Posts tagged drona

Little film action for female stunt artistes

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Bharti Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 1, 2011) While male stunt performers are scaling new heights in the film industry, job opportunities for their female counterparts have hit a plateau with more actresses preferring to do their own stunts.

Industry experts say the number of stuntwomen has reduced and many are forced to double up as junior artistes to earn a living. Stuntwoman Anu Ansari, who has been in the film industry for 15 years, says: “The volume of work has reduced considerably, so I take on small roles in films and television serials. I played the role of a maid in Ramgopal Varma’s Phoonk 2.’’ Safety is also an important concern, says the mother-of two, who prefers stunts like “rolling on the ground and jumping out moving cars”.

Geeta Tandon became a stuntwoman to support her family. Over the years she has jumped from building rooftops and performed hairraising stunts on bikes. She says, “It helps that I love action scenes, and when I was offered a job as a stuntwoman I jumped at it.’’ But jobs are hard to come by as actresses prefer doing their own stunts. In fact, stars like Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif performed in their own action scenes for Don and Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara respectively.

Chopra says: “I love the adrenaline rush. I did a lot of my stunts in Don including the fight with Shah Rukh Khan on top of the van. I learnt the Brazilian art form Capoeira for a TV commercial and Gakta—a Sikh martial art More >

I would still like Dada to play for us-Shah Rukh Khan

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

SRK finally breaks his silence on his team’s ex-captain Saurav Ganguly

Sarita Tanwar (BOMBAY TIMES; March 24, 2011) Shah Rukh Khan is out of his self-imposed exile. And he has a lot to talk about. In a heart-to-heart, he chats about his (and probably BTown’s) most expensive film Ra.One, his IPL team without captain Saurav Ganguly, his TV show Zor Ka Jhatka, which didn’t quite live upto its promise, and lots more. Read on for excerpts…

Let’s get the big question out of the way. Saurav Ganguly is no longer part of your IPL team. How are things between you and him now? They should be good. He is a very mature guy. So am I, in a way I think. I have left everything of the cricketing to the CEO and the coach. We’ve played three years, and played really poorly for whatever reasons. I am not getting into that as they are just excuses. Fact is, we as a team played poorly. When I say we, I mean the team, the management and the coaches. And we made a lot of promises but it didn’t work. You know filmmakers who make certain kind of films, suddenly change and do something different. I am not comparing but Raj Kapoor saab made Mera Naam Joker and then he made Bobby. It’s an attempt to redo something. The first step was that I removed myself totally from the team. When I come in, too much emotional bonding happens, so I decided to stay away. I got the team, coach and the CEO to take the cricket decisions. I just didn’t want to get into it, I said More >

Abhishek, Jaccky, Akshay: Anxious for a Hit

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Taran Adarsh, March 22, 2011 – 08:29 IST

The countdown for the first three significant releases of April has begun – GAME, F.A.L.T.U. and THANK YOU. After a drought of Hindi film releases in March, cineastes within and outside the film industry are hoping that the wait for the new films is worth it. After all, hi-profile names such as Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani [GAME], Vashu Bhagnani [F.A.L.T.U.] and UTV, Anees Bazmee [THANK YOU] are involved in the making of these films.

The films are an acid test for the principal actors of these films. Abhishek Bachchan is going through a rough patch professionally and hasn’t tasted success for a while now. Besides, solo Abhishek Bachchan starrers [with the sole exception of GURU] have had a terrible run at the box-office [DRONA, DELHI 6, RAAVAN, KHELEIN HUM JEE JAAN SEY]. Will GAME change the tide for Abhishek? Of course, Abhishek has DUM MAARO DUM [also slated for release in April], but the response to GAME will be watched keenly first.

Like Abhishek, Akshay Kumar too has had a string of failures to his credit. His last few films have sunk at the box-office, making a big hole in the pockets of their distributors. The year 2011 has also begun on a negative note for Akshay, with PATIALA HOUSE doing lackluster business, although Akshay won all-round praise for his fine performance in the film. Till a few years ago, Akshay was running neck-to-neck with SRK. But ater a spate of flops, his position has slipped More >

Priyanka walks out of Bride Wars remake?

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in ,
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 18, 2011)

Producer Shrishti Arya’s remake of Hollywood film Bride Wars, announced with much fanfare in September 2009, has run into trouble.

