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Posts tagged My Name Is Khan
Kajol-Kareena call a truce
Jul 29th
Only Karan Johar could have managed this…
Meena Iyer | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; July 29, 2010)
Can two mothers make a home? And can two powerhouse actresses exist peacefully on the same set? Yes, if you have Karan Johar trouble-shooting. Once again Bollywood’s premiere filmmaker has managed to pull off another first. Dharma Productions’ We Are Family that will hit the screens on September 3, is an intimate, emotional film. “UTV and I decided to release it on September 3 because it’s a film meant for women and family audience, and we wanted an opposition-free clean week,” says Karan. He adds, “It’s the first official adaptation in Bollywood of a Hollywood film — Step-Mom in this case.” He points out that Dharma is fortunate to have a good equation with Hollywood giants such as Fox (My Name is Khan) and now Sony Pictures (We Are Family).
And whether it is getting the lyrics of a song — like he did with Pretty Woman for Kal Ho Na Ho or whether it is adapting the 1998 Susan Sarandon-Julia Roberts film Step-Mom, Karan believes it must be done officially. “There is just no other way to do it than in collaboration with the foreign studio or with getting the official remake rights,’’ says he. He is happy, too, that UTV Motion Pictures is also on board this project that brings together two of his favourite actresses — Kajol and Kareena Kapoor.
“These two return as a pair after they worked with me in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Siddharth Malhotra, my director, has brought these two women of substance, in substantial roles, for the first time. And, as a viewer and a cinegoer, I was truly excited to see their pairing. I’m also happy that Arjun Rampal has solidly held his own despite being thrown in with these two solid performers in what I describe as an intimate family experience.’’ Karan is particularly proud of the fact that the debutante director has managed to get the desired performances from his actors. “I personally think WAF will provide the audience a happy laugh and a good cry.’’
KJo directs emotional scenes of Ra.One?
Jul 27th
King Khan has summoned Karan Johar to London to direct the emotional sequences of Ra.One
Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 27, 2010)
Karan Johar is currently in London and shooting for Shah Rukh Khan’s film Ra.One. Karan is directing a couple of scenes for best friend Shah Rukh Khan’s magnum opus since SRK feels that Karan is the lucky mascot. He wants all the luck possible for this film.
Our source said, “Shah Rukh is extremely close to Karan and some days back he had tweeted, inviting Karan to come and direct a couple of scenes for him. SRK wrote that Karan is his lucky mascot and that’s why he wants Karan to do it.
Karan accepted the invitation and so Karan is currently in London shooting a couple of emotional scenes which are his forte, with SRK and Kareena. The schedule of the film has been split into two units for a couple of days. The original director, Anubhav Sinha, will continue to shoot the primary montages and action-packed sequences of the feature. Karan, in the meanwhile, will be shooting the mushier bits.
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“Karan left for London on Friday night and has also begun shooting from Monday. He is going to shoot for two days and after that Anubhav Sinha will once again take over as the director of the film,” said a source.
Incidentally the combination of SRK and Karan has not failed at the box-office so far, starting with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai up to the recently-released My Name Is Khan. Let’s hope that this superstitious arrangement doesn’t cause any tears for King Khan.
KJo in the meanwhile was too busy shooting to comment.
Munnabhai has aged!
Jul 27th
The lovable don will be back with his sidekick Circuit in 2012, but in a new avatar
Meena Iyer | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; July 27, 2010)
Rajkumar Hirani had actually drawn the curtains on his most lovable character, Munnabhai. His Munnabhai Chale Amrika had to be stalled after Karan Johar used the same idea of his protagonist meeting the US President in My Name is Khan. So Raju went on to his next script leaving Munnabhai on the backburner. But what the filmmaker proposed, the trade and public opposed.
Under tremendous pressure from distributors and also from the janta to bring back Munna, Raju is now scripting the next Munnabhai film with his co-writer Abhijat Joshi. “Wherever I go, people walk up to me and say ‘Where is that Munnabhai film whose trailer you showed us with Eklavya?’ Some people are even slightly aggressive and say, “Aap ne trailer dikhaya, film kahan hai?,’” said Raju, who keeping all this in mind, has decided to launch the sequel sometime in 2011. “Munna and Circuit are very interesting characters we have created and we can say many socially relevant things using them,” he said. But there’ll be one change in this film — Raju will age Munnabhai’s character to suit Sanjay’s current personality.
