Sheena is a sweet girl: Ruslaan

by admin
Posted on 16 Aug 2009.
Here is one guy who doesn’t believe in indulging in any kind of small talk.
We are talking about actor Ruslaan Mumtaz, who was recently in the city to promote his film, Tere Sang alongside his leading lady, Sheena Shahabadi.
When we quizzed him about his co-star Sheena’s marriage to Vaibhav Mohite, he said, “Frankly speaking, although we’ve been good friends, we’ve never really spoken about each other’s personal lives. Hence, I’m not in a position to say anything about it. It was only a few months before the release of the movie that I actually got to know that she was married and that it was on the rocks.”
He further added, “Sheena is a sweet girl and it is really sad that she has had to face so much of problems at such a young age.” Dost ho toh aisa. What say?
LINK: http://bollywoodjunk.com/sheena-is-a-sweet-girl-ruslaan/

'Teree Sang' 1st week all-India collections: Rs. 2.38 crores

By Taran Adarsh, August 17, 2009:
Satish Kaushik's TEREE SANG has shown a day-wise improvement in several circuits. Here are the first week figures of the film.
MUMBAI/THANE: 38,99,362
Friday 6,70,659; Saturday 8,62,769; Sunday 9,84,187; Monday 4,87,838; Tuesday 5,69,137; Wednesday 3,24,772; Thursday theatres closed.
MAHARASHTRA: 14,58,715
GUJARAT/SAURASHTRA: 37,55,611
Friday 4,43,844; Saturday 7,26,981; Sunday 10,01,611; Monday 4,87,838; Tuesday 5,69,137; Wednesday 3,56,065; Thursday 3,24,829
C.P./C.I.: 15,33,839
RAJASTHAN: 10,21,807
DELHI/U.P.: 61,75,975
Friday 8,90,101; Saturday 11,36,824; Sunday 12,82,722; Monday 7,56,106;
Tuesday 7,72,013; Wednesday 6,99,208; Thursday 6,39,000
EAST PUNJAB: 22,61,521
BANGALORE: 7,04,164
ANDHRA: 1,22,552
NIZAM: 9,29,782
TAMIL NADU: 3,63,262
KERALA: 24,138
EASTERN CIRCUIT: 16,30,398
Friday 1,93,668; Saturday 2,75,558; Sunday 3,78,123; Monday 2,06,305; Tuesday 2,03,377; Wednesday 1,82,504; Thursday 1,90,904
TOTAL: 2,38,81,096
LINK: http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/special_features/index.html

"To impregnate a girl by mistake, I had to look innocent" - Ruslaan Mumtaz

By Joginder Tuteja, August 11, 2009.
After MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar, Ruslaan Mumtaz is once again seen on the big screen in Satish Kaushik directed Teree Sang. In the film which opened last Friday, this 24 year old young man plays the role of a 17 year old boyfriend of a 15 year old girl (Sheena Shahabadi) who gets pregnant from him. The film comes with a message around teen pregnancy and has one of its major promotional pegs being sex education. In this exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, Ruslaan Mumtaz talks about the entire makeover that he had to go through for Teree Sang and how it wasn't an easy task for him to bag the lead role in the film.

Ruslaan, in real life you come with quite an impressive physique. So what did you do to look so different in Teree Sang? I had to actually go through a complete makeover as far as my looks, physique and wardrobe were concerned. For Teree Sang, I had to lose a lot of weight. Since Sheena (Shahabadi) is practically a kid, I had to look innocent too. More so because I was playing the role of a 17 year old boy who could impregnate a girl by mistake. It was imperative that audiences are led to believe that this guy is someone who can commit a mistake. So he had to be simple and quite naive, something that can be projected only if the look and presentation is correct. He couldn't have been shown as a cool dude because then his character wouldn't have been believable at all.
I had to actually go through a complete makeover as far as my looks, physique and wardrobe were concerned.

Please carry on...This boy is so sweet and simple that the girl keeps bullying him but he still never minds. She calls him a duffer but he only smiles. He is someone who is just not pretentious at all. He comes from a poor family and when he visits Sheena's house for the first time, his eyes pop out by witnessing just the sheer magnitude of the mansion where she lives. He is very vocal about his emotions as well but when it comes to the moment of decision making (when he accidentally gets the girl pregnant), he doesn't shy away from his responsibilities. He could have said that it's the girl who actually pushed him into the act but he never does that. He supports her whole heartedly.

