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Posts tagged mangal pandey
The man I used to call ‘mama’ became ‘Rahman Sir’-G V Prakash Kumar
08 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Composer G V Prakash Kumar speaks of demanding a computer from, and making music with uncle A R Rahman
MUMBAI MIRROR (September 9, 2012)
I have always been my uncle’s pet. This is one of the only photographs I have of the two of us together. Since this was taken 17 years ago at mama’s (Rahman) Kodambakkam home in Chennai, I must have been seven years old then, and he must have been 29.
I hold this picture dear because it represents the many summer holidays I spent playing and hanging out at his home, with my grandmother and aunts. Mama and I would watch movies together and play video games he bought for me. Although I knew little about music back then, I’d spend considerable time at his studio. He didn’t have too many friends. Sometimes, after wrapping up work, he would take me out for an ice-cream. Raihanah, my mother, says I was mama’s favourite since I was the first boy born in a family dominated by women. Mama too was the only boy among three sisters. I must have been six, my mother says, when I got obsessed with the thought of owning a computer. Although she coaxed me into waiting a month, I was frustrated and complained to mama. In 20 minutes, he sent his own desktop over to my home with his assistants.
Although I began learning the piano at five, I wanted to be a menacing fast bowler. But in Class 10, a chance performance at an inter-school event fetched me a prize, and had me realise my talent for music. I was barely five when one day, mama asked me to sing More >
Kasab turns Asab for a short film
011 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Priyanka Dasgupta (BOMBAY TIMES; June 6, 2012)
It’s a 10-minute long film based on a fictional rendering of one of India’s biggest contemporary problems. Titled The K File, the film has been directed by Mumbai-based Oorvazi Irani and scripted by author Farrukh Dhondy. It highlights the dilemma faced by the Indian prime minister and the home minister over the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist whose group held the city hostage in November 2008. That perhaps is the reason why the film is now a talking point in cyberland.
Sanjay Nath (who has acted in Paathshaala and Chance Pe Dance) plays the terrorist, while Gujarati stage actor Tushar Ishwar essays the role of the home minister. Ask Farrukh — who was associated with Shekhar Kapur’s The Bandit Queen and also wrote Ketan Mehta’s The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey — why he penned such a controversial film and he says, “I was asked for a current story by the director. I was reading a newspaper and came up with this idea. In my opinion, Kasab is a tool in the hands of Islamist terror groups.”
The protagonist in the movie goes by the name of Asab. This is because “the lawyer asked us to call him Asab as the text is separate from the film itself. There might still be some contempt involved,” explains Farrukh.
What’s interesting is the way the story unfolds, from Asab wanting mutton biryani as his last wish to the final scene that resolves around the dilemma in a rather quirky fashion.
Kangna to unveil the royal invite
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Though not invited herself, the actress will open the letter for good friend Sandip Soparrkar at an event
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 25, 2011)
Come April 26, Kangna Ranaut will unveil the royal invitation to her friend Sandip Soparrkar and his wife Jesse Randhawa for the Prince Charles organised reception in honour of his son Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton at Buckingham Palace, London.
At the event to be held at Panache, Flora Fountain, Sandip and Jesse will provide a sneak peek into the dance performance they have planned for the wedding reception in London.
Kangna and Sandip go back a long way. A source close to Sandip said, “Kangna and Sandip became good friends while working together on Rakesh Roshan’s Kites.”
When contacted, Kangna confirmed, “Yes, I am unveiling the royal invitation. Sandip is a dear friend. And I am looking forward to the event.”
Said Sandip, “The invitation was sent by James Kinder, on behalf of Prince Charles. We leave on April 28. We are performing on April 29 night.”
Sandip Soparrkar became thick while working on KitesThis is not going to be Sandip’s first interaction with Prince Charles. “I first met him when he was here to give the clap for Mangal Pandey.
Then I again met him in 2004 when he gave me an appreciation letter for promoting ballroom culture in India,” revealed Sandip.
Sandip and Jesse have also invited Poonam Dhillon to speak for Manish Malhotra, who has designed the costumes for More >
Ash-Aamir war finally over?
02 years ago
Besides celebrating their marriage, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna’s anniversary party ended a battle that had continued for long: that between Aamir and Ash
Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 19, 2011)
Akshay Kumar celebrated his tenth wedding anniversary a couple of days ago and sure enough it was a grand party, not only for its food, drinks and decorations but also for a few rare sightings.
