BR Films completes 50 years
…announces book with writings from Bollywood biggies to commemorate the occasion
Ram Kamal Mukherjee

Exclusive first look at Babul: Hema Malini, Amitabh Babchchan, Rani Mukerji and Salman Khan

Veteran filmmaker and producer B R Chopra will celebrate the 50th year of his production house BR Films this week. BR Films signed its first contract on September 26, 1955; the film was Ek Hi Rasta starring Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Meena Kumari.

Says BR's son director Ravi Chopra, “We are going to celebrate the 50th year of BR Films with the official 'launch' (announcement) of a lavishly illustrated book titled The BR Story.”
The book will deal with the history of BR Films and other aspects related to B R Chopra. “It won't be my father's biography but will be related to aspects of his life. As my father is the soul of the company, it will necessarily have to cover a major part of his life and work. The first chapter will be about his entry into Bollywood cinema,” said Ravi. Related writings from noted Bollywood actors - Dilip Kumar, late Sunil Dutt, late Nargis, andlate Ashok Kumar – will be included in the book. “Vyjanthimala, Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini will also contribute to the book,” he added.

The book will be released next year May, just before the theatrical release of Ravi Chopra's next film Babul. “It will be celebration time for all. We are planning to club the book release with the promotional campaign for the film. Amitji and Hemaji will be present during the release of the book,” he said.

The idea of releasing a book like this actually came from Hollywood. “Yeah… I saw a book that was released by Warner Brothers after they completed 50 years. I was inspired by the same idea,” confessed Ravi Chopra.

Ravi also plans to present copies of the book to each and every individual who has worked with BR Films. “Yes, we are making a list of actors, musicians, playback singers, art directors, technicians, and shall deliver copies to all of them,” said Ravi.

B R Chopra is not keeping well these days. “He is okay, just not very mobile,” said Ravi about his father. Currently busy with the shooting of his film Babul, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and John Abraham, the director wants to finish work on the book now. “My next schedule begins from December 20 and will continue till February next year. So, in the meantime, I shall finish compiling the book and get it ready," he said. Apart from this book and the forthcoming film venture Babul, BR Films also plans to release the colour version of the old Dilip Kumar starrer Naya Daur. “We are working on two other projects with a big star cast and will announce them soon,” promises Ravi.

Salman's sister designs will be seen in "Babul"

Salman Khan's sister Alvira Agnihotri, wife of Atul Agnihotri has started designing for her brother. Her first designs will be seen in Ravi Chopra's Babul. She is working on a special look for brother Salman in the film. And that's not the end. Alvira might continue designing for Salman even post the movie.

source: erosentertainment.com

Salman shoots for Babul
By IndiaFM News Bureau ,
August 11, 2005 - 03:20 IST

Salman Khan had been out of the shooting scene for some time now ever since his tape controversy erupted last month. The actor finally walked out of his confines on Friday, August 5 to shoot for Ravi Chopra’s Babul. Salman plays Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini’s son in the film who is married to Rani Mukherjee. (Even in Ravi Chopra’s last film Baghban, Salman played Amitabh and Hema’s adopted son). Ravi Chopra who had incurred heavy losses due to the rains that flooded the city recently has now stabilized and started off with the shooting of his film.

However Chopra who has planned a start-to-finish schedule for Babul will now have to take a break because the actress of his film, Rani Mukherji will take an off in between for Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

Mumbai: Salman Khan Returns to Shoot
Bollywood News

Mumbai, Aug 11: After staying completely out of the public glare since the tape scandal broke out, and not even stepping out of his home, Salman Khan is back on his feet. And the first film he's shooting for is Ravi Chopra's Babul where he plays Amitabh Bachchan's son-in-law.

Salman just shot a song with Rani Mukerji who plays his wife. Says director Chopra, “Salman joined us on August 5. That's one day later than expected. The delay was because of the rains, and certainly not because of the troubles in Salman's life. Under no circumstances did I allow the so-called controversy to dictate my decision. It was to be Salman for the role of Rani's husband from the start, and no one else. We needed an actor who shares a paternal rapport with
Mr Bachchan. After Baghban it was clear that Salman shared a very high comfort-level with Bachchan. So there was never any question of anyone else. I found the whole tape thing stupid and senseless. Not for a moment did it colour my judgement about Salman.”

