Whilst shooting for the film Baby with, the base of Aiyaary started shaping up in the director’s Neeraj Pandey mind, as the filmmaker recently revealed. Revolving around two men in uniform serving their country, the film stars Sidharth Malhotra and Manoj Bajpayee.
Speaking about the background the film, Sidharth Malhotra said, “It is not a war film. It’s an espionage thriller predominantly. It talks about different issues of the country. It’s an entertaining thriller. But this is not a theme based film.”
Furthermore the Aiyaary actor shared, “I love spy thrillers. I grew up with the James Bond series, True Lies, Mission Impossible etc. Hollywood also does some real versions of a spy thriller. Even Aiyaary is the real version of a spy thriller.”
Also starring Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah, Rakul Preet Singh and Pooja Chopra in lead roles, Aiyaary is in UK cinemas now via Reliance Entertainment.
Starring Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee, Nasseruddin Shah & Anupam Kher directed by Neeraj Pandey
Sidharth Malhotra is the newest Bollywood heartthrob on the scene. The 33-year-old actor made his debut in 2012 with Karan Johar’s ‘Student Of The Year‘ and has built up quite a fan following through his performances with UK hits such as Kapoor & Sons and Brothers.
Hailing from an Indian Armed Forces family, Sidharth entered the film industry after working as a junior assistant director on the award-winning My Name Is Khan. He caught director Karan Johar’s eye, who then decided to launch Sidharth along with Varun Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan, and Alia Bhatt, daughter of renowned producer Mahesh Bhatt in Student Of The Year. The three actors shot to stardom in India even before their highly-anticipated debut film released.
Malhotra has since starred in hits such as Ek Villain, Ittefaq and A Gentleman. He is gearing up for his newest release, Aiyaary, also starring Manoj Bajpayee and Rakul Preet.
Speaking to BollyNewsUK, the actor discusses his new movie and filming in the British capital…
You must be very excited starting the new year with Aiyaary… Yes, every Friday brings in new excitement. The script and content of Aiyaary is very powerful and director Neeraj Pandey always showcases intelligent content in his films. Audiences will understand the reason why we’ve made the film, as it’s very relevant now. It’s a packaged spy thriller, which I’ve never done before, so it’s something new for the audience.
The title of Aiyaary is unusal. Was that intentional to make the film mysterious? I believe that Neeraj Pandey has a knack for finding these words when it comes to naming his films. It was also very apt for the characters as we are playing intelligence agents in the film. Aiyaary means the art of trickery, and these guys definitely have that skill. It’s also a very intriguing title, which helps us. Neeraj Pandey films usually share critical acclaim and box office success. Are you worried about the trend of 2017 where most movies didn’t perform well though? No, I don’t worry about that. Every film has its own audience at the end of the day. When you sign up to do a film, you know the extent of the business it is likely to make. This is a thriller first of all, which doesn’t have the trappings of a commercial love story. It has a good subject which is relevant to the country and its youth. Also, looking at Neeraj Pandey’s track record, he has never had a film under-performing at the box office. Its more relaxing because of his past track record.
You disappeared from social media with the hashtag #SidsOffTheGrid leading up to first promotions of Aiyaary. What was that about? (Laughs) We were just preparing audiences for what is going to happen when Aiyaary releases, as my character in the film goes off the grid. In my head, I wanted to see if people will miss me online. I was very happy to see that people were concerned, including you who messaged and called. It was very nice actually. I was back in two days, it was a fun activity.
Your last film Ittefaq was only promoted on social and digital media. However, some film studios are going back to the traditional marketing style. What do you feel works best? The trend has really changed. It has more become about what happens on the Friday of release. Audiences want to know what the reports are, what their friends and family thought of the film, as it is an expensive experience to go to the cinema. The taxes aren’t helping either. I believe more than marketing or public relations, it has become all about what the first day is like. Social Media has a massive reach. You can disseminate authentic information from your official accounts. There is no middle man and hence, misunderstandings are avoided. I feel, in a country like India, social media is still a new phenomenon and doesn’t have the same numbers as the US or UK. We must cater to the traditional formats of information as well. Audiences are shifting from TV and newspapers to online, albeit slowly. Although, Facebook has a great reach in India, which is great. Twitter and Instagram are fairly new, and you can’t only depend on these medium to create awareness.
