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Posts tagged february 24
Sallu, SRK, Hrithik getting intimate!
Feb 25th
By TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; February 24, 2010)
Money can even tempt angels. Superstars are but human. Don’t blame the A-listers in B-town. People are offering them vulgar sums of money to do anything.
So, suddenly every superstar in Bollywood is selling underwear. Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan are all brand ambassadors for various innerwear brands.
A trade source says, “When Sunny Deol and Govinda were selling these very brands, the snooty industry types used to secretly laugh at what they termed their desperation. Now, because these four stars have been paid anything between Rs 10-15 crores for selling chaddis and banians they are happy to lend their brand equity to underwear. And they’re even proud of their ‘masochism’.” Time time ki baat hai.
MUMBAI MIRROR
Two women directors cry abuse at film fest
Feb 25th
Organiser’s Hubby Charged With Lewd Behaviour
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (THE TIMES OF INDIA; February 24, 2010)
New Delhi: At a time when Delhi’s hoping to do away with its reputation as a city of sexual predators, a complaint has been lodged by two prominent women film-makers against the organizers of a city film festival.
The complainants—Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Jane Campion and well-known Pakistani director Ayesha Arif Khan—have alleged that the spouse of the festival organizer, Shyamoli Banerjee, had sexually harassed the two during the India International Women Film Festival (IIWFF) held in December last year.
According to the complaint sent to the ministry of urban development, the two women have allegedly accused Banerjee’s husband, Bhaskar Deb, of lewd behaviour as well as sexual harassment. Saugata Roy, minister of state for urban development said, ‘‘We have received complaints from two women who attended the film festival, Jane Campion and Ayesha Khan. The matter is now under investigation.’’ Roy, who said the complaints have been sent to the police, added that the complaints were not the only issues connected to the organizers.
‘‘The organizers had approached us for holding the festival in Vigyan Bhawan. Though we usually don’t allow such exhibitions at Vigyan Bhawan, we had given permission to Ms Banerjee to hold the event there. But, on the day of the event they were supposed to deposit Rs 10 lakh, which they couldn’t manage,’’ said Roy.
Unavailability of the venue led to the cancellation of the festival’s opening, alleges Banerjee. ‘‘The complaints are baseless. Neither of the complaints have been shown to us. They are fabrications,’’ Banerjee said.
Accusing the ministry of deliberately sabotaging the festival, Banerjee added that neither Campion nor Khan had ever complained about her husband’s behaviour to her. It’s a stance that Deb also takes. Denying meeting Campion during the film festival, Deb claims Khan’s accusations are because of professional disputes.
‘‘Because I had questioned her cinematic knowledge, she has turned vindictive,’’ he claimed. The couple is now planning to take legal action against Khan.
In the complaints received by the MoUD, Khan has alleged that ‘‘she was repeatedly mauled by a drunken Bhaskar and constantly offered alcohol’’. Campion is an Oscarwinning director—she got the best screenplay award for the Piano in 1993—and Khan is a director in Pakistan.
Campion had allegedly also branded the festival a fraud in her complaint, claiming she had come only because the organizers had claimed the festival was connected with the urban ministry. Roy, however, denied any such connection.
Rohit Bal suffers heart attack
Feb 24th
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, February 24, 2010 – 12:42 IST
Well-known fashion designer Rohit Bal suffered a heart attack yesterday. The designer has since been admitted to Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon. Bal, 42, suffered an attack at his Defence Colony residence and he was soon rushed to the hospital.
Apart from designing for many Bollywood celebrities, Bal also has international clients like Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell and Anna Kournikova to name a few.
Besides, he is also the brand ambassador of Omega watches since 2001 and has ventured into the hotel business by launching two restaurants – Veda and Cibo – in the capital.
Bollywood Hungama send out its prayers for his speedy recovery.
