Meet Indiawaale of Happy New Year

Come Friday and Indiawaale will make their presence felt in cinemas. The group hatches a plan for a diamond heist under the pretext of participating in an international dancing competition. Farah Khan, director of Happy New Year, introduces us to the motley gang.
Charlie (Shah Rukh Khan) Charlie is an unusual name for Shah Rukh Khan. When we started writing the script, Althea (co-writer Althea Kaushal) who’s a Catholic, would often refer to the character as ‘that Charlie’.That’s how Charlie stuck for Shah Rukh, who’s always been Rahul or Raj or even Ram. It’s good that Charlie has become popular on social networking sites. He’s the head of the group and it’s his cause that becomes the motive for the diamond heist.
When I gave the script to SRK, I didn’t think that an actor like him would do a movie with an ensemble cast. It takes lot of self-confidence and conviction for an actor of his standing to do a film like this. He often told me how he’s enjoying doing a multi-starrer.

Mohini (Deepika Padukone) Though we auditioned many girls, I knew that Mohini Joshi should be played by a star who can hold her own against five guys — like Hema Malini did in Satte Pe Satta. Though Mohini is a bar dancer, she’s the moral core of the group. She’s brought in by Nandu, to teach them to dance.
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After Om Shanti Om, HNY is like homecoming for Deepika. She came on board barely a month before we started shooting. I believe with this role she’s doing something completely different from what she has done before. Mohini can’t speak in English, she speaks in a crass manner with a strong Mumbaiya accent. Also, the song Lovely sees her in an entirely different avatar.
Nandu (Abhishek Bachchan) A drunkard from the slums, Nandu Bhide is an outrageous character who is obsessed with speaking in English. When I narrated the script to Abhishek, he said he was born to play Nandu. Abhi is so sophisticated and speaks with a Boston accent and Nandu is the exact opposite of that. I got him those `350 jeans — that too, one size small for that tight-fit look — and `150 shirts bought from a small store in Bandra as well as roadside chappals, for the look. You’ll be surprised by how good Abhi is as Nandu. Like his father, he has great comic timing, but is underutilised.
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Jag (Sonu Sood) Jag is a detonation expert, whose sense of hearing in the left ear is impaired. As a result of this, he misinterprets what others are saying and consequently, a lot of goof-ups happen. His character brief is — a hulk on steroids. He seethes with anger if someone says anything ill about his mother and others use this tactic to their advantage.
Listen to Happy New Year songs on Gaana.com
Sonu came on board just a week before the shooting commenced. For the call time of 8 am on the first day, he flew in from Bangkok and reached at 6 am. A number of actors were considered for this role, but when you see the film, you’ll agree that Sonu is the perfect choice for Jag.

Tammy (Boman Irani) Boman was the first actor I had zeroed in on. I was shooting with him for Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi when I was scripting HNY. Also, his character is named after my maternal uncle, Tamton aka Tammy. Our film’s Tammy is a 50-year-old Parsi guy who lives with his mother and is an expert at cracking safes.
From dancing to performing stunts with harness to shooting underwater sequences — in this movie, Boman has attempted everything that he has never done in his career so far, or may never do again in the future. This is the most physically demanding role he has ever done and he might need to sleep for a month after this film.
Rohan (Vivaan Shah) Rohan is a hacker who helps the team in carrying out the robbery. I auditioned 100 guys for this role, and they were all the muscular sort with six-pack abs. But I wanted an innocent-looking boy, unlike the chaalu guy with a criminal mind that the character actually is.
Although Vivaan had done 7 Khoon Maaf, I hadn’t thought of him until my casting director recommended him. Only when we started shooting, Shah Rukh and I discussed how Vivaan is the best actor for this character. His acting is not the typical commercial style. Though I’d shout at him to deliver his scenes in the commercial masala style, his take was so refreshing that it enhanced the overall result.
Happy New Year, produced by Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt Ltd, releases tomorrow.
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