Woodstock Villa is a 2008 Indian musical thriller directed by Hansal Mehta and produced by Sanjay Gupta and Ekta Kapoor. It features newcomers Sikandar Kher, Neha Oberoi and Arbaaz Khan in the primary roles while Shakti Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Sachin Khedekar, Boman Irani and Anupama Verma essay other significant roles. The film, whose soundtrack was composed by Anu Malik, was filmed in Mumbai and Mauritius. The film, which was released in India on 30 May 2008, had a poor box office opening but earned mostly good reviews. Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan have cameo appearances in the film.

Synopsis[link]

Zara Kampani (Neha Oberoi) meets Sameer (Sikandar Kher) in a pub and lands in his flat asking him to kidnap her so that she can test her husband, Jatin's (Arbaaz Khan) love. Samir can’t refuse because he is in desperate need of money. He hasn’t paid his rent for months and also has to return a huge sum of money to a bhai (Gulshan Grover). Zara takes Sameer to Woodstock Villa, the location of kidnapping. Sameer orders Jatin to hand over 50 lakhs to him. After returning, Sameer discovers Zara dead. An anonymous caller then threatens him that he has only 30 minutes to bury the body and clear up all the evidence. He disposes her body in a forest and returns. To be on the safer side, he leaves the city and goes to Bangalore. Sameer sees Zara's video on television and heads back to find the truth. He finds Zara and convinces her to tell him the truth. Zara reveals that she and Jatin truly loved each other. Once in a fight, Jatin's real wife, Zara accidentally, died and as her and Zara's face was quite similar, she played the role of Zara. The kidnapping plan was hatched by Jatin and his girlfriend to get out of this murder and trap somebody else. Sameer calls Jatin to Woodstock villa with the money and he pays his rent and loan. He goes to the airport while Jatin gets caught by the police. Jatin tells the police that he is not the only one to commit the crime. Sameer gives the bag of money to Zara but there was no money inside that bag, he took the real bag of money. The ball was in Zara's court. If she would have boarded the plane, Sameer would have trusted her. She decided to cheat Sameer and got cheated herself. Sameer's flight takes off while Jatin's partner gets arrested.

Cast[link]

• Sikandar Kher as Sameer
• Neha Oberoi as Zara Kampani
• Arbaaz Khan as Jatin Kampani
• Gulshan Grover as Karim Bhai
• Shakti Kapoor as Mr. Chawla, Sameer's landlord
• Sanjay Dutt as Gaurav
• Saif Ali Khan
• Boman Irani
• Anupama Verma
• Gaurav Gera

Production[link]

Sikander Kher had several expectations from the media on his debut film.^[1] Although his family name would provide recognition, he chose to have his only his first name listed on the credits.^[1] Sanjay Gupta, the producer of the film is the uncle of the other newcomer, Neha Oberoi. She said it was exciting and challenging to play the role of a kidnapped wife.^[2]

Release and reception[link]

The Bachchan family, Arbaaz Khan and his wife, Malaika Arora Khan and writer, Javed Akhtar were the prominent people attending the film's premiere.^[3] Anil Kapoor attended the premiere too thereby ending the three-year war between him and Anupam Kher.^[4]

Upon its release, the Hindustan Times termed the film as "out of stock villa" in a demeaning tone. Its review felt that even though Sikander had potential, it was limited by the screenplay and direction.^[5] Times of India, on the other hand, wrote in its review that the film was a stylish thriller with good cinematography. It further spoke highly about Sikander, the debutant actor and added that though the songs impede the film's pace, they provide "freshness and a refreshing new zing."^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Woodstock Villa
• Woodstock Villa at the Internet Movie Database

Sikander Kher
Sikander Kher at Burberry Bash
Born	Sikander Kher October 7, 1980 (age 31) Mumbai, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2008–present

Sikander Kher is an Indian actor. Son of Kirron Kher and step-son of Anupam Kher, he began his filming career with Woodstock Villa (2008). His foray into Bollywood has been met with hope and promise by the media, and received several positive reviews. As a multi-faceted person, he assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali in directing the Bollywood film, Devdas (2002).^[1] Prior to his debut film, Kher was the first to have been offered the role played by Saif Ali Khan in Dil Chahta Hai (2001).^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Sikandar was born to Kirron Kher and Gautam Berry in 1980. Taking Sikander along, Kirron left Gautam for Anupam Kher in 1985. Kirron said in an interview that Sikander had no problems adjusting with Anupam because they were more like friends.

