By Subhash K. Jha Mumbai, July 15 (IANS) Shahid Kapoor apparently took inspiration from his illustrious dad Pankaj Kapoor to play the role of morally-incompatible twins in forthcoming thriller “Kaminey”. And his co-star Amol Gupte feels the young actor has indeed inherited his father’s acting skills.

“When Shahid played Guddu, he had to assume Guddu’s stammer. He completely internalised all of the character’s traits, including the stammer so that there’s nothing caricatural about the character,” Gupte, who plays a villain in the film by Vishal Bharadwaj, told IANS.

“He stayed on the set throughout, kept absorbing the ambience, the sweaty milieu in which Guddu and Charlie (the other character) had to function in their own separate ways. I know Pankaj works the same way. And I truly believe Shahid has inherited Pankaj’s ability and style of performing without seeming to act. It is definitely in his DNA,” he added.

Gupte, who is better known for scripting Aamir Khan’s directorial debut “Taare Zameen Par”, says his young co-star surprised him with his excellent performance.

“When you’re facing the camera with a co-star you become compatriots in the canvas of characterization. On many occasions I was startled by Shahid’s passion for excellence. I saw the same quality in Aamir.

“It’s an adrenaline-charged performance. On many occasions as we performed together I’d forget how young Shahid is. This level of passion in a performance comes to an actor after decades, not after three-four years of acting,” he said.

Gupte is so impressed with Shahid, who made his debut in 2003 with “Ishq Vishk”, that he now intends to cast him in his directorial venture.

He rates Shahid’s acting in “Kaminey” as a benchmark for actors essaying double roles.

“I don’t think a double role has been done like this before. Shahid has entered Guddu and Charlie’s world. Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) and Pankaj apart, I know very few actors who could’ve done what he has. Shahid should be up for two best actor nominations in ‘Kaminey’,” Gupte said.

Though this is Shahid’s first film with Bharadwaj, audiences still remember his father Pankaj for his stellar performance in the talented director’s “Maqbool”. He also wowed audiences in his “The Blue Umbrella” and “Blood Brothers”, a short-film on AIDS.

Fox Star Studios India, a recently set up joint venture between Twentieth Century Fox and Star Asia, has entered into a two-year deal with Ghajini film director A R Murugadoss to produce Tamil films.

The two will strive to produce at least two films in the Rs 3 crore to Rs 6 crore budget every year and will review their relationship at the end of an agreed period. “Though a formal announcement was made about the joint foray with Murugadoss in May this year by Fox Star Studios, the nitty gritty of the deals have now been worked out,” a confidante of Murugadoss said.

According to him, Fox Star fully banks on the ‘Content is King’ theory. With Murugadoss having given a string of hits with leading stars like Surya, Ajit, Chiranjeevi and Aamir Khan, it has left the choice of content for the joint production entirely to the director. “The idea is to promote new talent and work with people who will look at new genres and take Indian cinema to the next level,” he said. With the objective behind the joint production being “content differentiator”, Murugadoss is said to have so far heard about 50 – 60 scripts.

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Aamir Khan & Katrina Kaif as Guru Dutt & Waheeda Rehman in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s next Movie

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s next will be a movie based on Guru Dutt’s biography by Nasreen Munni Kabeer.

The movie will have Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif in roles of Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman. Aamir and Katrina posed for the latest issue of ‘Cineblitz’ in the look and getup of the original actors Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman.

The name of the film is yet undecided.

Earlier Johnny Bakshi made ‘Khudaai’ in which Rajesh Khanna was cast to play Guru Dutt.

New Delhi, July 8 (IANS) “Short Kut – The Con Is On” is a fun-filled “hare and tortoise story” that has Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi playing a “lethal combination”, says writer-director Neeraj Vora, who adds that it has no semblance to his last film “Phir Hera Pheri”.

“‘Short Kut’ is about a struggling writer-director (played by) Akshaye who believes in the hard way of living and his actor-dancer friend (Arshad) believes in taking shortcuts to success. In the film, Arshad steals Akshaye’s script and becomes an overnight star,” Vora told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

“But ‘Short Kut…’ is not a ‘Phir Hera Pheri’. This film tells you that shortcuts don’t pay, they don’t last and they don’t satisfy. It’s a very serious film, but with a lot of humour and drama. It’s like a hare and tortoise story with Akshaye and Arshad in a terrific lethal combination,” he said.

Talking about the comic element in the movie, Vora said: “As far as comedy is concerned, it is physically an action and reaction story. Akshaye is in a serious part and he is not supposed to be comical at all. While Arshad has to deliver humour punches and Akshaye has to react.”

Vora entered showbiz as an actor with 1984 movie “Holi” and later debuted as a writer in 1995 with Aamir Khan-starrer “Rangeela”. In 2000, he donned the director’s cap for “Khiladi 420″, which had Akshay Kumar as hero. He then made “Phir Hera Pheri” in 2006.

As a writer, Vora has mostly been associated with comedies like “Bhool Bhulaiyaa” (2007), “Hulchul” (2004), “Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar” (2001) and “Hera Pheri” (2000).

He admits comedy is his forte. “Comedy comes naturally to me. I derived it from my father. The main success point of my career was comedy because I used the personal aspect of a character and not SMS or Internet jokes like others.”

After juggling different roles Vora, a self-proclaimed “strict” and “clinical” director, wants to concentrate on direction now. His future projects include “Run Bhola Run” and “Family”.

“I’m 100 percent in the director’s chair now and I’d also love to produce a film because it will give me more creative control on the project. The clarity that I’ve had in direction is the most among all my endeavours,” said Vora, whose “Short Kut” is being produced by Anil Kapoor.

“Anil Kapoor is a very large-hearted producer…he is in love with cinema and every intricate detail associated with it. He is one producer who gives full freedom to his directors and will go to any extent for cinema,” the director said.

Vora added that Anil was very keen to make the comedy.

“Anil always wanted to make this film and Anees (Bazmee) had already written the script from Roshan Andrews’ Malayalam film (’Udayananu Tharam’). But then I made a lot of changes in the script. I wasn’t looking for any flavour, but a story and it came out well,” said Vora.

This is not the first time Anil has ventured into production. He first turned producer with “Badhaai Ho Badhaai” in 2002 and followed it up with the critically-acclaimed “Gandhi, My Father” (2007). He is also producing forthcoming movies “No Problem” and “Ayesha”.

Releasing July 10, “Short Kut…” also stars Amrita Rao.

Aamir Khan | Aamir Khan honoured by Maharashtra Government

Pune: The Maharashtra Government on Saturday night honoured Bollywood actors — Rekha and Aamir Khan — as well as noted Marathi lyricist Jagdish Khebudkar with awards instituted in memory of showman Raj Kapoor and legendary film producer-director V Shantaram.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan presented the Raj Kapoor Pratibha Gaurav and Memorial awards to Rekha and Aamir Khan respectively.

Khebudkar, who has written songs for hundreds of hit Marathi films over five decades, was felicitated with the V Shantaram award.

The award carries cash of Rs 2 lakh and a citation. Rekha and Aamir Khan expressed their gratitude to Maharashtra for the fame they achieved in the state describing it their Karmabhumi.

A cultural programme preceded the glittering award function held at sports city at Balewadi.

- IBNlive