Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 17, 2020)

This year was supposed to be a big one for Shilpa Shetty Kundra and her fans as the actor was set to make a comeback in films after a gap of 13 years. And it was going to be double celebration as she had two films releasing. However, the Coronavirus pandemic played quite a spoil sport.

“Man proposes pandemic disposes ,” Shlipa says with a hearty laugh, adding that she isn’t sweating much about it as she has got this time to spend with her daughter, Samisha, who she welcomed via surrogacy on February 15.

“I live in the now, you’ve to take it as it comes. My reintroduction on the big screen is not more important than health. I don’t want to step out of the house” she shares.

The 45-year-old had almost finished Nikamma and a little of Hungama 2 was left before the pandemic struck. “We had set things up in a way which would have made it easy for me, but I still wouldn’t have got the time with Samisha, like I do now,” she adds.

Calling 2020 a “blur” for everyone, Kundra feels that things will not be normal before next year. “My films are on floors. But it doesn’t make sense for producers to release their films this year,” she says.

Given that many films have taken the digital route, would she be okay if her films, too, followed on the same path? The actor reveals that the filmmakers of both her films aren’t keen about the idea. “Sabbir (Khan; director of Nikamma) would not like to release it on the web. Even Ratan ji (Ratan Jain; producer Hungama 2) doesn’t want to do it. These are not OTT films,” she says.

While films may have taken a backseat, Shilpa is focusing on her health and has turned a vegetarian. “I first gave up meat, then chicken and then fish. I luckily have a spouse (Raj Kundra) who has gone a step ahead become a vegan,” she concludes.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 10, 2020)

Mansoor Khan’s action-romance Josh, set in ’80s Vasco and unveiled on June 9, 2000, revolved around two rival street gangs, Eagles headed by Shah Rukh Khan’s Max Dias and Bichoo by Sharad Kapoor’s Prakash Sharma. Not many know that when the project was conceived, Mansoor had wanted his cousin Aamir Khan to play Rahul, Prakash’s younger brother who returns from Mumbai, falls in love with Max’s twin Shirley and decides to settle down in Goa, leading up to a bloody fight. “But Aamir wanted to play Max and thinking he could convince Shah Rukh to swap roles, Mansoor set up a joint narration with both. As soon as he arrived, Shah Rukh asked Mansoor, ‘Who’s Max?’ When told that Aamir wanted to do the role, he immediately walked out, saying he wasn’t doing the film,” recounts the film’s producer Ratan Jain.

After a few months, they decided to revive the film with Salman Khan, Akshaye Khanna or Saif Ali Khan. Later, since Chandrachur Singh was doing well at the time, they roped him in to play Rahul opposite Aishwarya Rai’s Shirley. But soon after, Salman was offered Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s love story Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam opposite Aishwarya and wasn’t sure he wanted to play her brother. “And that’s how Max and Josh returned to Shah Rukh,” shares Ratan ji.

He reveals that there was also a change in the music director after A R Rahman sent across a song after weeks of anticipation. “Unfortunately, neither Mansoor nor I liked it and when we asked for another one, Rahman told us he’d need a month. Since we were ready to shoot and didn’t want to delay the film, we decided to go with Anu Malik,” he informs.

Twenty years later, Anu recalls how devastated he was when he learnt that after the melodious Akele Hum Akele Tum, Mansoor would not be repeating him in Josh because he wanted to work with a new composer every time. Then, one day, he returned home at 7 am, caught a few hours of sleep before his next recording and was in the shower when the phone rang. It was Mansoor, admitting that he was in a tight spot and needed Anu to rush to Film City immediately. “The set was lovely, transporting me immediately to Goa. Mansoor told me he wanted to film a fight musically between the two gang leaders and as I looked on, the words, 'Sailaru Sailare Kya Bola Phir Bol Re' flashed through my mind and I started humming. Mansoor heard me and jumped excitedly, saying this was what he’d been wanting for six months. I was finalised on the spot,” narrates Anu, adding that lyricist Sameer came up with a prelude to his hookline, 'Hum Bhi Hain Josh Mein, Baatein Kar Hosh Mein, Yun Na Aankhen Dikha' and they were ready to record with Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan. “Both are brilliant singers, but they were not getting the vibe right, singing too romantically, so I turned to Kay Kay and Shaan, before finally settling for Nagoor Babu aka Mano, with whom, I had done a show and rapper/singer and composer Suresh Peters. To date, I perform this song on public demand.”

