who was not scheduled to come as he had to walk the ramp the same evening in the suburbs, rushed just in time to catch the film. He posted his views on a site soon after “It’s not a film. It’s an experience! James Cameron is Hollywood’s answer to my favourite director, Manmohan Desai! He could pull off anything. Avatar too is a Hindi film at heart. It’s definitely a ‘must watch’ for the experience.”
Rohan Sippy’s film requires three leading men. While two of them, Abhishek Bachchan and Pratik Babbar, have been finalised there is another crucial third character, whose role is parallel to that of Abhishek.
Apparently, Abhishek and Farhan Akhtar were the first choices for the two parts and since director Rohan Sippy, Abhishek and Farhan are childhood friends, no one saw any problems in the casting.
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| Farhan Akhtar | Abhishek Bachchan |
Rohan’s film is being produced by his father Ramesh Sippy, a close family friend of Farhan’s father Javed Akhtar.
Although both Rohan Sippy and Farhan Akhtar remained unavailable for comment, a source close to the project said, “Farhan was indeed the first choice to play Abhishek’s co-star. The on-screen partnering was patterned on those Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor films that Farhan’s father once wrote. Farhan declined the offer, much to the dismay of Rohan’s team, which hadn’t thought of anyone else.”
Since the role is as important as Abhishek’s, Rohan and Abhishek have now zeroed in on John Abraham for the same role.
“The problem with Abhishek-John is that audiences will immediately think of Dhoom where again, Abhishek played an undercover cop, as he does in Rohan’s film. Rohan’s film is not a light bantering caper like Dhoom. It’s dark and does an expose on the drug racket in Goa which ends with one of the principal politician characters being exposed as the kingpin,” said the source.
A deluge of films for Pratik
Posted on: November 30, 2009
Pratik signs a two-film deal with Rohan Sippy; will star alongside Abhishek Bachchan
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| Pratik |
He may not have signed on too many films after Jaane Tu… but he is now making up for lost time and is on a film-signing spree. The latest on Pratik is that he has signed on with producer Rohan Sippy for his film starring Abhishek Bachchan.
A source reveals, “Pratik is only a film old in the industry, but is going places. He recently signed Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s My Friend Pinto, and Saif Ali Khan’s home production, and now has a two-film deal with Rohan Sippy. Abhishek and Pratik are the protagonists in Rohan’s next. Rohan and Abhishek wanted a young fresh face and found Pratik to fit the bill perfectly.”
The source continues, “Rohan’s film has Abhishek as a tough cop on a drug-bust mission. The untitled film is about drug-trafficking in Goa. The actors have been asked to study narcotic neurosis and criminal’s quirks to understand their roles well.”
Rohan confirms the story and says, “Pratik is a very exciting young actor and we are planning on doing a couple of films together. The first is the one I am directing, starring Abhishek Bachchan. It is a gritty and witty thriller.”
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; November 28, 2009)
Pratik says, “My filmmakers be it Sanjay Leela or Rohan will do all the talking about their films. I’m under a contract and unable to say much.”
The star son, however, clears the air about a controversy that said he kept Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan waiting on the sets of Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat because he was holidaying in Goa. “I haven’t been to Goa in five years,” says Pratik. “I may be young, restless and even stupid but I would never keep a senior actor like Aamir waiting.” Brickbats be damned, then. It will rain bouquets in Pratik’s backyard on his birthday, today!
