CELEBS FACTORY

Kareena Kapoor will surely be dressed to kill in the title role of Heroine to be directed by Madhur Bhandarkar.

Reportedly Madhur has earmarked a whopping budget of around Rs 1.3 crore solely for Kareena's costumes in the film. The actress will play a top Bollywood star in Heroine and will get a wardrobe of around 150 costumes, styled by her favourite designer Manish Malhotra. Malhotra was also the wardrobe designer for Fashion.

"Madhur's earliest films used to have a total budget of around a crore. In Heroine, Kareena's costumes alone will cost Madhur and his co-producers UTV over a crore.

This film is Madhur's most ambitious project till date and has a budget of nearly Rs 20 crore, so he is in no mood to take chances.

"Besides, the subject has a Bollywood superstar as its central character and will need lots of glitz and glamour as far as look and treatment," a source said.

Keeping with the image of the superstar Kareena portrays in Heroine, most sequences in the film will see her don two to three sets of dresses.

"Bollywood stars are never seen wearing the same dress on two occasions. Many a time, if an event is a longdrawn affair, they even go for multiple changes of wardrobe," reasons our source.

The film is slated to release in 2012 and Madhur went on floors with shooting last week.

Kareena is scheduled to have a final fitting session with Madhur and designer Manish Malhotra by next fortnight.

Kareena gave her nod for Heroine amid much controversy after Madhur had to replace Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In May, Madhur and Ash launched the film with a grand announcement and photo-ops at the Cannes film festival. Ash had even shot for the film for about nine days on returning from Cannes, but the schedule was thrown in disarray when she announced her pregnancy.

Madhur had no option but to start his project from scratch with a new actress.

In fact, Madhur had originally approached Kareena for the role earlier this year but the actress had then shown reluctance to do the role.

Rumours suggest that Kareena wasn't happy about certain scenes that she would have to do in the film. It was then that Madhur had approached Ash.

For a while Priyanka Chopra was rumoured to have bagged the lead role in the film. She had earlier won a National Award for her role in Fashion.

Madhur however returned to Kareena with a reworked script that met her demands. Soon, the buzz suggested Kareena would be getting a whopping Rs 8 crore for the film, making her Bollywood's costliest actress.

However, subsequent reports said that she was being paid around Rs 5 crore. She is also supposed to get a share from the film's profits.

Heroine takes a look at the turbulent life of a superstar Bollywood actress named Mahie Khanna at her peak, and will attempt to lay bare the grimy grind beneath the glamour.

Kareena apart, the cast of the film features Arjun Rampal, Arunodaya Singh and Shahana Goswami.

English films were normally used as an ‘inspiration’ to make Hindi films and the preferred language was Hindi, of course. Game is one of those new generation products which makes English or English kind of films virtually in English on international locations; something that has not been seen to benefit the product in anyway, though often it becomes a drawback.

Game begins as Mid 1900s kind of story where six people gather under one roof and one of them is murdered. From then on it becomes sort of international, not solving the murder within the precincts of the location of crime.

Anupam Kher has planned to punish three men responsible for wrecking the life of his daughter born out of a liaison with a woman he deserted and about whose existence and later death he comes to know three years ago. He claims to have enough proof and also video graphs the meeting with culprits. But, before he could call the authorities as he planned to, he is dead; seemingly a suicide. Had he handed over the proof to the police, he could have saved his life and the efforts spent on a mediocre film.

Anupam Kher, a tycoon worth $10 billion, owns and resides at an island off Greece, which is totally cut off from outside world for transport as well as communication. He lures four people in coming to this island: Boman Irani, who aims to become the next prime minister of Thailand (promising him election funds); Jimmy Shergill whose drunk driving has killed his daughter (with a major proposal); Abhishek Bachchan, who runs a casino in Istanbul but is broke and who is always attacked by gun wielding goons for no apparent reason and whom Anupam Kher blames of making his daughter vend drugs (with a promise to bail him out with an international casino chain); and a young journalist, Shahana Goswami who has made a habit out of getting drunk and banging her car at convenient places (with a story of her life time).

In this film, Indians rule the world. So when Anupam Kher is dead, Kangana Ranaut and a side kick from what is called IVS or International Vigilance Squad descends on the scene and suspect foul play. This squad would seem to have an international reign as Kangana jet sets across five countries chasing clues.After springing all the predictable surprises, the biggest of them being Abhishek Bachchan, was not really a baddy but also an IVS cop who has solved in three minutes what was stretching on for almost three hours. The killer is identified and so is the one who planned it.

Except that it has been contrived to be shot on various international locations (which is confusing because one loses sense of where is it now -- Thailand, Mumbai, Istanbul, London or Greece; who cares?), the film has nothing much of interest. The first half is static; songs have neither place nor appeal. Direction is average as is the script. Being a talkie film, the sound needed to be much better.

The film offers no real scope for acting talents and the stars go around being themselves throughout.

This Game is about as interesting as playing chess with self.

Abhishek Bachchan has managed to win a new fan for himself and the young woman who has now been floored by his charm is Shahana Goswami, his co-star in upcoming thriller Game.

The Rock On!!! girl is charmed by the Junior B, who bonded well with the huge starcast of the movie.

"I have always felt that he is very charming. Since the film required us to travel extensively, it was imperative that we spend a lot of time together. He is every bit the wonderful guy he is made out to be," says Goswami who has worked with the likes of Arjun Rampal (Rock On!!!), Imran Khan (Break Ke Baad) and Randeep Hooda (Ru-Ba-Ru).

Goswami can't stop going gaga over her co-star who is one of the many principal characters in Game, a whodunit thriller.

"Abhishek is very well read and knowledgeable and makes for great entertainment both on set and off it. Also, what sets him apart is the fact that he is very warm, very genuine and very funny," Goswami told PTI.

Just like her earlier hit Rock On!!!, Game too is one of those films where there is no hero or heroine but boasts of a set of characters brought together.

Since Game also features Sarah Jane Dias, Kangna Ranaut and Jimmy Sheirgill as the other key protagonists, but Goswami says her character is well etched out.

"Working in an ensemble cast is always great. In case of Game it works all the more better as every character is so well etched out. And you also get to spend time with so many different talented actors."

She has been a part of another ensemble affair earlier called Firaaq though it was more episodic in feel with multiple stories running in parallel. However in case of Game multiple strangers are together right from start to finish though they are unknowingly tied to each other.

Though Rock On!!! was a good success, Goswami hasn't quite seen much success coming her way with Jashnn being a flop, Mirch going largely unnoticed, Imran and Deepika benefiting most from Break Ke Baad and Tera Kya Hoga Johnny being stuck in the cans.

But Shahana is keeping her fingers crossed for Game.

"Honestly one can only hope and believe. What happens finally is another matter. I think Game is exciting and a gripping thriller. It has some great actors and a very different and interesting look. I hope the film does well."

Also starring Anupam Kher and Boman Irani, Game is a Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani production which is directed by debutant Abhinay Deo. The film releases all over on April 1.