I started conversing with Dev a month or so ago about his phenomenal success with his film Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle. The trick here was to put a “marketing” spin on this and at the end of the day, Dev Patel has become a stand alone Brand and it was my desire to find out how he wanted to leverage his success to enhance the lives of others who may want to pursue the same career goals. What follows is some of the main questions and answers that came up during our conversation. I really appreciate Dev taking the time to answer each and everyone of my questions quite patiently.

Ricky: The film being such a smash hit – everyone in the states (desi and non-desi) are interested to find out how you got your start in the biz?

Dev: I’d done this show in London called “Skins” and I was a big character in that. And Danny was having trouble casting the lead guy out in India because all the guys are really butch. They need to be able to take there tops off and get under waterfalls, and obviously that’s not me…I try. Yeah so he came back to London a bit deflated like, uh oh my films not gonna go through. And his daughter was watching TV, and my big gobs on screen and she’s like why don’t you give this guy a go? So I got myself on tape, I got a call from the casting director, cause I didn’t have an agent at the time cause I was really new to it all. And she goes Danny likes you and your going to have a meeting with him. I remember sitting in the spotlight and I hadn’t done many auditions before, so I bring my mom with me cause she’s my lucky charm. And there’s all these good looking dudes with designer stubble ‘n stuff, and I was sitting there with my mom, and was like “oh shit man, this ain’t gonna be good.” Then Danny opens the door and says “Dev your next,” and I was like “uhhhh,” .And it all started.

Ricky: It is so hard to follow up a blockbuster hit, what other projects are you currently working on both professionally as well as community service activities?

Dev: “The Last Airbender”, this film by MNS is from the cartoon Avatar. I am playing the character of ZUKO,a film to wait and watch. Release in July 2010.

Ricky: How does Dev Patel take time off? What are some of your hobbies? What do you do to get away from it all?

Dev: I’m into Yoga, Martial Arts, go to all theatres for plays and watch Football.

Ricky: How was it acting with such great co-stars as Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan?

Dev: I grew up around Bollywood films and stuff. I didn’t understand Hindi, but I used to watch all the films, they were really animated. And those big fight sequences I used to get into it, into the gist of it, then Anil came to me one day, I was late for the rehearsal and he walks into the hotel and says “hi I’m Anil,” and he has this hat, this camouflage on so no one would see him and I was like “woww!” It was funny, it was me and him, me in a room, a 17-year-old, [who] should be in school in Mumbai, with Anil Kapoor to my right, and Danny Boyle to my left. With big actors like Irfan, Anil,these guys never bloody learned their lines, so they were like (catches himself) — hell I shouldn’t be saying this — but I mean they wouldn’t, and that’s the awesome thing! Especially with Irfan and Sahrub, there’s loads of stuff that has been cut out which is great cause they got this funny comedy duo thing. And even when I was getting beaten the shit out of by this guy — he’s got torpedo hands. The thing is they were fresh all the time, where as if your just saying lines, your saying lines. But these guys wouldn’t learn it and get the gist of what were saying, and maybe say this word in Hindi, or give me a clip around the ear, and it’d just be wicked, it was really creative. Anil Kapoor’s done 300-400 films.

Ricky: It was evident to me that some of the “big shot” Indians did not respond to the movie in a positive manner, rather a few of them down played the movie, what are your thoughts on that?

Dev: I am not likely to be a part. Best Wishes to all of them I move as a normal human and try to keep my studies on pace as I’m studying Theatre and performing Arts, gives me the leverage to do lot towards the same.

Ricky: Being an ad agency, we are all about the message. The Dev Patel name is now fast becoming a Brand – what message do you wish it to convey?

Dev: Sports should be a priority for each and every Youngsters, this gives the boost in all sphere, Acting needs all total discipline which has come from sports, My Yoga Guru is from India who introduced to yoga in depth, Swan Yoga’s Dr.Vikramaditya Narayan he guides the discipline in me these days. Yoga should be the culture for today and tomorrow in the right path.

Ricky: It is rather early in your career – but have you thought about what you want your legacy to be? How do you wish to be remembered long after we are all gone?

Dev: Once an Actor ever an Actor, will keep on doing films that my job rest is on the Audience what an actor gets is always there appreciation.Accolades and other things follow them, I am indebted to my Fans, and supporting an actor also all Indian audience to have liked me and accepted.

Ricky: What American actor or actress would you most like to work on a project with and why?

Dev: Would wait and watch, but would like to do a movie with Al Pachino and Eva Mendes.

