Ruslaan Mumtaz's body basics

Prithwish Ganguly / DNA ,Thursday, November 26, 2009
Mumbai: Ruslaan Mumtaz has bagged the biggest role of his film career and he is leaving no stone unturned to make a big impression. In his forthcoming Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai! also starring Riteish Deshmukh, the young actor will go the Salman Khan way as he will be flaunting his bare torso in half of the movie.
The actor will be seen flaunting his bare torso in almost half of his next film.
"I have exercised heavily for the role and I have developed an eight-pack like Aamir. This role demanded me to do all this and I pushed myself very much. I'm also feeling good that I'm healthier now and that I will be flaunting my abs in half the movie. The film is a fairytale movie and it is the biggest movie I have got in my life," says Ruslaan who has acted in films like Teree Sang and MP3.
Ask him why that big project has been elusive to him and he says: "Box office hits matter a lot for an actor. Unfortunately I don't have films that have been big hits and so my career has taken off slowly. But now I'm happy that my hard work is being recognized. I want this film to do well. Once that happens, more offers will come by."
He adds: "It is a very cut-throat industry where many newcomers like me exist and it is difficult to sustain unless one big project comes by. Nobody cares how talented you are unless you have a big project. I have to now cash in on this."

Warner Bros. to release Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai in Feb

Story By: Businessofcinema.com Team: Oct 22, 2009

MUMBAI: Warner Bros. Pictures India is all set to release Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai a romantic comedy, staring Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ruslaan Mumtaz, directed by debutant director Milap Milan Zaveri.
The film, which is now in the post - production stage, will release on 5 Feburary 2010.
"Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai is an entertaining comedy with a refreshing and novel concept, which will appeal to all audiences, especially teens," says Warner Bros. Pictures India deputy managing director Denzil Dias.
"I am looking forward to my first release as the film is meant for young audience it is perfect timing to release the film during the month of February," says Zaveri.

LINK: http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=14765

Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai : Interplanetary love – Jacqueline Fernandez 2nd bollywood movie at Sandeshaya Sri Lanka

