Foreign flavour

Subhashree and Dev shake a leg in Dubai

The sun and sand of Dubai have done wonders for Dev and Subhashree. They have come back from the Challenge shoot, looking hotter and richer with one more film in their kitty!

After the under-production Challenge directed by Raj Chakraborty, Shree Venkatesh Films has signed Dev and Subhashree for Paran Jaay Jaliya Re, to be directed by Ravi Kinnagi.

“Subhashree has lost a lot of weight and is looking damn gorgeous! We were desperately looking for a new face to launch opposite Dev in Paran Jaay Jaliya Re but we found none even after auditioning around seven-eight girls in Calcutta and 40 in Mumbai. We wanted a lean and tall girl with sharp features and Subhashree is looking perfect now. She suits the role of a girl living abroad,” says Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films.

But why an archaic phrase for the title of an urbane film? “That’s the challenge. The audience will be surprised,” laughs Soni. “Paran jaay jaliya re is a line from one of the songs in the film. It’s a very western track. Jeet Gannguly has scored the music,” he adds.

Paran Jaay... will be mostly shot in Malaysia. “We will shoot about 70 per cent of the film in Malaysia, as the characters are based abroad. The budget of Paran Jaay... is higher than most Bengali films,” explains Soni, who feels foreign landscapes are a necessity to up the glam quotient of a film.

The Paran Jaay... team will take off for Malaysia on Thursday and the film’s leading lady is barely being able to contain her excitement. “It’s Malaysia right after Dubai! It was great fun shooting two songs in Dubai. It was very hot and sunny. We went shopping the last day, but I didn’t buy anything because there wasn’t anything that we don’t find in India,” laughs Subhashree.

Having shed a few kilos, Dev is flaunting a toned body. “This is the second time I shot in Dubai. The last was for I Love You and I’m familiar with the place now,” says Dev.

Dubai offers a lot of variety for Tollywood teams willing to foot the bill. “There’s desert, hills and the sea. Getting permission is also easy. The government there had given us a blanket permission, which meant we could shoot anywhere apart from the private areas,” says Soni.