Since it was first announced we have been intrigued by Shirish Kunder’s next film Joker, starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Sharman Joshi and Minissha Lamb. We talked to Shirish about the film in May and though he did not tell us much he did reveal a bit, “It is an underdog story with elements of sci-fi. It is a very unusual story and for me, to say more, I would be revealing the storyline, so I really can’t. But it is a very unusual story and a really new genre.” That was right before the second shooting schedule was about to start. Now, six months later the cast and crew are almost to the finish line in terms of filming because they are in the last schedule and will have the final shooting days in this month. Of course, then all the VFX and post production begins, but more on that in a minute.
Though Shirish has not released any details about the story of the film, he did say in an early interview that, “Joker is a Superhero Action film. The film deals with global warming and its consequences but in a very entertaining manner and not in a preachy way. Right from the conception, Joker has been planned as a trilogy. Joker 2 and 3 will follow soon after Joker.”
Recently the Hindustan Times revealed a bit more about the plot, “The film will focus on ex-superhero Joker (Akshay Kumar). After failing a mission, he hides in a Japanese village where he meets Jaaved Jaaferi, a Martial-arts teacher. Jaaferi trains him and sends him back to India to rescue the world. Little does he know, he is sending back terror with the Joker. Joker then finds a new boss in his work centre, who sends him off to a mission far away, with a new assistant (Shreyas Talpade). Sonakshi will play Akshay’s love interest in the film.”
Talking about casting Akshay, Shirish said, “The character needs an actor who is not only brilliant in action, but also adept in comedy. And Akshay suits the role to perfection. Also I share an extremely good working equation with Akshay and am very comfortable with him.”
About the film star Akshay Kumar has said, “Joker is a funny, emotional story loaded with SFX. And Shirish is the perfect guy to direct it given that he has studied the technique.”
So when will we get to see the final product? Shirish recently announced a release date for the film: August 30th, 2012. You may be asking why so far away? Well, the answer is not only is Joker full of special effects it will also be in 3D and Shirish wants to take advantage of all the latest technology for the film. In a recent interview he said, “Well, the speed at which technology is growing, we wanted to make best use of what was available to us after we were through with the final schedule. We didn’t want to announce a release date and then regret losing out on something new that would have come up at a later stage. Now that we are into the final schedule, it is time to get into postproduction pronto. We have the latest technology available to us now and we are going ahead with that. It would take us six more months to reach the finishing line now and hence 30th August is just apt.”
He said, “Joker is the first of its kind film. So every detail needs a lot of time and effort since it’s being attempted for the first time. We are not rushing for it. I believe filmmaking is not a race. It’s not a product. It’s a work of passion.”
Along with the fabulous FX, it is Bollywood so we can expect some fabulous songs and dance sequences. In fact, this last shooting schedule Farah Khan is choreographing three numbers in fifteen days. Apparently Sonakshi has a gorgeous item number in the film, but there is also a special appearance by Chitrangada Singh in a hot song and dance number. This is the first time Chitrangada will be doing an item number and we hear she is elated. She said, “Yes, Shirish has asked me to do a song. And I think it is time to prove that curvy can also be beautiful.” Choreographed by Farah Khan, the song titled ‘Kaafirana’ is a rustic number. Talking about the number and why he chose Chitrangada for the scene Shirish said, “Kaafirana is essentially a rustic song with a raunchy flavour to it. We wanted a fresh yet sensual face, and not the usual, go-to item girls of today. Also, Chitrangada hasn’t done an item song before, so the novelty value is very high. She was exactly what we were looking for.” Adding, “Farah has gone all out to make Chitrangada’s first ever item number special while for me too it is now an added advantage to have someone in addition to Sonakshi adding on to the glamour quotient of the film.”
We will catch up with the director after this last shooting schedule to get all the Joker scoop so stay tuned for much more. For now, have a sneak peek at Chitrangada in her item number!
