By Joginder Tuteja

Sujoy Ghosh fondly remembers the support he received from Riteish Deshmukh, Vishal, Shekhar and others when he embarked on his long journey called ‘Aladin’. Even though he had delivered a flop in ‘Home Delivery’, each of these youngsters stood by him and ensured that he got their full support in the making of ‘Aladin’.

“In fact I had to curb Riteish’s excitement because the moment he knew that ‘Aladin’ was soon going to be a reality, he was jumping up and down at the very thought of it. He went on and on saying ‘Write it, write it, write it NOW!’”, fondly remembers Sujoy who has cast Riteish (his first choice in fact) in the title role of ‘Aladin’

Sujoy was in fact amused with Riteish’s amusement and even reminded him that he had recently delivered a flop in ‘Home Delivery’.

“I tried to tell him that “Dude I just had a flop film’. But then he wasn’t listening. He was just rolling on the floor with laughter and stated - “Yes. And with that you have added another flop to MY career, so now you owe me a hit”, says Sujoy.

Not many are aware that Riteish had featured in a ‘blink and you would miss’ appearance in ‘Home Delivery’ which was mainly a Vivek Oberoi starrer.

“Looking at Riteish’s enthusiasm about doing the film, I could draw parallels with one of those kids whom you would take to the zoo but bring back because there is no empty cage”, quips Sujoy.

Meanwhile Vishal and Shekhar, the composer duo who would be creating a hat trick with Sujoy after ‘Jhankaar Beats’ and ‘Home Delivery’, were on board in quick time as well. However, this too didn’t take place before a friendly banter between them.

“They were cool with the idea of ‘Aladin’ but wanted to know whether the songs composed by them would be filmed or not and that too in full. Even though I promised them that it will certainly be the case, they reminded me of ‘Home Delivery’ where that hadn’t turned out to be the case. They gave me a stare and grumbled that they didn’t believe me, but then I knew from the bottom of my heart that they would stick around; which they eventually did. They are my brothers and even if I walk on fire, they will walk with me. Yes, it happens only in India and I am proud to have such friends”, says an emotionally charged Sujoy.

Starring Amitabh Bachchan as Genius - The Genie, Ritiesh Deshmukh as Aladin and Sanjay Dutt as a cool villain, ‘Aladin’ also marks the debut of Sri Lankan beauty Jackie Fernandez who is paired opposite Ritiesh. ‘Aladin’ is produced by Eros International in association with Sujoy Ghosh’s production company Boundscript.
-Sampurn Media