There have been interesting stories floating around how you were selected for the role: I have heard that Satish Kaushik was not really keen to cast you even though you were quite persistent.What you have heard is half correct and half incorrect (laughs). It isn't as if Satish Kaushik wasn't keen to cast me. He actually wanted me for the role since he was quite impressed with my screen test. However, he wanted a new boy for the role and I had already signed Robby Grewal's MP3 - Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar. He asked me if I could leave MP3 but that wasn't possible for me. 6 months passed by and he still hadn't found his boy (laughs). So I approached him again and told him that he would never find a better boy than me to play this role. He again said no to me but surprisingly whenever there were any auditions for different girls who were being looked for the role, he would call me. Finally, I got to know that someone else was taken for the hero's role.
I told Satishji and told him that he would never find a better boy than me to play this role That must have been heartbreaking...You bet! Here I was coming week after week hoping that he would finally be convinced and there he went on to take some other boy. Thankfully there were so many other people who had seen the auditions. People from his own family and Bharat Shah (who is producing the movie) - everyone was sure that I was the guy for the role. As was destined, they didn't take either the boy or the girl whom they had selected first. Ultimately Sheena and I were signed on.What happened to that boy who was finalized before you?That guy is now an aspiring director actually. He was a very sweet guy and I completely believe that he was also very apt for the role. In fact he was just himself when he walked in for the audition and that was the very reason why he was selected in the first place. I observed him quite carefully since for me, he was the reference point for the boy I had to play on screen. I had to just wear the kind of loose clothes that he was wearing, get an appearance like him and adapt his mannerisms.

You must be pining a lot of hopes on Teree Sang? See, box office is important but then it is at the end of the day quite secondary. As long as I can have DVDs of 10 of my films ready and I can show them to people who matter, it is great. That should be my goal as of now. I am a newcomer and not really in a position to decide where I would be in a few years from now. Ultimately Teree Sang is a Satish Kaushik film and that by itself should be good enough to pull in audiences.

Two observations before I 'dissect' TEREE SANG...

Review By Taran Adarsh, August 7, 2009:

Two observations before I 'dissect' TEREE SANG...
One, it's often said that veterans find it extremely difficult to change with times, adapt to new-age cinema.
Two, it's often said that a capable director has the potential to unearth new talent and polish their skills.The two observations hold true for Satish Kaushik, who's known for dramatic/masala entertainers and who changes gears so swiftly with TEREE SANG.Now let's begin... First and foremost, TEREE SANG is not JUNO. The resemblance starts and ends with an adolescent getting pregnant. TEREE SANG is not KYA KEHNA either. TEREE SANG mirrors what's happening in society vividly. But, at the same time, it's not dark or disturbing, nor does it get preachy.

But there're minor issues. Certain portions make this real story look filmy and that robs the film of its freshness. It becomes another BOBBY and LOVE STORY at one point. More on that later!
Yet, all said and done, TEREE SANG is fresh and engrossing in most parts. Recommended! Maahi [Sheena Shahabadi], the only child of the Puri family [Rajat Kapoor, Neena Gupta], is a bubbly 15-year-old Delhi girl. She belongs to a prosperous family and has the best of material comforts. Kabir [Ruslaan Mumtaz], a 17-year-old, has a middle class background [Satish Kaushik, Sushmita Mukherjee Bundela]. Maahi and Kabir become friends. On a camping trip on New Year's Eve, after getting a little tipsy, the young couple get intimate. Soon, Maahi gets pregnant. What follows is a journey of accepting one's mistakes and owning up to it. Satish Kaushik steps into a new territory with TEREE SANG and throws a pleasant surprise at viewers. The entire first half is so real, so identifiable and the execution of the subject is so interesting that you get instantly drawn into Kabir and Maahi's worlds. The passionate kiss that they share, which leads to a sexual encounter, is also maturely depicted on screen by the director. But it's the second hour that's problematic. It becomes yet another version of BOBBY and LOVE STORY, with the kids eloping and the warring parents thirsting for each other's blood. These portions don't appeal primarily because too much seems to happen too soon. A roof over the head, a spacious mansion with all amenities and necessities in place, an instant job et al... all this in a matter of a few days in a new township seems so unreal. Thankfully, the film comes on track in the penultimate portions. The moment the girl calls up her father and set things straight - from this point onwards, TEREE SANG is back on its feet. Of course, the courtroom drama could've been far more impactful. Despite the blemishes in its writing, there's no denying that TEREE SANG is easily amongst Satish Kaushik's most accomplished works. Sachin-Jigar's music has that freshness that this subject demands and at least two songs deserve a strong mention, especially 'More Saiyyan'.

