While on Kaante, audiences who visit the cinemas to catch Sanjay Gupta’s all-male thriller will be in for a treat when the first promo of Jhankaar Beats is unveiled before the main show begins. Starring Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna, Shayan Munshi and Riya Sen, Jhankaar Beats is likely to hit cinema screens in January next year, and is carrying encouraging reports in trade circles. The soundtrack, predict music experts, will be a colossal hit when it hits music stores. An urban romantic comedy, the movie showcases what is easily Juhi Chawla’s career-best performance as a pregnant wife trying to maintain peace between her irritating mother and her impatient husband. Payback Time After washing all their dirty linen in public, and swearing they won’t work with each other again, Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon will be seen together in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Aan (previously titled Police Force). However, insiders say the two aren’t cast opposite each other. Lara Dutta (who Akshay is recommending left, right and centre these days) will appear opposite the Khiladi Kumar, while Sunil Shetty is believed to be Raveena’s love interest in the film. Perhaps this is producer Feroz Nadiadwala’s way of getting back at Twinkle Khanna, who walked out of his Awara Paagal Deewana at the eleventh hour — casting her bete noire Raveena opposite her husband is one sure way of causing her anxiety pangs as she sits at home while hubby’s on the sets with his ex-girlfriend. Nagging doubt With a reported loss of Rs 300 crore this year, 2002 is being described as the worst year for Bollywood in recent times. Would you take a pay cut to bail out Bollywood? • Raveena Tandon: ‘‘I have always almost slashed my salary for a film that needs to be made on a small scale. I did both Daman and Satta for close to nothing. But I think the problem lies less in exorbitant star fees, and more in bad scripts.’’ • Akshay Kumar: ‘‘My price has never been a big issue. Of course I would bring down my salary to bail out Bollywood. But I don’t know if the solution lies there. The idea is for filmmakers to work on water-tight scripts and to stick to strict shooting schedules.’’ • Govinda: ‘‘Everybody blames the stars. Producers should try to avoid wastage on the sets. In any case, stars only get the price they deserve.’’ • Kader Khan: ‘‘It’s the top stars who are overpaid. Yet, when it comes to these situations, producers will underpay character artistes and technicians, never the stars. Such unfairness, I tell you.’’ Getting Arty