Ricky: What advice do you have for others who wish to pursue this career? Is it worth all the effort?

Dev: To give your best, almighty has bestowed everything and one should not be over giving.

Ricky: Finally, I am sure you get asked this in every interview, are you and Frieda Pinto dating?

Dev: She is been a costar, and a great human being, we remain friends.

Thank you, very much.

Dev Patel

3 Idiots is probably the most awaited movie of the year. And there is more than one reason for it. First, the movie stars Aamir Khan and any movie that has this name automatically becomes “much awaited” even before going on the floor. Plus, this movie is directed by none other than Rajkumar Hirani, the director of Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai.

The movie also stars Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and R. Madhavan and has Boman Irani in supporting cast. This will be Aamir’s second release since Ghajini which released last December and created box-office history. Needless to say, fans are very excited to watch it.

The movie has higher education system in its background and is based on popular novel “Five Point Someone” by Chetan Bhagat. The story is about three engineering students who have come from different backgrounds to study in an engineering college. In the book, the college was shown to be the famous Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. But as shown in the promos, the college name has been changed in the movie.

The movie is about how these three boys handle the stress of life and studies in the high stress engineering course. It also touches up on the peer pressure and stress of family expectations on young mind and how it can sometimes drive them to the edge.

The book, Five Point Someone is acclaimed to be the best work by popular author who has made a name for writing bollywood-ized fiction that always has a touch of reality from his own past or someone in his life.

Synopsis: Three total strangers enter an Engineering college in Delhi. They soon become friends and start learning about each other’s lives. Meanwhile, one of them falls in love with the daughter of the strict professor and life takes a complicated turn.

The promos of 3 Idiots look very interesting, but the only problem that most audiences are worried about is Aamir Khan’s age. Even though, Rajkumar Hirani has worked hard to make Aamir look younger, he just can’t pass off as a 19 year old (the average age at which anyone starts an Engineering course) anymore.  And let’s face it; R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor don’t look 19 year old anymore either. What prompted Aamir to take up such a role is a mystery to many people.

The movie has been shot at various locations in Delhi, Bangalore, Shimla and Ladakh. The music of 3 Idiots is already climbing the charts, especially the song “All is Well”. Other songs are also good, but they might become popular only after the movie’s release.

Even though, the movie can’t be a complete adaptation of the book, the promos give a feel of the sequences that we might have read in the book. Will the audience accept a 40+ Aamir, Raghavan and 30+ Sharman as 19 year olds? Will the movie meet the expectations?

The answers to these questions will be answered on December 25th when it releases worldwide.

Somebody, pleaaasseeee tell Akshay Kumar that his crazy mumbling, bumbling and always tumbling act, that he has already played in a gazillion movies, is getting old. In his latest movie De Dana Dana, he does manage to make us laugh at few places, but we find ourselves laughing more out of the nostalgia factor than this present flick. If you plan to watch this movie, then please take a Disprin with you, because you will surely get a headache.
is, unless you like a movie where every actor screams his or her dialogues, women are degraded to a level that you never expect from a Priyadarshan movie and everybody thinks that hamming is their birth right. 

Priyadarshan has once again teamed up with his favourite bunch of actors, namely Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Sunil Shetty. The same trio created magic in amazingly hilarious Hera Pheri and its sequel. But De Dana Dan is not Hera Pheri and if you are expecting one, don’t watch it.  

This movie will even ruin your memories of that cult comedy where performances and a good story were the foundation that the movie stood on. Here, dialogues like kutti ki pilli (daughter of a bitch), howling actors and a very confused plot, make you wanna pull your hair out.

The story of this “alleged comedy” is not very different from Hera Pheri. Nitin (Akshay Kumar playing the same kind of role that he plays in every comedy) and Ram (Suniel Shetty) need more money so that they can get married to their girlfriends and pay off their debts. Katrina Kaif plays Akshay’s girlfriend and Sameera Reddy plays Suniel’s.

The duo plans to kidnap the dog of Nitin’s owner (Archana Puran Singh) and ask Rs. 1 crore in ransom for it. But the plan (predictably!) goes haywire and the owner and police think that Nitin, instead of the dog, has been kidnapped.

Nitin and Ram, meanwhile, hide in a five star Hotel. Considering that they both are penniless, how they get the money to pay for their stay is not told. Anyway, to add to the confusion, two businessmen (played by Manoj Joshi and Paresh Rawal) arrive in the hotel. And wait! There’s also Johnny Lever playing the hit man who has been hired to kill Shakti Kapoor. Then, there’s Vikram Gokhale playing an Indian Diplomat, a waiter played by Rajpal Yadpal, an officer played by Sharat Saxena, and a bunch of other characters.

