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Posts tagged kaminey
Ranbir Kapoor is the only one competing with big boys-Ranveer Singh
01 day ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Ranveer Singh admits being impressed with Kapoor’s choice of films and acting prowess
Upala KBR (DNA; May 19, 2013)
Ask any actor to name his contemporary who has impressed him or her and the answer will be ‘I don’t see other actors’ films.’ Enquire about competition and the reply usually is: ‘I don’t consider anyone competition. I only compete with myself.’ It’s almost as if they are taught these lines at whatever acting school they attend at the beginning of their careers. Which is why Ranveer Singh is such a refreshing change. When asked which of the new actors have impressed him with their choice of films, he talked about two fellow actors at length.
He said, “Ranbir Kapoor. I really admire what he’s been able to achieve in five years. He’s in a position today where he’s picking the films that he believes in and they are becoming successful because he’s established his star value. He’s making very brave choices and his performances are all fabulous. I don’t think he’s ever been bad in any movie. What he’s been doing with his recent films is why I admire him even more. For all the young actors today he’s clearly the benchmark. Amongst all of us right now he’s the only one who is competing with the big boys. He’s making the decision for quality films like Barfi and Rockstar and he’s working for the betterment of cinema and most certainly keeping us on our toes.” Ranveer’s high praise for RK speaks volumes about his confidence. Only an actor who is completely secure can More >
Dilli mein toh baap bhi bete ko kameena bulata hai-Ramesh Sippy
02 weeks ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
It’s a term of endearment, says Ramesh Sippy, in a heated panel discussion about the use of cuss words in movies
Jyothi Prabhakar (BOMBAY TIMES; April 30, 2013)
This was a panel discussion on the use of cuss words in Indian cinema, at the ongoing Centenary Film Festival in Delhi. It was an open house, and as Vishal Bhardwaj and Ramesh Sippy took the stage, along with K Natarajan (South filmmaker) and CBFC CEO Pankaja Thakur, one lady in the audience immediately took Vishal to task for introducing kids to words like kameena. She also wanted to know what the term ‘ishq kameena’ means.
Vishal took a moment to react, but not Ramesh Sippy. Taking the mic off Vishal’s hands, he said, “It is a term of endearment. It is not a gaali. Haven’t you heard ‘har ek dost kameena hota hai’? Does it mean you are abusing your friends? That word here is to bring out the naughtiness, of friendship and love.” When someone in the audience objected, Vishal interjected, “Abey tu Dilli se hai? Dilli mein toh baap bhi apne bete ko yehi kehta hai, ‘Abey kameenay, idhar aa’.” Vishal also revealed how the then chairperson of the CBFC had a big issue with the title of the film, Kaminey. She kept asking me what sort of title is this. And then, I was asked to change the name of one place uttered in the film: Pilibhit. I asked why? And I was told, because it is a very sensitive constituency of Varun Gandhi, so the protagonist cannot be coming from there. Finally, I had to change it to Ramnagar or More >
Critics rarely acknowledge the writers-Sabrina Dhawan
02 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Sabrina Dhawan says film writing could be quite a thankless job
Shakti Shetty (MID-DAY; March 12, 2013)
She quips that she prefers ‘Ask mummy’ to the clichéd ‘No comments’. However, she she answers all the ensuing queries without resorting to either of them. The New York-based Sabrina Dhawan, who co- wrote the screenplays for Kaminey and Ishqiya and was a script consultant for Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, is in the city thanks to her association with Screenwriters Lab. In a tête-à-tête with us, the jovial film writer shares her thoughts on several topics…
Do you visit India often? Yes, I do. I have a six-year-old son so it’s very important to me that he visits his country of origin regularly. On a professional level, it’s a basic necessity as well. If I don’t come back often, I won’t have anything to write about contemporary India. So I keep coming back again and again.
There aren’t many female screenwriters in the industry. Why? It’s a historical fact but things are drastically changing now — not only in cinema but also in other spheres of life. The numbers are steadily going up. Something totally unheard of, say, about a decade ago.
How responsible is a writer for the outcome of a film? I’ll tell you what, when a film works, the director takes all the credit but when it fails, the writer squarely gets the blame for messing up! Directors don’t direct blank pages, do they? It begins with the writer. Film critics rarely acknowledge the writers and their contribution. Having More >
Shahid to reprise Kaminey’s bearded look for Rambo Rajkumar?
