The actor along with Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal and director Priyadarshan is all set to unveil another full-fledged comedy role. The team has returned to the big screen after a hiatus of nine years. Akshay too, after a brief break is back with a comedy. So, how does it feel? “Do you know it’s such a relief ! No, actually it’s more like a pleasure to be back doing comedy. Yeah I may be worried that no one will laugh, it’s a worry that most comedians face, but with Priyadarshan’s genius plot and of course, the magic of the trio, I feel like laughing already.”

Besides the Hera Pheri team, Akshay will be once again be seen with Katrina Kaif. This will be the fourth film of this magical jodi after delivering hits like Namastey London, Welcome and Singh Is Kinng. Speaking about the secret behind their chemistry, he says, “There’s no secret… no magic formula. We are so comfortable with each other’s mistakes, reactions and drive for perfection that we compliment each other in every shot. That’s what makes us so good on screen.” Well looks like King of Comedy, his Queen and the magical team is all set to tickle the audience’s funny bone.

Times

“It’s like Vivek’s comeback to mainstream commercial cinema. He’ll be in the super-league after this one,” promised Kumar. Prince is a “thriller with a heart’’ and has enthralling stunts and endearing music. “It has a very intriguing plot and, of course, bikini-clad women who are more than just eye-candy,’’ revealed Kumar. Vivek plays an espionage agent who’s suffering from memory loss and each of the three women he dates, tells him that she is his “Maya’’. So there’s Nandana Sen who has carved a niche for herse in Bollywood, Neeru Singh has done Punjabi films with Harbhajan Mann, and Arun Shields, an actress from the UK who’s making her Hindi film debut with Prince. “Ou script required glamourous girls,’’ said Kumar who feels that fresh talent adds novelty to the plot. The filmmaker is also happy because those who have seen the theatrical promos have said that it reminded them of the Bond and Bourne Hollywood series. “There are unbelievable action sequences with Vivek hanging mid-air, heavy-duty combat scenes shot in an aircraft, fights on trains/planes and what-have-you. The film is one of those fast, furious, sleek affairs that take you on a ride of your lifetime,’’ added Kumar.

“Like Tips’ earlier films, Soldier and Race, Prince — It’s Showtime will appeal to the audience who come to the movies for a rollercoaster ride of emotions and action,’’ said the filmmaker who hired some of the best foreign technicians besides Bollywood’s action king Allan Amin. “The title track sung by Atif Aslam is already a rage. My director Kookie Gulati certainly knows how to engage his crowds,’’ smiled Kumar.

Times

Filmmaker Karan Johar is excited with the response that the film has garnered in its opening week. Not jut the weekend bookings, but even the paid previews saw a massive booking. The collections we hear are the highest this year. The Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer has made its mark at the box office this weekend.

Besides the huge opening, a astounding 1,500 prints were released all over India, which is among the highest ever released at one time. Karan has every reason to celebrate with this movie that saw Dharma Productions venturing into yet another genre and hitting the bull’s eye.

Times

Director Prem Soni, who was very disappointed about the film’s performance at the Box Office, is extremely glad about the movie’s record viewership amongst home audiences.

Soni says, “It`s a delight to know that ‘Main Aurr Mrs Khanna’ is a huge success on DTH. It`s a new beginning for Indian films as DTH now has become as good as a territory. I am told that the revenue generated is around 21 crores. I am happy that my film has scored such high figures.”

An insider reveals that MAMK’s success on DTH may be a good idea which some Bollywood duds can perhaps take up!

ZEE

Times

With all these movies making it big at the box office, Dharma Productions has proved to be a banner that’s keen to make movies of different genres. And Kurbaan seems to be the next step forward for the banner. Also, Karan is all set to score a hattrick of launching first-time directors through his banner with Kurbaan. Besides providing the young directors with a great platform, Karan also believes in stepping back and not interfering with the project at all. “I green light the project and then I step back. I let the director do his job and that’s the way it should be,” he says. So, what spurred him to launch new directors? “All those who have directed for me have their own thought process. Be it Rensil, Tarun or Ayan, they all had a vision for the film that they were making. I think it’s very difficult for a first time director to put together the kind of project that he would want to make. Also, I have worked with these directors previously and have complete confidence in them,” he says. Karan is “proud” of his next offering — Kurbaan — and is also confident of Rensil’s work. “Rensil was so passionate about the movie that I knew he would do complete justice to it,” says Karan.

