In the last one year, cinema as a medium has undergone a sea change, especially when it comes to its exhibition sector and content. With the OTT platforms creating ripples with their escalated presence, the question today is: Can the new wave in the business pressurise writers to meet demands from actors and producers? Housefull 4 director Farhad Samji, for one, believes that it would be the death of an idea on paper if an actor didn’t step forward to back it.

The writer-director will be working with Akshay Kumar on Bachchan Pandey and Salman Khan on Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali. He says there is a demand for something different from most actors, filmmakers and the audience, but an outof-the-box story does not happen all the time. He explains, “Finding something unique and new is the real challenge. Having said that, writers can never run out of ideas or ways to explore an existing idea in a unique manner. For instance, it’s a challenge to find something novel for Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar who have acted in over 100 films. And they’re always waiting to get a jolt from the writers. Good Newwz was a unique story for Akshay and Bachchan Pandey will hopefully meet his standards, too. Actors like Ajay Devgn, Akshay and Salman always want to try different things. If you approach them with anything typical, their response is, ‘Beta tu U-turn leke ghar jaa’. An idea is born in the brain and it dies on paper; it comes to life when an actor decides to back it.”

Farhad also stresses on the importance of appreciating writers. He says, “People remember the words, the lines of dialogue and how they were said, but not the writer. A writer is the central pillar of a project till it’s on floors. But when the promotions begin, everyone conveniently forgets his or her contribution. He or she is sidelined and credits go elsewhere. This aspect of filmmaking pinches me till today. No one can individually change this; lekin baat kisi ek ki nahi, soch ki hai. Prakash Raj is the only person who has thanked me while getting an award for Singham. This is the only instance I can quote in my career of 20 years.”

“Salman (Khan) was keen to work with Prabhudheva and we were developing a script with him in a triple role of a dude father, his son who’s an introvert and Salman Khan, the star, who arrives where the duo is living for a film shoot,” reminisces Boney Kapoor, admitting that while on paper the comedy seemed like a great idea, it wasn’t turning out the way they had envisioned.

Meanwhile, Prabhudheva had started filming Pokkiri, the Tamil version of Mahesh Babu’s 2006 Telugu blockbuster, Pokiri. Two actors from the Hindi film industry had seen the original and passed it over, but Prabhudheva believed it was the perfect film to bring Salman back into the action genre and urged Boney to see it before his Pokkiri released and someone else evinced interest in a Hindi remake. “So, one day, around midnight, Sri (his late actress-wife Sridevi), and I sat down to watch it together. We loved it, and with the then recently released Casino Royale showing James Bond engaged in hand-to-hand combats, we believed it wouldn’t be long before the masala movies of yore, with lots of maar-dhaad, would return to the mainstream. Hoping to be one step ahead of the competition, I coaxed Salman to see Pokiri,” the producer recounts. To their delight, the actor was equally impressed and Boney immediately air-dashed to Hyderabad to buy the rights from the Telugu film’s producer-director Puri Jagannadh. And Wanted happened!

He is, however, quick to add that they had toyed with a number of titles before fixing on Wanted, then, realised it was already registered with Firoz Nadiadwala. “So, we started looking for options, but ended up coming back to Wanted. At one point, I had decided to call it Wanted: Dead or Alive. Fortunately, Firoz gave me what I wanted,” Boney chuckles.

To play Salman’s leading lady several actresses, including two A-listers, were approached, but things didn’t work out. Ayesha Takia had impressed in Socha Na Tha and Boney had her in mind for a film he was planning with Salman and Saif Ali Khan on the lines of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 psychological thriller, Rebecca, with Nikkhil Advani. “Nikkhil got busy with Salaam-E-Ishq and that film didn’t happen, but I then signed Ayesha for Wanted,” he narrates.

The film also introduced a new villain to Bollywood, Prakash Raj, who was already a big name in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He had done only a couple of Hindi films, including Boney’s Shakti: The Power, before this. So, Wanted was his big break. “I had approached some of the conventional villains, but they had issues with a particular scene where watching Salman decimate his entire army, Ghani Bhai wets his pants. We conveyed the ‘accident’ through sound, but they still objected to the scene. I pointed out that we used terms like ‘you will s**t in your pants’ or ‘p** in your pants’ in everyday conversation, but they were unconvinced. That scene got the maximum taalis in the theatres after the film’s release,” Boney beams, adding that they filmed Prakash Raj’s introduction and a few other scenes in Thailand.

The song “Dil Leke” was shot in Greece. On the second day, Prabhudheva got the news that his son, who it was believed had recovered from cancer, had gone into remission and had to rush back to Chennai.

