Rajpal in 'tailor'made role

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

Rajpal Yadav

The diminutive Rajpal Yadav will be playing designer Manish Malhotra in director A Udaykanth's, Ladies Tailor, produced by south producer M Srinivas.

Confirms Udaykanth, "Ladies Tailor has been inspired by the life of designer Manish Malhotra. I want to set a different trend as a director, as this is my first Hindi film. We scouted around to find inspiration from many famous personalities, but the only person we could zoom on was Manish.

Whoever he designs for, becomes a top star. That's what we wanted to focus on. We are also in the process of signing five former Miss Indias to act opposite Rajpal."

All-India favourite

Producer Srinivas says, "We selected Rajpal, and not a top star, to play Manish, because Rajpal is universally popular — not like Salman or Shah Rukh, who are popular only in some centres.

Rajpal's comic image is an all—India favourite. When we told him the story, he was so excited that he immediately gave us all his dates. We had heard the stories of other designers but we liked Manish's story best, and have researched his life."

Manish shocked

Manish Malhotra

Manish is shocked when told about the film. "I don't know how to react! This is the first time I am hearing about such a film. Nobody has contacted me, right from the producer and director to Rajpal Yadav, or asked me what has happened in my life. I have the right to know, since it's my life, but no one has approached me to tell me my tale. I don't know if they can make a film without informing me."

Complete musical

Says Rajpal, "It's a complete musical and is based on a tailor's life and lifestyle. I am very excited to be playing this role. I play ladies' tailor; actresses become famous because of my outfits. Any woman can become a Rani Mukerji or Kareena Kapoor if somebody like Manish Malhotra is doing their clothes. I liked the role as it was very interesting and different from what I had played before."

He's playing the lead again, this time with five heroines. Was he happy with the response of his last release, Mein Meri Patni Aur Woh? "I was very happy. I got much more than I expected. When people told me it was running for the fourth week in places like Gujarat, with 64 per cent houseful, that was more than enough for me. Plus, the fact that it was accepted by the media and the audience made it even better."

Right now, Rajpal is doing 11 films including, Babul, Benaam, Malamaal Weekly, Chup Chup Ke, Go, and a film each with David Dhawan and Raj Sippy.