Parineeti Chopra wants to play fetch with a Beluga whale and we couldn’t agree more!
Parineeti Chopra has been tirelessly working this past year on multiple projects. Currently working on the third project for the year, the actress has been training in badminton for a few months now to portray the role of Saina Nehwal on the silver screen. Currently, in Hyderabad, Parineeti Chopra has worked on multiple projects back-to-back with almost no breaks and now, she has added a new activity to her bucket list.
A recent video of a Beluga whale playing fetch in the middle of the ocean with a scuba diver has been going viral and Parineeti Chopra was awe-struck by the video. She reposted the video on her twitter with the caption, “LIFE GOALS! ???? (If I ever played fetch, it would only be this way????)”
Parineeti Chopra will next be seen in the remake of The Girl On The Train and Saina Nehwal’s biopic. She will also be voicing the character of Anna in Hindi for Disney’s Frozen 2 while Priyanka Chopra Jonas will voice Elsa’s character.
Flashback Friday: When celebs like Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor got annoyed by the paparazzi
While we’re grateful for the paparazzi for giving us every single update about our favorite celebrities, they tend to get a little stubborn when it comes to getting their pictures. Sharing a love-hate relationship with the celebs, they tend to lose their cool at times and here’s a compilation of the times when celebs like Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, and Jaya Bachchan have gotten in a rift with the paparazzi.
Salman Khan
Salman Khan has always been the one to joke around whenever possible but the entire fraternity knows not to get on his bad side. All hell tends to break loose when he loses his cool and at the launch of Bigg Boss 13, a photographer blocked the actor’s way. This did not go well with the star and he even asked them to ban him if it’s a problem for them.
Alia Bhatt
Attending an event in a hospital on October 2, Alia Bhatt got irritated when the paps couldn’t maintain a decorum in the hospital. She repeatedly asked them to keep their voices down and respect that they’re in a hospital. Asking them to back up a little Alia agreed to pose if they would lower their voices.
Rishi Kapoor
We’ve seen in the past how Rishi Kapoor dislikes the invasive nature of the paparazzi. Attending Ekta Kapoor’s Diwali bash, Rishi Kapoor was seen yet again getting in a spat with the paparazzi when they couldn’t keep their voices down. He said that the name of the film fraternity shouldn’t be tarnished and asked them to keep it down being the senior member of the society.
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Dutt has always put his best behavior forward at all times whenever he’s attending social events. He agrees to pose for pictures with his fellow celebs and has never really engaged in an argument. However, this one time at a party, Sanjay Dutt got really mad at the paparazzi and was seen hurling abuses at them.
Jaya Bachchan
Being one of the senior actors in the industry, Jaya Bachchan lost her temper when the paparazzi addressed Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as ‘Aish’. Considering it really disrespectful, Jaya Bachchan gave the photog a piece of her mind to them.
What do you think of these outbursts of some of your favorite celebrities? Be sure to let us know.
Dabangg 3: Meet Salman Khan aka the quirky ‘Policewala Gunda’ Chulbul Pandey
Everyone’s favourite cop Chulbul Pandey is back with the third installment of the Dabangg franchise. Earlier, the makers released the larger than life trailer and now they have released a ‘Making of Chulbul Pandey’ video! The video gives a glimpse into all that has gone into the making of the most beloved cop of Indian cinema, and how Salman Khan brings Chulbul to life. It gives an insight into how Chulbul apart from being a tough as nails cop with a whole lot of swag, but also as a warmer and loving person, who genuinely cares for those he is attached to.
Ever since the first Dabangg 3 was released, Chulbul Pandey has developed a massive cult-like following that is all kinds of astonishing! Over the years, the character has grown dearer to the fans and it has a lot to do with Salman Khan’s unique appeal that attracts the audience towards him.
The much-awaited, Dabangg 3 is directed by Prabhudeva and produced by Salma Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Nikhil Dwivedi under the banner of Salman Khan Films and is slated to release on 20th December, this year.
Surveen Chawla opens up on post-partum depression and how she got back in shape in six months
Surveen has always believed in a healthy and holistic lifestyle. She practiced yoga, and took to cardiovascular activity, and sometimes did both on the same day. She ate only home-cooked food, and fortunately, did not crave outside meals. The actress says she had put on 18 kilos, and now, six months post-delivery has only five to lose.
