Akshay Kumar gives up IIFA for Family Holiday

Forget about performing live, Akshay Kumar won’t be attending the 10th IIFA awards in Macau next month.

June has been kept aside for the family vacation, and nothing in the world can change that.

Says a source close to Akshay, “The family vacation was planned well in advance to coincide with Akshay’s son Aarav’s school vacations. Akshay doesn’t like leaving Aarav behind when he is out of the country. At the same time he doesn’t want his son to miss school. So the annual holiday was planned well I advance. No power on earth, not even IIFA, is going to persuade Akshay to take even a small break from the holiday, let alone break his little boy’s heart.”

In fact it was suggested by IIFA organizers that Akshay fly down from wherever he was to Macau for the event. When Akshay refused to perform the organizers suggests he come down with to Macau with his wife and son just to attend.

Akshay wouldn’t relent.

Says the source, “Akshay planned the holiday for his son well in advance. The two sat together and decided which places to visit and what spots of the world would be of most interest to the boy. He rushed through his current assignments to keep June free. Nothing else matters at the moment.” - Subhash K Jha / Sampurn Media

Anuj Saxena making in roads in South cinema too

After successfully producing the first hindi film Aloo Chaat which recently celebrated 50 days and a Kannada Film “Housefull” actor Anuj Saxena extends his production house Maverick’s portfolio by presenting a Malayam film. The film is titled Gulumaal starring Jayasoorya, V.K.Prakash, Jagathy, Chackochan, Suraj, Salim Kumar and Biju Kuttan and is expected to go on floors in second half of June.

Anuj Saxena CEO Maverick Productions Pvt. Ltd. Says, “Maverick is a full fledged entertainment company producing, films, ads, events and documentaries. After producing a Kannada film foraying into Malayam Cinema is a natural progression as regional cinema has huge market. Maverick will soon venture into other language films too”

Anuj Saxena had launched this Production House in March 2005, this baby had to be a reflection of his persona and ‘Maverick’ aptly suited the magic in his eye. Under the hood, Maverick is co-presenting the film Dulha Mil Gaya starring, Sushmita Sen, Fardeen Khan and Shahrukh Khan; slated for release in Sept ‘09. Maverick had produced first International Gold Awards along with Whiteleaf Entertainment, which was held in Mauritius in September 2007.

Maverick’s independent production titled “Chase” starring Anuj Saxena and Udita Goswami being directed by Jag Mohan Mundhra is on the floors.

This ‘Don’ made Tom Hanks speak in Hindi

He was the man who played the role of a senior don (and an arch rival of Shah Rukh Khan and Boman Irani) in ‘Don - The Chase Begins Again’. Wait, that’s not all. He was also an integral part of recently released ‘Angels & Demons’. And the ‘Pirates’ series. And ‘Matrix Revolutions’. And many more Hollywood flicks. Well, he is Rajesh Khattar, the man who has made actors of the likes of Tom Hanks, Johhny Depp, Hugh Jackman, The Rock, Nicolas Cage, Lambert Wilson and many more talk in Hindi. As an experienced voice artist, he has dubbed for these Hollywood celebrities in Hindi.

“Well, there must have been close to 80 films where I have dabbled with Hindi dubbing for main leads in Hollywood films “, says Khattar whose latest assignment is ‘Angels & Demons’, where he is the voice of Tom Hanks (he had also dubbed for the actor in ‘The Da Vinci Code), “While I was quite active on television till some time back and have also been quite prominent on the plays circuit, currently I am concentrating on films. Ever since the the release of ‘Don - The Chase Begins Again’, further recognition has come my way and I am choosing my projects quite carefully.

So, the obvious question is - ‘What’s up next ?’
“Hey, you question sounds like Aamir Khan’s mobile ad”, smiles Khattar who got married to Vandana Sajnani (another popular name from Mumbai theatre circuit) last year, “I have quite a few movies lined up for release. There is Sagar Ballery’s ‘Kacha Limboo’, Tips’ ‘Prince Of Thieves’, Studio 18’s ‘Ishq Unpluuged’, Jagmohan Mundhra’s ‘Chase’, Isshaan Trivedi’s next and a few more. All these films are expected to release this year so hopefully I have an eventful second half of 2009 coming up.”

Is there any particular movie that he is banking on the most?
“All of them”, pats comes an expectedly diplomatic reply, “They are all good movies with contemporary subjects but then no one can predict that which out of these movies will find favour with the audience. I would just wish all of them to be super duper hits though.”

Meanwhile, what happens to TV? After all, till some time back, he was quite prominent on the television circuit!
“No, nothing really in near future! But hey, it’s not by choice. It’s just that no one has offered anything good for a while. I hope though that something interesting does come my way because I have enjoyed my TV stint for really long. I have always maintained I will never leave TV”, says Khattar. - Joginder Tuteja / Sampurn Media