Akshay is playing the lead in Sajid-Farhad's It's Entertainment
Mumbai:
Writer duo Sajid-Farhad, who haverecently taken to film direction, credit Bollywood star AkshayKumar for encouraging them to work behind the camera.Sajid and Farhad Samji have become Bollywood's mostbankable writers thanks to their witty one liners in super hitfilms like Bol Bachchan, Housefull 2, Ready, GolmaalReturns and Golmaal 3, among others.
After achieving success as writers, the duo have takento film direction with their first venture It'sEntertainment.
"We never thought of direction... It just happened. Wecame in the industry as lyricists, then became dialoguewriters, then wrote screenplays and stories. We learnt a lotand kept growing. So direction became the next stepeventually," Sajid-Farhad told PTI.
The film stars Akshay in the lead and the duo feelthey couldn't have asked for anything better.
"Akshay is a fantastic actor and a great human being.We worked with him in Housefull 2 and he was impressed withour work. He invited us to write the screenplay, story anddialogues of Boss (Akshay's just released film). Weinteracted with him on almost daily basis," Sajid-Farhad said."He liked our work and one day suggested that we direct afilm. He felt we could be great directors. Initially, we weresurprised and asked him to act in the film that we woulddirect," the duo said.
They, however, maintain roping in top stars in a debutfilm is not a recipe for success."Whatever films we have worked on, have been super hitsbecause the story was good. The script is soul of a film. Ifthe story is not entertaining then it will not work despitehaving a big star."
"We want our child (debut film) to grow. We havegroomed it and worked on it, we hope through our film we areable to spread happiness," they added.
South actress Tamannaah is paired opposite Akshay inIt's Entertainment. The duo had worked with her in SajidKhan's Himmatwala.
"We had worked with her on Himmatwala. She is atalented actress. We approached her for the film, she likedher part and agreed to come on board," they added.Sajid and Farhad started their journey in the Hindifilm industry over a decade ago. After penning lyrics,dialogues, screenplays and stories, they are looking forwardto success in their new form.
The duo got their first break in 2002 in DavidDhawan's Hum Kisise Kum Nahin with the song Munna MobilePappu Pager. The next big break came in Raju Hirani'sMunnabhai MBBSM in which Farhad co-wrote the song M Bole Towith Rahat Indori.
Their major writing assignment came when Ram GopalVarma asked them to write the screenplay and dialogues forShiva (2006) starring Mohit Ahlawat.
Asked how they see the place of writers in today'sBollywood, the duo said, "Interesting scripts are gettingchurned out like Vicky Donor. The film earned love andrespect primarily because of its story line. Writers are animportant part of a film. If the story and screenplay is notin place then nothing will work. The base has to be strong.""There was a time when people used to watch films dueto their writers. Things have changed today but we hope theold trend comes back."
Constant presence on film sets helped the duo learntechnicalities about direction, they said, adding almost 85per cent of shooting of It's Entertainment will hopefully beover by December.
"We are looking at mid-2014 release. It is not decidedwhether it will have a festive release," they added.
After achieving success as writers, the duo have takento film direction with their first venture It'sEntertainment.
"We never thought of direction... It just happened. Wecame in the industry as lyricists, then became dialoguewriters, then wrote screenplays and stories. We learnt a lotand kept growing. So direction became the next stepeventually," Sajid-Farhad told PTI.
The film stars Akshay in the lead and the duo feelthey couldn't have asked for anything better.
"Akshay is a fantastic actor and a great human being.We worked with him in Housefull 2 and he was impressed withour work. He invited us to write the screenplay, story anddialogues of Boss (Akshay's just released film). Weinteracted with him on almost daily basis," Sajid-Farhad said."He liked our work and one day suggested that we direct afilm. He felt we could be great directors. Initially, we weresurprised and asked him to act in the film that we woulddirect," the duo said.
They, however, maintain roping in top stars in a debutfilm is not a recipe for success."Whatever films we have worked on, have been super hitsbecause the story was good. The script is soul of a film. Ifthe story is not entertaining then it will not work despitehaving a big star."
"We want our child (debut film) to grow. We havegroomed it and worked on it, we hope through our film we areable to spread happiness," they added.
South actress Tamannaah is paired opposite Akshay inIt's Entertainment. The duo had worked with her in SajidKhan's Himmatwala.
"We had worked with her on Himmatwala. She is atalented actress. We approached her for the film, she likedher part and agreed to come on board," they added.Sajid and Farhad started their journey in the Hindifilm industry over a decade ago. After penning lyrics,dialogues, screenplays and stories, they are looking forwardto success in their new form.
The duo got their first break in 2002 in DavidDhawan's Hum Kisise Kum Nahin with the song Munna MobilePappu Pager. The next big break came in Raju Hirani'sMunnabhai MBBSM in which Farhad co-wrote the song M Bole Towith Rahat Indori.
Their major writing assignment came when Ram GopalVarma asked them to write the screenplay and dialogues forShiva (2006) starring Mohit Ahlawat.
Asked how they see the place of writers in today'sBollywood, the duo said, "Interesting scripts are gettingchurned out like Vicky Donor. The film earned love andrespect primarily because of its story line. Writers are animportant part of a film. If the story and screenplay is notin place then nothing will work. The base has to be strong.""There was a time when people used to watch films dueto their writers. Things have changed today but we hope theold trend comes back."
Constant presence on film sets helped the duo learntechnicalities about direction, they said, adding almost 85per cent of shooting of It's Entertainment will hopefully beover by December.
"We are looking at mid-2014 release. It is not decidedwhether it will have a festive release," they added.