The director cannot forget how Salman slipped into a relatively small role (to which Shah Rukh had said no) for Baghban.

Speaking further on the affected schedule Chopra says, “Ideally I'd have liked to shoot the film at one stretch from now till January. But now I've to take a break in between, because Karan Johar's film got delayed. Hence Rani will take off in-between to shoot for his film.”

This kind of understanding sounds completely unusual in an industry governed by self interest. “Not where I come from,” laughs Chopra. “My father BR Chopra worked within a milieu of tremendous co-operation and solidarity. We filmmakers need to re-discover that atmosphere which is conducive to creativity.”

Elaborating further on the cast, Chopra says, “After finalising on Mr Bachchan, Hemaji, Rani and Salman, we still needed to cast someone for Rani's second husband. That was a problem. Everyone we approached wondered what they'd do in a film that already has two big stars like Mr Bachchan and Salman. Finally John Abraham just slipped into the role. They all look like part of a family.”

Chopra hopes to release Babul in May. “It's a very heartwarming story, just like Baghban. I firmly believe films with a heart cannot fail.”*

Babul shoot disrupted by Mumbai rains
By IndiaFM News Bureau,
August 02nd 2005 - 1450 hrs IST

The devastating rains in Mumbai in the past week had the entire city at a standstill. Bollywood wasn't left back either. One of the major affected movies was Ravi Chopra's Babul. The shooting of the film that was to start last week couldn't happen due to the rains. Five sets erected at the Film City remained vacant since the shoot was cancelled. In fact John Abraham who had turned in for the shoot had to travel by boat, bus and rickshaw until he finally reached home after hours.

Director Ravi Chopra will also face problems now in getting the combination dates of actors once again for the shoot. It will be difficult to get the combination dates considering Babul has a mega starcast of Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Rami Mukherjee, Salman Khan and John Abraham.

'Baabul' Takes Off
By Taran Adarsh, July 21st 2005 - 0930 hrs IST

The team behind the super-successful BAGHBAN -- producer B.R. Chopra, director Ravi Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini -- is back with B.R. Films' new film BAABUL. Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini faced the camera for the inaugural shot on a specially erected set at Film City. Producer B.R. Chopra sounded the clapper-board, while Bharat Shah switched on the camera and Delhi-U.P. distributor Ramesh Jain broke the auspicious coconut.

The mahurat was followed by a major shooting schedule of 40 days, during which two songs and scenes are being filmed.

The final cast of BAABUL is Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Rani Mukerji, John Abraham, Om Puri, Aman Verma, Parmeet Sethi, Rajpal Yadav, Smita Jaykar, Beena, Avtar Gill, Vaishnavi and Gargi Patel. Music will be scored by Aadesh Shrivastava.

source: indiafm.com

Live longer, Dr Chopra

July 17, 2005 will always be remembered as a more than memorable way for Dr BR Chopra and his company which has been going strong for more than fifty long years.

July 17 was the day when Babul, one more film to be made under the banner of BR Films was launched.

Babul was supposed to go on the floors earlier but all kinds of human factors came in the way. The script which is always the strong point of a BR Film also took its time because the ‘Boss’ (Chopra Sahab) and his son Ravi, the director of Babul believe in starting shooting only when they had a perfect script. It was unbelievable at times to see the 90 year old ailing Dr Chopra take active part in the development of the script. It almost made him as young as he was when he made his own films. Then all things were set and Ravi and his team of Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan (going through the thick of a storm when the film was launched), Rani Mukerji and Om Puri set out on a one-and-half month long non-stop shooting schedule which will be followed by another long schedule which means the film will be complete within a very short time.

Ravi is charged and so is his entire team and I hope that they complete the film soon, as soon as is possible for Chopra Sahab to see his son and grandsons who are assisting Ravi for the first time, as winners again like Ravi came up with one big surprise when he made Baghbaan, a major dream of his father come true and come true in what a way!

How helpless we are!
When it rains it rains for every one alike. When the rains are mild and in a poetic mood they bring pleasure to every one big and small. But when the rains are in the kind of wild mood it was, the mood that ravages, ruins and wrecks the world and turns man with his hands turned towards God like little helpless ants.

