Pak-Czech model Nargis Fakhri with Ranbir Kapoor in Imtiaz Ali’s Rock Star (earlier post updated)
LINK
Imtiaz Ali’s search for an actress to star in his next, Rockstar, has finally come to an end. The Jab We Met director has finalised model Nargis Fakhri to play the role opposite Ranbir Kapoor.
Nargis is half Pakistani, half Czech and was one of the new faces in a recent swimsuit calendar.
The 21-year-old grew up in New York but is an ardent follower of Bollywood. Earlier, Imtiaz had given a break to Brazilian model Giselle Monteiro in Love Aaj Kal.
A source reveals, “Imtiaz has been auditioning girls for a while now.
He found that the Anglo-Indian look of Nargis completely suited the character in the film.But she underwent several screen tests before Imtiaz took her on board.
While Ranbir plays a rock star, Nargis will play a dancer in the film.”
Imtiaz Ali remained unavailable for comment.
LINK
After the super success of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, they have become the hottest onscreen pair in Bollywood today. And now, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are ready for an encore. They will star in Imtiaz Ali’s next, his long-in-the-pipeline project Rock Star.
The film has passed through the hands of many potential rock stars. Imtiaz first offered it to John Abraham. Excited as hell, John had begun to prepare for the part and even started to learn the guitar in 2008.
Then, Imtiaz found an option – Saif Ali Khan seemed perfect for Rock Star because he was almost one in real life. If he played the role, he didn’t even need to start learning the guitar. However, Saif and Imtiaz did Love Aaj Kal instead. During the making of the film, Rishi Kapoor, who also starred in it, was so impressed by Imtiaz that he swore he would make the director work with his son Ranbir.
Says a source, “Imtiaz and Ranbir met many times in the past few months and discussed several projects. But it was Rock Star that Ranbir liked the best.”
We hear Ranbir will be learning to play the guitar for the part as soon as he finishes with Siddharth Anand’s Anjaana Anjaani. Ranbir was heard telling a friend, “Who wouldn’t be excited about playing rock star? It’s a dream role.” To add to the magic, Ranbir’s co-star in Rock Star is Katrina Kaif – a combo every filmmaker in Bollywood wants to get together.
Attempts are on to sign Katrina for the only other film Ranbir has signed for 2010, which is being directed by Anurag Basu. However it’s the Imtiaz Ali project that Katrina has apparently said yes to so far.
And contrary to perception that AR Rahman is doing the music, it’s apparently the tried and tested Pritam Chakraborty.
“After Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal, who wants to break the Imtiaz Ali-Pritam team?” wonders a source close to the project. “Ranbir will go all out to prepare for his part as a rock star. He wants to look every inch the part. That includes the sinewy muscled physique and expertise with the guitar strings.”
January 10, 2010 at 6:19 PM
God talk about rinsing a combination – Basu’s next, Rajneeti, Rock Star. Ranbir though is well placed with so many options; Deepika, Priyanka, Katrina, Asin, Genelia – he’s in the right age bracket unlike the 40 plus stars
January 10, 2010 at 6:21 PM
Besides Ranbir, this sounds uninteresting in every sense, especially now that Rahman’s not part of the package.
January 10, 2010 at 6:23 PM
I lost a lot of respect for Imtiaz Ali after LAK, which was so average.
January 10, 2010 at 6:29 PM
I think he’s overrated immensely. He’s basically made the same movie three times over now, with a few minor variations in each case.
January 12, 2010 at 3:45 AM
I don’t get the fascination with the Ranbir/Katrina jodi. They were just about okay in APKGK (in fact I thought Katrina was a little too ‘mature’ for the role) but no great shakes. This craze to sign them together is baffling. And the project sounds dull. So what about a ‘rock-star’?
January 12, 2010 at 4:07 PM
First part of the Rajneeti trailer. Unfortunately, it cuts off
http://khabar.josh18.com/videos/26439/01_2010/promo1210/
January 12, 2010 at 4:16 PM
looks good…
January 12, 2010 at 4:22 PM
Yup this is the one I saw in theatre…looked intriguing, liked how all the characters were introduced and its some cast here
January 30, 2010 at 2:15 PM
John Abraham would have played a better on-screen jodi with Katrina….OMG Ranbir is okay but not with Katrina!! Uff!
February 15, 2010 at 6:34 PM
Rahman doing the score instead of pritam:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/30/201002162010021604304132c93cebb5/Enter-Rahman-exit-Pritam.html
this film should be a very easy winner and judging by LAK probably quite big.