Was it distracting for you as an actor to shoot at popular tourist attractions such as Leicester Square in London? We were filming on Oxford Street and London is always beaming with people. We were filming at 17:00, during high rush hour time. We didn’t want to lock down the area for the shoot as it was supposed to look authentic. That was a bit of an issue.
I was wearing a hood and was sweaty, as it was supposed to portray the middle of an action sequence. I was coming out of the Underground station and a steady cam was filming me walking out. During almost all of the takes, someone passing by would react to me being there. It took a lot of retakes and was a tricky situation as to whether we should announce that we are filming or just keep going as we were. We continued filming Guerrilla style and some of the fans were sweet enough to not stare into the camera during takes. It was interesting to shoot at an actual location with people around you not knowing about it.
Since the film was moved forward, do you believe the extra time you have to promote the film is a positive to take out of the situation? We were always prepared to create good awareness for the film but, yes it does give us a bigger window now. We have been to Chandigarh, Amritsar and the Wagah border. It’s interesting as no one has spent so much time with the Armed Forces before for a film. It’s great to give them memories and I’m enjoying spending time with them.
Reliance Entertainment releases Aiyaary in UK cinemas on 16th February 2017.
Sidharth Malhotra and director Nitya Mehra kick-off Baar Baar Dekho in Glasgow, UK.
Bollywood chocolate boy Sidharth Malhotra is excited to be filming in the UK for the first time. His new film with British-Indian superstar Katrina Kaif, Baar Baar Dekho, is currently being filmed in Glasgow, Scotland.
Baar Baar Dekho is Nitya Mehra’s directorial debut who has previously assisted on films such as Life of Pi and Don (2006). The film also marks the first co-production between Excel Entertainment and Karan Johar’s Dharma Production.
Described as a timeless love story, Baar Baar Dekho will see Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra portray the roles of Diya and Jai respectively.
Speaking to Bollywood reporter Sunny Malik, Sidharth Malhotra said, “I am really excited to be shooting in Scotland with Katrina for over a month. I have been to that side of the world before but never filmed a movie there. Apparently we will have great weather which is far more conducive for shooting outdoors.”
“I am pretty excited to be filming with Katrina Kaif too. She has a great body of work and I think it will be great to do a love story with her. She has great star presence on-screen.”
Baar Baar Dekho will be released in UK cinemas and worldwide next year through Eros International.
Get ready for a testosterone fuelled song which shows the lead actors, Akshay Kumar and Sidharth Malhotra of upcoming film ‘Brothers’ in full training mode.
The Brothers Anthem is the latest track to be released, sung by Vishal Dadlani. A fast paced song that is sure to pump up audiences, Akshay’s sequence was shot on top of the Worli Fort where a gym similar to Akshay’s personal one was created, so that they could recreate the type of fitness regime he follows in his personal life.
This song also shows the two distinct styles of David and Monty; David being more of a technical and methodical fighter while Monty is shown to use brute force. The song ends with the appearance of several international fighters who have competed in MMA and WWE who arrive for the tournament.
“The song comes at a point when the two brothers, David (Akshay) and Monty (Sidharth), are given an entry into the tournament R 2 F (Right To Fight). They are excited and start training for it. The song also simultaneously conveys an idea of the media coverage — how the tournament is being accepted by the government and the people, building an excitement around the tournament.” says director Karan Malhotra.
Dharma Productions released the first look of their newest action drama ‘BROTHERS’ starring Akshay Kumar, Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandes and Jackie Shroff. The look promises an intense film and world class, never seen before MMA action that will certainly set the pulse racing.
As the title suggests, Brothers is the story of relationship between two brothers gone awry. Riding high on the success of their previous action thrillers, both Akshay and Sidharth seem to be putting their best fight foot forward as they gear up for an intense albeit emotional face-off on the big screen.
Touted to release on the big independence weekend, Brothers is will see one of the biggest releases this year. Directed by Karan Malhotra and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Endemol India, the film is presented by Dharma Productions, Lionsgate, Endemol India.
BROTHERS, heavily equipped with new style of action, with international stunt choreographers at the helm, is to hit the theatres on 14th August 2015.
A UK distributor has not been confirmed by Dharma Productions yet.
Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra speaks to BollyNewsUK about his second Bollywood film, Hasee Toh Phasee.
Produced by Dharma Productions and Phantom Films, Hasee Toh Phasee, is set to release in UK cinemas on 7th February 2014. The film also stars Parineeti Chopra and Adah Sharma in pivotal roles.
