1. It is an official remake of the 1979 comedy film, Golmaal by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
2. Veteran actor Utpal Dutt’s iconic character in Gomaal in missing in Bol Bachchan
3. Director Rohit Shetty wanted Actress Asin, who lost lots of weight during Housefull 2, to gain weight and look ‘Healthy’ on screen. During the film’s shoot in Jaipur, he would often order a huge ‘Thali’ (A meal served with a great variety of items in small quantities) for her to eat.
4. Abhishek Bachchan played a double role for the first time in his career.
5. Hollywood super hero movie ‘Amazing Spider Man’ was rescheduled to June 29th, 2012 as its original release date (3rd July) was close to Bol Bachchan’s release date.

6. Asin was roped in for the first female lead after Bipasha Basu rejected the role. Prior to that actress Genelia D’Souza was signed to play the second female lead, but due to her differences with the makers, she opted out of the project and the role went to Prachi Desai.

Made on a budget of Rs. 18 crores, the film traces the life and times of Mahi Khanna, a superstar heroine. The film is a daring, shocking, glamorous, scandalous behind the scenes account of the reality behind the world of glitz and glamour and the true stories of our glamour idols. For a country like India, which is obsessed with films, the film will give audiences a peek into what actually happens in make-up rooms and vanity vans. The back biting, back stabbing, politics, secrets, lies that come with the pinnacles of success and depths of failure have been portrayed in the film.

‘Heroine”s posters are out. The posters show Kareena Kapoor dressed in a shimmery tank top and shorts lying down on a bed surrounded by magazines and photos of herself and an empty wine glass. Kareena in an interview described her character in Heroine as a “bipolar” and “schizophrenic” personality. “Presenting the 1st poster of Heroine to all my well wishers. Hope you like it,” Bhandarkar tweeted. The film also stars Arjun Rampal as a popular filmstar and Randeep Hooda as a cricketer. Apart from them, the film is supported by many other actors whose characters are essential to the film.

A few interesting trivia for ‘Heroine’

• Kareena Kapoor was the original choice for the film, but Bhandarkar offered the role to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan owing to Kareena’s reservations about the boldness of the role. Aishwarya shot for a few days, but quit due to her impending pregnancy and the role fell into Kareena’s lap all over again!
• Kapoor, who described her character as being “bipolar and schizophrenic”, refrained from taking on any other projects as she found Heroine to be “very aggressive and tiring”.
• Bhandarkar described the film as a “contemporary film which reveals the underbelly of the movie industry and its well-kept secrets”.
• In order to prepare his protagonist for the film, the director prepared a three-hour documentary on Hollywood actresses Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner and Vivien Leigh.
• The first look of the movie was released as part of the 64th Cannes Film Festival.
• Designer Manish Malhotra was signed on to design the costumes.
• Kareena Kapoor has gyrated to an item number, ‘Halkat Jawani’ in the film.

Bollywood superstar, Salman Khan who is at an all time high of his career, is all set for another mega release – ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ that coincides with Eid. It is for the first time that Salman Khan is working under the Yash Raj films banner, in which he plays the lead protagonist named Tiger Boss, while Katrina Kaif aka Zoya plays his love interest! The story of film has been penned by Aditya Chopra while Kabir Khan has directed the film.

Ek Tha Tiger is a romantic thriller which is about a Trinity College scientist suspected of selling missile technology secrets to Pakistan. The Indian government sends a secret agent, code named Tiger (Salman Khan), to find out about the professor’s activities. Tiger falls in love with the professor’s caretaker Zoya (Katrina Kaif) who is studying at a fictional dance academy located at TCD, and together they embark on a roller-coaster journey that takes them from Dublin to Istanbul then to Kazakhstan and Chile.

With Salman Khan’s back to back hits at the box office, the expectations from this film are very high. Also Salman and Katrina will be seen together on screen for the first time after their break up. Going by Salman Khan’s score at the box office, this surely will be his biggest hit so far and this time Katrina Kaif will be alongside to add that extra factor to it.

