Advertisement
This Article is From Aug 14, 2012

I envy Gauri for having Sridevi in her debut film, says Balki

I envy Gauri for having Sridevi in her debut film, says Balki
Mumbai: Writer-director R Balki, who is ecstatic over the first look of his wife Gauri Shinde's debut film English Vinglish, says he is jealous of her, as she got to work with Bollywood diva Sridevi as a first timer.

Balki has co-produced his wife's directorial debut in which Sridevi, 49, is making her comeback after nearly 15 years.

English Vinglish is a fun-filled slice-of-life movie exploring the impact of not knowing English language in everyday life.

"I envy Gauri... I wanted to work with Sridevi first but she did. And then I wished I could have thought of this idea, but she did. I am actually jealous of her... The film made me feel jealous. Both of the things I did not do, so I just had to sit and watch," Balki said. (Pics: Sridevi Videvi launch English Vinglish)

In the trilingual movie, which has been shot in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, Sridevi plays the role of a housewife, who enrolls for an English speaking course in order to please her husband and family.




Balki says: "I think Sridevi is just perfect for this film. There are some portions that we have shot in Tamil and Telugu. The portion of Amitji has been shot by Ajith Kumar (South actor). So it is semi-dubbed, semi-shot."

The film was earlier scheduled to release on September 21 with Kareena Kapoor starrer Heroine, but now the release date has been pushed to October 5.

Balki's lucky mascot megastar Amitabh Bachchan will have a cameo appearance in English Vinglish.

"You need a character like that of Amitji in the film. It is not that I decided about Amitabh Bachchan. It was Gauri who thought she needed someone like him for a cameo. I asked him and he agreed to do it. It is a funny kind of a cameo," Balki said.

Balki and Mr Bachchan have earlier teamed up for movies like Cheeni Kum and Paa.

Ask him whether Big B will always be a common phenomenon in all his films, Balki says, "As long as he wants to act in my films, I would continue writing for him. Like if you have the chance of having Mr Bachchan in your film then why would you not think of him."

"I am just going to start writing for a film. So I can't talk much about it," Balki said.

The filmmaker's association with Mr Bachchan goes a long way since he worked with the megastar in many of his ad films.

Balki said that it was only after he had made some 10-14 ad films with Mr Bachchan that he got the confidence to approach the actor for his own movie.

Entertainment I Read Latest News on NDTV Entertainment. Click NDTV Entertainment For The Latest In, bollywood , regional, hollywood, tv, web series, photos, videos and More.

Follow us:
Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com