New directors on the Bollywood block

A new batch of first-time directors are on the verge of beginning their Bollywood innigs. Here's a quick rediff.com guide to the new faces behind the camera.

Director: Shirish Kunder

Film: Jaaneman

Starring: Preity Zinta, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar

Kunder (in the picture), husband of choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan, is ready with this love triangle featuring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar (last seen together in David Dhawan's Mujshe Shaadi Karoge) and Preity Zinta.

His wife having scored well with her first directorial venture Main Hoon Na..., it is Shirish's turn to try and achieve similar success at the box office. Incidentally, Farah has choreographed the film.

Jaaneman was engulfed in controversy following a 'scandal' in which Salman was reported to have vulgarly denounced Zinta in a telephone conversation with Aishwarya Rai.

Investigations revealed that the tape was not genuine. Preity agreed to continue working on the movie.

The film was shot in New York. It is believed that Akshay Kumar's role was first offered to Shah Rukh Khan. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.

Director: Zoya Akhtar

Film: Lucky By Chance

Starring: Tabu and Dimple Kapadia

Quite ironically, Lady Luck is not favouring Zoya (in the picture), the sister of Farhan Akhtar (whose debut movie was the cult Dil Chahta Hai). Lucky By Chance has seen its cast shuffling ever since the film was announced.

Daughter of writer-director Honey Irani and poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar, Zoya, industry insiders feel, has a lot of promise. That is reason enough to look forward to her debut film, which is a tongue-in-cheek account of Bollywood.

In the film, Zoya will take a look into what goes on in front of and behind the camera in the Hindi film industry. The movie will, therefore, have many cameos by Bollywood stars and celebrities playing themselves.

The debutante director had to face rejection from the likes of Madhuri Dixit, Kajol and Karisma Kapoor before she finally got the approval of Tabu to play the female lead.

Sometime later, the film received another setback with its hero Saif Ali Khan walking out because of financial reasons. Let's see if Zoya can overcome the initial hurdles.

Director: Reema Kagdi

Film: Honeymoon Tours And Travels Pvt Ltd

Starring: Abhay Deol and Minissha Lamba

If you are wondering if this is a movie about a travel agency, let us tell you that Honeymoon..., it is believed, is the story of a newlywed couple.

Reema was Farhaan Akhtar's associate director, and we are also as curious as you about whether she has picked up a few tricks from him.

Minissha, the film's heroine, got quite a few critical pats on the back for her debut performance in Yahaan.

The question is, what exactly will Honeymoon... focus on? Something tells us we might all be in for a surprise.

Director: Saket Choudhary

Film: Pyaar Ka Side Effects

Starring: Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat

The film is expected to have an interesting screenplay, because Saket is considered a veteran screenplay writer.

It will be interesting to see if Ms Sherawat has grasped the fine art of acting.

Initially, there were rumours of Rahul being protective about the sizzling Ms Sherawat on the sets -- rumours which he denied vehemently in subsequent interviews.

It will be interesting to see if Mallika can repeat her Murder success in a film believed to be a straight romance focusing on the chemistry between the lead pair.