Akshay Kumar on Desi Boyz

Akshay Kumar gets chatty about pole dancing in his latest film and why he is not making his directorial debut anytime soon

Over the past few days, Akshay Kumar has been hopping from one promotional event to the other. Ask him if he believes that promoting a film can make or break a film, he quickly retorts, "I'd rather put my heart and soul into making a film, instead of wasting most of my year just promoting them," he says. In a free- wheeling chat, the Khiladi Kumar gets chatty about pole dancing in his latest film and why he is not making his directorial debut anytime soon.

Excerpts from the interview:
We have seen you playing such characters earlier. What made you take up 'Desi Boyz'?

Actually you haven't. When you see the film, you will realise that it is actually a first of many scenes for me, but I'm keeping all that under wraps so that I can give my audience something unfamiliar to look forward to. Our director Rohit Dawan has made sure that only subtle humour was allowed though the film is full on 'dramedy' with fresh and hot ideas. I'm so proud to be a part a film about male escorts, so it's already in a league of its own.

Then, what is different about your role in 'Desi Boyz'?

I begin the film as a bit of a carefree slob. I work as a temp so one week I'm serving behind a chicken joint, next week I'm a mall security guard. My goal in life is just to have fun with my best friend Nick and I won't let anything or anyone come between our friendship. When the recession kicks us both in the butt, we have no other choice but to turn to the oldest profession, we become male escorts. But that is not what the film is about, there's a lot of drama involved since the film is based on real circumstances.

We see you pole dancing in the promos. Did you take lessons to perfect your move?

Luckily for me, my 'Parkour Gym' is made of poles that I swing, jump, climb and play on a daily basis, so apart from having to perfect a few gyrating hip dance moves, I actually had a riot shooting this song. The innocent old me has never actually been to a bachelorette party, so performing in my first one was entertaining for sure. As for the fire breathing, that was a spontaneous last solo shot of the song where the set dada was walking around setting the pillars from props on fire, and I decided to take the flaming stick off him and make some fire of my own.  You can tell the surrounding models were as shocked as the director.
Watch: 'Subah Hone Na De'

Film promotions are getting bigger and better. We saw you and John set the stage on fire recently. Do you think marketing a film can make or break a film?

I believe it depends on the film. You'll never see me go all out for all my films. It's almost humanly impossible and I'd rather put my heart and soul into making a film, instead of wasting most of my year just promoting them.

Promotion is always a win-win situation, for both media and the film itself. Until it becomes too much, expectations do become high. Media and critics focus so much on a film that that controversies tend to get created, opinions fly high and comments are made. I think all films should be given a fair chance and audiences should be strong enough to make up their own minds about a film. Cinema is not about going to court and trying to prove your innocence, it is about entertainment.

John and your chemistry in 'Garam Masala' was appreciated a lot but surprisingly no one cast you both in a film together before this one. How have you both evolved as actors during this period?

When you have a pair like me and John, you have to have a script and a half. It is a fabulous reason to come together, other wise the purpose will be defeated. We've both waited many years to be reunited and this is a perfect situation to be joined at the hip again. John has grown not only upwards and outwards; he's also been experimental with the roles over the years. He knows how much I love shooting with him, and now we're already doing another film together 'Housefull 2'
Check out: John-Akki on fire

There seems to be a disparity between the critics and the audience. Even though critics have often thrashed your films, the audience has mostly given them a thumbs-up. Why is there a disconnect?

I feel most of the time; the difference is only about the kind of audience the film is pleasing. A lot of my kind of films tends to cater to good old masala loving fanatics, which a few of our critics are not huge fans of, which is why I think there is a clash. Most of my flops have been hugely critically acclaimed so how does one argue with great films that are loved by audiences but unappreciated by intelligent critics, or dramatic artistic films which will never do well at a box-office but get you so much recognition as an actor?It is strange but true.

After being in the industry for so long, what has been your biggest learning curve?

Learning to trust my own instinct. You can get very swayed by many people in this kind of an industry, so being able to see people at face value and remembering why they are around you is a very important lesson to learn. As glamorous as being a star may seem to be, it can be a very sad lonely place also, keep the real people around you and one has a chance at being sane after so many years.
See: Akki-Chitrangada’s hot jodi

You have always been forthcoming about your 'desi' roots. What keeps you grounded?