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
Naseer’s play in Blore interrupted
Feb 24th
By Bangalore Mirror Bureau (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)
Last Saturday, when four people barged on stage at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, during a rendering of Waiting For Godot, it’s likely the audience must have for a moment considered the sudden disruption an improvisation in the script. A Beckett play is normally the equivalent of watching paint dry, but the cast comprised the likes of Benjamin Gilani, Akash Khurana and Naseeruddin Shah and they were clearly not amused.
As for the ones who caused the disruption, they claim that they had no option. All four – Anupama Raju (37), Prakash V (46), Vaibhav Nishanimath (21) and Venkatappa (78) – are residents of a complex adjoining the auditorium. They interrupted the performance to announce that the cars blocking the entrance to their residences had to be removed immediately.
“My mother is 68 and a heart patient and she suffered an asthma attack. We needed to rush her to the hospital and could not get our car out because the parked vehicles were blocking our way,” said Prakash, who went on stage to make the announcement. “Despite repeated requests to the security at the gate to announce the number of the car, they told us that we had to wait till the interval! It was almost an hour after we first contacted them that we barged on to the stage. Our intention was not to disturb the artistes but what else could we do?” asked Prakash.
Naseeruddin Shah, on stage when this happened, was of course disoriented. “My first thought was there was an emergency – a fire or something – because we had similar issues at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai,” he said. “In hindsight, I should have kept my cool and not reacted but when you are interrupted in the middle of a performance and the adrenaline is pumping, it is hard to do that,” he added.
Shah said he empathised with their plight of not being able to take out their car during a medical emergency. “But I would have suggested that instead of wasting time with the authorities of the auditorium, they should have hired a taxi and rushed her to the hospital, because that was the priority,” he said.
“Even during Bangalore Habba, during Amjad Ali Khan’s performance, I had to go and create a ruckus because a car was parked right in front of my house,” said NG Suresh, Vaibhav’s father.
Venkatappa who has served as the special officer to both HD Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy during their tenure as chief ministers, said that the traffic police needs to step in and regulate traffic flow during performances. “Only when there are VIP guests do they come in for protection,” he said.
Kareena recommeded Kunal for Golmaal 3?
Feb 24th
Kareena Kapoor is strongly recommending Soha Ali Khan’s boyfriend
By Sonal Chawla (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)
Kareena thinks of Saif Ali Khan’s family as her own. Apparently, she has great regard for Saif’s sister Soha Ali Khan and her beau Kunal Khemu. A case in point is Kareena strongly recommending Kunal to Golmaal 3 director Rohit Shetty. She convinced Shetty to include him as an integral part of the Golmaal series.’
Recently, Kareena told Shetty that Kunal would be an asset in his forthcoming film, which she stars in as well. Says a source, “Recently Saif, Kareena, Soha and Kunal met for dinner. Kareena and Kunal had an intense conversation about his movies and forthcoming projects. She thinks he is a very talented actor and is just making the wrong choices with his movies. She mentioned the same to him and discussed Golmaal 3 with him.”
It’s a thoughtful gesture on Kareena’s part to help out Soha’s boyfriend. The source continues, “Golmaal director Rohit was hunting for the star cast and Kareena was aware of that. We hear she had a word with Rohit, who was convinced by Kareena’s reasoning. The director immediately decided that Kunal should be sharing the screen space with Kareena, Ajay Devgan Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Arshad Warsi and Mithun Chakraborty. This is a good break for Kunal and will put him in another league.”
Kareena and Kunal both remained unavailable for comment. However, director Rohit Shetty denied the story.
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| (L): Kareena Kapoor, (R) Kunal Khemu |
Ranbir and Arjun’s desparation for smoke turns Prakash Jha into a ‘cigarette man’
Feb 24th
Succumbing to pressure from Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor, Prakash Jha held a cigarette so they could smoke handsfree…
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)
The lengths to which directors have to go for their movies is sometimes unbelievable. But even Prakash Jha had never imagined he would have to do what he did for his Raajneeti actors, Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor, while they were filming a vital scene.