Like it happened to some of the greats of Hindi cinema this time. The ones to be affected the most were directors Ravi Chopra and Rakesh Roshan. They had planned major shooting schedules with some of the biggest stars. I felt very sad for Ravi and his film, Babul. The film with Amitabh, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Rani Mukerji and John Abraham which took more than the time it needed to stars seemed like it would now take off at full speed and make up for the time lost but the rains had its own plans. I don’t know how much time Ravi has lost and I hope that he makes up for the time he has lost because of the rains. The rain God cannot be so nasty to a good family like the Chopras. This is only an example to prove that we are just human, just like little helpless and hopeless ants before it comes to the powers above and we must accept the truth because you really never know what the powers have in their minds, yes, the powers above have minds which we humans, however powerful we think we are, can and will never be able to understand.

http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=10968

MAY 13, 2005 - Om Puri joins Babul

After the sudden demise of Amrish Puri, Ravi Chopra was busy searching for an ideal elder brother for Big B. After a long time the director finally zeroed in on Om Puri for the role.

Puri has agreed to do the role and Chopra will start shooting next month. In Babul, Amitabh plays the role of a father in law who goes all out to rehabilitate his widowed daughter in law played by Rani Mukherji.

MARCH 22, 2005 - I like going into unexplored territory: John Abrah

From Priyadarshan's comedy "Garam Masala" to B.R. Chopra's family drama "Babul" to Kabir Khan's intense "Kabul Express" - Hindi cinema's "cool villain" has his kitty full of varied characters this year.

"I'm constantly looking for challenging scripts... I feel I'm starting anew," John told IANS as he chatted about life and times after his super hit "Dhoom" in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

Q: How does life look to you now?

A: Absolutely cool. I've just started shooting for Priyadarshan's "Garam Masala". It's my first time with Priyan, my first film with Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal and also my first comedy.
After "Dhoom" I'm so immersed in my career, I've no time for anything else. I like going into unexplored territory. I like the sense of adventure that my roles seem to offer me now.

Q: You've also been finalised for B.R. Chopra's "Babul"?

A: Yes, and I'm really excited about it. Salman Khan is playing Rani Mukherjee's first husband while I play the second one. I truly, truly love the role.When Ravi Chopra narrated the role, I had the same gut feeling about it as I did when I heard "Dhoom". And "Babul" will be my first family film. Irrespective of what others feel, I stand by it completely.

Q: Are you constantly looking for new beginnings?

A: I'm constantly looking for challenging scripts. So far I had always stuck to a comfort zone for role selection. The only way I could grow was to go beyond my comfort zone.
Now in "Babul", I'm doing a family drama for the first time and in "Garam Masala", a comedy, which is the toughest thing to do onscreen. Even the best of actors have a bad time with comedy. When I shot for this comedy I realised how difficult it was. I feel I'm starting anew

Amitabh, Hema Set To Crackle

After their crackling chemistry in 'Baghban' and 'Veer-Zaara', Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini will appear together in two more films. In Ravi Chopra's 'Babul', the two play a couple that is ideologically divided on the issue of their daughter-in-law's remarriage. 'Babul' also stars Rani Mukerji, Salman Khan and John Abraham.

What's more, the duo has also signed on a Yash Raj Film, which will be based on Clint Eastwood’s The Bridges Of Madison County. The classic Hollywood flick of course featured Eastwood, playing a photographer who has a brief, but life-changing affair with Meryl Streep, who played a lonely housewife. Reportedly, a few years ago, Mahesh Bhatt wanted to remake the same subject with the Big B in the lead role, but Bachchan had refused the offer at that time.

John finally says yes to Rani!

Baghban director Ravi Chopra was said to be having sleepless nights searching for a suitable replacement husband for Rani in his film Babul. Now the search is finally over. John Abraham has agreed to do the role. Reportedly the role had been offered to many actors like Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. All of who did not accept the role with the pretext of having date problems, wherein the problem apparently was that none of them wanted to play second fiddle to the first husband- Salman Khan. When John was approached for the role he had no reservations, since he thinks it's a fantastic part.

John will be seen as the guy who the father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan finds as the other husband for his widowed daughter -in-law Rani Mukerji. Babul is a film about widow remarriage, where unlike conventional in laws Amitabh and Hema Malini are keen on getting their widowed Daughter in law remarried and settled.