Guess who bonded at the party like nothing had ever gone wrong between them? Aamir Khan and Aishwarya Rai.
Both Aamir and Aishwarya had developed issues with each other after she opted out of Mangal Pandey and that too at the very last minute. At the time, Aamir had requested his good friend Rani Mukerji to step in.
Our source from the party said, “Aishwarya had come much before Aamir arrived. Normally, Ash leaves most parties in not more than 10 minutes. However, at this one, when she learnt that Aamir and Kiran were on their way, Ash decided to wait.
When Aamir and Kiran arrived, Aishwarya met Aamir and spoke to him warmly. They discussed quite a few things including Kiran’s film Dhobi Ghat. Both Ash and Aamir were together at the party for some time but Aamir had to leave early, so he left with Kiran.”
No prizes for guessing who made a quick beeline to the exit the very next moment. Yes, it was Ash.
The source further said, “Aamir has always been on very good terms with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and would meet up with him whenever he More >
Ash refuses to dance on Kajra Re with SRK?
02 years ago
She snubbed King Khan at an awards function recently, arguing that she will dance to this song with no one but Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 12, 2011)
Last week, Aishwarya did the unthinkable. At an awards function she refused to dance with SRK to Kajra Re. Says an eyewitness, “Shah Rukh had planned a gig around Bollywood heroines over the years and he wanted it to conclude with Aishwarya’s performance.
He had planned to dance with her to Kajra Re. But Ash refused. Her argument was that Kajre re was a family song and that she performed the number in Bunty aur Babli only with her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan and husband Abhishek and that she will not dance to that song with anyone else.
No amount of persuasion from the organisers helped her change her mind. Finally, Shah Rukh had to scrap this plan.”
In the past Aishwarya has never been intimidated by any of the three Khans, even if it meant heavy professional losses for her. When she turned down Mangal Pandey, Aamir Khan apparently stopped all communication with her. Thereafter, the only time Ash shared screen space with him was for a fleeting cameo in Dharmesh Darshan’s Mela.
Her experience with Salman of course was another story. Ash sent out a press release in 2003 stating she would never work with him again. The release stated, “For the sake of my well-being, sanity, my dignity and the self-respect of my family, I will not work with Salman More >
Rani teams up with Aamir again
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Prithwish Ganguly | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; November 23, 2010)
Aamir Khan and Rani Mukerji are back — five years after they shared little screen space in that box office dud Mangal Pandey and 12 years since their blockbuster Ghulam. Several attempts to get the two superstars on board all these years had been made, but failed. Now the long wait comes to an end with Rani teaming up with Aamir for Reema Kagti’s forthcoming film in which he plays a cop. The sizzling 3 Idiots jodi of Aamir-Kareena is also making a comeback in this film.
Rani’s inclusion is interesting. Bollywood was under the impression that the actress, who was delivering back-toback hits with Shah Rukh Khan, would never be able to land an Aamir (SRK’s biggest industry competitor) movie again. But strangely, Rani is not so chummy with SRK anymore because she is thick with his foe — Salman Khan!
Reema’s film is being co-produced by Aamir, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani and Rani and Kareena have been confirmed to play major and equally significant roles opposite Aamir in this untitled suspense thriller. Pre-production work is on in full swing and the film’s scheduled to go on the floors for principal photography in March 2011. Producer Ritesh of Excel Entertainment confirms the news saying, “It’s going to be exciting to see Aamir, Kareena and Rani coming together for the first time on screen.” prit...@timesgroup.com
Why Shahid sports clean shaven look in Mausam
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Subhash K. Jha, June 9, 2010 – 10:43 IST
Shahid who maintains a reverent restrain in front of his father, has lost all his inhibitions in Edinburgh. Because that’s what his father Pankaj Kapur expects from Shahid in Mausam.
The crew is surprised delighted and confused by Shahid’s constant antics, playful and most uncharacteristic of the actor who likes to stay aloof on location unless with close friends. But on this one, Pankaj forbade Shahid from maintaining a distance. Mingle mix and enjoy was the brief that Shahid took dead seriously.
Shahid Kapoor who began shooting for Mausam in Edinburgh on Monday gave the unit a surprise by appearing on location without the beard that he has so carefully cultivated before leaving for the long schedule.
Apparently, it was felt that facial hair is not quite what youngsters like to see their teenage idols sporting in films. There’s a long list of failed heroes in recent cinematic history with facial hair, Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh – Salesman Of The Year, Salman Khan in Heroes, Aamir Khan in Mangal Pandey…to name a few.