The story goes that the cast and crew of the film were shooting in Bhopal for a very important sequence. The shot required the cast to be drenched in muddy water and colours. However Arjun and Ranbir, who are regular smokers, suddenly were desperate to have the cancer stick but realised they couldn’t because of the condition they were in.
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| Arjun Rampal | Ranbir Kapoor | |
So when Prakash Jha called them to explain the next scene, the duo was not very attentive and seemed preoccupied. Finally, when Jha demanded to know what the matter was, they both explained that they could not pay attention because they were dying for a smoke.
They even jokingly requested Prakash Jha to put in a smoking scene just so that they could smoke. Poor Prakash Jha ha no option but to hold the cigarette in his hands while they puffed away.” Ranbir was so happy that he got up and hugged Prakash Jha, ruining his clean clothes in the process.
The source further adds, “All three of them still laugh about it. Prakash Jha now makes fun of Arjun and Ranbir over the incident whenever he recalls himself passing the cigarette from one to another. It was so funny, the whole unit was in splits.”
When contacted Prakash Jha admitted, “Yes, they had mud all over them. They told me that if I don’t let them smoke, it would affect the shot. So, I had to…humko apne haathon se cigarette pilani padi.”
I don’t want to be perfect-Deepika Padukone
Feb 24th
Deepika Padukone clears the air about her link-ups and tells us about the turning point in her life, Ranbir Kapoor and more
By Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)
• You have been linked up with your Karthik Calling Karthik co-star Farhan Akhtar.
Yes, but it’s all rubbish. Farhan is a married man with children. He is answerable to his family. Such stuff should not be written.
• Didn’t Farhan’s wife Adhuna put her foot down and compel him not to invite you to his birthday party recently?
No, baba. I was invited. I couldn’t go because I was shooting out of town.
• Does the link-up upset you?
Not at all.
• Aren’t you also answerable to your family?
No. My parents know that I am a responsible and sensible girl and that I will always take the right decision.
• What’s happening to Vicky Singh’s film starring Ranbir Kapoor and you?
Vicky is still working on the script.
• You haven’t declined to star in the film after your break-up with Ranbir?
No, I haven’t.
• So, you are okay with working with Ranbir again?
Why not? If I get the right script, role and director, I would love to work with him again.
• Your career is on the upswing after your personal life took a backseat.
My personal life and professional life are two different things. I think Love Aaj Kal was the turning point in my life. After it released, several directors felt that I was a promising actor and I started getting a lot of offers.
• Do you think you have improved since Om Shanti Om?
Yes. With every film, I am getting comfortable with the camera. Frankly, every film is a learning experience. I am my biggest critic and I am rarely hundred per cent happy with whatever I do.
• What are your weaknesses?
I am not perfect and I don’t want to be perfect. But I am not comfortable discussing my flaws openly. I would like to tackle them myself.
My characters are like my children, aunts, uncles-Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Feb 24th
On his 46th birthday, he calls himself an old and timeless but happy soul. But that’s not quite true. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the easiest people to rile. He is as famous for throwing temper tantrums as he is for marching to his own drummer. But what to do? He’s like that only
By Indu Mirani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 24, 2010)
• How do you look back on the two years plus since Saawariya and its failure?
I have become a far more evolved person. I have understood what success means, what failure means, what relationships mean. What other things I need to do in cinema as an expression of finally expressing myself as a human being. What are the wrong things I have done, what are the mistakes I have made, what corrections I need to make.
• How do you cope with failure?
I am used to it. I started off with Khamoshi that didn’t do well at all at the box office. It completely shatters your mind as a first filmmaker when you realise that your first film has completely not connected with people. It’s a different matter that today people like Khamoshi a lot and think it is my best work. But as a debut it brought about a lot of turmoil in my life. It’s been a long long life of seeing lots of failures on a personal and family level. I have seen lot of struggle in my house, around my house. I only started seeing success with Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
• You always lived more in your head than in reality…
Yes, and that life is very beautiful as well as the only escape from the dreary world I lived in. There is far more edge in people like me who struggle and come from nowhere. People like me are artists, connected with music, dance and painting. We are not connected to life and relationships. I think my closest relatives are the characters from my films. I have created them.