Salman's role in the film is like that of Aishwarya's in Mohabbatein. His character dies before the interval and he appears in flashbacks throughout the film. John is confident about his role and if things work out fine, this will be the first time Rani and John will work together


John Abraham in 'Babul'?
Ravi Chopra (of 'Baghban') has been looking for his second hero for 'Babul' for a while now; especially after one or two top line stars (including Akshay Kumar) refused the role. Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan play the main leads.

Apparently, the second hero dies in the interval but can easily walk away with the "best supporting actor" honours. Finally, Ravi is said to have zeroed down on John Abraham for the part. But Salman feels that John doesn't suit that role! What next? Your guess is as good as ours.

Kaun banega hero?
There’s an obstacle that director Ravi Chopra is facing over the cast of Babul. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Rani Mukherjee. Salman Khan is to do a guest appearance in the film. Babul is about widow remarriage. Salman who plays Amitabh and Hema’s son dies and the character that Amitabh plays takes it upon himself to see that his daughter-in-law is well settled. Ravi Chopra has failed to get an actor who would be the hero willing to marry the widowed Rani Mukherjee. Actors like Shahrukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan have turned down the film. Abhishek Bachchan was considered too. But the actor’s dates are jam packed in 2005. The situation has put director Ravi Chopra in a quandary.

Babul In Casting Trouble
Almost 30 years ago, Sanjeev Kumar tried to marry off his widowed daughter-in-law Jaya Bhaduri with the silent stranger Amitabh Bachchan in Ramesh Sippy’s
Sholay. The ‘forbidden’ match never materalised.

Now in the soon-to-begin Babul, Amitabh Bachchan plays a father-in-law who goes all out to rehabilitate his widowed daughter-in-law played by Rani Mukerji.

In terms of script, Bachchan says, “Babul is even stronger than Baghban. It has a very strong social message.”

The casting is a dream come true. Rani Mukerji steps into a role that was very persuasively offered to Kajol, who had apparently declined because she didn’t
find much scope for her character.

Re-uniting the Baghban pair of Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini and casting Salman Khan as the son who dies, the film now faces a casting hurdle.

Who’s to play the guy whom Rani eventually re-marries? It has to be someone of stature, worthy of being recommended by father-in-law Bachchan as replacement in bahu Rani’s life.

Abhishek Bachchan was considered, but that didn’t work out. His date diary in 2005 is jampacked and besides, everyone in the team felt that the senior Bachchan shouldn’t recommend the junior for his widowed daughter-in-law in the film.

Several other topnotch actors including Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar have been approached, but they’ve said no.

Obviously with such a stalwart cast the last male lead would feel threatened with a space problem. Now director Ravi Chopra has decided to approach Bobby
Deol. If he doesn’t agree, Babul will be stuck.

'Babul' to start in February?
Ravi Chopra's 'Babul' will start next February. His previous film 'Baghban' fared well at the turnstiles. 'Babul' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan and Rani Mukherji. One more hero will be finalized shortly. Aadesh Shrivastav will score the music.

Ravi is hoping to wrap up the shoot within three to four months and release the film at Diwali. Reportedly, one of the heroes (we hear it's Salman) dies in the interval.

Salman's role In Babul
Salman Khan's presence in Ravi Chopra's Babul seems akin to his occurrence in Chopra's last film Baghban. Salman who played Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini's adopted son in Baghban appeared in the first few reels of the film and then resurfaced back only in the climax. In Babul too, he plays Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini's son (real, this time) married to Rani Mukherjee and dies before interval.

But Salman fans need not be disappointed, as this is not his end in Babul. He will be seen in flashback sequences post-interval. Now does that remind you of Aishwarya Rai in Mohabbatein?

BABUL
An emotional family drama, Babul is a film about a man trying to help his widowed daughter-in-law find a new life after the death of his son. In the film, Amitabh and Hema Malini play the two elderly heads of the household, while Salman Khan plays their son and Rani Mukherjee their daughter-in-law.

OCTOBeRH 22, 2004 -RAVI CHOPRA LAUNCHES 'BAABUL'
Amitabh Bachchan rendered the first song for Ravi Chopra's BAABUL, under the baton of music director Aadesh Srivastava, which also marked the launch of the film. Lyricist Sameer penned the song, which was recorded last week at Empire Studio. Besides Amitabh Bachchan, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan and Sudesh Bhosle also rendered the song. Produced by Dr. B.R. Chopra and directed by Ravi Chopra, the film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Rani Mukerji and Amrish Puri. Other cast and credits are being finalized. Regular shooting will commence next month.