Your second film is co-produced by Karan Johar who directed your first film. Did he offer you Hasee Toh Phasee? The offer actually came from Phantom Films (Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane). It all started when Phantom Films wanted to co-produce a movie with Dharma Productions and they had enquired about me. From that enquiry, Karan gave me the script of the film and told me to read it and if I like it, he said that we will go further. I read it and being just one film old, I guess you can’t really figure out everything just by reading a script or your instincts aren’t great yet. I have now started meeting the directors when I read scripts which began with Hasee Toh Phasee. The film has a lot of quirky stuff like the heroine eating toothpaste, getting stuck on the love seat up in the air and a lot of other quirky things that audiences will see when they watch the movie. I met the director (Vinil Mathew) and I was sold after meeting him as he is very quirky himself in real life. Vinil has a lot work under his belt as an ad director. I think, just meeting him was the one thing why I did the film.
One can guess from the trailer that it’s a love story where the boy meets the girl and they fall in love. What else is the film all about? That is correct. You know, films of the rom-com genre are the toughest to promote and market. Of course, every rom-com is different but everyone already knows the ending which is similar for our film (laughs). Hasee Toh Phasee is different in a way because our characters are not how people would imagine them to be. We don’t play the typical hero and heroine. Every family has the not so successful kind of boy and that is my character in the film. He is a very confused boy who doesn’t know what to do in life. He runs an unsuccessful event management company and is pressured by his family to earn a lot of money. Actually, he has to earn a certain amount of money in the film. He thinks he is cool, but he is not. He is one of those confident kind of guys but still very emotional and correct. My friends from Delhi are like that as they get a lot of pressure about their work. Then my character meets Parineeti, who is also not very popular in her family. She comes to Mumbai and meets my character and that is what the film is all about. It’s a story of how they meet for seven days and how they interact as it’s not love at first sight. It becomes very intriguing as they spend more time together and find out weird things about each other. It is a rom-com but our characters are not what audiences would usually expect from this kind of a film.
Your first co-star Alia Bhatt just said that she is not confident about the fate of her second film at the box office. Are you worried about box office success? Well, of course, there is that aspect. But what I am more concerned about is pulling off a solo film. I am also hoping for a little appreciation in terms of acting abilities and hope that people feel that I can play variations and characters as it’s very different from Student Of The Year. The money aspect comes in much later. I think, initially you need to focus on making a good quality product. It’s Vinil Mathew’s first feature film who has to prove his directing abilities and my first solo hero film and I have to prove my mettle as an actor. It will hopefully make money but I don’t think we need to stress about it. It’s not the kind of film where we spent an extravagant amount of money and need to worry about recovering the costs. My concern is that audiences like my character, the performances and feel that we have done something different and new, yet at the same time convincing.
You sound more confident and less shy from your Student Of The Year days… Yes, for some odd reason I have been getting this feedback from a lot of people. Maybe I was taking my character too seriously or maybe because of Karan Johar as no one else speaks in front of him and in front of Varun Dhawan (laughs). Hopefully, people will also feel a difference when they see me in Hasee Toh Phasee.
You also look much younger in some scenes… Yes, I had to become leaner for the film and I may look younger because of the hairstyle. This is actually a film where I am playing a character that is my age, someone in his twenties, unlike Student Of The Year. I guess being leaner and not going to the gym for the film also made me look younger.
Hasee Toh Phasee is quite a fun title… It’s an apt title because the film is only about the couple. In all honesty, the title isn’t really connected to the film though in terms of the storyline (laughs). It sounds very commercial but the film isn’t really an all-out commercial film and far more muted and subtle in performances. We actually had another title when we started the film and Hasee Toh Phasee was suggested by one of the producers, Vikas Bahl.
The music album is being liked but people are really talking about your dance song ‘Shake it like Shammi’ . Yes, we have three dance tracks and three romantic songs in the film. There is always pressure when performing for dance songs. Shake it like Shammi is almost like a solo song for me. I would also like to clarify that Shake it like Shammi is not a tribute to Shammi Kapoor. People keep writing about it as a tribute because of the ‘Shammi’ in the song. It’s just a lyrical use of the name. The character that I am playing is not that cool that he could shake it like Shammi. It’s his attempt to shake it like Shammi to impress a girl. It’s not like Badtameez Dil where the guy is cool and can do a full-on item song performance. I think it’s come out in a fun and interesting way. I hope everyone likes it.
