Where Bollywood Comes Alive
Posts tagged Raj Khosla
Sanjay Dutt on his first hit – Rocky
04 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
As told to Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 29, 2012)
I was just 22 when I did Rocky. The film was designed for me. Directed by my dad (late) Sunil Dutt and produced by Amarjeet, it was meant to be my launch pad.
We had a grand mahurat at Mehboob Studios and started shooting the film. Unfortunately, a few days into the shoot, my mother fell ill and my father had to take her to the US for treatment. He was by her side all through and couldn’t return to resume shooting. After much thought, he put the onus of completing the film on close friend Raj Khosla. It was a big thing both for Raj ji to accept that kind of responsibility and for my father to give it to him. Finally, it was Raj ji who shot the film’s climax and edited it.
And while I eagerly awaited Rocky’s release, tragedy struck in the form of my mother’s demise. I was in such a state of shock that I couldn’t enjoy my moment in the sun when it finally came. The only consolation was that my mom had seen my film before passing away. Needless to say, my first hit wasn’t at all exciting or uplifting. I was getting so much feedback but couldn’t respond to any of it. I even signed a couple of films but soon sank into this low phase, which ended with my being sent away for treatment for drug addiction.
I stayed abroad for two years. Upon my return, my father told me he would no longer put in a word for me. I remember his words clearly. “Go and struggle. Find work,” he told me. And so I struggled and landed one More >
Wish I could act with Aamir Khan-Waheeda Rehman
07 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Shakti Salgaonkar (DNA; October 16, 2012)
Waheeda Rehman DNA Research N ArchivesAs you enter her sea-facing bungalow, a portrait of a very young Waheeda Rehman looks demurely at you. As she enters the room, you notice, that little has changed. Her hair, perfectly held in place, a string of pearls and her signature smile in tow, Waheedaji goes down the memory lane with DNA. In your long standing career, we know you’ve done a million interviews. What is the one question that bores you, we will stay away from that question? (laughs) When people ask me when I started and how I started. Unfortunately, that is the question everybody asks. And even if they are all together, they ask the same question again and again. One wonders why they don’t think that this question has been asked and let me ask another one. I feel they don’t come prepared. Or maybe they don’t think we can answer (laughs), I don’t know.
Lifetime achievement, I’m sure you look back at your body of work and reminisce about the various characters you’ve essayed. What was the one role that was the most difficult? I would say my character in Guide. Because for that time it was a very bold subject and a bold role, I would say. More than 45 years ago, it was unimaginable to see a married woman, who walks out n her husband and starts living with Raju (played by Dev Anand). It was not a love story, because she doesn’t walk out on her husband because she is in love with Raju. She is angry with her husband More >
Movie Review: GAME by TARAN ADARSH
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Taran Adarsh, April 1, 2011 – 10:02 IST
It’s back to the theatres after a sabbatical. GAME is crucial for Abhishek Bachchan. Also for director Abhinay Deo, this being his first release [though he had signed DELHI BELLY much before he made GAME]. So let’s figure out how exciting this game is…
Recall Vijay Anand’s whodunit TEESRI MANZIL. Also recollect Vijay Anand’s crime thriller JEWEL THIEF. Now reminisce Raj Khosla’s suspense thriller WOH KAUN THI?. Also revisit Biren Nag’s eerie suspense saga BEES SAAL BAAD. Several decades and several screenings later, you still relish those films. These films worked for varied reasons. Melodious music. Taut screenplay. Most importantly, it was hard to guess the identity of the ‘culprit’ till the very end.
Hindi cinema is undergoing a major metamorphosis. But the rules of the game haven’t changed. A whodunit should keep your interest alive till the penultimate moments. Besides, the identity of the killer/culprit should come as a shock, when the veil of secrecy is lifted. Also, the logic or rationale behind the goings-on needs to be convincing and relatable at the same time. Unfortunately, GAME misfires on all three counts.