Times

Times

In its second weekend, the film collected £80,239 on 38 screens, with the per screen average of £2,112. Its total collections to date stand at £346,296.

The big new Bollywood entry, Soha Ali Khan starrer Tum Mile opened at a miserable number 21. With meagre collections of £22,681 this film has been declared a box office failure.

Harbhajjan Mann headlined Punjabi film Heer Ranjha was a new entry at No. 19 collecting £25,593 over 13 screens.

UK Box Office Chart (Indian films only)

1. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
2. Heer Ranjha
3. London Dreams
4. Jail
5. Aladin
6. Blue
7. Main Aurr Mrs Khanna
8. Aadhavan
9. All The Best

“The London and Dubai premiere have been cancelled. Several issues have cropped up and it would not be prudent to go ahead with it under such uncertain pressures and circumstances,” Amitabh posted on his blog.

“But Mumbai premiere is on at the IMAX Wadala on Dec 3 and Aamir and Shah Rukh have assured me of their presence there,” he added.

Apart from promotional events of “Paa”, Amitabh is also busy preparing for “Bachchan Sandhya”, an event to mark the 102nd birth anniversary of his father Harivansh Rai Bachchan on Nov 28.

“The arrangements, the invitees, the program and its functions, rehearsals for the recitation and getting the family to gear up for its participation is also keeping me busy,” he wrote.

Mid-Day

“Aamir comes over Sunday at my initiative to discuss a few promotional points for our respective films. It is always a joy to meet him… We have always spent time together discussing various topics of common interest and yes films is one of them. Lets see how things go,” Amitabh posted on his blog on Saturday.

Aamir, who excels at promotional gimmicks for his movies, has so far had live chat with fans on the Internet, reportedly got in touch with them through social-networking websites and even launched the music of the film online.

Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, “3 Idiots” has been produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Based on Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller “Five Point Someone”, it stars R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor apart from Aamir.

Big B too is promoting “Paa”, in which he plays a 13-year-old suffering from the disease progeria that causes premature ageing. He says his fans often come to visit him on Sundays and that he plans to “give hand outs autographed by me or maybe by Auro”.

“There is a unique way in which the promotion for ‘Paa’ is scheduled over the radio and soon you shall all be in a position to witness it…,” he wrote.

“Talks have now been initiated for the premiere to be held in not one, not two, but three centres. And we are diligently working on a London-Dubai-Mumbai destination… The logistics and the mechanics are being worked out and hopefully there will be some news soon,” he added.

Directed by R. Balakrishnan, “Paa” stars Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan as Amitabh’s parents.

Mid-Day

Hrithik’s father, and the film’s producer, Rakesh Roshan does not want the film to battle at the Box Office with Shah Rukh Khan starrer My Name Is Khan – which has been officially announced for general release during Valentine’s Day week in February – the exact time for Rakesh was planning for. A source from FilmKraft says, “Roshan Snr is a bit worried about releasing it in the same week as Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan. He knows very well that Karan’s films tend to great business so does not want his film to be second. Therefore he is planning for a mid-2010 release but right now has no particular date in mind.”

So there you go. The Roshans are also running scared from the King Khan. Whatever next!

Tony

Talking to a news daily on the sequel of ‘Singh Is Kinng,’ a close source said, “Vipul is excited about the sequel to ‘Singh Is Kinng’. He has already zeroed in on an idea and the script is in the finishing stages. Vipul has finalised both Akshay and Katrina for the lead roles. The film will be made on a larger scale than the earlier one.”

When enquired Vipul Shah, a beaming director confirmed the news and said, “It is true. We have written the script keeping Akshay and Katrina in mind. ‘Singh Is Kinng’ cannot be made without both the actors. I think even the audience wants to see the two of them together again.”

With ‘Singh Is Kinng 2’ expected to hitting the theatres by mid-next year, Akshay, encumbered by a string of flops, will be keeping his fingers crossed!

