Sriram Raghavan, who is teaming up with Saif Ali Khan after Ek Haseena Thi,
says their upcoming spy thriller Agent Vinod is more ambitious than his previous
work and will see the actor in an entirely new avatar.
It was Raghavan
who gave Saif his career's first negative role which not only earned rave
reviews but also helped the actor bag two other important roles of his life -
Being Cyrus and Omkara.
Raghavan spent two and half years making his latest thriller. The director feels the film is bigger and more ambitious than his previous outings.
"When a film of yours releases, you don't think that your next one would arrive after four years. On Agent Vinod I spent two and a half years. Having said that, I never felt that there was a lot of time going into it. On the contrary, I enjoyed the process," Raghavan said.
"Agent Vinod is an ambitious film. Ek Haseena Thi as well as Johnny Gaddaar were far more intimate films. This film was meant to be bigger and hence the sheer logistics and dynamics changed," he added.
If Raghavan is to be believed, his film will not feature Saif and Kareena Kapoor in a quintessential romantic role. A spy thriller that travels continents, the film also promises to present Kareena in a different light altogether.
"Since Saif and Kareena are a couple, it was pretty much weighing on our mind how should we present them on screen. There had to be a good enough role that justified her presence and along with my co-writer, I actually spent quite some time in cracking it before narrating the part to her," he said.
"Kareena is going to be a surprise in the film. The audience would forget that it is a real life pairing."
Acknowledged as someone who knows a thing or two about telling thrilling tales, the director is happy to narrate a new story with Agent Vinod while also deconstructing the Saif Ali Khan that is known to the audience.
"In Ek Haseena Thi, Saif was this charming and charismatic man though quite cunning and inherently negative. In Agent Vinod, he is not a bad guy though he has this suave charm and the brains that get him out of the trickiest of situations.
"Still, it is a new Saif for the audience. He is going to surprise again after Omkara and Being Cyrus. He is better than the best we have seen of him so far," said Raghavan. The film is slated to hit the screens on March 23.
source : NDTV
Kareena Kapoor's beauty trip to Bangkok
Kareena Kapoor, brand ambassador for Lakme Absolute, recently returned from a
shoot in Bangkok for the brand's 16-hour high performance long-wear make up
range. The ad for the new campaign features all of Bebo's favourite products. Filmed at exotic locales in Bangkok, the ad was shot by the famous Japanese American photographer and film director, Karina Taira.
Cyril Lagel, the world renowned Parisian photographer, was also present at the shoot to capture Kareena in her Lakme Absolute looks. Our sources say Kareena is thrilled with how the shoot has turned out and is waiting with bated breath for the ad to go on air.
source : TOI
Can Vinod trust Iram?
Producers: Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan 
Director and writer: Sriram Raghavan
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Gulshan Grover
Release date March 23
Agent Vinod
The film revolves around undercover agent Vinod (Saif Ali Khan), who is on a mission to hack a conspiracy planned against India. While travelling to different parts of the world as part of his investigations, he meets Iram (Kareena Kapoor) who works for the bad guys. Vinod falls in love with her but is not sure whether he can trust her.
Agent Vinod has plenty of action sequences and Kareena has performed most of the action scenes herself and without a body double.
Source: Screen India