Nikhil Dwivedi -Richa shoots boldest scene in Tamanchey –rumouredl​y based on Abu Salem’s love story

 Nikhil Dwivedi -Richa shoots boldest scene in Tamanchey –rumouredly based on Abu Salem’s love story! Nikhil Dwivedi post the outstanding positive reviews for his performance in  RAAVAN, SHOR IN THE CITY is rumoured to play a role
close on the lines of real life romance of Abu Salem and Monica Bedi in TAMANCHEY.Tamanchey is an aggressive and passionate love story between two criminals whilst on the run from the law. Based on the lives of gangsters, Tamanchey will be a realistic take on the lives of the people in the underworld, using a lot of facts merged with fiction with references to real gangster incidents. Nikhil Dwivedi and Delhi based Richa Chadda apparently even shot a
very steamy scene  which is slated to be one of the boldest acts in Bollywood, whilst shooting for their schedule in Gujarat that will replicate Azamgarh Abu Salem’s birthplace. Sources also confirm that a lot of research has gone in the script and during the pre-production of the film to re-create, authentic
scenarios and exact sets. The source continues that Anurag Kashyap loved the script and supported producer Suryaveer and director Bharat to the hilt by helping them with the team and also with the casting of not only the leading man and Richa Chadda, but every single cast member.

The trade in Mumbai are now very bullish on Nikhil Dwivedi career which is on the upswing (He is also shooting for a Vikram Bhatt film in Delhi presently). Says a trade source "After the success of Shor – in the City audiences are very keen on seeing Nikhil play very real and relevant characters. Very few actors playing these kinds of characters have managed to strike a chord with audiences but Nikhil has excelled in this space".Meanwhile Nikhil has also been reading the Godfather series and has done real life research on gangsters so that he gets the character pitch right.Speaks a lot on ‘Actors Integrity’ –Wot say!

Former IPS Officer Y.P.Singh and his wife Producer Abha Singh First time ever to Walk the Ramp at “Rotofest Fashion Show” to introduce the Cast of the Film “Kya Yahi Sach Hai” with Live Performa

 Y. P. Singh’s hard-hitting film ‘Kya YahiSach Hai’ on police and bureaucratic corruption ready for release on 30th December
An international award-winning film on police corruption andbureaucratic apathy in India that can never really be forgotten or ignored... afilm on the administration’s indifference and insensitivity that will make youthink and bring tears to your eyes! The most eagerly awaited and anticipatedreality film, 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' based on the best-selling novel 'Carnage byAngels' written by IPS officer Y.P. Singh (while still in office but since thenhe has resigned) is ready for release. The film recounts an autobiographicalaccount of how social activists like Anna Hazare and Medha Patkar amongst manyothers tried their best to stand with Y. P. Singh but the powerful and thewicked had their way and 2 years after writing the novel he had to leave theIPS.
'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' is a hard-hitting film arousing enormousemotions and reactions. Shot in authentic locales, this 2 hours 20 minutes longfilm narrates a first-hand account of the powerful stories, which run throughthe bureaucracy and the police administration. The thinly veiled account ofcorruption and callousness, which prevails in our system sends shudders downthe spine of the viewers and makes them contemplate amidst surging emotionsscintillating music.
Talking about the film, Y. P. Singh says, “It was the year 1990when I had just joined as the police chief of Wardha District of Maharashtraand had my first brush with police corruption. As the years rolled by, I couldsee corruption in all its facets spread all over. Almost everyone gotinterested in paid postings which gave the officer full freedom to earn bribesfrom the innocent public, without any fear from seniors. It was in thosemoments of anguish that I decided to write this reality-based novel – ‘Carnageby Angels’. But by doing that I had invited my doom in the IPS. The powerfulgot after me the big way. But it was my resolve to see that the truth comes outwide and open before the people.”
Y. P. Singh adds, “‘Kya Yahi Sach Hai’ is a very high contentreality film, which grips the viewer lapping up the film with bated breath.Even though the film is of 2 hours and 20 min yet, when the film gets over thepeople think that it has just started. IT IS PLAINLY THE POWER OF THE SCRIPTUNLEASHED. Since the script is highly original and is based primarily on thecharacter artists, hence it was decided to take powerful actors rather thanstars so as to maintain the integrity and enormous power of the script.Needless to add that time has come where, just like in Hollywood, we need topromote intellectualism of the country, rather than to degrade it with formulafilms and cheap comedies. With this film we intend to launch a mission –Protect the honest to remove corruption.”
Unlike other police films – ‘Kya Yahi Sach Hai’ is a non-actionfilm driven by intense emotions. Raghu Kumar is a young trainee Indian PoliceService (IPS) officer. During the course of his training, he is being taughtcycle patrolling in the streets when the head constable giving training comesout with certain startling revelations. This head constable gives an honestconfession about his largely corrupt activities in the detection branch ofKotwali Police Station and how one incident changed his life, and which madehim give up corruption and take to honesty. Overwhelmed in emotions, this IPSofficer and his wife resolve not to earn bribes in the police as that would bean unforgivable sin – A Carnage by Angels! But as this officer goes to thedistrict police in Kolhapur and then to Mumbai police, he starts confrontingthe real picture. What he saw was a profound nexus of police, bureaucrats,power-brokers, and politicians – all hidden by the glittering curtain of"Rule of Law" and administrative sophistication. As this emotionalstory unfolds, what emerges in the film is a graphic narration of intrigue,deceit, sex, love and money in the world of glamour, police, bureaucracy,politicians, citizens, corporate bodes, powerbrokers, doctors and media.

About the Novel 'Carnage by Angels'
This novel was written by IPS officer Y.P. Singh when he was stillserving in the police force and had emerged as a best-seller during its times.Some of the comments about the novel are given hereunder:
"The reading almost brought tears in the eyes of everyonepresent" - The Asian Age.
"This fictionalized account is a ready reckoner oncorruption" - India Today.
"IPS officer's book set to raise hell" - Mid-day.
"Gunning it with the pen ....." - The Statesman.
"Carnage by Angels - on sleaze, sex, and corruption in thePolice ... won the praise of former top cops ..." The Telegraph.
