Muzammil, Mohsin starrer Mumbai Must Kallander to be released this month
KASHMIR has again attracted Bollywood. This time not for its mesmering locales or dramatization of 20-odd years of conflict, but for the star cast of an upcoming movie, all set to hit the silverscreen this month. Mohsin Akhter and Muzammil Akhter –the brother duo from summer capital’s Sonwar locality –are playing the lead in Mumbai Mast Kallander.
The Akhters would be the first Kashmiri duo to play lead in a Bollywood movie. A production of White Popkorn, Mumbai Mast Kallander which also casts Luna and Shilpa Shukla in the fair sex lead, promises two hours of “total enjoyment”.
JOURNEY TO GLAMOUR
Glamour isn’t new for the brothers in mid 20s. While Mohsin bagged the MR INDIA 2007 title, his younger brother too has been a supermodel. But then the road to Mumbai, often termed as Mayanagri(the City of Dreams) wasn’t a cakewalk.
Coming from a conservative Muslim family, it took them lot of time to convince their parents who were initially reluctant.
BIG BROTHER
It started in 2004 when Moshin after completing his graduation from Kashmir University left the City to pursue his MBA outside.
But good looks of the hunk couldn’t escape the eyes of media as he started making to the ramps shows and subsequently changed his career plans.
But then it was the hunt for MR INDIA 2007 that proved a turning point in his career.
In no time he made it to the ramp shows of the leading designers like Taroon Kumar , Manish Malhotra, Vikram Phandis, Ranna Gill and even the Hayward’s Black men’s Fashion Week. Mohsin did some video albums including those with music by maestro AR Rehman.
And prior to the lead role in his upcoming Bollywood venture, the Srinagar boy made a debut in Luck By Chance directed by Zoya Akhtar.
Kashmiri youth making it to silverscreen, how does Mohsin take it?
“See the fact is that Kashmiris are known for good looks and hardwork but these two things alone don’t matter… One must also have an attitude, talent, body fitness and know the proper expression of language,” the budding star told Greater Kashmir.
But then given the fact that hardly anyone of the thousands visiting Mumbai for a career in Bollywood end up realising dreams, Mohsin says luck too does “definitely play a vital role”.
“Hard work and luck are two sides of a coin,” he adds.
CHOTA BHAI
As about Muzamil, he was inspired to the glamour world by the big brother. Some of his famous shoots include those for Pantaloons, Mountain Dew, Beetle Car Volks Wagon and Hide & Seek and Nokia.
Muzammil also bagged the ELLITE MODEL LOOK-2005 and GRASIM MR INDIA 2007.
“All this did definitely help me get a break in the Bollywood,” Muzammil confides adding that Mumbai Mast Kallender would be a “total entertainer”.
About the career prospects of other Kashmiri youth, he says their good looks could help them make a career in the glamour world.
“But provided, they get the right exposure otherwise your life is spoiled,” he cautions.
DADDY COOL
Finding sons making their heat felt in the glamour world, father, Professor Akhter Hussain has finally given up his “conservative resistance.”
“Frankly speaking we belong to conservative society and so in the beginning I wasn’t happy with what they (sons) were doing,” Akhter says.
“But then Alhamdulillah they have got well adjusted in life and have a secured career. What better could they have done backhome in Kashmir where situation is what all of us very well know,” the father adds.
But then how did the professor take the movies during his youth?
“Oh, to watch a movie used to a taboo and one would avoid being seen outside a cinema even by a neighbour hall then to talk of family members… And when we went to watch a movie, we would leave the cinema some 10 minutes prior to the end,” he explains.
Sharing an anecdote of his college days, Akhter recaps that to watch the then blockbuster Ram Aur Shaam, he was so scared of being caught that he watched it “during a Shabh simply because the majority was busy in prayers that night”.
BOTTOMLINE RULE
Interestingly, even though Muslims have been conservative towards the film industry, the community seems to be ruling the Indian cinema right since the black and white days.
From K Asif, Dilip Kumar(Yousuf Khan) and Naushad, to Grammy winner AR Rehman, all have remained a reason for blockbusters. And for the past two decades, Aamir, Salman and Shahrukh, the three hot Khans have been at the top, ruling the hearts of millions of their fans.
LOVE GK
The brother duo in an exclusive chat over phone from Mumbai said they wanted to share the news of January 14 release of the movie with Greater Kashmir first.
“Greater Kashmir has been our first love because since childhood it used to be the newspaper which we would read at home and we still do it,” Mohsin said.
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