Bollywood Hungama

Bebo, Malaika, Sonakshi to perform at Dabangg 2 music launch

Salman Khan's success run at the box office started with his 2009 film Wanted, followed by Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger. Now ready with the sequel Dabangg 2 to his 2010 film, where he reprised the role of the lovable cop Chulbul Pandey, Salman is all set to thrill fans this December.

However to make the sequel extra special the makers of the film have decided to start promotions with a grand music launch. In fact they have planned an elaborate music launch on November 15, which will feature Malaika Arora Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha performing to their respective item numbers from the film.

Taking a hint from its predecessor 'Munni', which was a major hit, Dabangg 2 will have two item numbers namely 'Fevicol' featuring Kareena, and, 'Pandeyji Seeti Bajaye' with Sonakshi and Malaika. What's more reports also say that Salman will be joining the three ladies on stage.

Dabangg 2, which marks Arbaaz Khan's directorial debut, is slated for release on December 21.

Kareena's item song ties up with adhesive company

It isn't for nothing that the much-anticipated item song in Dabangg 2 is called 'Fevicol'. We've come to know that producer-director Arbaaz Khan has tied up with the multi-national company for a huge collaborative project before allowing Kareena to croon in favour of the well-known adhesive company.
Kareena started shooting the 'Fevicol' song from November 5 onwards. This is the first time Kareena returns to the arc lights after her much-hyped wedding on October 18. Farah Khan choreographs the number. 

Says a source, "Salman wants Kareena's item song inDabangg 2 to be bigger, brighter and bouncier than 'Munni Badnaam' in Dabangg. He selected the tune, and finalized Mamta Sharma to sing it. He also decided on bringing the adhesive company into the song. If you remember, the 'Munni Badnaam' song in Dabangg had gotten into a wrangle with the Zandu balm product for mentioning their product in the song. Subsequently, producer Arbaaz Khan sat across the table with the balm makers and the two parties worked out a lucrative deal whereby Malika Arora who performed 'Munni Badnaam' endorsed the balm and also became its brand ambassador. A similar deal has been worked out with the Fevicol company for the item song in Dabangg 2." 

The idea is to use the Dabangg franchise as a platform for an endorsement-based item song each time. It was Zandu balm in Dabangg, it's Fevicol in Dabangg 2. It would be another popular product in the next film. 

Confirming these developments Arbaaz Khan took time off from his frantic editing to say, "Yes, we're tying up with an adhesive company for Kareena Kapoor's item song Fevicol. But the brand won't be thrown into the audiences' faces .It's been sung in a very earthy way by Mamta Sharma, so that it sounds like 'Phebikol' in the number." 
So it is an earthy rustic number? 

"Very much so," informs Arbaaz. "We wanted the track to move ahead of what we did with 'Munni Badnaam' in Dabangg. The song's being formatted similarly. Salman will be joining Kareena , just like he joined in with Malaika in 'Munni Badnaam'."

Post Luv Shuv... Sameer Sharma to make Jugalbandi

Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana's director Sameer Sharma seems to have found a winning recipe for good filmmaking. After a film revolving around a chicken recipe, Sameer is all set to direct a film woven around the theme of songs and music. The film to be titled Jugalbandi and would be dedicated to Sameer's grandfather, the legendary singer Mukesh.

Says Sameer, "Mukesh was my nanajee (maternal grandfather). Neil Nitin Mukesh is my cousin. I grew up in an environment of music and food. My father is an hotelier. So I've spent much of my childhood in hotel kitchens. I guess that's where my love for food began. You see that manifested in my first film Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Now, in my second film my love for music will be apparent." Jugalbandi would tell the story of two musicians, the guru and hisshishya. 

"Like Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana, Jugalbandi is a story written by my friend Sumit Batheja," says Sameer who began his career in cinema assisting Aditya Chopra on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge.

One wondered why Sameer's cousin Neil didn't feature in his first film. "Kunnu (Kunal Kapoor) and I had planned Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana together from scratch. It was our project. There was no question of anyone else doing it."

Sameer reveals how the film was originally planned in the Punjabi language. "Yeah. It was planned as a Punjabi film, since the whole milieu flavour and location is Punjabi. But somewhere down the line we felt it would work better in Hindi. I think we all felt it deserved a pan-India audience."

What works in Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana is the Punjabiyat. "All the actors are Punjabi. We didn't want to lose out on the authenticity. We don't know how much the genuineness of the presentation works in its favour. But we haven't heard anyone say they found the film artificial in its characterization or spoken language."