Casting Woes

Casting Woes • The Impossible Actor • A Female Aamir Khan

After searching high and low for a newcomer to cast opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Happy New Year, Farah Khan has gone back to her Om Shanti Om discovery, Deepika Padukone. According to unit members, Farah had considered Parineeti Chopra and Sonakshi Sinha initially, but decided to go with a new face because she wasn’t entirely convinced that either would do justice to the part of a Bhandup bar dancer.

It was reportedly Shah Rukh who suggested that they go with a well-known leading lady instead of a new find. Farah and Shah Rukh eventually agreed that their musical comedy could do with at least one more A-lister. The rest of the cast includes Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani and Vivaan Shah.

There’s also been some back and forth over the casting of the film’s fourth male lead. While Aiyya star Prithviraj was initially cast, there’s been repeated talk of the Malayalee actor being subsequently replaced. Commando tough guy Vidyut Jamwal has been mentioned as a possible replacement, as has Mohit Raina, who plays Lord Shiva in the popular television mythological Devon Ka Dev Mahadev, whom Farah’s son Czar is apparently obsessed with.

The four men will play friends, each cursed with two left feet, who sign up to win a World Dance Championship. Farah has cast Jackie Shroff as her bad guy, and the unit leaves for Dubai at the end of August to begin a long schedule at the Atlantis Palm Hotel. Now that all of the casting has more or less been sorted, Farah and Shah Rukh can only hope that Sanjay Leela Bhansali will finally wrap up the production of his long-in-the-making Ram Leela so that Deepika can be on their set on schedule.

Aditya Chopra, convinced that he has a winner on his hands, is reportedly making every effort to ensure that Dhoom 3 remains wrapped in secrecy till as long as necessary. Apparently the producer has made an arrangement with post-production and FX giant Prime Focus to create a temporary facility within the walls of Yash Raj Film Studios, so that all footage of the film remains within the premises. Chopra wasn’t keen that VFX work be done, or the film’s trailers be cut, anywhere else.

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan, the film’s chief star, is said to be responsible for the film’s laboured pace of progress. The actor, who is apparently closely involved with the film’s production, collaborated with music director Pritam on Dhoom 3’s score. And sources in the production unit reveal that the actor has been so picky that he only approved two numbers in two years. Some of the tunes he allegedly turned down have gone on to become big hits in films like Cocktail and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. In fact, there have been murmurs that the recent chartbuster Badtameez Dil, filmed on Ranbir Kapoor in YJHD, was originally offered to Aamir for Dhoom 3, but didn’t make the cut.

She is regarded as one of the most professional actresses of her generation, but her commitment is allegedly taking on a whole new turn on the sets of her latest movie, where unit members say she is calling the shots—much to her director’s chagrin.

Based on the life of a celebrated achiever, the film is an important one for the actress and will likely be an awards-bait when it releases next year. She famously beat several hopefuls to land the part, and while the heroine has thrown herself into the project completely, not everyone is comfortable with the fact that she has been taking all the important decisions on the set. Some say she has assumed the role of the showrunner because of her director’s inexperience—he’s a successful technician making his directorial debut here.

Unwilling to take any chances, the actress is said to be sitting in on the choreography of action sequences, and freely discusses shot breakdowns with the cameraman. Meanwhile, the poor director, keen to reclaim authority on the set without upsetting his leading lady, is slowly asserting himself with the team.

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Rajeev Masand

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