I keep myself grounded; I couldn't live with myself if I became too big for my boots and my roots. Plus I have the luxury of being surrounded by my family always, and considering our background, I don't think we'll ever forget where we came from. Only true Desis remain to live eat breathe from the very soil they grew up in, even if they are thousands of miles from there homes, they take their hearts & their families blessings with them.

When can we see you donning the director's hat?

The auspicious director's hat has to wait as I have no sudden urges as of now. I'm busy with my own production house.  Whatever energy I have left after acting my heart and soul out, I am putting into realizing my fathers dream of producing 'Our kind of films' under my banner 'Hariom Entertainment'. I am leaving directing for the future, when my back can't take stunts anymore and my knees become more than happy sitting at a monitor directing all day, but right now I have so much energy to perform and create so that is exactly what I am doing.

Baba Agnivesh wants own private ashram in Big Boss

Baba Agnivesh, the latest entrant on Bigg Boss, is a holy social activist who wishes to help the contestants see beyond trivial issues and get rid of any negativity that they may be experiencing.

Baba is confident that he will be able to reduce the number of fights in the house as he doesn't believe that fights lead to any solution.

Baba was escorted by Pooja Bedi into the house, who introduced him to all the members of the house.

Baba was happy to meet the housemates but his only issue was that he wasn't comfortable sharing a room with women and requested Shraddha the captain of the house, to offer her room to him as it has a single bed.

Shraddha happily offered her room to Baba as she didn't want to disrespect him as he is an elderly and holy man, she admitted.

Loot review

Cast: Govinda, Javed Jafferi, Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Mahakshay Chakraborty, Shweta Bhardwaj, Ravi Kissan, Prem Chopra
Directed by Rajnish Raj Thakur
Rating: *
'Jab main lighter jalaunga, toh itni roshani ho jayegi, ki lagega ki Hrithik Roshan aa gaya hain.' When a movie begins with this line, you know you're in a 'comedy of confusions' where the humour has been purchased from a garage sale. If you still have expectations from a Govinda movie, you'll probably even like it, for he does play the kind of role he has before in a trillion films: oversmart, blunt motor-mouth and unpardonably goofy. But if you've reserved those trillion movies for TV, then hang around, this one shouldn't be a while. Sunday blob-buster, anyone?
Bollywood's second favourite genre after song-and-dance-romance, Crime and comedy, spread over each other like Mallika Sherawat and wet sand. And just like the example, either doesn't shine with or without the other. But 'Loot' actually manages to hit a new low, even for the modest expectations that people have from this film.
So, let's meet our gang of goofy criminals. Firstly we have our deliciously dodgy duo, Akbar (Javed Jafferi) and Pandit (Govinda). Akbar is the king of cocky while Pandit's words go around the world in a rollercoaster before reaching the point, which in most cases, doesn't even exist.  These two gang up with the beefy, Builder (Suniel Shetty) and a chubby 'chor', Wilson (Mahakshay Chakraborty) on a mission to rob a wealthy someone in Pattaya, Thailand.
Once in Thailand, they're greeted by oddly seductive, Tanya (Shweta Bhardwaj). Oddly because, she's constantly emoting an orgasm even in casual conversations. Tanya's experimental expressions will be explained later by her ulterior motives, so please bear with her for some time. Our fearless foursome grooves to a few songs that have the film's title in the lyrics, boogie with Thailand's best exports and then get on with the robbery. A messy pickle of a situation is created as our tag-team of crooks realises that they've been used. To make things worse, Wilson ends up getting a bit too intimate with Tanya and a string of cheap dialogues follow. The ones that stick are, 'Jab hum thak thak ke so rahe the, tu so so ke thak raha tha?' and 'Aasmaan se gire, khajoor mein atka suna hain, tu toh seedhay Khajuraho mein jaake atak gaya.'
An assorted collection of promising and swearing character actors fill up the rest of the cast. Prem Chopra as the adorable don, Khansaab, who is obsessed with Bollywood movies, circa 1970. Mahesh Manjrekar as the unfunny and ruthless don, Lala. Mika and Kim Sharma as random roadside goons in Pataya and Ravi Kissan as an enthusiastic Indian intelligence officer.
The movie has its own book of pronunciations. And like the stereotypical Indian convenience store owner abroad, the word 'comfortable' is always broken into three and can be replaced with 'come-for-chair' or 'come-for-sofa'.
Govinda and Jafferi have clearly aged not-so-gracefully but still have sparks of their spontaneous wit and timing.  Shetty exposes the thinking actor in him as he's often seen pondering in the screen, possibly about why is he in this film. Mahakshay injects the Goan stereotype with steroids and suffixes every dialogue with a 'Man'. 'Aisa kaiko karta hain, man?'
Supposedly inspired from 'Crime Spree', this desi dramedy could be best remembered for its dialogues that sit on the fence between vulgar and down-right obscene. And just like the one, 'Daal ke bataya nahin jaata aur batake daala nahin jaata', tickets once sold, will not be accepted back. A clear loot of one's senses this.

