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Karan Johar has made a wise move and decided to release his next production, Kurbaan, a week prior to its original release date.
Kurbaan, starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor was supposed to release on November 27th along with De Dana Dan, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.
However, they shifted the release to November 20th as no other film is releasing on that day and they don’t want to clash with any other film.
Director Rensil D’Silva says, “We will be releasing Kurbaan on November 20 as no other film was scheduled to release on that day. We want to avoid a clash with any other film. Why not release solo when we have an empty slot? Clashes don’t help anyone.”
The recent hectic round of production-related activities and marketing culimating in the painful process of pacifying the Sikh federations about the length of his beard, has taken a toll on Saif Ali Khan.
The actor is exhausted and completely not in the mood for any more events related to the film.
The premiere last night was held in Delhi instead of Mumbai. This would be construed as odd behaviour considering all of Saif and Kareena’s friends together at a Mumbai premiere would have constituted almost the entire industry. And they were just a phonecall away.
Says Saif, “That’s precisely why we decided not to have a premiere in Mumbai. I’d have had to call up everyone personally and ask them to come. It would’ve seemed like asking for a favour. And I don’t want anyone to watch my film out of a sense of generosity.”
The last-minute decision to shift the venue of the premiere to Delhi kept most of Saif’s colleagues out. But it didn’t stop Akshay Kumar from rooting for Love Aaj Kal from London. Akshay prophesied it would be a big hit.
Saif is delighted. “I’m so happy Akshay said that. I wish the industry would show more kindness towards films. When Kareena’s Kambakkt Ishq came there was so much negativity about it. It’s scary.”
It’s this fear of an anticipatory wail that provoked Saif to transfer the premiere venue.
“It wasn’t really a premiere in Delhi. Just a screening for people close to us, ” clarifies Saif. “Only the cast and crew and people connected with the film were there. That’s the way we wanted to keep it.”
But Saif and Kareena’s friends in Mumbai are none too pleased. One of his leading ladies with whom he recently did a racy film says, “What’s the point of a premiere in Delhi when the whole industry is in Mumbai? I’d have definitely gone, for Saif and Imtiaz Ali’s sake. I want to see what they’ve done together.”
But Saif isn’t really bothered. It has been a hectic time for him. “Earlier producers like Ramesh Taurani made me do a lot of publicity for their films. Now I totally followed that model for my own production. And I’m exhausted. When I was younger I found publicity boring.Now I know better.”
The experience of producing a film has helped Saif understand the value of economizing. “I used to waste a lot of money and I’m not proud of it. It’s not about cutting corners. It’s an art to respect money.
I’ve seen my wealthy friends buying the right air tickets, booking the right room at the best possible prices. We did go a tiny bit over-budget in my first production. Next time it won’t happen.”
This has got to be seen. Imtiaz Ali's third directorial venture, Love Aaj Kal, is already been talked about for various reasons including Kareena Kapoor's 'ghost appearance'.
But Kareena's ghost haunts not just Deepika Padukone's presence in the film. Saif's character in a bizarre so-far undisclosed way is also wedded to Kareena.
Love Aaj Kal: Saif and Deepika get cosy
It now comes to light that in one segment of the film, Saif plays Rishi Kapoor who happens to be Kareena's uncle in real life. And when we say Saif 'plays' Rishi Kapoor, we mean Rishi Kapoor's character grows younger in the plot to become Saif.
This isn't the first time that two actors have played the same character. Smriti Mishra and Kirron Kher played two phases in the life of Shyam Benegal's Sardari Begum. But they were not connected the way Saif and Rishi are by Kareena.
Without giving away the plot a source discloses, "The same character is played by Saif in a flashback and then Rishi Kapoor in present times. Unfortunately, Chintuji has little screen time with his son's girlfriend Deepika. But he gets to bond for a major screen time with his niece Kareena's boyfriend and yes, they play the same character in two different time zones."
Without revealing much, let's just say Rishi's character plays the passionate lover-guy who believes love conquers all.
"At the end we see him with his real-life love interest and soul-mate Neetu Singh who makes a one-shot appearance," says a source.
I'm not a tough nut to crack: Kareena Kapoor
The Kapoors and the Khans couldn't have hoped for a better merger before Saif and Kareena's marriage.