They are like my children, my aunts, uncles, all of them talk to me in my mind. We are more raw, not finished as a person who has all the perks because they have seen it happening through their fathers or uncles or brothers making films or acting. The edge is very important and that is the difference between a Ritwik Ghatak and a Satyajit Ray film. The edge is the difference.
• And yet you work with privileged actors, superstars…
Why? Nana Patekar is a very edgy character, Seema Biswas is very edgy. Salman for me is a very edgy person, he is not just a simple chocolate love story hero. He has got far more than that. Shah Rukh is very very dramatic in real life, very witty, wicked, sharp. They are not simple people in that sense. They are very charming, strange, temperamental stars. They are not easy people to work with at all. Amitabh Bachchan is an extremely powerful, power packed, edgy person.
• Why are all your characters so emotionally disturbed?
Because they have stories to tell. There has to be a tamasha in a person’s life so that you can tell a story. How can you make an emotionally flat film? My films are usually about human suffering because that is something common to everyone. I have been very blessed that I have a very large audience for subjects like these. The most insulting thing for an artiste would be to be told that it doesn’t matter what your work is, it doesn’t matter who you are. I want my audience to go home with the film, I want them to come back to the film five years later, 20 years later. 15 years later, people are going back to Khamoshi. It is very reassuring in that sense.
• Do you play up your eccentricities?
I am not eccentric at all. I am an extremely normal human being. I am simply very passionate about my work. So it has to be done beautifully and correctly. I feel that all this that we write about filmmakers, about their eccentricities, about their personal lives, is irrelevant. What is relevant for the world is the work. People are not supposed to know how I create my work. There are so many myths about Guru Dutt, or Ritwik Ghatak or Bimal Roy or Raj Kapoor or Mehboob Khan. These are romanticised versions of filmmakers who just worked hard and were wonderfully talented people.
• But you are antisocial.
I am not anti-social. I do go to parties, when I feel it is about a close friend and I have to go. And sometimes I do go and enjoy myself completely, where I am dancing the whole night and am also laughing and cracking up completely. So there are times when I am enjoying my life completely. Why am I answerable for wanting to be less socially active? I am not harming you. I am not taking anything away from you.
• When did you feel the need to take your mother’s name as part of your name?
During 1942, A Love Story, when Vinod (Chopra) asked me what name do I put in the credits I said I wanted it as Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It just felt right. That was only my way of saying thank you to my mother.
• You are now producing two films Chenab Gandhi and My Friend Pinto. For someone who is such a perfectionist isn’t it difficult to let go of the reins?
I feel that it is important for me to believe in other peoples work too. I am enamoured by the scripts because they are a little different from what I would normally think of. But yes I would want to make a historical and Chenab Gandhi is one and My Friend Pinto is a very young yuppie today’s film. If I produce films which are necessary only like mine then I will make them better than those people, so what would be the point?
• Why do your films live in an alternative reality?
I think my cinema is about impressions of what I have experienced in life and about how I put it on celluloid without taking it to a real zone. I would not want to make a film in Bhendi Bazaar or Mohamed Ali road or around Bhuleshwar because I have lived there. I have been born and brought up at the corner of Bhuleshwar and Bhendi Bazaar so for me running around with a camera through those lanes is something I want to run away from actually. So I refuse to ground my films. For example, Devdas is not necessarily set in Kolkata.
• Are you running away from your past?
No I still go to that place every two or three months I drive down to my old building and meet people. I am in love with that place. All my dreams are of my soul in that place. But I also don’t want to run into it because I am so used to living and seeing it that recreating that space will not energise or excite me or do something as an artist for me. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, the family that you see is basically the Bhansali family.
