Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 21, 2019)

After featuring in the qawwali song “Wallah Re Wallah” alongside Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan in the 2010 film, Tees Maar Khan, Akshay Kumar is ready to revisit the musical format. Mirror has learnt that Sajid Nadiadwala’s upcoming reincarnation comedy, Housefull 4, features a qawwali sequence with the actor and his co-star Rana Daggubati taking centrestage. According to a source close to the development, the song sequence is a face-off between Akshay and Rana and an important elememt that takes the story forward. “It appears at a crucial juncture and is on the lines of a fun conversation between the protagonist and the antagonist,” the source informed. While Akshay and Rana are at the centre, other key characters played by Bobby Deol, Riteish Deshmukh, Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde, Kriti Kharbanda, Johny and Jamie Lever, Chunky Pandey and Ranjeet joining in the jugalbandi.

The Farhad Samji directorial is spilt in two eras—the present and the past—wherein the latter is a comic take on S S Rajamouli’s epic saga Bahubali. Farhad has also penned the lyrics and composed the basic tune for the qawwali. “The song is set in the present era and was shot at a studio in Mumbai,” the source added. For the shoot, Akshay and Rana were dressed as qawwals and were joined by 200 back-up dancers. Touted to be the costliest Bollywood comedy ever made, Housefull 4 went on the floors last year. While the present era is majorly set in London, the costume-heavy flashback portions were shot in Rajasthan. Akshay plays a barber residing in the Queen’s City but details of other characters have been under wraps. The film also features Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a special turn as an exorcist in a song which was shot earlier this year.