We’re coming of age, out of the closet, going global-Karan Johar
Jul 13th
In the last three years, Karan Johar has made his banner a tour-de-force
Meena Iyer | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; July 13, 2010)
If you conduct a popularity poll in Bollywood, Karan Johar will win hands down. He’s on every superstar’s wish-list. And it’s his cinematic genius that has contributed to making his banner, Dharma Productions, one of the top-five in Bollywood today. It was floated by Karan’s father — Yash Johar, three decades ago, but in the last couple of years, it has grown in stature because of Karan’s vision. Of course, he doesn’t think like that, “Movies are a passion. I know nothing else. I don’t even have a personal life anymore. But I can’t take the entire credit for taking Dharma where it has reached today. If we have made significant strides in the last three years, it’s because I’ve been supported by a very young, energetic and able team.”
Ecstatic about the success of his latest rom-com I Hate Luv Storys, Karan says while he kept a close watch on the budget, it is the young, yuppy team of director Punit Malhotra, lead pair Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor that made this date film a rage. “When my father was around, Dharma mostly made films directed by me. But post Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna we expanded and have dabbled with a coming out of the closet film like Dostana; a coming of age film like Wake Up Sid; a terrorist drama like Kurbaan; a global film like My Name Is Khan; and, now the date flick like IHLS,” he says.
Now there’s more. On September 10, Dharma will release the social entertainer We are Family with Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Arjun Rampal. And by the year end, KJo will start two more productions —an Imran-Kareena rom-com and Agneepath. Ayan Mukherjee is also ready with his next script and so is Karan. Though rumours abound that Hrithik will reprise Amitabh’s role in Agneepath, Karan says, “The cast is yet to be finalised. I am yet to narrate the script to the actors. The only thing confirmed is that it will be directed by Karan Malhotra.”
Dharma is also poised for Stage 2 and Karan’s plans include multiple releases for his banner. “I’m waiting to exhale. I want to take the number of releases from two this year to four next year. But I’ll never compromise on quality. I’m sure Dharma will always be a company and not a factory.” And the one other thought that he is currently preoccupied with is leveraging the mileage My Name Is Khan got internationally. “It is the first truly global film that Bollywood made. The kind of mileage it got me, Shah Rukh Khan and our respective banners worldwide, is truly amazing. I want to ensure we continue making films that find global acceptance.”
‘Agneepath’ script, director finalised
Jul 6th
By Taran Adarsh, July 6, 2010 – 08:21 IST
The suspense is over! Karan Johar has finally okayed the script of the new-age AGNEEPATH, the cult film that won Amitabh Bachchan a National Award for his brilliant performance as Vijay Dinanath Chavan. While Karan is yet to take a call on its casting, he has finalized the director of the film — Karan Malhotra — who was the associate director in MY NAME IS KHAN.
Karan Johar confirms the news, “Yes, Dharma has green-lit the remake of AGNEEPATH. But it’s not a scene to scene remake of the original that was produced by my father [Yash Johar]. It’s an adaptation and restructured version of that film, which has been penned by Karan Malhotra along with two more writers.”
There’s talk that Karan has already approached Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor for the principal roles, but he denies it. “We were waiting for the script to get completed. The next step would be to approach the actors. However, we haven’t approached anyone yet,” Karan sets the record straight.
