Mumbai, June 12 (IANS): Actor Sidharth Malhotra had his elder brother Harshad's company at the trailer launch of his upcoming film "Brothers".
Since "Brothers" is an emotional story about two siblings, Sidharth wanted to share the first look of the film with his real life brother for his feedback, said a source close to the 30-year-old.
Not many people know Sidharth's brother, and so he went unrecognised at the gathering. However, to Sidharth, his presence meant a whole lot.
In the film, Sidharth will be seen essaying the role of a wrestler in the film, and he is said to have pushed the envelope for the action-oriented part.
The movie's director played an integral role in Sidharth's transformation for the role.
"I was obsessing about my look throughout, constantly pestering Karan Malhotra, and he also helped me... showed me pictures of bulky wrestlers to get the right appearance.
"A team arrived in India all the way from the US to teach us various forms of fighting. Karan sir wanted us to balance our weights, so when Akshay sir lost 10 kg, I had to gain 10 kg," Sidharth said at the trailer launch, which happened earlier this week.
"Brothers" is an action-drama film, directed by Karan Malhotra. It is an official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film "Warrior", and it also features actress Jacqueline Fernandez in lead role, while actor Jackie Shroff will play a supporting role.
The film is scheduled to release on August 14.
Sidharth is currently filming "Kapoor and Sons" which also features actors Alia Bhatt and Fawad Khan.
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Tougher to make short film: KJo
An accomplished filmmaker, Karan Johar says the short film genre is tougher when compared to a feature film.
Karan has been inducted into the Board of Trustees for the Mumbai Film Festival, organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image. The festival aims at promoting different kinds of cinema including short films, independent and commercial cinema along with international cinema.
Talking about the scope of short films, he said: "I've seen short films internationally and nationally which have moved you to tears or made you laughing throughout. I deeply applaud these filmmakers as it's far more difficult to make a short film than to make a full-length feature."
About his own experience of directing one with "Ajeeb Daastan Hain Yeh", which was part of the "Bombay Talkies" anthology, he said: "Being restricted by budget and timeline was hugely challenging for me. We were given Rs.1 crore for this film, and this gave me sleepless nights."
"I didn't sleep for those eight days as I didn't know how to do it. I'm proud about the fact that I pulled it off in Rs.97 lakh."
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'ABCD 2' tired me out: Varun Dhawan
He's a flexible dancer, but actor Varun Dhawan, who has attempted contemporary dance in a song for "ABCD 2", says it's not an easy style. Besides, he admits the film was taxing on him.
"For the song 'Chunar', I learnt dance in the sense that I should be able to perform non-stop... the emotion has to come through dancing. It is a contemporary dance choreographed, and very pure," he said.
"This film was taxing, it tired me. Contemporary dance is not easy to do...it is like poetry in motion. I took a big bite of chocolate after completing the song 'Chunar'. My mother loves this song," Varun added.
"ABCD 2", directed by Remo D'Souza, also stars Shraddha Kapoor. It is releasing on June 19.