Salman urges Paresh Rawal to go home

Paresh Rawal was shooting for Anees Bazmee's Ready in Sri Lanka with Asin and Salman Khan when he got the news that his mother had expired in India. The veteran actor broke down on the sets of the film. However, he insisted he will finish shooting as per schedule before returning home to perform his mother's last rites. The crew told him there was no need to do so, but Paresh was adamant.

When Salman got to know about this, he immediately went up to Paresh and told him there was no need for this. He explained to him that the unit can easily shoot Salman and Asin's scenes during Paresh's absence. Paresh can fly back home without disrupting the schedule. Paresh was reluctant, but Salman finally persuaded him to catch the evening flight and return home. Finally, Paresh did so and the unit members were relieved.

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De Dana Dan - Movie Review

Be forewarned. DE DANA DAN is the most bizarre film from the maharaja of laughathons, Priyadarshan. Not even in your wildest dream you'd think that Priyadarshan would place almost an entire film in a hotel and have its entire cast, comprising of 26 [or is it 27?] characters, most of them weirdos, interacting with each other. Brings back memories of BLAME IT ON THE BELLBOY? May be!

But Priyadarshan needs to be credited for pulling it off. There are times when you laugh hysterically at the most outlandish jokes and situations. There are times when a raised eyebrow or a wide-open jaw makes you break into a guffaw.

Be cautioned. DE DANA DAN is a loud film, with each and every character screaming on top of his/her voice, with the characters shouting, running, even floating and swimming in the end.

But what do you expect in a Priyadarshan film that has a title like DE DANA DAN? The promos never promised path-breaking or thought-provoking cinema that would give birth to debates and discussions. So why look for logic in this one?

DE DANA DAN makes no qualms of narrating a story you haven't heard before. Here, the story is non-existent and it's left on Priyadarshan to mix-n-match those two dozen characters and keep the momentum alive for the next 2.45 hours.

DE DANA DAN promises laughter and entertainment and sticks to its promise. This one's not for the hard-nosed types, but for those who worship escapist cinema. Who want to chuckle, giggle and chortle at those mindless jokes. In short, DE DANA DAN is a pure dhamaal entertainer!

Nitin [Akshay Kumar] is a butler, cook, driver, watchman, gardener to a wealthy female industrialist [Archana Puran Singh] in Singapore. Like any young man, Nitin too dreams of a better life. He desperately wants to become rich and marry the love of his life, Anjali [Katrina Kaif], who supports him financially.

Ram [Suniel Shetty], Nitin's best friend, also came to Singapore with the dream of striking it rich, but ended up a courier delivery man. He falls for Manpreet [Sameera Reddy], but her high society parents will never approve of marriage, not unless Ram has lots and lots of money.

In the midst of all this is Harbans [Paresh Rawal], a shrewd businessman, who's looking for ways to multiply his income and avoid his debtors. He decides the best way would be to marry his son [Chunky Pandey] off to a girl whose parents can give him a large dowry. He is introduced to Manpreet's parents at a function and is impressed by their social status. He introduces himself as a well-established businessman, impresses them and they decide to get Manpreet and Harbans' son married.

With several factors working against them, Nitin and Ram soon reach a dead end in their relationships. When both receive ultimatums from their girlfriends, they realize that only a life of vice can help them out of their misery. They come up with an audacious plan to kidnap someone important and demand a ransom.

The kidnapping goes awry and both hide at a local hotel while waiting for the ransom money. But misfortune is never far and the kidnapping spirals out of control.

Meanwhile, Manpreet's wedding reception is being held at the same hotel that Nitin and Ram are hiding in. Soon, they are joined by a motley set of characters including a Chinese Don [Asrani], a hired assassin [Johny Lever], a ACB police inspector [Sharat Saxena], a club dancer [Neha Dhupia], an ambassador [Vikram Gokhale], a young frustrated double crossing wife [Aditi Govitrikar], a letch [Shakti Kapoor], a drunken waiter [Rajpal Yadav] and a dead body nobody wants to check into the hotel.

DE DANA DAN is atypical Priyadarshan film that has the unmistakable stamp all over it. But, at the same time, DE DANA DAN is erratic and uneven - energetic at times, lethargic at places. Also, the culmination to the film is very similar to the director's earlier works, with the entire cast running helter-skelter.

