Dulha Mil Gaya... and then what went wrong?

CommentMudassar Aziz's maiden venture Dulha Mil Gaya has finally been completed. It's always important to give first-time directors a little leeway for errors. Direction may not be rocket science but debut projects often has some raw edges.

Mudassar was lucky enough to cast Sushmita Sen and Shah Rukh Khan together. These two nearly set the screen on fire with their sizzling chemistry in Main Hoon Na .

DMG also stars Fardeen Khan and veterans like Johnny Lever and Parikshit Sahni. With such a talented cast the least one expected was a fun, watchable film. Unfortunately, DMG reminded me of a film which keeps taxiing down the runway but never really takes off.

The film opens in Trinidad with a spoilt brat son, who hopes to inherit millions from his deceased father's estate. But Tej Dhanraj, also known as Donsai (Fardeen Khan), is in for a rude shock. He has just a few days time to marry Samarpreet Kapoor (Ishitta Sharrma), a girl from rural Punjab .

This is a theme which was hugely popular in romance novels and movies in the 1960s and 1970s. The director could have kept us engrossed by taking the story to a new level. But Mudassar Aziz sticks to the tried-and-tested. Samarpreet remains the 'sati savitri' type, who will go to any lengths to woo her husband.

But this Herculean task cannot be managed single-handedly. So Samarpreet receives help from Shimmer (Sushmita Sen) and Pawan Raj Gandhi (SRK ). Shimmer is ashamed of Donsai's behaviour. She hopes to reform him but fails to realise that she is equally commitment phobic. Mudassar in text-book fashion introduces his characters in the first 30 minutes and then for the next two hours, the film keeps plodding its way towards a dreary, predictable end.

Found, a groom for Sushmita Sen!

Nah, it's not Fardeen Khan.

The stars of the just released film Dulha Mil Gaya, Sushmita Sen and Fardeen Khan, pose for shutterbugs during the premiere of the movie in Mumbai on Thursday.

The movie also stars Shah Rukh Khan, Johnny Lever, Parikshit Sahni and newcomer Ishitta Sharma.

Image: Sushmita Sen and Fardeen Khan
Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar

Release This Week: Ajay Devgn's 'All The Best'

'A light purse is a heavy curse'...The same is applied to Veer (Fardeen Khan) who is a singer by profession. Veer in greed of extracting extra pocket money from his step-brother Dharam (Sanjay Dutt), a business-honcho from London, tries to lie about his single status and puts it forth as 'happily married. His friend Prem (Ajay Devgn), a concept car expert, lends a helping hand in this falsely embossed projection.

Ajay Devgn's All The Best finds itself in a copyright controversy

Next week's big Diwali release, All The Best, finds itself in the middle of an uncalled for controversy. Apparently, producer Karan Ramsay (of Om Films Company) has filed a copyright infringement suit against actor and producer Ajay Devgn over the script of the film.-

Ramsay claims that the script of All The Best is almost the same as his under-production film called Uncle Samjha Karo. He has even gone on to mention that he had purchased the copyright of his film's script from writer Paritosh Painter in November 2006. Ramsay further adds that in 2007, Paritosh Painter had tried to get back the copyright of the script from him but in the arbitration process that followed, the IMPPA ruled the case in his favour thereby declaring Ramsay as the owner of the copyright.

Devgn films meanwhile claim that their film is based on the American play 'Right Bed Wrong Husband' and that they had in fact acquired the script from an American firm for $40000. Devgn is even livid at the fact that despite knowing all this long before, Ramsay files a petition only at the last minute close to his film's release.

When we tried to contact Devgn Films, their spokesperson said, "Right now we are in Delhi for the promotions of our film. The matter is currently in court and we would not like to comment on anything at this point of time. We should get a clearer picture by Monday."

One will have to wait and watch if the makers of All The Best are able to come out of this soup in a clean way.

'Acid Factory is going to be one crazy ride'

The action man of Bollywood, Sanjay Gupta is back with another action flick.