"The widespread rot ... has been vividly exposed by servingIPS officer Y.P. Singh in his ... novel Carnage y Angels" - Time ofIndia,.
"Topical. A through expose ... " - Julio Ribeiro.
“An honest IPS officer’s life story tailor-made for Bollywood.”Khaleej Times.
“The protagonist in Carnage by Angels, young IPS officer RaghuKumar, takes on the vicious world of political manipulations, postings,transfers, sex, deceit, money, powerbrokers and underworld.” The IndianExpress.
“Avenging Angels.” Outlook.
“A novel …delves deep into the deceit and deception by cops, whoare expected to be upright and transparent in their functioning.” Sahara Time.
“Politicians pull strings, corruption police and civil servantssurrender meekly and criminals have a field day.” South China Morning Post.

Anushka Sharma’s Interview

Q. From the successful Band Baaja Baaraat to Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl…how has the success journey been?
Yaar, kabhi jab main dekhti hun ki yeh film Band Baaja Baaraat itni badi success hogi ya hume itna pyaar milega tho sochti hoon ye kissi one man show nahi tha - I think everyone’s work has been appreciated on this film. I think somewhere as a team we were trying to do that. Jab hum bana rahe the iss film ko, energies were real good. It was a young team –and everybody was there to prove themselves toh hum log ek film bana rahe the hum sab logon ko script se pyaar tha hum sab logon ko un characters se pyaar tha aur hum ek film bana rahein hain Band Baaja Baaraat, lekin ab jab main sochti hoon hume nahi laga tha ki hum successful film banana ja rahein hain ya dekho ki main aisse performance karungi iss film mein ya Director Maneesh ne soocha ki meri pehli film mein main dikha dunga sabko ki main zabardast director hun. Kissi ka attitude aisa nahi tha, sab logon ko film acchi lagi and we stayed true to the subject so a film like Band Baaja Baaraat came about and I think koi bhi jo successful films rahi hain ab tak, I don’t think makers, filmmakers, actors, technicians have ever thought that we are going to turn this into a blockbuster we are going to turn this into a cult film. Aisa soch ke aap films nahi bana sakte. You just make films with a clean heart, you make films because you are in love with those scripts, you make films because you are in love with the characters and you make them and then a Band Baaja Baaraat is created!
Q. When the shoot of Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl began, BBB was still running in theatres and the experience of working on BBB was still fresh in your mind-what did you feel when you were offered LVRB with the same team (except for the three ladies) the technicians and the core team, you and Ranveer are the same so what did you feel when you got this film?
See because I know Director Maneesh you know, I knew that when he is going to set out to make another film right after BBB mujhe itna pata tha that he is not going to make something even close to or similar to BBB and I knew that. So when I read the script of LVRB I was like see I knew this - he is not going to make another BBB. This film is the opposite of BBB and yet there are some moments which make you feel reminiscent of BBB but in such a different environment, in such a different space with two very different characters and you know they are very different from Bittoo and Shruti but at the same time the situation might remind you of something but the environment, the body language and the way the characters are speaking - the way Director Maneesh is taking the shots, it completely changes the whole thing so I think ki disadvantage or advantage or I don’t know what you want to call it hai being that BBB is like a monkey on our backs right now or for everyone who is expecting a BBB. So if people are coming to watch BBB they are not going to watch BBB - they are watching a very different film, a very good film and exciting film, a very stylized film and a film which has intelligence yet it has emotions and a lot of freshness because of the three girls in the film jo sabki I think sabki almost pehli film hai and I think aise three faces hain jo kabhi dekhe nahi hain which has added so much of freshness to this film and then of course there is me and Ranveer but poora jod ke ye ek cast ensemble hai. Yeh technicians aur ye saari team jo assemble hui hai it’s the same almost but with a very different film this time - yeh maine expect kiya tha Director Maneesh se ki he is not going to do the same thing and yeh he hua and I think we have made a good film!
Q. Tell us about your character Ishika?
I think maine ek baat jo identify kari is character ke saath woh ye thi ki jab you know when a girl lives alone in a city like Mumbai or in a city like Bangalore or Delhi you naturally develop a sense of independence, a sense of you know you start to guard your surroundings and you guard yourself. You shield yourself very well and you become street smart. I think that always almost happens and it’s a very natural progression so even if you come from a protected family and if you are living alone in Bombay you will become a strong girl who needs to take care of herself in a very positive way so I think this is what for me Ishika is. Ishika is a very strong girl and she is very intelligent girl and an adventurous girl. She loves life and she seeks pleasure in life and at the same time she has her head on her shoulders and she is carefully guarding herself. She is street smart, quirky and intelligent and I think these qualities make her very relatable - like a lot of girls will be able to relate to Ishika.
Q. How did you prepare for your character - did you go through a process of readings with director Maneesh Sharma and with Habib Faisal?
After working with director Maneesh on the first film and with Habib sir I would like to surrender myself to these two people because they are very good at what they do and I think most of my energy as a performer comes from Maneesh and Habib so you know when we do readings they’ll ask me to say lines in a certain way and most of the time we are all on the same page but there is always this extra direction that comes from director Maneesh which are these little nuances that he tries to add in characters that I fully trust so there was preparation but the preparation was almost like an activity that we all you know did together and this was for the first time in my life ever that I have been a part of workshops before a film. Atul Mongia (Acting Workshop Director) was there and actually the idea was that director Maneesh was just having a workshop with the three girls and I just said yaar why don’t you include me, let me also come for the workshops and I actually realized that it really helped because it broke those barriers that we might have had you know, it was like 5 people in a film so it broke those barriers and we got more comfortable with each other through those workshops and understood the characters better. Also when you are studying so many different characters together you can easily demarcate ki yeh aisa hoga aur yeh aisa hoga verna there can be some similarities that can come in but when you are developing the characters together as a team with the involvement of Atul Mongia, director Maneesh and all the actors then it really adds those different dimensions to each character which was very helpful to make everyone look so distinct in the film.