Anu also made a playback singer of a reluctant Shah Rukh. Lyricist Nitin Raikwar had penned a catchy mukhda, “Apun Bola Tu Meri Laila, Woh Boli, Phekta Hai Saala”. Anu hummed it for Mansoor, who loved it and wondered if they could get Shah Rukh to sing it with the swagger it needed. Anu was confident he could, but never having sung before, the actor flat-out refused to do it. Anu sat him down and sang the mukhda and antara for him, pointing out that he only had to croon it conversationally.

Once he agreed to give it a try, Shah Rukh was totally committed, writing the words down, rehearsing the song on other shoots and with Anu whenever he could squeeze out the time. “By the time we went for recording, he was pitch perfect. He got it right the first time, giving the song so much love and life. But Shah Rukh being Shah Rukh, insisted on another take. I, however, went with the first one,” reminisces Anu.

The album had other beauties, like “Hum To Dil Se Haare”, “Mere Khayalon Ki Malika” and “Haye Mera Dil Churake Le Gayi”, the latter; a hat tip to Aishwarya’s ethereal beauty. Ratan ji recalls shooting “Haye Mera Dil” with Aishwarya and Chandrachur on a tiny island in Mauritius. By the time they packed up, it was low tide and the boat couldn’t come in. “We were told we’d be picked up only the next morning. Unwilling to spend the night on a dark island, at around 7 pm, many of us, including Aishwarya and Chandrachur, decided to walk back to the main shore. At times, the water reached up to our necks, but we waded through that 2 km of sea to reach the beach around 8 pm. That’s the kind of josh Josh inspired,” Ratan ji concludes with a laugh.

Champak Jain, (right) a still from Khiladi

Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 1, 2019)

On Thursday, at around 7 pm, Champak Jain, one of the producers of films like Khiladi, Baazigar, Humraaz, Hulchul, De Dana Dan and Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, passed away following a cardiac arrest. He was 52.

Along with his six brothers—Ratan, Girish, Ganesh, Umed, Ramesh and Bhanwar—Champak founded Venus Records and Tapes and United Seven production house, under which they made several films with actors like Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and John Abraham.

When Mirror reached out to brother Ratan, he informed that “it all happened very suddenly”. They were at their Juhu office, talking, when Champak collapsed. He was immedaitely rushed to Criti Care Hospital in the vicinity, but it was too late.

Abbas Burmawala (of director duo Abbas-Mustan), who has collaborated with the Jain brothers on several films, said, “We have been friends since the time we first worked together on Khiladi. Champak ji was a nice, simple man. We had a great relation with him and the Jain family. In fact, we had just met Champak ji on Dhanteras. His sudden demise is shocking.”

Producer N R Pachisia remembers him as a soft-spoken person, always calm even in a crisis. “He was also so fit and healthy that his sudden passing away is hard to accept, We will miss him.”

The last rites will be performed today at 11am at the Santacruz crematorium.

With Akshay Kumar revisiting Tip Tip Barsa Paani for Sooryavanshi, Venus head honcho Ratan Jain reveals why he parted with Mohra song's rights
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; June 20, 2019)

Almost 25 years after he gave Bollywood one of its most sizzling numbers Tip Tip Barsa Paani from Mohra (1994), Akshay Kumar is ready to revisit the song for Sooryavanshi. Matching him step for step in the romantic track will be co-star Katrina Kaif. Interestingly, Kumar played a significant role in ensuring that the '90s ditty found a place in the Rohit Shetty-directed actioner. Turns out, Ratan Jain, the head honcho of Venus that owns the rights of the original number, parted with the song owing to his 30-year-long association with Kumar.

A trade source says, "Ratan Jain and Akshay go back a long way with the producer's Khiladi [1991] proving to be the latter's breakthrough film. They have delivered some of their biggest hits together, including Main Khiladi Tu Anari [1994], Garam Masala [2005] and De Dana Dan [2009]. When Rohit and Farah [Khan, choreographer] were discussing possible chartbusters that could be reprised for Sooryavanshi, it was Akshay who suggested Tip Tip Barsa Paani. He then called up Ratan ji to request him for the rights. Rohit and Akshay were also toying with the idea of revisiting another song from the '90s — Bholi Bhali Ladki from Sabse Bada Khiladi [1995], but finally zeroed in on the Mohra track."