Zee

The film managed a meagre total of £177,886 from 38 screens with a per screen average £4,681. Not much is expected from its second weekend and prospects look bleak. Not getting into the elusive Top 10 is also a huge disapointment for the film’s director Rajkumar Santoshi who has never had any luck with any of his films in the UK.

Hard-hitting prison drama Jail, starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, failed also. However, the main reason for this is only 7 cinemas in the whole of UK actually showing the film. It took collections of £7,039 and made number 27.

London Dreams has also not been able to entice people to the cinemas. In its second week of general release, the Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan musical collected £27,835 at the Box Office. It dropped down to number 18 in the chart.

But contrary to the popular opinion, the film has been slapped with an ‘A’ certificate owing to its violent content and hardcore erotic scenes between the real life lovers.

Touted as an intense film on terrorism, the film’s director and producer are now seeing red over Censor Board’s decision. Having spent huge moolah on the film, KJo is now looking for all other options to hike his returns from the Saif-Kareena starrer.

Confirming the news, a daily quoted a source as saying, “There is a lot of violence as the film is set against the backdrop of terrorism. Taking this into account, the censors felt that a ‘U’ or even a ‘U/A’ certificate would not be advisable.”

Trying to get a ‘U/A’ certificate, director Rensil D’Silva presented his case in front of the Censor Board but to no avail. Talking about the film, Regional Officer of the Censor Board, Vinayak Azad said, “After we saw ‘Kurbaan,’ we felt that it was meant for adult viewing only.”

Zee

The story is about 12-year-old Mickey falling in love with Mitika, played by Aamna Shariff, who’s 22. One day Mickey’s world goes haywire, and the little boy makes a wish to grow up. The next day he finds himself in the body of a young guy. He now has to deal with the complex world of adults. Speaking about his role Aftab, who also co-wrote the story, says, “I had been living with the character for two years. Mickey is a sweet, innocent boy who really loves this girl. His innocence sets him apart from other guys,” he says.

Aamna plays Mitika — a simple and down to earth girl — who thinks Mickey’s is just another kid in the neighbourhood. Speaking about her role, Aamna says, “I loved my role instantly. the look in the movie is glamourous because she’s the girl who everyone falls for. I loved playing Mitika. It’s a character that people would related to and like.”

The fairy tale romance releases on November 13.

Times

He’s been a major player in Bollywood for 33 years now, and has always been big on ideas, and bigger on executing them. Which accounts for some 30 successes over the 80s, 90s and so far into the 2000s. Now he rattled off their names to me not in any order but as they came to mind. “There was Judaai in 1997 with Anil Kapoor and Sridevi which was a major hit but not a blockbuster,” he began, “Company, Pukar in 2000 — that won the National Award, and Loafer which was very successful, also Run in 2004… Abhishek Bachchan’s cleansing began with this film, and Sirf Tum in which Sushmita Sen had the superhit song Dilbar… then No Entry, the biggest commercial success of 2005, and Wanted now, which I would rate as one of the Top 10 films of all time. It’s still running! And it’s a case study to the business that has evolved now. When people talk of a film raking in Rs 200 crore… that’s a western concept to lure eyeballs. What you get in hand is what matters. I gave you the Indian boxoffice figures for Wanted. The overseas, satellite, home video/audio, branding rights are separate.”

He’s had some lemons at the box office as well, films like Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja in 1993 that I wasn’t reminding him about. However, Boney said on his own, “I’m a complete hands-on filmmaker, I’ve been through it all, I’ve done so many films, and several for my brothers Anil and Sanjay too, that I’ve got to know the complete and detailed aspects of filmmaking and distribution. With today’s invasion of corporates, the role of the producer is not underlined, there’s just a mad rush to put the package together. That’s why you’ve seen so many packages falling like nine pins! The control of the project is the engine… and it’s important to have a producer driving it with passion. Yes, the corporates brought in discipline where the business of filmmaking is concerned, and they streamlined the revenue mode, but they took away the passion.”

That Boney has passion, there is no doubt. “I’ve been through the highs and lows, I’ve had a fractured financial status, but even then… if I can still churn out a blockbuster, what magic might I have done with a complete back-up,” he asked. The answer to that, perhaps, is in the films his production house BSK Network and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is making. I’ve already told you about Milenge Milenge.