February 15, 2010 at 7:11 PM
Nice! The soundtrack is now the most interesting thing about this movie.
February 16, 2010 at 3:32 PM
wow, that’s great to hear!
February 22, 2010 at 2:58 PM
Katrina chooses Hrithik over Ranbir
22 Feb, 2010 12:54 pm ISTlTNN
A recent development in Bollywood gives a new twist to the Katrina Kaif-Ranbir Kapoor business. The sexy actress has apparently pulled out of a film with the Kapoor scion for Imtiaz Ali in favour of hottie Hrithik Roshan in Zoya Akhtar’s next.
Don’t put two and two together and make 22! It’s just that Katz could not give dates to both directors. She would love to do Imtiaz’s film with Ranbir, naturally, but Zoya was offering her a role and a costar that Katz just couldn’t say no to. Yes, Katz and Ranbir are cute on screen, but she and Hrithik — two of Bollywood’s most beautiful — will be a hot, new jodi. Katz, incidentally, finds herself with a clutch of films and no dates on hand.
She begins shooting for Tees Maar Khan soon and then Dostana 2. But right now, the buzz is about Zoya’s film. The industry is wondering whether Hrithik will also have hot kissing scenes with Katz after his experiences with Latino bombshell Barbara Mori in Kites.
February 22, 2010 at 2:58 PM
If indeed this is true Katrina has been foolish. The Imtiaz Ali film should be a big grosser.
February 22, 2010 at 3:01 PM
I believe neither film has actually been signed by her yet, so let us see what happens.
February 22, 2010 at 4:24 PM
how the heck is katrina getting all these movies? do these producers/directors just not consider the ability to act as a prerequisite for signing someone for a movie?
April 15, 2010 at 4:44 PM
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/30/2010041520100415021609928c9e090b1/Imtiazs-new-find.html
yet another model..
April 15, 2010 at 4:46 PM
the girl here is Diana Penty:
April 28, 2010 at 2:09 PM
http://movies.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/apr/28/slide-show-1-meet-ranbirs-rockstar-babe.htm
May 31, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Imtiaz Ali has started disgusting me.. what a total sellout..
May 31, 2010 at 5:07 PM
First picture will make many open this topic
May 31, 2010 at 5:10 PM
heh heh..
May 31, 2010 at 6:06 PM
I opened the topic just to say that in addition to running abroad for shooting it seems producers are also now leaving desi girls for foreign products.
May 31, 2010 at 6:56 PM
An old article
Bye-bye Bharat
May 31, 2010 at 7:02 PM
link doesn’t seem to be working..
June 1, 2010 at 12:32 AM
It is working now..But I am cut pasting the content here..
With exotic foreign locales, Hollywood-inspired gloss and urban glamour, filmmakers are creating city-centric films, pushing rural culture to the periphery.
By Anupama Chopra
Nothing about mumbai’s Mehboob Studio — a slouching, mildewed 45-year-old Bollywood dinosaur — prepares you for this. Underneath the paan-stained, decrepit walls of floor number two, stands a carefully constructed slice of America. The walls are deep lilac, the floors multi-hued. Bright yellow lockers occupy half a wall. A Pepsi vending machine stands in a corner.
This is St Xavier’s College, the backdrop of a passionate love story in 25-year-old debutant director Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. It could be a frame from Beverly Hills 90210, except that here the leads are Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. “I know it’s not real,” says Johar, “but it’s gorgeous.”
Kuch Kuch … is a sign of Bollywood’s increasing fascination with westernised, city-centric story-telling. Buoyed by the growing metro film market, a younger generation of directors is creating resolutely urban films. The core is still desi yet the crust is Hollywood-inspired gloss. And the casualty is that old Bollywood staple — the village film. The mythical cottage-industry village with its wicked zamindar, the coquettish village belle and its charming but oppressed peasants, is near-extinct today.
Film Information (FI) Editor Komal Nahta estimates that less than 5 per cent of films under production have rural stories as opposed to 15-20 per cent 10 years ago. An informal fi survey of releases shows that while 1984 had 11 releases with wholly village scenarios and 20 with semi-rural stories, in 1997, only two — Viraasat and Mrityudand — tell wholly rural tales. The ’90s narration may begin in the village but it quickly moves to cities — witness Pardes in which the rural first half is balanced by a Los Angeles-based second half. And the synthetic village of the past has evolved into a high-tech playground: Koyla had the thakurs, still the bad guys lusting after local belles, cruising in helicopters and brandishing cellphones.