Here are some interesting facts about the film that will surely make you want to catch it at the theaters:

• Reportedly this movie was supposed to be released on 1st June 2012 but on Aamir Khan’s request, who wanted to release hi movie ‘Talaash’ on the same day, Salman shifted the release date of his movie to Eid of 2012 which is in August.
• Salman Khan has been offered a whopping amount of Rs. 32 crores for this movie
• Pritam was supposed to compose the music of this film, but when he opted out, Aditya Chopra roped in Sohail Sen to compose the music of his film. Sajid Wajid and Julius Packiam have also contributed to the music of the film.
• The entire crew had to encounter with an earthquake while in Turkey, but thankfully no-one was hurt.
• The shooting of the film started on 10 August, 2011 and the first shooting schedule was completed in Trinity College of Dublin, Ireland.
• The promo of the film got overwhelming response from the film fraternity as well as the audiences; it almost crashed the hosting server of Yashraj productions.
• The theatrical trailer received more than 10 lakhs views within 2 days thereby making it the largest Bollywood film till date as far as viewership is concerned on the limited period.
• For the film shooting locations, total 10 countries have been identified including Cuba, Iraq, Ireland, Turkey and India.
• Katrina Kaif has performed challenging action sequences for the first time.
• The cast of the movie: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey and Girish Karnad.
• Music has been given by Sohail Sen, Sajid Wajid and Julius Packiam.

Come Diwali, and Indian audiences will be in for another romantic film from the Yash Raj banner. The film which is yet to get a title, has Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead roles. Shah Rukh Khan will be seen reinventing his romantic avatar with this film. The star cast makes it obvious that it will be another love triangle directed by the king of romance, Yash Chopra who has donned the director’s cap after eight years, his last film being Veer Zaara. The film has been shot in London and will soon be heading to Ladakh for its climax. Amongst various other Yash Raj releases, this is undoubtedly their biggest release of the year and will hit the screens in Diwali, on November 13th.

Yash Chopra’s films have always had mesmerizing music which have left imprints on the minds Bollywood music lovers. This time around, Yash Chopra has roped in music maestro A.R. Rahman for creating the tracks for his yet-to-be-titled film, while veteran lyricist Gulzar will pen the lyrics. The plot of the film is about a happily married musician who meets a woman who turns out exactly like his imaginary muse.

Says Yash Chopra, “It’s been 7 years since I directed Veer-Zaara and as I begin work on my new film I hear my inner voice asking me a lot of questions. Are you sure you want to direct again, you are nearly 80 years old and the audience is getting younger day by day. Can I really speak from my heart and still expect today’s youth to listen to me? Will I be able to live up to the blind faith that Shahrukh Khan has in me and give him yet another memorable romantic film? Will I be able to present the beautiful Katrina Kaif and the very talented Anushka Sharma in a way they have never been seen before? Will I be able to inspire Rahman and Gulzar Bhai enough to create their best work yet?

The honest answer is… I DON’T KNOW! All I know is that I’m making a film that I believe in, a film that is about love and nothing else. A film which has an old soul but a young heart. A film which is classic in its look but contemporary in its language. A film which I’m making on one simple faith… the love that my audiences have given to me over the years. They have tolerated my indulgences for the past 50 years, I’m sure they will indulge me one more time.”

We wish Yashji good luck and hope that audiences go back home with another memorable love story in their hearts!

Earlier titled, ‘Khamoshi and Silence’, Anurag Basu’s upcoming film, ‘Barfi’ is one of the most awaited films of the year. Anurag Basu is an ace film maker known for the unconventional content of his films. The film is a love triangle and is set in the 1970s. The film brings forth the message that love is an emotion that is beyond the societal norms of the normal and abnormal.

Ranbir Kapoor plays, Murphy, a deaf and mute lad, who falls in love with a normal girl, Shruti, portrayed by Ileana D’Cruz. However, Shruti has to succumb to parental pressure and marry a normal man and lead a normal life. They cross paths many years later, when Murphy is now in love with Jhilmil, Priyanka Chopra. Jhilmil is an autistic and is on the run from the cops and Murphy is desperately seeking her. Upon learning Jhilmil’s reality, Shruti realizes that true love is indeed blind and also that she is still in love with Murphy. Shruti is at cross roads about choosing her own love or Murphy’s happiness.

D’Cruz is also the narrator of the film. Basu confirmed that Katrina Kaif was the original choice for the narrator, but Katrina opted out of the project. Priyanka Chopra had visited mental asylums to get into the skin of her character of an autistic girl. Set in Bengal, sets were created in a studio in Chandivali, Mumbai to recreate the look and feel of Kolkata of the 1970s. The film will be in theatres on 14th September.

The YouTube trailer received fantastic responses with all the leading stars. The trailer has no dialogues and had only comedy gestures and actions. The film looks like a fun ride coupled with pain and comedy. “Its not a silent film. The people who can speak in the film do talk. You have to understand that I have great actors who could convey a message without saying a word. What you saw in the trailer is what you can expect,” Basu told reporters about the first look of Barfi.

“I would say that one should not associate this film with disability… This film is not about disability. It is a coincidence that these two characters are deaf, mute and one is autistic. But one will not feel that it is a disability film. It’s about enjoying life, giving happiness, feeling love. It’s a love story,” added Ranbir after the trailer was released.

