Sylvester Stallone will be starring in Sajid Nadiadwala's Kambakkht Ishq!
Sajid Nadiadwala is a man on a mission these days.
He has shrewd business acumen, as gauged from the fact that he has been churning block-blusters consistently. His last block buster was the mega successful Heyy Babyy directed by debutant Sajid Khan.
Sajid (inspite of being an individual producer) is creating brand equity for himself and has been consistently delivering hits like JEET, JUDWAA, HAR DIL JO PYAAR KAREGA, MUJSE SHAADI KAROGI, JAANEMAN and Heyy Babyy. Not surprising, he is the only independent producer to be listed in the Filmfare POWER LIST year after year.
Power is Sajid's middle name. As a result of which he has managed to achieve the almost impossible. An industry source reveals that Sajid is all set to roll his next magnum opus to be directed by newbie Sabir Khan in Los Angeles. Pre-production work is already starting next week in LA for which Sajid is making a hush hush trip to Hollywood.
Apparently the producer has a few surprises up his sleeve. From what we hear from our international source, Nadiadwala is all set to go international with Kambakkht Ishq.
Says our source, "Sajid has managed a casting coup in Kambakkht Ishq. It is learnt that international sensation Sylvester Stallone has agreed to play an interesting role in the film. One hears that he will be acting as Sylvester Stallone himself in the movie. And that's not all as for the first time in Indian history, the shooting will take place inside the Universal Studio (One of Hollywood 's biggest and known studios). The film stars the super hit pair of Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor."
"Akshay plays a Hollywood stuntman in the film, hence Sylvester Stallone inclusion. Our desi action hero will be seen with the international action icon."
Sources reveal that the expected budget of the movie so far is 90 Crores. Kambakkht Ishq will be the biggest movie and investment ever made.Only Sajid can make this happen. He is the only producer in the industry with a clout equal to Yashraj.
Enlightens our source, "It is for the first time that a Hollywood star of such stature has agreed to act in an Indian film. All these years there have been enough Chinese whispers of Hollywood coming into Bollywood and Bollywood making it big in Hollywood . But it is only Sajid Nadiadwala's clout and stature as a maker of international repute that has managed to pull off this coup."
A source close to the casting directors of the film reveals, "Apparently, Sly was very impressed with Sajid's films and his profile. He signed the contract on the dot after going through the usual formalities only after he was convinced about the power Sajid wields in the production circuit."
Interestingly, Sajid Nadiadwala has officially appointed the casting directors of Enoturage, the big hit reality show in the US, Susan Paley Abranson and Justine Hempe as the casting agents for the Hollywood stars for Kambakkth Ishq that is to be shot extensively in Los Angeles.
When contacted, Sajid Nadiadwala confirmed the development, "Yes we have signed Sylvester Stallone to be a part of Kambakkth Ishq. We have a certain vision for our production house Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment. Since Kambakkth Ishq is based in Hollywood, it made perfect sense to appoint casting agents in Hollywood and cast mainstream Hollywood stars. Kambakkth Ishq is one of our most ambitious ventures to date and we didn't want to leave any stone unturned."
Prashant Shah, line producer of Kambakkht Ishq in LA and also a major Hollywood presence says, "Yes, it is confirmed. It is the first time ever that a mainstream Indian Producer is making such an international film. So far, we have had Deepa Mehta (who is a Canadian), Meera Nair and Gurinder Chadha who have been Indians of International origin making a splash in Hollywood. But with Kambakkht Ishq it will be the first time that an Indian producer will be doing this. It is only Sajid who has made this happen. We are yet to work out the logistics. Things will be confirmed shortly and we will be making a formal announcement when that happens. We are also looking at other Hollywood names to join the cast of Kambakkht Ishq. We shall be making a formal announcement very soon on that front as well."
Kambakkht Ishq will truly be India 's first international film".
Says Sabir Khan, who will be making his directorial debut "I have been working on the script for a long time now and it's an exciting merging of Hollywood and Indian cinema. So, for me, it's like a dream come true and I have the best producer anyone can ask for. He is making even the impossible possible for me."
After Kambakkht Ishq, Sajid's production house rolls with an animated version of the Salman Khan hit Judwaa for which Salman will dub for, shortly. This would be followed by a film with Siddharth Anand who is wielding the directorial baton for an outside company for the first time after giving hits in Yashraj like Salaam Namaste and Tara Rum Pum. Reportedly, the film is supposed to star Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor.
Immediately after that, the next project to go on floors will be Sajid Khan's second film again starring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Riteish Desmukh and three more top actors. The film is titled Housefull.
Clearly a lot is happening with the Nadiadwala banner!