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
‘Raajneeti’ is after ’3 Idiots’, ‘Ghajini’
Jun 12th
-By Taran Adarsh, June 12, 2010 – 09:35 IST
RAAJNEETI is the third biggest opener of all times, after 3 IDIOTS and GHAJINI. The film collected approx. Rs. 56 cr. nett in Week 1, which is very close to the 7-day business of GHAJINI [this film had an 8-day weekend]. The following are the Top 10 biggest openers, as per industry sources:-
| FILM | WEEK 1 NETT – Rs. |
| 3 Idiots | 80 cr. |
| Ghajini | 64 cr. – 8 days; 57 cr. – 7 days |
| Raajneeti | 56 cr. |
| My Name Is Khan | 47 cr. |
| House Full | 47 cr. |
| Love Aaj Kal | 42 cr. |
| Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi | 42 cr. |
| Singh Is Kinng | 40 cr. |
| Kites | 40 cr. |
| Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani | 37.5 cr. |
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
Kites takes a bumper opening but reports are dull
May 22nd
Saturday 22nd May 2010 09.00 IST
Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network
Kites opened to a bumper response at most places. Some small centres in CP Berar and Gujarat were on the lower side but this will not affect overall initial collections. The film had problems in Mysore as the distributors gave it a big release which is not allowed for non Kannada movies in the circuit which will make weekend figures 4-5% lower unless it gets a release. The reports are not encouraging, the biggest reason being the film has a lot of English and Spanish dialogue. This is not even being appreciated in some major multiplexes of big cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
The worldwide distributors have a huge investment of 120 crore including marketing and prints but it was known before release that the film only had a small chance to recover this amount and now obviously they will suffer huge losses. The super strong start still gives the film a chance to be a theatrical hit in India but collections will have to hold over the weekend and show decent collections on weekdays and second weekend.
Badmaash Company had a rock solid second week of 9.25 crore nett. The film now has collections of around 28.50 crore nett after two weeks and although it looked like the film will have little chance after the release of Kites it may well be different now because if the poor reports of Kites translates into dropping collections then Badmaash Company will hang around longer at the theatres.
Housefull was very steady in week three with around 7 crore nett collections. The three week collections for the film are 68 crore nett. As with Badmaash Company the poor reports of Kites gives the film chance of hanging around longer and even challenging the 73 crore nett total of My Name Is Khan which is highest for 2010. HIT
KJo to have most solitary bday ever
May 21st
As his 38th birthday approaches, Karan Johar decides to go into isolation in New York for some introspection. His next project is on hold as he isn’t sure what he wants to make next
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 21, 2010)
The hordes of friends, well-wishers, and fans who call and message Karan Johar every year on his birthday on May 25 might not get a response from the gregarious director this year, like they usually do. For the first time in his life, the 37-year-old director won’t be in Mumbai with family and friends to bring in his birthday. Karan, who is in an introspective mood, has voluntarily decided to be all alone this birthday.
Karan, who is currently in New York, has decided to shut out the world so that he can think about his life and future as a filmmaker.
He says, “I woke up one day here in New York to realise with a shock that I will be 38 in a few days. In two years I’ll hit the crucial 40s. Am I happy with the quality of my life and work? What kind of friends do I want to preserve in my life? And what sort of movies do I want to make?”
It’s for this precise reason that Karan has put on hold all plans to script his next film for which he had gone to New York in the first place.
“After My Name Is Khan I decided I’d never again do a fluffy film. But on second thoughts I needed a change of pace, so I thought I’d write a light film. But I wonder, do I have it in me to be light any more? I should let the young boys making films for my production company do all the light fun films, like Punit Malhotra’s I Hate Luv Storys, which I can’t direct at this stage of my life.”
For now, Karan doesn’t know what he’d like to direct. And until the churning within him stops, he won’t resume scripting his next film.
He refuses to comment on the speculation back home regarding his proposed film with Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. He asks, “When there’s no script, no film, how can there be a cast?”
One thing Karan is sure of is that Shah Rukh Khan would continue to be a constant in his life, no matter how hard troublemakers try to drive a wedge in their friendship. “Ours is a non-wedge relationship,” he quips showing his trademark wicked sense of humour for the first time during this conversation.
Karan adds, “At the moment, for the first time, I’m enjoying being all alone here in New York just introspecting. I speak to my mom twice a day, and that’s all the connect with home I need at the moment.”
Undoubtedly this would be Karan’s most solitary birthday in all these years.
“I may not even surface that day. I just may choose to be somewhere very far away from the public eye. I’ve always been in company. For the first time on my birthday, I am enjoying my own company. It isn’t so bad after all,” he says.
