Neha Choudhary (BOMBAY TIMES; January 26, 2020)

Nepotism seems to be a never-ending debate in Bollywood, with the topic recently hitting the headlines again, after Ananya Panday shared her point of view on the subject on a chat show and Gully Boy actor Siddhant Chaturvedi hit back with a witty response.

Actor Shreyas Talpade, who was recently in Jaipur to shoot for a reality quiz show, opened up about the issue. Shreyas, who himself comes from a nonfilmi background, shared, “Of course, there is nepotism. Are you kidding me? But if you keep thinking about that, it is not going to take you anywhere. Siddhant Chaturvedi gave a fantastic answer to Ananya Panday when he said, ‘Jahaan humare sapne poore hote hain, wahan inke struggle shuru hote hain.’”

“An ordinary person dreams of becoming a hero in a Karan Johar film. Par aap (referring to Ananya Panday) unki pehli picture mein hi heroine ban gayi. Kya struggle kiya aapne? Her struggle has started now, as she has to prove herself as an actor. But coming from a filmi background, it won’t be difficult for her to get three-four films. Three-four bade banner ki filmein milna bahut hai,” he said.

‘AN OUTSIDER FACES A LOT OF STRUGGLE’
Talking about an outsider’s struggle in the industry, Shreyas said, “An outsider faces a lot of struggle to get his first film. Badi mushkil se usko dusri film milti hai and it becomes even more important to have this second film do well at the box office. Otherwise, he or she will be branded a one-film wonder. In logon ke saath (referring to star kids) aisa nahi hota. So, let’s not kid ourselves. But agar main yeh sab sochta rahunga, to apna kaam kab karunga? Instead of worrying about nepotism, I like to carve my path with my hard work.”

On the work front, Shreyas was last seen in Setters (2019), which tanked at the box office. “The first thing has to be the script and a tight screenplay. Sometimes, people start getting indulgent about certain things and end up spending more than the film deserves. Then it gets difficult to recover that amount, something that happened with Setters,” he said.

‘SOME KIDS TOLD ME THAT THEY WOULD LOVE TO SEE ME IN A SERIOUS FILM’
When asked about projects in the pipeline, he said he is reading a few scripts and is also planning to produce a show. Has he become selective? “I was talking to a few children and they told me that they have mostly seen me doing comedy and would love to see me in a serious film. I told them that I started my Bollywood career with a serious film, Iqbal (2005). Then I did Dor (2006). But some people felt that I couldn’t do comedy. So, I took it as a challenge. I did comedy and people loved it,” he sais, adding, “That was also the era of a lot of multi-starrer comedy films. I was a part of a few of them. Also, when you are new to the industry, you don’t want to say no to biggies. Then one day, you see yourself doing only comedies. Now, it has become a challenge to prove myself again in serious films. Setters was an attempt to get back to the serious genre,” he said.

TWO SMALL FILMS TO TRY THEIR LUCK TOMORROW!

Last week’s Hollywood biggie Avengers: Endgame, has as expected, broken all records. If all goes well, it will cross the Rs. 400 crore mark at the Indian box office which is simply phenomenal. And as it usually happens after the release of a biggie, no big Hindi film is releasing tomorrow since the Avengers wave is still strong. But two small films will hit screens and try their luck. My analysis:

BLANK: It marks the debut of Simple Kapadia’s son and Dimple Kapadia’s nephew, Karan Kapadia. It also stars Sunny Deol in a significant role along with Isihita Dutta and Jameel Khan. Directed by debutant Behzad Khambata, the premise is promising – a suicide bomber loses memory in an accident minutes before setting up the bomb and is nabbed by the cops. The film is also just 111 minutes long and promises to be a fast-paced actioner. Songs haven’t worked but a track featuring Akshay Kumar has got noticed. In fact, the film has been extensively promoted. Akshay’s wife and Dimple’s daughter Twinkle Khanna has also been promoting it on social media. All these tactics have made people aware of the film but not excited for it. The opening will be poor and might score a bit in small centres where action films work. The opening will be less than Rs. 1 crore, in the range of Rs. 60-70 lakhs range.

SETTERS: Just like Why Cheat India, Setters is also based on cheating in exams and the mafia’s association with it. Shreyas Talpade, Aftab Shivdasani, Sonnalli Seygall and also Blank’s heroine Ishita Dutta is a part of the film along with other talented performers like Vijay Raaz, Pavan Raj Malhotra, Jameel Khan and Neeraj Sood. The trailer is surprisingly quite good but there is no hype at all about the film. And there’s of course also Avengers: Endgame which will be super strong in Week 2 too. The opening will be disastrous, and will be around Rs. 30-35 lakhs. Surprisingly, even Why Cheat India had a very bad opening of Rs. 1.50 crore.

WHICH FILM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AND WHY? DO LET ME KNOW!

DNA (December 20, 2018)

Sonnalli Seygall, who was seen in Pyaar Ka Punchnama and its sequel PKP2, will be seen in a dynamically different avatar in her next, Setters. She plays a cop with a Banarasi twist in Ashwini Chaudhary’s film, which features Shreyas Talpade and Aftab Shivdasani.

Based on the exam papers scam in Uttar Pradesh, the thriller is currently under production. Playing a cop was fun for Sonnalli, who shot a long schedule in Varanasi, She says, “Of course, it was a different and pretty much a challenging role, also considering the action sequences. Nonetheless, I love challenges and had a lot of fun working on this film. Moreover, shooting in Varanasi was in itself so overwhelming. And, especially for the number of mouth-watering delicacies I got to try throughout the schedule, I would surely love to visit the holy town again.”

Ashwini Chaudhary's next film revolves around education and employment mafia
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 19, 2018)

National Award-winning director Ashwini Chaudhary recently wrapped up his next, titled Setters. Featuring Shreyash Talpade and Aftab Shivdasani, it is set against the backdrop of the education and employment mafia in India, a premise which on paper sounds similar to Emraan Hashmi’s upcoming film, Cheat India. Unfazed by the comparisons, Ashwini insists his film tackles a completely different social evil.

“After seeing the trailer of Cheat India, I can say confidently say that they are two different films. Ours is in the real space, and more than education, it deals with employment market. I hope Emraan’s film works big time so it sets the ground for mine,” he smiles.

He reveals that while researching the subject, they discovered that a mafia exists in both sectors, and they are called setters. “There isn’t an exam in this country which isn’t rigged. And we are looking to expose the modus operandi of both these mafias within the framework of a thriller,” explains Ashwini who shot the film in Delhi, Jaipur, Varanasi and Mumbai over 42 days.

He believes that Setters is closest he has come to his 2000 directorial debut, Laado, which bagged him the National Award. “After that I went into a commercial space but with Setters, I’m returning to my roots. In terms of content and treatment, it’s as hard-hitting as Laado,” he signs off.