Tell Me O Kkhuda

The film is said to be Hema's attempt to re-launch her daughter Esha Deol. It tracks the story of a girl's passionate quest to know her origins. Esha Deol is not just the leading lady of her mother Hema Malini's production venture 'Tell Me Oh Khuda'. She is also the assistant director, her mother's chief technical adviser and editor. Esha has a lot of hopes pinned on the movie. She hopes it will get her back on track. This should be the turning point in her career.

Esha has been missing from the marquee for the last few years. The Dhoom Machale girl disappeared from the big screen since a long time due to her continuous flops movies at Box-Office. Esha is unhappy with her career then her  mother Hema Malini decided to produce a movie for her. Tell Me Oh Khuda is about a girl in search of her father.


Esha has a deglam look in the film and even learnt to ride a camel in Rajasthan's desert for the film. For 10 days she rode the camel like a professional for a camel race. she had the best calves on display in the typical Rajasthani camel-rider's costume, the kurta lungi and all. Esha said Ilost oodles of weight for the movie under the guidance of her trainer Satyajit 'Satya' Chaurasia. Rocky S has styled Esha for the film. Like in her earlier outing Dhoom, the need for a taut body was to get into some cool clothes which her character demand.


 Pritam Chakraborty gave melodious music in this movie. Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has agreed to be a part of Hema Malini's directorial venture 'Tell Me Oh Khuda'. Salman khan had shared the screen with Esha Deol just for a track called someone somebody which has been choreographed by Bosco-Caesa.


Shahrukh Khan, Vinod Khanna, Akshay Kumar, and various Bollywood celebs were present at the music launch of the upcoming release TELL ME O KKHUDA at Intercontinental.



The film also stars Dharmendra as Esha’s father, the real-life father. Dharmendra and Esha Deol will act with each other in a film, this is the first time he would be sharing screen space with daughter Esha.


First film to feature Dharmender, Hema Malini and Esha Deol


This movie has completed its shooting in the mid 2010 but they didn’t released the movie because at the same time her brothers “Yamla Pagla Deewana” began and she doesn’t want to release her movie at the same time YPD gets released. So they delayed the release date to February but now due to the World Cup fever they have again postponed the release of the movie.


  The film has been extensively shot in Turkey besides various places in India.Rajasthan (Jaisalmer, Goa and Mumbai)

Desi Boyz

About Story:- Desi Boyz is set in the times of the economic recession. The year is 2009. The world has been struck by the financial meltdown. But Nick Mathur (John Abraham) and Jerry Patel (Akshay Kumar) don't feel a thing in their comfortable pad in London.
Nick feels smug with his successful investment banking job, the new bonus in his pocket and his beautiful fiance, Radhika, by his side, while Jerry is so used to scraping the bottom of the barrel and living off his best buddy Nick, that recession feels like home. But life has something else for these two lads.
 Nick and Jerry stop smiling the day Nick's company decides to downsize and unceremoniously fires him. And Jerry is informed by the Social Services that his nephew Veer, whose local guardian Jerry is will be placed in a foster home unless he gets a steady job.
 Desi Boyz is the story of two men who are forced to do something extremely bizarre which gives them instant gratification but the repercussions tear them apart and its aftermath which tests everything including their friendship.
Action comedy film which revolves around two friends Akshay and John Abraham who after losing their jobs start working as Pole Dancers, what happens after that, how they meet the beautiful heroines, with lots of comedy encounters is all about the movie.