Then there’s the Anees Bazmee directed It’s My Life with Genelia, Harman Baweja and Nana Patekar, a remake of the successful South Indian film Bombraillu in Telugu and Santosh Subramaniam in Tamil. Isn’t Hurman bad news in Bollywood, I asked. “Wasn’t Amitabh bad news until Zanjeer,” Boney shot back. And he’s got three more films in mind for which Boney Kapoor can already hear the cash tills at the box office ringing. They are all sequels. “I’m starting Mr. India 2 — Be Positive, there’s a strong possibility of Anil and Sridevi being the
lead pair, plus a new, young couple, and somebody big playing the major and unusual role of the villain. Then I’ve got a fix for No Entry 2. And somebody suggested a good idea for Most Wanted. Everything depends on the viability of the projects and availability of the main crew. I’m a strong believer in the need for a good support system. My cast is always according to the need of the film. What works is not a package, but the product.”

Times

The chosen ones have been – lead actor Aamir Khan’s teenage son Junaid’s classmates, a group of middle-aged women, and some big trade names. But wait before you envy this lot of ‘privileged’ people… here’s the catch. Those who had seen 3 Idiots were given a Non Disclosure Agreement or an NDA to sign before they entered Vinod Chopra’s editing studio where the sneak previews were held. So what does this NDA say? It apparently is a proper legal document which prevents the people who have seen 3 Idiots from discussing it publicly or passing any opinion or judgment on it. “If they do, then they are liable for legal action,” says a trade insider. Anyway, the point is that this exercise was going great guns. Random people who were selected to watch 3 Idiots were actually thrilled. Many of them even partook in a film-discussion with the lead actor Aamir Khan after watching it, where Aamir encouraged them to speak their minds. “Junaid’s friends were surprised that Aamir wanted a no-holds barred critical view,” says an insider. And as said earlier, this exercise was paying dividends for the most part. Except when one leading exhibitor threw a fit and refused to sign the NDA. Other members of his family, who were present for the viewing exercise, signed the legal document thrust under their noses; but this gentleman categorically refused. He apparently even volunteered to walk out of the trial show, but said he would not sign the NDA simply because he felt the document was questioning his integrity.

Now it so happens that the practice of signing an NDA is commonplace in Hollywood Studios who hold ‘screenings for a discerning public across the board’ nearly six months before a movie makes it to the screens because they truly value the feedback.

However, as far as Bollywood goes, this is a first and hence, it is still considered offensive by a certain segment.

The official spokesperson from Vinod Chopra Productions confirmed the NDA story.

He said, “3 Idiots is an extremely guarded and prestigious project. So, yes, we got everyone to sign an NDA.”

Times

By the end of its first day, the collections of the movie were almost at par with Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal starring Saif Ali Khan. While LAK took in opening day collections of Rs 80 million (Rs 8 crore) with average occupancy of 85 – 90 per cent across multiplexes, APKGK’s average occupancy has been between 85 – 90 per cent. On the other hand, occupancy at single screen was approximately 60 – 65 per cent. Pertinent to note here is that the number of shows that LAK opened with was much higher than that of AGPGK.

According to estimates, in its opening weekend, APKGK is expected to cross the Rs 240 – 250 million (Rs 24 – 25 crore) mark. As was earlier reported by Businessofcinema.com Love Aaj Kal did a net business of Rs 270 million (Rs 27 crore) in its opening weekend.

Compared to APKGK, the other release this week – Madhur Bhandarka’s Jail starring Neil Nitin Mukesh – opened to poor collections. The movie’s occupancy at multiplexes was about 30 per cent. However, it remains to be seen how Jail fares over the next two days.

BOC

The film is based on July 2005 Mumbai deluge. Bhatt says, “The film did not turn out the way Kunal had visualised it. The film is not about the disaster, but the love story. I just toned down the disaster scenes to make it more viewer-friendly.”Commenting on the editing that Bhatt did, director Kunal Deshmukh says, “I was dead against cutting some portions of the flood scenes because I thought that they really stood out. Bhattsaab wanted to play up the love angle and I understood his point of view when I saw the film after 10 minutes had been chopped off. I loved the flow.”

