E-Paper
When Harry Potter becomes 'Hari Puttar'
The film is not really a takeoff on Harry Potter but his version of Home Alone, the young NRI producer said.
He's making a children's film and it's called "Hari Puttar". But, according to its young NRI producer, the film is not really a takeoff on Harry Potter but his version of "Home Alone".
Harinder Singh Kohli, better known as Lucky Singh, a London-based film producer and entrepreneur with 25 animation films to his credit, is now making a feature film in Hindi.
"I grew up watching Hindi films. And I often wondered why there was so little for kids. 'HarryPuttar' is a homage to my childhood," he says.
Singh has finalised the casting of all 10 kids who are part of the film.
"Zen Khan, who has done a number of advertisements, will play the role of the main kid. I want Paresh Rawal to play the main adult role. He's also excited over the idea of doing a children's film. We don't have too many of them in Bollywood, do we?" Lucky said.
"But Rawal has a problem with dates and I want to shoot in October. Ours is a small budgeted film. And we've to finish on time," the producer of the Harry Potter-meets-Home Alone-meets-Bollywood film said.
South Indian producer Murli Mohan is also a part of the film.
When asked whether Lucky faced any copyright problems with the makers of Harry Potter, he replied, "Not at all. We've already got the title. 'Puttar' is an accepted word in Punjabi. Why should that create a problem?"
