Dum Maaro Dum goes to Hyderbad

Bipasha Basu upped the glam quotient of Dum Maaro Dum's press conference at Hyderabad. Dressed in a simple floral short dress, the Bengali beauty looked gorgeous as she smiled for the cameras.

She arrived with Rana Daggubati (grandson veteran of Telugu producer D Rama Naidu and nephew of Telugu superstar Venkatesh), who makes his Hindi debut with this film, and director Rohan Sippy.

The rest of the cast -- Abhishek Bachchan, Prateik Babbar, Aditya Pancholi and Govind Namdeo -- were not present at the press conference.

This was Rana Daggubati's first press conference for the film in the city.

Dum Maaro Dum marks Rana's debut in Hindi. Since he's from Hyderabad, the media had turned out in large numbers.

After a sneak preview of the trailer and songs -- particularly the Dum Maaro Dum item number -- the press conference got under way with a volley of questions to all the three present on the dais, Rohan, Rana and Bipasha.

Rohan was all praise for writer Shridhar Raghavan. "When Shridhar Raghavan wrote such a good story in the backdrop of Goa, I had to film it."

When asked about the controversy regarding Goa's negative image in the film, Rohan emphasised that "we have said Goa meri jaan, jannat ki shaan in the tagline. Dum Maro Dum is a fiction film shot in Goa, and Goa is a beautiful backdrop for the story and we are not trying to make a controversy."

The film is about three people, played by Abhishek Bachchan (cop Vishnu Kamath), Rana Daggubati (DJ Joki) and Prateik Babbar (a student called Lorry), whose lives change forever after an incident.

Bipasha plays Zoe, who is "the essence of Goa: a free-spirited girl."

Multiple story formats seem to be common after Mexican film, Amores Perros.

"It's a great product and it was wonderful to have worked in it," Bipasha said. "I made great friends too.

"Sridhar gave a fantastic narration with a story board. It was an instinctive decision to sign it. The film is a new-age film, a pacy, racy one with a pumping plotline. There's a line in a song Kya Hai Kahaani Teri Paap Ki and every character goes through transformation. Abhishek and I have done several films together. It's a tremendous pleasure acting with him," she adds.

About newcomer Rana with whom she's paired, Bipasha says, "I didn't know Rana. They had showed his pictures initially. He's a good-looking man. When we started acting, I realised he knew my lines too!"

About working in Telugu films she said "I had worked with Mahesh in Takkari Donga. It was difficult to act in a film where I don't know the language. But I don't mind acting with Rana!"

It's my second debut (the first was the Telugu film Leader). I did it because I won't get this kind of experience in regional cinema," Rana Daggubati said. "I had little experience as compared to Bipasha and I had not even met her but she made me comfortable and we became friends. The Dum Maro Dum experience will stay with me forever."

On the difference between the Hindi and the Telugu film industries, he said, "It's in the story telling."

When Rohan was asked whether we would see another Sholay, he quipped "The film industry has not seen another Sholay. I have the blessings of my father, who is there at every stage. He is creatively involved besides being the producer. I have a massive advantage over others."

Dum Maaro Dum will release on April 22.