Banking on Shiva

Ram Gopal Verma’s latest finds—Nisha Kothari and Mohit Ahlawat—seem to have struck the right chords with the audience, says Srabanti Chakrabarti

IT’S not a good time for Ram Gopal Verma. A string of flops and only one hit—Sarkar—in the last couple of years has made the film-making factory think twice about his strategy. And the new strategy seems to be to follow in the footsteps of mega-hits and make remakes. The cases in point are Shiva and Sholay. Though it’s too early to say whether his strategy will succeed or not, his latest finds—Nisha Kothari and Mohit Ahlawat—seem to have struck the right chords with the audience.

For both Mohit and Nisha, this is their second film together. But is a remake a good launching pad, considering the fact that their first film was not a big hit? Says the handsome hulk Mohit, "First, let me tell you that this is not a remake of the old movie. The only similarity is in the lead protagonist who fights for justice against the system. I am playing the role of a Sub-Inspector who fights against the whole system."

Adds Nisha, the short and sexy actress who is making waves with her curves, "I am playing a crime reporter in the film and have worked very hard for it. For playing the role, I have studied journalists very closely—the way you people look and dress, the way you carry yourself and even the way you talk. And beyond that all I had to do was to follow Ram Gopal Verma blindly."

When it comes to RGV, both Mohit and Nisha seem to be wanting for words to praise him. Says Mohit, "I consider RGV as a sensible director who believes in what he does. He knows how to use his actors. I always dreamt of launching my career with the RGV banner and I am thankful that it happened." Nisha adds, "I think he is an electrifying director."

Interestingly, both Mohit and Nisha come from non-filmy backgrounds. While Mohit’s granddad was from the British Army and father an industrialist in Delhi, Nisha was born and brought up in an ordinary home in Kolkata.

"My dad was totally against my career initially and according to him I was wasting my time. After James, his views have changed." Contrary to what most of his fans think, Mohit is married and has a 55-day-old daughter. "My wife supports me fully and hopefully so will my daughter. I came to Mumbai 10 years back and was totally struck with stardom. But I was weighing 120 kg then and knew that I had to reduce drastically to get a place in the film industry. I reduced to 77 kg within a couple of months and started visiting different producers and directors for a break. I met RGV a couple of years back and he said when a suitable project came up, he would contact me and that is how James happened." Nisha’s story, however, is completely different. "I was born and brought up in Kolkata and came to Delhi six years back. Couple of years back I came to Mumbai to meet RGV and returned home after a brief discussion with him. Within a few days I got a call from him and he told me that he wanted to cast me for James. That’s how I entered the film industry." Are we going to see another Mallika Sherawat in the making? Nisha protests vehemently. "If you look at Shiva, most of the scenes where I have wore sexy outfits are dream sequences. And for James, the story demanded revealing outfits. What is wrong in exposing if the story demands so? But I want to do other kind of roles as well to prove my capability."

Mohit, on the other hand, is being touted as the next big thing in Bollywood. But the actor doesn’t believe in that. "Media has written a lot about me and about the fact that I am the next superstar. But personally I don’t give much importance to such reports. I used to expect a lot from people, but got a shock with James. Now all I believe in is hard work."

Mohit is also banking heavily on RGV’s adaptation of Sholay, where he is playing the role of Amitabh Bachchan. "It’s a dream come true for me. Believe it or not, I have seen Sarkar 50 times." Nisha, on the other hand, is doing a new RGV film Go with a newcomer. She is tight-lipped about the storyline and asks her fans to wait and watch.

Both of them, it seems, are hoping to strike big time with Shiva. We have to wait for a few weeks to know what their, and Shiva’s fate will be.

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