Speedy Singhs

Story: Young Canadian-Indian Rajveer Singh ( Vinay Virmani) doesn't want to end up in his family business as a truck driver. Instead, he aspires to be a professional ice hockey player but is unable to do so due to the familiar problems of racism that the Indian community faces in distant shores. His only option is to set up his own team with the Punjabi boys of the neighbourhood, find a suitable coach (Rob Lowe) and break the racist barrier. But more importantly, he must convince his disapproving dad (Anupam Kher) who believes trucking is a better career than hockey.

Movie Review: Speedy Singhs is a smart little surprise package. It's a cheerful film that makes you smile with its subtle humour, its repartee-filled screenplay, its deftness at handling the umpteen relationships and its finely-nuanced performances.

Leading this pack of oddballs is Russell Peters who packs a punch as the offensive, scheming Punjabi groom who not only wants the suitable Punjabi girl as his bride but also her dad's business which might just be handed over to the hockey enthusiast nephew, Rajveer. Rajveer, on his part, is equally charming as the diehard hockey player who smiles his way through all the lows and never loses focus, not even when his dad throws him out of the house.

But more than the performances -- and the hockey matches -- it is the sundry relationships that form the core of the film. Rajveer's unflinching bond with his family, his tentative romance with law student Camille Bell, his highs and lows with coach Winters, his camaraderie with his team mates and his love-hate relationship with bro-in-law Russell Peters make for some compelling viewing.

A little more spice and edge to the delineation of the game itself would have made the film an action-packed adventure too. Nevertheless, Speedy Singhs, with a guest appearance by Akshay Kumar (as himself), is an entertaining watch.

'Rockstar' title can go against film: Ranbir

Actor Ranbir Kapoor says the title of his upcoming film Rockstar may suggest that it is a story of a grungy young boy, but this isn't so. "The title Rockstar can sometimes go against us because when people hear Rockstar, they feel the film will have this guy who will wear a leather jacket, will break the guitar, will create a mess on the stage. Actually the film is about a character, a Jat boy, and whatever happens in his life, he tells the world about it through his songs," Ranbir told reporters.

The actor has strummed the guitar, indulged in head banging, and rocked the stage for the movie, set for release Nov 11. In the movie, Ranbir plays the role of Janardhan or Jordan, an aspiring singer, who goes on to be a popular rockstar.
Ranbir went out of his way to learn how to play the guitar for the film.
"I had no idea how to play the guitar and neither can I sing. But since the character was that of a musician, I felt it was important to learn how to play the guitar because when I would perform on the stage before a large audiences, they would feel truth behind it," he said.

Will Ra.One be No. 1?

For Shah Rukh Khan, it is not just the big investment, but his very reputation as the Badshah of Bollywood that's at stake.

If film-making is nothing short of a gamble, Shah Rukh Khan is the Great Gambler of the year.

Ra.One, at an estimated Rs 150 crore, will probably be Bollywood's most expensive movie ever. “Gawd, I am making a film beyond my means,” he tweeted (even if he's not telling us what his budget is). But the ante goes far beyond the mere financials with this movie for the Badshah of Bollywood.

What's at stake, beside the big money invested in Ra.One, is a dream, his once-unchallenged supremacy as the reigning deity of Bollywood, and that intangible called reputation. SRK has invested so much of his personal reputation in his dream project, and stuck his neck out so far with this one that nothing short of mega-success will do.

Bollywood's history is littered with the shards of many dreams; the smaller ones are crushed underfoot and forgotten quickly, the bigger, more ambitious ones serve as cautionary tales. Shah Rukh himself has tasted a fair amount of financial and creative defeat as a producer — big-time with Asoka and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani; to a lesser degree with Paheli and Billu.

But cinematic history also has its glorious triumphs. Like Mughal-e-Azam, the result of K. Asif's magnificent and extravagant passion. Or the more recent Devdas, which often survived merely on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's determination and passion (but also turned out to be his biggest hit).