Speaking to mid-day, Jain says that he was glad to help his favourite actor and frequent collaborator. "The primary reason I parted with the rights is because Akshay is doing the song again. I have the highest regard for him as an actor and a person. I would not have given the song to any other producer. Having said that, it's not a complete transfer of rights. I have parted with the song for a particular period, after which the rights will be reinstated with us." Quiz him if the makers will be able to do justice to a number that has gained a cult status in Bollywood over the decades, and he says, "It's a big film, and they will definitely take care of the quality of the song."

Ismat Tahseen (BOMBAY TIMES; June 14, 2019)

Talking to BT yesterday from the US, Tanushree Dutta said that she woke up to this news. “At about 5 am, a got a call from a friend who told me about it. This is disgusting, because Nana Patekar has been trying to get a clean chit for a while now. I have also mentioned this earlier in an interview that our witnesses have been getting threat calls, and they are being intimidated and pressured in every way so that they do not record their statements with the police. We have 10 witnesses, out of which only one-and-a-half statements have been recorded. The others have not even come forward, as they have got threat calls. Cops say that there is lack of evidence. How will credible evidence be produced, if the accused is making sure that no evidence against him reaches the police? The witnesses that the police have recorded the statements (in his favour) from, are his friends. From the unit present during the time of the shoot back then, no one was really my friend. Also, the witnesses did not say nothing happened, they said, they don’t remember anything,” she said.

The actress adds that she is not disappointed by the turn of events. She said, “Disappointment happens when you are shocked about something. I didn’t have much expectation from the harassment case. I also think Nana Patekar is desperately trying to come back to Bollywood and now, he wants his name to be cleared somehow. My only hope of judgment now is from God. I will continue this fight”.
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Sharmeen Hakim (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 14, 2019)

When contacted, Dutta said she doesn’t know any other person examined as a witness by the Oshiwara police. “There was journalist Janice Sequiera whose testimony would corroborate mine. Daisy Shah was Ganesh Acharya’s assistant and now says she doesn’t remember anything. Actor Sudhir Pande, Ramesh Taurani and Ratan Jain were not on sets so why should their statements even be recorded,” she said. “I don’t know any other witnesses,” she added. The others, police said, were spot boys, art directors and choreographers on the sets of the film.

In the report, the police also said that they found no substance in Dutta’s complaint that her statement about the alleged harassment was wrongly recorded by the Goregaon police in 2008 and the cops purportedly only recorded the breaking of her car and violence by alleged MNS workers.

After the news of closure report being filed, Dutta had immediately taken to social media and said she is neither shocked nor surprised. “Being a woman in India this is something we all have got used to. Our witnesses have been silenced by intimidation, and fake witnesses have been put forth to weaken the case. What was the rush to file a B summary report when all of my witnesses have not even recorded their statements yet?”

She added, “I mean if rape accused Alok Nath got a clean chit and returned to movies then surely it was not going to be difficult for harassment accused Nana Patekar to get himself or shall we say buy himself a clean chit to continue to bully hapless young women. But the proof is often in the pudding… A gentle reminder to the public to watch the video of my car being attacked and broken while me and my family tried to escape from these monsters on the sets of the film 10 years ago.” 

Dharmesh Darshan explains his unannounced sabbatical; why plans of Dhadkan 2 fell through.
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 8, 2016)


On Dharmesh Darshan’s 42nd birthday on May 16, 2014, Ratan Jain, who’d produced his 2000 romance drama Dhadkan, featuring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, and Shilpa Shetty, asked him to announce a sequel. According to Dharmesh, he agreed to come on board as a “director making a comeback” out of sheer respect for his longtime association with his producer friend. Also, he figured he could give the second instalment a modern spin, mounting it on a much bigger budget than the original. However, two-and-a-half years since the film’s inception, Dharmesh has walked out of the project citing differences in negotiations. While he has seceded all association with the development of Dhadkan 2, the producers are now bringing on-board a newer, much younger director, Prem Soni whose last directorial was Preity Zinta’s debut production, Ishkq In Paris three years ago.