The original starred Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway playing best friends who are at war to get married on the same day and venue.

The movie has now been put on the backburner. Shrishti Arya is Bollywood filmmaker Goldie Behl’s sister and was also the producer of Drona, a vehicle from the Behl camp that is considered to be one of Bollywood’s biggest box-office disasters.

In the aftermath the Behl camp has been trying to regain lost ground. This might be yet another blow to it.

Shrishti’s remake ran into its first hiccups when Katrina Kaif walked out from the project. Rumour had it that she didn’t want to star in a film, which would also have Priyanka in an equivalently strong role.

It maybe recalled Katrina also walked out from Anurag Basu’s Barfi (earlier titled Silence) after Priyanka came on board.

Another tragedy struck the film when Manish Acharya (of The Loins Of Punjab Presents fame), who was supposed to direct the film, fell off a horse in Matheran in December 2010 and passed away.

The latest update on the film is that Priyanka Chopra may not be a part of it. A source says, “The film was supposed to start mid-last year.

It’s almost a year more now. Since it is so delayed, obviously dates ka problem to honewala hi tha.” And fact is that Priyanka Chopra has a lot on her plate: More >

Rakesh Sharma’s son turns director

1
2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in
Mauli Singh (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 27, 2010) Rakesh Sharma Kapil Sharma

Remember Rakesh Sharma? Our own Neil Armstrong? Kapil Sharma, son of the famed cosmonaut, is making his directorial debut with Goldie Behl’s next untitled rom-com.

The young director has worked on films like Being Cyrus, Drona, The Darjeeling Limited, Teen Patti and Ghajini as first assistant director.

The producer of the film, Shristi Behl Arya, confirms, “Yes, we have signed Kapil Sharma for our next film. We are working on the details.”

Movie Review: HELP by FENIL SETA

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Horror has always been an intriguing genre worldwide and Bollywood is no exception. While the West regularly comes up with interesting spooky films, our cinema hasn’t been much successful in this regard. Few horror films are made and fewer work. Help works but unfortunately only in parts. The plot is brilliant but the execution and some loopholes in the narrative spoil the show!

The story of the movie: Vic (Bobby Deol) is a film director and married to Pia (Mugdha Godse). Their marriage in on the rocks as Pia doubts that Vic is allegedly having an affair with a Bollywood actress. At such a point, they have to rush to Mauritius as Pia’s father (Salim Fatehi) suffers a heart attack. Her father gets out of danger by the time they reach there. However, strange things start happening to Pia as soon as she is Mauritius, especially in her old family house. She realizes that the ghost of her twin sister, who accidentally died when she was 5, is watching her. In the midst, she finds that she’s pregnant. Before she can realize, the ghost possesses her and its upto Vic to take immediate action. What is the ghost’s motive and why has she awakened after so many years? Watch Help to find out!

Help has a spine-chilling beginning! The titles that follow were damn interesting too. However, the film then turns boring and very ordinary thereafter. The heroine wakes up in the middle of the night after hearing something, she exits her bedroom to check what’s going on, an More >

Why does Bollywood thrive on distorting facts?

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2 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

Meena Iyer | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; July 11, 2010)

Director Anubhav Sinha (known for the super dud Cash) must have felt like King for exactly a day when rumour mills said that his Ra.One with Shah Rukh Khan was sold for Rs.175 crores. But a segment of Bollywood saw red. “How can a Anubhav-SRK project get Rs 175 croreswhen a SRK-Farhan Akhtar (Farhan’s box office record is much better than Anubhav’s) combination be negotiated for Rs 125 crores,’’ asked a trade guru. He added, “While neither the price of Don-2 is Rs 125 crores nor can Ra.One ever fetch Rs 175 crores (in these economically challenged times) it is ridiculous for vested interests to spread these stories.’’

Trade expert Taran Adarsh said, “Bollywood is going through a correction process. Now, more than ever, there is arithmetic attached to the acquisition process. And the price of a film is based on the combined equity of the director and the star. If Shah Rukh Khan and Raju Hirani were to come into the market with a project and you hear figures like Rs 125 crores being bandied about, it may seem more likely. Both are hot at the box office. But just to float random figures will once again be Bollywood’s biggest folly. ’’

It is said that after disasters like Raavan and Kites (both of which crossed the Rs 100 crore marks leaving their investors near bankrupt), the Hindi film industry is very sceptical about acquisition prices. Exaggerated reports say that reeling under More >

WHO KILLED small cinema?