Q. How was it working with the 3 Ladies?
The first thing that I feel is that every girl has been cast for this film so correctly that I don’t think you could have had a better cast. The way they are in their real life, the way they carry themselves and their demeanor is very similar to the reel characters like Aditi Sharma is playing a girl from Lucknow so she has that little tehzeeb in the way she talks. Usko waise bhi aap miloge kabhi toh who bahut tameez se baat karti, bahut aaram se baat karti hai…who ji bol ke baat karti hai aur who yeh film mein bhi kar rahi hai. I feel like yeh sab real log lag rahe the film ke andar. Dipannita Sharma - Dipannita is someone who is very poised she has been a super model and she is so tall and so stunning. She holds on to a certain authority and you can’t mess around with her. She is someone who doesn’t take nonsense and that’s Dipannita in real life and that’s Dipannita in the film when she plays Raina. Parineeti Chopra - plays Dimple. We kept calling her ‘alhurd’ and in real life also she is like that. She is very full of life and that’s what she plays in the film. So I think these people have been cast so accurately for the film and I don’t see anybody else who could have played these characters and acting with them just became so easy because like mere kuch experiences hain unke sung jo off camera hote the wohi experiences we were seeing while the film was happening also and I think you can feel that on an actor’s level ye ek subconscious level pe ek feeling hoti hai toh unko main observe karti thi even off camera like I used to keep observing them and thinking yaar this is working so well because the reactions to them used to be so real you know and so I think it’s a great mix. I really feel I may be wrong but mujhe ek level pe lagta hai ki all the girls ka experiences gets put into this one ladki so there is a Dimple in Ishika, there is a Raina in Ishika and there is a Saira in Ishika. I think somewhere you know you live these things and director Maneesh ne mujhe ek baar kaha bhi tha ki who un nuances ko add karne ki koshish bhi kar raha tha and its come out really well. So yes I think the ladies are very well cast.
Q. Tell us about some memorable moments with the 3 Ladies while shooting Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl.
Mere sung aisa pehli baar hua hai ki mujhe itne saare actors ke sung act karna pada hai aur maine kabhi bhi aisa film nahi kiya hai jahan pe ek scene ho raha hai jisme 4 actors involved hain. Main Ranveer ko hamesha bolti thi you know when he used to say mere sabse zaada looks hain mera yeh hai mera who hai, main kehti thi zyada mat bol - I have to act with three actors because you see Ranveer alag alag episode mein aata hai aur ek bar ek ladki ke saath hi hai but I am sort of like the person jo yahan bhi hai aur vahan bhi hai that’s why there are three ladies, there is one Ricky Bahl and there is one v/s and this versus is the conflict which is with Ricky Bahl. When I used to be with the girls ek samay pe pehli baar toh ajeeb lagta tha ki teen log baat kar rahein hain kis kisko reactions do so woh bahut funny hota tha! Humne jab hamari workshop kari thi tab maine decide kar liya tha mera attitude har insaan ke saath kaise hoga. So with Raina there is a little bit of like kyonki who authority mangti hai so there is a little bit of respect for her - she is a thinking person in that group. Then there is Saira she is someone jisko aapko kabhi gussa nahi aa sakta, she will always be like someone who will hold things together and she will always keep things together - she is that girl, toh uske saath hamesha ek hum kya bolte hain mein polite thi is character ke saath. Dimple is someone who is always getting into the face of people you know, she is a spoilt kid and there is always ek undercurrent raha hai uske aur mere beech mein because of her relationship with Ricky. So Dimple was someone who used to keep talking and everybody was like okay Dimple fine theek hai haan now lets move on to this topic. There was Raina who is instructing and Saira who was the calming force. I think we have just developed like mera sabke saath ek relationship tha. Har character ke saath there was a different level on which Ishika was interacting. The three characters of these girls are so different from each other you know so for me I think as an actor I have never done a film in which mujhe itne saare actors ke sung perform karna pada - alag alag characters ke saath so mere liye bahut bada learning experience tha yeh.
Q. How was it working with Ranveer in Band Baaja Baaraat vs. Ranveer in Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl?
I think Ranveer has relaxed a lot as an actor since BBB. I think me and Ranveer have over the past two years have also known each other better even on a personal level as friends so you know there is a little bit of understanding that we have for each other - jo maine kissi aur ke sung experience nahi kiya hai because Ranveer is the hero with whom I have worked more than once so mujhe pata hai who scene ko kaise approach karega aur usko pata hai main scene ko kaise approach karungi toh hamari ek yeh understanding hai without talking to each other, understanding baan jati hai and because hum log itne different hain as people and the way we approach scenes - that creates a very nice energy you know in a scene. Abhi bhi wohi baat hai ki woh zyada rehearsal karta hai main zyada rehearsal nahi karti hun and director Maneesh ko uske sung rehearsal karni padti hai yeh toh abhi bhi chalta hai but I think pehle kya hota tha hum ek doosre se irritate ho jaate the during BBB ki yeh kaise karta hai. Like yeh kaise matlab … how does he work and he is thinking yeh kaisi karti hai so there was that thing (laughs). Today we have understood that yeh aise karta hai accha yeh aise karti hai so you know we have developed that understanding of each other as actors jo pehle hum dono ko may be nervousness thi. BBB was a difficult film for both of us and I guess that anxiety and nervousness was too much but today we are more relaxed and I think we have worked better as a team in this film than in the last. So Ranveer and me have this certain undefined chemistry which even I don’t understand you know but its there and I think most of the time it happens because of the writing. Iss bar the chemistry is there in body language, its there with silence and its there with reactions- when you will watch the film you will understand but its more in silent moments and its more in reactions so that in a very nice way…that’s the main difference between working with Ranveer in Band Baaja Baaraat vs. Ranveer in Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl.
Q. How was it working with director Maneesh Sharma in Band Baaja Baaraat vs. Maneesh in Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl?