“Even though I had said ‘yes’ in principle, I wasn’t too sure after the negotiations that followed. There was a lot of back-and-forth and we worked on the terms of agreement for six months. I had absolutely no need to prove myself — over the years, Dhadkan has become a cult film as well as has made profits via satellite rights. I did not want to make a sequel just for the heck of it,” Dharmesh cleared the air to Mirror, further adding that he went on a sabbatical six years ago after 18 successful years in the film industry. “I was at the top of my game. My directorial debut, Lootere, released when I was 24 and was a super-hit. Four years later, Raja Hindustani made me a leading director at 28. My contemporaries, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, and Sooraj Barjatya decided to turn producers and my parents wanted me to follow suit but I didn’t want to chase money,” Dharmesh recalls, noting that he chose to make only seven films, including Mela and Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya, when he could have directed 70.

Aap Ki Khatir, the 2006 romantic comedy featuring Akshaye Khanna and Priyanka Chopra, would go on to become Dharmesh’s last directorial. On May 9, 2009, his mother, Sheila Darshan, daughter of Nanabhai Bhatt and the older sister of filmmakers Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, passed away at 69, making the director retreat into mourning. “My world changed overnight. Two-and-a-half years later, my father (Darshan Sabharwal) passed away on December 31, 2011. In 2007, I had two big-budget films lined up, one whose script I had already completed and was on the verge of taking to the floors. But I returned my signing amount and chose to go a sabbatical in 2010, and have been on a break for the past six years,” he explains, quick to add that there is much more to do besides making films, like teach, and travel and that he has no regrets since he has already broken all box office records of his time and made films like Raja Hindustani and Bewafaa that were “way ahead of their times”. And there’s another reason for his time-off from the film circuit. “In a time of money-hungry producers, everyone courts controversy and everything is about a person’s visibility and validity, I call myself a complete misfit. Fame, name and moolah came to me early on in life, and while they’re important to me as well, I’m not a businessman. Maybe I’m foolish or an artist with integrity,” he asserts.

While he continues to receive offers to remake films or direct sequels, he does not want to touch any of the classics because he believes it is “impossible to redo a soulful film.”

Today, he lives alone, without a partner or any children to cater to. “All artists live through the noise of a film set and the loneliness when in a crowd. While filmmakers manage to work through all kinds of emotions and situations, I cannot exhibit my grief and vulnerability on set. Neither do I crave for the attention anymore, nor do I mind the loneliness,” he says matter-of-factly.

Isn’t the lure of making a couple of crores a tad tempting or worthy of prompting a comeback soon? “Demonetization has proved that anything can happen to your wealth overnight. We’ll never know whether the filmmaker who chased it all was the right one or the one who gave it all up,” he signs off.

BOMBAY TIMES (September 3, 2016)



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KRK's comment has landed him and two big releases in an unsavoury online blitzkrieg
Avinash Lohana and Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 3, 2016)

It's still two months for Diwali but the firecrackers have already started exploding thanks to two Bollywood biggies whose films will be clashing at the box-office on the festive weekend. When Karan Johar's romantic drama, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was pitted against Ajay Devgn's action thriller Shivaay, trade know-alls had anticipated the battle to take an ugly turn. It happened before anyone expected.

Late on Thursday, Ajay fanned the fire with a tweet. "Hear what self proclaimed no. 1 critic and trade analyst Kamaal R Khan has to say," he wrote sharing with it an audio clip of a phone conversation between KRK and his business associate, Kumar Mangat, in which the self-styled film critic inadvertently let slip to Mangat that he'd been paid Rs 25 lakh to launch a smear campaign by KJo against Ajay's upcoming film.

Ajay followed up the expose with a carefully worded statement which surprisingly mentioned his fellow filmmaker by name, thereby breaking the decade-old Bollywood code of omerta. He stated, "It is very sad that people from our own industry are supporting such elements and spoiling the ethos of the film industry. I would strongly demand that this be thoroughly investigated by competent authorities to clarify if Karan Johar was indeed involved in this." His wife Kajol, KJo's longtime bestie and the leading lady of several of his films upped the ante by retweeting Ajay's audio clip, captioning it, "Shocked."

Immediately after the expose, KRK crowed on Twitter that Ajay must think of him as, "a powerful no.1 critic who can harm his film" and boasted that both films had got free publicity worth millions using his name and the power of "The Brand KRK".

The next morning however, cockiness gave way to damage control and the former Bigg Boss contestant insisted that KJo had never paid him and he'd told Mangat that he had received the Rs 25 lakh to get him off his back as he was calling him repeatedly.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta was quick to question the veracity of KRK's claims, pointing out that he is "someone who can be bought for Rs 25 and paying him Rs 25 lakh is too much... He is too cheap to be taken seriously. He is not even a journalist so why waste words and time on him?"

