Sajid Khan’s starry affair in Himmatwala

All of Sajid Khan’s films so far — Heyy Babyy (2007), Housefull (2010) and Housefull 2 (2012) — have been multi-starrers. Though his next, Himmatwala, goes against the theme, with Ajay Devgn and debutant Tamannaah in the lead, the director seems to be making up for that with the presence of star kids behind the camera.

We’ve learnt that all the assistant directors (ADs) of the film belong to film families. A source says, “Though this time Sajid does not have a multi-starrer flick, it boasts of a multi-starrer crew. All the ADs of Himmatwala have a filmi background.”

The team of ADs includes Siddharth Banerjee, Ameet Dhanwani, Seemaab Khan and Pratik Galani. The source says, “Siddharth, the first AD, is the grandson of the late Pradeep Kumar and son of veteran actress Beena Banerjee. Ameet is the son of distributor and producer Dilsa. Pratik’s father is producer Vijay Galani (of Hulchul, Ajnabee and Veer fame) and Seemaab is the son of legendary actor Amjad Khan. Incidentally, the latter played the villain, Sher Singh Bandookwala in the original Himmatwala (1983).”

According to the source, each of the youngsters has added his own special touch to the film, which is produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment.

Sajid says, “It’s sheer coincidence that all these boys belong to film families. In fact, two of them have worked with me on Housefull 2 (2012). They all have great ideas and know that this is where they truly belong. All three of them, except Pratik, want to become directors. Pratik wants to pursue acting, but right now, he’s learning all the nuances of filmmaking.”

The director claims that his ADs have been involved in every aspect of the making of Himmatwala. “Right from direction to taking them along for the film’s edits and involving them in post-production, these boys have been put through it all,” says Sajid. “I didn’t have a role model, so I hope that as an elder brother or a teacher, I’ve taught them some good lessons. They too were all eager to learn.”