Badhai Ho Badhai

Cast:	Anil Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Kirti Reddy
Music:	Anu Malik.
Producer:	Satish Kaushik.

For Anil Kapoor, the release of Satish Kaushik's Badhai Ho Badhai could not have happened at a more opportune time. The summer months are seen as one of the best periods to unveil a new film.

The year 2001 was pretty good for Kapoor. If Nayak had the cash registers ringing, Kaushik's earlier film, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, turned out to be an above average hit in most territories. And the 46-year-old actor is still reaping a good harvest from his megahits, Viraasat and Pukar, both in terms of critical accolades and commercial success.

But the critical question on every distributor's mind is — will he be able to carry it off this time? "There are reports of Anil resorting to all kinds of tactics to be one up on Aamir, who is the current favourite," says film distributor Sanjay Mehta.

Does it mean that Anil's calling the shots? "Anil is smart enough not to meddle in the technicalities — he wants to be India's first Creative Director, whose inputs into the making of a film are as intrinsic as the film itself" says Mehta.

Satish Kaushik denies reports of Anil ghost directing Badhaai Ho Badhaai. "This is ridiculous. Do you think I would take it lying down. I have so much knowledge of cinema, lietarture and theatre that I could teach a thing or two to some of the top actors around," laughs Kaushik. About Anil's interference, Kaushik is a little diplomatic, "He offers suggestions and does argue over certain aspects and at times I let it be since he has acted in so many films."

What could be possibly Anil's inputs for a film which is based on of a Tamil hit although the film's publicity mentions that it is a take-off on the Eddie Murphy starrer The Nutty Professor and the Gwyneth Paltrow starrer Shallow Hal? No matter what the truth, the fate of Badhai Ho Badhai will, indeed, determine whether Kapoor can ever find himself in the same league as Aamir.