Housefull 4, in the recent few weeks, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Two of its cast and crew members, Nana Patekar and Sajid Khan have been accused of sexual harassment owing to the raging MeToo movement in Bollywood. It began with Tanushree Dutta opening about her experience with Nana Patekar almost ten years ago. Where it was always underlined, the prevalence of casting couch in the industry, it still has come as a shock as to how many women have become mere prey to the men’s carnal needs with power and money in the film industry.
Akshay Kumar who has been a part of the Housefull franchise since forever made an official statement a few days ago regarding the on-going speculations about the movie’s director, Sajid Khan and his co-actor, Nana Patekar. He tweeted a picture on Twitter which read,
“I’ve just landed back in the country last night and reading all the news has been very disturbing. I’ve requested the producers of Housefull 4 to cancel the shoot until further investigation. This is something that requires stringent action. I will not work with any proven offenders and all those who have been subjugated to harassment should be heard and given the justice they deserve.”
After this and a discussion with the production house, both the accused have stepped down and are now, no longer a part of the film. After this controversial row, Housefull 4 is in the news for a different reason. Akshay Kumar’s look from the film has been revealed. In a picture shared by a fan on Twitter, we can see Akshay Kumar sporting a bald, moustache clad, Maratha warrior look. Here have a look at the picture:
The picture is captioned:
“Exclusive look – Dashing superstar @akshaykumar sir in #Housefull4. Get ready to Welcome the MAHARAJA of Bollywood. @NGEMovies Maharaaj of hearts”
The picture reminds us straight of Ranveer Singh’s look from Bajirao Mastani where he played the character of Peshwa Bajirao. Though Ranveer went bald for his character in the film, the team seemed to have gone for prosthetics for Akshay Kumar’s bald look in the film.
Housefull 4 is a comedy film where this look doesn’t seem to quite fit in the plot of the film but again, then anything can happen in a slapstick comedy film like Housefull. Akshay Kumar is one actor who can pull of intense roles like the ones in Baby, Gold, Airlift along with senseless comic roles like the ones in Hera Pheri, Housefull, Bhool Bhulaiyaa etc. effortlessly.
Though there are rumours that this look is definitely from the film, Housefull 4, there hasn’t been an official confirmation yet. But it has been recently confirmed that now the movie will be helmed by Farhad Samji after four women, Krishna Upadhyay, Simran Soni, Rachel White and Saloni Chopra made serious allegations against Sajid Khan for sexually harassing them. The official statement from the team states,
“Director of ‘Housefull 3’, Farhad Samji, will now direct Housefull 4.”
Farhad Samji had co-directed the franchise’s previous entry Housefull 3 along with his brother Sajid Samji.
The movie is being produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and it stars Riteish Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon, Pooja Hegde, and Kriti Kharbanda along with Akshay Kumar in the lead roles. It is slated to hit the theatres sometime around Diwali in 2019.
