Shah Rukh Khan. Photo Credit: Sawf NewsJune 25, 2008 (Sawf News) - Rajnikant's Tamil film Kuselan has piped Shah Rukh Khan's Billo Barber to the post and will be released in theaters first. Both films are adapted from the 2007 Malyalam hit Katha Parayumpol top lining Mammootty.
Kuselan, directed by P Vasu, and Billo Barber, directed by Priyadarshan, have the same story line: Two childhood friends in a village drift apart after growing up together, with one becoming a superstar and other the village barber. Their friendship is renewed when the superstar returns to the village to shoot a film.
Billo Barber stars Shah Rukh Khan as super star - Saahil Khan and Irrfan Khan as his childhood friend who becomes the barber. Lara Dutta plays the barber's wife. Shah Rukh is not romantically paired in the film, which features cameo appearances by Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. The film is being produced by Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment.
Shah Rukh, who takes a vacation with his family every year during the months of May - June skipped it this year in order to finish Billo Barber. He was confident that his film would be released during the Diwali week, ahead of Kuselan.
His team was stumped when it was announced that Kuselan was complete and its music would be released on July 1. An industry source tells us that the Kuselan team deliberately kept a low profile lulling the Billo Barber team into complacency.
Billo Barber already faces a grim challenge from the release of Chandni Chowk to China during the Diwali week. The film starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone is Hollywood giant Warner Bros' first Hindi film and is expected to be aggressively promoted.
Earlier, when news broke out that a major highlight of Kuselan would be Rajinikant's portrayal of 20 different characters in the course of a song, Billo Barber makers rushed to include a similar song sequence in their film with Shah Rukh portraying a number of yesteryear stars.
News Copyright © Sawf News. May not be reproduced without explicit written permission