Maneesh is a mad director - he was mad during BBB and he is mad now also. Like me and Ranveer always say he is like a bull - he is like someone who is just so focused and he is so so aggressive towards his work. He has to get the shots right. Sometimes you don’t know what he is thinking but I have realized after BBB that Maneesh is a director one should just surrender yourself as an actor to. I believe that I am a director’s actor. I need a director to get good work out of me and Maneesh is a director who I can completely trust you know ki yeh jiss tarah se visualize kar raha hai who correct hai sahi hai because he sees his script not just on the level of the script but he takes it a little beyond and he always gives it his treatment and always creates something else with the script. Obviously I am sure director Maneesh is more confident with Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl I guess because uski second film hai so somewhere I think there is a little bit of comfort level also because he is working with the same team but having said that I think what I have discovered in this film is that the more I work with director Maneesh, I feel that every actor should surrender himself to a director. Maneesh will take out the best in you. Every character he has treated differently - he has treated Dimple differently, he has treated Saira differently, he has treated Raina differently, he has treated Ishika differently and he has treated Ricky Bahl differently that too with so many looks - so for him he had to really distribute himself into so many areas which he did brilliantly. 
Q. Tell us some fun incidents from the Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl shoot.
I don’t know about fun but itni chot aaj tak life main mujhe nahi lagi hai jitni mujhe iss film mein lagi hai! Me and Ranveer had fallen off a jet ski you know in the water and I am like that was just such a funny incident for me because I can swim! I am a very good swimmer but when we are on this jet ski and we fall and the jet ski topples and me and Ranveer have fallen inside the water where it’s not so shallow and we are little bit inside and I was flapping in the water. When I reached out on the beach I was thinking why the hell was I flapping as I know how to swim so I realized that when you are in fear … that fear when you feel like you are going to drown you forget that you can swim and I had forgotten that I could swim! So for me like in retrospect I laugh about that - I have been swimming since I was 4 yrs old and today when I fall into the ocean I am flapping my arms, yeh kya ho raha hai yeh kya ho raha hai I am going to die so that was hilarious! I mean that day was a very taxing day on the entire unit - garmi mein shoot kar rahe the aur beach pe the aur sab jal rahe the aur the sun was very harsh and we had to finish the scenes because we had those two days to shoot those scenes and we were doing a lot of important scenes - it was a very hard day and this incident happened so I mean ek baat maine realize ki that even when those days were tough days when I look back I remember that funny moment so I think that’s a good experience to walk out from. Then we have fallen off a scooter also which I was riding so before the shot happens I am telling Ranveer I have done one recee on that land toh bahut dicey situation hai yahan par toh hum girne waale hain. Main vapas aake Ranveer ko bolti hun ki Ranveer we are going to fall and I am telling you main apna weight handle nahi kar paoongi when I am riding and tera toh main bilkul nahi kar paoongi and Ranveer is like lost - he is like nahi nahi its ok we’ll manage and all that so I said theek hai we’ll manage and I am taking his support and thinking we can control it and we have gone and we have fallen! Mujhse knees pe chot aayi, hath pe chot aayi ,like you know elbow pe lagi and Ranveer ke paun pe chot laga…aisa laga ki uska thoda sa scratch aa gaya hai and but when we reached the hospital and we realized that Ranveer has had a bad burn actually, very terrible burn and he was so sick for the next three days almost a week actually and it was a tough time! So I think iss film mein hum itne gire hain but who humko abhi funny lagta hai - now it seems like it’s really funny and it’s like we have genuinely given our sweat and our blood to this film.
Q. What have you learned the most from Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl?
I think iss film mein... through this film I have learned a lot - ek bahut zyada learning hui iss film mein on very many levels - kucch personal level pe learn hua hai, kucch professional level pe learn kiya hai, kucch practical levels pe learn kiya hai but I would like to say that iss film mein maine maximum seekha hai and that’s what I remember this film as a very big huge learning experience.
Q. Let’s talk about Jazba which is your introduction song?
For me it was very exciting to shoot Jazba because I live in Mumbai and I am from Mumbai and I have never how do I say… I have never experienced Mumbai in such a nice way like I have while shooting Jazba. We have really tried to show every aspect of the city, the essence of the city you know through this song - there are dabbawallahs, we have shot at the railway station in Mumbai which symbolizes the lifeline of the city - basically I feel like this was my first time to experience Mumbai in this way to be captured on film - you know its unforgettable. Jazba is a song that shows the spirit of this girl in a very positive way - that everything in life can be turned into something more optimistic and to just enjoy life and bad moments can also be enjoyed and I think she has this ‘this too shall pass’ attitude. Ishika has a very positive attitude and she is full of life but at the same time she is street smart and she is bit chaalaak… she is a little bit chaalu but not in a negative way you know so this girl’s spirit, this girl’s energy, this girl’s enthusiasm for life pleasures and adventures that she seeks in life - all this comes through in Jazba.
Q. Tell me something about the dance-a-thon song ‘Fatal Attraction’?
I have had most fun shooting the dance-a-thon in this film. So Fatal Attraction is something that I enjoyed the most while filming - Fatal Attraction was earlier referred to as dance-a-thon in the script - there was just this one line in the script which said dance-a-thon and we used to keep overlooking it kyunki who shoot nahi hua tha. We knew ki chalo kucch ho raha hai vahan pe and its very very important to the film - it’s the conflict of the film and it’s an important part but when we finally filmed it I realized that that little word in the script is actually so big. If I can say so - that if it’s not there in the film, there is no film you know. So I think the way the set was decorated – set designer Abid has just done an incredible job with that set… it was supposed to be a sort of like a trance party in Goa with these psychedelic colors and these neon lights and these UV lights and it was just so amazing that just being on that set made you want to party. I was thinking that I am in a party so for three-four days we shot there it was like for a party and the music is so amazing. It’s the best set I have ever seen and I love the music and choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant has very effortlessly made this whole thing and it was just like these are moments that have been captured along with the dance but the balance that she brought about never overpowers the emotion - its so lovely!
Q. Let’s talk about the song Thug Le.
I think Thug Le is a very very thumping pumping number- it’s a great dancing number. It’s choreographer Shruti Merchant’s debut - you know it’s the first time she is choreographing a song and it’s so different – it’s got a very cool attitude with the moves and the song is also sung like that … it’s so boy v/s girl. There is a lot of heat, there is a lot of energy, there is a lot of aggression but yet there is also a lot of flirting so everything has been combined in this song and the set was just so beautiful. It’s like heavy and everything is so larger than life in that song - it’s a great celebration!
