| After entering the film business with Mahesh Manjrekar-directed film Rakht last year, liquor baron and Rajya Sabha member Vijay Mallya is all set to rope in Madhur Bhandarkar as the director of his next film venture.
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| If industry sources are to be believed, Mallya, chairman of the Rs 3,000 crore UB Group, is willing to pay Bhandarkar a fee as high as Rs 1 crore.
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| Mallya is said to have taken the decision right after he watched Bhandarkar’s latest film, Page 3. Mallya and Bhandarkar watched the movie together in a crowded movie hall in Mumbai recently.
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| “Mallya watched a movie in a theatre after a decade. In fact, I wanted him to see Page 3 in a hall so that he could see the response of the public at large,” Bhandarkar told Business Standard.
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| Though Bhandarkar did not admit that Mallya has agreed upon the fee of Rs 1 crore, he accepted that he and Mallya are in talks to make a movie together.
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| He also indicated that the movie will be based on issues related to social reality and will not be a regular commercial potboiler. “We are still discussing the kind of movie that we want to make,” said Bhandarkar.
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| Mallya, however, did not respond when Business Standard tried to contact him. But sources close to him and Bhadarkar confirmed that the two are already in “a high stage of negotiation”.
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| Last year, Mallya co-produced Rakht alongwith Suniel Shetty’s Popcorn Entertainment. The star cast included Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Bipasha Basu. Yana Gupta created a stir as an “item girl” in the movie which otherwise failed in the box office.
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| Of late, Mallya’s association with Bollywood has been going strong; Katrina Kaif was recently roped in to endorse Kingfisher Airlines while Yana Gupta was featured as one of the swimsuit girls for this year’s Kingfisher’s calender.
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| His launch party aboard the luxury yatch Indian Princess sparkled with Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan and Shilpa Shetty. At the private release of Rakht, Mallya had indicated that the Bollywood film business has evolved and the influence of the underworld gone down considerably.
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| Bhandarkar, who also created waves with his movie Chandni Bar said that he has been approached by other Bollywood producers after the success of Page 3, released three weeks ago. “I was nervous on the first day of Page 3 because that day Subhash Ghai’s Kisna was also released,” he said.
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| Page 3 was made with a budget of Rs 2.5 crore. He said that to bring Page 3 close to reality, he attended celebrity parties for six months besides getting some real Page 3 people to act in the movie.
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| “Konkona Sen as the lead actor has made it realistic with her wonderful acting,” said Bhandarkar. After the success with Page 3, he seems all set to take up Mallya’s offer.
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| As for Mallya, he would perhaps be more cautious. Rakht bombed at the box office despite having a good director.
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| According to film trade analysts, Page 3 has made a great beginning. “Today, only two Bollywood movies are doing well — Black and Page 3.
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| Though Page 3 made a small opening in the first week, it added 30 per cent in prints and shows in the second week,” said Tushar Dhingra, vice president, marketing and communications, PVR Cinemas. Will Bhandarkar now be able to create magic for Mallya? |
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