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri groused that such media-made clashes create unnecessary hype and result in middlemen taking advantage. "KRK is the one who got caught but many critics demand money. This is not a business of writers, directors and producers anymore, it's all about middlemen, fashion designers, hairdressers and marketing," he raged, adding that this is why film studios are shutting down. "In the next couple of months, I predict a lot of mud-slinging. Slowly, the truth will come out about who takes how much and how Rs 100-crore projects get approved. Everyone wants to kill KRK at the moment because he is small fry."

The "small fry", meanwhile, called the press to his residence where he said that Mangat and he had collaborated on two films, Aatma and Alone, and spoke on the phone every three days and met once a week. "Being a close friend, I didn't expect him to record our conversation. I thought he was saying that since I'm his friend I should favour his film and not KJo's. But why would I do that if I liked something? I liked Shivaay's first trailer and said good things about it too, and Kumar Mangat had thanked me. But I didn't like the next one and I said so," he asserted.

Reiterating that he hadn't taken any money from KJo, KRK argued, "Why would he pay me? Since Kumarji is a close friend and was putting pressure on me, I had to use KJo's name as an excuse and say that I took Rs 25 lakh from him to favour his film (favour not review). I don't deny that I take money to promote films. I run a website and have to pay salaries of 15 people. I took money from One Night Stand, Shorgul, Desi Kattey and Teraa Suroor but I don't review the movies I promote."

Trade analyst Amod Mehra calls KRK a "dangerous quack" and says that if he were in KJo's shoes he'd sue him. "It's time these so-called reviewers are exposed because they not only talk bad about a film before release, but declare flop films as hits by accepting money. I can vouch for the fact that some of our stars have these so-called reviewers on their payroll. Success and failure are being manipulated. Any clash is bad for the business as both parties end up losing money, with the weaker film losing more."

In 1990, when Aamir Khan's Dil and Sunny Deol's Ghayal clashed, no one thought of it as a war. Both films became superhits. That's an oft-quoted example industry folks cite even a quarter of a century later. What they fail to underline is that a lot has changed since. The stakes are higher, reputations are made and maligned every Friday, the number of films being produced has gone up and so have the monies. Budgets have escalated but profit margins are diminishing, particularly with star-studded bonanzas. That's why two Diwali dhamakas have faced-off with much sound and fury, be it SRK's Om Shanti Om and SLB's Saawariya, SRK's Mohabbatein and Sanjay Dutt's Mission Kashmir, SRK's Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Ajay's Son of Sardar, to name a few.

Producer Ratan Jain who has made films like Khiladi and Baazigar in the past, believes that both these films will perform well. However, he is quick to add that "somebody taking money to declare a film as good or bad is not going to influence the audience's verdict".

Just a few months ago, KRK in his review of 1920: London had alleged that Vikram Bhatt had fraudulently taken money from his producers and even sent his heroine, Meera Chopra, to them as a favour. An enraged Vikram had launched a scathing attack on him on the social media, also pulling him up for his derogatory tweets on actresses, and threatened him with legal action. After a war of words, KRK had publicly apologised to Vikram and the industry.
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Sting call to Twitter troll exposes rift between Karan Johar, Ajay Devgn ahead of Diwali clash
MID-DAY (September 3, 2016)

The impeding Diwali box office clash between Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay and Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil just got murkier. On Thursday, Ajay tweeted the audio clip of a conversation — reportedly between Shivaay’s co-producer Kumar Mangat and Twitter troll Kamaal R Khan — where the latter is heard saying that KJo paid him R 25 lakh. This is in response to Mangat’s query as to why he was tweeting positively about Johar’s film and writing negative comments about Shivaay. The clip, however, is yet to be verified.

Ajay issued a statement demanding investigation to find if Johar had actually paid KRK. “I have been part of the Indian film industry for the past 25 years and have been associated with over 100 films. It pains me to see that people like Kamaal R Khan are holding the film industry to ransom by spreading negativity about films to extort money from producers. It is very sad that people from our own industry are supporting such elements and spoiling the ethos of industry,” he said.

KRK, on his part, denied taking money from KJo. At a press conference yesterday, he claimed that Ajay was pulling off a publicity stunt by using his name. Earlier, he had tweeted, “Karan Johar has never paid me or asked me to bash # Shivaay n you can hear it in the tape. I said Rs 25 lakh to avoid Kumar. Ajay, Kumar offered me money to bash AeDilHaiMushkil as he is offering in the tape also but I refused. I told them that I will do it free (sic).”

