The Long Shelf Life of Brainless Humour

So it’s settled then—there won’t be a Ram Lakhan remake after all. That film, which was to be directed by Rohit Shetty for Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, has been pretty much shelved, Rohit revealed earlier this week. He said Karan and he are currently discussing another project instead.

It’s hardly surprising, given the dismal reaction to Rohit’s last outing Dilwale, and the fact that the general consensus in Bollywood is that filmmakers ought to be looking ahead and not turning back for inspiration. That doesn’t mean the director has given up on remakes and sequels completely, though. He’s still very much committed to making Golmaal 4, since that franchise has always yielded big box-office even when the films have been weak (yes, Golmaal 2, we’re looking at you!). Plus, these movies have repeatedly proven to be a safety net for Ajay Devgn, helping him bounce back after a rough patch in his career. Frankly, a new Golmaal film might be just what the actor needs after he sticks his neck out this Diwali as star and director of Shivaay, an ‘intense’ action film reportedly inspired by the Liam Neeson-starrer Taken.

Murky Exit

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi star Chitrangada Singh is back in the tabloids following her ouster from a new film. Turns out the actress is no longer doing director Kushan Nandy’s Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, despite having shot a few days for the film already. Depending on who you want to believe, the actress was either let go from the project owing to her growing unprofessionalism, or she left the film because she was disgusted with her director’s “crass” approach to the film’s love scenes.

Nandy has said Chitrangada held the production to ransom by refusing to shoot the film’s love scenes the night before they were meant to be filmed, insisting that they were “unnecessary” and “gratuitous” even though she had the script for a year and never once brought up these concerns earlier. He has also said that she threatened to leave the film if he didn’t rewrite the entire second half of the script. This reportedly took place in Lucknow. According to him, he packed her off to Mumbai after her tantrum.

But Chitrangada has a different version of events. The actress has reportedly said she found Nandy’s approach to filming the love scenes offensive. She said she didn’t appreciate the manner in which he asked her to ‘bump and grind’ for the camera, and barked orders to her in the presence of the unit. According to her camp, it was she who walked out of the film. As it turns out, this is the second major speed bump the film has hit, after shooting was suspended in Kolkata two years ago following problems between the production and a local technician body.

Mission Catch-Up

A young actress with promising films in her kitty is desperately seeking an image overhaul, it seems. Her career took off around the same time as another second-generation film industry kid, but she’s had trouble keeping up with her contemporary who cemented her reputation as a solid performer with her very second film. Our friend here, despite having been part of some successful films, isn’t perceived as a particularly extraordinary actress, although few can dispute her beauty.

According to well placed sources, the young lady has pulled up her publicists and demanded that they increase her “visibility” in the media to match that of her rival, who routinely makes it to fashion blogs and paparazzi websites. The actress has reportedly told everyone around her that she’s delivered the hits, but she doesn’t enjoy the same exposure as her contemporary, and now she’s determined to fix that. No wonder her team has been aggressively pitching her for prestigious appearances and fashion-magazine covers to create more of a buzz around her. Too bad she doesn’t make great copy like her rival, although her love life does appear to be just as complicated as the other A-lister’s.

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Rajeev Masand

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