The film had Akshay Kumar, Asin Thottumkal, Jacqueline Fernandez, John Abraham in the lead roles, whilst Ritesh Deshmukh, Zarine Khan, Shreyas Talpade, Shazahn Padamsee, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty and Boman Irani play supporting roles. Inspite of receiving mixed reviews, it had a better opening than its prequel and the film was declared a super hit at the BO.

A few facts and figures about Housefull 2 for you:

Housefull 2 was made on a budget of Rs. 75 crores.

It grossed approx Rs. 202 Cr worldwide.

It became the highest grossing Hindi film in New Zealand grossing NZ$2,60,000 surpassing 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan.

It was also Akshay Kumar’s second highest grosser overseas after Singh is Kinng.

The film was inspired by 2003 Tamil film Banda Paramasivam.

Chintu is the nickname which is used for Rishi Kapoor in the Bollywood industry and Dabboo is also the nickname of Randhir Kapoor – same as in the film.

Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor are brothers. This is their first movie together.

In each of Sajid Khan’s Films, Akshay Kumar’s name is Arush – except for this one.

This is the first Sajid Khan movie not to feature music composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Sajid Wajid made an appearance in a music video to promote the movie for the song, ‘Right now, right now’. Sajid has acted in Wanted before. But, it is for the first time the brothers came together in front of the camera for a video.

Akshay ‘Khiladi’ Kumar made his comeback into action films after seven years with Rowdy Rathore, during which he tried his hand at comedy films. Rowdy Rathore declared a blockbuster after an overwhelming response at the BO and is one of highest grossing films of all times in Bollywood. Made on a budget of approx Rs. 40 Cr, it raked in a huge Rs. 178 Cr Nett (approx) at the BO.

Take a look at some interesting trivia from behind the scenes of the film:

Akshay Kumar learnt a special technique Combat Karate for his character role in the film.

Akki said that he had accepted the role in Rowdy Rathore since his son loved to watch him in action roles.

This is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first film as a solo producer and the very first in action genre.

Famous Tamil actor Vijay, Prabhu Deva and Kareena Kapoor all made appearances in cameos.
During the shooting, while shooting for a climax scene Akshay hurt his shoulder.

The police denied permission for shooting of Rowdy Rathore at the World Heritage Site Hampi, on the basis of protests from local activists and artists.

The film unit faced opposition for shooting at several other heritage sites like the Vijaya Vittala temple, Lotus Mahal, Maha Navami Dibba and several other historic places of 15th century capital of Vijayanagara Empire.

The trailer of the film was launched in an open stadium in Worli, in suburban Mumbai on 2nd April, 2012.

The trailer received over 2,295,756 views in just under one month on YouTube.

24-year-old vivacious and wild Veronica (Deepika Padukone) and Meera, shy introvert (Diana Penty), 23, start living together during the summer in London. Meera is trying to recover from her fraud marriage to Kunal Ahuja who has cheated her off her life-savings by using the excuse of setting up a base for them in London and is spending her time under Veronica’s roof until she gains a foothold in this foreign land.

While Veronica, on the other hand, is fancy-free and footloose, wild-child, impulsive, constantly looking for distractions to escape facing issues of a troubled upbringing. Being opposites the two forge a loyal and solid friendship. Soon Gautam, 32, (Saif Ali Khan) enters their lives, moves in with them and has a whirlwind relationship with Veronica much to Meera’s protective disapproval. Both Gautam and Veronica believe in living for the moment and they honestly consider this a fling rather than a serious relationship. As three people share one roof, their friendship grows and becomes a beautifully balanced friendship between three people.

Catch up with a few facts about the film, as it hits theatres this Friday, 13th July!

• Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone will be sharing screen space for the third time after Love Aaj Kal and Aarakshan

• The film’s shooting began in London and has been shot on streets like Borough High Street, Portobello Road, Piccadilly Circus, Borough Market, Clapham Junction, Mayfair, Leicester Square, Bank Station, Brick Lane and many others.

• It is known that Deepika has grooved to a party song on a table, in The Grand nightclub, and is quite similar to the sequence from ‘Love Aaj Kal’ where she danced on a table in the song ‘Chor Bazaari’. The scene also saw the use of club lights and a DJ being hired to play the music, to give the song a real look and feel.

• A Pakistani song, whose rights have been bought by the makers, will be revised and sung in the film. Written by Imtiaz Ali, the film is eyeing a 13th July, 2012 release.

• Imran Khan was the first choice for director Homi Adjania, but since he was not sure, Saif was roped in for the role. • Diana Penty is another ramp-to-reel model, who debuts with this film.