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

SO LONG Even a feted film like Love, Sex Aur Dhokha didn’t last in the multiplexes beyond a week

The low-budget film, which was giving big-ticket cinema a run for its money only a couple of years ago, is said to be in its death throes

Meena Iyer | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 16, 2010)

The euphoria over Dibakar Banerjee’s path-breaking Love Sex Aur Dhoka, released this March, lasted less than a week. On the tenth day, the DVD of this unusual film made it to shelves across the world.

So what exactly happened? Why did the film that had every critic in town salivating over its form and concept meet with this fate? LSD broke many norms—it was shot on HD, it had greenhorns instead of stars, the concept wasn’t stolen. Yet, the film that gave the theatre-going audience a completely new experience couldn’t hold out for more than a few days at a multiplex.

LSD’s fate reflects the crisis that the small film—feted by audience and critics alike just a couple of years ago—finds itself in today. In a market that suddenly seems to have developed cold feet about the genre, there are over 100 small films, censored and ready, which have no buyers.

Two years ago, this category of cinema was being celebrated. Almost every big film corporation had developed a sub-brand committed to the cause of the smallbudget film, from UTV’s Spotboy and PNC’s Guerrilla to Mukta Arts’ Malpix and Sanjay Gupta’s White Feather Films’ Arthouse. Besides the big More >

‘Raavan’ should catapult Abhishek to super-stardom

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

By Taran Adarsh, April 27, 2010 – 08:04 IST

Everyone’s pinning hopes on five films – HOUSE FULL, BADMAASH COMPANY, KITES, RAAJNEETI and RAAVAN – to bail the bleeding industry out of the crisis. In fact, RAAVAN wasn’t much in news till Saturday night, when the first look of the film and also its music was unveiled at a classy get-together at Yash Raj.

RAAVAN is an acid test for everyone associated with it, mainly Abhishek Bachchan. The stakes are high if you accept the challenge of a solo lead. While the Mani Ratnam – Abhishek Bachchan combo worked wonders in GURU, there’s optimism that the duo would scale dizzy heights of success this time. The general feedback after watching glimpses of the film was, Abhishek has truly arrived!

So what happens if RAAVAN works? It would catapult Abhishek to the top bracket overnight. If you look at Abhishek’s body of work, you’d realize that the talented actor hasn’t tasted [solo] success after GURU. The two solo starrers – DRONA and DELHI 6 – failed to do the trick, while DOSTANA and PAA were successes no doubt, but Abhishek had to share the laurels with other actors.

The promotions of RAAVAN have kick-started with a bang and there’s a strong possibility that it would turn out to be the big ticket to super-stardom for Abhishek.

BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM

Priyanka Chopra to host Fear Factor 3

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3 years ago
by Fenil Seta in

A fit Priyanka Chopra replaces Akshay kumar as the brand new host of reality show Fear Factor

By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI  MIRROR; March 19, 2010)

// // // Akshay Kumar, over the two seasons of Fear Factor, made his mark as the charming host who dealt with the competing girls firmly. Replacing someone as fit and macho as Akshay was not an easy task, but now Priyanka Chopra takes on the mantle of the host for the third season. She will guide and goad 13 cricketers, who will be at her beck and call on the show. This also marks her small screen debut.

A source said, “The channel wanted a new face. That’s when someone suggested Priyanka’s name. Talks have been going on for some time and now it has been made official. Negotiations are also on to rope in some top cricketers for the show. Priyanka was selected as she has made her mark in action roles in films like Don and Drona and is probably one of the fittest actresses in Bollywood today.”

The need for a new host was precipitated after the format of the show was changed. Perhaps the producers of the show hope Priyanka’s chemistry with the cricketers will work for the show. Confirming the development, Ashvini Yardi, the programming head of the channel said, “When you combine Priyanka’s glamour, mass-appeal and athleticism with the energy and adrenaline of the cricketers, you get the perfect equation for a show like Fear Factor.

Akshay took this show to great heights with his inimitable More >

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