03 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Rumour has it
Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 8, 2013)
The clean-shaven Shahid Kapoor, who is currently shooting some crucial action scenes at a Bandra studio for Ramesh Taurani’s Phata Poster Nikla Hero will soon be revisiting his rugged Kaminey look and this time for Prabhu Dheva’s Rambo Raj Kumar.
A source told Mumbai Mirror: “Shahid loves to explore different looks and he works hard to get under the skin of the character. He is willing to adapt himself to the demands of the script.”
While Prabhu Dheva is finishing Kumar Taurani’s Ramaiya Vasta Vaiya, he has spoken to Shahid about the same. The source adds: “It is a look similar to Kaminey. He earned a lot of accolades or that film and is excited to return to that look. Apart from the unshaven look, the film will also see Shahid in a much leaner avatar.”
Namak too clasy; Shahid’s film to be called Rambo Rajkumar
04 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Prachi Kadam (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 3, 2013)
Prabhu Dheva’s run of luck in Bollywood has been largely tied to his repackaging of the southern formula – OTT action and an unabashed love for the rough and the rowdy. And his film titles are ample proof of that – Wanted, Rowdy Rathore… Little wonder then that for his next, starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha, he refused to take chances. In keeping with the sensibility of his ouvre, the choreographer-director has changed the working title Namak to a more massy Rambo Rajkumar. And with that he has managed to punch out any ambiguity that there may have been about the film’s content, flavour or even target audience. That a change was in the air was first indicated by Shahid Kapoor, when this newspaper met him in Mysore recently. It was obvious that Prabhu in particular, wanted the title to be catchy and massy. And what better fit than Rambo Rajkumar, given that Shahid’s character is called Rajkumar in the film, right?.
Much like Rathore, Rajkumar will be involved in some bone crushing action sequences with Sonu Sood in the climax. We hear Shahid will also get to take off his shirt to unleash his combative avatar in the sequence.
The new title has immediately got two thumbs up from all the stakeholders – Shahid and Sonakshi especially. We hear the actors were happy with RR for reasons beyond the ordinary. “Shahid’s last major hit was Kaminey. Since he was keen to go back to that mean, street-smart image, the film and its More >
Anushka Sharma’s banter amuses Vishal Bhardwaj
05 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
The filmmaker found the young star’s excitement on the sets of their film very entertaining
Aakansha Naval-Shetye (DNA; December 5, 2012)
When actor Anushka Sharma had watched Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shahid Kapoor-starrer Kaminey, she was so impressed by the filmmaker that she couldn’t stop praising him to Shahid. However little did she know back then that a few years down the line, she would be starring in one of his films. In fact, a source says that when watching Kaminey, Anushka told Shahid that Vishal should be fed with a lot of special vitamins, so that he can live longer and keep making movies for hundred years. She has even watched Omkara several times over as she loves his style of filmmaking.
“Later when Shahid introduced Anushka to Vishal for the first time, much to her embarrassment he also told him about Anushka’s ‘wonderful vitamin suggestion’. At that time, Vishal had just laughed at the idea. But today as they have teamed up for Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, it is Vishal who is keen to find out the secret vitamin behind Anushka’s constant banter on sets,” says a source.
The insider shares that she would be such a live-wire on sets, that even Vishal would wonder what she has had for breakfast. “She is a very intelligent and sensible girl and everyone enjoyed having a conversation with her. Thanks to her and Imran (Khan), the sets would have a very lively atmosphere,” adds the source. The actress who is known to be very cordial on sets admits that going from a Yash More >
Erotica, profanity norm rather than exception in Bollywood
010 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Erotica and profane language become the norm rather than the exception in Bollywood
Garima Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; July 22, 2012)
Hindi cinema of the 70s was replete with symbolism, where everything from sculptures to flowers could effortlessly imply sexual indulgences. Cut to the new millennium, and Hindi films have undergone a sexual metamorphosis, exploding at their seams, as they are now, with adult content. And this time, it’s as real as it gets. From the genre of sex comedies to erotic content, use of profanities and explicit publicity material, filmmakers seem to be tapping upon the country’s new found acceptance of kinky content.
THE USE OF ABUSE This new age storytelling began with the casual use of colloquial abuses and is now laden with four letter cuss words. Case in point — the supposed watershed moment brought in by Delhi Belly, which used very many cuss words and also didn’t compromise on its raunchiness quotient. A research paper on the abusive content in Hindi films records that the words f**k/f*****g/f****r were used 79 times in this movie! At the time of the movie’s release, producer Aamir Khan had cited the irreverence in the movie as a reality of life, justifying the content saying, “It (the movie) doesn’t have any skin-show but ashleel (obscene) language has been used… the movie will change the definition of bold films in the industry.”