In the months that led to her delivery, Surveen had heard so much about post-partum depression, that she made a conscious effort to completely evade it. Surveen believes thst since she is expressive, she could vent. She is not diplomatic and is also lucky to be blessed with a partner who shares everything with her. As per the actress, one shouldn’t have to repress themselves. Throughout her pregnancy, Surveen kept herself in an emotionally-sound place. She had knowledge about what was going on with her and her baby.
"There were days when my emotions were all over the place. But, I did my best to stay centered, and share my feelings with my partner. I reminded myself every day that I was doing the best I could.", says Surveen.
Surveen Chawla was last seen in Sacred Games 2.
50 years of Amitabh Bachchan in cinema: 8 LESSER KNOWN trivia of his debut film Saat Hindustani
Netizens and Bollywood fans regularly celebrate anniversaries of important films and also of actors. But today marks the day when one of the greatest superstars of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, began his acting journey, and that too 50 years ago! Unlike his contemporaries, he continues to work on a regular basis. Since 1997, there has been not a single year when he didn’t have a release. Needless to say, this is a feat that very few actors in the world can boast of!
Amitabh Bachchan, before starting his acting career, had done the voiceover in Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome, which released on May 12, 1969. His first film, Saat Hindustani, hit the theatres on November 7, 1969 and it turned out to be his acting debut for which he even got a National Award. Directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, it tells the heroic story of seven Indians who attempt to liberate Goa from the Portuguese colonial rule. In this Bollywood Hungama special feature, we give you some not-so-known trivia about the film, with regards to Amitabh Bachchan:
1. Amitabh Bachchan was working in Kolkata while trying his hand at acting. When Khwaja Ahmed Abbas called him for the film, the actor came down from the City Of Joy after resigning from his job. Khwaja saab was astonished and asked him, “You mean to say that you resigned a job of sixteen hundred rupees a month, just on the chance of getting this role! Suppose we can’t give the role to you?” To which Big B replied, “One has to take such chances.” So happy was Khwaja Ahmed Abbas that he said, “The role is yours.”
2. Amitabh Bachchan was offered Rs. 5000 for the part. The day he signed the film was February 15, 1969.
3. Amitabh Bachchan in a Bollywood Hungama exclusive interview on the occasion of his 70th birthday in 2012 revealed that it was his brother Ajitabh who was already posted in Mumbai and who managed to find out that Khwaja Ahmed Abbas was looking for a new face. That’s how Khwaja Ahmed Abbas was informed of Big B. Interestingly, Khwaja Ahmed Abbas knew Amitabh’s father the great poet Harivanshrai Bachchan and initially, he had no idea that the actor was his son. When he found out, he rang up Harivanshrai Bachchan to confirm whether the actor had taken his consent to join the movies.
4. The role played by Amitabh Bachchan was initially offered to Tinnu Anand. However, Tinnu Anand declined the part as he was getting a chance to assist the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray. And it was Tinnu Anand who was given Big B’s photographs and who was told to hand it over to Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. The writer-director had a very bad temper and he considered Tinnu like his son. As a result, Tinnu was asked to do the needful.
5. Amitabh Bachchan today is known for his dedication and discipline to his craft and he had these qualities right from the beginning. Veteran make-up artist Pandhari Juker in an interview once said, “For his first film, Saat Hindustani, I had made him a beard which didn’t stick easily. Gluing each strand of hair to his chin was a tedious process. Since I had to go away for three-to-four days, he took pains to sleep and bathe in a fashion that did not disturb the beard.”
6. Amitabh Bachchan in a Bollywood Hungama exclusive interview in May 2015 talked highly of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas and his experience of working on Saat Hindustani. He said, “We called Abbas saab ‘mamujaan’ and he was an exceptional human being, much bigger than his status as a writer and director. When we were shooting for Saat Hindustani, we’ll all travel together, in third class. We stayed in government circuit houses, which were not so well equipped. The whole unit would sleep on the floor in one all. Cameraman, spotboys, artists and Abbas saab – all together! They were no tubelights then. He would light a lantern and write or go through the scenes of the next day. It was amazing. Where do you find people like that?
7. A film historian SMM Ausaja revealed that Saat Hindustani had a limited release in Mumbai that too only in matinee shows. Moreover, it released in Maximum City many months after it released in Delhi.
8. Before bagging Saat Hindustani, Amitabh Bachchan had sent his photographs to the Filmfare Talent Hunt Content but he was rejected at the preliminary round. He narrated this experience to his father, to which Harivanshrai Bachchan told Big B, “Kisi ghar ke andar ghusna ho aur darwaza ho agar bandh, toh deewar faand kar ke andar chale jaana chahiye” (if you want to enter a house and the door is locked, then you must climb the wall and make your way in). The megastar revealed this trivia on the November 7, 2019 episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 11’ which was also dedicated to Amitabh’s 50 years in cinema.
