Toronto, Sep 13 - 'Dil Bole Hadippa', which stars Shahid Kapur and Rani Mukerji, became the first Bollywood film to premiere at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) before its release in India. And debutant director Anurag Singh just can't contain his excitement.

'I am over the moon at this privilege given to 'Dil Bole Hadippa' to be the first-ever Bollywood film to be premiered at the Toronto festival before its release in India,' Anurag, son of producer K.P. Singh, told IANS here.

'It is a family entertainment masala which will appeal to anyone. Its rip-roaring music will be a hit, I guess,' he said.

Set wholly in rural Punjab, the Yash Raj Films production also stars Sherlyn Chopra, Anupam Kher, Dalip Tahil and Rakhi Sawant. Singh said they chose the Punjabi-sounding title and Punjab for the shooting because of the north Indian state's cultural vibrancy and its global appeal.

'Another unique thing about this film-cum-comedy is that there is no trace of any city or skyscrapers in it. We did all our shooting in villages outside Chandigarh, Ludhiana, and Amritsar over 80 days,' he said.

Asked why he chose Rani and Shahid for the lead role, he said: 'I wanted to bring in a pair which had never worked together before. There is some sort of freshness about Rani and Shahid working together. There was instant chemistry between the two.