22 Saturday, September 1, 2007 A season of remakes in being used. remake of Satte Pe Satta. It’s not Veteran filmmaker Raj N unusual Sippy is all set to modernise when new his milestone comedy with a media are 2007 adaptation, news established reports say. for classic myths and “It’s called ‘Seven’ and will BollywoodPRIYANKA KHANNA | IANS a buzz from the word go and Shiva. stories to be retold, or be a musical. It will not be an its stylised promos. It will Victoria No. 203 is director adapted to the new form, exact remake of my original he much hyped Ram get off to a good start given Kamal Sadana’s take on his whether it is literature, version. Instead of seven Gopal Varma Ki Aag and the curiosity to watch father’s most successful theatre, photography, brothers, the revamped ver- Victoria No. 203 are set reinter- work by the same name. film or television. sion will have three sisters tTo clash on the marquees pret the role of Gabbar, Whether these films are When cinema found its and four brothers,” said Sippy. soon on the first day. Varma’s which was immortalised by truly remakes or adapta- feet early last century, this “In today’s scenario, I film has been much in news Amjad , as Babban. tions could be argued long is exactly what happened. ’t think I can make as the director has chosen to According to reports, the and hard, but the end result And since then the cinema Amitabh Bachchan play a base his fable on Indian cin- film is expected to garner is still the same. Many argue has taken those same sto- double role all over again. ema’s most widely appreciat- the highest opening for any that historically, stories, ries, and its own, and Ideally, would be ed film . Varma film. And in B centres myths and legends have sur- remade them and refash- the first choice as the 40- From the unforgiving ter- people are mistaking it to be vived because they have ioned them during the past plus, happy-go-lucky bache- rains of the Chambal valley, a soft flick and are expected been retold, or remade. Even 100 years. lor. I already have a rapport Varma has transported the to flock for the opening. ancient Greek myths were Last year, Farhan with him, having directed original Sholay, which was Varma’s movies have adopted and retold by the Akhtar’s highly publicised him in (1990),” he an Indian version of a always been in the vortex of Romans and, later, and commercially suc- added. Western cowboy tale, to the controversies though he has medieval and Renaissance cessful remake of Don A not-so-old movie, Karz city. a steady fan following carved writers such as Chaucer with in by is to be The film has been creating by remaking his Tamil movie and Shakespeare retold or the lead had pretty remade by T-series, which added elements to classic much a dynamo effect. will star Himesh Greek myths - the Troilus Remakes of old classics Resahmmiya in a lead role. and Cressida story does not and cult movies have been The director of the new Karz come from Homer’s Iliad. pouring since. But these is still being decided since The film industry has Folktales, fairytales and big screen outings have had Ghai refused to direct or pro- legends continued to morph, mixed results. duce again his own directed been making Hollywood often to suit the culture that While Umrao Jaan star- movies, say reports. was adopting them. ring Aishwarya Rai in the “How can I remake my remakes for aeons. But The legends of King title role was a no show, own scripts when I am as Arthur are a good example, ’s Pari- today full of new ideas and with various versions of the neeta – a remake of an old concepts time ahead...but I plundering its own back stories over the centuries; classic of the same name am sure Karz will be wel- even today, a recent film brought back memories of comed by the new genera- catalogue of classic films and King Arthur purports to tell good cinema. tion with new kind of mak- the “real” story behind the The Sippy family may ing. I wish Himesh and the release of two remakes – legend. not be happy Bhushan of T-series my best,” In many ways, nothing has with Ram Gopal said Ghai. Ki Aag c hanged, Varma’s deci- Other remakes in the except the sion to pipeline are Rituparno and Victoria No. 203 on the medium r e m a k e Ghosh’s Rahgeer, a remake of Sholay but -starrer Guide, same day is something unique that has ’s Qurbani and n otSudhir Mishra is set to do a for the industry deterred remake of his own Is them from Raat Ki Subah Nahin in ILLUSTRATION: JITENDRA PATEL announcing the English.