The writer-director known for his dark thrillers and his friendship with Sanjay Dutt [whom he formed a production house White Feather Films with] returns as producer of Acid Factory, a stylish action flick directed by Suparn Verma and starring six cool hunks -- Danny Denzongpa, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Manoj Bajpai, Irrfan Khan, Fardeen Khan -- and a sexy Dia Mirza.

So what to expect from this stylish flick? Nithya Ramani finds out.

Why Acid Factory?

Acid Factory started because of Hansal Mehta [director]. He introduced me to mad man Suparn Verma. I heard the script and our journey began from there. The cast of the film were also people I have worked with in the past. The best part was all of them came on board primarily on the merit of the script. Nobody agreed to do the film because of their relationship with me or the banner.

What do you think of Suparn Verma?

Many people ask me what do I look for when I sign on directors. Do I look at their past or their body of work.

For me the most important aspect is the passion the man has to make his movie. In Suparn's case it overflows. My job most of the time is to retain it. He is always ready to take off. That is a big boon for a producer.

Fardeen in London to be With His "LIFE PARTNER"

Fardeen Khan has taken the title of his forthcoming romantic comedy, 'Life Partner', quite seriously.

While the Abbas Mustan/Studio 18 co production releases worldwide next week, Fardeen air dashed to London last week to spend time with his real life partner, Natasha, and enjoy a quiet holiday with her.Remarked a source, "Fardeen hadn't seen his wife for over two and a half months as he has been shooting non stop in Goa for Ajay Devgan's home production. He has been missing her. Also, the unfortunate demise of his father has deeply affected him. He needed to escape from Mumbai and unwind."

Natasha Madhvani is the daughter of London based businessman Mayur and yesteryear's actress Mumtaz. Natasha and Fardeen have been friends since childhood. The couple will return to Mumbai in the week of release of 'Life Partner'.

'It is not easy to be a hero for 25 years'

After Partner, Govinda hopes to churn out another hit in Life Partner, directed by writer-turned-director Rumi Jaffery. The film co-starring Fardeen Khan, Genelia D'Souza, Tusshar Kapoor, Prachi Desai and Amrita Rao sees Govinda playing a divorce lawyer.

Patcy N got to talk to him about Life Partner, and his long innings in Bollywood.

What are you trying to convey in your forthcoming film Life Partner?

The film is about how you should be with your life partner, how you should take care of your life partner and work things out together. It is also about the people you meet in your life, and how you should be careful with certain types of people.

I have worked with Rumi Jaffery in Saajan Chale Sasural, Coolie No 1, Hero No 1, Haseena Maan Jayegi, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and now Life Partner. I have given hits with him. And I plan to give a hit with Life Partner too.

You had worked with Rumi Jaffery when he was a writer. But now you are working with him as a director. How was he in his new job?

He has done a fantastic job in this film. I would say the actors were excellent as well. Even Amrita Rao, who stars opposite me in the film, is very good. I am working with her for the first time in this film. She has tremendous confidence. I have seen the film and I think she has done a great job.

I think everything is good about this film because of the script's simplicity. It says very simply: aap pyar ko rishte ka naam dena chahte hai, par jab rishte ko pyaar dena bhool jaate hai toh rishte kharab hojate hai.

Akshay suggested the title 'Life Partner': Rumy Jaffrey

Director Rumi Jaffrey denies that Akshay Kumar opted out of "Life Partner" due to a "rift" between them and says it was the star who suggested the film's title.

Akshay was supposed play a divorce lawyer who doesn't believe in the institution of marriage, but was unable to feature in the film due to date problems. Eventually the role went to Govinda.

"All these rumours of a rift between Rumi and Akshay are false. Aki couldn't do the film because of date problems and Rumi is absolutely okay with it. Both parted ways amicably," said a source close to the film.

Added Jaffrey: "It is really funny? Abbas bhai, Mustan bhai and I were struggling for a title. It was almost the case of having it under our nose and not able to see it. When we were in conversation with Akshay for the film, he suggested 'Life Partner' as a title and it just stuck. I couldn't believe it. It was as simple. And we all just loved it and couldn't have thought of a better title."

"Life Partner" is about two couples and their journey through their relationships and also stars Geneila D'Souza, Fardeen Khan, Tusshar Kapoor and Prachi Desai.