When they are flying kites and eating and farting around and laughing and joking and singing and dancing that’s basically my family in so many ways. These are the people that I love and I would never ever run away from them. Actually towards the end of my life I think I will start going back towards that place.
Film producers likely to boycott HRD panel meet
Feb 24th
Bharati Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; February 24, 2010)
A letter to HRD minister Kapil Sibal requested the inclusion of Aamir Khan and Yash Chopra as directors and Mukesh Bhatt and Boney Kapoor as producers. The HRD minister, though, has turned down the request which has upset members, and now, producers in the committee have decided to abstain themselves from the meet.
There is a storm brewing in Bollywood. The HRD minister has unintentionally opened a can of worms. Even before the first meeting of the newly constituted body — which is to take place on February 28 — film producers have decided to walk out of the committee.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt said, “If we will have no right to determine our representative members on the committee, then we will be forced to abstain entirely from any such committee. The government has walked into a field of mines. Instead of resolving the issue, it has come in and created chaos and distrust in the members of the film industry. Most members of our fraternity feel the government had no right to interfere in the working of the film industry. They haven’t been able to resolve a serious issue like piracy. Today, they are interfering in the day-today working of the industry.’’
But the drama gets even more interesting with other members of the filmmaking community, including directors, cinematographers and editors, and even the south Indian film industry raising objections over the composition of the committee and demanding adequate representation.
The Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFDA) too has written to various ministries, including the HRD, for keeping them in the dark about the committee. In the letter to the minister, IFDA members say they play an important part of the process of film-making and yet there is no attempt to involve them. The letter adds, “It will be a huge miscarriage of justice, and a perverse and corrupt act which does not take into account the point of view of the various stakeholders involved in the process of filmmaking. The Copyright Act is being amended after over 50 years. It is a very important moment in history.
“It has come to our notice that for the past one year, music composers and lyricists have been secretly lobbying with the various power centres in the administration and using their considerable influence to amend the Act in their favour.’’
Aziz Mirza, president of IFDA, told TOI, “We only want it to be fair to all. I really don’t want to get into any controversy. Why was the music of Raj Kapoor and Mahesh Bhatt’s films always good? It means that there was contribution from their side as well and that is what we are trying to say.’’
Meanwhile, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce is upset at being kept out. President C Kalyan, in his letter to Sibal, has demanded representation of two members.
It’s a fresh pair, not an odd couple-Vijay Lalwani
Feb 24th
Director Vijay Lalwani talks about Farhan and Deepika’s hot jodi in Karthik Calling Karthik
HARSHADA REGE (BOMBAY TIMES; February 24, 2010)
Vijay Lalwani is keen to see how his directorial debut Excel Entertainment’s Karthik Calling Karthik fares at the box office. The film starring Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone releases on February 26. The chemistry between the ‘odd’ couple has been the topic of discussion within the filmi circuit, as well as among the junta. However, he doesn’t find it an unusual pair. “It’s a fresh pair, not an odd couple. They haven’t been cast together before this and that makes them an interesting pair. And the most important aspect is that they have been cast as per the characters that they are playing. Both of them suit the roles they have to enact,” says Vijay, who turned to filmmaking after being associated with the advertising industry. He even has 150 TV commercials and various print campaigns to his credit.
The debutant director is obviously a bit nervous as the movie draws closer to it’s release. “I have been busy with the promotions. But the feeling so far has been more excitement than nervousness. I think the nervousness bit will seep in now,” he smiles.
Vijay says he never felt nervous or stressed while directing Farhan, who is a director himself. “We never had trouble while working on the film. I think he gave me the job because he was convinced about it. Also I think as an actor he had enough to worry about. Apart from that it was only an asset to have him on the set,” says Vijay. And not just Farhan, Vijay has good things to say about Deepika too. He adds, “Deepika was an absolute professional. It was great working with her. I think this will be one of her best performances.”