Muneesh Sappel, who is a degree The man who designed the holder in commercial arts from SCENE UNSEEN University and has carved a niche for himself in set designing following the creation of ’s Paheli haveli haveli, is all set to recreate his magic ARPANA | IANS in Chopra’s Bhootnath e it a fascinating Shekhawati style haveli in Paheli, a temple in the middle of the desert in Dor or a again in Chandraprakash Diwedi’s period film Pinjar. Portuguese bungalow in Bhootnath, production The entire film was shot here in . And I got the Bdesigner Muneesh Sappel’s magic is evident in each of best art director award at the awards for it. these films. “However, ’s Dor was shot on loca- “The production designer is a newly coined term tion but the temple in the middle of the desert is a set. and has become quite popular in last two to three And we transported all the equipment on camels to years. His or her responsibility is to create a convinc- make that temple.” ing environment to make the drama effective. And Sappel says he can’t transform his ideas into reality on with directors keeping an eye on meticulous details, his own. “Building a set is teamwork. A production Kareena and Shahid break up? it is not an easy job,” Sappel said. Rani Mukherjee (left) and Shah Rukh Khan in Paheli. designer works with a team of more than 200 people Basically, production designer is another name and that includes carpenters, painters etc. To build the I According to the latest buzz in Bollwywood, Shahid for a set designer or art director. “The film is based in . I have made four sets for the set of ‘Bhootnath’ I hired 200 people. Sometimes, a team Kapur- relationship has hit a dead “We have to do a lot of planning before con- film. I have created the interior of the bungalow here at is as big as 600 people. For instance, in Pinjar I end and the reason behind it is none other than ‘sin- structing any set. Whether I am designing a the . It took me almost a month to make worked with 600 people and 400 in Paheli.” gle’ , who reportedly did some serious modern or a traditional house, I have to do a it and the cost is around Rs 10 million. The cost of a set depends upon the damage to - love story as lot of research,” said Sappel who has a degree “We have created the same house in Goa where the detailing, said Sappel. “The sets in well. The sources claim that it all happened on the in commercial arts from Lucknow University. exterior of the house will be shot. That’s the power of cin- Paheli cost around Rs 40 million.” sets of ’ Tashan in Ladakh and later, “I prepare sketches that take care of all the ema and designing.” Sappel has no intention of ven- Jaisalmer where Saif and Kareena instantly got details, look for the right furniture etc. Once, I Sappel has won many awards. For Paheli, which was turing into direction. attracted to each other. This news comes close on the am satisfied with my homework, I start build- also ’s official entry to the Oscar, he won the best art “I prefer being a production heels of rumours that her relationship with Shahid is ing the sets.” director trophy at the in 2006. designer. Filmmaking is 50 per- on the rocks. He is always looking for challenges and will Talking about Paheli, Sappel said: “The entire film was cent creativity and 50 percent However, Shahid’s close friend reveals that the show his creativity once again in Ravi shot in Film City except the step well sequence and management and I don’t think actor is clueless about Saif ’s closeness to Bebo as he’s Chopra’s Bhootnath. He has created a camel scene. We shot them on location. But the rest I have the flair to do the latter. I in Canada shooting for Nagesh Kukunoor’s Tasveer. Portuguese bungalow in a film, which stars and the desert scene with Amitabh Bachchan were all am happy doing what I am But how serious is Saif about Kareena? Amitabh Bachchan, and Shah filmed here in Mumbai. We followed the Shekhawati good at.” While Bebo has been in a relationship for a long time Rukh Khan. architecture for the haveli. “I did it now, Saif seems to be in a mood to play games. So will this fling last is the million dollar question everyone is asking. Kareena chose not to comment on the story but for more details, stay glued to this space. Vidya needs to lose weight I is all set to shed her extra fat for her role in a film that also stars Shahid Kapur. According to a unit member from Mirza’s film, “Vidya has been asked to lose at least fifteen kilos before she starts shooting for this film. Although the film is a love story between a younger boy and an older woman, the actress needs to look better than what she looked in .” “Shahid as it is looks like a kid in front of her. She is older to him but they cannot afford to make her look like his mother in the film,” said an industry source. “Vidya has a pretty face and is a promising actress all she needs to do is keep herself fit like most of today’s actresses do,” added the source.