Having been brought up in a family deeply involved with films, Sikander's upbringing was influenced by acting. As a child, he loved to enact fictitious scenes created by his father.

After schooling, his first step into the film industry was assisting Yash Chopra in filming Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). On similar lines, while Kirron was acting in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (2002), Bhansali acceded to Sikander's request to assist him in film making.^[1] Subsequently, he attended his father's acting workshop along with Uday Chopra and other celebrity children such as Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan. Thereafter, he could only join the short-term 6-month National School of Drama course because he did not hold a Bachelor's degree.^[1] He is also a member of the International Film And Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television, Noida.

Breakthrough[link]

Sikander was the first to have been offered the role of Sameer in Dil Chahta Hai (2001).^[2] Due to reasons unknown, he could not take up the role. Although with his lineage in cinema, he could have chosen to have a prominent production house introducing him to Bollywood, he chose to try by himself, and soon he got an offer from producer Sanjay Gupta. After liking the story told to him, he accepted the offer to act in the film, Woodstock Villa.^[2] The film's review by Hindustan Times said that even though Sikander had potential, it was limited by the film's screenplay and direction.^[3] On the other hand, Times of India said that he had a great screen presence.^[4] CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand, who was highly critical about the movie, said that Sikander had an "engaging presence and impressive dialogue delivery."^[5] The media had an overall positive outlook to his debut and said that he was of promise to the film industry. He lately acted in the Abbas-Mustan directed thriller Players.

In late 2010, Sikander Kher was originally offered the role of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in Agneepath but turned it down because he had already committed to Players.

Filmography[link]

• Woodstock Villa (2008) - Sameer
• Summer 2007 (2008) - Rahul
• Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey (2010) - Nirmal Sen
• Players (2011) - Bilal

References[link]

Neha Uberoi (born February 6, 1986 in Morristown, New Jersey) is an American-born Indian former professional tennis player. She is the sister of fellow tennis professional Shikha Uberoi.

Uberoi reached the highest singles ranking of her career on 29 January 2007, with a ranking of 196 and 110 in doubles. Neha reached the finals of the Girls 18's Orange Bowl in 2003. She has wins over top 50 WTA players. 

Neha's best grand slam perfomance was at the U.S. Open 2005, where she reached Round Two of Women's Doubles.

In her career, Neha reached two WTA Tour Doubles Finals with sister Shikha- one in Guangzhou and one in Kolkata. Her biggest ITF Women's Circuit Final was in Fort Worth in 2004, partnering Shikha.

Neha attended her Freshman year at Princeton University at 16 years of age. Neha is currently finishing her degree at Princeton University and will graduate with the class of 2012. She has four sisters, Diya, Shikha (pro player), Nikita (college player) and Nimita (college player).  Neha is cousin sister of actor Vivek Oberoi. Neha has a popular blog, www.nehauberoi.com  Neha is active in her campus community, creating clubs, such as the Sikhs of Princeton  and hosting Bollywood stars and Indian artists at Princeton University.  She helped create the start up company MphRx and worked for her father's company Webify Services in 2009.^[1][2]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Neha Uberoi's Famous website 
• [1] Personal website www.nehasworld.com 
• Neha Uberoi at the Women's Tennis Association WTA ID
• [2] Webify Services
• Neha Uberoi's Facebook page
• Neha Uberoi's Twitter page
• http://www.youtube.com/thenehauberoi