With a R 17 crore cameo by Akshay Kumar, does anyone realise that the film would have gone over budget? We wouldn’t even be able to recover the investments!" retorts Jacky Bhagnani when asked about the action star’s much-talked about cameo in FALTU.
"My father (Vashu Bhagnani) is a hard-core film trade person and understands the business very well. I even heard that Salman Khan is doing a cameo. But none of this is true. Apart from my leading lady and me, Riteish Deshmukh and Arshad Warsi are the only ones playing pivotal characters. There are no cameos!" FALTU is Jacky’s second film, which like his debut Kal Kissne Dekha, has been produced by his father.
Two years ago, his debut bombed at the box office. It was expected to release in March, but was pushed by three to four months following the multiplex strike across the country. "Not too many people saw it. I’m more recalled for my stage performances. It’s sad because if the film had been released as per schedule, it would have worked. It lost the buzz by the time it opened for public viewing. So, in some ways, FALTU is my debut," says Bhagnani. The actor’s father has released the music of the film on digital media instead of the usual CDs and DVDs.
When asked if that would be detrimental to the sales, he says that just the opposite may happen. "Today, no one hesitates to spend R 10. They can spend that much and download a song of their choice from the website of the film. Even the biggest selling music albums don’t make enough money because there is a limited number of CDs that get sold from the racks. Here, every song will sell individually," he explains.
Since Bhagnani’s second film arrives more than two years after his debut, isn’t he apprehensive about its box office reception? "I am," he says. "But I’m also nervous and excited because this film should give my career the opening it deserved two years ago."