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 101
May 20th
GET READY FOR THE ‘BIG 3’!
The next 6 Fridays will see the release of 3 biggies every alternative week. So while Kites will release tomorrow, Raajneeti will release on June 4 and Raavan on June 18. The hype surrounding these 3 films is so huge that there would be hardly any release between the release of these 3 films (i.e. on May 28 and June 11).
Talking about Kites, the film is hugely awaited ever since it’s filming commenced way back in 2008. The hype increased when news came out that Hrithik is having an affair with Barbara and that Sussanne might divorce him. It seemed like a publicity stunt but it paid off so well! The name of the film was on everyone’s lips and Barbara instantly became a household name!
The film has all factors going in its favour. This is Hrithik’s first film after Jodhaa Akbar which came way back in 2008. The Hrithik-Barbara jodi is piping hot. Promos are excellent and songs have been well received too. The film is produced by Rakesh Roshan. Whenever the son and dad have joined hands, they have created history (Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Koi Mil Gaya, Krrish). Hence everyone’s hoping that Kites would surely be rocking! Moreover, the film is directed by Anurag Basu who has won hearts with Gangster and Life In A Metro. Hrithik, Rakesh, Anurag, Barbara…with so many big names, the expectations are bound to be skyhigh!
The Roshans and the distributors Reliance Big Pictures have ensured that the film makes its presence felt like no other Hindi film has done before. Besides giving it a wide release and record number of shows in multiplexes, a separate version of the film will be released for international audiences. Titled Kites: The Remix, the film’s duration is of just 90 minutes as against the actual duration of 120 minutes. Brett Ratner, director of X Men and Rush Hour, has done the editing of the international version. The poster of Kites: The Remix is also modified and you can see it for yourself. The wound on Barbara’s arm is made bloodier! A gun is thumped in Hrithik’s hands. Brett Ratner’s name is mentioned in bold while Anurag and Rakesh Roshan’s name is lost somewhere in small print!
The international version can work provided the promotion has been satisfactory. My Name Is Khan also adopted a similar strategy and its international version released on May 7. However, there was zero hype surrounding it and hence the film’s collections were shockingly poor. I hope the same doesn’t happen for Kites: The Remix.
While the fate overseas is unclear, one thing is for sure and that is Kites’ would surely take an earth-shattering opening in India! In fact, it has the chances to be the biggest grosser out of the Big 3 (Raajneeti, Raavan). Heartfelt best of luck to the entire team! Dhoom Macha Do!!
RGV-KJo war continues
Jun 22nd
Posted by Fenil Seta in Bollywood News
No comments
The two filmmakers continue to spar on Twitter
Recently while dissecting the performance of ‘Raavan’ at the film critics’ rating scale, Ram Gopal Varma observed, “I have to bear with my flops and then also with everyone’s flops because whenever whoever’s flop comes by, they invariably compare it with ‘Aag’.”
Seems like Ramu hasn’t come over the harsh reviews and comments he received after ‘Aag’ hit screens. He further said, “Well I am happy that if not for anything else I at least set a bench mark for flops.”
While comparing Mani Ratnam’s ‘Raavan’ to ‘Aag’, RGV expressed, “I want to remake ‘Raavan’ and I want to request Mani to remake ‘Aag’.” But on second thought, he changed the plan. “I got a better idea, I will make ‘My name is Raavan’ and Mani should make ‘Raavan ki Kurbaan’,” there by taking a dig at Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’ and ‘Kurbaan’.
After reading RGV’s comment on the social networking site, Karan revert saying, “You have an amazing sense of humour Ramu. Never shows up in your films though…”
But Ramu instantly replied back saying, “Karan because of the constant bashing I receive I developed my sense of humour as a defense mechanism. And talking of my films not having humour, check out this great comedy I made called ‘RGV ki Aag’.”
Coming back to his Aag and its debacle, Ramu said, “For Tashan they said its Aditya ki Aag. For Chandni Chowk… they said Akshay ki Aag. For Kites they said ‘Hrithik ki Aag’ and now its ‘Mani ki Aag’. Let’s all hope and pray that ‘Ra 1’ does not become ‘SRK ki AAG’.”