Umesh Shukla is making a situational comedy next, film to roll next month
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 12, 2019)

A year after 102 Not Out, which revolved around an elderly father-son duo, essayed by Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor respectively, filmmaker Umesh Shukla is gearing up to tickle the funny bone with a situational comedy, the tentatively-titled Namune.

According to our source, Umesh’s next directorial is an ensemble comedy about a group of crazy people who have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. “Abhimanyu (Dassani), Mrunal (Thakur), Arshad (Warsi) and Paresh (Rawal) have been confirmed as the lead cast,” the source informed, adding that talks are also on to get Richa Chadha and Vijay Raaz on board.

Buzz is, the film will go on the floors next month and will be shot in India and abroad. Mirror reached out to Umesh, but he didn’t respond to our messages. 

Hiten Tejwani talks about being replaced on a comedy show without any intimation
Neha Maheshwri (BOMBAY TIMES; July 19, 2018)

Overnight replacements are common in the television industry. However, when a seasoned actor is replaced on a show, it comes as a shocker. And what’s even more shocking is when they are not informed about it. Something similar happened with Hiten Tejwani recently. The actor was all set to foray into comedy for the first time with the show, Namune. However, just a few days before the shoot was to commence, he was replaced by Kunal Kumar without any intimation.

Hiten spoke about it in his signature calm demeanour, “So far, I have replaced actors, but this is the first time I have been replaced without intimation. I have been a part of this industry and such things are quite common. I shot for four days for the pilot of the show. I did a lot of prep for it, as this was also the first time I was venturing into comedy. It’s not an easy genre. It takes effort to get into the skin of the character. I was very excited about the project, but now, what can I say?” he said.

Shedding light on what could possibly be the reason for this change, the actor said, “After the look test was done, I was wondering what happened, as there was no communication from their end. So, when the shooting date came near, I got in touch with someone I knew in the production team and the person was shocked that I wasn’t informed about the development. He broke the news to me that I had been replaced. Actors are often replaced, if they don’t suit a character or fit the bill. However, my problem was that they felt that I didn’t look like a lower middle-class guy, despite trying every trick in the book to make me look like one! Then suddenly, someone else was brought on board for my part overnight, and I wasn’t even informed about it. I’ve been a part of the industry for years and I have seen it all, but I am sure something like this would be difficult for new actors. They would take time to come to terms with what just hit them. It can also dent their confidence, as they would wonder why they were suddenly replaced, without even been given an opportunity to improve their acting."