Ajay Jadeja makes film debut
Arun Roy

SMARTING under a five-year suspension over his alleged involvement in match-fixing, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja is trying his luck on the silver screen. He makes his debut in Pammi Sandhu’s hitherto untitled film with Urmila Matondkar and Sunil Shetty as his co-stars.

"If it is fated, I will be successful here too," says the swashbuckling batsman who recently tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart, Aditi Jaitley. I have never planned anything in my life — not my cricket, ad films, even movies. These just happened."

Jadeja follows ex-cricketers, such as Sandeep Patil and Syed Kirmani who have flirted with Bollywood and achieved varying degrees of success. But that does not bother the current debutante much.

"I don’t think it is fair to make comparisons," says Jadeja. "I have not seen any cricketer’s performance in films, except, perhaps, Kirmani’s. But then, why talk of cricketers alone? People from other professions and walks of life have come to the film industry with dreams and returned failures."

Earlier, he says, he had an offer to act in a film with Madhuri Dixit, but due to a "problem getting dates to coincide" the project had to be abandoned. Now that he is free from all cricketing commitments, he will be in a better position to allot dates to interested producers.

For the present though, Jadeja is busy travelling. "It is part of my marriage compulsions," he quips. "I have got to visit some religious places with my wife. Once I am back in Mumbai, I will take classes in acting, dancing and whatever else one has to learn."

The case Jadeja had filed challenging his five-year suspension, is coming up for hearing on September 9. "Cricket is still my first love and I would always want to go back to it," he remarks. "Whatever be the decision of the court, I would want to play for India some time." — (MF)

“I will have to work hard to establish myself”

HER childhood has been spent in the lap of a legend like Raj Kapoor. Though Kareena Kapoor has yet to prove herself beyond a shadow of doubt on the big screen, a great amount of hype has already surrounded her. Directors and co-stars say she is both natural and spontaneous.

She realises she’ll have to work hard and that her lineage will only make things a bit easy for her. And if she can live up to the hype she has created, then she will enhance the reputation of a family which has been in films for four generations. Excerpts from an interview of Kareena with Meenakshi Sharma

I think ‘Refugee’ was a very good film. And isn’t it a dream debut when you have a director like J.P. Dutta and a starson like Abhishek Bachchan for your first film? As far as my second film, ‘Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai’ is concerned, it has had a very good opening.

Tushar and I have been friends since childhood. People may think he’s a bit shy but we got along like a house on fire and kept chatting on the sets. I am certain he’ll go far in the film industry. He’s done a very good role in ‘Mujhe Kucch Kahna Hai’

[Crosses her fingers]... I’ve given my best and will leave it to the audience to be the judge. But I am sincerely hoping and praying the film is a big success.

Definitely to producer Vashu Bhagnani and director Satish Kaushik. They are both extremely talented and dedicated. It’s a great learning experience working with them.

I am a firm believer in destiny. There is no point in harping over things you have done or not done in the past. For me what matters is the present and, of course, the future. Opportunities keep knocking at your door. If you are willing to work hard they will keep coming back. Now I am doing ‘Yaadein’ with Hrithik, am I not?

It feels great. Karisma is the number one leading lady of Bollywood and I am proud to be her younger sister. She is my best friend, my guiding force and my inspiration. She gives me a great sense of security. This industry can very cruel to newcomers. But if you have an elder sister like Karisma you can feel very confident.

All I know is that the script for the next R.K. banner is being readied. The casting has yet to be decided. Whether Karisma and I are offered the roles or somebody else gets them remains to be seen.

It will be silly of me to presume that I will be automatically accepted as an actress just because of my grandfather, father, mother or sister. I will have to work hard to establish myself. My lineage will only make things a bit easy for me because the industry holds our family in high regard. I would not like to take any other advantage beyond that.

There’s ‘Aryan’ opposite Abhishek, ‘Yaadein’ opposite Hrithik, Abbas-Mastan’s ‘Ajnabee’, Yash Chopra’s ‘Mujhse Dosti Karoge’, Sooraj Barjatya’s ‘Main Hoon Prem Diwani’ and Santosh Sivan’s ‘Ashoka’. Then there are ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’ opposite Salman Khan and Sunjay Dutt, ‘Talaash’ opposite Sunny Deol and Akshay Kumar, ‘Chori Chori’ with Ajay Devgan and of course Karan Johar’s ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ with Shah Rukh, Kajol, Jaya aunty and Amit uncle.

As I said being the sister of someone as talented as Karisma has advantages. Most of the film-makers whose projects I am doing have worked with my sister and the results have been excellent. Now they expect me to do wonders for their films just the way she did. — (NF)

BOLLYWOOD DIGEST
by Gautam Grover

• Writer-producer Sanjay Sinha has announced ‘Kabhi Dulhan Kabhi Sautan’ with Rajeev Sharan as his director. The film will mount the sets with a four-day shoot at Madh Island, near Mumbai soon after the finalisation of members of the cast and crew.
  
  

• Director B.B. Mukherjee launched ‘Sarhhad’ with a ten-day shoot at Chandivali Studios and Kamal Amrohi Studios in Mumbai. Lead stars Chandrachur Singh, Mahima Chaudhary, Sharad Kapoor and Sayaji Shinde took part in many action and dramatic scenes.
  
  

• Sanjay Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Arbaaz Khan and Aditi Govitrikar took part in a 16-day shoot for ‘Soch’ at Natraj Studios and film city in Mumbai. Director Sushen Bhatnagar canned a song and some dramatic scenes on them during this schedule.
  
  

• Two songs and some romantic scences were filmed on Sunny Deol and Tabu for ‘Jaal — The Trap’ over a 19-day marathon shoot at Shimla. With Guddu Dhanoa as director, the film has Anupam Kher, Farida Jalal and Amrish Puri in supporting roles.
  
  

• Sanjay Dutt, Chandrachur Singh, Shamita Shetty and Anju Mahendroo took part in the filming of many action and dramatic scenes for ‘Mohabbat Ho Gayi Hai Tumse’ at a private bungalow in Juhu, Mumbai. Rakesh Talwar is the director of the film.
  
  

• Following a ten-day shoot in Scotland, director David Dhawan has moved to Hyderabad with the unit of ‘Kyonki...Main Jhoot Nahin Bolta’ for the filming of some dramatic scenes with lead stars Govinda, Sushmita Sen, Rambha and Anupam Kher.
  
  

• Director Mahesh Manjrekar has completed a 27-day schedule for ‘Tera Mera Saath Rahen’ at Kamal Amrohi Studios and other locations of Mumbai. Lead stars Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre, Namrata Shirodkar and Prem Chopra took part.
  
  

• Many action and dramatic scenes were canned over a week-long shoot for ‘Sabse Badhkar Hum’ at film city and other locations of Mumbai. Lead stars Mithun Chakraborty, Rituparna, Ranjeet and Sadashiv Amrapurkar took part.
  
  

• Music composer Babloo Chakravarty has recorded all six songs for ‘Shararat’ at Sahara Studios, Mumbai. Starring Abhishek Bachchan, Hrishita Bhatt, Amrish Puri, Dara Singh and Helen, the film is making rapid progress with Gurudev Bhalla as producer and director.
  
  

• Raveena Tandon and Danny Denzongpa have completed the dubbing for ‘Ek Hindustani’ with Tinnu Anand as director and Sunil Shetty, Mohnish Bahl and Kulbhushan Kharbanda playing key roles, the film is being scheduled for an early release. — (MF)