The boom in film business, howsoever small, is manifesting itself in elaborate muhurats and launch parties. Celebrating film launches had almost become a thing of the past, thanks in no small measure to the pessimistic climate prevailing in the film industry due to failing films. But with several new releases doing well in the last about four to five months, the mood in the industry is upbeat.

There were three muhurats in a matter of just four days, beginning September 6, the day on which Venus launched Elaan, to be directed by Vikram Bhatt. The muhurat party at The Intercontinental Hotel was a lavish affair with the film’s cast - Arjun Rampal, Rahul Khanna, John Abraham, Amisha Patel, Lara Dutta and Mithun Chakraborty - present in full force. The promotional trailer, made specially for the muhurat party, was very sleek and pretty impressive. Mithun plays a villain in the action film, which will be shot extensively in Cairo and Russia.

“This is one of our costlier films,” revealed Ratan Jain of Venus at the party attended by Amitabh Bachchan, Aftab Shivdasani, Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu and Aarti Chhabria, among others. The formal launch was followed by cocktails and dinner. Ratan Jain, Vikram Bhatt and their crew have already reached Moscow after finalising locations in Cairo where they flew soon after the party.

Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria lifted not just Vivek Oberoi’s spirits but those of the industry in general with the launch of a spirited film, Masti, on 9th September. It was for this muhurat that Vivek stepped into the studios for the first time in 50 days, after his foot was fractured on the sets of Mani Ratnam’s film in Calcutta in July. Co-starring with Vivek in the comedy fare, being directed by Indra Kumar, are Ajay Devgan, Aftab Shivdasani, Ritesh Deshmukh, Amrita Rao, Genelia D’souza, Tara Sharma and Lara Dutta. All except Lara (who was in South Africa) attended the muhurat.

The first shot was taken on the picture of Lord Hanuman, for which Indra Kumar’s elder sister, Aroona Irani, sounded the clapper-board. After seeking God’s blessings, Indu (Indra Kumar) and Ashok touched Aroona Irani’s feet and took her blessings too. A scene of the film was picturised at Film City on Ritesh and Genelia after the muhurat. It is being followed by a 4-day workshop. Shooting will begin again on 15th. The film, being made under the banner of Maruti International, has music by Anand Raaj Anand, lyrics by Sameer, screenplay and dialogue by Milap Jhaveri and Tushar Hira and cinematography by Mazhar Kamran.

Even as preparations were on for Ganpati visarjan the same day (9th September), producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director David Dhawan launched their Mujhse Shaadi Karogi at Filmistan Studios. The compound of Filmistan was choc-a-bloc with cars of the many trade people who had come to wish Nadiadwala and Dhawan good luck in their enterprise starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra. Sajid’s mother sounded the clapper-board for the muhurat shot taken on the three lead artistes. Written by Anees Bazmee, the film is being made under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. It has music by Anu Malik, choreography by Farah Khan and cinematography by Sanjay F.Gupta. A 15-day shooting schedule of the film began on Bombay locales soon after the muhurat luncheon party. The film will be complete by March 2004.

India Syndicate