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Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Salim Merchant To Make Acting Debuts In Nagesh Kukunoor's 'Music Men'

These Bollywood Musicians Will Make Their Acting Debuts In Nagesh Kukunoor's Next
HuffPost Staff

Like Rock On, but with more authenticity.

Filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor's next film, tentatively titled Music Men, goes on floors this Sunday, reported Mumbai Mirror. It is said to be about five "losers" who come together to form a band.

However, unlike the Farhan Akhtar-starrer (which has a sequel due next year), the band-mates depicted in this film will be seasoned musicians and singers, many of whom have never acted before. According to Mirror, Kukunoor has managed to get singer-composers Shankar Mahadevan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Salim Merchant, and Papon to star in his film along with ace drummer and percussionist Sivamani (who, as you may know, is the only one here with some solid on-screen experience).

The film is said to be a "tongue-in-cheek comedy" that satirises the music industry. Kukunoor, who wanted to make a film about music with actual musicians, pitched the idea to Mahadevan a year ago, who agreed and got Sivamani on board. Merchant and Papon soon followed suit. Reportedly, it was Chauhan who hesitantly came on board, saying "I'm blindly saying yes because of you [Kukunoor]".

The film's songs will be composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy , Salim-Sulaiman, Papon, Sivamani, and Tapas Relia (who has worked with Kukunoor on his last three films).

The director isn't as worried about his cast's ability to act as you might think. He told Mirror that many of them have appeared in reality shows or music videos, indicating that they're comfortable in front of the camera. "The challenge is to get them to perform as a character," he was quoted as saying.

The film's shoot is slated to end by February and it will reportedly aim for a big India release sometime next year.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.