By Joginder Tuteja
Perhaps it takes two to tango when it comes to Amitabh Bachchan. For a key song and dance sequence in Sujoy Ghosh directed ‘Aladin’, there is not one, but a pair of Riteish Deshmukh that is being seen.
No, Riteish doesn’t have a double role in the film, but this fun song is set in such a way that ‘Aladin’, played by Riteish, sits and watches the proceedings passively while his alter ego, a much active and vibrant Riteish, grabs the opportunity and matches steps with ‘Genius- The Genie’ Amitabh Bachchan. The song in question? ‘Make A Wish’.
Reluctant to talk much about the sequence in the film, he said, “I can’t reveal much about the song and why there are two of me in it. But yes, it was indeed some hard work for me to justify my presence alongside Mr. Bachchan on stage. It looks all fun when seen on screen, but how I wish I could have just stood in a corner and just watched him perform. He is just so amazing and vibrant and can put all of us from the current generation to shame.”
A flashy number that boasts of a horde of background dancers, striking sets, some cool costumes and a glitzy picturisation, ‘Make A Wish’ is said to be one of the many highlights of ‘Aladin’.
Says Sujoy Ghosh, “My greed to feature Mr. Bachchan in every song and dance number for ‘Aladin’ only went on to increase once ‘Make A Wish’ was conceptualized. Bringing together Riteish and him was fantastic and together they were a riot. It is also commendable in the way the song comes across on screen because a lot of it was shot against a green wall. Reason being that there is good dose of VFX and special effects that were required to be incorporated in the song.”
Understandably so because a substantial part of ‘Make A Wish’ has both Riteish Deshmukhs dancing on each sides of Amitabh Bachchan. With music by Vishal and Shekhar, ‘Aladin’ is co-produced by Sunil Lulla from Eros International and Sujoy Ghosh’s Boundscript. The film is all set for 30th October release.
-Sampurn Media