On the flip side, you miss Akshay's presence in the second hour. He disappears [gets locked in a cupboard] for at least 20 minutes and the focus, hence, shifts to the other characters. His fans will miss his presence, for sure. Besides, the film tends to get very lengthy towards the second half and overtly verbose too.

Director Priyadarshan is synonymous with comedies and the ace storyteller promises laughter in abundance. Handling so many characters, plus making a film on mistaken identities could be very tough, but the director gets it right. Pritam's music is alright, while the RDB track, 'Paisa', is the pick of the lot. Salim-Sulaiman's background score is energetic. K. Ahambaram's cinematography is alright.

The review would be incomplete if one ignored the dialogue writer's [Jay Master] contribution to the film. The lines are laced with wit and soaked in humour and bring the house down on several occasions.

DE DANA DAN has so many characters that it gets difficult to pinpoint or single out any one actor. Akshay is at his best in a Priyadarshan film and DE DANA DAN proves it. Suniel is natural to the core. Paresh is incredible; he pitches in a superb act. Katrina and Sameera don't have much to do. Amongst the plethora of actors, Johny Lever, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Vikram Gokhale and Archana Puransingh deserve special mention.

On the whole, DE DANA DAN is targeted at the masses and it delivers laughter in abundance. Leave your brains behind to enjoy this madcap entertainer!

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De Dana Dan - First Look

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‘It just doesn’t get funnier than this’

Ever since Neeraj Vohra snatched the joy out of his hands by directing his three favourite stars — Akshay Kumar , Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal — in Phir Hera Pheri, the director has been waiting to bring the hit team together. Now, nine years after Priyadarshan made that laugh-a-riot Hera Pheri in 2000, he’s managed to pull it off for Ratan Jain’s De Dhana Dhan.

“I’ve made a funny film... it is for the audience to patronise it now,” said Priyan who reportedly worked like a man possessed to cast the three actors together again.

But coming together wasn’t a simple journey for the foursome. And a lot has changed since. Akshay has turned into a superstar capable of carrying a film on his own shoulders. Priyadarshan is one of the busiest directors of the industry giving one hit after the other. And, Suniel and Akshay were reportedly having a tiff. They came close to working together in Singh Is Kinng but at the last hour Suniel withdrew and Sonu Sood was taken in his place.

“It was not easy for all of us to come together. Something or the other kept happening which prevented us from working together. Though we wanted to, because Hera Pheri was a great experience, and we had the time of our lives shooting for that film. But things were just not falling in place. I’m glad that we were able to do De Dhana Dhan,” says Akshay.

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Road to Sangam - First Look

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Rann - Wallpapers

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Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! - First Look

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First Look - Maan Gaye Mughall - E- Azam

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123 takes 5th best opening of the year

ONE TWO THREE has turned out to be a box office success.

After being panned by the critics after Show One of the film's release, ONE TWO THREE managed to strike a chord with the audience, especially youth, who came in hordes to make the film a success. Result is that ONE TWO THREE, a medium budget film, has managed to collect more than 10 crores just from India in its first week.

This means that the film has taken the fifth highest opening of the year. While the top of the list is dominated by the likes of RACE (35 crores) and JODHAA AKBAR (25 crores), at no.3 and no.4 are SUNDAY (14 crores) and HALLA BOL (11.5 crores) respectively.

In a quarter dominated by flops, this multi starrer by a debutant director Ashwani Dheer has given Bollywood a reason to smile.

Joginder Tuteja

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Hera Pheri cast gang up for another film

The cast of Hera Pheri will have a reunion of sorts as they gang up for yet another film.

Ratan Jain of Venus has signed Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal for his next, to be directed by Priyadarshan. The film will also have three actresses who will be finalised soon.

The project roll is September and will be completed in a start-to-finish schedule by the year-end.

An insider reveals, “This is the same project Venus has signed Akshay for, at a whopping Rs 40 crore. The makers have zeroed down on an appropriate script.

Though there was an official sequel to Hera Pheri that repeated the cast, it wasn’t directed by Priyan as he doesn’t believe in doing sequels.” Phir Hera Pheri (2006) was directed by Neeraj Vora.