His brother Raju Sundaram finished the song with Prabhudheva’s signature step. He also choreographed “Jalwa” while Vaibhavi Merchant did “Le Le Mazaa Le”.

The film was shot over 208 days with Salman himself filming for around 165 days, in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Surve Farms near Pune and Binny Mills in Chennai. It released on September 18, 2009, and was applauded not just by the aam janta but also the critics. I remember, during an interview with Boney, both his phones were ringing non-stop, with distributors from across the country sharing box-office figures. Single screen theatres that had been on the verge of shutting shop got a new lease of life, with many exhibitors having to get new ‘Houseful’ boards to proudly display outside their cinemas. “I just wish we had got a ‘U/A’ instead of an ‘A’ certificate. Then, the business would have been double. I know many families went to see Wanted , then, on learning they couldn’t see it with their kids, bought tickets for Dil Bole Hadippa!, which opened on the same Friday,” Boney shares.

Eleven years have passed, but Salman’s “Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, toh main apne aap ki bhi nahin sunta” still resonates. “The script of No Entry Mein Entry and the idea for a Wanted sequel are locked. Aur mera yeh commitment hai that I will make both films soon,” promises Boney. 

Warned of “contempt of court” if it bounces in the legal tussle with Zee over his directorial debut
Sunil Baghel (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 24, 2019)

The Bombay High Court on Friday warned actor-politician Prakash Raj of contempt of court with respect to his directorial debut, the yet-to-be-released Nana Patekar, Tapsee Pannu and Ali Fazal starrer Tadka. During the hearing, Justice K R Shriram stated that if his Rs 2 crore cheque bounces, Raj will be held accountable for “aggravated contempt of court” since he has already been made aware of his action. The “action” referred to non-payment of Rs 5.88 crore, with added taxes, to Essel Vision—a Zee Group company.

Raj had given an undertaking to the court in April this year that he will pay the entire amount by July 15. He was responding to a suit filed by Essel against the production house Movie Makers and its officials, Sameer Dixit, Jatish Verma, Swiss Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Akshay Communications Pvt. Ltd. and Movie Makers is owned and managed by Dixit and Verma. The latter is Raj’s brother-in-law.

Advocate Hiren Kamod claimed that Movie Makers had signed a MoU with Essel in March 2016, following which Rs 4.25 crore was paid for the film, half the production budget. Essel was supposed to own 60 per cent of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the film and exploit it alone. Essel approached the court citing breach of the MoU.

During one of the hearings in April, Raj agreed to return the amount, with interest and any other taxes applicable additionally, by July 15. He also agreed to deposit documents of two of his personal properties with his lawyer Manish Vig, in case he could not repay the amount within the stipulated period.

Essel moved court last month, saying that since Raj had defaulted on paying the money, a court receiver should be appointed to sell the properties and recover the money. Raj had sought more time and finally arrived on Friday with a Rs 2 crore cheque. Essel has now agreed to give him time till February for the balance amount. However, a hearing is scheduled for on August 30 to ascertain that the cheque has been cleared.

Ali Fazal is miffed that the Prakash Raj directorial, which also features Taapsee Pannu, is being promoted even though its cast and crew are yet to be paid in full
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 3, 2019)

On August 1, Zee Music Company launched the song, “Khainch Le Qashh”, from Prakash Raj’s first Hindi film as a director, Tadka. Ali Fazal, Taapsee Pannu and Shriya Saran—the film’s lead actors—and its music team were tagged in the post. Soon after, Ali responded, stating, “There’s a court case on the producers of this film as far as I remember. Cheques had bounced. Actors and crew still haven’t gotten paid. Surprised to see a promotional song coming out from the film.”

When Mirror reached out to the 32-year-old actor, who was on his way to Canada, sounded upset. “An entire crew, including my staff, is yet to be paid. When we (the cast) were called to shoot the last portion, we made it clear to the producers that we would do so only after our dues were cleared. But they requested us to shoot, promising to pay later. I was working on another project at the time and had to leave it for three-four days for this film. I got a cheque a day after we shot, but it bounced. Since then I have got several WhatsApp messages from my producer Jatish Varma, promising me that he will pay up but it has yet to happen. My tweet was not against Zee but against these guys who made the film,” Ali ranted.

The film, which also features Nana Patekar, has been produced by Jatish Varma, Sameer Dixit, and Zee Studios. When Mirror reached out to producer Jatish, he said, “The film’s release date is yet to be finalised. Only the last payment, which is made after the promotions, remains. The rest has been cleared on time for every member associated with the film.”

