Rs.50 million spent on promotion of `Khushboo'

Mumbai, June 10 (IANS) Bollywood producer Pahlaj Nihalani, who is known for introducing new actors with big budget movies, said he has spent a whopping Rs.50 million for promotion of his latest musical love story "Khushboo".

The film, made on a budget of Rs.180 million, is due for release June 20 and stars two newcomers - Rishi Rehan and Avantika - in the lead roles.

The producer, who has completed 30 years in the industry, said the film which stars established actors does not require as much publicity as a film with a newcomer demands.

"The movie has two newcomers. If it would have been a Salman Khan movie, I would not have spent so much on it for promotion because a star's movie is always saleable. But, the newcomers need to be introduced properly as they do not have an existing fan following," said Nihalani.

Known for introducing actors like Govinda, Suneil Shetty, Neelam Kothari, Chunky Pandey, late Divya Bharati among others, Nihalani said: "I always believe in introducing new talents as they do not have an image. Besides, I feel the country is bursting with talents, and we as responsible producers should provide them a chance to prove their mettle."

He does not believe in lineage of any actor and said: "Most of the actors that I have cast do not come from film background. Whether be it Govinda, Suniel Shetty or any other. Even the actors of 'Khushboo', Rishi and Avantika do not come from a film background."

Besides, introducing the lead actors, the film marks the debut of Rajesh Ram Singh as director. How did Nihalani take such a daring step? "Big names do not decide the fate of a film. If the film is good, it will definitely work. Besides, after introducing so many stars I have full confidence on my selection."

Khushboo is a love story between a Punjabi girl who believes in destiny and an ambitious south Indian boy. Avantika is playing the simple Punjabi girl while the south Indian ambitious guy, played by Rishi, wants to make it big within a short time. The story mainly revolves around their thoughts and ideology.

Pahlaj Nihalani, who produced the block buster hit of 1993 "Aakhen" starring Govinda and Chunky Pandey, has cast the same team of Raj Babbar, Shakti Kapoor, Chunky Pandey and Prem Chopra as supporting characters in "Khushboo".

Pahlaj said his next project will be a sequel of "Aakhen" titled "Aakhen 2" with the original cast.

The music of "Khushboo", which consists of six tracks, has been scored by Adnan Sami and Bappi Lahiri.

"Khusboo" will hit the theatres June 20 along two other big films-Kumar Mangat's "Haal-e-Dil" and Sahara One Motion Picture's "De Taali".

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