Ranveer Singh receives witty reply from Nagpur police for his caption ‘What is your mobile number’
There’s one thing Ranveer Singh seems to be obsessed with and that is social media. The actor is an avid social media enthusiast, who loves to shares photos and videos from his day to day life. He often makes the captions hilarious.
Recently, Ranveer Singh shared some photos from his Vogue India shoot. He captioned one of the photos with Govinda’s song lyrics of ‘What is mobile number?’
In a witty response, the Twitter handle of the Nagpur City Police on Wednesday replied to him by saying, "100". The Twitter users found the response hilarious.
On the work front, Ranveer Singh is set to star the upcoming sports film ‘83 directed by Kabir Khan. The film will release in theatres on April 10 next year.
Sara Ali Khan was Bollywood-ready since 2000, we got proof!
Sara Ali Khan debuted with Kedarnath last year, and we knew she was here to stay. Paired with Sushant Singh Rajput, she made her presence felt with every sequence. Her next appearance, a brief one though, was in Ranveer Singh’s Simmba. You can’t deny that she still managed to dazzle. Now, the thing is, Sara was always a Bollywood material, you see!
Making good use of the Throwback Thursday trend, she shared a couple of pictures of her childhood. All dressed up in ethnic dresses and jewellery, she poses like a pro and also looks like the queen of expressions! ‘Waiting for my shot since 2000,’ she writes. Too bad nobody featured her as a child artist! Funnily enough, she has also used an #apnatimeayega hashtag. Your time is very much here, Sara…
The actor definitely believes in going slow and steady. It looks like she is indeed investing a lot of thought in the kind of films she wants to do. She will be next seen in the sequel of Love Aaj Kal, and is paired with rumoured boyfriend Kartik Aaryan. Her forthcoming film will be the remake of Coolie No. 1. Helmed by David Dhawan, the film stars her alongside Varun Dhawan.
Farhan Akhtar drops an adorable throwback photo with sister Zoya Akhtar and mother Honey Irani
Throwback Thursdays and Flashback Fridays prove to be quite interesting for fans, since many celebrities take to social media to share old pictures that often bring us a broad smile. Farhan Akhtar’s latest post is one such. The actor shared a black and white photograph of himself as a toddler, posing with sister Zoya Akhtar and mother Honey Irani. He is flashing quite a nice smile. Safe to say that he always enjoyed the camera!
As the years pass by, the people in photographs grow older but the equations do not change. Farhan accompanied his throwback with a present-day picture of the trio, posing with the same smile. Many of his colleagues and friends from the industry loved the picture. ‘What an amazing picture,’ wrote Shankar Mahadevan. ‘Love it,’ wrote Abhay Deol. Abhishek Bachchan and Siddhant Chaturvedi also dropped hearts. Check out the photo below.
Farhan, who is now dating actor Shivani Dandekar, was last seen in Priyanka Chopra’s The Sky Is Pink. He is presently working on Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s sports drama Toofan, wherein he plays a boxer, and has been going through intense physical training for the same.
Arjun Kapoor opens up on marriage plans with Malaika Arora, says it’s not happening now
It’s been a while since Malaika Arora and Arjun Kapoor made their much-discussed relationship officially. Well, finally! The two were holidaying in New York on the occasion of Arjun’s birthday when we came across this really adorable Instagram post by Malaika. Now, you can’t blame us for trying to guess whether they want to take the wedding vows anytime soon!
Wherever either of them goes, we bombard them with this same question. In a recent interview, Arjun opened up on the same and said that the wedding wasn’t happening anytime soon. The actor, who seems to be in a really good equation with sisters Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor now, also said that his family was known to celebrate weddings the big, fat, Indian way. Hence, he would never opt for a secret wedding but instead, will celebrate it with all due extravaganza and also a prior announcement. That sounds great!
Even in the professional space, Arjun is doing well. The recently released trailer of his next film Panipat garnered great response. He has also shot for Dibakar Banerjee’s Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, which stars him opposite Parineeti Chopra.
Amitabh Bachchan reveals doctors warned him to take a break from work
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan completes five decades in the industry today. That’s probably a dream run that not many have achieved! After 50 long years, Big B carries the same passion for work and is the happiest to immerse himself in work. However, as age takes over, the body starts signalling that it needs rest. The actor recently had a visit to the hospital and stayed back for a couple of days. Even upon returning home, he is subjected to various restrictions and regulations.
