Himesh ready for a image makeover

By: Joginder Tuteja, IndiaFM
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Will John Mathew Matthan's A Love Sshhtory work wonders for Himesh Reshammiya just like Sarfarosh did for Aamir Khan?

A reliable source attached to A Love Sshhtory certainly feels so. He reflects, "The release of Sarfarosh had changed it all for Aamir Khan. The actor had a set image, a successful one though, but Sarfarosh showcased him in a new light. Now John feels that A Love Sshhtory would bring a complete image change for Himesh Reshammiya, just like it did for Aamir."

Throwing some more light on the film, the source adds that John Mathew's film is a musical where Himesh plays a 'tapori'. "Hence a few extra 's' and 'h' in A Love Sshhtory", he laughs, "The film is being designed as a fun outing and is being packaged to work across all nook and corners of the country, just like Aap Kaa Surroor - The Moviee".

While a search was on for a fresh face to play the leading lady in A Love Sshhtory, former Miss India Niharika Singh is now the chosen one. "Niharika originally hails from Dehradun and plays a super rich girl in the film who is wooed by Himesh Reshammiya. She comes with a rich modeling experience and has done T.V commercials for mega brands like Sony, Samsung and Asian Paints amongst others. She has also featured in music videos for Lata Mangeshkar, Jagjit Singh&Babul Supriyo."

Apart from A Love Sshhtory, Himesh would also be appearing as a solo lead in Pooja Bhatt directed Kajrare. Informs our source, "Bhatts are known for making sensitive films with a strong storyline. For Kajrare too, Mahesh Bhatt has written a very dramatic script. Yet again, the central protagonist is a very different character and would give Himesh an opportunity to be seen in a different light."

Pooja's last film Dhokha was critically acclaimed but a commercial washout. Will she be changing lanes with Kajrare? "Agreed that Dhokha was critically acclaimed but now from a 3 crore budget of Dhokha, Pooja is taking a 10 times leap and is budgeting her Kajrare as a 30 crore musical extravaganza. With Bhushan Kumar as a producer, money is not an issue as he is bound to go all out to make sure that Kajrare is placed well in the market and adequately hyped."

While A Love Sshhtory sounds like a love story, how about Kajrare? "Kajrare too has romance as a stream though there is a thriller element to it too. The film tells the story of a boy who sees a girl in Morocco and falls in love with her. Later he chases her all the way only to face the shock of his life as realises that the girl of his dreams was no one but a prostitute in Pakistani's notorous 'Heera Mandi'. The film will be shot at some of the most unseen locations in Morocco, Europe and Pakistan."

With projects like A Love Sshhtory, Kajrare and of course the remake of Karz, there seems to be ample scope of music. "Kajrare will be having eight songs interspersed in the narrative.

Himesh's music bank already comprises of 300 songs out of which 20 songs would be selected for these 3 films. While the music will be contemporary, it would again be based on 'raagas', something which is Himesh's strength."

Shooting for each of the three films would begin in January 2008 and different looks for Himesh (with and without cap) would be tried. Meanwhile there is another big project in the pipeline, the announcement of which would be made soon.