Q. Last words…
You have seen a lot of rom-com’s but if you are really interested in seeing a rom-con please come and watch Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl releasing on 9^th December at a theatre near you!

Interview with Ranveer Singh

Q. From the successful Band Baaja Baaraat to Ladies vs Ricky Bahl… how has your success journey been?
Band Baaja Baaraat release hui and jo bhi hua overnight ho gaya, matlab within a week there was such a tremendous change from what I was on Thursday aur agle Thursday life kuch aur hi thi. Papers and news channels pe charcha ho rahi thi Band Baaja Baaraat itni achi film hai - ek naya ladka aaya hai, suddenly I was in the limelight and suddenly life went from zero to 100. Itni tez gatee hogayi thi, everything was happening and everything was happening so fast. Fortunately then Mr. Aditya Chopra came to me and he said “Dekho yeh script hai Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, see if you like it.” Toh maine suni and it was most exciting for me as an actor. I could not ask for a more ideal second film. Pehli film mein you were playing a specific character Delhi ka launda Bittoo Sharma. Here I had in this script scope to play such different characters. Ek Delhi ka launda hai, ek art curator hai Mumbai ka, ek Lucknow ka bada sharif cloth merchant - adabwalla sharif banda and then of course a classy banda. Toh yeh character was MOST interesting and I had started salivating at the thought of developing this character. What a cool character to play! A guy who cons women for a living and takes on these various avatars and has fun doing it and gets a kick and a thrill out of it! Along with my kick and thrill, was an opportunity as an actor, to be developing these various characters and playing them - so it was like as if I could not ask for more meat in a second script!
Q. How did you prepare to enact so many different characters?
I started off on a page very different from what Maneesh Sir had envisioned. Maine socha yaar main na extreme characterization karunga ke the Delhi guy will be so starkly different from the Mumbai guy who will be so starkly different from from the Lucknow guy and he from the other, matlab jab aap screen par dekho toh aise lage koi aur hi aa gaya hai lekin Maneesh sir ne mujhe samjhaaya ki bhaiya aisa nahin hai ultimately tu ek hi banda hai Ricky Bahl jo yeh sab kar raha hai toh why would realistically a guy like Ricky Bahl go to that extreme length of characterization. Understand that it's the same guy so there has to be a difference but ek common thread hai so you know that it's the same guy who is conning them. It cannot be so stark because it also makes it caricaturist and unrealistic. So very quickly I had to get on Maneesh Sir’s page and build the characters, start with Ricky Bahl and how Ricky Bahl would take on this avatar and not treat them as separate entities. I had a starting point - a base that is Ricky Bahl. I would think ab Ricky Dilli mein kisiko ko con kar raha hai toh woh kaise karega, kaise baat karega, kya pehenega kya bolega, kaise chalega. Agar wohi aadmi Bambai gaya hai Dilli ke baad kisi ko con karne toh who kya pehenega, toh woh kya karega, Ricky kya karega. Understand that Sunny , Dev Iqbal are not different people , they are the same guy so you must maintain a common thread which is why you should not go into that extreme characterization. Toh that is what Maneesh Sir explained to me and that was my starting point in developing this character.
Q. Did you go through a process of readings and workshops?
Working with Atul Mongia (Acting Workshop Director) was an absolute pleasure. He has such an insight into human beings. He is so fantastic with actors. The exercises that he taught me… I’ve had some training in acting but he taught me certain exercises which helped me so much. He helped me a tremendous amount in developing each character. It’s not easy. Ab aap 10 din ek character karo, fir 10 din ek aur character karo, fir 10 din ek aur character karo and bearing in mind that they are all the same guy and he’s donning these various avatars. Toh it was a very fine thing to do, it was a very fine thing we were trying to achieve and working with him and the co-actors helped me a lot. Now when I was doing the workshop with Parineeti then there were different things to feed off of Parineeti’s energy to become Sunny. There were different things I fed off from Dipannita’s energy to become Dev. There were different things when I was working with Aditi. You know you also somewhere take your cues from your co-actor and it was the same working with Anushka as well. It was the first time I had done an acting workshop so intensely for a film. In Band Baaja Baaraat I was very much developing Bittoo on my own but in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, a lot of the preparation was with the co-actor which helped a lot. Sometimes I would come to the table with certain things which Atul Mongia would scrap entirely you know. He would say no, this doesn’t work at all and then we try something completely new and we had such a great time you know developing these characters. My tendency was to always go over and Atul Sir had to you know kind of calm me down and say you don’t have to go into such extremes of characterization. Toh main zaraa extreme’s mein chale jaata tha, aur fir Maneesh Sir aur Atul Sir mujhe thoda control karke ek common thread lagate the us mein. Toh that's essentially how this character got developed.
Q. How was it working with Ricky Bahl’s 3 Ladies?
First of all there is Parineeti… it is her first film. I had done my first film not so long ago and I know by default the amount of energy and passion that you approach your first character with. So she was as a person also so bubbly, so vivacious and so high on energy that it is infectious. Toh woh jab workshops mein aati thi matlab it was just explosive “Phak, Phak, Phak” all the time! She’s just got so much energy in her that you kind of get infected with it and she was so good just as her character. I think all the 3 ladies plus Anushka - they are all so great and distinct in their characters that it helped me. You know I take a cue from all of them. I latch onto Parineeti’s energy and make something out of that, that's distinct from the dynamics that I share with Dipannita and that is distinctly different from the rapport that I share with Aditi. Dipannita - her character is very stern and very stoic. So after having done the workshop with Parineeti it was a very drastic change to be doing it with Dipannita. Here you have this loud, animated, bubbly, vivacious Parineeti and then suddenly you’re thrust into a workshop and you are with somebody so cool, so calm, so collected, so stoic, so stern. So it was great and it was a very fun exercise as an actor to be doing such different things at the same time you know. Then of course to change that completely and to have a very sweet exchange and interaction with Aditi - a lot of sharafat, a lot of adab because she plays a small town girl and I had to be that small town guy with her and for her. So it was the most exciting exercise as an actor. The workshop was one of the most fun parts of this whole process.