First-time director Milap Zaveri, who held two test screenings for his forthcoming film Jaane Kahaan Se Aayee Hai, will be re-shooting a few scenes based on the response in September. A love story between an earthling played by Riteish Deshmukh and an alien essayed by the Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandes, the shoot will take place in Mumbai. Among the sequences that will be re-shot, one will be between Vishal Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh. Said Zaveri, “The audiences loved their camaraderie. So I have deleted a one-minute scene and added one more scene between the two.”
As for the response generated by the two test screenings held in Mumbai, 93 per cent of the people labelled the film as good, very good or excellent, according to Zaveri. To ensure an unbiased response, 500-odd viewers were picked up from coffee shops and shopping malls.“Farah Khan’s scenes were the favourite, while Jacqueline’s and Riteish’s performances were loved by all,” said the director. The film produced by Nikhil Advani and Mukesh Talreja and presented by Warner Brothers is due for a November-end or early December release.
Test screenings of unreleased films is a rarity in Bollywood. Test screenings are basically held to gauge the audience feedback prior to a film’s release. Aamir Khan does it for all his films. He did it for TAARE ZAMEEN PAR and also JAANE TU… YA JAANE NA. A few days back, Imran Khan did it for LUCK. “The Ashtavinayak people are very conservative that way. They don’t believe in screening their films prior to their release. But I wanted to gauge the feedback to LUCK and we did hold one screening,” Imran tells me. He, of course, is ecstatic since “the feedback was tremendous.”
Just recently, Warner Bros. also initiated a test screening of producers Nikhil Advani and Mukesh Talreja’s JAANE KAHAN SE AAYI HAI, directed by debutante Milap Zaveri. “We held the test screening at two venues [Roxy and Fame Adlabs]. The audience for the screenings were picked up from malls and coffee shops. People who’ve no connection with the film industry whatsoever. It was a rush print, with some incomplete patches, no dubbing, no background score. I was really nervous,” Milap divulges.
But the reaction to this Ritesh Deshmukh – Jacqueline Fernandes – Ruslaan Mumtaz starrer was “fantastic”. The viewers were given a questionnaire soon after the screening ended. “They were asked various questions related to the film and the response was stupendous,” Milap states. No wonder, Milap is grinning from ear to ear these days.
After a very successful career in script writing Milaap Zaveri, known for his films like Heyy Babyy, Jhankar Beats and Masti is now all set make his directorial debut with Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, starring Riteish Deshmukh.
Milaap Zaveri held the mahurat of his directorial debut venture Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai starring Riteish Deshmukh, Satish Shah and Jacqueline.
“Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai is a film about a girl who comes from outer space. She is from the planet Venus and journeys to Earth in search of love. It is a romantic comedy, with a lot of sci-fiction and special effects thrown in. So it is fun ride, something which I hope the audiences will enjoy,” said Zaveri.
Milap who’s known for penning intense scripts is quite excited about his new venture.
“I’ve written 14 films till now, so I guess the logical next step was towards direction. It was on the sets of Heyy Babyy where I learnt a lot from Sajid Khan. He was like my guide and mentor,” added Zaveri.
To that the successful television anchor cum film director quips, “I don’t think I’m anybody’s mentor. I think I’m Milaap’s tormentor. I’m extremely happy because Milaap is a very, very good friend of mine and he also did my dialogues for Heyy Baby. He is also currently working for my second film’s screenplay.
Filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh also made an appearance at the mahurat to support Milap.
“Milaap is like my kid brother, you know. We started our careers together with Jhankar Beats and today it is really amazing that he is directing a film. He wanted me to break the coconut as an auspicious sign to his film’s launch, so I’m the official coconut cracker,” said Ghosh.
If Milap’s directorial venture is as successful as his scripts have been, Bollywood has another hit filmmaker in the making.
Director: Milap ZaveriWriter: Milap Zaveri (story)Release Date: 2009 (India)Genre: Comedy Fantasy Romance
Story: The film features two humans played by Ritesh Deshmukh and Ruslaan Mumtaz and a girl (Jacqueline Fernandes) from Venus who has special powers. She can shrink objects and people. In one of the scenes when Ritesh and Ruslaan are stuck in a traffic she shrinks their Range Rover so that they can sneak throught the jam. For the scene the filmmakers had a harrowing time finding a miniature look alike.
Notes: Ruslaan Mumtaaz has to have a body like Salman Khan’s in Maine Pyar Kiya for the film because his role requires him to be skilled in B-Boing. He is following a tedious work out routine of two hours in the morning and an hour in the evening to achievbe the results. The script was written keeping salman in mind but it was difficult to get not only his dates but to afford him topped with a debutant directing him. Ruslaan is training for B-Boing, a challenging combination of martial arts and various dance forms like break dance.(Oct 29)

Satish Kauhsik: Who says TEREE SANG is a flop?

Satish Kaushik is hardly amused that some overzealous trade sources have taken no time in labeling TEREE SANG as a box office failure. As per the filmmaker who has not just directed but also co-produced the film, TEREE SANG is pretty much a 'plus' film and though it may not have made much noise at the box office, it has certainly broken even at least for its investors."I am not quite sure if those who are deciding the box office status for a film have an iota of understanding around the basics of calculations that go into calling a film as a hit or a flop", wonders Satish Kaushik who took a calculated risk of roping in newcomers (Ruslaan Mumtaz, Sheena Shahabadi) for the film, "It was made on a shoestring budget and even that was good enough to give it a rich look. We didn't go ballistic with our promotion either and kept it decent enough to create right level of awareness for the film.

"CHECK OUT: Kher confident of word of mouth taking forward TEREE SANG:

TEREE SANG didn't survive in many theaters by the time second week came to a close."Yes, that's disheartening because if only exhibitors would have shown more trust in the product, it would have definitely sustained over a period of time. A movie like TEREE SANG takes time to find family audiences for itself. What makes me proud of TEREE SANG is the fact that it was appreciated by critics as well as those who watched the film", says Kaushik.He has the final word on the box office performance of TEREE SANG, "Sheer net collections for TEREE SANG are good enough for it to ensure coverage status for itself. It got around 3 crores net in the first week and that took it past the safety mark. Then there are also satellite, home video and music rights that only further add on to the revenue. The film has ensured good return on investment for itself".

LINK: http://page3gossips.blogspot.com/2009/09/satish-kauhsik-who-says-teree-sang-is.html

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.