In his recent blog post, he revealed that the doctors have strictly asked him that work should take a back seat and he should take proper rest. “The tunnel at the NSSH .. indeed several tunnels and some more probing with the meter in hand that sonographs .. a few on the side injectables .. at various locations on this mine field of a body .. some venus strips punctured and the fluids dripped in .. a few hard core instructions to follow .. and back to the grind, despite the stethoscope dressed messengers from heaven giving strong warnings of work cut off .. or else…”, he wrote.
Sounds difficult for someone who still wants to work without a pause, right? Big B recently finished shooting for two projects i.e. Shoojit Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo, and Rumi Jaffery’s Chehre. However, he is immensely grateful to the doctors who took charge of his illness and sent him home in better health. “Without the incentive of work .. without the special care given by them that adorn the stands behind and in front .. there would be even greater disaster for the medics .. So live their lives in short .. live among the WE, I and ourselves .. simply live .. .. never shied away from them that threaten , that insinuate , that complain , that bill disaster not too far away..,” he added.
Bachchan will also be seen playing a pivotal role in Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Brahmastra that releases in summer 2020.
Before Dostana 2 begins, Janhvi Kapoor seeks blessings at Golden Temple in Punjab
Janhvi Kapoor is set to dive deep into work as Dostana 2 begins! The shoot will kick-start in Punjab’s Amritsar and the actor has reached there already. Before the shoot begins, she and director Collin D’Cunha paid a visit to the holy Golden Temple, and sought blessings.
On her Instagram, Janhvi also shared a handful of photos from her visit. Dressed in a white kurta and her head covered in a blue dupatta, she is seen standing in front of the majestic temple. Check out the pictures below.
Janhvi should be soon joined by co-stars Kartik Aaryan, who plays the male lead and debutant Lakshya who will be playing the second lead. Lakshya has been seen in a number of TV shows and we’re to see how his first big-screen venture goes.
The first Dostana, which released in 2008, starred Bobby Deol, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Priyanka Chopra in leads and was directed by Tarun Mansukhani.
Janhvi will be next seen in Kargil Girl, and also starts shooting for Karan Johar’s magnum opus Takht. She’s also set to collaborate with father Boney Kapoor for the first time, with her forthcoming film Bombay Girl.
Tiger Shroff reveals how he prepares for action sequences
Tiger Shroff has become a household name ever since his debut. The actor’s most recent release War has become the top-grossing movie of 2019 and Tiger has received a lot of praise for his character. The actor opened up about how he prepares for action sequences for his movies and whether he follows any specific rules.
Tiger Shroff shares, “Just plenty of rehearsals. I mean it’s all about repetition and consistency- so the more you do a choreography – the more your muscles adapt to the movements and I keep going at it and it comes second nature to me.”
The actor is all set to leave for Serbia to start shooting the next schedule of his much-awaited Baaghi 3. The actor will be doing never-before-seen stunts in the movie and by the looks of it, the movie is going to be the biggest action-packed blockbuster! The film stars Shraddha Kapoor, Ankita Lokhande, Riteish Deshmukh and Vijay Varma.
Ayushmann Khurrana praises Aamir Khan, reveals about how his choice of films is similar to the megastar
Ayushmann Khurrana has delivered six hits in a row and is standing on the cusp of delivering seven back to back as Bala releases in theatres tomorrow. Ayushmann’s journey in films has been most exciting because of his choice of scripts that sets him apart from all his contemporaries. He has a unique knack at picking out the best content being produced by the industry and has wowed us constantly with the characters that he has played.
Ayushmann did a social media chat today (#AskAyushmann) and was told by a user that his cinema choice is remarkably similar to Aamir’s. Both have been doing films that give out a strong social message. The question posed read: “After @aamir_khan sir, we wait for your films to release. Your films remind us of the good cinema that Aamir sir does. #AskAyushmann @ayushmannk”
Ayushmann replied to this saying that he is a huge fan of Aamir Khan’s body of work. He said, “I’m a huge fan of @aamir_khan sir’s work and I’m always learning from him. He is one of the greatest icons of Indian cinema and he is a huge inspiration to me. I met him on the sets of Dangal and was in awe of his simplicity and clarity of thought.??”
Ayushmann Khurrana, on the work front, is gearing up for the releasing of Bala which stars Bhumi Pednekar. The film, directed by Amar Kaushik, is slated to release on November 8, 2019.
