Nationalism is my religion, says Salman Khan

Bollywood actor Salman Khan showed his patriotic side Wednesday when he encouraged Delhiites to unite and work towards the betterment of the country.

“I am an Indian. Nationalism is my religion. We want responsible citizens who think about India first,” said Salman while addressing a gathering at Vijay Chowk at an event organised by Zee News as part of their India First campaign.

“We should unite and do everything for the betterment of our country,” added the actor who has three releases lined up. He will be first seen in “Wanted”, followed by “Main Aur Mrs. Khanna” and “London Dreams”.

India First campaign has also garnered support from noted personalities like Baichung Bhutia, Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor, Suniel Shetty and many more in the past.

I’m a cool daddy: Suniel Shetty

Actor-producer Suniel Shetty whose film “Daddy Cool” recently hit the screens, claims he is a very cool father and is just like a friend to his children.

“I think I am a very cool daddy because my kids are more like my friends. I was always aware of the fact that I didn’t want to get stuck with the problem of any generation gap so I rather grow up with them,” Suniel told IANS.

“I spend a lot of time with them. Showering them with affection but at the same time being very particular of what I want. So I think we are friends and that’s why we share a fantastic relationship,” he added.

The 48-year-old actor has two kids, Ahan and Athiya.

‘Daddy Cool’ - this farcical funeral is deadly uncool

Film: Daddy Cool
Cast: Suniel Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Javed Jaffry, Rajpal Yadav, Prem Chopra, Aarti Chabria, Kim Sharma, Sophie Chowdhary
Director: K. Murali Mohan Rao
Why remake a shoddy, tasteless British comedy? Why be so fixated on Western entertainment when we’ve so much literary and pulp talent out here?
Just leave aside these vital questions and focus on the ensemble cast of “Daddy Cool” that sparkles with borrowed wit. The Goan setting and the quaint rooms housing distraught emotions keep us smiling.
The setting is a Christian funeral. But at times the funeral jokes have us coughing in embarrassment. The dead man has two sons - a responsible, young bespectacled householder (Suniel Shetty) and a carefree cassanova novelist (Ashish Chowdhary) who flies in jetlagged just in time for daddy’s funeral.
And Sharad Saxena is deadly in his stillness as the dead man.
Interestingly, daddy has a secret in his closet. And that’s Rajpal Yadav, his gay lover.
“Isska matlab tum dono gay ke bete ho!” squeals Aarti Chabria to her screen-husband Suniel Shetty and his brother Ashish.
Ironically after copying everything in sight in the original - from the characters to the dialogues - the desi adaptors get cold feet and decide the gay lover was an imposter.
To be fair to this feisty farce, “Daddy Cool” makes you smile, specially Aftab Shivdasani as a drugged-out goofy lover-boy. He is better than the actor who played the role originally.
Shetty as the responsible son, who is a little tired of shouldering family responsibilitie but nonetheless determined to see the show through, is controlled and comically karmic. His climactic speech in praise of his father is rousing. Rajpal Yadav as the gay lover is superbly restrained.
And then there’s Sophie Chowdhary as the suitably sexy airhead.
Blessedly this farce doesn’t opt for desperate measures. It keeps it cool most of the way.

Very few comedies are worth watching now: Suniel Shetty

He loves doing comedies and has in the past made audiences laugh in movies like “Hera Pheri”, but Suniel Shetty says he is unhappy with the quality of humour in films nowadays.

“There are very few good comedy films. They are mostly crap in the name of comedies. Even though so many are coming out each day, only a limited few are worth watching,” Suniel said in an interview.

“I truly believe…I’m not being arrogant…but I believe that my film ‘Daddy Cool’ is a very nice comedy and will be appreciated,” he added.

Suniel was in the capital for the promotion of “Daddy Cool”, a co-production of Big Pictures and Maruti Pictures. Slated for release Aug 28, the fun flick that revolves around a funeral also stars Aftab Shivdasani, Javed Jaffrey, Aarti Chhabria, Prem Chopra and Chunky Pandey among others.

Throwing light on his role, the 48-year-old said: “I play Steven in the film…he is the older son. He is someone who truly loved his father and hence with his death, his world comes to an end. Whatever happens in that funeral and how he handles the situation is basically what the film is about.”

“Daddy Cool” is loosely based on the 2007 British comedy “Death At A Funeral” directed by Frank OZ and Suniel says he gave his nod because of that reason.

“The script really excited me and also the team behind it. Another reason was that I have seen ‘Death At A Funeral’ and I simply love the film. I was dying to do a role like this. So when I was offered this role, it took me less than a minute to say yes,” the actor explained.

Suniel made his acting debut with action movie “Balwaan” in 1992 and was later seen in high-paced action thrillers like the 1994 hit “Mohra”. After that he came to be known as the action star and did films like “Dilwale”, “Border”, “Prithvi”, “Kaante” and “Main Hoon Na” among others.

But he also tickled the funny bones of viewers with comedies such as “Hera Pheri”, “Awara Paagal Deewana” and “Phir Hera Pheri”.

The actor says he hasn’t completely shown his back to the action genre and two of his hardcore action films will go on floors next year. But he adds that comedy is something that he loves to do because its not physically taxing.

“I love doing comedies. It is not taxing on the body at all. Of course it’s tough as a performer, a lot of homework, but then physically it is not very burdensome. When you are doing action, you are breaking some or the other bone, scratching some part of your body or the other. So comedies are far more relaxed,” he said.

After “Daddy Cool”, Suniel will be seen in a bouquet of films like “De Dana Dan”, “Loot”, “Red Alert” and “Tum Milo Toh Sahi”.