It’s different

Confirming the development, Jain says, “Yes, it is true that we have signed the actors. However the comparison to Hera Pheri didn’t strike us till now.

My film is totally different from Hera Pheri; the only similarities between the two are the principal cast and the director.”

Characters galore

He adds, “We are still looking for three actresses to be a part of the film. We will cast according to the script requirements.

The film will be shot in and around Mumbai and will have at least 20 character actors who will be zeroed upon soon.”

Amul Sharma, Mid-Day

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WELCOME breaks records in the UAE!

The first result is out!

The keenly awaited leave-your-brains-at-home comedy, WELCOME, appears to have stolen the march over competition, taking a rocket opening in the UAE.

On 29 prints, the big Indian Films-Studio 18 Eid release is said to have opened to an unprecedented AED 450,000 (approx) - implying that in just one day flat, it has done close to half the lifetime gross of a successful Akshay Kumar comedy in the UAE!

If the initial reports are anything to go by, the audience has most certainly "welcomed" the festive season with WELCOME!

Bollywood Trade News Network

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Akshay-Paresh to create magic for the 17th time!

The festive season's most awaited release, WELCOME, marks the coming together yet again of two powerhouse performers who have been lucky mascots for each other at the box-office.

As Dr. Ghungroo and his nephew Rajeev, Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar push their creative limits in this madcap mother of all mafia comedies for the 17th time together over 13 years!

WELCOME will see the two stars in another match of wits after they featured together in a number of box-office scorchers like Mohra, Insaaf, Aarzoo, Barood, Angaarey, Aan - Men At Work, Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi, Awara Pagal Deewana, Aankhen, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Bhagam Bhag, Hera Pheri, Phir Hera Pheri, Aitraaz and Garam Masala.

As noted recently, the movie marks quite a few records already, with Anil-Nana coming together after 19 years, Anil-Feroz Khan after 21 years and Akshay-Katrina inching towards consolidating their position as the most commercially successful leading pair of recent times.

The Akshay-Paresh magic mama-bhanja combination in WELCOME is sure to bring the house down!

Bollywood Trade News Network

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Entire team of WELCOME in promotional video

Taking a cue from Firoz Nadiadwala's last super hit PHIR HERA PHERI, WELCOME too sees a promotional video featuring the entire starcast of the film on one single frame!

Readers may remember that around a fortnight before the release of Neeraj Vora directed PHIR HERA PHERI, Nadiadwala had come up with a master stroke in the form of promotional video of Himesh Reshammiya's composed and crooned 'Ae Meri Zohrajabeen'. The song had featured everyone from Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, Bipasha Basu and Rimi Sen to Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Suresh Menon and Sharat Saxena amongst others.

The same formula has been reused for promoting Anees Bazmee's WELCOME which arrives on 21st December. The song in picture is Sajid-Wajid composed title song 'Welcome' which all this while was used as a background piece for the first promo of the film.

Featuring the entire cast of the film which includes Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Mallika Sherawat, the song was premiered in the weekend gone by and is expected to bombard the music channels well into the release of the film.

Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

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WELCOME is the King of comedies! - Akshay Kumar

Having gone through a super successful year with three top-ranking comedies, NAMASTEY LONDON, HEYY BABYY and BHOOL BHULAIYAA, Akshay Kumar is gearing up for the release of WELCOME, his next big laugh-out-loud comedy, releasing on December 20 worldwide.

WELCOME, being touted as the biggest release of Eid and Christmas, marks the return of the Akshay-Katrina pairing for a third time, besides assembling the biggest ensemble cast comprising Paresh Rawal, Anil Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Nana Patekar & Mallika Sherawat under one roof.

Akshay, shooting for SINGH IS KING in Australia at present, laughs, "Earlier, everyone said I was synonymous with action. I bagged the Khiladi tag. Now with my last few films being successful comedies, I've become synonymous with comedy!"

Ask him about his hit run at the box-office this year, he smiles, "I'm happy that the three comedies I did this year had the box-office laughing. WELCOME is the king of them all! It's a laugh-riot from the word go and I hope everyone enjoys it during the festive season as it is my last major comedy of 2007!"