The camerawork is vibrant at places. Ruslaan underplays his part beautifully. The best part is, it's not one of those conventional roles that show the hero flexing his muscles or beating up 10 people at the same time. He enacts the boy next door part with complete understanding. Sheena is a surprise. Dew-fresh and adorable, the debutante looks perfect for the part. Her confidence and performance, both are wonderful. Rajat Kapoor is excellent. Neena Gupta is natural. Satish Kaushik delivers a winning performance. The viewers will love him. Sushmita Mukherjee Bundela is first-rate. Anupam Kher, in a brief role, is perfect. On the whole, TEREE SANG has a new story tell and that is its biggest USP. At the box-office, the film may be a slow starter, but has the merits to pick up with word of mouth if the youth as also the family audiences take to it.

LINK:http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/13624/index.html

Teree Sang - Movie Reviews

By: Tushar Joshi
Date: 08-08-2009

What's it about: It isn't as witty as Juno, nor a laugh-a-riot as Knocked Up. Instead Teree Sang is the story of teenage lovers Kabir (Ruslaan) and Maahi (Sheena) who grace early parenthood when a night of camping and champagne ends up being quite 'bumpy'. Of course, their folks don't welcome the news with open arms, but scare them to run away and seek shelter in a ruined house up north. Not to forget, the film suffers from the rich dad-poor dad syndrome with Kabir's peeps (Satish Kaushik and Sushmita Mukherjee) staying behind the sabzi-mandi while Maahi's (Rajat Kapur and Neena Gupta) stay in a palatial house. The climax gets all preachy with its Sunday sermon and an argument over kudraat ka kanoon versus our laws.

What's hot: Surprisingly the first half fleets through effortlessly without annoying you much (barring the Annu Malik Qutubminar song!). There is a certain honesty and old-age charm to the film that warms you up in the beginning. Ruslaan delivers an understated and impressive performance. Using his mannerisms and body language, he succeeds in giving Kabir the vulnerability and charm the character requires. There is an earnest likeability that he has, which works for him. Certain moments between Ruslaan and Sheena have been captured well.
What's not: The film digs its own graveyard in the second half with a bagful of clichés and corny one-liners (Rajat yelling "shut all modes of communication" to his hapless assistants when he discovers his daughter's pregnancy). Satish Kaushik should have spared us the horror of watching him in his inner wear and hid behind the camera. Neena and Rajat imbibe superficiality and moroseness while playing the snotty parents who have no time for their daughter. But the biggest culprit that massacres the plot is the never-ending court climax that has Rajat hallucinating that he's the Prime Minister delivering a speech from the Red Fort. Championing the cause of teens wanting babies just because nature permits them is quite hard to digest in this time where birth control pill commercials are being telecast during prime-time TV shows.
What to do: I recommend blasting Madonna's classic anthem Papa Don't Preach as a substitute to watching Teree Sang.

Teree Sang U/A; drama. Dir: Satish Kaushik. Cast: Ruslaan Mumtaz, Sheena Shahabadi, Satish Kaushik, Sushmita Mukherjee, neena Gupta, Rajat Kapur.

LINK: http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/2009/aug/080809-Teree-Sang-Movie-Reviews.htm

Ruslaan had a tough time dealing with his co-star's possessive mom

By: Tushar Joshi
Date: 2009-08-06 Place: Mumbai
Ruslaan Mumtaz is excited about the release of his second film Teree Sang this Friday. A love story, it deals with teenage pregnancy, and has Sheena Shahabadi as his romantic interest. However, the 17-year-old actress took her screen avatar seriously and actually fell for her co-star, creating complications during shooting. Sheena's mom learned about her daughter's feelings for Ruslaan and spent all her time and energy trying to keep them away from each other, even though Ruslaan had no interest in her romantically.

