Hrithik in Karan Malhotra’s Shuddhi
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There has been a lot of speculation over Hrithik Roshan’s next – Kabir Khan’s yet-to-be- titled film or Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Paani’ or Karan Malhotra’s next. It’s official now: Karan Malhotra has won the race. The film will be titled ‘Shuddhi’ (which means purification).
Hrithik signed the film on Sunday. To be produced by Karan Johar, Shuddhi will have three main characters. The heroine and the villain are yet to be decided. Malhotra’s previous film, the remake of Agneepath, also starred Hrithik.
A source close to Karan said: “Karan and Hrithik had a long meeting last week. Hrithik went through the script at length and then signed on the dotted line. Contrary to rumours, the film is not based on Amish Tripathi’s novel The Immortals Of Meluha.”
When contacted, Malhotra told TOI: “Yes, my next film, Shuddhi, will star Hrithik. It’s a very complex role. Apart from the hero, the film has a strong villainous character.”
Malhotra will put the film on floors in November this year. “We will be shooting most portions in Mumbai and Uttarakhand. We are aiming for a Diwali 2014 release,” he added.
March 5, 2013 at 6:57 AM
Paani had ceased to be an option for some time anyway. Think Shekhar Kapur now wants a newcomer for the film. That is if the film ever gets made!
March 5, 2013 at 7:46 AM
But here it says that Hrithik has signed Paani as well as Bang Bang-
“Though Hrithik has signed Siddharth Anand’s Knight & Day remake and Shekhar Kapur’s Paani, we now also have confirmed news that he will start off with Karan Johar’s film later this year.”
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/celebrities/news/type/view/sort/What%27s_New/id/1751631
March 5, 2013 at 8:41 AM
Don’t think that’s true. In fact Hrithik’s name has faded from the Paani story except that the connection crops up in these sorts of ‘puff’ pieces where the (SRK-like) narrative usually is ‘Hrithik had a choice between Scorsese and Karan Malhotra and finally decided on the latter’ or ‘he has signed up with Chris Nolan and Hirani but is starting Bang Bang first’! Notice how Hrithik now rivals SRK for the most number of truly prestigious films rejected!
Of course I think it’s better for him not to be associated with Paani because the probability of this film beginning is low and of being completely even lower! It could also be that he did sign it but that the film has since just been stalled. But I doubt it.
On a more general note though a lot of the pieces that appear in the media are really fake pieces in the sense that even when the story itself is true a lot of the editorial commentary isn’t. Similarly a lot of the factual details reported are also the stuff of fiction. Stars actively intervene in these writeups and not just the top ones. Relatively few exceptions to this. The way things gets reported in the Bombay film media 90% (of all stories) is questionable either because it’s completely false or because it is true only in parts.
March 5, 2013 at 10:15 AM
finally shekhar kapoor may dub deepa mehta’s water as “paani” and get done with it
March 5, 2013 at 7:07 AM
one KJO signs Hritik again, two he is aiming for Diwali release……this is like double panga with SRK..kuch toh gadbad hai dono key beech…….
March 5, 2013 at 8:44 AM
Think SRK has also been less interested in Johar’s usual stuff for for a while. But it’s also because when it’s SRK Johar comes up with boring stuff that never works but here with Hrithik he lets the market do the talking. I’ve felt for a long time that Johar was actually harmful for SRK inasmuch as he could never be dispassionate enough in this equation to make the right decisions. And we see now how over two films (KANK and MNIK) he’s really relied on the overseas gross. The films have been poor in India.
March 5, 2013 at 10:12 AM
KJO Is the producer here…..like agnipath
March 5, 2013 at 11:04 AM
yes Johar can never bring himself to direct a film without SRK. Of course he also can’t bring himself to do something regular with the latter. And so it’s the worst of both worlds because SRK doesn’t in general have the credibility for some of these projects but even more important Johar doesn’t. Most crucially Johar doesn’t even believe in this stuff and so when he makes such films the cynicism really comes through. It’s actually fairly remarkable that these two big names of the Yashraj universe (including Aditya chopra) have more or less over time disabled themselves as directors. They’ve become important production names and so on but first it was Aditya Chopra who literally reached a dead-end after Mohabbatein and who returned years later for RNBDJ (which seemed more designed to produce a quick success than anything else) and then Johar who’s not had a big day as a director since K3G! As a producer though (and even perversely with RNBDJ) Aditya Chopra has at least shown a direction by and large. An inclination to do the somewhat more rooted (at least by the plastic standards of Yashraj) more often than not. Johar meanwhile has been much cynical. The films he believes in don’t have as much currency anymore so he does smaller versions of the same with Ranbir or Imran or whoever. But lacking the big blockbuster moment he came upon the Agneepath idea and looks like he’s now trying to recreate something similar with this new Hrithik film. Masala is in vogue, you take Hrithik, you get the right actress and soundtrack, there are enough frills for a big initial, no one cares about trending anymore. So he gets the sort of bang he cannot from the MNIK-like deal with SRK. With Aditya Chopra I can at least surmise that he lacks good writers, if he did get them he could have a very viable or even worthwhile cinema as producer. Johar’s though is the purely cynical decision. Not to overestimate Aditya Chopra, his house did bring out ‘gems’ like RNBDJ and JTHJ (!), but he does seem to have larger impulses towards the more rooted that don’t just seem to be about the larger trends. But to get to the essential point here both he and Johar seem pretty dead as directors. And in some ways it’s also not surprising. It’s an index of their mediocrity. They really just had a couple of films in them, that too not challenging works in any sense, and that was it!