“Yes, Saif’s brief part as a Sikh in Love Aaj Kal and Akshay Kumar’s Singh Is Kinng did work. But those culture-specific parts were not targeted at the audience that Imran, Ranbir or Shahid connect with. Audiences in the younger below-28 bracket prefer their heroes clean-shaven,” says a prominent source from the Mausam unit.
Consequently, Shahid appeared beard-less on the first day of schedule, More >
3 Idiots is Raju Hirani's longest film ever
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, December 21, 2009 – 12:52 IST
Get set for an epic take in the offing. This year’s most anticipated release, 3 Idiots, has a running length of close to 3 hours. Taking audiences through different locations in the country and across time zones, this Rajkumar Hirani film is in fact his longest ever when compared to his earlier two efforts – Munnabhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
“That’s true,” confirms Hirani. “Both the films in the Munnabhai series were under 2.5 hours. However, 3 Idiots required a longer duration. I am not worried about the length factor though.”
Well, even for audiences it should be pretty much the case of ‘ all izzz well‘. Longer stories, if told well, have traditionally worked quite well at the box office. Some of the biggest classics in the history of Indian cinema like Lagaan, Sholay and Mughal E Azam have all crossed the 3 hour mark. Yes, those were the times when only single screens ruled and hence the revenue earned through a larger number of shows wasn’t a criteria for a film’s length. However, the fact remains that the biggest ever grosser in the history of Indian cinema, Ghajini, lasted for a couple of minutes over 3 hours.
Says a trade follower, “I am aware of people’s expectations where they want to see more of an actor or a director, if their body of work over the years has been impressive enough. Remember those Amitabh Bachchan films in the 80′s? Or the ones directed by Subhash Ghai? Each of them was mandated to be magnum More >
Multiplexes killing Bollywood, say filmmakers
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Two prominent Bollywood filmmakers — Manmohan Shetty and Bobby Bedi — have spoken against multiplexes and the high price of tickets, saying these two factors could destroy the industry.
“The main culprit to bring down Bollywood are multiplexes,” said Shetty, who started the trend of multiplex cinema chains.
“The tickets are priced so high that people who used to watch the movies by paying Rs.30 to Rs.40 are not coming to cinema halls anymore,” Shetty said at a conference, ‘India – The Big Picture’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“With high budgets and high priced tickets at multiplexes, film business has become difficult,” he added.
Shetty, who produced movies like ‘GangaaJal’, also said the fees charged by stars have made movie production a tricky business.
“Even though film producers spend Rs.10-15 crore on promotion of films, it is difficult to recover the amount,” he said, adding that a star like Akshay Kumar, who earlier used to charge Rs.1 crore now commands Rs.25 crore.
Film producer Bobby Bedi, in his address at the same conference that was organised on the occasion of the 40th edition of the International Film Festival of India, equated high priced tickets to the Frankenstein monster that would soon “eat us all up”.
“By pricing the tickets high, the industry has created a monster which will eat us all up like Frankenstein,” said Bedi, whose Kaleidoscope Entertainment has produced blockbusters like ‘Saathiya’, ‘Maqbool’ and ‘Bandit More >
Debutant director accuses Shiney of harassment
0First-time director Puja Jatinder Bedi alleges the actor misbehaved on the sets of Mary Magdalene
Bharti Dubey (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 06, 2011)When the whole industry was keeping Shiney Ahuja at arm’s length because of the rape charges, one director decided to give the man a chance.
But Puja Jatinder Bedi, set to release her directorial venture Mary Magdalene, said her gesture backfired on her.
She has alleged that the actor, jailed for seven years for the rape of his maid, was no shining example of good behaviour with women on the sets and even made a pass at her.
Bedi said he made her uncomfortable by insisting she accompany him to his room to discuss the film there. “He would call me in and send the rest of the unit out. He even tried to hug me a couple of times and I had to be firm in my refusal.”
Bedi said Shiney’s co-star Sayali Bhagat had also complained that he made inappropriate comments on her clothes and looks on the sets.
“For a scene in a coffee shop, he told me he needed to hold hands with her for a while to feel the energy and warmth,” said Bedi, who has earlier been the line producer for films such as Saathiya and Mangal Pandey.
Sayali confirmed the incident. She said, “He held my hand, took me to a corner and talked about how he did the scenes with Kangna and Shilpa.
My mother stayed with me through the shooting because of his suspicious behaviour. He misbehaved with others, including Puja.”
Bedi said, “The day a crucial scene More >