Ajay, however, scoffed at KRK’s comments and said, “KRK is contradicting himself in explanations about what he has said in the recording and what we heard in his postured press conference. He has not denied that it was his voice in the recording and he is now making excuses and contradicting himself. It is now for the people to decide. I have never in my life spoken to or met this man.”

Gaurav Dubey (MID-DAY; June 6, 2016)

Sxiteen years after Dharmesh Darshan’s musical hit Dhadkan graced the silver screen, its sequel is set to roll soon with a fresh script and cast. While the previous film starred Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Suniel Shetty, part two is likely to feature Fawad Khan and Sooraj Pancholi. The hunt for the female lead is still on.

Says a source, “It will be a contemporary story and hence, requires younger actors. The casting process is underway, but Fawad and Sooraj have almost been finalised. The makers are now looking for a suitable lead actress and other character actors.” The film will be produced by Ratan Jain.

Buzz is that Prem Soni, who helmed Main Aur Mrs Khanna (2009) starring Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sohail Khan, will take on the directorial reins for the sequel. The spokespersons for Fawad and Sooraj remained unavailable for comment.

Producer Jain says, “The casting is not yet done.” However, our source maintains that the two young actors have been penciled in for Dhadkan 2, adding, “As soon as the actress is locked in to complete the love triangle, an official announcement shall be made.”

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 16, 2015)

In 1990, after two Gujarati films, Sajan Tara Sambharna and Moti Verana Chokma, the Burmawalla brothers from Surat, Abbas and Mustan, directed their first Hindi film, Agneekaal, featuring Raj Babbar, Jeetendra and Madhavi. Its music was with the record company Venus and its owner, Ratan Jain, who wanted to diversify into film production and asked the director duo if they had a script. They outlined the story idea of a kidnapping prank that goes wrong and Ratan greenlit the project.

Since the makers were new, no established actors wanted to work in the film so the trio opted for relatively new faces. "I saw a centrefold advertisement of Chura Lenge Aankhon Se Kaajal to be directed by Goldie saab (Vijay Anand) in a trade weekly. Akshay Kumar caught my eye. I got his number from the composer, Bappi Lahiri, and offered him Khiladi even though his previous films hadn't clicked. Little did we realise then that Akshay would come to be known as Khiladi Kumar and we were spinning a franchise for him," reminisces Jain 25 years later.

He was paired with Ayesha Jhulka and a new girl, Avni, cast opposite Deepak Tijori. Two days into the shoot, Avni was replaced by Sabeeha. "I like the film but wasn't sure if the audience would watch a film which didn't have any big stars despite the hit tracks. We had no buyers and released it ourselves. In the first week, it didn't even get many theatres," says Jain.

But it picked up in the second week, added more screens, went on to become a surprise hit and broke the public perception that horrors and thrillers are a C-grade genre. It was followed by big-budget murder mysteries like Gupt and Jain's own Baazigar.

Twenty-three years after its release, Khiladi is as much remembered for Khiladi Kumar as it is for its 'surprise' villain, Ananth Mahadevan. "We wanted an actor with a squeaky clean image whom no one would suspect him," reasons Jain.

Ananth points out that the film also starred the established khalnayaks of the time, Prem Chopra and Shakti Kapoor, but they were the red herrings. "It was a brave decision on the part of Abbas-Mustan to cast me as the bad man. I just wish they would have risked giving me a few more scenes but I guess they didn't want to spoil the suspense," he says.

At the film's premiere Prem Chopra asked him, "Kyun hamare pet me laath maar rahe ho?", while Shakti advised him to take advantage of this turning point in his career, surge ahead and market himself well. "I wish I had taken his advise seriously then maybe I could have done the roles that later went to Anupam Kher and Gulshan Grover. But no regrets. Abbas-Mustan kept their promise to me and cast me as Shah Rukh's dad in Baazigar and a comic role in Baadshah which helped me prove my versatility as an actor."

He helped Abbas-Mustan write the film's climax, during which he terrorises Ayesha Jhulka. It was shot in Juhu's Ruia Park over six nights. "I got a pat on the back from Abbas-Mustan for insisting on shooting all my scenes myself though in the early shots my face is not revealed. You only see my hand, my back and my feet," recalls Ananth who even stepped out of the window, went down the sloping roof, then went up again. "It was only in the scene where she throws me out of the window that I turned to a double," he says.