Bhumi Pednekar’s childhood picture is aww-dorable of all sorts!
Bhumi Pednekar’s physical transformation has been one of the most inspiring ones among the others. She truly has come a long way from her debut with Ayushmann Khurrana in Dum Lagaa Ke Haishaa. All set to play Kartik Aaryan’s on-screen wife in Pati Patni Aur Woh, Bhumi has been on cloud nine this past year with multiple releases.
She recently took to her Instagram to share a picture from her childhood. It is from the first day of her school and she is seen posing in a school uniform, looking like the cutest kid! Her school clearly holds a very special place in her heart like many of us as she recalls the day.
Bhumi will also be seen in Takht and Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship.
Sonakshi Sinha looks every bit glamourous in this outfit by Alexander Terekhov
Sonakshi Sinha has been the super judge of Myntra’s first digital fashion reality show, Fashion Superstar. The first season has been quite a hit and the highlight clearly being Sonakshi Sinha’s classy and chic outfits throughout the episodes. The actress has been donning some of the best outfits and has even given all the credit to her stylist, Mohit Rai.
For the finale episode, Sonakshi Sinha was seen dressed in a royal blue gown by Alexander Terekhov. The gown had full sleeves and was intricately sequined making her embrace the inner diva in her. Leaving her hair in a sleek straight look, Sonakshi Sinha opted for a smokey eye-makeup and nude lips. Nothing could be better than this as the finale look.
Sonakshi Sinha will next be seen reviving her role as Rajjo in Salman Khan starrer Dabangg 3.
Sooryavanshi pair Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif revive their Namastey London romance with ‘Filhall’ song
Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif are reuniting after several years in Rohit Shetty’s directorial, Sooryavanshi. The film is currently in its final stage of shooting and will be soon completed. The film began in May earlier this year which was followed by Bangkok and Hyderabad schedules. Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn, who have a cameo as Simmba and Singham, shot climax in Hyderabad earlier in October. Meanwhile, the actor has shot a music video with Nupur Sanon and Ammy Virk which has been composed by B Praak and written by Jaani.
Teasing the fans about his music video, Akshay Kumar shared a romantic video with Katrina Kaif with the song ‘Filhall’ from his upcoming music video playing in the background. The actress is dressed in yellow with her hair tried whereas Akshay is wearing a maroon shirt. He captioned the video, “Been reading all your comments on the #FilhallTeaser and so many of you said it reminded you’ll of Namastey London. Coincidentally, I was shooting with our very own Jazz aka Katrina Kaif today for #Sooryavanshi and we have a little surprise for you all.”
In Sooryavanshi, Akshay Kumar is essaying the role of an ATS officer Veer Sooryavanshi. The film will be jointly produced by Rohit Shetty Picturez, Cape Of Good Films and Dharma Productions. The film is produced by Hiroo Yash Johar, Aruna Bhatia, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Rohit Shetty. It is scheduled for March 2020 release.
Housefull 4: Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, and Bobby Deol dance on Bala in this BTS video and it is hilarious
Akshay Kumar starrer Housefull 4 has been in the news for multiple reasons and the song ‘Bala’ is one of them. With The Bala Challenge going on all over the social media, Akshay Kumar recently shared a behind-the-scenes video from the sets of the song and it is going to leave you in splits.
In the video, Riteish Deshmukh and Bobby Deol are seen grooving to the tunes and Bobby’s moves are going to leave you laughing out loud! Sharing the video, Akshay Kumar captioned it as “The Bala fever has also caught onto these two shaitans! @riteishd @iambobbydeol. Grab your tickets and join the fun. #Housefull4”
All set to be seen as Sooryavanshi in Rohit Shetty’s next, Akshay will be seen portraying the role of a cop in the film.
Watch: Janhvi Kapoor refuses to be filmed as she helps out an under privileged kid
Bollywood stars, wherever they go, are mostly chased by the paparazzi. From the airport to the gym and even various production houses, they know who can be spotted where. However, there are times when the celebrities also want to be away from the lenses. Like this recent instance, when Janhvi Kapoor was seen helping a less privileged kid, and refused to be filmed.
When the shutterbugs caught hold of the actor recently, we also saw a little girl pleading her to buy some flowers. Janhvi asked her to come till her car and then handed over a packet of biscuits. She requested the paps to not film her, but the filming continues. It is then that she gets a little stern and is heard saying, ‘Ek second ke liye band kar dijiye, bahot ajeeb lagta hai, har baat pe (please stop that for a moment. It feels strange [to be clicked] all the time).’