There is hardly any story in the movie and as more and more characters are introduced, the movie just turns into a huge bowl of mess. Out of the cast, Suniel Shetty and Johnny Lever have done a good job, but Paresh Rawal has just hammed like that’s what he was getting paid for.

The music of the movie is good, but apart from the item song Paisa Paisa and the melodious Rishte Naate, no other song makes a lasting impression. 

In the end, all we can say is that De Dana Dan could have been better if the team had not tried to recreate Hera Pheri magic!

Dulha Mil Gaya has been in the making for quite some time now and it finally hits theatre, this January. The movie has Sushmita Sen and Fardeen Khan in the lead, but the actor that’s been promoted most in the promos is Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh is in an “extended” guest appearance in the movie. What does that mean?

Well, let’s just say that the producer was SRK’s friend and he couldn’t afford to cast him, so he asked his favour to do a guest appearance. The poor man agreed, but little did he know that his “guest appearance” will require as much work as he does in any of his other movies. So, you will see Shahrukh for at least 45 minutes, including two songs in Dulha Mil Gaya.

Sushmita Sen plays a sensuous career woman while Fardeen Khan plays an eternal confused man. As the title suggests, the movie is about a search for the perfect groom for a girl whose face is not being shown in the promos. Why? We have no idea.

The movie promises to be fun as we can see a bumbling Fardeen, a beautiful and hot Sush, and suave Shahrukh Khan looking their best in this romantic comedy. Dulha Mil Gaya has been directed by Mudassar Aziz and Viveck Vaswani has produced it.

The movie promises to provide some unusual and beautiful location as it has been shot in Caribbean and Malaysia. So, the audience might get to see something different from Swiss Alps and New York streets. The shooting of Dulha Mil Gaya has been going on for almost two years now mainly because the director was adamant on extending Shahrukh’s role and Shahrukh was not very keen to give his so many dates for a guest appearance that he didn’t want to do in the first place. Shahrukh’s recent surgery delayed the project even further.

But obviously, the promises have been kept and commitments have been fulfilled, because Dulha Mil Gaya is all set to be released now. The music of the movie is composed by Lalit Pandit and its title song has been climbing the charts in the last few weeks.

Will Dulha Mil Gaya get the audience or not, remains to be seen. The movie has been under production for quite some time and it will be interesting see whether it still looks fresh or not. The new girl, whose face is not shown, promises to be the surprise element of the movie. Shahrukh fans may want to watch this movie as he will be coming on screen first time after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which was in December 2008.

Kites is slated to be the first true-blue international Bollywood projects. It is first movie in a very long while, that’s being made in both English and Hindi. The movie stars Superstar Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut and Mexican actress Barabara Mori. It’s being produced by Rakesh Roshan and directed by Anurag Basu.

The movie has been in news for quite some time. Its first look was revealed in the Cannes Film Festival, this year. Needless to say, it got a lot of international exposure during the festival.
 
Kites is a love story that goes beyond the barrier of nations and languages. It’s about two lovers one of whom is Indian (Hrithik) and the other one is Mexican. Hrithik plays J, a street smart guy who gets caught up in some crime and is now wanted by the cops. He flees from the police and heads off on a quest to find his love Natasha (played by Barbara Mori) who is now engaged to someone else. But J is sure that Natasha is destined to be his as she is the one person who came to his life and changed it forever. The moment the two lovers had seen each other, they knew that they were in love. But with some twists of luck, J has to run away and his destiny takes him on a journey that he never expected. J fights with the entire world for a woman who doesn’t even speak his language, nor does he understand hers.

The movie also stars Kangana Ranaut. Her role is not clear yet, but it can be speculated that she might make the third angle in the Hrithik-Barbara love triangle. Kites also has a number of international stars like Steven Michael Queszada, Nicholas Brown, Luce Rains, Ronald Hamilton, Dave Colon and Clark Sanchez.

The first look of the movie shows that Kites is going to be a very unique film as the locations, looks of the stars and story sound quite different from normal Hindi movies. It was slated to be released in December 2009, but for some reason, producer Rajesh Roshan postponed its release till February 5, 2010. The movie will have to compete with Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan in its second week (it releases on 12th February) and gets only a 1 week window to ensure that it makes its mark in the audience’s mind. 

So, if you are a Hrithik fan and have been waiting for his next movie after Jodha Akbar, then mark your calendar for February 5th 2010 because that’s when Kites hits the theatres.