Q. How was it working with director Maneesh Sharma in Band Baaja Baaraat vs Maneesh in Ladies vs Ricky Bahl?
Band Baaja Baarat was Maneesh’s baby. He knew it like at the back of his hand. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl he was exploring a territory, a story that he had not developed. The screenplay was Devikaji’s. Habib Sir has written the dialogues. So here he was directing material that had not germinated from him. So to see him also exploring the possibilities of characters, of storytelling styles - all this was like pulling Maneesh Sharma out of his comfort zone and making him tell a story that is so different - so it was exciting to see him function. You know to see what his take on the story is. Also one thing I learned about Maneesh Sir is that he’s so good with India. His films are such a great and accurate reflection of the country. You get such a true flavor of India whenever he makes a film. It was the same case in the Delhiness of Band Baaja Baaraat. In Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, when he directed the Delhi portion - of course that’s home territory for him, but he was absolutely immaculate with that and then he came to Mumbai to tell the story and he has got that corporate glass shielded world of Mumbai so bang on and then to see him in Lucknow. He is such a rooted director and he knows the country and the culture so well. That comes through so beautifully in his films - that was something that was very, very exciting to see. So what sets him apart is how particular he is about the authenticity of Delhi. That Delhi should have that authentic Delhiness and Mumbai should have that authentic Mumbainess and it should be distinct from Lucknow. The flavors and the indigenous cultural nuances should be bang on and he is very particular and he’ll bring it out in characterization, he’ll bring it out in dialogues - he’ll make sure it’s there in the dialogues and will make sure it’s incorporated in the shooting style. He’ll make sure that it is considered when formulating the dialogues, when formulating the characters and the look of the characters, the spaces in which the story will be shot - he is very particular that the authenticity of the milieu stays true to the space of the story.
Q. How was it working with your co actor Anushka Sharma in Band Baaja Baaraat vs in Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl?
Maneesh Sir says this very funny thing. He says “If you and Anushka have to simply stand in a frame right next to each other, there will be chemistry.” I don’t know what it is with Anushka and I hope I never find out because it is working. She is just a fabulous, fabulous actor. What I love and admire most about Anushka is that she is an actor who is not trained and what that does is she is not tarnished by somebody else’s idea of what acting should be you know. Her approach is entirely natural and original. She is very spontaneous and I think when she is in the scene it just enhances your performance to be acting with her. There are so many things she taught me during the filming of Band Baaja Baaraat and during the filming of Ladies vs Ricky Bahl. Cardinal things like “Ranveer you must in this scene look deep into my eyes and then see what kind of magic comes out.” She is just so professional you know it is admirable. I learnt a lot from her and whenever I act with her it just makes my performance amazing. I don’t know what is it between her and me that generates such movie magic type of chemistry but I’m happy and I’m very lucky I’ve found someone like her to work with in my first two films. She is just absolutely fabulous! 
Q. Tell me something about the video Aadat se Majboor?
Aadat se Majboor is a song where Ricky is singing about Ricky. It is Ricky’s introduction song where you get to see, what is this guy all about and what does he do. It’s a song in which we are establishing and setting up this guy - this con artist who cons girls for a living, who’s suave, who changes colors like a chameleon and who is so adept at doing it. He’s the best con artist around and he’s smooth as silk and what was most exciting about this is when I went on a talk show and there was this section in the talk show where they ask you to display one of your hidden talents - so what I thought was I’ll write some rhymes and then I’ll rap it out on some music and Maneesh Sir saw that and he was like that was very good and why don’t you write something about Ricky Bahl. So at about 2 am I got this message, you write a rap about the film and show it to me. At about 3 in the afternoon the next day I came to the office and I rapped it out for him and he was clapping and he was most happy about it. He was like we must put this in the film. I made Adi Sir hear it too and they decided I would rap in Ricky Bahl’s intro song. What I love about it is the phrase “aadat se majboor”. It is a thought that came to Mr. Amitabh Bhattacharya and it is just a brilliant thought for a con artist who is telling the ladies “kya karoon oh ladies main hoon aadat se majboor” matlab, main kya karoon - this is what I do, I don’t know anything better and this is all I know and this is what I’m going to do, main kya karoon main hoon aadat se majboor. So he is a player, and he is a con artist. Salim Suleiman gave this theme to Ricky Bahl (sings the theme). Which is the driving force behind the melody in this song and the words and the lyrics are absolutely kickass. Whatever Amitabh has written its just amazing “har ek haseena ke bank account ke debit mein dikhna hai mujhe” just lines like this which are so cool and then of course, I also wrote a rap. The shooting of Aadat se Majboor, which was just absolutely fantastically shot by Vaibhavi Ma'am - to shoot a montage like that, these different spaces and different characters and thread it all together to make this kick-ass music video. My most memorable experience was being in the studio with Salim Sir and Benny Dayal who is just so talented you know. First when I went into the studio I was just watching Benny at work, you know to see him singing - and just to watch him. I was just sitting there and just watching him. He is so amazing at what he does. To see the collaboration between him and Salim Sir - they were just going back and forth “aisa kar, aisa kar” and there were times when Salim Sir would leave Benny loose and Benny would just go for it and he was like “I like that… I like that… I’m gonna keep that”. It was such an exciting creative process to see two such beautifully talented and creative people working in collaboration and in sync with each other like that. It is just something to observe. I was really privileged to be in the studio at the time that it was happening. It just so happened at that time I was called to do my rap as well and I went in and I started rapping and it was sounding kind of monotonous so Benny stayed back after he had finished his bit to give me suggestions. “Try it like this, that part you can do this” and Salim Sir was giving me suggestions like “Ya… you can just do that part, ya take it like that… that’s the right pitch ... ya ya go for it with this, you’re flowing” so it was my first time in a recording studio and it was so exciting. And I was just there and I was going for it and before we started Benny was there, Salim Sir was there and I was there and we all 3 got on the mike and we were singing. We had done Tarkeebein from BBB together for which Salim Sir had given the music. Benny sang my first song on-screen so we were all just there to get it going - we all went into the studio, put our head phones on and sang Tarkeebein and it was great fun because there are parts of Tarkeebein which Salim Sir actually sang - it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. I had never thought that so soon I would be doing something like this…like you know rapping in a song from the film. It feels good when I see the music cd and it says rap by Ranveer Singh - I’m like kamal hogaya! So it was fun. In Aadat se Majboor, there’s this one part where I say chameleon. I was doing kameeeeleeon and then Benny was like ‘break it and take it like that” so I was like kame-eeee-leyan and he was like “ya ya that's, that” So it was just the most... I felt ALIVE in that studio and it is all thanks to Benny and Salim Sir as they were so supportive and so encouraging. I could see my shortcomings, you know I’m not a recording artist but they pushed me and they really got the best work out of me. Of course I had written the lyrics and they were all about Ricky - all the things after having lived with the story and it was all about what I feel about Ricky. It was a lot of fun. And there were other parts that didn’t make it (starts rapping) -
Tall dark handsome charming funny
Kabhi Dev, Iqbal toh kabhi Sunny
Sorry Girlfriend tu toh bani dummy
Tu fisli but I was only after your money.
