–NEWDELHI
e has tickled the audi-
ence’s funny bone with
entertainers like
“Welcome” and “Singh
Is Kinng”. Now back
with “Welcome Back”, filmmaker
Anees Bazmee says that while
“buffoonery” with nudity and
double entendre dialogues is
easy, scoring a hit with “come-
dy” is “serious” business.
“Comedy is a very serious
business, and I may say that all
the comedy films that I have
made till date, I’ve written them
when I was not in good mood or
very angry,” Bazmee, who has
been in the film industry for
over 35 years, told IANS on
phone fromMumbai.
“Writing comedy is a very dif-
ficult job, but buffoonery is very
easy! One can write it whenev-
er...I don’t like to make the buf-
foonery kind of films. I don’t
believe in shortcuts like putting
lines that have a double mean-
ing or to show nudity,” he said.
The filmmaker, who has also
written movies like “Raju
Chacha”, “King Uncle” and “Pyar
To Hona Hi Tha”, in fact, prefers
to make movies which calls for a
family audience.
“I don’t believe in that (buf-
foonery), I only believe in mak-
ing films which I can see with
my wife and daughter... I just
want my films to be more fami-
ly-oriented, which families can
watch together,” he added.
Bazmee’s “Welcome Back” is a
sequel to his 2008 super hit
Akshay Kumar starrer
“Welcome”. It features an
ensemble cast, including John
Abraham, Shruti Haasan,
Naseeruddin Shah, Anil Kapoor,
Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal and
Dimple Kapadia.
A sequel was a challenge.
Bazmee says he was aware
that “making a sequel of
‘Welcome’ will not be easy”. And
he says this was “the only rea-
son” it took him to so long to
make it. “If I made a film com-
pletely on the lines of ‘Welcome’
again, then people would think
that they have seen something
like that before... But if I made a
very different movie, then peo-
ple would be disappointed and
think that we did not come to
see this, we came to see
‘Welcome Back’.... So I had to
make a new ‘Welcome’, which
had to have that uncanny
resemblance to the first part.
“As a director, I thought it was
a very challening part.”
He also clarified that John is
“not a replacement” for Akshay
in the new film, and war roped
in because the sequel just need-
ed a new character.
Nevertheless, Bazmee is sure he
will team up with the Bollywood
‘khiladi’ again some day.
“Askhay is a complete actor
and a big star... his comedy tim-
ing (is great). He does amazing
action... What Akshay can do no
one else can do. We have
thought of doing films in the
future, and even I want that we
do more work together,” Bazmee
said.
- IANS
News India Times
September 11, 2015
22
– that’s all you need to know
Arts & Entertainment
Buffoonery Is Easy, Comedy Is Not: Filmmaker Anees Bazmee
H
Rape Charges Framed
Against ‘Peepli Live’ Director
– MUMBAI
A
court here on Sept.2
framed rape charges
against Bollywood
movie “Peepli Live” director
Mahmood Farooqui, who is
accused of sexually assaulting
an American woman.
Additional Sessions Judge
Sanjiv Jain framed rape
charges against Farooqui and
posted the matter for
September 9 for begining the
trial.
The court will record the
statement of the complainant
on September 14 and, there-
fore, it kept Farooqui’s bail
plea pending till then.
Farooqui is in judicial custody
since June 20.
In July, Delhi Police
charge-sheeted Farooqui
under sections dealing with
rape and destruction of evi-
dence for allegedly raping the
35-year-old American
woman. The woman, who is
pursuing PhD fromColumbia
University, was in India for
research work.
- IANS
Didn’t Like Script Of
‘Katti Batti’ first: Imran
– MUMBAI
A
ctor Imran Khan, who will
be next seen in Nikhil
Advani’s romantic thriller
“Katti Batti”, has revealed that ini-
tially he did not like the script as
he could not “get a hold of it”.
“I troubled Nikhil a lot.When I
first read the script, I did not get a
hold of it. I called Nikhil straight-
away and said I did not like it,”
Imran said here.
Talking about how Nikhil con-
vinced him for the role when he
did not like the script, Imran said:
“Nikhil wanted me to let him nar-
rate the story once more. As I was
in a mood of not doing the
movie, so I thought what differ-
ence would it make if he narrates.
So I kept delaying it for one or
two months.
“After so many ifs and buts
and delaying, when Nikhil came
to narrate the story, within 20
minutes I wondered if this is the
same story I read before.”
Imran confessed that the
director had described the story
to him in a completely different
angle, which he didn’t think of
when he read it.
“I started visualising the char-
acters and the moments of the
story. I’ve been in this situation.
It’s like repeating my personal
life,” he said.
Imran also disclosed that at
the end of the narration, he apol-
ogised to Advani for not getting
the point of the story earlier.
“Katti Batti” is scheduled to
release on September 18.
- IANS
Nawazuddin
Ready To Act
In Hollywood
– MUMBAI
A
ctor Nawazuddin
Siddiqui, who has
made his mark in
Bollywood with films like
“Gangs ofWasseypur 2”,
“Kick”, “Kahaani” and
“Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, to
name a few, says he
would love to be part of a
Hollywood project, pro-
vided he lands a “perfor-
mance-oriented” role.
Nawazuddin, whose
movies are usually loved
at international film festi-
vals, was present at the
success party of his latest
film“Manjhi- The
MountainMan” here on
Wednesday when he was
asked about his
Hollywood plans.
He said: “If I’ll get a
chance to do a perform-
ance-oriented role or if I
found something inter-
esting, then definitely I
will do that.”
Directed by Ketan
Mehta, Nawazuddin’s lat-
est release “Manjhi- The
MountainMan” has been
praised for the actor’s
intense performance.
- IANS
