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Upen causes frenzy on 'Ek Main Aur Ek Tu'
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, May 4 (IANS) Upen Patel, who is making his big screen debut with "36 China Town", caused frenzy and confusion on "Ek Main Aur Ek Tu" when he appeared as a guest on the music show.

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For a few minutes there was a stunned silence on the sets.

"The guest, Upen Patel, reminded us so much of Paresh Patel, our finalist who had to unfortunately bow out," said Gajendra Singh, producer-director of the show, told IANS.

"It looked like Paresh had returned when Upen Patel came as a star judge. They are both from London's business families. They speak similarly and even have similar features."

Upen isn't quite the pro when it comes to Hindi. Female members of the audience shrieked hysterically as soon as he showed up.

"I had an awesome time. All these boys and girls sang so well. And in many ways I could connect with them. They are all from outside Mumbai in the city of dreams, pursuing their ambitions. I am also doing the same. I could hear my own dreams in their voices," said Upen.

Said Singh: "We have never seen anything like this before on our shows. It was mass hysteria." 

"There were shouts of 'China Town'. It took us a while to calm the girls down. It isn't that Upen couldn't speak Hindi. But since he is more comfortable in English he chose to express his appreciation for the participants in English."

Incidentally, this week onwards there is a new value addition on "Ek Main Aur Ek Tu".

Judge Hariharan will sing along with whichever couple he thinks has performed the best. This week it is Ujjaini and Aishwaraya who get the privilege of singing with Hariharan. 
 

Upen joins Sanjay in all-boy flick
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, May 6 (IANS) Looks like celluloid stag parties are coming into their own. After Indra Kumar's "Dhamaal", which will have no heroines, it's time for Abbas-Mastan to do a boys-will-be-boys adventure story starring Sanjay Dutt and Upen Patel. 

"Sanjay and I will play the lead - there will be no girls. We are starting (shooting) in December. Just us two guys. But no, it is not 'Brokeback Mountain'," said Upen.

But there are plenty of girls in his first release - "36 China Town". 

"I did not have a particular co-star. But since I play a Casanova, I got lots of girls, including guest appearances by four big names. Audiences will be shocked to know who these ladies are," Upen told IANS.

"I know all eyes are on me. I didn't think that would be so, not when I was working with some of the biggest names in show business like Kareena Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Shahid Kapur, Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever. 

"I thought people would be more interested in them. I thought they'd come to see them and I'd hold my own somehow. I never expected such a huge hype," said Upen. 

"Himesh Reshammiya's song for me is rocking. The expectations are scary, though I can't say I'm not enjoying them. They say models can't dance, but the promos prove I can dance. Let's hope I can act as well. I am okay as an actor. I'll get better in my second film."

That's Suneel Darshan's film.

"That's right. Suneel has kindly taken me under his wings. He had promised me a film and he has kept his promise. In June he launches a film with Bobby Deol and me. But it isn't a friendship film. It will be a stylish slick film that will take Suneel away from the style he is known for. He is trying something new and I am very excited to be part of it."

Then there's Vipul Shah's new film. 

"His (Vipul's) film with Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and me starts on July 15. I have a parallel lead. They are looking for a British co-star for me. And the great Himesh Reshammiya is doing my tracks again."

What about the rumours of a red-hot social life?

"It's all smoke without fire... But, yes, I am a young guy and I have a love life. I admit for the first time that I'm seeing someone. She is not really part of the industry as yet. Like my career, my relationship is just blossoming." 

However, Upen is baffled by whispers that his voice was dubbed for "36 China Town". 

"This is the first time I am hearing this. My Hindi isn't superbly fluent, but my character in '36 China Town' could get away with an accent. I play a Bangkok-based Casanova, so the accent suited him. It adds a comic effect to the character. That's why my directors insisted that I dub my own lines, although I told them to go ahead and get my lines dubbed. 

"If you know my voice, you'd recognise it in the film. Mukta Arts and my directors Abbas-Mastan will vouch for this."

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai, however, reiterates that Upen's voice has indeed been dubbed!

Added Abbas: "The fact is Upen did dub all his lines himself. And he worked really hard on it. But when we heard his voice during the final editing, we realised his British accent was distracting from his performance." 

"We, therefore, decided to re-do Upen's entire voice by a dubbing artiste named Viraj Jadhav. We haven't told Upen about it. We didn't want to break his heart when he's all excited about his first film. Many artistes don't do their own lines at the start. Nothing surprising about it," he said.