Whenever Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan come together, Bollywood sees history being created, right in front of its eyes. Ever since from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai till Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, the duo has not yet failed to attract audience to the theatre.

My Name is Khan is fourth directorial venture of Karan Johar whose last movie Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna created a lot of debate and controversy in India because of its views on marriage and fidelity. 

My Name Is Khan will be releasing on 12th February 2010 and promises to be the Valentine’s Day present for all lovers. After all, the movie marks the comeback of legendary pair of Shahrukh and Kajol after 8 long years. Needless to say, the hype around this movie (even before a sneak peak) is humongous. The pair has starred together in all time hits like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and their chemistry is certifiably smoking.

The movie ran into some unwanted controversy three months ago, when its lead, Shahrukh Khan was detained at Newark Airport in New Jersey. It was later found out that he was detained because of his name which was according to airport officials “too common.” The incident created wide-spread anger in India and in Indian community around the world and the US Embassy had to come up with an apology on the incident. 

My Name is Khan is about a Muslim man named Rizwan Khan (played by Shahrukh Khan) who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome which is a type of autism. The movie is rumoured to be about the discrimination of Muslims in American and around the world after 9/11. Kajol plays a Hindu girl and single mother in the movie. Even though, there are rumors that the movie is about terrorism, director Johar has denied it being directly related to the subject.

According to Johar, My name is Khan is about human feelings and emotions. It’s about the journey of a man (Rizwan) who is suffering from both a crippling mental disorder and a cruel world which is becoming crueller by the day.

My Name is Khan will be the first Indian movie to be distributed by Hollywood giant 20th century Fox which bought the worldwide rights of the movie. The first trailer of the movie will be released along with James Cameron’s new movie Avatar, on December 18th.

The music of the movie has been created by Karan Johar’s favourite maestros Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy who have given the music of his every movie since Kal Ho Na Ho. It was shot extensively in American cities like New York and San Francisco.

Will the magic of Karan Johar, Shahrukh Khan and Kajol continue? We will have to wait till next year to know that. But one thing is for sure, My Name is Khan is sure to get a bumper opening week.

Take out your handkerchiefs and get ready to cry a river because Paa is the most emotional and heart touching movie of the year 2009. Directed by R. Balki, the movie has Amitabh Bachchan playing a 13 year old child, Auro who is suffering from rare genetic disease called Progeria. The disease is causing him to age five times as fast as a normal person. Thus, Auro is a child trapped in the body of a 60 year old.

Even though, Big B’s performance is aided by great camera work and make-up which helps him look like a 13 year old, but nothing can discount his performance in this movie. The way, he has captured the mannerisms and body language of a preteen school boy is simply astonishing. Considering the fact that the actor is 65 years old, the performance is almost magical.

Paa also stars junior Bachchan, Abhishek who interestingly plays Auro’s father and a MP, Amol. Vidya Balan plays Auro’s mother. Auro is brought up by his mother who had him out of wedlock after Amol leaves her high and dry after finding out that she’s pregnant. 13 years later, a chance meeting at Auro’s school brings Amol close to his son. Soon, Amol realizes his mistake and starts working on building a relationship with his son.

Before its release, there were many speculations about Paa being a remake of a number of Hollywood movies, including recent ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’ But the good news is that Paa is neither a copy, nor a remake of any other movie.

Another good thing about Paa is that it is not at all manipulative. Unlike most movies involving children struggling with diseases, it’s not overly melodramatic and sentimental. It doesn’t preach us about the disease or on parenting. In fact, the whole angle of Progeria is just used as a background to show the sweet father-son relationship. 

This is Balki’s second directorial venture after ‘Cheeni Kum’ and just like in his previous movie; he has taken a light-hearted approach towards a subject that could have easily become a melodramatic tearjerker. Balki’s distinctive sense of humour comes through the witty one-liners that Auro recites throughout the movie. He also touches on other subjects like politics, media, parenthood etc. without ever losing the track.

The climax will definitely bring a lump in your throat. The emotions of a sick child and his helpless parents are enough to make even the most stone-hearted people reach for tissues. The makeup of Amitabh Bachchan looks absolutely authentic and it’s hard to spot the actor on screen. You only see Auro and his beautiful eyes.
 
Amitabh Bachchan will definitely and rightfully deserves all the awards this year for his performance in Paa. This role is another feather in his already highly decorated hat. Way to go Mr. Bachchan!!! Looks like Junior Bachchan’s production has hit the right note from the word go.