So is Akshay bidding adieu to comedy? "Not at all! Comedy comes as naturally to me as action! Next year I have a variety of films on the anvil. I am getting back to action with CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA and TASHAN. But for me now I want everyone to concentrate on WELCOME and welcome the New Year with a bang!" he signs off.

WELCOME is an Indian Films release through Studio 18.

Bollywood Trade News Network

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WELCOME music releasing on Friday!

After three consecutive smash hits, NAMASTEY LONDON, HEYY BABYY and BHOOL BHULAIYAA, Akshay Kumar's fourth release of 2007, WELCOME, is finally at the door.

Releasing theatrically on December 20, the club-thumping music of the eagerly awaited comedy, WELCOME, the most star-studded release of 2007, will release worldwide this weekend. The soundtrack features six commercial tracks shot in South Africa and Dubai, scored by three heavyweight music composers, Sajid-Wajid, Himesh Reshammiya and Anand Raj Anand.

Producer Firoz Nadiadwala, whose previous smash hits include HERA PHERI and PHIR HERA PHERI, wittily remarked, 'We were looking to have variety on the soundtrack. We opted for three composers because we couldn't get five!'

The audio release of WELCOME also marks the launch of the Times Group's brand, Junglee Music, the umbrella brand that will spearhead the group's entry into the music of Hindi language and regional feature films.

WELCOME stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Feroz Khan and Mallika Sherawat in lead roles.

Bollywood Trade News Network

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Nana-Anil shake a leg with Mallika

Call it the unlikeliest of combinations but the truth is that Nana Patekar can be seen grooving with Mallika Sherawat.

The film in question is WELCOME where Mallika, who could well be half the age of Nana, is seen in a 'masti-se-bharpoor' dance number with the senior actor.

Not just this, the song also sees Mallika getting into a full-on funky mode with Anil Kapoor who does well to remind a viewer about his 'Lakhan' days.

What turns out to be a total contrast is Akshay Kumar who instead acts sober when romancing Katrina Kaif on the same tune.

Composed by Anand Raaj Anand, the song is third in succession to be promoted after the title song by Sajid-Wajid and 'Tera Uncha Lamba Kad' by Anand Raaj Anand himself.

Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

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After Diwali, Xmas war in B'wood

If you thought the war at the box office was over with Om Shanti Om and Saawariya, think again. After Diwali, producers and distributors are now eyeing the Christmas weekend to rake in the green stuff. This year three big films are being released on December 21 – Taare Zameen Par, Halla Bol and Welcome. And all three, which star some of the biggest names in the film industry, have a lot riding on it.

According to journalist and film critic Abhijit Mhamunkar, "This year, filmmakers have discovered a new festive season to release their biggies. With Christmas falling on Tuesday, they get a longer weekend of 5 days to rake in the moolah by releasing their films on December 21."

Trade pundit Komal Nahata also seconds this opinion. "Christmas this year will be the second big celebration time. It is as if distributors have realised that there is another time besides the big Diwali weekend to release their films profitably," he says.

According to J Popat too this will set the trend for coming years when filmmakers wouldn't mind postponing their films and releasing them around Christmas if they cannot do so during Diwali.

However, even as industry insiders are hailing this 'second season' so to say, none is happy about the fact of three films releasing during the time.

Says Mhamunkar, "Unlike Om Shanti Om and Saawariya, these three will eat into each others' business. And that is not a good sign."

Nahata further suggests that ideally one of the films should be postponed because that's the most sensible thing to do. J Popat however has already passed his verdict on the impending war. "Welcome is a runaway winner," he insists adding, "Taare Zameen Par does not look like a commercial film. Besides, it is said that Aamir comes just before the interval. Halla Bol too is on a shaky wicket because Ajay Devgan does not have a good standing in the market with at least a couple of flops behind him. Welcome looks like a good comedy and has a lot of stars in it."

Mhamunkar is also of the opinion that while Welcome currently stands on firmer grounds. He says, "Welcome has everything going in its favour with comedy being the flavour of 2007. Besides, any Akshay Kumar release guarantees a great opening these days."

While Taare... still has the Aamir Khan tag behind it and may just manage to pull the whole thing off, Halla Bol has a lot of odds against it. It is said that Ajay Devgan's marketability has gone down especially with RGV Ki Aag. Further, as Popat suggests, "He does not even have an overseas market, which makes it worse."

