Mumbai,June 08: Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, notoriously Bollywood’s fittest and most health-conscious stars, are not the rich chocolate cake-eating types. But Sajid Nadiadwala would not let his lead pair get away with anything less than that.
What were a few calories, after all, when the filmmaker was celebrating a double whammy on Friday — the end of the producers and multiplex owners’ stand-off and the release date of his much-awaited film Kambakkt Ishq. Make a note, it’s been fixed for Friday, July 3, the first big budget film to hit Indian theatres this year — and both Bollywood and Hollywood are eagerly waiting for the release.
Sajid is ecstatic, naturally; he has worked hard on this film, packed it with all the masala that Indian audiences are starved for, and the producer is convinced that he has a hit on his hands. The entertainment business could not have got off to a more rocking start after the dry spell caused by the multiplexes strike. Akshay and Kareena, who happily cancelled other engagements on Friday to celebrate the film’s imminent launch with Sajid, director Sabbir Khan and music director Anu Malik, had their cake and ate it too.
Said Akshay, with a big smile, “This is truly my first international film. I’ve done stunts with Superman, got an award from Rambo, and romanced our very own Supergirl! Finally, you have a big family entertainer coming to a multiplex near you.” Sharing his excitement, Kareena added, “This is a film that’s very special to me, it’s a full-on family entertainer… there’s every genre of entertainment, from romance, comedy and action to emotion, glamour and Hollywood.”
It is true, for Sajid has taken Bollywood for the first time into the Kodak Theatre, Universal Studios and Water World of Hollywood with Kambakkt Ishq. “The Hollywood backdrop is required in the script and not just thrown in,” said Sajid who’s got Hollywood biggies like Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards and Brandon Routh to act in his film. “I couldn’t pull off Arnold Schwarzenegger,” he regretted. “I met him, but he holds a public post now and can’t act.”
No matter, even without the Terminator star, Sajid’s film is packed with heart-stopping action sequences created by top Hollywood stunt director Spiro Razatos. It’s been shot on locations used for films like Fast and The Furious. And, in one stunt, Akshay uses the same superbike that Tom Cruise rode in Mission Impossible. Fasten your seat belts, July 3 is close. “It doesn’t get bigger and better than this,” promised Kareena. While Akshay added, tongue firmly in cheek, “The battle of the plexes has ended… the battle of the sexes has just begun!”
—Agencies