A cop, a prostitute and a superstar

Not so long ago, the clothes brand Pantaloons had organised an event at one of their outlets in Mumbai to promote Sooraj R Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon.

A huge crowd was waiting for the film's stars, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, who were scheduled to make an appearance. A virtual stampede took place when the stars actually entered the store.

Which is why I was not to happy to learn that Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II was going to release its music at another public place -- a music store called Planet M.

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Thankfully, things were very different this time around, mainly because WBHH II doesn't feature any stars.

The atmosphere was very friendly and vibrant. Most of the cast, including Arshad Warsi (Tere Mere Sapne), Prashant Narayanan (Chhal), Sandhya Mridul (Saathiya), Suchitra Pillai (Dil Chahta Hai) and Pratima Kazmi (Yeh Dil), made an appearance.

The event was as hatke [different] as the film claims to be.

The actors, who were on time for a change, hooted and cheered for themselves. They were louder than the audience. Even Mahesh Bhatt, the chief guest on the occasion, admitted that he felt 'outdated' amidst 'this young and vibrant team'.

Directed by former Channel [V] creative head Shashanka Ghosh, WBHH II is about a copywriter, Puneet (Arshad), and his girlfriend Agni (Sandhya), who is a psychotic cop. The two cannot stop fighting. One day, he saves the life of a hitman Vishnu (Prashant). They become friends. But the hitman's boss Ganpat (Anant Jog), the city's most powerful don, dislikes Puneet. The opposite gang, led by Gangutai (Pratima) wants to kill Ganpat because he had murdered her husband. She uses Puneet to create friction between Vishnu and Ganpat and kidnaps Agni.

A twist in the kahani (story) is Mahima Chaudhry's cameo. Chaudhry plays a movie superstar.

Former MTV veejay Maria Goretti (the significant other in Warsi's life) does an item number in this dark comedy.

Among the highlights at the music release were live performances by Shibani Kashyap and Kailash Kher. They sang Prem dunk and Allah ke bande, respectively. The music has been scored by Jhankaar Beats' composer duo Vishal-Shekhar.

The atmosphere appeared rather relaxed, thanks to the film's effervescent cast. Sandhya was in her element as she joked, "I quite relate to my role as a psycho cop. She likes killing people, just like me. I felt like killing Shashanka and Sameer [Gupta, the producer] quite a few times. I am actually the hero of the film. And it felt good playing the man!"

Suchitra, who plays a prostitute in the film, said, "What excited me about this role was that I was the only one who got to get naughty with Prashant!"

Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II is slated for an October 17 release.

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