am really looking forward to this one, it will the “ek hasina thi” directors next thriller. it will be really interesting to see how he does post-ramu…


From Dharam to Johnny Gaddaar

By: Upala KBR


Shriram Raghavan is all set to begin his next film, Johnny Gaddaar — a suspense thriller, love story and black comedy rolled into one. Produced by Jhamu Sugandh, the film will have Dharmendra in a pivotal role. Shriram’s last film was the Saif-Urmila starrer, Ek Hasina Thi. Talking about the title, Shriram says, “I’ve been a big fan of Vijay Anand since I was a kid. The earliest movie I saw was his Johny Mera Naam. This is in no way similar, but is a kind of a homage to one of my favourite movies, hence the title.”

Hungering for roles

Dharmendra plays a major character in the film. Says the director, “When I narrated the script to Dharamji, he loved it. During the narration, he’d suddenly stop me and enact a particular scene, and give three four variations to choose from. That’s something rare. He’s got more humility and hunger for a good role than most newcomers today.”

Gentleman thief

Elaborating on Dharmendra’s role Shriram says, “He plays an old-time criminal who comes out of retirement to do one last job. He was a criminal in the 70s… the kind who smuggled watches, foreign goods, maybe gold, occasionally. He believes in values and honour among thieves. I wanted only Dharamji to play this role. I thought he would be the perfect choice for this character in Johnny — an actor of great stature and dignity.”

Next Pulp Fiction?

Johnny Gaddaar features an ensemble cast. “The characters are varied and vivid and we are in the process of finalising the other actors,” says Shriram. “Sandesh Shandilya will give the music for the film, which is in the mood of films like Snatch, Fargo and Pulp Fiction. These are big names I’m dropping here… I hope I get somewhere in that region.”

Sriram Raghavan to launch Mukesh's grandson

By Subhash K. Jha

Director Sriram Raghavan of 'Ek Haseena Thi' fame is introducing Neil Mathur, grandson of the legendary singer Mukesh, in his next film 'Johnny Gaddaar'. Many decades ago, Neil's illustrious grandfather had started his career as an actor in films like 'Nirdosh', 'Dukh Sukh', 'Adaab Arz', 'Anurag' and a cameo in Raj Kapoor's 'Aah'.

Neil is aware of the Mukesh mantle that he must carry forward. 'Acting has been a dream for me since I was four. In fact, I did two films as a child. It was acting and not singing that interested me. And my father (singer Nitin Mukesh) always encouraged me. I believe one can be successfully creative in any field of showbiz - acting, direction or singing. For me it is acting,' Neil told IANS.

Neil claims he has been getting several offers. 'I have been reading scripts. But I want to focus on 'Johnny Gaddaar'. I'll start something new after this film. We are shooting 'Johnny Gaddaar' in a non-stop start-to-finish schedule. I can't start anything else until it is through.'

Sriram's last film 'Ek Haseena Thi' came two years ago. It took him that long to break free of Ram Gopal Varma's fold and discover another area of creative activity.

But now he is directing a film strangely entitled 'Johnny Gaddaar'. What on earth is that? 'It is a caper thriller,' explains Sriram. 'If I had to pick a genre it would have to be in the same line of vision as Tony Scott's 'True Romance' or Joel Coen's 'Blood Simple'. Nearer home I'd say it is like Abbas-Mustan's 'Baazigar'.'

I'm looking forward to this, hopefully it'll be as good as Ek Hasina Thi.

Online promo at indiafm;

http://www.indiafm.com/broadband/video/ ... ddaar.html

& Youtube;

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ktPpW2u0hlQ

Ali

Sriram Raghavan is a cinephilia and Johnny Gaddaar is largely an exercise in masturbatory film-geekery.

So Raghavan is the Bollywood Tarantino?

Bingo Amigo.

I have heard from several friends that the film is really excellent. A friend from the US was visiting last week and he thought the film was superb, keep in mind he normally cannot stand Hindi (Bollywood) films. Personally I am looking forward to seeing the film, just have not had the chance to do so yet. 'Ek Hasina Thi' is one of my all time favorite Indian thriller movies.

is it really remake of johny mera naam

It is not a remake of 'Johny Mera Naam' or any other film and is supposed to be a totally original. The title is the director's tribute to 'Johny Mera Naam' which happens to be his favorite film.

Breaking News

The sequel will be titled
Johnny Tokyo

Johnny Gaddaar has an induced screenplay from all sorts of places; novels, hollywood, even bollywood. Evidently, and more closely, it seems to follow the narrative structure of (minor spoiler) Jackie Brown, though, this could ultimately be argued, since the name James Hadley Chase is heavily promoted in this film to the point that everyone in Raghavan world knows of no other author. I enjoyed this film more than Ek Hasina Thi, which is saying alot, since I initially didn't like the latter film and it eventually grew on me over a process of repeated viewing on television.

Sriram Raghavan continues to show he's filled with potential new ideas for Bollywood films, even if borrowed, his execution omits any fakery or moments of deja vu.

Is this showing anywhere in the UK? I couldn't find any cinema listings for this.

Ali

No matter Boxoffice reports indicating it to be a flop, word of mouth publicity will make this film a hit (or at least profitable) eventually. I haven't seen this film yet but sure would like to see it at first opportunity. I anticipated this film to be a hit as it has the lucky mascot Rimi Sen. All her films have done well, no matter how small or insignificant her role.

Nope - Adlabs decided against releasing it in the UK cos it had no big stars and an Adult certificate.