Neel Bhalinder with Nargis Fakhri in Hollywood Movie ‘5 Weddings’
Hollywood’s Movie ‘5 Weddings’ to have Punjabi Journalist as Police Officer In Hollywood Movie
Chandigarh, December 02,2016:
Shooting begins soon on India portion of Hollywood’s ‘5 Weddings’ with international star Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar), Oscar nominee Candy Clark (American Graffiti) and Golden Globe nominee Bo Derek (10), Robert Palmer Watkins (General Hospital), Mariana Paola Vicente (Ms. Universe, Puerto Rico), R&B rockstar Dawn Richard and Broadway star, Anneliese Van Der Pol (Beauty and The Beast).
Joining the Academy, Golden Globe and Broadway stars is Raj Kummar Rao, who is currently set for yet another Hollywood release titled ‘Love Sonia’ with Freida Pinto. Director Namrata Singh Gujral says “Adding an actor like Raj to the film is a director’s dream come true. I watched ‘Shahid’ and I thought “Uh oh, this guys gonna raise the bar real high. I am honestly blown away by Raj’s acting chops’.
Fortifying the cast is Darshan Aulakh, (Hollywood,Bollywood & Punjabi Film Actor & Line Producer ) Suvinder Vicky (Chauthi Koot,fame),Niel Bhalinder Singh Saru Maini (Dangerous Husn with Daniel Weber), Diljot, Shiwani Saini ,Ravi Aneja, Abhimanue Kamboj ,Ramneek Sandhu.Supreet,& Gurpreet
Commenting on the India casting, Gujral says, “Everything happened seredipitiously”. “I was looking for a particular type of song for the film when I came across Saru Maini’s ‘Crazy Boom’. We connected regarding that and before I knew it I had found my Bhavna. I happened to be at a meeting and ran into Diljott. I thought she would be perfect for the role of Harleen Kaur. And then realized she is also such a talented singer. With Shiwani Saini, although her big film is ‘Sarabjit’, what got me about her was a great project she did on cancer. It is incumbent upon filmmakers to not just support good actors but also good human beings”.
Helmed by Namrata Singh Gujral (‘1 a Minute’, ‘Americanizing Shelley’), written by Hollywood trio Andy Glickman (‘The Tracy Morgan Show’), Denise Cruz-Castino and Vineet Dewan (‘The Knife’) and in the vein of ‘Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, ‘5 Weddings’ is a slice-of-life comedy with some bittersweet dramatic elements.
Story follows an American journalist who travels to India for what she thinks will be an easy magazine feature on Bollywood weddings, only to have the assignment interrupted by a cynical cop, who is convinced there is journalistic espionage behind the innocent magazine article. As the coverage of the Bollywood weddings unfolds, so does a colorful mosaic of lost loves, transgender tangles and culture clashes along the heartfelt journey of life, symbolized by the universal ups and downs of a wedding celebration.
On what attracted her to the role of Shania, Fakhri says, “I felt really connected to the character
Shania, I feel there are a lot of similarities between Shania and me and the story. I love how Shania is American but multi-ethnic heritage and is sorta forced to connect back with her roots but it becomes life changing. I have a similar story”.
Gujral, who is directing the film says, “We considered some fabulous Hollywood actresses for this role. Then, one of the casting assistant brought up Nargis. I knew I had found Shania right away when I saw her work. I remember thinking, I’m not sure anyone is more perfect for this role”.
Speaking of ‘5 Weddings’, Gujral, who is also one of the producers, says the film is a multitude of promises made right. “The first was to Yash Chopra who ran a fantastic panel called FICCI in Mumbai, where I was an invited guest speaker in 2008 on global co-productions with fellow panelist Cameron Bailey from TIFF. One night, Cameron and I were coming back to the hotel after a party in Juhu, and Mr. Chopra was in the lobby. He congratulated Cameron on how amazing TIFF was and then turned and congratulated me on ‘Americanizing Shelley’. I was shocked he even knew about it. He said he was a fan of romantic movies so I said I’d love to produce one with him. He smiled and said “promise”? No telling if he was kidding! But I never got to find out...”
On the same trip, Dev Anand requested a meeting with Gujral at Navketan. “We took a meeting that lasted almost three hours and explored various angles I had to make a contemporary version of ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. His love for “East meets West” was eerily similar to mine. Unfortunately, within three months of returning stateside, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And my life took a major detour”, says Gujral.
After chemotherapy and going into remission from breast cancer, Gujral decided to pursue the cancer inspired film ‘1 a Minute’ and put other projects on hold. “Unfortunately, by the time we got done with the global release of ‘1 a Minute’, both Mr. Anand and Mr. Chopra had passed away within a year of each other”.
Then, there was another brush with death for Gujral herself, who was diagnosed with a very aggressive blood cancer in 2013. Given three weeks to live, she was sent to City of Hope for six months. “Laying in bed after intra-thecal chemo to my spine, where you can’t move for hours, I promised myself that if I ever made it out of COH, I would honor these two fine filmmakers. Shania in ‘5 Weddings’ is a little bit Jennifer from HRHK, a little bit Simran from DDLJ and of course a whole lotta Nargis”.
Gujral is also currently producing ‘Finding Match: The Cancer Moon Shot Story’, which will feature current United States Vice President Joe Biden and Indian politician Priya Dutt, among others.
‘5 Weddings’ will shoot in the USA and also Chandigarh, in the area where Kathryn Bigelow shot “Zero Dark Thirty”. ‘5 Weddings’ is being produced by Uniglobe Entertainment, a Hollywood based studio, that only deals with global awareness projects related to current social causes in different parts of the world. Uniglobe’s variety of work includes ‘1 a Minute’, a woman’s journey through cancer (with Olivia Newton-John, Deepak Chopra) to the Rainforest Project (Prince Charles UK Trust).
Line Producer India Darshan Aulakh
contact | 94-170-92640
### e: team@uniglobeentertainment.com ### ###www.UniGlobeEntertainment.com###
www.darshanaulakhproductions.com