But even technology-savvy thakurs are a rare sight these days. “The ’90s have seen a total domination of the urban milieu,” says critic Maithili Rao. The Bollywood assembly line is churning out high-tech, glossy fantasies that invariably include exotic foreign locales, heroines in miniskirts and a city backdrop. In Yash Chopra’s Dil To Pagal Hai (DTPH), tipped to be one of the biggest hits of the year, the story is set in the world of Broadway-like stage musicals and much of the action takes place in a funky, straight-out-of-Manhattan loft. Other 1997 successes — Gupt, Hero No. 1, Judwaa, Judaai — are less hip but equally glossy.
Ace designer Manish Malhotra, who revamped the Hindi film heroine with his hip-hop clothes in Rangeela and later, Raja Hindustani, says that 90 per cent of his work involves “city clothes”. “Films have to be with the times. Even the Indian clothes I make have an upmarket, urban feel.” Rao calls it the “MTVisation of culture”. Says Govind Nihalani, who is currently directing his first commercial venture, Takshak, a desi-noir thriller set in Mumbai: “The village has been pushed to the farthest periphery of our imagination. Any reference to a rural background today is only a synthetic nod to the roots. The insistence is on gloss.”
What’s changed? Bollywood economics. Thanks to high ticket rates and the return of the balcony audience, the urban market can account for as much as 60 per cent of a film’s earnings — a reversal of the 45:55 city:interior equation 10 years ago. A distinct market segmentation is emerging. So “class” films like Viraasat, Pardes and DTPH become hits on city patronage alone. Says director Subhash Ghai: “Earlier the city film was a curse because it meant a flop. Today a city film is a big film.” The overseas market, which can account for 20 to 25 per cent of a film’s budget, also comes into play. Says writer Sachin Bahumick: “Producers say: ‘Overseas mein dhoti-kurta bikta nahin hai (dhoti-kurta does not sell overseas).’ Glamour is necessary.” And glamour is necessarily urban. It’s trendy hair-dos and foreign labels, not mirror-work cholis and matkas. The post-satellite dependence on song sequences has also contributed. Says writer Sutanu Gupta: “There is so much emphasis on songs today and distributors say, ‘Thandi heroine nahin chahiye (we don’t want a frigid heroine).’ You can’t have a village heroine in a salwar kameez singing with sahelis.”
The shift from the village film also has to do with changes in both the makers and the audience. Directors belonging to the new generation, many Mumbai-born and bred, are telling stories they can relate to or stories they can steal from Hollywood. But not everyone approves. “We are really ignoring the heartland,” says Raja Hindustani director Dharmesh Darshan, who is currently making one of Bollywood’s rare rural films, Mela. “Filmmakers and film critics are so Mumbai-centric. We are only making films for the absolute A-class centres.”
Stars, who shape Bollywood trends, are also urbane, both in looks and opinions. “I’ve always felt that films should be slick and modern,” says Shah Rukh Khan, the posterboy of the ’90s. “The sensibility has to be modern, irrespective of the backdrop.” A slick form then becomes as crucial as content. The audience has changed too. In a post-liberalisation consumerist culture, aspirations have altered dramatically. “The spread of television, better mobility and communications have all contributed to making the city a familiar concept,” says Shanti Kurien of Quantum Research, a Bangalore-based qualitative research company. “The city looks bigger, better, boasts of a superior lifestyle. It’s where the action is. Therefore it’s aspirational.” And Bollywood knows this intuitively. Says writer Anjum Rajab Ali: “With consumerism seeping into villages, even people in rural areas are able to assimilate and identify with urban sentiments.”
And yet there remains a rock-solid Lakshman rekha that filmmakers dare not cross. The presentation may be mtv but the values are still 100 per cent traditional. So Dixit in DTPH may be the trendy leotard-clad dancer who refuses to settle for an arranged marriage but she is willing to sacrifice her love to please her foster parents and their son. Pardes’ village belle Ganga may quick-witted enough to put the snooty NRI in his place, but she refuses to have pre-martial sex with her fianc�. Raja Hindustani may show the longest kiss in Hindi movie history but it also has an educated city girl marrying an uneducated small-town taxi driver and then refusing to divorce him despite his boorish behaviour. “The ’90s aren’t just about miniskirts and urban gloss,” says Darshan. “Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Raja Hindustani are the biggest definitions of what the ’90s are.”