Ravi Chopra to commence BABUL in December
Director Ravi Chopra is busy readying for the start-to-finish shooting of BABUL, the next major project from the B.R.banner with the same cast of BAGHBAN. We are planning to complete the shooting of the film in six months from December to May, so that we can schedule it for a July release next year, says Chopra.

Apart from BABUL the project that the banner is really looking forward is the one that is to be directed by Ravi Chopra's son Abhay Chopra. It may be recalled that Abhay had made a short film, KARMA which had been nominated for the Student category in Oscars. "bhay is a storehouse of talent and the film that he'll be directing for the banner will be a really big one. He is currently working on the script and it should hopefully mount the floor next year," Ravi informs.

AMITABH BACHCHAN SINGS FOR NEW FILM!
Actor makes promise during birthday celebrations!

Amitabh Bachchan has promised fan that he will sing again for his forthcoming film ‘Babul’. The much-awaited movie, which reunites the Bollywood superstar with Baghban director Ravi Chopra and co-stars Hema Malini and Salman Khan, will contain at least three songs rendered by Amitabh Bachchan. The announcement came during a meet with fans to celebrate Amitabh Bachchan’s 62nd birthday

BABUL
Ravi Chopra
We hear Salman Khan dies before the interval in your new film, Babul. Considering his current popularity, is that a wise move?

Not at all. Because the film is all about him. He's very much a part of the film in the second half too. You'll keep seeing him on screen on and off.
Besides Salman, we have Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Rani Mukerji. We have yet to finalise one more hero but that should be done soon since we are ready to start shooting.

Preity's loss, Rani's gain
Rani Mukherjee may have been signed on to play Amitabh Bachchan's widowed daughter-in-law in Ravi ('Baghbaan') Chopra's 'Babul'. But we hear that Preity Zinta was offered the role first and turned it down. The actress apparently isn't quite sure why she declined the offer. "I don't know why I said no to 'Babul'. It would've been great to share the same frame as Amitabh Bachchan. Also, Salman and I are very good friends. But the role, though brilliant, didn't seem right for me," she was heard telling some sections of the media. Well, Preity's loss is Rani's gain, for sure! And the latter's not complaining. After all, it's not every day that any actress gets the opportunity of working with the Big B himself. Or was one `Armaan' too much for Zinta darling?


Bhojpuri Film Gives Ravi & ´Babul´ A Headache ?
Decades back the first Bhojpuri film was ´Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Charaihbo´ which was made in 1961 by Vishwanath Shahabadi and created history at the box-office and got a lot of respect for the Bhojpuri film industry , but later on except for a few isolated examples like ´Dangal´ (1978) , the industry reduced itself to making shoddy sex-comedies , and ´nautanki´ style double meaning dialogue products .

Years later , Vishwanath Shahabadi´s son Rajkumar Shahabadi has tried to emulate his father and come up with a film called ´Ganga Jaisan Paavan Piratiya Hamaar ´ which bosts of the best Bollywood technician and is reportedly the costliest Bhojpuri film till date . While the film may get entertainment tax exemption in Maharashtra , the Bihar chief minister has already announced it and Uttar Pradesh is expected to do the same , in a bid to save the beleaguered regional film industry .

However , the above mentioned film which has surprised Bollywood , is giving sleepless nights to Ravi Chopra , who made a spendid comeback last year with the superhit ´Baghbaan´ , as ´Ganga Jaisan Paavan Piratiya Hamaar ´ has exactly the same subject as his proposed project ´Babul´. While Ravi Chopra has been finalising the cast af ´Babul´ for months and sitting over the project and disclosing the basic plot to every second journalist , perhaps the shock of the already completed , good production value Bhojpuri film a may jolt him into some sort of an action !


Babul Update
Get ready for this week's scoop! Kajol -- who is 30 today -- will not make a comeback in Ravi Chopra's next film, even as the film industry buzzes with such speculation. While Chopra did approach the talented actress for a pivotal role in Babul , the deal fell through. "Kajol has not made up her mind about when she wants to come back [to films]," explains Chopra.

