Richard Gere comes knocking at Bollywood with ‘Teen Patti’

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai, April 10: After squeezing the maximum out of item songs, Bollywood taskmasters seem to have found the new success mantra. Making optimum use of the East’s fascination with the West, industry pundits are going all out to make their offerings bigger and better by adding glitzy Hollywood names to their star cast. Same goes for Amitabh Bachchan’s forthcoming flick ‘Teen Patti’ that is all set to be a star-studded affair.Unlike other Bollywood potboilers boasting of Hollywood hot sirens like Denise Richards and Kylie Minogue shaking their booties to desi tunes, ‘Teen Patti’ will have foreign hunk Richard Gere. Sharing screen space with Amitabh Bachchan, Gere will be seen essaying a cameo in the film. Though Gere wasn’t the first choice for the role, he was the next best option director Leena Yadav and producer Ambika Hinduja, could find for Pierce Brosnan. Confirming the news a daily quoted a source as saying, "The makers wanted an international name for the cameo. Though other names were also in consideration, they decided on the Pretty Woman actor who is well known to the Indian audience not only as a Hollywood star but also as an AIDS activist who frequently travels to India." Well, at a time when the industry is engaged in a tussle with the multiplexes over profit sharing issues, we hope this publicity gimmick helps filmmakers grab the audience’s attention.