This isn’t the first time that we saw Janhvi helping out poor kids. She certainly has a big heart, and is probably not comfortable with the camera capturing such moments.
On the work front, she is set to begin shooting for Dostana 2 along with Kartik Aaryan. Her next release will be IAF pilot Gunjan Saxena’s biopic Kargil Girl, which hits the screens on March 13, 2020.
“In real life, spies are not James Bond, they have their own problems and issues” – Director duo Raj & DK on Manoj Bajpayee starrer The Family Man – Part 1
It is their tenth year in the industry and director duo Raj & DK are indeed getting their due. Though there was appreciation galore when they made films like 99, Shor In The City and Go Goa Gone, box office returns started coming with Stree last year. 2019 has been ultra-special for them though since their The Family Man has cut across boundaries and is continuing to be appreciated even though weeks have passed by since it started streaming. We get into an exclusive conversation with director duo Raj & DK who are known for their quirky narratives.
Other than the critics, it is the aam junta which has woken up to The Family Man being supremely entertaining. That must be even more heart-warming for you, right?
DK: Yeah, exactly. Firstly, I don’t think that there is an organized method of critical reviews of shows. For films they do it on a regular basis every Friday. Now more and more critics are reviewing series. We didn’t even know what to expect. This one has got raving reviews across the board. We have subverted the spy genre. People are used to seeing spy genre in a certain way. We have done it differently and that’s what surprised many. Our twitter accounts have been swamped on a daily basis.
Raj: The quantity and quality of the response has been mind boggling. The web platform is a little more personal to people. People are watching it on commute back home. Some are binge watching it. People are finding their own time to watch it. To a large extent people are living the show and identifying with the characters. It is very flattering. It is resonating with such a large base of audiences. It is not over yet, it is happening week after week.
It has been a while since 99 and Go Goa Gone which brought it well into the Bollywood map. Is the super success of The Family Man a shot in the arm already?
Raj: It has been a great year. In fact it has been 10 years for us in the industry. It’s has been a great tenth year starting with Stree. It was such an offbeat subject and still garnered so much success. It has now been followed by an even cooler success of The Family Man. It is indeed a shot in the arm.
DK: When we made 99 which was our first film in Hindi, people appreciated it. It was a small film and not with a major star cast. Go Goa Gone was a film that was appreciated and people were really surprised by it. Lot of people pointed out that it was way ahead of its time. It was a backhanded compliment though. When Stree came out, we also got confidence and assurance that our kind of humour and quirk had started working. Even before Stree, we had decided that whether our film turns out to be a hit or not, we would stick to our kind of stories rather than doing anything else that market dictates. Lot of people who have followed our work have said that finally now your stories, concept and kind of humour is working. That was a good thing to hear for us. Then we made The Family Man. Now everyone is seeing the kind of films that we make and the kind of humour that we bring on the table. It is distinctive. It is a good time for us, I believe.
I guess the masterstroke has been to place the central protagonist as an ordinary middle class family man, isn’t it?
DK: Yeah, that was the idea. It was to make a spy genre show that actually broke the mould. We see James Bond who is cool and has great reflexes with cars and all. In real world they are just human beings like us. They have problems and they do extraordinary things. One thing that we didn’t want to lose focus on was that the core of the issue had to be middle class, no matter what else happened. That’s there for everyone to see.
However, as the series progresses, post the midpoint it largely turns into a national drama thriller with the family angle left behind. What made you take that call?
Raj: I don’t think that we left it behind. It was that the plot took over. The first act is the setup, the second act is the thickening of the plot and the third is the climax. The first couple of episodes you get to know who this family man is. We didn’t want a single dimensional character. We had a story arc for all. As the plot takes over, you get to see the core of the series and hence you get more invested in it. The characters are all drawn into the plot.
DK: In a lot of ways that’s inevitable. The texture, concept, theme and the setting is one thing. It happens in 99% of series were at some point in time the plot has to take over. Else, you end up making slice of life show and that wasn’t our intention. In the first half of the series you have luxury to go on tangents to showcase lot of issues and personal matters that helps set up the characters to make them believable. More often than not at the mid-point you have to go to the story, which is the unspoken rule. This is where the plot thickens. That’s not a conscious choice as it is inevitable. We still went at some points back to the family but relatively the focus on the family is lesser in the second half. Any loose ends which are there, we have left them there deliberately.
(To be continued in Part 2)