Kajol's loss is her cousin Rani Mukerji's gain! Preity Zinta had also been approached for the role. Chopra, who directed the hit Baghban last year, repeats Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Salman Khan in his next film.Babul tells the tale of a man (Bachchan) who tries to bring happiness back into his daughter-in-law (Mukerji)'s life after his son (Salman)'s death. Salman does not have a guest appearance in the film, like he did in Baghban.

The film includes another actor, who has not been cast yet. Chopra is discussing the role with Akshay Kumar. If he signs on, Akshay will play the man whom Bachchan's character hopes his daughter-in-law will remarry. Babul, which means the father of the bride, will go on the floors in September. It will be shot in Delhi and Mumbai. "We will also shoot in either London or Russia," says Chopra. The film is expected to be completed by May and will release next July.

Babul
There's talk that Ravi Chopra has approached Kajol to enact the pivotal role of Big B's daughter-in-law in his forthcoming film BABUL. Of course, the speculation continued to grow as Ravi Chopra maintained a stoic silence, not wanting to either confirm or deny the report.
But here's Ravi Chopra's official version - exclusively on IndiaFM.
“I am currently talking with some actresses to enact the pivotal role of the daughter-in-law in BABUL. I wouldn't deny that I have approached Kajol for the role in question. But the modalities are still being worked upon.
“BABUL will star the BAGHBAN team of Amit-ji [Bachchan], Hema-ji [Malini] and Salman Khan. Only these three names have been finalized so far. There are two more important characters in the film - one girl and one guy.
“Have I approached Akshay Kumar for the role in question? Yes, I have. In fact, I've just started talking to him, but nothing is finalized yet.
“I want to begin shooting in August/September this year. In fact, I'd only be glad to begin in August. But procuring the dates and matching them with the entire cast is going to be difficult. However, I hope to finalize everything in a few days from now.”
This confirmation also puts to rest that Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji are also a part of the film!


KAJOL IN BABUL?
Not much was heard or said about Kajol making a comeback to the silverscreen. All we heard was that the talented actress was busy with motherhood. But Kajol may just be ready to return to the world of glitterati and set the theatre screens asizzle all over again. The lady is being considered to play the lead role in the Ravi Chopra (of 'Baghban' fame)-directed film called 'Babul'. "Nothing is confirmed as yet. But yes, we are considering several actresses and Kajol is one of them. It'll be a week, before we know who is going to play Amitabh's daughter-in-law in 'Babul'," says director Ravi Chopra. The only cast finalised as of now is the 'Baghban' family - Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Salman Khan. Will Kajol fit into Babul's bagh and make a comeback to the silerscreen? We'll just have to wait and watch.


Babul
While Akshay-Salman´s hot summer release ´Mujhse Shaadi Karogi´ ,will release in July , it seems like the two will once again be seen along with megastar Amitabh Bachchan , in Ravi Chopra´s ´Babul´ .
According to the director of last year´s superhit ´Baghan´ Ravi Chopra , the movie will have an emotional theme but will not be similar to ´Baghban´. ´Babul´ will go on the floors in October and is expected to release , early next year
.
BABUL
Ravi Chopra's much-talked-about MITTI, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, has been put on hold. “We wanted to shoot in Rajasthan. But it's not possible at this time of the year. Besides, Aamir Khan's film, based on the 1857 uprising [THE RISING], also looks at the same period. It doesn't make sense to start shooting MITTI now. We will delay it for some time at least,” he reveals.
Instead, Chopra is getting ready to make yet another family saga, post-BAGHBAN. Titled BABUL, the film will feature heavyweights like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Hema Malini. One more actor and actress are yet to be finalised. The scripting will be over by the end of January and the shooting will commence from February-end or early March. Chopra is hoping for a Diwali release.
“The story deals with the rehabilitation of a daughter-in-law by her father-in-law, after she becomes a widow. We are trying to put across the message that one should not expect a woman to die along with her husband,” he remarks. However, Chopra clarifies that the film will not be a social comment on the Sati system; it will be more contemporary in nature.
Chopra continues, “After Amit-ji, her role [the daughter-in-law] will be the most important in the film. Preity or Rani would be ideal for the role. I haven't approached them yet since I'm waiting for the script to get over,” he shares.
A thriller is also on the cards. Essentially a love triangle with two boys and one girl, it will be a small-budget experimental subject to be made within two months. The story, penned by Ram Govind, will be partly based in a jail.