Then there was another part that didn’t make it -
Number 29 was my baby girl Dimple
Yaar tere papa ko banana was so simple
Tez aayi meri Mumbaiwaali Raina
Yaad rakh main hoon Ricky jo kabhi haath aaye na
Saira ka toh mushkil kardiya maine jeena
Not a nice guy because I’m a bloody kameena!
Q. Tell me something about the dance-a-thon song, ‘Fatal Attraction’?
Firstly the track itself we knew always that it will be an instrumental piece and fatal attraction it appears at a very, very crucial point in the story, it’s not like an item that it comes out of nowhere it's a very integral part of the narrative at the point at which it does appear in the film. So… firstly the track itself. It was an instrumental piece and you don't have too many of those nowadays… so when the track came to me, I’m not allowed to do this but I did, make two of my very closest friend’s hear it and they started off like this, they were listening to it in my car, they started off like this (hymns the tune and does a hand action ) and when it hits they were like “Aaahh.. Yeah” I am, myself heavily into electronic music, so are my friends and they were like “This track, this track is the bomb”. Honestly I do think musically it is one of the most superior tracks of the album… it’s just… it’s got this amazing energy to it. It’s like almost deep house-ish… and it's a party song you know. Ishika and me are going to a rave and this is the song that's playing in that rave. Umm a bit psychedelic and the shooting of it was the most amazing part. So we had the track and very excited to be shooting this, very curious to see how this will be shot. So we arrived on the set and I was absolutely blown away. What had T.P. Abid (the set director) made! What was that set! It was just psychedelic madness. Neon colors, psychedelic structures, there were… trees, stages, canvases and everything had been splattered with you know Psychedelic imagery, the lighting that was added to it, it just created this… an atmosphere and I was telling the art directors that I would love to go to a party like this in real life, you know, with this type of decor. How amazing would it be. Neon orange, neon pink neon green under the UV lights and all these lights that had… that were moving and it created so much energy on the set. The dancers, we had this section where the winners of India’s got talent… umm… Vernon and Group … Vernon and group were doing their bit and it was just... it was… all our jaws were here (pointing towards his chest) it was jaw dropping to see those boys doing what they do. I spoke to them on set because I was completely amazed by what they were doing. They practice 6 to 7 hours a day in Nalasopara and they are at it and you can see… that when it comes out you know… it’s just… it leaves you awestruck. To watch that on set was actually really inspiring. It was like… look at these boys so… doing something so amazing and so good at what they are doing… so passionate about it and so much in sync with each other… it was amazing and then we were working with Danny and Gunjan, who are amazing choreographers. It was just...Vaibhavi ma’am’s brief to us ..,when we got the song was we will have choreographed portions but the most of it will be an interaction between me and Ishika. It was a very delicate story telling in the song. Not so much dancing and choreography heavy but a lot of acting involved. 
Q. Let’s talk about the song Thug Le.
It was very exciting to work with Shruti because it was her first song as a choreographer. Now I know, when you debut with something you know with how much energy and passion you tackle it. It was actually Maneesh sir who first told me when we met on the floor and he told me very matter-of-factly, “is mein thoda dancing hoga” (Ranveer laughs). What he was putting very lightly was the fact that this was the song that was very heavy on choreography that… and Shruti Ma’am did not make it easy for us and it was… it was... When I first saw Rachit who trains me directly (he is Vaibhavi Ma’am’s assistant), he’s the one who teaches me hands-on and when I saw him doing it I was like “Arre Baap re yeh kaise karunga matlab… I mean come on! But Shruti Ma’am used to just always say this “NO tu kar lega, NO tu kar lega, tu kar lega”. She used to push and encourage and push and when you used to get something right she used to encourage me, “Yehi hai,yehi hai” and to have her always present when I’m learning was fantastic because… to have somebody who is telling you this is right, do it like this… do it like that and always there and always pushing you and giving you that energy it was amazing. I really enjoyed learning the choreography as tough as it was. I knew that...okay we have done an “Ainvayi Ainvayi”... we have done a “Dum Dum” we have done a “Jigar ka Tukda” and here we are now doing ”Thug le” which choreography wise, Vaibhavi ma’am told me that it has to be a notch higher than anything you’ve already done and that is the way we have designed it. Umm so you’ve got to push your limits and challenge yourself to do this type of choreography. Umm and this time … usually what used to happen was even if I was learning any other choreography, I would learn it in blocks. I would learn 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 together. This time I had to learn 1, then 1,2 then 1,2,3 then 1,2,3,4 so I had to break down each transition, each shift of body weight,I had to really work at it. But I’m glad I did all that work because now when I see it... I’m like… I… I understand what it takes to achieve that and that's a big learning curve for me.
