“We don’t like to copy; so what if it is inspired?” Saif Ali Khan replied when he was asked in London last week if this week’s release Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (TPTM) was the Bollywood version of the Julie Andrews musical Mary Poppins. Khan plays the stern guardian of four orphans who are befriended by a bicycle-riding angel. “Jaws and Schindler’s List have the same story!” Khan reasoned.
Is Khan happy with his current A-list status? “I was really doing such bad work and just about managing to survive. All our lives changed with the success of Hum Tum.” TPTM reunites the lead pair of Khan and Rani Mukherjee with director Kunal Kohli. The trio worked together earlier in the aforementioned When Harry Met Sally Bolly-remake. “We have had such fun shooting in Bangkok and Los Angeles especially annoying Rani!”
“It was cheaper to shoot in Bangkok than in Delhi,” director Kunal Kohli told me when I asked him why he filmed abroad. “Have you seen Delhi prices?” Kohli has just started his own production house. Why the lack of proper advance press previews? “We’ll show you the film on the Wednesday or Thursday before its Friday release but certainly not before!”
Read »