Nana Patekar with son Malhar on the sets of Yatra

There’s some fresh-as-popcorn news popping, crackling and filtering out of actor-turned producer Suniel Shetty’s production concern, Popcorn Entertainment. The busybee star is in the midst of producing as many as four films — one of which is to star Nana Patekar’s son, Malhar.

The CEO of Popcorn Entertainment, Shabbir Boxwallah (who had independently produced the Naseeruddin-directed Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota) reveals: “Our film not only has Nana’s son but it will also star the sons of other famous actors like Shekhar Suman, Sudesh Berry, Kader Khan and Ranjeet. We haven’t signed anybody as of now because we are working on the script.”

This Popcorn film will be directed by Joy Augustine (who had helmed Arshad Warsi’s debut film Tere Mere Sapne ) and it will go on the floors in early February 2008. Shabbir says: “Joy has been working on the script for the past six months. We are also waiting for permissions from the railways as 80 per cent of the film will be shot in and around trains. There are a lot of kids involved in the film and you can’t go wrong with kids.”
Ask Shabbir about the sudden escalation in Popcorn’s production activities and he explains: “When Suniel began his company he was very busy with his movies and to run a company you need 100 per cent attention and you need to be there. Suniel and I have been childhood friends so he told me that since both of us had production houses, we should join our forces. I agreed. As of now, Suniel has also cut down his roles and is only doing select work, so we have a lot of time for our production activities. We are constantly meeting young directors, young talent and actors.”

First up from Popcorn is the Viveik Oberoi action flick Mission Istanbul. Shabbir says: “The film is 80 per cent complete. We had a shooting schedule in Istanbul for two months and now we just need a fortnight’s shoot before the movie goes into post-production.”

Popcorn even managed Sanjay Dutt’s dates after his freedom from jail and started EMI. Shabbir says: “Saurabh Kabra, the writer-director of EMI, is an ad guy; he walked into the office with a bound script of the film and I just fell in love with it. In 20 days, casting was done because every actor we went to (including Sanjay Dutt) agreed to do the film.
“Contrary to the story in the market that the film is about two couples who have taken a loan and can’t repay it, the story is about a lot of characters — there is a DJ played by Arjun Rampal who spends lavishly on girls and is always short of money; there is a father who wants to send his son abroad for further studies; and there is a widow who wants to claim the insurance money, so she hires some goons to prove that her husband was murdered and had not committed suicide. All of them end up in a trap when they can’t repay their loans and that’s where Sanjay Dutt comes in.”

Not satisfied with this lot, Popcorn has another ace ready to pop out of the oven — Mumbai Chaka Chak. Shabbir states: “This film is all about a municipal officer and the problems he faces while trying to keep the city clean. The role is played by Rahul Bose. The message in the film is that not only the municipality but the whole populace of the city should involve themselves in keeping the city clean. And no, it’s not a documentary but a very comical and light-hearted film starring Rahul Bose and veejay Anusha Dandekar.”

In an increasingly corporatised film world, the Suniel-Shabbir team has sensed that matching quality with quantity is the order of the day. Will the Mohra duo toss the right the coin?