JOIN US‘Production is a thankless job’
Preity Zinta hasn’t been seen on the silver screen for a while, but the actress has made a grand comeback with her latest venture, titled Ishkq in Paris. What’s more, Preity isn’t just acting in the film — she also happens to be producing it. This is her debut production and Preity admits that it’s anything but easy. In fact, production, according to her, is a “thankless job” and something that stumped her at times, especially when it came to crisis management. “The toughest part was crisis-management. Production, of course, is a thankless job,” she admits, going on to add that the scale of the work involved is what really got to her.
“What happens is that everybody’s problem is your problem. As an actor, you are used to isolating yourself. When you are on the set, you just focus on your role and the rest doesn’t matter,” she adds.
Preity confesses that whenever she tried to take some time for herself, someone or the other would come to her with a problem or more. “That time, I was like, ‘God, why is it happening with me?’ But having said that, I like to multi-task and at the end of the day, I feel if you have taken on a certain responsibility, you should shoulder it,” she states.
Meanwhile, Preity — who also plays the main lead in the film — says the movie is very contemporary and identifiable. “Ishkq in Paris is an identifiable film. It does not challenge your intelligence. It is coming out in 2013 and has the persona of today’s people,” she says.
Directed by Prem Raj, Ishkq in Paris features debutant Rhehan Malliek opposite Preity.
A continuation of the classic
According to actor Sunny Deol, director Rahul Rawal’s upcoming film, Ghayal Returns, will begin from where the 1990 hit-film Ghayal left off. “For Ghayal Returns, we have now finally finalised the story idea. We are writing the dialogues now. I am working on the technicalities and it should be out by June next year,” says Sunny. The original movie was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and starred Meenakshi Seshadri.
“Ghayal was about a character. So, we are now taking the character ahead. He was in jail and now, it has been over 20 years since. He will come out (of jail) and what he will be doing will be the story (of the new film). How he deals with different situations in different ways...the story will continue from where we left Ghayal (sic),” adds the actor.
Royal look for Vidya
Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the man behind styling Vidya Balan’s look at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival, says that as “India is known as a bling country”, he used a “little embellishment” to bring freshness to her attire. The actress drew a lot of flak for her outfits, which were seen as garish, ill-fitted and not appropriate for the event. Vidya made three appearances in traditional Indian costumes — a maroon lehenga, an ivory sari paired with a brown blouse and light pink anarkali.
Sabyasachi says she was dressed in “a purist ethnic look, almost like a Golconda princess”. Drawing inspiration from William Dalrymple’s book ‘The White Mughal’ and the bygone days of princesses, the outfits were made with Indian textiles such as khadi, kanjeevaram, handspun cottons, and Benarsi textiles. The designs were accessorised with traditional jewellery, strings of pearls, sapphires and beautifully set polkis by Amrapali and Pankaj Surana. “India has always been a country of excess, rather than minimalism. We brought back what India truly stands for. Cannes saw a representation of Indian textiles and handicrafts. The jewellery is by Pankaj Surana and Amrapali,” the designer says in a statement.
Impressed by his daughter
After watching the promos of daughter Sonam Kapoor’s forthcoming film Raanjhanaa, Anil Kapoor says people will like the “earthy love story” when it comes out on June 21. Produced by Anil and directed by Anand L Rai, the romance saga revolves around a Hindu boy — played by southern star Dhanush, who is making his Bollywood debut with the movie — and a Muslim girl (Sonam Kapoor).
When asked about the film’s prospects, Anil says, “Everyone is liking it. It’s really very good. The music is also very nice.”
He further adds, “The chemistry between Sonam and Dhanush is looking great. There is an innocence and passion in the film, which is very visible in the promos. After a long time, the audience will get to see an earthy love story, which they will really like.”
Meanwhile, Anil is also producing a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed 1980 classic film Khoobsurat with Sonam in the lead role.