Times

The movie, which is being co-produced by T-Series and Mukesh Talreja’s People Tree Films, will go on floors in December this year.

Patiala House will see Anushka Sharma opposite Akshay Kumar. The movie also stars Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.

The movie has been inspired from the real life story of the Malhotras of Malabar Hill. Veteran film publicity designer Rahul Nanda, who is the son of writer and novelist Gulshan Nanda, has conceived the concept of the Patiala House.

Patiala House’s patriarch is Gurkreeat Singh Kalon (Rishi Kapoor) who rules and runs his family life just like a prime minister would run a government. He is a strict disciplinarian whose authority and rules are not questioned in Patiala House.

Advani says, “Our story is universal in spirit as it is a story about all joint families, which have a patriarch who decides their lives and wants to keep everyone under one roof. Kahlon family has been living for last four generations in South Hall.”

Producer Ravi Agarwal is happy with the situation because his lead actor Himesh’s last film Karzzzz produced by T-Series was a disaster at the box-office.

A source from the production company says, “Himesh has learnt from the mistakes he made during Karzzzz. His strategy and vision for Radio is simple.

Reshammiya admits he had gone overboard with the number of prints he released for his last film, “I have applied very different sensibilities for Radio. It is aimed at a different target audience than my last two releases. I am glad that we’ve already recovered our budget costs. Also the tracks from Radio have registered the highest online download numbers.”

Post-release, Himesh plans to go on a worldwide tour promoting Radio. He adds, “The tour will include all his chartbusters and the revenue from ticket sales and merchandise will definitely be phenomenal. This again is just an extension of the marketing strategy.”

`Shahrukh Bola Khoobsorat Hain Tu,` a Hindi movie directed by theatre veteran Makrand Deshpande will be premiered during IFFI in Goa to be held from November 23 to December 3.

“The film is about a poor girl who sells flowers at a traffic signal and how her life changes after a chance encounter with King Khan, who rolls down the window of his car and tells her, “Tu Khoobsurat Hai”,” said Deshpande.

Other seven films, including two in Hindi and English and one each in Marathi, Konkani and Kannada will be premiered during the eleven-day long festival jointly organised by Directorate of Film Festival (DFF) and Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG).

Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat today announced the list of premiers during a press conference here.

Sanjeev Srinivas` film `God Lives in the Himalayas`, an English flick based on the life of a boy living in Himalayan ranges, also will be premiered during the festival.

The movie`s website, however, claims that the film has already had world premier at Pusan International Film Festival on October 09, 2009.

Ananth Mahadevan’s Hindi movie `Red Alert` and veteran filmmaker Amol Palekar’s English film `And It Goes,` are also to be premiered at the festival.

On the regional language front, a Marathi movie `Janma` by Goan director Tapan Acharya and Kannada filmmaker P Sheshadri’s `Vimukhti` are in the list of Indian premiers.

Konkani movie, `Zagor`, directed by Sangram Gaikwad, would be premiered in this section along with Saurabh Shukla`s Hindi movie `I am 24.`

Goa Chief Minister, who chairs ESG, said that a jury headed by renowned filmmaker Pankaj Parashar viewed a total of 24 feature films from all over the country to zero down on these eight movies.

The other members of the jury comprised renowned Tamil actor and film Director Cheran, Kannada filmmaker P H Vishwanath, a film critic Saibal Chatterjee, Mumbai-based Producer and Actor Anwar Ali and Goan film critic Raju Nayak.

Directed by Karan Johar, the film will open in theatres in India and over 40 countries including the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, said a press release from Johar`s Dharma Productions.

“My Name is Khan” features Shah Rukh as Rizvan Khan, an unconventional hero who embarks on a journey across America to win back the love of his life. It shows how, along the way, his unique personality touches the lives of many and inspires a nation.

“I keep setting out to do something different with my films, but the one constant that remains is my desire to continue to explore the many ways in which two people can fall in love and stay in love regardless of any or every challenge against them,” said Karan.

The film also marks a re-teaming of Johar and Shah Rukh after three years — their last outing together was “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna”.

Johar has made his film in association with Fox STAR Studios, 20th Century Fox International and Fox Searchlight Pictures.

