Laugh Out Loud

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty credits his excellent rapport with actor Ajay Devgn for his successful run at the box office. “We have known each other for 18 years and I end up casting him all the time because nobody else wants to work with him,” he jokes while Devgn chuckles and mildly protests at the Le Meridien hotel in Delhi. With his latest slapstick comedy All The Best,The Fun Begins about to hit the screens today,Shetty is confident of pulling it off yet again,after the success of Golmaal and Golmaal Returns. Incidentally,this will be the fourth time the pair will be working together.

The film,which has been shot in Goa’s beaches,is replete with Shetty’s predictable cliches— over-the-top action scenes,loud costumes and expensive sets. “When people see my films they expect a certain continuity. I cannot disappoint them,” he smiles,justifying the expenditure of Rs 6.5 crore on the title song of the movie,which involved over 1000 dancers and a mammoth set on the beach.

A comedy of mistaken identities,the film revolves around Ajay Devgn,who plays a car designer and his wife Bipasha Basu,who operates a run-down gym. The two are always looking for ways to con people. The story takes off when Sanjay Dutt,a millionaire comes in to their lives. The film also stars Fardeen Khan and Mughda Godse.

Despite the similarity,Shetty is quick to downplay any comparison with Golmaal Returns. “It is an entirely new cast and script,” he argues. Devgn nods in agreement. The actor has recently got himself a palm-sized Lord Shiva tattoo on his left shoulder,with his daughter’s name inscribed below it. “Sanju (Dutt) forced me to get this tattoo. It’s like a lucky charm,and so far it seems to have worked,” he adds.

We will have to wait and see for ourselves this Diwali.