If it is a Ram Gopal Varma movie, then controversy can’t be far behind. Rann is his next movie and it has already aroused a lot of deliberate and unintentional controversy. First of all, its promo featured a parody of India’s National Anthem. Even though after court’s orders the song has been removed, but needless to say that it gave Rann the publicity that it wanted. Then, in a strange turn of events, the director has changed the movie’s name to India 24/7.

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Rajpal Yadav, Paresh Rawal and Gul Panag, India 24/7 is said to be a comment on the society, media and politics of India.  The movie is still in its early stage of promotion and only the “First Look” has been released, but from its look and feel, we can say that it’s going to be on the lines of Sarkar Raj.

This is Ram Gopal Verma’s most ambitious project in a long while and considering the fate of his movies lately, we might say that he terribly wants India 24/7 to succeed. It promises to give an insight look on how today’s news channels work and operate. Ram Gopal Verma has always been known for the realism in his movies (if we don’t consider few of his last projects) and in this movie too, fans would expect real and unbiased look at the media.

Amitabh Bachchan, who is Ram Gopal Verma’s favorite, plays Vijay Harshwardhan Malik who is the founder of first 24 hours news channel in India – 24/7. Vijay believes in journalistic ethics and doesn’t want to give into the new age style of sensational journalism. But this has caused his channel to slip into oblivion.

Rajpal Yadav plays Anand Prakash Trivedi who has a talent for creating news out of almost nothing whereas Purab Shastri plays a serious character for a change. He plays a young, enthusiastic journalist with true journalistic ethics. Gul Panag plays Nandita Sharma who is an assistant ad filmmaker who couldn’t care less about what’s happening in the country. The film also stars Paresh Rawal as Mohan Pandey who plays a corrupt politician.

Looks like Ram Gopal Verma has tried to put every element of Indian society and media in the movie – from indifferent youth to corrupt politician, from sensational news monger to righteous journalist.

What remains to be seen is that whether Ram Gopal Verma be able to salvage his reputation through India 24/7 or not. His last few movies have nothing but historical disasters at the box office and his outing with the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra to the 26/11 tragedy site didn’t go down well with any Indian.

Will this social comment on the country do the trick? We will have to wait for the release of the movie to know that.

Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year is director Shimit Amin’s second movie since Chak De India. Chak De India was a special movie because it had the country’s one of the biggest star, Shahrukh Khan in a totally different role and the treatment and subject of the movie was also completely unique.

Rocket Singh- Salesman of the Year can also be categorized in those kinds of movies. If you want one word describe this movie, then it will be “heart-felt”. The movie stars Ranbir as Harpeet Singh Bedi who’s young man, not interested in higher studies and wants to become a salesman. He gets a job as a trainee in AYS Computers, but gets blasted for being too kind, within first few days of his job. He files a complaint against a colleague who I asking for kick-backs from clients.

This angers his boss and sales manager who insult him and ask him to just make ‘cold calls.’ Harpeet is further humiliated by his boss. This prompts Harpreet Singh to start his own company within AYS. He persuades 4 of his colleagues, including the sales manager to help him and increase his sales. He creates a company called Rocket Sales Corp. and starts stealing orders from AYS, all the while sitting in its office. They offer better services and cheaper prices which help their business flourish. Soon, the boss of AYS finds out about Rocket Sales Corp. and calls its MD to buy the firm, only to find out that the number he is dialing is of his own office.

The boss finds out about the Harpreet’s company and forces him to sell it to AYS. But soon, he realizes that none of Rocket Sales Corp.’s clients want to do business with AYS even though it has bought Rocket Sales Corp.

This is a difficult story to put on paper because the screenplay is more effective on screen. Shimit Amin has refrained from taking sides and has given an entertaining insight of today’s business world without either praising it or criticising it.

The movie also stars Shazahn Padamsee who has done a good job in her debut film. But she needs to work on her dialogue delivery. Guahar Khan is also making a debut and also needs to work on her acting skills. Prem Chopra plays Harpreet’s grandfather and has done a wonderful job. In supporting cast the Sales Manager and the man who assembles the computers are both fantastic.

But the one actor who drives this movie forward is Ranbir Kapoor. The guy looks and talks like Sikh-gentleman (he is half Sikh in real life) and has completely immersed himself in his role. Full points to Ranbir for this one!
But the man who should get the loudest applause is the director of the movie. Shimit Amin has once again proven that you can make movies without the traditional hero and romantic angles.

Watch Rocket Singh –Salesman of the Year. Don’t miss it!