While Fox STAR Studios will market and distribute the film in India, Fox Searchlight Pictures will release it in the US. The distribution of the movie outside India and the US will be taken care of by Twentieth Century Fox International.

According to Vijay Singh, CEO Fox Star Studios, the film is drawing a “hugely positive response from exhibitors across the world” for the “coming together of Shah Rukh, Karan and Kajol”.

“It is a big event for Bollywood audiences across the world and their fan base is eagerly awaiting the release. But what makes `My Name is Khan` a special film is that it brings together the finest Indian talent with a powerful story that has relevance for audiences everywhere,” added Singh.

Zee

The promos of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani already have people rating them as a hit. Tips Films, which is presenting this romantic comedy, believes that it has a winner, given its earlier track record — Race and Kismat Konnection. Like Ranbir and Katz, producer Ramesh Taurani too is excited about his offering because it’s directed by Rajkumar Santoshi who has given hits like Andaz Apna Apna, Barsaat, Damini and many others. “Ajab… is even more hilarious than Andaz Apna Apna,” said Taurani, “in fact, if Andaz had comedy, Ajab has comedy and romance in it.” Telling BT why they chose Ranbir and Katz, Santoshi said, “The film required a fresh pair. We were very impressed with Ranbir and Katrina. They have great screen presence and their fans will love them in this film.” The stars hit it off instantly on day one. They shot extensively on exotic locations in Turkey, Goa and Ooty, and like in the film, they had fun on the sets too. “Don’t go by her looks, she’s a bully,” said Ranbir as Katrina smiled and added, “People across all sections will be able to relate to this film.” The music, too, is catching on with audiences and topping charts, especially the song
Tera Hone Laaga Hoon.

“The song wasn’t choreographed as such. The two were told to be natural and their screen presence added magic to the song,” said the filmmakers. Pritam, who scored the music, roped in some big singers like Atif Aslam, Kailash Kher, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Alisha Chinoy and Hard Kaur for this rom-com which is set to hit theatres on November 6.

While London Dreams opened to approximately 35 per cent occupancy, Aladin had a poor start with about 15 – 20 per cent occupancy across multiplexes in the morning shows.

However, London Dreams picked up during the afternoon and evening shows with 55 per cent occupancy in multiplexes. While the single screens have shown drastic improvement in box office collections for a handful of recent films, London Dreams saw occupancy of approximately 40 per cent.

While London Dreams stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin, Aladin has Amitabh Bachchan and Ritiesh Deshmukh. Both movies have high costs attached to it especially with the latter being VFX heavy. The weekend performance will give a clearer picture on the fate of both movies.

Jaane Tu was released in July last year and was a sensational success. Abbas now plans to release all his films in July and is convinced that they’ll work.

Surprisingly, 1-800-LOVE’s producer is willing to bear the mounting costs of the post-production delay. “I guess I’m lucky,” Abbas says. “Even though the shoot is done and there’s just one song left, my producer is with me in the decision to release the film in the same week as Jaane Tu… Actually, I would love to release 1-800-LOVE on July 4, the same date as Jaane Tu… but it isn’t a Friday.”

They are to choose between July 2 and 9, 2010, as the release date. “And if I had my way, I would release all my films in the same week, depending on how accommodating my producers are in the future.”

And as we wonder if we can pass this off as superstition, Abbas protests, “Look, even otherwise, the first quarter of 2010 is clogged with exams and other stuff. I would rather release my films when schools and colleges are shut because they are the audience for all my films.”

Just for Abbas’s information both schools and colleges in Mumbai re-open by July.”

“There are three genres — romance, comedy and action. They are mainstream inherently; so what I`m doing is taking a commercial genre and within it experimenting a little bit,” Abhay told reporters.

The film is going on the floors early next year. Abhay has roped in Navdeep Singh of “Manorama Six Feet Under” to helm the project that will feature him along with Shahana Goswami and another girl whose name has been kept secret.

” `Basra` is high on content, but a good dose of action sequences will make it edgy and pretty dark as well. In other words, it is a mainstream movie but also has something that will make people think and keep them on the edge of their seats,” he said.

