Shahrukh Khan's "Billu Barber"

Billu Barber is an upcoming Bollywood film starring Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta in the lead roles, and Shahrukh Khan for the first time in a supporting role. the film also features Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav and Asrani in supporting roles with guest appearances by actresses Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra. The film, which is a remake of the hugely successful Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, has already been remade in Tamil as Kuselan starring Pasupathy and Rajinikanth but met a poor box office reception. The film is scheduled to release on February 13, 2009.
Story
The story is set in today's day and age. Billu plays a village barber. His business is running low because he has not been able to upgrade himself according to the changing trends. One fine day, a film unit visits his village to shoot a movie. It stars a superstar, who Billu claims to have been friends with.
All at once, Billu's status in the village changes, and he becomes highly respected. Everyone wants him to meet the superstar through Billu. But Billu is unsure, as he feels he cannot compare to the superstar's status. Besides, he fears that the star may not recognize him.
He makes many attempts to meet the star but fails. After all these hardships, he gives up. The villages believe he lied about the relationship with the star and insult him. His family and children also get upset and badmouth him. In a twist towards the end, the true extent of the friendship Billu and the superstar is revealed.

Making
Director Priyadarshan signed on actors Shahrukh Khan and Lara Dutta to essay pivotal roles in the film. Initially, these roles were offered to Akshay Kumar and Tabu. However, Kumar didn't find the film interesting and opted out of the project whilst Tabu refused the film as she didn't want to work with Irrfan Khan. The director then offered Kumar's and Tabu's role to Shahrukh Khan and Amisha Patel respectively, and both of them agreed to do the film.

Patel later opted out of the film as she felt her character's role was not substantial enough and sources had indicated that Juhi Chawla was signed on for the role. In April 2008, the director announced that he had signed on Lara Dutta to essay the role of the barber's wife.

The cast began filming for the project on April 8, 2008 and according to Shahrukh Khan, "the film is a sweet story of friendship...quite similar to the bond shared between Krishna and Sudama." The film also features Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra & Deepika Padukone, who are reportedly doing item numbers in the film.

Lead Cast
Irrfan Khan ... Billu
Shahrukh Khan ... Sahir Khan
Lara Dutta ... Billu's Wife
Rajpal Yadav
Om Puri
Asrani

Special appearances
Kareena Kapoor ... special appearance im Marjaani
Priyanka Chopra ... special appearance in You Get Me Rockin & Reeling
Deepika Padukone ... special appearance in Love Mera Hit Hit

Lead Crew
Production House: Red Chillies Entertainment
Director: Priyadarshan
Producer: Shahrukh Khan & Gauri Khan
Distributor: Eros Entertainment
Executive/Associate/Co-Producer: Sanjiv Chawla
Music: Pritam
Written: Sreenivasan
Lyrics: Gulzar & Sayeed Quadri

Music
The film has music by Pritam with lyrics from Gulzar and Sayeed Quadri.Released on January 5th, 2009.
Songs
Billoo Bhayankar
Marjaani
You Get Me Rockin & Reeling
Ae Aa O
Jaoon Kahan
Khudaya Khair
Love Mera Hit Hit
You Get Me Rockin & Reeling (Video Edit)
Love Mera Hit Hit (Remix)
Ae Aa O (Remix)
You Get Me Rockin Reeling (Remix)
Marjaani (Electro House)
Love Mera Hit Hit (House Mix)
Khudaya Khair (Reprise)
Marjaani (Kilogram's Balkan Mix

Remakes
The film was first made into Malayalam as Kadha Parayumbol starring Srinivasan, Meena, and Mammotty.
The film was again remade into Tamil as Kuselan starring Rajnikant, Pasupathy, and Nayantara.
Kuselan was simultaneously made into Telugu as Kathanayakudu starring Rajnikant, Jagapathi Babu takes over for pasupathy in the telugu version as the barber and it also stars Nayantara in the same role again.

"Billu Barber" Official Trailer

Venkateshwarlu Bulemoni