Time for take off

Woodstock Villa, produced by Sanjay Dutt, is ready to hit theatres after a two-year delay.

Woodstock Villa was launched at IIFA, Dubai in 2006 amidst a lot of fanfare. Debutants Sikander Kher and Neha Uberoi were showcased in a special power-packed reel produced by Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta's White Feather Films and directed by Hanslal Mehta. In fact, actress Kiron Kher, mother of Sikander, who was present at the launch ceremony, had said excitedly, "I couldn't ask for a better launch than this for my son."

But the film took two years to hit the screen. The debutants should be relieved that their much-delayed movie is finally seeing the light of day.

A chip off the old block

Acting runs in Sikander's blood. In addition to Kiron being his mother, he is also the son of actor Anupam Kher. The unconventional looking actor initially assisted directors before joining a workshop at the National School of Drama. Of course, he also had the advantage of honing his acting skills with his parents. "It is an honour for me to be the son of such talented parents and watching them perform onscreen over the years has been an inspiration," says Sikander.

It also helped him get acquainted with most of the Bollywood industry and luckily for him, Sanjay Dutt took a liking to this young lad from childhood. No wonder he was launched by Dutt in his home production White Feather Films, which is normally associated with slick crime thrillers. "I am fortunate to be launched by Sanjay Dutt and Sanjay Gupta.
Sanjay Dutt is a father figure to me and he treats me like his son while I have high regard for Sanjay Gupta's style of films as they always stand apart. This was the film and role that I was waiting to make my debut with," says Sikander.

Latest glamour doll

Uberoi is Gupta's niece and therefore it wasn't difficult for her to get a role in Woodstock Villa. Initially, she was supposed to debut with this film, but since it got delayed, Uberoi was first seen in Gupta's earlier flick Dus Kahaniyan, in which she had a small and simple role opposite Aftab Shivdasani. With Woodstock Villa she has gone all-out glamorous and has even performed uninhibitedly for the track Dhokha. Uberoi will be banking heavily on this film to kick-start her career, unlike Sikander, who is sailing in a safer boat as he already has his second film, Summer of 2007, ready for release, besides signing a plum project with his buddy, Abhishek Bachchan.

Starry appearances

Rumours of business partners and best-friends Gupta and Dutt splitting up were squashed with Dutt doing a promotional song for this film. The track Kyon is shot like a rock video along with the band Aryan and has Dutt in it. In addition to Dutt, Saif Ali Khan makes a guest appearance while Anupama Verma shakes her booty with Sikander to Mika's track Saawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag that has been remixed for the soundtrack.

Arbaaz Khan will be seen plays the third most important character in Woodstock Villa, which has a storyline very much in line with previous White Feather Films and deals with the subjects of infidelity, betrayal, crime and murder.