Posts Tagged ‘Akshaye Khanna’

After a superb debut with Manorama Six Feet Under (though inspired/copied..whatever suits your sanity), Navdeep Singh is all set to roll his new film titled Basra. Earlier Akshaye Khanna and R Madhavan were supposed to star in it and Nikhil Advani was producing it. But now the film has a new cast and  a new producer too.

Abhay Deol is not only starring in it but is also producing the film under his banner Forbidden Films. Chitrangada Singh, Shahana Goswami, Nikhil Dwivedi and Soniya Mehra (Vinod Mehra’s daughter. Debut with Anant Mahadevan’s Victoria No 203) are also part of it. TOI has confirmed the cast and got the plot details of the film. You can click here or scroll down.

It is an out-and-out action film based on the drug racket and human trafficking. Basra is an edgy and dark film. Soniya will play a teenage hippie who is involved in drugs and eventually becomes a victim of human trafficking after being kidnapped. Shahana plays a journalist, while Nikhil is a cop. It is an ensemble cast and script.

The film is an action thriller. Abhay’s role is that of a secret agent. You can call him an undercover cop who exposes the entire racket. The movie has its base in Basra, a city in Iraq, notorious for its involvement in drugs. It will be shot in Dubai, Kuwait, Delhi and Mumbai.

The title Basra was chosen as it is a city in Iraq which is apt to the subject of the film. Probably the film will also be shot in one of the cities in Iraq. The movie will go on the floors in January and most probably release by the end of next year.

With that school boy looks and kiddie way of dialogue delivery, its bit difficult to imagine Abhay Deol as a secret agent in an action thriller. Or is he also going for those six-eight-dozen packs ? The rugged look with the moustache and disheveled hair did the trick in Manorama Six Feet Under. Hopefully we will be proved wrong. We trust Singhsaab! 

Shortkut - The con is onShortkut – The con is On. Shortkut with a “K”, whatever that means. Produced by Anil Kapoor, directed by Neeraj Vora, written by Anees Bazmee and stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao. And if the early reviews are any indication, its time to switch off the con even before it gets on!

Raja Sen ( Rediff ) – At least it’s better than Kambakkht Ishq and New York put together – 2/5.

Taran Adarsh ( Indiafm) – Is a poor show all the way. A major disappointment – 1 /5

Khalid Mohamed (Aslibaat) – Just another cup of copy….sugarless – 1/5

Rajeev Masand ( CNN IBN ) – Shortkut leaves you bored – 1/5

Baradwaj Rangan (New Indian Express) – A dreadful satire of the film industry is symptomatic of everything that’s wrong with our mainstream cinema

Anand Vaishnav ( Buzz18) – An interesting plot goes haywire due to a lifeless script – 1.5 / 5

Gaurav Malani (Indiatimes) – Cut every possible path, short or long, leading to this film – 1.5 /5

Shubhra Gupta ( Indian Express ) – Arshad Warsi, fine actor, RIP  ?

Minty Tejpal ( Mumbai Mirror ) – Avoid this shortcut – 1/5

Aniruddha Guha ( DNA ) – Is a con job by its makers – 1/5

Mayank Shekhar ( NDTV ) – If you happen to catch this disaster, don’t say, I didn’t warn you.

Mayank’s review sums it up well. Do we need tos ay more!

Here are some pics from the IFFA Awards Macau – 2009. Pics of Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Anil Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mugdha Godse, Govinda, Sushmita Sen, Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao, Sonam Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Madhur Bhandarkar, Akshaye Khanna, Hrithik Roshan, Lara Dutta and Bipasha Bashu.

These are pics from various events at IIFA Awards Macau 2009 – the fashion show, green carpet, film workshop, unveiling of Bachchan’s wax statue ( again ??) , press conference of David Dhawan’s Do Knot Disturb and Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail. Enjoy!

The theatrical trailer of Short Kut is out. The film stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao. Its directed by Neeraj Vohra and produced by Anil Kapoor.

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