While not many may be keen on showing off all their cards at this point, it seems quite clear that Halla Bol has the maximum to lose. With its very serious topic, and a star whose reputation has taken a beating, it might be slightly risky for it to enter into the fray. And the postponement, as Mhamunkar suggests, would 'at least would have only an animated film (Hanuman Returns) to compete with. After all it's far easier to fight the gods than fight the stars, even if it is at the box office.

Abhishek Mande | Buzz18

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Akshay's another rib-tickling comedy

What do you get when you put together five brilliant actors, snazzy car chases, the mafia, machine guns, exotic locales, club-thumping music along with the funniest wedding of the decade?

Well that’s what Welcome is all about. While the film promises to be a potential blockbuster this year, it also marks the launch of Times Group’s Brand, JUNGLEE MUSIC.

Junglee is the umbrella brand that will spearhead The Times Group’s entry into the music of commercial feature films in Hindi and regional languages.

Welcome is directed by ace film director, Anees Bazmee, the king of comedy films. The film is a rib-tickling comedy set against the backdrop of the underworld, filled with maha-confusion and maha-misunderstandings leading to hilarious situations.

The film promises a-laugh-a-minute and features Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anil Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat, Paresh Rawal and Nana Patekar, in avtaars, never seen before.

The music of Welcome has been composed by some of the biggest music directors of India, Himesh Reshammiya, Sajid-Wajid and Anand Raj Anand. The music, releasing on JUNGLEE is already making waves and is on its way to the charts.

Vineet Jain, Managing Director, The Times Group, believes the brand— JUNGLEE MUSIC is young, vibrant, wild and energetic. It symbolises the essence of youth. Elaborating on the strategy, A P Parigi, Director, The Times Group, commented, “The brand seeks to reflect the confidence and spirit of Young India. This new generation lives and breathes an entirely new attitude and this is apparent in the choice of their new cricket idols, their online personas or the new tastes in music and entertainment.”

The team at JUNGLEE MUSIC is excited about their new found identity. A team member commented, “JUNGLEE as a brand is a near perfect connect with the music world of main stream Hindi film and regional language film music.” Adarsh Gupta, COO of JUNGLEE, is all excited about the concept, the brand and the foray into this domain with the acquisition of the music rights for a potential block buster of 2007 — Welcome. He says, “JUNGLEE stands for everything crazy, big and blaring and I’m confident the music of Welcome will live upto it.”

TNN

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Hera Pheri 4… Where's Part 3?

Trust producer Feroz Nadiadwala to try to be one up in the game of one-upmanship. Having done two successful instalments of the Hera Pheri series, he's ready to jump the 'grin'….and go straight to Hera Pheri Part 4.

So what happened to Part 3?

"That's the fun part of the series," explains Suneel Shetty who'll star in the third instalment, apart from the other usual suspects Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal, entitled Hera Pheri Part 4.

"We'll be telling the audience that the characters have been up to unmentionable mischief in part 3. We couldn't show audiences what we were up to in Part 3…so we go straight to Part 4, " explains Suneel.

Anees Bazmi directs Hera Pheri Part 4 at the end of 2007.

Apparently Nadiadwala wants to pitch his next Hera Pheri instalment against Vinod Chopra's Munnabhai series.

According to people involved with both projects, there's a growing sense of indignance in the Hera Pheri camp about how far the Munnabhai series has gone in terms of critical and commercial recognition.

This time Nadidawala wants to go exceedingly far with the farce.

By: Subash K Jha, Source: Santabanta

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BHOOL BHULAIYAA - Get scared and laugh!

Strange as our headline may sound, but that is how the leading man of BHOOL BHULAIYAA, Akshay Kumar, sums up the eagerly awaited 'Eid' release - One will feel scared but will also feel like laughing. Elaborating further, the top star describes the movie as a psychological-horror thriller, with lots of comedy.
While we are confused about the above and will only be able to understand it after watching the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster, MANICHITHRATHAZU, on-screen, here is another interesting tid-bit about BHOOL BHULAIYAA. As per the buzz, the movie also has an interesting split-personality angle!

Releasing with about 600-650 prints this Friday, BHOOL BHULAIYAA is expected to commence a good innings at the box-office.

Glamsham

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