ZERO MOVIE HOPES, DEV’S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT + DRASHTI's Star promise and PRIYANKA’S WEST WOES

by ASJAD NAZIR.

SUCHITRA SINGING AGAIN

THE multi-talented Suchitra Krishnamoorthi has returned to her first love of singing after a gap of 18 years with the song Sawan Barse, which she describes as a song of yearning and a return to innocence.

The writer, painter and actress told me she had lost her voice over the years and never thought she would sing again.

“I had a kind of emotional/psychological voice paralysis. Luckily with the help of my wonderful guru Ravi Juleji, I slowly regained my voice. Then at a film screening, music director Surya Vishwakarma said it was his dream to work with me. I was so moved that I decided to put my fear aside and give it a shot. Then my friends from the music business liked the song and suggested I make a music video. I’m super excited to share the song and video,” said Suchitra.

SHAH RUKH: ZERO HOPES

THE recently released trailer for Zero makes it clear how much money has been spent on the big budget movie. A Bollywood film that huge will usually have a clear run at the box office for two or three weeks before another high-profile release. Shah Rukh Khan needs Zero to score big, but unfortunately for him, Simmba is coming out a week after Zero and will take up a lot of cinema space, including many single screens across India. Filmmaker Karan Johar, who hit the big time thanks to Shah Rukh, has produced Simmba and will likely derail Zero.

DEV’S DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

I HAD reported a while ago that Dev Patel was ready to make his directorial debut in

Hollywood and now he is making that a reality with revenge thriller Monkey Man, which will be presented to potential buyers at this year’s American Film Market.

Dev will also play the lead role in the India-set story of a man released from prison who grapples with a world marred by corporate greed and eroding spiritual values. The actor has co-written the screenplay, which has a mythological edge, and hopes to start shooting in spring 2019 in Mumbai.

Patel’s other forthcoming acting projects include The Personal History of David Copperfield, Hotel Mumbai and The Wedding Guest.

PRIYANKA’S WEST WOES

ONE thing that went largely gone unnoticed this year is how badly Priyanka Chopra’s last

Hollywood film A Kid Like Jake did at the box office and how little she had to do in it.

Judging by the recently released trailer of her next Hollywood film Isn’t It Romantic, it looks like she has a similarly small role in it because the entire story revolves around

lead star Rebel Wilson.

So having heavy-duty Hollywood contacts and turning down a large number of Bollywood

films hasn’t really given the actress that big international hit she is after. With her TV drama Quantico being cancelled, many are beginning to feel that she is wasting

her talent in Hollywood.

HAVING FAITH IN SHAHBAZ

SINGING policeman Mohammed Shahbaz Sammi will deliver his first UK performance

at a spiritual concert at the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham on Sunday (11).

Shahbaz, who is headlining the family friendly Rabi Ul Awal event, will perform alongside leading naat [hymns] artists from Pakistan. The high-ranking Pakistani police officer had become an Internet sensation after a video of him singing went viral. UK-based Sufi music promoter Abid Iqbal, who had shared the video, has brought all the naat artists over to the UK for the event.

DRASHTI: STAR PROMISE

A MAJOR power player in Bollywood told me recently that TV actress Drashti Dhami could have been a huge movie star and they don’t understand why she didn’t pursue her bigscreen dream after her hit serials Geet – Hui Sabse Parayi and Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon. Instead of kicking on to greater things, the actress signed shows that didn’t build on her early momentum. This includes Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka, which began earlier this year, and one which she walked out of recently. I believe Drashti is hugely talented and

hope she achieves the bigscreen success people believe she is capable of.