BY BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COMThe problem with GAME is manifold. First and foremost, first-time storyteller Abhinay Deo serves a slick-flick that’s devoid of meat. It’s all about narrating interesting stories and how convincingly do they translate on celluloid, but Abhinay seems to be under the More >
Bhansali’s ode to the Nightingale
22 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
To commemorate her 82nd birthday, Sanjay Leela Bhansali will start work on an album inspired by Lata Mangeshkar’s less celebrated wonders
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 22, 2010)
That the self-proclaimed Lata Mangeshkar devotee Sanjay Leela Bhansali has turned into a music composer with Guzaarish is a well-known fact. What no one knows, not even the people closest to the director, is that he has been secretly working on another album of songs created and composed exclusively for his muse.
And now when India’s Nightingale turns 82 on September 28 , SLB’s precious secret project will finally be given the attention he has been craving to give it for all these years.
Though SLB refuses to speak about his own personal ode to the legendary singer, a source close to the director says, “During the past one year Sanjay has been completely consumed by Guzaarish and its music.
Having taken on the task of composing a full score for the first time Sanjay had put his dream opus—the Lata Mangeshkar album — on the backburner. He now intends to go at it full-throttle. On her birthday he will get to work seriously on his Lata Mangeshkar project.”
Sanjay Bhansali’s Lata Mangeshkar project will focus on creating songs that the director, as an ardent fan of Lata, has observed to have been less conspicuous in her repertoire.
Says SLB, “I know every nuance in her voice. She is a miracle of nature. And there’s so much in her throat that is still More >
Kangna’s real life role model in OUATIM revealed
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, July 16, 2010 – 11:24 IST
There is no denying the fact that Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai has fast turned out to be one of the most awaited films of the season. Credit it to the Ajay Devgn factor as he seems to be walking in straight from the days of Company, the charm of Emraan Hashmi who seems to be on a role reversal of sorts after Gangster, the music by Pritam which has everything going right for it, the Bobby nostalgia that has been created by Prachi or the mystery called Kangna Ranaut which seems to follow her film after film.
Kangna Ranaut – a mystery, something that led to names like Madhubala and Meena Kumari being thrown around as the reference points for the role of an actress that she plays in this Milan Luthria directed film. Still, there was no concrete information coming in from any quarters. Now that the film is just a few days away from release, a couple of shocking truths have been revealed.
First and foremost, it has been declared that Kangna’s character is indeed based on an actual heroine from the 70s. Secondly, the actress in picture is neither Madhubala nor Meena Kumari but a small time actress whose name was Sona. A girl who had actually acted in a couple of Bollywood films in the 70s, Sona was also the love of Haji Mastan on whom Ajay Devgn’s role in the film is based. Since Kangna plays the female lead opposite him, it was obvious that the reference point was Sona.
“Well, I have been told that Haji More >
Bhansali turns music composer!
04 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Sanjay Leela Bhansali turns full-fledged music composer with his next film, Guzaarish
By Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 12, 2009)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is turning into a full-fledged music composer for his next directorial venture Guzaarish, for which he starts shooting in Goa this July. The film stars Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.
There have been several instances in the past when illustrious filmmakers notably Raj Kapoor, Raj Khosla and Subhash Ghai have ghost-composed songs for their films. Then of course, there was the legendary Satyajit Ray, who composed the background music for all his films since Teen Kanya in 1961. He chose to do so as he had too many musical ideas of his own, which professional music composers refused or were unable to accept and execute.
For reasons almost identical to Ray’s, Bhansali decided to turn into a full-fledged music composer for Guzaarish. Bhansali decided to be the director as well as music composer, only for the creative enhancement of his own cinema.
Vishal Bharadwaj, is today, perhaps the only other director who composes music for his own films, though they have been greats like Kishore Kumar in the past who did so.
A close friend of Bhansali said, “Sanjay has been toying with the idea for a long time. Even in his earlier films, he allowed professional composers to do the needful while he provided inputs that he thought would heighten his creative vision in musical terms. For More >