Indeed, what is emerging is a hybrid aesthetic which combines the glitz of an urbanised lifestyle with family values. Films are reflecting the confusion of a society in transition. Says Nihalani: “The new aspirational model is the nri, who has succeeded in terms of material wealth but still retains his Indian values. It’s the best of both the worlds.”
Meanwhile, Khan is hoping to play a full-fledged gaonwala one day. “But my gaonwala won’t be dumb,” he promises. “He will be individualistic, a little selfish, a little badmash because that is how we are right now.” Await the yuppie country bumpkin.
June 1, 2010 at 12:36 AM
very useful piece..
May 31, 2010 at 6:10 PM
And that too, more than once.
May 31, 2010 at 8:20 PM
Agree with munna–this thread will be opened by most (no pun intended) and NOT to check what imtiaz ali is upto.
Although nargi fakhris pic appears more noticeable (for obvious reasons), personally liked the other babe a bit more–is her name diana panty?
Also dont feel ranbir can either handle nor does he deserve this choice of female “co-stars”-lol
May 31, 2010 at 8:21 PM
As rightly pointed out above by girlfriend, imtiaz ali is not any gr8 shakes as a director, and he made the same film 3 times tweaking it a bit..
But the bottom line is that he seems to have got a handle on the popular taste and box-office quite early in his career. LAK seemed a shrewd exercise of designing a commercially successful film and a hit music album.
even jab we met ws a more instinctive film than LAK.
Due to the types of costs and stakes involved, i dontmind directors who sacrifice a bit of their exhuberance and bravado (eg rakesh mehra in aks and d6) and display a bit more responsibility towards box-office outcomes.
May 31, 2010 at 8:30 PM
I never thought Imtiaz Ali was RGV! At the same time he was making a certain kind of little film with a little more ‘truth’. I don’t blame him for going big (even if this is all he does with each new release and progressively so) but surely there were better ways of doing so. For example Bhansali isn’t my favorite director but he sticks to a certain operatic style. The films are big but they are so in peculiarly Bhansali-esque ways. any director will, depending on track record and so forth, feel the need to compromise more on some days than others. But there has to be a ‘core’ that the director keeps returning to. Bhardwaj’s career is again a good example where even when he’s done bigger films he’s kept returning to smaller quirkier subjects. But Imtiaz Ali has become completely ‘Joharized’.. the love stories, the locales and so on. But also the whole model thing. Is there anything more appalling than a Brazilian model being made to play a traditional Punjabi girl. She passed off as one, yes, but so could a million other girls! Why was a Brazilian needed? And Imtiaz Ali was the kind of guy who once pretended to be part of some sort of new wave. Again I don’t expect him to become Rathnam or Mehra. But surely it is not too hard to stick to the already too modest accomplishment of JWM?! The very same LAK narrative could have been handled with much greater ‘truth’. But all Imtiaz Ali does is globe trot with big stars and models these days! So now we have Rockstar where the big debate is: what model should be chosen?! How long should Ranbir’s hair be?! C’mon! Ranbir doing this film is fine, he’s a young star who needs those commercially safe ventures. It’s Imtiaz Ali who’s the issue for me.
May 31, 2010 at 11:18 PM
Completely agree, Satyam. It’s hard for me to grasp how someone goes from Socha Na Tha to Love Aaj Kal.
June 1, 2010 at 8:50 PM
I’ve always felt this about Imitiaz Ali. SNT was the only unique thing he’s made. JWM is nothing more than a poorer DDLJ knockoff and I’ve made my thoughts on LAK clear so I’ll pull my punches now….
June 1, 2010 at 9:03 PM
Generally these days I’m suspicious of any young talent whose first move, however “unique”, is some new spin on the now very tired rom com genre. Both Imtiaz Ali and Farhan Akhtar are perfect examples of directors who simply haven’t offered anything since their auspicious, interesting debuts within this terrain. Rohan Sippy is a nice exception here. He started with a played-out romantic genre piece, then did something truly interesting in BM and now looks to surprise once again with DMD.
May 31, 2010 at 8:38 PM
“But Imtiaz Ali has become completely ‘Joharized’.. the love stories, the locales and so on. But also the whole model thing. Is there anything more appalling than a Brazilian model being made to play a traditional Punjabi girl.” Agree there satyam about the joharisation.