Quiz him on his hero and he remembers Akshay as a shy, reticent actor who showed no signs of the flamboyant, dynamic star he would blossom into. "But if it was an action scene, it was as if he was plugged on to a hi-voltage cell, he turned super agile and energetic and left us dazzled," Ananth smiles. "He was a natural Khiladi."

Jain, who made Main Khiladi Tu Anari with him two years later, admits that since they didn't have a script worthy of Akshay who's a superstar, a while ago he had toyed with the idea of making a Khiladi with a new boy but the idea didn't go down well even with his own team. "May be someone else will launch a new Khiladi, after Akshay and I have retired but for now he's Khiladi Kumar," he signs off.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 15, 2014)

After the superhit Khiladi, director duo Abbas-Mustan started work on Baazigar, inspired by the 1956 Hollywood thriller A Kiss Before Dying. But little did they know how difficult it would be to convince an A-lister to do the role of the negative hero who commits three murders on the go.

Producer, Ratan Jain, first approached Salman Khan, who sent a word through his father, Salim, that he was not ready for such a gamble. Next was Anil Kapoor, who also rejected the offer, because it would go against his 'heroic' image on screen. That's when Shah Rukh Khan came into the picture.

"I had seen some scenes from Raj Kanwar's Deewana and thought he was brilliant. I approached Shah Rukh for Baazigar and after the narration, he told me that only he could carry off this role. He warned me that if I made it with another actor, it wouldn't work. I liked his confidence," Jain smiles.

However, not everyone shared this confidence. Trade pundits predicted that a boy with cute dimples would never be accepted as an anti-hero. Twenty-one years later, the scene of him tossing Shilpa Shetty off the terrace still manages to shock even those who have seen the movie several times.

Justifying the murders his hero commits, Jain argues that unlike his Hollywood counterpart, Robert Wagner, who murders for money, this guy has seen his father and sister getting killed and his mother going insane. He has enough motives and he has been planning for 15 years to avenge these brutal injustices.

Shah Rukh described Shilpa's abrupt end as a "technical hook" which with one hard shove shakes up the audience into realising that the light-eyed guy has ulterior motives and there is no villainous double in the background.

However, not many know that the scene, which marks a turning point in the plot, was filmed in three different locations. "The terrace shots were taken on top of a Lamington Road building I used to stay in. The fall was recreated in the studio. And the crime scene where the inspector and Kajol arrive was Bandra's Rangsharda auditorium," informs Jain, remembering that as a debutante Shilpa didn't have much of a say in the length of her role or what happens to her character, Seema Chopra. "She had to die so Ajay/Vickey can go after the other sister, Priya, played by Kajol. But in death she left a lasting impact."

However, after three murders, it was only morally right that this psychopath should meet a gory end. Pushed into a corner Shah Rukh fights back desperately till he is speared with an iron rod by Seema and Priya's dad, played by Dalip Tahil.

As Tahil rams the rod into him, Shah Rukh takes him down with him. Tahil dies but Shah Rukh drags himself to his mother, played by Raakhee, to tell her that he has killed those who had caused her so much suffering. He then puts his head on her lap and sighs, "I'm so tired, I want to sleep."

Although the scene is reminiscent of Amitabh Bachchan's death scene in Deewar, Jain insists that there was no obvious reference. "But if people found parallels I have no quibbles. Deewar was a memorable movie and Mr Bachchan is a great actor," he says.

Baazigar, which opened on November 12, 1993, was a blockbuster. And Shah Rukh bagged the Filmfare Best Actor Award for the role that many had shunned.

As for the trade gurus, after being proved wrong they went on to prophesize that after playing a negative hero in Baazigar, Shah Rukh would never again be accepted as a romantic hero. In just two years time he'd proved them wrong again with Raj and Simran's evergreen love story -- Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 8, 2014)

Speaking to Mirror from Shimla, Dharmesh Darshan admitted that he was travelling around the country, quietly scouting for two new faces for the Dhadkan sequel. “They will be the new Shilpa Shetty and Mahima Chaudhary,” he asserted.