During Student Of The Year, Karan Johar said that dancing is something you need to focus on. Did you spend a lot of time rehearsing for Shake it Like Shammi? Remo D’Souza choreographed the song and was aware of that. We did a lot of rehearsals. Usually we don’t have a lot of time to rehearse. I was filming for something else but was rehearsing over night for five days for the song. It always helps to have more rehearsals as you will be more comfortable with the steps. I was quite conscious of it myself as I personally didn’t like the way I performed on the songs in Student Of The Year. I think, it also comes from the fact that I was never trained in dancing. My training began on the job. I learnt and picked up dancing as I was doing the film. It was tough for Shake It Like Shammi and Remo did make me rehearse a lot. We have some interesting steps and shots and hopefully the song will work with audiences.
What is your definition of love? It’s odd to sum up love in a few words or sentences. But for me, love is spending time with someone, being understanding of what the other person needs and being secure. I hate somebody being insecure and not giving me space, but then again, I think that is all men (laughs). There should be no pretense to it and can’t have any hidden agendas. To be in love with someone, it has to be an honest relationship and a lot of friendship. If you can have all these things and still enjoy the time you spend with someone, that is love. It also tells you a lot about a person if you go and spend some time alone with somebody. If you can manage to take break while you are dating and go away somewhere where you only have that person to talk to, that tells you a lot about how good your chemistry is.
HASEE TOH PHASEE opens in UK cinemas on 7th February 2014.
Karan Johar’s last directorial venture, My Name is Khan, went on to become the biggest blockbuster overseas of all times. Now, Johar is currently busy with preparations for his next film titled Student of the Year. Dharma Productions released the first look of the film earlier this year in January, at a time when the script of the film was not even finalized. The film stars three debutantes Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra in leading roles. Karan went on several trips to London and New York to write the script of his new film. However, Karan was facing writers block, and revealed to a tabloid: “I wrote one page and it ended there as three different ideas came into my head. I couldn’t write any more as I am confused now as to which idea I should develop for my next film.”
Rensil D’Silva, who directed the Saif-Kareena starrer Kurbaan for Johar’s company, then came on board to bring more creativity to the script. According to a source close to the production, the film will primarily be shot in India. But there might also be a schedule at a European resort.
The stars of the film have been trying to keep a low profile since SOTY was announced. Alia Bhatt, daughter of Mahesh Bhatt who has just finished school has already been linked to Varun Dhawan, son of veteran director Dawid Dhawan. Alia was introduced to Johar by Niranjan Iyengar, who has written dialogues and lyrics for Johar in the past. Iyengar described Alia as “a star waiting to happen.”
Varun and Siddharth Malhotra assisted Johar in My Name is Khan. Siddharth was an ambitious model from Delhi and somehow made his way into Dharma Productions. While Varun was recently holidaying while his brother shot his debut film Desi Boyz in London, there is not much known about what Siddharth is up to these days.
Karan Johar wanted to direct a fun film after MNIK, which was “emotionally exhausting” for him, and SOTY being a musical is the perfect choice. The first schedule of the film starts on the 16th of August 2011 with a lip-sync wedding song. The Kuch Kuch Hota Hai director was quoted saying, “if I am nervous I wonder what the 3 first timers are feeling?”
I certainly can’t wait for this one to come out on the big screen and for the actors to come to London to promote the film.
Was it distracting for you as an actor to shoot at popular tourist attractions such as Leicester Square in London?
Bollywood actor Sidharth Malhotra speaks to BollyNewsUK about his second Bollywood film, Hasee Toh Phasee.
Hasee Toh Phasee is quite a fun title…
What is your definition of love?
Karan Johar’s last directorial venture, My Name is Khan, went on to become the biggest blockbuster overseas of all times. Now, Johar is currently busy with preparations for his next film titled Student of the Year. Dharma Productions released the first look of the film earlier this year in January, at a time when the script of the film was not even finalized. The film stars three debutantes Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra in leading roles. Karan went on several trips to London and New York to write the script of his new film. However, Karan was facing writers block, and revealed to a tabloid: “I wrote one page and it ended there as three different ideas came into my head. I couldn’t write any more as I am confused now as to which idea I should develop for my next film.”
Karan Johar wanted to direct a fun film after MNIK, which was “emotionally exhausting” for him, and SOTY being a musical is the perfect choice. The first schedule of the film starts on the 16th of August 2011 with a lip-sync wedding song. The Kuch Kuch Hota Hai director was quoted saying, “if I am nervous I wonder what the 3 first timers are feeling?”