Lots of salt ’n’ pepper
Bollywood is not new territory for multilingual actor-director Prakash Rai (popular as Prakash Raj in Kollywood). Prakash, who as acted in over 10 Hindi films including Khakee, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Zanjeer, is now all set to hold the megaphone for his upcoming project Tadka .
Prakash Rai, who ventured into direction through Naanu Nanna Kanasu , a remake of Abhiyum Naanum by Radha Mohan has directed Dhoni (a remake of a Marathi film), Oggarane (Kannada), Un Samayal Arayil (Tamil) Ulavacharu Biryani (Telugu) — remakes of Malayalam film Salt N’ Pepper . Besides directing these films, Prakash Rai was also the protagonist of all these versions!
Now he is directing Tadka, again a remake of Salt N’ Pepper, this time in Hindi. According to film industry sources, Prakash Rai has asked Nana Patekar to essay the lead role this time around. Shriya Sharan will be paired with him. The shooting will likely to commence in June, said sources close to Rai.
Culinary art plays a major part in the film, which revolves around the midlife crisis of an archaeologist and a dubbing artist, who share a passion for good food.
Sharan’s Jai Maruthi 800 kicks off Ugadi
Jai Maruthi 800 has just released over this Ugadi weekend. With a godly title like that, and the Maruti car that’s been featured in the film you could be wondering about the point of the name. It’s the third from the stables of choreographer-turned-director
A. Harsha with the name of Lord Hanuman in the title — after Bhajarangi and Vajrakaaya . Good luck charm, maybe?
The film has a huge ensemble cast starring Sharan, Shruti Hariharan, Shubha Poonja, Sadhu Kokila, Arun Sagar and nearly 10 comedians! Shot in small villages in North Karnataka, Belgaum, and even Malaysia, the film, produced by Jayanna, has music composed by Arjun Janya.
Sharan, who hails from a famous family of theatre and film actors in Karnataka (his sister Shruti was a popular actress of the 90s; his parents and grandparents were part of the famous Gubbi theatre company), is trying to carve a niche for himself in the world of comedy, with films like Rambo, Adyaksha, Bullet Basya in his kitty. Fans of Sharan have looked forward to his six-pack-abs look (which took 11 months of dedicated workouts, the actor says) as much as they have to the songs, which created a great buzz for the movie in its pre-release phase.