EROTIC TRICK Filmmakers today have finally become unapologetic about visually presenting sex, kink and More >
I blame it on my being a great boyfriend-Shahid Kapoor
010 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi (HINDUSTAN TIMES; June 24, 2012)
He isn’t the easiest star to deal with. Or so say many people who have worked with him. He has the reputation of being ‘difficult.’ And he doesn’t even try to defend himself. But in this interview, actor Shahid Kapoor finally comes clean.
Blame it on youth or sudden fame, he says. He promises to improve, to loosen up… something he says he learnt from Kunal Kohli, the director of his latest film Teri Meri Kahaani. Here’s the man. Coming clean. Completely:
Reclusive, arrogant, difficult, snobbish… what’s with this reputation? (Laughs) I really don’t know. I know I have a reputation that is not so flattering, but I guess I owe it to just being a private person. I don’t mean anyone harm and I’m not being mean. I just don’t socialise much, I don’t party too much, I don’t know what to say to the media if I’m not talking about a film that I am doing, so yeah, maybe I am perceived as a snob. But I assure you, I am working hard to improve all this.
Come on, isn’t “being private” the best excuse for being “difficult” or maybe “temperamental”? Okay, let’s put it in perspective. Yes, I agree I wasn’t very easy going by temperament. But remember, I was just 22 when I started out. Think about it, I was fresh from a regular middle-class family, with no “star type” background and I was suddenly thrown into the limelight; it was a big thing. I was overwhelmed.
If that wasn’t enough, I got into a serious, very public relationship. More >
Exploring the double role phenomenon of Bollywood
111 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Bollywood is all set to revisit the double role formula
Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; June 11, 2012)
In last week’s release Rowdy Rathore, apart from the desi action or unabashed entertainment, one thing that stood out was the double role of the leading hero. In the past decade, not many filmmakers have attempted to exploit the dual character, but now the double role formula, which was considered to be a favourite among many filmmakers at some point of time, looks set to return.
HIT FORMULA? Be it the identical twins caught in extreme dramatic situations of lost and found, or a lookalike becoming the cause of confusion, the comedy of clones is often a sure shot formula to success. Trace the history of Bollywood and you will find that almost every top actor has played a double role in at least one film in his or her career, and these films have been huge grossers at the box office – Dilip Kumar (Ram Aur Shyam), Dev Anand (Hum Dono), Sanjeev Kumar (Angoor), Rajesh Khanna (Aradhana), Amitabh Bachchan (Don, Satte Pe Satta), Shatrughan Sinha (Kalicharan), Hema Malini (Seeta Aur Geeta), Sridevi (Chaalbaaz), Salman Khan (Judwaa), Shah Rukh Khan (Duplicate, Om Shanti Om), Govinda (Aankhen), Sunil Shetty (Gopi Kishan), Anil Kapoor (Kishen Kanhaiya).
REVISITING DOUBLE ROLE In the recent past, we have seen Shahid Kapoor playing a double role in Kaminey and Saif Ali Khan in Love Aaj Kal. According to film director David Dhawan, who has given a string of hits with male leads in a More >
From an actor I’ve been turned into a pin-up boy-Shahid Kapoor
01 year ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Shahid Kapoor tells us why he is hungry for some action now
Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 11, 2012)
In your next film Teri Meri Kahaani, we get to see you in three avatars. And also for the first time as a Muslim man Javed Qadri… It all happened rather casually. Kunal (Kohli) had a few completed scripts. He told me about this idea and I loved it. People talk about Janam Janam Ka Saath, this film depicted it. I however had reservations against doing a reincarnation film. Kunal assured me that it would be a romcom. I found that interesting. (pauses) And yes, I play a Muslim character for the first time in my career. The story is set in pre-independence India. It’s the year 1910, in a village outside Lahore. Javed Qadri is a badtameez, ladkibaaz and besharam man. He uses his sher-o-shayari as pick-up lines. It was exciting. Also, I wanted to play a Muslim character for the longest time since I my mother is Muslim.
There were stories about Priyanka Chopra and you refusing to work together in the film. Also, once the film started there were rumours about friction on the sets… (Thinks) But Priyanka was the best person for the role. I was already doing the film and Kunal felt that she suits the character perfectly. She liked it and came on board. During the making of the film we never really had any awkward moment either. During Kaminey, we had a lot of fun. And we had just eight scenes together in that film. In this, it’s just us. I am glad we did it.
You are an More >