After a solid 2014 when he debuted as a villain in Ek Villain and scored a 100 crore Superhit, Riteish Deshmukh also made a smashing Marathi debut with a Blockbuster success Lai Bhaari. Last year was quite uneventful though as the delayed Bangistan went on to be a mega-disaster at the Box Office. However, coming months are set to be pretty exciting for Riteish as he is set to score a hat-trick of releases, what with three of his films arriving in back to back months.
“This is pretty much a record for any leading actor as one can’t remember any other existing star managing such a feat,” says a trade expert, “Riteish has Housefull 3 [June],Great Grand Masti [July] and Banjo [August] arriving one after another. It is all going to get really hectic for Riteish as three films also means engaging in three sets of promotional activities.”
It wasn’t all planned this way though as Great Grand Masti got delayed due to Censor issues.
“The Indra Kumar directed sequel could well have released last year but films with sexual content, be it erotic or comic, have to be a lot more cautious in the current times. What was acceptable a couple of years back may be considered offensive today. Great Grand Mastidecided to wait and though the film has fortunately seen very few cuts, its arrival in July means that Riteish has a jam packed film season ahead,” an insider adds.
2016 campaign starts with Housefull 3 though which is third in the series led by Akshay Kumar. While Riteish is expected to have indulged in quite some ‘grand masti’ during the film’s making, things turn a lot dramatic and musical for Banjo, a film that brings him back with Ravi Jadhav, who had also directed his debut production affair Balak Palak.
“This may not be all for Riteish as he could well be looking at four films in a row, what with his Bank Chor looking at releasing in September,” the insider continues, “The Yash Raj film has been delayed for over a year and a half now. While the exact release date has not been announced yet, there are indications that the film – which also stars Vivek Oberoi in the lead – would finally hit the screens this year.”
Four films in four months – Now this could well be an unmatched feat in time to come.
