Posts tagged saawariya
Ranbir Kapoor ready for frontal nudity?
0Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; May 16, 2013)
Unforgettable! Ranbir Kapoor’s butt show in his maiden venture Saawariya (2007) is still top of mind though the actor has completed six years in Bollywood and achieved more milestones than every other actor his age. Of course, what we got to see in the film was just a glimpse of him dropping the towel because the Censors put a wet blanket on the scene. However, all it seems is not lost. The actor confessed that he is now ready for a full monty, Censors be damned! “I am shameless in front of the camera. I am even willing to do frontal nudity if the director wants me to,” he says unabashedly. “There was not a moment of awkwardness when I did that scene in Saawariya. I was butt naked in front of strangers on the set and I wasn’t ashamed of myself. People started relating to me and perhaps came to theatres because of that scene,” says Ranbir. Here’s to Bollywood’s bold new age male.
OTHERS WHO HAVE DARED TO BARE
BOLLYWOOD Shashi Kapoor in Siddhartha (1972) John Abraham in New York (2009) Neil Nitin Mukesh in Jail (2009) Rajkumar Yadav in Shahid (upcoming)
HOLLYWOOD Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights (1997) Christian Bale in American Psycho (2000) Michael Fassbender in Shame (2011)
Bhansali avoids collision with Chennai Express?
0To avoid a repeat of the infamous 2007 box-office clash with SRK, the filmmaker has sought a safer release date for Ram Leela
Mehul S Thakkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 10, 2013)
Bhansali, who has burnt his fingers with box office clashes, seems to be playing safe this time around. His next Ram Leela starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone that was slated for a Dussehra release, is now being postponed, in order to avoid a head-on collision with Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express starring Shah Rukh Khan.
The filmmaker has decided his film will hit theatres not before November 29, couple of weeks after Krrish 3 releases. According to insiders, it is not as if Bhansali is not confident about Ram Leela. But, he is playing it safe — he doesn’t want history to repeat itself. Readers may recall that in 2007, his ambitious film Saawariya that introduced both Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, released on the same day as Farah Khan’s Shah Rukhstarrer Om Shanti Om, with the latter emerging a winner and Bhansali and SRK falling out with each other.
A source told Mirror, “Bhansali and his team are very confident about Ram Leela. His lead pair Ranveer and Deepika has put in extra effort to ensure their performance is top notch. In fact, Ranveer has worked hard on his body while Deepika has undergone vigorous training in dancing. Sometime ago, Bhansali had even told his team to gear up for the big clash.”
However, the scenario is different now. “Chennai Express is most likely to release More >
JTHJ v/s SOS: Mother of all Bollywood fights this Diwali
0Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; November 13, 2012)
Diwali releases in Bollywood follow a set pattern. They often rely on noise to be heard above the din of fireworks. The film industry, that often talks of how it is one big happy family, suddenly forgets the bonhomie and fights it out — for a larger share of the box-office pie.
Films that are high on concept rough it out with those that are low on content, under the guise of family entertainers. And like in the jungle, might is always right. So, the big guy invariably takes on the smaller one. Looking back at the record of the last five years, you will see how films have used the media blitzkrieg to help them make that initial killing. When two films are released around Diwali, their makers stoop to terrible depths, just to grab more eyeballs than their rival.
Trade consultant Amod Mehra says, “There’s enough room for two movies to release comfortably on Diwali. But filmmakers coming together on the same day have resorted to controversy, hoping that they will get the lion’s share of the business on the opening weekend.”
This year, of course, we have witnessed the mother of all Diwali fights. Ajay Devgn and his Son of Sardaar has launched an attack against Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan and their film Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Ajay has made accusations of malpractice and matters have taken a legal course. The actor maintains, “It’s a producer fighting another producer for monopolistic practices. It’s nothing personal between SRK and me.” More >
Gateful that I am still around-Ashmit Patel
0Chaya Unnkrishnan (DNA; August 16, 2012)
Ashmit PatelAshmit Patel, whose career got a fresh lease of life with the reality show Bigg Boss, has found a new calling as a TV host. Last year, he had anchored Superstud, a reality show on how to woo a woman and now he is gearing up to host the second season called Superdude. While the concept remains the same, there will be a few changes in the format to make it interesting and intriguing informs the actor.
Incidentally, Ashmit got himself the tag of ladies man when his stint in Bigg Boss had him cosying up to Sara Khan and Veena Malik. There was even talk of Veena and he tying the knot. However, Ashmit dismisses all that with, “I am absolutely single. The fact that Sara and Veena were comfortable with me, shows that I am honest and never put on an act.” And thanks to his reputation as a charmer, he landed himself the unusual show Superstud. “Yes, it was a novel concept. In the rural parts of India, boys and girls are not allowed to interact with each other, so by the time they are in college, boys don’t know how to talk to girls. They end up being either arrogant or brash. That’s where this show helps,” says Ashmit.
