Krrish sequel sold out

MUMBAI: The sequel to the blockbuster Krrish has been sold almost entirely. Rakesh Roshan has only maintained the rights of the film in Mumbai.

All other territories have fetched him a good price." And, also doing the rounds are rumours that the channel rights have been sold to a leading channel at a price, speculated to be higher than what even Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots received.

Roshan's resolution to sell the rights of the sequel, slated to go on floors in November, is not the only unconventional decision he has taken. Interestingly, the filmmaker has sold the film rights to multiple distributors.

"While Eros International has acquired the overseas rights, the all-India rights have been sold to individual companies," added the source.

When asked why Roshan chose to sell the rights to more than one company, the source explained, "Well, nowadays the corporates create a lot of issues, especially financial agreements, which have an adverse effect on the film. Rakesh Roshan has great business sense and he knows what is happening around him."

Apparently, even the film's music, to be composed by the filmmaker's brother Rajesh Roshan, has been up for grabs.

The source told us that the music rights have been acquired by T-Series for Rs 5 crore. Even though the music of the film is in its preliminary stage, the one song that T-Series heard, in the original film, was convincing enough for the company to buy the music rights.

When contacted, head honcho of T-Series, Bhushan Kumar, confirmed, "We are very happy to be associated with a cool franchise like Krrish."

The sequel to Krrish stars Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra Chitrangada Singh and Vivek Oberoi.

Don sequel trailer in theatres this Friday

I plead guilty of saying that I would not make a Don sequel, but somehow the character just wouldn’t leave me. Now, in retrospect, I’m glad I’ve made Don 2,” admits producer-director Farhan Akhtar, who is gearing up for the response to the first trailer of one of this year’s most eagerly awaited films that unveils in theatres this Friday, along with the Farhan-starrer, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

Farhan’s partner and co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani endorses the fact that despite an open ending, the duo had not thought of taking the story forward when Don—The Chase Begins (2006) ended. He says, “But then Ameet (Mehta) and Amrish (Shah) came to us with an interesting story idea. It took us a while to develop it, but finally, last October, we flagged off Don 2, and on December 23, as Shah Rukh (Khan) says in the promos, the don will return to the screen after five years.”

Ritesh agrees that expectations are sky high, but is confident that the high-speed action sequences, the special effects and the familiar characters in a new European setting, will spark off an ‘Oh my God, this is huge!’ reaction from the audience,from children in particular, who, he admits, is Don’s biggest fan base. “It surprised me that my own kids had taken such a fancy to a bad guy till I realised that the eternal favourite, Tom & Jerry, is a violent cartoon too.”

The filmmakers adds that apart from two new characters, enacted by Lara Dutta and Kunal Kapoor, the others played by SRK, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani and Om Puri, are the same from Part 1 and continue from where they had left. Ritesh says, “So Roma knows that the good Vijay is dead, Don has survived and sets out to even the score,” he says. “That twist at the end of Part 1 was what made it different from Mr Bachchan’s (Amitabh) Don. This one is completely new and original with no reference points but you would have to see Don —The Chase Begins to understand what’s happening. Don is on its way to becoming a franchise now. This time if you were to ask me about a Part 3, I wouldn’t say no.”

'Jab We Met' sequel planned for TV

Imtiaz Ali has revealed that a sequel to his commercially successful hit Jab We Met will debut on television.

The follow-up, which will focus on the prequel to the romantic drama, will appear under the title Love You Zindagi for STAR Plus.

The filmmaker said: "TV is a different medium. Films involve a different way of telling a story. The style is very singular and it has a fixed duration.

"So when you have to do that, you find that a lot of material gets thrown up which cannot find a way into the duration of a film. And, if there is an interest in that material and an opportunity to see it in a serial, why not use it?"

Ali, who originally started out in television, said that it was not always the best medium for his work, adding: "Earlier when I was directing TV serials, we were trying to make films on TV, and it wasn't working for me at least."