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| (From top) Shiney sends out a flying kiss; Shiney and Lilette in action; Jahnu Barua explains a shot to Lilette. Pictures by Pratim D. Gupta |
Don’t be surprised if you catch hordes of girls peeping into Future Studio at Goregaon (East) these days. They have a reason. A reason called Shiney Ahuja. Yes, Shiney has been shooting at the plush Mumbai studio for the last couple of weeks for award-winning Assamese director Jahnu Barua’s new film Har Pal.
The Navjeevan Productions film pairs Shiney with Preity Zinta. t2 caught up with Shiney, co-star Lilette Dubey and director Barua on the sets.
6.32pm: On the second floor of the Future Studio, the den of Team Har Pal. It is the office of Shiney’s character, who works in an advertising agency.
The sequence, one of the early ones in the screenplay, introduces Shiney’s work atmosphere and how creative he is at his job. There is also a sexy 20-something in the scheme of things. She is the model for the product on which Shiney is working.
Claire (real-life model Aparna) is in a little black number and kind of seduces casanova Shiney.
After Aparna is done — and has slipped into something less flattering — Shiney refuses to let her go. “I am getting late,” protests Aparna. “You are not going anywhere without me finishing this,” flirts Shiney. A couple of takes later, Aparna is off but Shiney has to do another scene with Lilette (his boss in the film).
“I don’t mind, I am having a great time,” smiles Shiney.
8.43pm: The same can’t be said for Lilette. She has been waiting, all made-up in her green room, for quite some time. It doesn’t take long for cinematographer Raj A. Chakravarti (Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, Awarapan) to set up the all-important introductory shot of Lilette’s character Zaara. (Dimple Kapadia was to play Zaara till she pulled out for personal reasons at the last moment.)
“I am doing this film just for Jahnuda; it’s a special appearance really because he’s promised a big role in his next film,” laughs Lilette, looking stunning in a scarlet jacket that gives her a corporate-cum-creative look.
Another crucial character in Har Pal is to be played by Amitabh Bachchan, Preity’s dad. While some of his scenes are to be shot in Mumbai, the bulk of Bachchan’s dates are booked for Calcutta and Shillong in October. Isn’t there a doubt about Amitabh’s availability? Producer Tito Juneja, who worked with the Big B ages ago in Do Anjaane, sounds confident: “He should be able to take the days out.”
10.21pm: The scene seems a simple one — Shiney shouts at a colleague for following Zaara’s orders and not paying heed to his creativity, only to realise that the boss is coming into the same room. He stops himself and starts praising her.
After a couple of rehearsals, Barua is happy with what he sees. Shiney suggests a couple of variations and even tweaks the dialogues a bit for greater effect.
A happy Barua goes for ‘take’ and the longish shot goes off well.
“Jahnuda you had said it will finish by 9,” reminds Lilette. “Yes, yes it’s pack up for today,” smiles the veteran director.
