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Being autistic is almost like the crest of being artistic. Hrithik Roshan did the autistic act with National award winning elan in Koi Mil Gaya. And just as we heard of Shahrukh Khan turning autistic for his role as the isolated Muslim in New York in Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan, comes the news that Anil Kapoor will be seen playing an autistic character in Subhash Ghai’s Yuvvraaj. Says a source, “Anil plays elder brother to Salman Khan and Zayed Khan. Subhash Ghai had been meaning to incorporate a physically-psychologically challenged character into his script for a long time. It was Anil who told Subhashji the story idea for Yuvvraaj.”Apparently, Raj Kapoor at one time wanted to make a similar film written for him by his long-term collaborator Jainendra Jain.Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Anil Kapoor is playing an autistic character. In K Vishwanath’s Eeshwar twenty years ago, Anil was cast as a ’slow’ saintly man (this was the closest we came to describing autism in those days) who wins over the village widow.
Anil has self admittedly copied Raj Kapoor in Eeshwar. If sources are to be believed, Anil’s reference point in Yuvvraaj is Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.Other screen heroes to suffer psychological disorders include Sanjeev Kumar in Anhonee and Khilona, Jeetendra in Jyoti and Amol Palekar in Solva Sawan.
Yesterday’s Hitlist story ‘AB tera kya hoga, Basu?’ has created a stir in B-Town. Director Anurag Basu in a Stardust interview maintained that it was time Amitabh Bachchan retire gracefully. This has led to the big debate whether the Big B should quit or not.Though most film folk maintain that making such a statement is outrageous, there are also whispers that he should. Though no one wants to be named, a director on condition of annoymity says, “Amitabh Bachchan has now become an internet blogger.He only has energy and time left for the blog he has started now. I feel that he should let acting be now.”But for the rest, Big B should never retire. Read on what filmfolk say….
Anil Kapoor, who was one of the most bankable stars of the ‘80s, is having a successful second run at the box-office. So much so that he is giving stiff competition to Amitabh Bachchan. There have been several instances in the recent past when producers decided to settle for Kapoor rather than Bachchan. Kapoor says, “I got back to the grind thinking that occasional films will keep me busy. Fortunately, I bagged the right scripts, best directors and everything fell into place. Trust me I have never enjoyed doing films as much as I do today.”The story goes that Aditya Chopra also discouraged Tashan director Vijay Krishna Acharya from signing Bachchan to play a crucial negative character in the film. The role eventually went to Kapoor. Apparently, Bachchan’s portrayal of the modern-day Gabbar in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag was one of the reasons why he wasn’t offered the role in Tashan. A source from the production house reveals, “Adi (Aditya Chopra) felt that Anil will portray the sexual streak in the character more effectively than Mr Bachchan. Also, unlike Mr Bachchan, Anil isn’t overexposed.”Similarly, Percept Picture Company was insistent on making Johnny Walker with Kapoor. But director Shoojit Sircar took the same script to UTV Motion Pictures as he was rooting for Bachchan in the lead role. It’s a different story that Kapoor begged out of Percept’s Johnny Walker as Bachchan has already shot for Sircar’s film, which is now titled Shoe-bite.Kapoor explains, “I clearly told Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director of Percept Holdings, that there is no point in making a film with the same content. It would have only resulted in negativity and that’s why I stepped down.”Trainspotting director Danny Boyle also cast Kapoor as the Kaun Banega Crorepati host in his film, Slumdog Millionaire, which releases in October.Kapoor’s young looks, ability to convincingly play flamboyant characters, and his conscious decision to stay away from brand endorsements have only worked to the actor’s advantage. “Like Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor, I have never believed in brand endorsements. Although my children think that I’m a fool, I will never endorse any brand. Naturally, I’m not overexposed and it has definitely given me an edge over the rest,” adds a rather frank Kapoor.A trade analyst, on condition of anonymity, says, “Anil Kapoor has suddenly become a very, very interesting option for filmmakers.