The next thing is that he comes up with something on the lines of koffee with karan. also was seen judging some local small-deal beauty contest. he clearly enjoys a few things.
I was waiting to spank him for the brazilial girl bit for some time —you pre-empted it.
Also he seems to be using films as a premise to take these new girls for hs films –also he seems hell-bent on changing them wiht each movie. maybe thats just too simplistic for hi motivations.
he clearly has larger ambitions and sees johar as his “role model”.
i didnt dislike LAK while watching it on a jet airways flight but could not help smirk at his joharesque attempts at audience manipulation. no surprisingly, saif HAD to migrate to usa to allow all that usa picturisation.
also, deepika HAD to have a neo-modern profession of restoring murals-wow,so progressive of him.
there is something about him and his hair which is a bit irritating..lol
but he is a promising box-offcie friendly young director and thats it
May 31, 2010 at 8:44 PM
“Is there anything more appalling than a Brazilian model being made to play a traditional Punjabi girl. She passed off as one, yes, but so could a million other girls! Why was a Brazilian needed?”‘a v v valid question which points to his motivations here.
this is a v rare case in world cinema history that a brazilina girl HAD to be imported, made to unlearn her salsa and to learnt the art of being shy and punjabi dance.
Im sure he had something more to do with her (than just directing her) during the making of this movie. and that also explains his reasons for taking this nargis fakhri and the panty gal for rockstar. i know these are v simplistic explanations but thats how many minds work…lol
June 1, 2010 at 4:21 AM
Here is quite a muddle-headed article that purports to address the issue:
Fetish for foreign women
Ajay Vaishnav, Jun 1, 2010, 12.00am IST
The current influx of foreign actors to Bollywood is more than a result of globalisation or Bollywood’s emergence as a melting pot. No one is denying that Bollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world with as many as a thousand movies being produced every year. If revenue is a yardstick for selection of actors including foreigners, then it needs to be explored why even run-of-the-mill Bollywood films are featuring foreign female actors prominently, despite the fact that none of the foreign actors have made it big in Bollywood till date. Other than the Oscar-nominated Aamir Khan- Rachel Shelley starrer Lagaan, and Aamir Khan-Alice Patten starrer Rang De Basanti, none of the movies featuring foreign actors have performed well at the box office.
It’s a myth that foreign actors increase Bollywood’s outreach to a global audience. The biggest Bollywood movie of all time in terms of overseas revenue the Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol starrer My Name Is Khan had Indian, not foreign actors in the lead. Bollywood is morally responsible towards junior artistes. While it should be securing them a dignified livelihood, this is being threatened by foreigners who are taking their jobs without a legal work visa. It is thus handing chauvinist political parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena an issue on a platter.
Indian cinema has had a long flirtation with white women, but it’s getting worse now. Bollywood wants to tap the Indian fetish for all things white, a colonial hangover. Indians have started narrowly defining beauty, stereotyped as a fair complexion and a Caucasian build. Bollywood is just crudely manifesting it in the current context. The success of actors like Katrina Kaif, who look and act western, is also a case in point.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Opinion/Edit-Page/Fetish-for-foreign-women/articleshow/5995396.cms
June 1, 2010 at 9:32 PM
Shes hot
!
June 2, 2010 at 8:22 AM
whatever is it….but IA has a neck of finding HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT girls…..look at this one…..
June 2, 2010 at 7:12 PM
“but IA has a neck of finding HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT girls…..look at this one…..”
ideaunique–can well understand your excitement.
But somehow dont share much of it. On second thoughts, other than her state of (un)dress and pose, she does NOT look alluring.
And kareena of JWM and even deepika of LAK are not exactly either superhot or IA finds…
But well, these are just “taste” issues-no reasoning…lol
June 2, 2010 at 8:46 PM
she looks too skinny, and even otherwise unattractive …
June 2, 2010 at 8:59 PM
agree qalandar—u have got the rite “taste” m8…
June 2, 2010 at 9:01 PM
but inspite of qalandars proclaimation, one should not safely leave qalandar ( or me) alone with this girl…u never know when the “taste” may change…lol
June 13, 2010 at 6:39 PM
A yahoo moment
Imtiaz Ali has done it again. After convincing the media-shy Neetu Kapoor to make a special appearance with Rishi Kapoor in Love Aaj Kal, the talented director has now managed to work his charm on the legendary Shammi Kapoor.
Shammi will share screen space with his grand-nephew Ranbir in Imtiaz Ali’s next, Rockstar.
