Prabhu Deva with Ayesha Takia

Prabhu Deva has a way with words…and this seems to have done Vedi a great deal of good.

At a recent press meet, music composer for the film Vijay Antony said, “Prabhu Deva has written the opening lines for a couple of songs in Vedi. He’s a great lyricist too and not many people know that. Whenever we used to sit together for recording, Prabhu Deva used to explain the scene to us, and then used to come up with the opening lines for the song too. In fact, some of the lines were written by Prabhu Deva himself. There are many bits left over, which we plan to use later on.”

The film which has Vishal and Sameera Reddy in the lead roles is said to be an action-packed entertainer. “The film is about a man’s search,” says Prabhu Deva. Dismissing rumours about a hot liplock scene in the film, Prabhu Deva says, “That (the kissing scene) is just a small part of the film. If you watch the film, you will understand that there is no need to make a big fuss about it.”

Bhai Log (2011)

LAHORE: Every year, Lollywood film-makers announce the release of the films they have been working on. However, as the scheduled release date comes closer, it is not unusual to see them backing out as many films face incessant delays.

In 2010, only 12 films ended up being released in Pakistan, while several other projects were moved forward to later dates.

According to the industry insiders, 45 to 90 percent of films are delayed due to the production issues and budgetary problems. In recent years, Shoaib Mansoor’s directorial ventures Khuda Ke Liye and Bol have been the major hits from Lollywood, but neither of them was released on time.

Bhai Log, Love Mein Ghum and Son of Pakistan had been delayed indefinitely before being scheduled to hit theatres this year. Other films like Tamanna and Price of Honour are still facing delays.

Film maker Bilal Lashari, who is currently working on his debut film Waar in Islamabad, believes that a number of factors are responsible for such delays.

“The reason why films like Khuda Ke Liye get delayed is that there’s a lot of variables which go into production of a film in Pakistan,” explains Lashari, who has not specified any date for the release of his action thriller. “Finding the right team of people, such as an adequately trained crew, and making sure that the quality of a film sustains takes time. Hence, many film-makers — who are trying to make quality films — end up dealing with a lot of issues,” adds the debutant director.

Lashari believes that the current trend in the industry prefers quantity to quality, which often causes delays. For instance, actors typically sign multiple projects around the same time, which often limits their availability for a certain film. Another reason that lengthens the project’s time is the shortage of finances as many films cross their budgets.

Renowned director Masood Butt estimates that 25 to 45 per cent of producers and distributors delay films for business reasons. “No producer would delay the release without a reason and in most cases, it’s solely business reasons,” says Butt.

Butt explains that many film-makers tend to be wary of seasonal holidays and other environmental factors because their biggest worry is recovering the money at the box office. For instance, the recent floods in Pakistan made several film-makers, such Jarrar Rizvi and Syed Noor, delay their much-hyped films.

Butt adds that mishaps in production also contribute to the delays. Unlike other countries, where post-production is done at a single location, Pakistani film-makers have to go abroad to finalise the movie: “When producing  abroad, you have to go according to the queues because many production houses are full and you can’t bribe your way to the top of the line. The finances also play a major role, but at the end of the day, it’s the producer’s decision.”

By delaying a film, one also risks the issue of making it outdated. Butt believes that for good films, the sales vary by 20 to 25 per cent because of such delays.

Contrary to what many producers think, actor Ghulam Mohiuddin believes that there is no real incentive of delaying films in Pakistan. Instead, the veteran star is of the opinion that the country’s economic situation has exacerbated the overall situation: “The issue is really much bigger. There is an overall situation in the country in which textile mills and other industries have also shutdown. The current delays are expected and related to the overall economic state of the country.” – Sher Khan – The Express Tribune

Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan

The cold war between Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan shows no signs of thawing. The two are well known for taking potshots at each other, especially when either of their films is up for release.

Now, the rivalry has been taken up a notch.

Aamir Khan has apparently refused to be a part of UTV Star’s show Live My Life, which tracks a celeb’s life for a day, simply because it is being produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment!

“They wanted to kickstart the show with Aamir because the concept of the show has been generating a lot of attention, and obviously a big name would give it that much of a boost.

Aamir is doing so well these days that he couldn’t have been a better name to commence the show with. But unfortunately things did not work out,” says a source.

Interestingly, no one thought Aamir would refuse the show as he has a very good relationship with the company.

In fact, some of the actor’s biggest films have been co-produced by UTV. But apparently after initially agreeing to be part of Live My Life, the deal fell through when he learnt of SRK’s involvement.

The last time we saw the actors on one platform was at the premiere of Aamir’s Three Idiots in 2009, where both of them maintained that all is well.

But, clearly, with all three Khans (the third being Salman, of course) being at loggerheads when it comes to films, it’s not a surprise that it trickles down to other areas of work, too.

However, our source claims, “Imran Khan is part of the show now, so I guess that was not really a problem. Aamir has been pretty busy with his own TV show that he hasn’t had the time to look elsewhere.” (Source – NDTV)