March 5, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Definitely agree that YRF is not nearly as cynical when they attempt the different as Dharma. Not that the latter has very many attempts in this sense.
March 5, 2013 at 12:00 PM
satyam – kjo directed an all-time-classic SOTY
no srk in it. only kjo wala love 
March 5, 2013 at 11:56 AM
“yes Johar can never bring himself to direct a film without SRK. Of course he also can’t bring himself to do something regular with the latter”— haha well said– kjo loses his ‘objectivity’ with srk (4 reasons other than film making) lol
Ps: is this the agneepath director–who’s the heroine
March 6, 2013 at 11:02 AM
Hrithik and Karan Malhotra can recreate the magic of Agneepath again here.Karan Johar is doing right thing by bringing both of them on the board.
March 6, 2013 at 3:45 PM
Karan showed some promise in Agnipath tho overall movie had none of the impact of the original. And, Hrithik’s characterisation was meh!
March 6, 2013 at 4:02 PM
Malhotra in the same masala format might make a better film this time around as he won’t have to deal with the Agneepath burden.
March 7, 2013 at 11:05 AM
He directed remake of Agneepath with honestly and with a lot of maturity that was needed from him as a director.Though burden of the original was definitely there but he held his nerves quite well and delivered a successful film.
March 7, 2013 at 11:18 AM
Sanjay Dutt’s character and make up were the most offensive part in the new Agneepath…
March 7, 2013 at 11:28 AM
From the trailer itself (I boycotted the film) I had grave reservations about this sort of thing. We see this trend in films as diverse as Kurbaan, even Sarkaar, where the character bearing marks of traditional religiosity is in fact sinister — whereas the “unmarked” character who is Westernised in appearance and dress is the good character. And they’re equal opportunity when it comes to religion: Hindu or Muslim, some contemporary Hindi film makers seem to find nothing more threateningly “other” than the traditional Indian modes…
Sanju had fantastic screen presence in the trailers, but the ideological shift — suave gangster in a suit had become Guta-spouting maniac — is telling…
March 7, 2013 at 11:36 AM
Great comment Q. Having said if one for a moment forgets that this is a remake of Agneepath the film is engrossing enough and can definitely be seen in theatre (it’s pretty strong visually).
Aside Sudeep (Rann) is currently doing a Kannada film titled Bachchan which is based on the Angry Young Man character. The teaser has been out for quite some time. Looking forward to it
March 7, 2013 at 11:44 AM
I actually found the film even divorced from the original’s shadow to be kind of boring and downright awkward in Hrithik’s performance; said this elsewhere but I’ve never seen a cold-blooded gangster cry this much on screen!
March 7, 2013 at 11:46 AM
I will say though that the initial trailer to the Agneepath remake was one of the most arresting ones to come out of Hindi cinema in recent times. Malhotra may have a better film in him but I’m not as convinced of this on the merit of his first movie.
March 7, 2013 at 12:06 PM
yes that was a good trailer.
March 7, 2013 at 11:52 AM
Re: “I’ve never seen a cold-blooded gangster cry this much on screen!”
…or, I’ll wager, quiver.
March 7, 2013 at 5:51 PM
Will dissect the new agneepath later but need to opine that
THIS fight scene was quite good
I enjoyed it and after a while a hand to hand combat portrayed with intensity and real power
Hahahah yaiy
Ps : it was childish but enjoyed it when hr literally lifts dutt and throws him away in the end –the kid in me loved it
March 7, 2013 at 6:10 PM
Ok guys–let’s get the beer mugs ready ….
Take your preferred seats.
Here comes the mother of all recent item numbers
Ps: I feel like sitting in Hritiks seat lol
Actually dutts good here and brings out the ‘menace’ well…
Ps2 : good ‘dancing skills’ by katrina–need to take lessons from her
March 7, 2013 at 6:14 PM
Katrina is too bland to make a good item girl. Of course those who love Cocktail are satisfied with her!
March 7, 2013 at 11:52 PM
I think the best of the recent item numbers is the one from Rowdy Rathore (Aa re pritam pyaare); and among item numbers centered on a solo performer, Munni Badnaam hui was way better than Chikni Chameli. But the latter had better lyrics…
March 9, 2013 at 12:30 PM
agree on pritam pyaare q–remember who persuaded u about its merits –hehe
not a big fan of munni or shiela
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Kareena-Kapoor-or-Deepika-Padukone-who-s-playing-Sati/Article1-1023620.aspx
if they take kareena–this film should be boycotted!!!
March 9, 2013 at 1:22 PM
I prefer Hua Chhokra Jawaan Re from Ishaqzaade
March 7, 2013 at 6:21 PM
Katrina OWNS this track
The fitness levels noteworthy
And ‘devotion’ to her ‘craft’
Check out the ‘dedication’ (& the fluctuating facial Botox!)
Ps: also the ‘interaction’ btw dutt and hr here is good
This director knows this sort of film deal
As for the film–it was vulgar, crass and manipulative (but who cares in a world where tarantinos are worshipped !)
March 7, 2013 at 6:30 PM
Hahah poor Di should run away
When guys are in this sort of mood with beer mugs in hands and dancing to katrinas beats, she better …
C’mon Satyam –will leave u to groove to the beat
Ps: note that these sort of ‘ethnic/folkish’ steps don’t come naturally to Kat & although they are quite crass, she ‘pulls em’ thru
March 11, 2013 at 1:12 PM
Any clue about a possible budget?