Pakistani rock band petrified of Mukesh Mills!

When the Pakistani rock band ROXEN were shooting for the TO PHIR AAO music video for Mahesh Bhatt's AWARAPAN at Mukesh Mills in Mumbai, they refused to come out of their vans at night to shoot because they had heard spooky stories about Mukesh Mills.

After much convincing by the unit that there was nothing wrong with the place, they decided to be bold enough and venture out with Emraan Hashmi and DJ Suketu to shoot for the song.

Laughs lead vocalist Mustafa Zahid, "We had heard all these strange stories about Mukesh Mills being haunted! It's a really popular location for film shoots but people always recount such spooky stories about that place. We were paranoid about getting out of our cars at first but then we assembled our guts and toured the area properly to derive some comfort."

100 Buddhist monks in AWARAPAN!

Last there was news about more than 700 pigeons being released in AWARAPAN to signify the Islamic tenet of freedom propounded by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Now we are informed that 100 Buddhist monks were used in the film as well. Those who've seen the film's promos will observe the monks in the Tera Mera Rishta track with Emraan Hashmi.

Confirming the news, director Mohit Suri says, "It was one of the most tedious days of shooting where we had 100 monks for Tera Mera. We shot this in Ancient City in Bangkok. They were all original monks and extremely sobre and calm individuals. They were arranged for by the local coordinators."

Salil eats cockroaches, grasshoppers and frogs!

This bit is sure to make you queazy. While shooting for Awarapan in Bangkok, one night when they all went out for dinner after pack-up, director Mohit Suri made B4U VJ Salil (also in the film) eat cockroaches, grasshoppers and frogs for the first time.

This was Salil's first experience of eating these creatures and it seems he enjoyed it. Needless to add, the unit was disgusted.

Laughs Mohit, "They weren't raw! They were cooked! I didn't touch them but had my share of fun making Salil have them."

Awarapan to open in Times Square

That Studio 18 is giving the Bhatts' keenly anticipated Awarapan an international release this week is common knowledge.

Even though it is Emraan Hashmi's maiden principal solo outing overseas, the distributor has left no stone unturned in marketing it to the fullest. One of the results is evident in the fact that among other cinemas in the North America & Canada, the film will open at the well-known Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 Cinema in Times Square.

It is a known fact that only the biggest Bollywood releases succeed in making it to a cinema in the extremely popular Times Square in New York city and Awarapan has managed to do that.

Apparently, the other Bollywood titles releasing on the same day as Awarapan are not likely to release at the Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 Cinema, which is one of the most popular sites on the 42nd Avenue.

The voice behind Maahiya in Awarapan!

Enough has been said and written about the Pakistani rock sensation Mustafa Zahid who makes his singing debut with Mahesh Bhatt's forthcoming Awarapan.

However, the Gagan Grewal show on the BBC Asian Network in the UK managed to pin down the 22-year old British-Pakistani singer Annie whose super successful Maahiya track (released 1.5 years back in Pakistan) has also found favour on the soundtrack of Awarapan.

"My dad's a bit of a joker! He called me from London when I was in Karachi to say that Mahesh Bhatt had heard Maahiya and wanted to include it in Awarapan. I couldn't believe it for a minute but soon found myself flying down to Mumbai to record the track. Everything happened so fast!" she laughs.

The Maahiya music video, currently on air, has been picturised on Annie along with Emraan Hashmi and sultry model Mrinalini Sharma, who debuts in this film.

Annie also revealed that her real name was Noorul-ann but that everyone called her Annie!

Emraan Hashmi rebuked for his awarapan!

On the sets of AWARAPAN in Jodhpur, an elderly couple who claimed to be Emraan Hashmi's fans  landed up on the sets to see him. When they actually started speaking to him, it turned out that they were actually fighting with him about the kind of roles he was doing of late.

Confirming the incident, director Mohit Suri laughs, "It's true they said they were his ardent fans but it seems they didn't like his serial kisser image and asked him to go for a makeover. Their argument lasted for nearly half an hour holding up the shoot!"

The couple might be interested to know that AWARAPAN might be Emraan's first solo film in which he hasn't kissed either of his leading ladies, Shreya Saran and Mrinalini Sharma.