Q. Tell us some fun incidents from the Ladies vs Ricky Bahl shoot.
Ranveer – Je haan vehicles ke saath hamari luck bilkul nahin thi, humare saath iss film mein. Chahe woh scooter ho chahe woh jet ski ho log bas gir rahe the. Hum scooter se gir gaye, hum jet ski se gir gaye, Anushka aur hum... Scene yeh tha ki yeh Anushka ka character scooter chala raha hai.. Maine peeche behtha hoon aur road jo hai who bahut hi ubad thabhad road hai aur yeh jo ladki hai jo pagli si ladki hai… aise raaste pe itna tez chala rahi hai aur peechewalle… jahan main behtha hoon mujhe darr lag raha hai kya ki yaar gir nahin jaye… kya kar rahi hai kitni pagli se hai yeh ladki… toh we were very authentic, very true to the scene shoot kar rahe the ek ubad thabhad road pe. Road pe mitti thi aur rocks the ek take ho gaya aur Anushka ne mujhe bola hum touchups kara rahe the, usne bola, “Yaar bahut tough hai, mujhe actually bahut tough lag raha hai yeh road pe aise chalane mein tu sambhal lega na apna balance kar lega na?“. Maine bola “Haan”. Ek baar kiya , dusri baar kiya , teesre take mein unfortunately ek rock aa gaya beech mein and the bike went for a toss. Anushka gir gayi, main gir gaya. My first instinctive thought was to see if shes okay... so I... usko dekha woh theek thak thi yahaan kuch ho gaya tha usko (pointing to his palm) knee pe kuch ho gaya tha, haath mein kuch ho gaya tha. Fir jab the dust settled, fir maine realize kiya yaar mere taang mein kuch lag raha hai. Maine khol ke dekha toh pura jal gaya tha (pointing towards his calf).
The bike had toppled and the silencer had singed my calf and about 30 seconds after the incident I kind of felt it. So we were rushed to the nearby hospital for instant medical aid and it was just… one of those unlucky times but I think what it did was it made us stronger that as actors we went through this also. 
So it was fun. I keep teasing her, I keep blaming her it’s all your fault that I got hurt. But it’s not really, it was just unfortunate. It was… now when you look back at it you can laugh, at that time it was all serious, “Oh by god Heroine ko lag gaya... Aarre Hero theek hai”. So it was... it created some amount of chaos on set at that time but now when you look back on it you can look back and laugh. 
Then of course there were times on the jet skis. It just so happens we didn’t have any luck. Road ubad thabhad tha scooter ke time pe. Jis time jab jet ski par bhethe ho waves itne saade-aath foot ke dus-foot ke waves aa rahe hai. So it was not easy. There was a time when… the blond and me were on the jet ski and we did about 14 takes and in the first few I was on the jet ski and we were going into the water and such massive... tackling such massive waves… the first few times the waves crashed into us and literally we flew off the jet ski.
2 people on the jet ski like this (depicting the situation through hand actions) jet ski is going, wave comes BOOM!! Jet ski flies in the air, blond flies in the air, Ranveer flies in the air. Jet ski kidhar hai, ladki kidhar hai, Ranveer kahin hai. Fortunately we had people on other jet skis. People were on other jet skis in the water making sure that when these things happen we are instantly taken care of. It was scary I’m not going to lie. If I was alone on the jet ski maybe I wouldn’t have been so scared but you know you are responsible for the person behind you as well toh there was that bit of nervousness. 
But after the first few takes I got a little… you know okay with navigating. Then of course again there was a time on the jet ski with Anushka and she was sooo scared. I don’t know if she’ll admit this but she was very scared and I don’t blame her because on that day in particular the waves were just daunting. Ummm… and you know, that's actually not captured in the film that how daunting the waves were on that day. To you it’ll look like “Aey look at how much fun they are having on the jet ski” but we were terrified. I was terrified because again I was with Anushka. If I was alone maybe I would not have been so terrified … it was... it was quiet scary to… to… tackle these waves that are ten foot high waves you’re going into head on. There was one time where I could see it coming. Anushka and me on the jet ski and I was just praying that we don’t get one of those Big daddies. 
And lo and behold we are in the take and I see this monster of a wave coming. A monster of a wave! And I don’t want to scare Anushka but I know that she’s seen it. She’s saying “Ranveer, Ranveer”. Our backs are to the camera.” Ranveer, Ranveer, Ranveer” and I was like “Don’t worry I got this”.  
I ain’t got this. Actually I was not confident of tackling this wave at all. And it was coming, and it was coming and it just built up, it just built up and it crashed into us. She has flown somewhere I can’t see her. I have flown somewhere else.We are both under the water, the jet ski has gone somewhere else. Poor thing I look back at Anushka and I could see the terror on her face and I swam up to her and I held her and it was soon that you guys arrived… so ya we fell of scooters, we fell of jet skis. We’ve put a fair amount of… of ourselves on the line for this film.
It was good. It was good fun though. You always look back and you have fond memories of those days because you’ve been through something together. You know the whole team… it just… it brings you closer together.
Q. Last words about Ladies vs Ricky Bahl…
Firstly I would like to thank our audience for showing so much appreciation for our first venture Band Baaja Baaraat. The same team, the same director, writer, actors, our assistant directors, our music team, the choreographer - everybody is the same even the editor. Now the same team that gave you BBB is now trying to tell a story that is vastly different and there are some fantastic additions to our team. Some brand new energies on this film that you’ll get to witness. It is fast paced, it’s fun, its entertaining, its edgy, its intriguing and its engaging. I am thrilled about this story that we are going to tell. So on December 9^th, do come watch Ladies vs Ricky Bahl!

The Dirty Picture fails to beat Rockstar

Director Milan Luthira's latest Bollywood movie The Dirty Picture has beaten the film Desi Boyz on the opening day at the Box Office. But the film has failed to break the record of the movie Rockstar, which has collected Rs 33.75 net at the collection centres in the first weekend. Vidya Balan starrer has raked in Rs 32.25 crore net in the first three days.
The Dirty Picture received an exceptional opening at the Box Office by taking its collection to Rs 9.54 crore on Friday. The movie improved its business further on the following days. It collected Rs 10.78 crore on Saturday and Rs 12 crore on Sunday. The film is expected to do well on Tuesday as it is a national holiday due to muharram.
Girish Johar, head of distribution, Balaji Motion Pictures, told, "The response is fantabulous. We are doing well in A, B, C centres. It's holding on, it is not a one day wonder.” He added, "We released the film on 1,766 screens, but the response is such that we are adding 30 to 40 screens. Even multiplexes are increasing the screening of the film."