Besides TV, Ashmit is also trying his luck in films again. He is curently shooting for a film called Saawariya that has him co-starring Sara Khan! Talking about his journey so far, Ashmit says that depite starring in big banner films at the start of his career, none clicked. “I did four films with the More >
A look at Salman Khan’s ‘cameography’
0Salman Khan has acquired the title for doing several walk-on parts over the years
Jyothi Prabhakar (BOMBAY TIMES; June 29, 2012)
Most actors in Bollywood would probably cringe at the thought of doing a cameo — the general impression is that only an out-of-work actor does such roles. But Salman Khan, who is nothing if not a good friend, doesn’t shy away from doing them in the name of dosti!
Right now, Sallu has five cameos stacked up. He’s doing one for Ajay Devgn’s Son Of Sardaar, Preity Zinta’s Iskhq In Paris, and lent his voice for Umesh Shukla’s OMG! Oh My God. He has also promised Govinda that whenever the latter finalises a film for his daughter Narmmadaa’s debut, Salman will appear in it. That apart, he has also done a cameo for good friend Deepshikha’s directorial debut, Yeh Dooriyan. Deepshikha never tires of telling the story, “I told him that I was turning producer-director and gave him a brief outline of the story. I asked him if he’d do a special appearance, and he readily agreed.”
Filmmakers aver that Bhai’s heart is as large as the biceps he flexes, and that he never says no, never mind the fact that some of the movies don’t even ring a bell somewhere — they’ve sunk that badly! Often filmmakers get his OK for a cameo, and weave in something to suit him.
So addicted is Salman to cameos, that when he was in Cuba for the shoot of Ek Tha Tiger, a filmmaker asked him if he could pose for a few pictures for Cuban Tourism, and bhai ne phat se ek cameo kar More >
Sonakshi Sinha to star in her brother’s next?
0Sinha siblings Sonakshi, Luv and Kush team up for their first home production likely to start in 2013
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 22, 2012)
The Hindi film industry is not new to the phenomenon of families helping its weaker members make a mark. While many celebrity fathers have tried to launch and re-launch their offsprings, brothers, sisters and even brothers-in-law have tried to revive many a dwindling career through their ‘home-productions’. The latest to join the bandwagon is the Sinhas – Shatrughan’s daughter Sonakshi and her two brothers Luv and Kush. Mumbai Mirror has learnt that Sonakshi, who after a blockbuster beginning in Dabangg and an even bigger second film Rowdy Rathore is a star, has decided to star in a film to be produced and directed by her brother Kush. The film will also have a role for Luv, whose first film Sadiyaan failed to impress at the box office.
Kush had earlier assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Saawariya and Abhinav Kashyap in Dabanng. “The next logical step for him was to direct his own film. And with Sonakshi’s current career graph, he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. She will play the lead. Luv will also play a part in the film. They are however hunting for a male lead to star opposite Sonakshi,” said a source.
The ambitious family venture will however have to wait a while before going on floors. “Sonakshi is currently busy with Son Of Sardaar and Lootera. The home production will only go on floors once her current More >
The job of an AD leading to direction is a myth-Ram Gopal Varma
0Ram Gopal Varma gets into a serious chat about cinema with Mirror reader Sanil Gosavi
MUMBAI MIRROR (May 6, 2012)
I’ve directed three shorts, of which two have won awards. But at 17, I don’t quite know what my next step should be. I thought of asking Mirror to help me out with a chat with Ram Gopal Varma, a man who is actually living my dream. Making films he wants to and also casting my favourite actor Amitabh Bachchan in most of them. And they did!
I’ve heard all these dramatic stories about RGV, but when I met him, he seemed nothing like how the media portrays him, or his much-talked about tweets. Considering it has been a while since RGV has had a hit, I asked, if it is possible to make a film without keeping the audience in mind. RGV replied, “I think it is convenient to think of the audience as one entity. How can you generalise about movie-goers when four people in a room will have different opinions on which curtains you should use? You can try and copy a hit, but the audience will always like different films. When Kahaani became a hit people say, ‘Oh, the audience wants new films’, and when a formula film becomes a hit, it becomes, ‘Oh, the audience will not change’. Any filmmaker will make a movie that excites him, but deludes himself that the audience will like it.”
“But don’t commercial considerations matter?” I asked. RGV replied, “As soon as you think of commercial success, the film is not art. Having said that, it is expensive to make films and a lot of More >