Dharmesh, who will be ending his sabbatical with this film, is looking for two terrific dancers with a pan-India look. “Juhi (Chawla) and Karisma (Kapoor) were from the North, Shilpa from down South and Sushmita Sen from the East, there’s never been any regional bias. In fact, I may travel abroad because girls in London and New York are more Indian than girls here. Once I find the duo, I’ll package them according to the requirements of the script,” says Dharmesh who gave Juhi, Karisma and Shilpa makeovers in Lootera, Raja Hindustani and Dhadkan.

Like Aashiqui 2, Dhadkan 2 will not feature the original cast of Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa and Mahima. “It’s a fresh concept and a younger film,” he said.

Dharmesh who’s locked the script, says he has “committed in principle”to direct the film for Ratan Jain, but nothing is on paper yet. “If I can make the film without any creative compromises, I’d love to see Dhadkan grow and evolve.”

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 18, 2014)

A war of cinematic sensibilities has erupted between Bengali filmmaker Anik Dutta and Bollywood's Satish Kaushik. Mirror has learnt that Dutta isn’t impressed with Gang Of Ghosts, the Hindi remake of his Bengali film, Bhooter Bhabishyat. He alleges that the producers of the original didn’t even take his consent before selling the remake rights to Ratan Jain of Venus. “I was kept in the dark throughout and had no idea what the guys in Mumbai were up to,” he groused when Mirror contacted him in Kolkata. He insisted, “The entire process was very unfair.”

Dutta insists that despite this he would have been okay with the arrangement had Gang Of Ghosts stayed true to its source material. “But from what I can see in the trailer, it looks cheap and tacky. My film was appreciated by filmmakers like Mrinal Sen and Anurag Kashyap. But the art direction of the remake is terrible, they haven’t been able to put it into context or make it culturally relevant.”

Reacting to this, Kaushik said, “How can I please everyone? In Bengal sensibilities are more artistic but I am making a Bollywood film." To this Dutta retorted, “My film was almost shelved and eventually it got a limited release. Yet Bhooter Bhabishyat went on to do terrific business all over the country. Its treatment was as mainstream as any Bollywood film. You can’t use that as an excuse for a poor product, sorry.”

While Kaushik says he’s made certain changes to make the film more Mumbai-centric. “It’s impossible to make the film with the same style and ambience as the original. I feel more comfortable with a masala-film and that’s what I have made,” he signed off.

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; February 11, 2014)

Hollywood Studios are increasingly active in watching what Bollywood is up to these days. And it’s not just the concept and stories they are possessive about. even if Bollywood registers a title similar to that of a western film, it is proving to be dangerous.
 
On top of mind is the example of a Hollywood studio asking Gordhan Tanwani, the producer of Action Jackson to change his title or reportedly face the consequences for title infringement because they had registered it for the Indian market as well.

Shekhar Suman acquired the copyright to remake Awake before starting work on Heartless. Obviously, he didn’t want last minute litigation like the producers of Jodi Breakers, who were sued for copying the French film, L’Arnacoeur aka Heartbreakers. Or like the makers of Knock Out who also faced a litigation for copying Phone Booth, a few days before its release.

Before Action Jackson, the makers of R… Rajkumar were issued a notice whereby they had to take out the name ‘Rambo’ from their title. And stick to a plain R...Rajkumar. Calling this title battle a new development, Gordhan says, “My title has been in public domain for about a year. Warner’s Indian company has also made films here after registering their titles with our film associations. When they’re working here, they work as per association norms. If they had any problem, they should have referred it to the association. Why send a letter through their California-based lawyers and give 48 hours to reply?”

Ravi Chopra, who was making Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai with Govinda, Lara Dutta and Tabu had a tough time dealing with the copyright case by the producers of the Hollywood film, My Cousin Vinny, who claimed that the Hindi filmmaker had copied their content.

Producer Ratan Jain concedes that it is wrong to copy western films without acquiring the rights. However, he feels that the foreign studios should not extend their vigilance to Hindi film titles, “When an association registers a title for a Hindi film, if the same title being used by a Teugu film for a different subject, it’s okay. Because it’s a different ball game in a country like India. If English titles are copyrighted, then what will our producers do? Not just Hindi, but many films made in South Indian and other regional languages have English titles.”

Another producer concedes that title tattles are no big deal. “If copyright has been infringed by plagiarising content, then it is a case. Just having a title for a film doesn’t mean that no one can use it for life or you need someone’s permission. There’s no compulsion here that American laws have to be followed in India. It’s up to the producers to decide whether they want to contest the Hollywood studio’s claim or give in.”