Momma says NO!A source, who has worked on the film reveals, "Sheena's mom was very possessive and wouldn't let her spend time with Ruslaan off camera. One day, when she heard that Sheena was having lunch in Ruslaan's room, she got very upset. She warned her daughter not to venture in his room alone and called up director Satish Kaushik to express her displeasure. The actress' mom even asked that their trailer vans be parked far away from each other." Director Satish Kaushik laughs the whole incident off, "Sheena's mom reacted like how any mother would. It was quite funny to see her mom screaming out her name in between shots. We would all tease Sheena about her big crush on Ruslaan, so obviously her mom had issues with them hanging out." We just hung outRuslaan, on the other hand, doesn't want to make much of the incident, "Sheena is a sweet girl. We did hang out a bit like every co-stars do. I just want to wait and watch the reaction the film gets." Kaushik is happy that his film got an overwhelming response from school principals in Delhi. "I showed my first print to over 50 school principals and they loved the movie. They thought that every child and parent should watch the film."Momma says NO!A source, who has worked on the film reveals, "Sheena's mom was very possessive and wouldn't let her spend time with Ruslaan off camera. One day, when she heard that Sheena was having lunch in Ruslaan's room, she got very upset. She warned her daughter not to venture in his room alone and called up director Satish Kaushik to express her displeasure. The actress' mom even asked that their trailer vans be parked far away from each other." Director Satish Kaushik laughs the whole incident off, "Sheena's mom reacted like how any mother would. It was quite funny to see her mom screaming out her name in between shots. We would all tease Sheena about her big crush on Ruslaan, so obviously her mom had issues with them hanging out." We just hung outRuslaan, on the other hand, doesn't want to make much of the incident, "Sheena is a sweet girl. We did hang out a bit like every co-stars do. I just want to wait and watch the reaction the film gets." Kaushik is happy that his film got an overwhelming response from school principals in Delhi. "I showed my first print to over 50 school principals and they loved the movie. They thought that every child and parent should watch the film."

LINK: http://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/2009/aug/060809-Bollywood-Ruslaan-Mumtaz-Teree-Sang-Sheena-Shahabadi.htm

The kiss worked in Teree Sang love scene

By SUBHASH K JHA, 7 August 2009:
Satish Kaushik's film on teen pregnancy Teree Sang featuring Ruslaan Mumtaz and debutante Sheena Shahabadi as teenagers who became parents after having unprotected sex, was stalled for a number of reasons. One among the many reasons is the crucial love-making scene where the girl gets pregnant. When the director saw the decisive sequence he felt it lacked the impact it should. Says Satish, "The girl Sheena was inexperienced in that sequence, and it showed. We needed to scrap and reshoot the scene." However a second stab at realism in the love-making yielded no productive results. Kaushik had to shoot the sequence a third time.. "This time we finally got it right," says leading man Ruslaan . "In fact it's all due to the girl. She went all-out to make sure the love scene looks convincing. We added a kiss this time which wasn't there originally to make it look convincing. And the whole series of incidents leading up to girl's seduction and pregnancy looks very convincing now. In fact a little too convincing." Ruslaan feels the censorboard might have a problem with the scene. "I hope it doesn't get snipped because, Satishji, Sheena and me worked really hard on it. Sheena was very brave. When we couldn't get the love scene right two times she had this do-or-die attitude the third time. We made the scene as authentic as we could . Now when I look at it I wonder how me and Sheena will sit with our parents and watch the Teree Sang at the premiere." Teree Sang is Bollywood's first film about teenage preganancy. Says Kaushik, "A lot of people who've seen Teree Sang feel it looks like we're endorsing teenage pregnancy. But we are not. We're actually saying teenagers should be more careful if they choose to have sex. It's stupid to turn coy about matters of sex and pretend our children don't know about the birds and bees when in fact today's kids are very much into physical relationships. We need to education them about how to prevent pregnancy and we must legalize abortions."
LINK: