There’s something about Mallika Sherawat. You just can’t ignore her. The audience might have taken the title Bachke Rehna Re Baba a bit too seriously and The Myth might have been shattered. But that hasn’t affected Sherawat’s stock as she has still has a couple of interesting films with reputable makers lined up for release in the coming days, apart from a couple in her kitty. No wonder that showman Subhash Ghai relayed a commentary on her arrival at the music launch of his production, Shaadi Se Pehle.
The latest is that the sex siren is going to play Goldie Hawn’s role from the 1980 comedy, Private Benjamin.
The film, titled Fauj Mein Mauj will be produced by Ravi Walia and directed by first timer Murli Nagavalli, who has been an assistant to Priyadarshan and is now starting on his own. The source also informed us that this film is inspired by the 1980-Howard Zieff directed comedy, whose tagline read: ‘The army was no laughing matter until Judy Benjamin joined it’.
Starring Goldie Hawn in the lead role, the film was about a sheltered high society young woman who, on a whim, decides to join the army when her husband dies on their wedding night. She finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected when her superior makes sexual advances. For thwarting his advances, she’s transferred to the Nato headquarters in Europe where she once again meets the Frenchman Henri, played by Armand Assante and the story moves further towards the climax.
{{/usCountry}}Starring Goldie Hawn in the lead role, the film was about a sheltered high society young woman who, on a whim, decides to join the army when her husband dies on their wedding night. She finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected when her superior makes sexual advances. For thwarting his advances, she’s transferred to the Nato headquarters in Europe where she once again meets the Frenchman Henri, played by Armand Assante and the story moves further towards the climax.
{{/usCountry}}We called Nagavalli in Chennai and he confirmed the same, “Yes, I’m directing Mallika in Fauj Mein Mauj, produced by Ravi Walia under the banner Risiing Star Enetertainment.” When asked about being inspired by Private Benjamin, he said, “It has been changed to suit the Indian audiences. The film is a comedy along the lines of the Police Academy series, but set in the army. It’s a story of what happens when a sexy young woman joins the army.” However he asserts, “I’m not making fun of anyone, but just making a humourous film. It’s a fictional story.” On his choice of Mallika Sherawat to replay Goldie Hawn’s character, he said, “We needed a woman with a sex-symbol image, who had some spunk and spice about her. And Mallika is the right person to play this role.” About the rest of the cast, he added, “Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav have been confirmed for the film, but I’m yet to finalise other actors, including those who will play Mallika’s hero and her superior, the Colonel.” Sherawat is currently away in Turkey, where she’s doing a song sequence for Mani Ratnam’s Guru, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead. Nagavalli hopes to finish his casting so he can start shooting in the first week of June.