When asked why Zee Music Company had released the song, Jatish said, “This song was released without our permission. We share a great relationship with Anurag Bedi, the head of Zee Music Company, who is keen to release our film’s music even if Zee Studios disassociates itself with the project as he has invested time and energy in it. We want to go ahead with Zee Music as well, but we cannot sign a deal as of now as there is an ongoing legal battle between Prakash Raj and Zee Studios (over the film).”

When asked if he’ll promote the film, Ali said, “My heart is not in this film now. Taapsee is a friend and I can speak for her. I don’t think either of us would be interested in promoting it.”

As told to Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 19, 2018)

I’ve always wanted to play the guitar but never got down to learning it till I signed Rock On!! The director, Abhishek Kapoor, was very clear that all of us who were part of the rock band Magik had to get close to the instruments we were playing. For Purab Kohli it was the drums, for Luke Kenny the keyboard and for Farhan (Akhtar) and me it was the guitar. I took a lot of classes, around three-four hours of practice every day.

And that wasn’t all. I was also required to watch a lot of videos so the guitar would seem like an extension of me. I remember I saw a lot of Steve Vai videos and also bought a Steve Vai guitar of my own, one that I was comfortable playing. We had to make my character, Joseph Mascarenhas, look like one of the boys from the by-lanes of Bandra, with a guitar strung on his back and I think I eventually pulled Joe off on screen because the performance bagged me the National Award for Best Supporting Actor and also the Filmfare Black Lady.

Another character that I could really dive into was Prithvi from Raajneeti. He was a politician and the film’s director, Prakash Jha, described him as a “caged tiger”, underlining the fact that he wanted Prithvi to move in a particular way, with arrogance and aristocracy since he came from a second or maybe it was third generation of a family of politicians. I researched history of certain political families to figure out how these guys dressed, their gait and the confidence with which they spoke. At the same time, Prithvi was also a people’s person so he had to be out there. Usually I’m more comfortable in a space where I don’t have to overact but this character couldn’t be subtle and underplayed. I had to make him loud without being a caricature.

When it came to his look, all the ideas came from Prakash Jha. He always wanted me to wear a stole and I was petrified because the last time I had carried one was on the ramp, during my modelling days and I was hoping that wouldn’t become an impediment. I realized later that the way the stole was draped made the character larger-than-life. My one input was to wear sneakers with kurta-pajama. I had observed that all politicians wear sneakers when they go campaigning because of the amount of walking they need to do. But the one thing that Raajneeti really taught me was how to stand in front of the audience and address them right. Actors also have to learn and deliver lines but a speech is something else. You know why politicians take long pauses between lines? It’s because they are waiting for the echo of loudspeakers and the noise of applause to die down before moving on.

For Ashim Ahluwalia’s Daddy it was a different challenge. Since this time I was playing a real-life character (Arun Gawli), I had to be as close to him as possible. It was difficult because I didn’t get to spend too much time with Mr Gawli as he is serving a jail sentence. Whenever he came out, I would meet him and observe him like a hawk. I had about three meetings with him but watched a lot of footage to learn his body language and mannerisms. I also used prosthetic to look like him. We flew down an amazing makeup team from Italy who worked with me for weeks before we went on floors to get the look absolutely right. I also had to lose a lot of weight, look smaller, because Mr Gawli isn’t very tall while I am. So I had to shrink my body by stooping and hunching. But the most important prep was getting the language right.

I had studied Marathi at my school in Deolali since standard eight so I was familiar with it and only had to brush up on it by reading a lot of Marathi, and listening to people speak so I would get the words and accent right. Since it was a Hindi film at the end of the day I didn’t have to speak the language fluently, it was making it sound colloquial that was the real challenge.

MID-DAY (November 9, 2017)

Observing the first anniversary of demonetization, actor Prakash Raj yesterday penned a note demanding an apology from the authorities for what he termed the disruptive impact of the exercise. The 52-year-old National Award-winning actor took to Twitter to question the intent behind the move of the government on November 8 last year, which rendered 86 per cent of the currency in circulation illegal.

Titled ‘To Whomsoever It May Concern’, Raj’s post read, “While the rich found ways to convert their black money into shiny new notes, this disruptive impact made millions suffer helplessly and the unorganized sector workers went for a spin. Would you mind saying sorry for the biggest blunder of our time?” A vocal critic of the central government, the actor captioned the image “This day... that age.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8 last year announced the demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in a bid to combat corruption, black money, terrorism and fake currency. Raj had recently raised the issues of moral policing, lynching on the slightest doubt of cow slaughter, terrorizing in the name of religion and trolling.

