The premiere of Sridevi’s comeback film English Vinglish at the Toronto Film Festival’s prestigious ‘Gala’ section on Friday evening was an outright winner. Funnily more than the two ladies Sridevi and her director Gauri Shinde, it was their respective husbands Boney Kapoor and R Balki who were moved to tears to see the love of their lives light up the posh Roy Thompson Theatre and its hard-to-please audience.

She is talented, versatile and has mastered the art of weaving magic on the celluloid. Yes, we are talking about Gauri Shinde who is directing Sridevi’s comeback vehicle English Vinglish. She entered into a candid chat with Movie Chakkar. Excerpts… Gauri, English Vinglish (EV) raises a lot of expectations because it’s Sridevi’s comeback vehicle. Does that put an extra responsibility on your directorial debut?

Sridevi’s co-star the French actor Mehdi Nebbou has apparently become a big Sri fan after working with her in English Vinglish. And we aren't talking about just being her fan as an actress. Apparently Mehdi found her reticence and quietude very charming. Says R Balki, the producer of their film <em>English Vinglish</em>, “It was a really curious contradiction. On screen Sridevi was playing a very talkative woman. But once the camera was off she was very reserved to begin with. But gradually as we shot in New York she opened up and began to mingle with all of us.”

So excited is Tamannaah Bhatia who plays Sridevi’s role in the new-age version Himmatwala opposite Ajay Devgn that she has shown keen interest to meet the original the actress, who will soon be seen in R Balki’s <em>English Vinglish</em> in Hyderabad this week. Unfortunately, neither Tamannaah nor Sridevi could find the time to accommodate one another. While Tamannaah is in Hyderabad shooting for Puri Jagannath’s new Telugu film, Sridevi is busy with the promotion of her comeback venture.

The beautiful Sridevi is making her come back to Bollywood with English Vinglish. This Gauri Shinde-directed film deals with problems of English language that many Indians face. Sridevi plays simple house wife Shashi, who does not know the lingua franca of the world, has to go to the US for her sister’s delivery. How she grapples with the above issue and decides to overcome them by enrolling in an English speaking course is what forms the crux of this light-hearted story.

After fighting tooth and nail to ensure that Sridevi’s comeback vehicle English Vinglish does not budge from its release date September 21, the film’s producers have finally bowed out of the woman-centric race. Leaving the coast clear for Kareena’s <em>heroine</em> on Sept 21 English Vinglish has now moved to October 5. The decision was taken at a meeting earlier this week attended by the producers, director Gauri Shinde and Boney Kapoor.

Come September 2012, the month is set to go down as a month when films of four big heroines would be released. It is already known that Madhur Bhandarkar’s Kareena Kapoor-starrer <em>Heroine</em> will release on 21 September (2012) and so are the release dates of R Balki’s Sridevi-starrer <em>English Vinglish</em> and Preity Zinta’s <em>Ishq In Paris</em>. The Rani Mukerji-starrer <em>Aiyaa</em> releases a week later on 28 September.

Sridevi and her English Vinglish director Gauri Shinde will soon take centre stage to promote their film. Yes, it’s going to be an all-women’s show as the release date September 21 approaches for <em>English Vinglish</em>. After much deliberation the film’s producers R. Balki and Eros Entertainment have decided to stick to the original date and not get scared off by Kareena Kapoor and <em>Heroine</em>.

It’s official. And we got it out of Ajay Devgn’s business associate Kumar Mangat. After the unending speculation about who would be taking over Sridevi’s role in the remake of the 1983 hit <em>Himmatwala</em>, fuelled in no small measure by the neo-<em>Himmatwala</em>’s director Sajid Khan tightlipped silence, it is finally out. Telugu and Tamil actress Tamannaah Bhatia would be playing the lead opposite Ajay in <em>Himmatwala</em>.