If you met a 6 ft 9 inches tall, 849-pound (386 kg)
sumo wrestler, and you happened to be a Hindi film hero, what would you do? Arre yaar,
bash him up, what else? That's precisely what Akshay Kumar does when the Los
Angeles-based, world-title holder E. Manuel accosts him in Mr and Mrs Khiladi.
It's becoming a habit with Akki; in Khiladiyon ka Khiladi, he took on WWF
heavyweights Undertaker and Crush. Says the spunky hunk from Bollywood: "Working with
Manuel was an amazing experience. He's so huge and he has such a great sense of
humour." He would have to -- Kumar, who measures up to his left thigh, probably
weighs less than what sumo-man devours during his late afternoon snack. That being so, the
producers realised that the standard bloody-nose-and-broken-bones routine would be too
absurd. So it's become a sort of comical action scene. Or as producer Keshu explains:
"We wanted to do something really different." The fight scene, incidentally, was
shot in a wrestling ring in Canada. Akki's lucky this is Manuel's Bollywood debut. Next
time the guy's ego might beat out his size.
A Role to Die For
She's played a slum girl in City of Joy and a famous
singer's daughter in Saaz, but nothing quite prepared her for this. Ayesha
Dharker, 20, actress-daughter of journalist Anil Dharker and poet-painter Imtiaz, has been
cast as a suicide bomber in Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist. "An interesting off-beat
film," that's how the national-award-winning cinematographer turned director
describes the Tamil feature and the lady seems equally impressed. "What makes a young
girl want to kill herself -- the film explores that question. And this character is so
unusual. I'll probably never meet anyone like her. Actually I wouldn't want to meet her.
I'd be scared to death." Not too scared to step into her shoes with aplomb, though.
The part requires action and Ayesha is training for it. "I've started working out and
I'm gearing up to handle the role. It's really hard work but I'm loving it." Acting
herself to death, is she?
Cast At Last
Bad luck comes in threes, says the kismet brigade. Well,
Naseeruddin Shah has been fourth-time lucky. In the play Gandhi versus Gandhi,
Shah's got a role he's coveted for long. Says the better-than-life actor: "The part
of Gandhi has fascinated me and eluded me for years. This time I welcomed it with open
arms." He ought to. History says the shah of all roles has dodged him -- or been
dodged by him -- thrice over. He was a serious contender for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi,
but Ben Kingsley won that round. Next came Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma,
but Shah had no time to spare. In Jabbar Patel's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, he felt
the role was too brief. So it's GVG -- the English translation of a successful
Gujarati play -- with theatre director Feroze Khan. Says Khan: "He was the obvious
choice." Attenborough didn't think so, but we'll let that pass.
The Complete Picture
If you're a painter cum Gujarati short-story writer cum CA, chances
are we'll see a merging of worlds. So in Jasbhai nu Khoon, Bhupen Khakar's first
mystery novella, a portrait painter's subject is murdered before the job is done; he
completes the picture just as the police crack the case. Khakar hopes to finish by
January. As for his multiple roles, the 63-year-old artist says: "Each medium has its
strengths. In a story, in one line I can say 'Manilal is 70' and next, 'At 57, he ... '
Painting that is tough. But how do I describe the colour green in writing?" You solve
that one, sir.
If you met a 6 ft 9 inches tall, 849-pound (386 kg)
sumo wrestler, and you happened to be a Hindi film hero, what would you do? Arre yaar,
bash him up, what else? That's precisely what Akshay Kumar does when the Los
Angeles-based, world-title holder E. Manuel accosts him in Mr and Mrs Khiladi.
It's becoming a habit with Akki; in Khiladiyon ka Khiladi, he took on WWF
heavyweights Undertaker and Crush. Says the spunky hunk from Bollywood: "Working with
Manuel was an amazing experience. He's so huge and he has such a great sense of
humour." He would have to -- Kumar, who measures up to his left thigh, probably
weighs less than what sumo-man devours during his late afternoon snack. That being so, the
producers realised that the standard bloody-nose-and-broken-bones routine would be too
absurd. So it's become a sort of comical action scene. Or as producer Keshu explains:
"We wanted to do something really different." The fight scene, incidentally, was
shot in a wrestling ring in Canada. Akki's lucky this is Manuel's Bollywood debut. Next
time the guy's ego might beat out his size. 
She's played a slum girl in City of Joy and a famous
singer's daughter in Saaz, but nothing quite prepared her for this. Ayesha
Dharker, 20, actress-daughter of journalist Anil Dharker and poet-painter Imtiaz, has been
cast as a suicide bomber in Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist. "An interesting off-beat
film," that's how the national-award-winning cinematographer turned director
describes the Tamil feature and the lady seems equally impressed. "What makes a young
girl want to kill herself -- the film explores that question. And this character is so
unusual. I'll probably never meet anyone like her. Actually I wouldn't want to meet her.
I'd be scared to death." Not too scared to step into her shoes with aplomb, though.
The part requires action and Ayesha is training for it. "I've started working out and
I'm gearing up to handle the role. It's really hard work but I'm loving it." Acting
herself to death, is she? 
Bad luck comes in threes, says the kismet brigade. Well,
Naseeruddin Shah has been fourth-time lucky. In the play Gandhi versus Gandhi,
Shah's got a role he's coveted for long. Says the better-than-life actor: "The part
of Gandhi has fascinated me and eluded me for years. This time I welcomed it with open
arms." He ought to. History says the shah of all roles has dodged him -- or been
dodged by him -- thrice over. He was a serious contender for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi,
but Ben Kingsley won that round. Next came Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma,
but Shah had no time to spare. In Jabbar Patel's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, he felt
the role was too brief. So it's GVG -- the English translation of a successful
Gujarati play -- with theatre director Feroze Khan. Says Khan: "He was the obvious
choice." Attenborough didn't think so, but we'll let that pass. 
If you're a painter cum Gujarati short-story writer cum CA, chances
are we'll see a merging of worlds. So in Jasbhai nu Khoon, Bhupen Khakar's first
mystery novella, a portrait painter's subject is murdered before the job is done; he
completes the picture just as the police crack the case. Khakar hopes to finish by
January. As for his multiple roles, the 63-year-old artist says: "Each medium has its
strengths. In a story, in one line I can say 'Manilal is 70' and next, 'At 57, he ... '
Painting that is tough. But how do I describe the colour green in writing?" You solve
that one, sir.