As told to Kavya Christopher (BOMBAY TIMES; September 7, 2017)

This is such nonsense. I knew Gauri Lankesh for 30 years. In a sense, we were all children of (P) Lankesh, his ideologies and way of life. I never dreamt that this day would come. We were taught to be honest citizens, who would never cease to raise one's voice. In fact, I don't think anyone voiced their opinion more than P Lankesh himself. This was how we were taught to be. It is astonishing to see where we have come to today. One cannot imagine that this is how intolerant one can be. Where is the freedom of expression? Those who have done this have fled like cowards, attacking her in the dark. It shocks me to see how frightening these elements are. But what they don't realise is that silencing a voice will only make it stronger. Personally, Gauri's death is a big loss to me. I have very fond memories of her. We were together for a long time; we talked, debated and discussed many things, and have been there for each other during times of need. It is like losing family for me; it is very painful.

It is left to the police to say who has killed her, but I think everyone already knows. For anyone who is secular today and wants to raise their voice, there are elements who want to muffle it. I think, in a way, if there is some way of doing justice to Gauri, it is to fight for what she fought for - never shying from raising a voice when something is wrong.

There has been a lot of branding of Gauri after the incident, but everyone has their own agenda. What one fails to see is the soul behind all of this. Her agenda was to fight the nonsense in the system. She raised her voice whenever there was something wrong. She was against the establishment, but for a reason. I fail to understand why one has so much hatred that they want to eliminate a voice. She never did anything for herself, only for the society. She continued the legacy of her father.

We were a generation who grew up looking up to people like Lankesh, UR Ananthamurty and Poornachandra Tejaswi. I am a child of a healthy movement, in which there were people who stood up for things that were right and voiced their opinions. But no one stopped anyone from voicing his or her opinion. We have deteriorated into a society like this, in many ways, because of our own doing. Every single person is responsible for this, because it is we who have chosen the leaders. We are helping them grow, and, unfortunately, this is the result. We need to step up and voice our dissent together. The media's support to this is commendable and I thank them for not bowing down to this act, which was to silence them in many ways.“

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 26, 2017)

Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal Again team, who are currently shooting at Mehboob Studio, had an unexpected visitor on Monday when South actor Allu Arjun dropped by to meet Shetty and actors Tusshar Kapoor, Kunal Kemmu and Prakash Raj who were shooting their portions. Earlier, in February, Rohit had dropped by the sets of Allu Arjun’s film Duvvada Jagannadham.

Tusshar who’s known Allu since 2001 when he was filming Yeh Dil in Hyderabad was happy to meet him after all these years. “He’s such a humble star, I hope to see him more often on our shoots.”

The Mumbai schedule of Golmaal Again wraps up in a couple of days after which the team will move to Hyderabad in August for a long schedule. It remains to be seen if Allu Arjun drops in on the sets there as well and whether he will feature in the film.

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 25, 2017)

Mirror had reported earlier (April 19, 2016) about Prakash Raj’s Hindi directorial debut, Tadka, featuring Nana Patekar, Shriya Saran, Taapsee Pannu and Ali Fazal, going on the floors. Now, we hear the film is yet to be completed following Taapsee and Ali’s scheduling conflicts.

A source says, “One schedule was shot last May in Goa. Shooting was to resume in June but got delayed. Then, Ali left for the Victoria & Abdul shoot while Taapsee moved to Naam Shabana. Now, she has gone off to Mauritius for Judwaa 2 while Ali is busy promoting his international production. The remaining portions, one song and scenes related to their love story, cannot be shot individually. They need to shoot together for around 10 days for the film to wrap.”

Taapsee and Ali’s spokesperson said, “We are trying to work out her dates but they are blocked.”

Meanwhile Prakash Raj continues to be optimistic that he will be able to picturise a song with Taapsee and Ali after the rains end. We hope the actors don’t pour cold water on his plans. Taapsee, Ali’s film in a soup

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 3, 2016)

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 23, 2016)

Anirban Das (MID-DAY; May 20, 2016)

The shoot of Prakash Raj’s Hindi directorial debut in Goa was apparently disrupted to an extent when lead actor Ali Fazal claimed to be sick and decided to fly out to Delhi for rest. However, the actor’s appearance at the premiere of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Randeep Hooda-starrer Sarbjit here on Wednesday evening has set tongues wagging.