But then, there's more to Ra.One than the money. The Badshah of Bollywood has been a little battered of late, with his throne under attack, mainly from the other two mega-Khans, Aamir and Salman.

Aamir has been near-infallible over the last few years with a string of record-breaking mainstream films as actor (Rang de Basanti, Ghajini, 3 Idiots) and more offbeat movies as producer (Taare Zameen Par, Peepli [Live], Delhi Belly, Mumbai Diaries). All of them have delivered profits. Aamir has delivered both quality and box-office collections — the Holy Grail, in short.

Salman has had four blockbusters to his name in recent times — Wanted, Dabangg, Ready and Bodyguard — and conquered the box office with over Rs 500 crore business. But quality? Class? Uh-oh. Dabangg had a quirky stylised feel, with Salman's performance so tongue-in-cheek as to border on self-caricature, but he carried it off. However, Wanted, Ready and Bodyguard simply don't fall into that category: money-spinners, yes; memorable, no.

Meanwhile, Shah Rukh has had a relatively quieter time onscreen in the same period. His last big hits were My Name is Khan in 2010 and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in 2008. Both did well but didn't quite bust the box office. What with health problems, IPL controversies, much-publicised tiffs, including one with Salman, and a fallout of sorts with Farah Khan, the Badshah has not protected his supremacy too well.

For a star who openly declares he loves his stardom and never wants to let go of it, he has been careless about it. But then, he's a man of many contradictions — and that's what makes him fascinating.

Here is a star who can be instinctively humble and arrogant in equal measure, who can be genuinely uncaring about money and openly chase it, who can claim he's not being pompous (a much-used word with him) even as he is being just that, who can toast you with real warmth and freeze you with chilling sarcasm.

Every time I did an interview with him and sat down to transcribe his pronouncements, it was amusing to see how he would contradict himself any number of times in the space of that one interview. So one had to choose: which Shah Rukh did one project in that particular article?

However, there are some things that never change, are never self-contradicted. One of them is how incredibly hard he works. Shah Rukh never jokes about that because it is far too precious to him. He is very proud (as he should be) about the fact that his superstardom has come after a long, hard journey, one full of uncalculated risks.

When a star reaches what seem like unassailable heights or gets trapped in the creative sandpit that success often brings with it, it is easy to forget that he got there by taking not one, but a series of risks — some based on instinct, some on pure emotion and a few on solid groundwork.

It is true of most stars and especially so with Shah Rukh Khan. Let's skip the fact that becoming an actor and trying to break into Bollywood is itself a huge leap of faith that's common to most aspirants.

Take Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, now the longest running one in Hindi cinema, a cult film, and so on. But when Shah Rukh put his faith in the film's first-time director, Aditya Chopra was not the force he now is, nor was Yash Raj Films the monolith it is. Adi (as he is known) was the son of the legendary Yash Chopra and had assisted him on some movies, but that need not necessarily have translated into much, as many other heirs and assistants have shown. But SRK signed on. It was pretty much the same story with Karan Johar. On the sets of DDLJ, Shah Rukh promised Johar — more as a friend than actor — that if he ever made a film, he would star in it. That film turned out to be Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and one of Shah Rukh's biggest hits, but the promise he made to Johar could well have led him nowhere. You can repeat the story once again with Farah Khan and Main Hoon Na.

What's it with you — do you have a great script sense, I once asked SRK. “I have no script sense at all!” he told me breezily. “These are all emotional decisions.”

Ra.One is one of those emotional decisions for SRK, because it is a film he is making as much for himself as his son, Aryan. And it doesn't get bigger than his children for SRK. But the film is also an educated gamble. It has not been made with the impetuousness of youth but the risk appetite of an actor who has learned to hedge his bets and, more importantly, has far more at stake than he did in his early days.

Nobody is more aware of that than the superstar himself. You can see that he is promoting his film with desperation. It will pay off — Ra.One has already made quite a bit of money in pre-release deals. But the problem is that SRK needs it to be nothing short of a mega-hit. And as any gambler will tell you, you've got to bet big to win big.