• Deepika was offered both Veronica and Meera’s role, but she opted for Veronica as that was more challenging for her! • The official trailer crossed 1 million hits across Youtube in a span of three days.

• The film has been made on a budget of Rs. 45 crores!

Krrish, a sequel to ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ was produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan. A sci-fi film, the film had Hrithik Roshan play the role of Krrish aka Krishna who is born with super powers that he had inherited from his father. The film was made to appeal global audiences. The film’s special effects were at par with Hollywood film and for which it also won several awards. The technical team for the film was also hired from Hollywood, while the action sequences were directed by Chinese martial art specialist, Tony Ching. A major part of the film was shot in Singapore.

The film released worldwide in June 2006 at a cost of around 45 Cr (US$8.98 million) and with 1000 prints, both which were close to record figures for an Indian film at the time. Krrish received mixed reviews, but was loved by the audiences and was declared a blockbuster The film became the second highest earning Indian film of 2006 and grossed a worldwide total of approx 117 Cr (US$23.34 million).

Check out a few noteworthy facts from the film:

Like all other film, Filmkraft made sure that the name of the film started with the alphabet ‘K’

Hrithik Roshan broke his right thumb and a toe during the strenuous training for the ambitious wire work used in the film.

Hrithik Roshan received special training in Hong Kong for the special leap he makes in this film.

While performing a stunt scene on the circus set, Hrithik Roshan tore his hamstring tear in his right leg. Doctors prescribed bed rest for two weeks, but he continued shooting for the film after two days using painkillers. He also singed his hair while running through a fire in the same action scene.

Amrita Rao was the initial choice for Priya’s role, but Rakesh Roshan was impressed by Priyanka Chopra’s performance in Aitraaz and decided to cast her instead. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was also in the race for the role.

When Hrithik Roshan jumped off a 30-foot-high clock tower in Singapore for an action shot, a cable broke in a freak accident. He fell to the ground and would likely have ended up dead or in a wheelchair had it not rained before the shot. The crew had installed a canopy on which he promptly fell. He was not hurt and continued shooting some minutes later. The Roshans feel his life was spared by divine intervention.

The film contains product placement worth ~Rs. 12 crore (~US$3 Million).

To play the role of Krrish, Hrithik Roshan lifted weights and went on a special diet for two months to add 15 pounds of muscle to his frame.

                          

Lage Raho Munnabhai was a sequel to the popular Munnabhai MBBS that was directed by Raj Kumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The sequel also had Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi in the lead roles. In the sequel, Sanjay Dutt plays a goon, who starts meeting the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi and is inspired to practice the latter’s principles of truth and Satyagraha (Non violence) to solve the problems of common people!

Lage Raho Munnabhai had Vidya Balan as the female lead and Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Dia Mirza, Jimmy Shergill and many others in supporting roles. Abhishek Bachchan was also seen in a cameo in the film. The film was received both critical and commercial success.

The film was a box office success and was declared a Blockbuster after it collected an estimated 119 Cr (US$23.74 million) worldwide. Lage Raho Munna Bhai was the third highest grossing Bollywood film of 2006, earning an estimated 95 Cr (US$18.95 million) gross in India alone. Its total worldwide lifetime gross is 145.57 Cr (US$29.04 million).

Some interesting facts about the film are:

1. It received four National Film Awards. 

2. Lage Raho Munna Bhai was the first Hindi film to be shown at the United Nations.

3.  It was screened before a packed house of mostly French students who “clapped till the credits were finished” during the Tous Les Cinema du Monde section of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

4. The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, praised the film, stating that it “captures Bapu’s message about the power of truth and humanism.”

5. Vidya Balan’s character of a radio jockey was inspired by real life radio jockey – Mallishka, who was a popular RJ with the now defunct Win 94.3 FM channel in Mumbai.

6. The original script was based on lawyers, but director Hirani was not happy with the script and worked for two years to get it right.

7. Vidya Balan’s opening line for her radio show, “Gooooooood Moooooooorninnnng Mumbai!”, was similar to Robin Williams’ opening for his radio show (“Gooooooooood morning, Vietnaaaaaaaaammm!”) in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam.

8. The sequel was initially known as Munnabhai Meets Mahatma Gandhi and was later retitled Munnabhai 2nd Innings before being given its current name.

9. Warsi admits that he had “forgotten” the character of Circuit and had to watch the DVD of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. three times before being able to film the scene in the correct way. Sanjay Dutt (“Munna Bhai”) also confessed that he had to watch the first film eight to nine times in order to recapture the “persona” of Munna Bhai

10. Boman Irani prepared for the role of Lucky Singh by spending time with Sardarjis (male Sikhs) in auto spare parts shops to research his role