Billu Barber dropped 'barber' in title

Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan has decided to drop the word 'barber' from the title of his home production film Billu Barber after a section of hairdressers objected to the word terming it as 'derogatory'.

Khan talking to reporters said that his production house Red Chillies has decided to drop the word 'barber' from all the posters.

He said that since the film is slated for release later this week, there isn't much that can be done. But he added that he doesn't want to invoke the wrath of any section of the society. "I understand the emotions and I respect. Instead of it becoming an issue where people are going to blacken out poster and give some sort of dissent or grief at cinema halls, film is not about that. We will try and remove the word 'Barber' from the posters," said Khan.

Khan said that members of Hairdressers and Saloon Association had approached him with their 'genuine concerns' over the use of the word 'Barber' and its Hindi translation hajaam.

He said that though the censor board has already cleared the film, he would not like to hurt the sentiments of the hairdressers.

"These people feel the word hajaam (barber) that should not be there in the film. We would beep the word in the film, but I don''t think we can do anything about the music. Though the censor board has already cleared the film, we don't think we have shown them in wrong light. There is no point in releasing a film by hurting the sentiments of the people whose profession we are portraying in the film," said Khan.

Khan plays a popular Bollywood actor in the film, which is about a village hairdresser and his friendship with a movie star.

Billu Barber, directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Khan, is all set for release around Valentine's Day.

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Shah Rukh and Priyanka's Item Song Billo Barber

According to sources it was a toss-up between Rani Mukherjee and Priyanka for the third item song with SRK in Billo Barber.

"But after Rani appeared on Salman Khan's game show Dus Ka Dum and knowing there's no love lost between Salman and Priyanka, the scales tilted automatically towards Priyanka, " says the source.

What Shah Rukh Khan wants Shah Rukh Khan gets. This, Priyadarshan realized as soon as he began shooting for Billoo Barber.

Says Priyan, "Since Shah Rukh plays a film star in the film I needed him to do some big glamorous song and dance numbers with some top heroines."

Priyan decided to stay completely out of the picture.

"I left the choice to Shah Rukh. I knew all he had to do was pick up the phone and ask any of his leading ladies."

One item song with Kareena Kpaoor was shot at the very start of the shooting.

"At this very moment I'm shooting a second item song with Deepika and Shah Rukh. That's again a very catchy number and Shah Rukh is having a ball shooting it with Deepika, " informs Priyan.

Interestingly Priyan was supposed to launch Deepika two years ago in a film called Pirate. "But that didn't work out. She made her debut with Shah Rukh. Now she's working with him again. And I also got a chance to work with her.Don't ask who's the lucky one."

Now a third item song has also been finalized for Billoo Barber.

Priyan informs the third lucky luscious lady to shake with Shah Rukh would be Priyanka Chopra.

Though SRK has done item numbers earlier with Aishwarya Rai in Shakti and in Rakesh Roshan's Krazzy 4, this would be Priyanka's first item number.

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Snakes and rainspost poned Billo Barber

IANS | Tuesday, 16 September , 2008, 10:31

First it was a snake in Lara Dutta's room and then torrential rains - the shooting for Priyadarshan's forthcoming Billo Barber in Tamil Nadu was indeed chaotic, says actor Irrfan Khan. He recounts how a poisonous snake entered Lara's room at night while the cast was filming in Pollachi in Coimbatore district. But Lara didn't panic at all. "To her credit, Lara handled the situation very sensibly and bravely, probably because she didn't know how poisonous the snake was. If it had bitten her it would've been disastrous," Irrfan said. The actor, who plays the barber's role in the film that also stars Shah Rukh Khan, can't stop praising Lara. "I've realised that facing the camera with her was as challenging as co-starring with Tabu or Dimple Kapadia. Lara is the most underrated actress I've worked with." Lara was also a little tense as her mom had apparently taken ill. "I could sense she was tense and dealing with a situation on the phone. But she never let it affect her work," Irrfan said. Apart from snakes, the heavy rains also gave the unit a tough time. But they had to continue shooting as Shah Rukh Khan had to get back to Mumbai. Said Irrfan: "Pollachi is one of the most peaceful spots in the world. Though prone to the monsoon vagaries at this time of the year, never did we imagine that the weather could act so unpredictable. "Suddenly during the last two days the weather acted up more than all of us who were facing the camera. We were in panic. Because there was no way Shah Rukh could delay his departure. Priyan had to wrap up his work at any cost. So we had no choice but to shoot through the rain which was harrowing." And when the King Khan wrapped up and left the shoot, the whole unit missed him terribly. "Shah Rukh is as entertaining off camera as he's on screen. We all bonded big time. Now that he's no longer with us in Pollachi we find that spark is gone out of the unit. Seldom have I missed a co-star after shooting with him or her," said Irrfan. The actor, who has acted in films like The Namesake, Life In A Metro and Maqbool, said that he had brought his family to Pollachi. "I always take my wife and two sons to as many outdoors as possible, even if it means making my kids skip school. It's the only way we have of finding time together. In fact I'm out of Mumbai shooting till the end of the year. And I'll try to get them to come with me whenever possible."

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Climax of Kuselan and Billoo Barber are the same !!!

Kuselan, the Tamil version of the Malayalam superhit Katha Parayumpol, about the relationship between a cine-superstar and a village barber, has made it to the top of the box-office charts.

But Priyadarshan who's frantically trying to finish the Hindi version with SRK is unperturbed. "We'd have wrapped up Billoo Barber much earlier. But Shah Rukh got busy with the IPL. Never mind. It makes no difference to our film."

Priyan says the original Malyalam film which was written by his assistant Sreenivasan is very different from both Kuselan and Billoo Barber.

"Sreenivasan gave the Tamil rights to the producers after consulting me. Since they were very keen to make it with Rajnikanth, we relented. But the contract clearly says that Kuselan cannot be dubbed into any other language. Likewise, my Hindi version cannot be dubbed by producer SRK in any other language except the parent lingo, Hindi. We clearly put all this under contract to avoid the kind of overlapping that was attempted when I remade the Malayalam film Manichithrathzu as Bhool Bhulaiyaa in Hindi, and Rajni's Tamil film Chandramukhi, from the same source was also attempted to be released in a dubbed Hindi version. I'll avoid this kind of a clash of interests at any cost."

But the question is, would the contract prevent the makers of Kuselan from finding loopholes in the agreement to release the film in a dubbed Hindi version? And if they do would it effect Billoo Barber? According to a source a dubbed Hindi version of Kuselan is being released around the same time as Billoo Barber.

"Not at all," asserts Priyan. "Only the climax of Kuselan and Billoo Barber are the same. Otherwise they are two different films. See, like all Rajnkanth starrers, Kuselan has been made to spotlight Rajni as a larger-than-life icon.

I believe he enters the film riding a winged horse. Though my film also stars a superstar SRK as a superstar, I've nowhere tried to increase his role or heighten the impact of his presence. I'm not that kind of a filmmaker. In Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Akshay Kumar made his entry at interval point. I'm making it very clear that Irrfan Khan and not Shah Rukh has the main role in Billoo Barber. My film isn't a platform to glorify the mega-star," says Priyan making a dig at the first-frame-to-last presence of Rajnikanth in Kuselan. Billoo Barber opens during Diwali. "If I wanted I could've rushed the release. But we're not in competition with anyone. And like I said, the Kuselan makers are bound by contract. They can't dub the film into Hindi or any other language," says Priyan.

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