Imtiaz Ali
A source says, “It wasn’t easy getting Shammiji to agree to a role in the film. Because of his medical condition, he undergoes dialysis thrice a week. But Imtiaz has made all arrangements so that the veteran star is able to shoot comfortably. The schedule with Shammiji will take seven days to film.
Since he is not in a condition to shoot at a stretch, Imtiaz has decided to shoot his scenes in bits and parts. So Shammiji will take a break after every day of shooting.”
Shammi Kapoor sounded surprised when asked about the role. “My dear, nothing has been finalised just yet. We are working out the possibilities, given my circumstances.”
That said, Shammi sounded enthused by the prospect of acting with Ranbir. “I would have loved to do it if I was healthy. Ranbir is just superb – he is a great actor, a wonderful dancer, handsome and talented. I am proud to be his grand uncle.”
When it happens, it will be a historical moment for the Kapoor clan and a treat for Shammi Kapoor fans.
June 13, 2010 at 6:40 PM
should be a nice warm moment..
June 16, 2010 at 9:49 AM
script delays on the film:
http://movies.indiatimes.com/News-Gossip/News/Ranbirs-Rockstar-in-trouble/articleshow/6053543.cms
August 6, 2010 at 1:45 PM
thanks for this!
October 18, 2010 at 8:37 AM
Ranbir’s look in Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, October 18, 2010 – 13:22 IST
By now its common knowledge that Ranbir Kapoor is playing the lead role in Imtiaz Ali’s next Rockstar. Shooting of the film took place in Verona, Prague and we came across these pics doing the rounds of the internet.
Apparently, Ranbir plays a ‘Rockstar’ called Jordan in the film, however his look is not what you would expect of a typical rock star. An important sequence showing Ranbir’s character Jordan ‘live in concert’ was filmed in Verona and even the locals were more than happy to be a part of the shoot.
Rockstar has music by none other than A.R.Rahman and is likely to release mid-2011.
October 18, 2010 at 8:38 AM
what’s going on?!
October 18, 2010 at 8:47 AM
Very bizarre….really looking forward to the Rahman here though. It’s really about the only interesting thing about this film…
October 18, 2010 at 8:53 AM
agreed..
March 11, 2011 at 6:47 AM
Some pictures from the shoot:
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/slideshow/2011/03/11/858/index.html
May 10, 2011 at 8:15 PM
Roadblock for Ranbir’s Rockstar
Producers of the Imtiaz Ali film, Eros International and Shree Ashtavinayak have had a fallout
Vickey Lalwani
Posted On Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 04:38:13 AM
Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri starrer Rockstar faces a roadblock. The producers of this Imtiaz Ali film, Eros International and Shree Ashtavinayak, have had a fallout. In fact, the latter has even filed a legal notice against Eros declaring that they have not honoured their financial commitments till date.
Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar
Sources from Eros however, have denied the charges, saying that Ashtavinayak has breached the partnership contract simply because they want to get a new buyer thinking that Rockstar has the potential to generate more money.
M/S Thakore Jariwala & associates, the law firm representing Shree Ashtavinayak issued a public notice last Sunday stating that Ashtavinayak has terminated the agreement with Eros International since the latter has failed to discharge their obligations as per the contract.
An official from Eros International (on request of anonymity) told Mumbai Mirror, “We will not let go of the film.”
Explaining the terms and conditions of their agreement with Shree Ashtavinayak, the official from Eros International said, “We were supposed to shell out Rs 52 crore for Rockstar. During the course of shooting we were supposed to pay Shree Ashtavinayak Rs 26 crore, which we have already fulfilled. Our signing amount was Rs 6 crore.
The balance is supposed to be paid on delivery. Till date, we have discharged all our obligations. On the contrary, we were quite surprised that they didn’t encash our last cheque worth Rs 41 lakh sent to them in February.”
“These are arm-twisting tactics. We don’t know but it is possible that they are negotiating the film with some other party now. This is definitely not done,” he added angrily.
However, the official spokesperson of the company replied saying, “We do not want to elaborate on this. Sunil Lulla, the head honcho remained unavailable for comment.
On the other hand, we got an instant reply from the spokesperson of Shree Ashtavinayak. “No comments,” he quipped.
On contacting, Hetal Thakore of M/S Thakore Jariwala said that he was busy and we should text him the story, which he decided not to revert back on.
Imtiaz Ali, who shares a good rapport with Eros, is troubled with the proceedings.