“The thing about action films is that they are high on drama in terms of action sequences, have songs and other things, but content is secondary. For me, the idea was to get something that has content so that the action has some meaning. That`s when `Basra` came in,” he added.

The 32-year-old was launched by his uncle Dharmendra with “Socha Na Tha” in 2005. He then went on to prove his mettle with films like “Ahista Ahista”, “Manorama Six Feet Under”, “Ek Chalis Ki Last Local”, “Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd” and more recently “Dev D”.

When asked what motivated him to don the producer`s hat, Abhay revealed: “I had bad experiences in the past, with `Manorama…` being the classic example where the director did his job – he made it well, actors gave their level best but when it was the producer`s turn to distribute and market the film, it was nowhere to be seen.

“Not just `Manorama…`, I had been through this for some of my other films too. I realised that I need to protect my films because the director will move on, the producer will move on too but as an actor I will be considered a flop if things will not work.

“I also realised I need to protect myself,” he explained.

Along with that he also wanted to give a platform to new and dynamic directors to make films that have quality content.

“The idea was also to provide platform to filmmakers to make the kind of movies they want to make — probably high on content, low on budget. Let`s see where the formula goes and then I will take it from there,” said the actor, who was in the capital to attend the 11th Osian`s Cinefan film festival where two of his films, “Dev D” and “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!” were screened.

So does he plan to sign his cousins Sunny and Bobby Deol for his home productions?

“I would love to sign them for my films but it also depends on whether the role is right for them. So I don`t think I will be able to approach them for my first venture, but something in the future definitely,” said Abhay.

Right now the actor is excited about his upcoming film “Road” with Dev Benegal and his romantic film “Ayesha” with Sonam Kapoor.

The glittering event to be held at The Grand Cineplex at 8 pm will be attended by the film’s director Vipul A. Shah, Salman Khan and Asin.

A plush limo will bring the trio to the venue before they take to the red carpet and greet the 500 exclusive invitees.

LONDON DREAMS opens in the UAE and UK on Thursday, October 29, and in the US on Friday, October 30.

The Diwali weekend saw three big Indian films hit the theatres with Blue coming top after collections of £215,962. That is £4,235 per screen average. Salman Khan’s much hyped home production Main Aur Mrs Khanna could not reach three figures, its collections stood at £89,299 with a per screen average of £2,126. Comedy flick All The Best was the weakest of the three with total collections of £36,333 and a per screen average of £1,172.

Blue just about managed to get into the elusive Top 10, at number 10. Main Aur Mrs Khanna was 3 places below it and All The Best at a lowly 19.

“It is usually believed that in Bollywood only melodrama, confrontation and over-thetop emotions work. And look, our audiences have proved us wrong. They have patronised Sid in a way that is unbelievable,’’ said Karan who’s humbled by the number of text messages, emails and live reactions he got from people “almost all of whom have connected with the film in some way or the other. Youngsters who are in the Sid-phase have loved the film; those who are in their 30s — and have been there and done that, have also liked it; and even parents with a Sid at home are relating to it.’’

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh feels the savvy release pattern for Wake up Sid did the trick. He said, “Karan and UTV sensibly released just around 350-400 prints in the multiplexes across metros and they are now reaping a huge dividend.’’ According to Taran, “Sid is a rock star… the film has found a cult following in metros. What’s more, Ranbir Kapoor is definitely the next big thing. He is like a breath of fresh air. He is not trying to ape Aamir Khan or Shah Rukh Khan. And, though his father Rishi Kapoor is one of the best actors in Bollywood, Ranbir isn’t trying to be a Rishi clone. As an actor Ranbir has his own distinct style.”

The star of the moment is gratified with all the praise. Reacting to talk of him being the next superstar, Ranbir said, “Well, I’m happy and humbled. And much as I would like to, I can’t say the film worked only because of me. Look at it this way, I had an authorbacked role and it was Sid the character that carried me through rather than the other way around.’’ The young actor is also very happy for his best friend Ayan Mukerji without whose conviction he feels Sid wouldn’t have been the adorable guy he is. “Ayan is extremely talented and I’m genuinely indebted to Karan and Ayan for giving me this film. If you make cinema from the heart it usually works. That’s what all of us involved with Sid did.”