A source says, “Ali was supposed to shoot throughout the week, but he felt unwell on Tuesday and went to Delhi the same day. He is slated to join the unit tomorrow.” His co-stars, Tapsee Pannu and Shriya Saran, however, continued shooting for the light-hearted comedy tentatively titled Tadka. “He was down with fever for a few days, but his condition aggravated, and the makers allowed him to take rest. Tapsee and Shriya are completing their portions,” adds the source.

When we got in touch with Ali, he said, “I guess the air of Goa didn’t agree with me. I was shooting when I was unwell, but then I had to take care of myself. I flew down to Delhi to take rest and recover. The shoot had to be paused and I am resuming the shoot on Saturday.”

How did he make it to the screening of Sarbjit, looking “hale and hearty”, as some people have put it? Ali says, “I was in Mumbai for just one evening. I had to be there at the screening since Richa (Chadha, who is part of Sarbjit) is a good friend.”

BOMBAY TIMES (May 3, 2016)

Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 19, 2016)

Popular villain Prakash Raj is all set to roll with his Bollywood directorial debut, Tadka - Love Is Cooking, in the first week of May. Featuring Nana Patekar, Shriya Saran, Taapsee Pannu and Ali Fazal, the film will be shot in Goa.

Speaking to Mirror he says, "I have directed some films down South. It's all about reinventing oneself. I started as a theatre actor, turned writer, producer and director before moving to acting in movies. This film is a remake of the Malayalam film, Salt and Pepper, remade in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, with me as the director and actor of all three versions."

So why did he pick Nana as the lead for the Hindi version? Prakash laughs, "Nana is a much better actor and an endearing soul. We share a common love for cinema, cooking and theatre. I couldn't think of this film without him in it. It's a love story between couples of two different age groups so Nana will be romancing Shriya and Taapsee is in love with Ali. I won't be acting in this one."

He's worked in blockbuster hits like Dabangg and Singham, when quizzed about why he didn't approach Salman Khan or Ajay Devgn, he reasons, "The story demanded someone like Nana. It's a different genre and Nana is a star in himself."

Prakash and wife, choreographer Pony Verma, recently became proud parents to son Vedhnath, so Pony, who is busy tending to the baby, won't be a part of this film. "Our son is two months old and he is priority. She will be on the set keeping track of the shoot but won't be an active part of the film," he informs, adding that he has been offered two roles but will focus on them only after completing Tadka. He also plans to direct more films.

Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; March 15, 2016)

Seems like Bollywood baddie Prakash Raj cannot have enough of Nana Patekar. After signing the veteran actor for his directorial debut — a remake of Telugu film Un Samayal Arayil — Prakash is apparently keen to give a Southern spin to Nana’s recent Marathi blockbuster, Natsamrat.

A source says, “Prakash watched the film and was moved. He loved it so much that he has now bought the rights for the Tamil remake. He will take the film on floors soon.”

Natsamrat, helmed by Mahesh Manjrekar, was based on late poet VV Shirwadkar Marathi play of the same name. Nana played the role of Ganpat Ramchandra Belwalkar or Natsamrat. The story revolved around a veteran theatre actor who has been the best of his lot, acting in plays based on William Shakespeare’s works. But gradually, Natsamrat becomes homeless and weary.

Prakash remained unavailable while a source close to him confirms the story, saying, “Yes, Prakash has bought the rights to Natsamrat and wants to direct it and act in it too. Currently, the script is being reworked to suit the sensibilities of the South audience and once things are finalised, an official announcement will be made.”

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; April 14, 2014)

Reliable sources from Hyderabad tell us that actor Prakash Raj, who was on the set of Aagadu (the film is likely to be dubbed in Hindi as well) with Andhra superstar Mahesh Babu, was reportedly asked to leave the project. Reason being his high-handed behaviour at the shoot. Sources say that while the actor reported on the set of the movie on time, he allegedly had differences with director Srinu Vaitla, over his costume and was unwilling to do more than one take.

Since Vaitla was in no mood to tolerate Prakash’s mood swings and attitude, he requested the senior actor to exit the project. It is also being suggested that other senior and respected filmmakers may file a petition against the actor in light of this incident. 

While Vaitla declined to comment, Prakash Raj confirmed he’s no longer doing the movie. He said, “We had creative differences. It’s the director’s right whether he wants to cast me or not. It’s better not to work when you’re not comfortable.” When told about some reports that he wasn’t even informed about his ouster from the movie, the actor said, “That’s the director’s right. He can cast anyone else. It’s okay. It’s as siimple as that. I don’t want to make an issue. He has every right as a director and I have mine as a senior actor and I can have creative differences.” As for the reported petition being readied against him, Prakash said, “I have no clue about it.”