Where Bollywood Comes Alive
Posts tagged shocking
Shraddha Sharma breaks off with Raja Chowdhury
Mar 10th
Shraddha Sharma and Raja Chowdhury have called off their relationship
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 10, 2010)
Controversial actor Raja Chowdhury and item girl Shraddha Sharma have broken up.
Both of them had been going steady for nearly a year now and were even supposed to get engaged by the end of this month, but things went kaput after Shraddha found Raja cheating on her with two girls. His escapades were caught on camera by the team of a reality show.
When contacted Shraddha Sharma said, “This is shocking for me. It’s all over between us. He is constantly calling me but I don’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.
Many of my friends warned me about getting into a relationship with him, but he always showed how caring and nice he was. He called me and told me that he was under the influence of alcohol but that’s no explanation.”
Speaking about dealing with the trauma Shraddha said, “I guess everything happens at the right time. I am busy doing films down South. One of my films Jeeva has just released and I am shooting for one more film Jaye Ho. I am also doing a couple of reality shows, so life is busy – it will divert my attention from all this.”
Lunar crater named after Shah Rukh
Jan 25th
THE TIMES OF INDIA (January 25, 2010)
Bollywood has finally made it to the moon. It is making its presence felt 4 lakh km away on the lunar surface in an area close to where the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on July 20, 1969, reports Srinivas Laxman.
The International Lunar Geographic Society, a New York-based organisation devoted to the study of the moon, has declared that a lunar crater in the moon’s Sea of Tranquillity has been christened after Shah Rukh Khan.
This has been approved by the International Astronomical Union, which has a final say with regard to the naming of craters on the moon. The crater “has been given the honorary designation as Crater S R Khan on the occasion of Mr Khan’s 44th birthday’’ on November 2, 2009, said the society.
The decision has triggered a mixed response within the scientific community, with the father of the Indian moon mission Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan supporting it, but president of the National Space Society, Suresh Naik, describing it as “shocking’’.
According to the International Lunar Geographic Society, the lunar crater was named after Shahr Rukh Khan following an enormous deluge of petitions from the superstar’s ardent admirers, both in India and around the world. Incidentally, one of his dedicated admirers has already presented him with a piece of the moon by buying him land there.
With the crater named after him, Shah Rukh now joins the ranks of eminent people after whom craters have been named, including scientists like Nobel laureate C V Raman, father of the Indian space programme Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian nuclear programme Homi Bhabha and other luminaries like Meghnad Saha.
Secretary of the Indian chapter of the Moon Society, Pradeep Mohandas, shared father of the Indian moon mission K Kasturirangan’s view. “I think it is not a bad idea since it reflects the thinking of the new generation of young Indians,’’ he said. In another vein, a young schoolgirl commented, “I think another crater on the moon should be named after Amitabh Bachchan, since he is also a great actor.’’
Space scientist Mayank Vahia, of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, said, “While it may not be too appropriate to name it after SRK, we are acknowledging that the Indian film industry is getting the same recognition as Hollywood.’’ Craters on the moon have been named after Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Michael Jackson.
Kasturirangan told TOI on Sunday from New Delhi that Shah Rukh is extremely popular and a symbol of national pride. “I do see a rationale behind this decision. He is a kind of ambassador for India and this reflects the way India views him,’’ he said.
However, Naik said this kind of recognition should only go to scientists. “I think this is not a good practice. Artists are good, but they should be recognised in a different way,’’ he said from Pune.
SRK’s link with the space programme goes back to May 2001, when the last man who stood on the surface of the moon, Eugene A Cernan, during a visit to Mumbai invited the actor to Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The actor sat in a model of the lunar vehicle which was brought over by Cernan. Shah Rukh acted in ‘Swades’, the bulk of which was shot in Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The S R Khan Crater is part of the Arago crater group, named for Francois Jean Dominique Arago, a Catalan-French mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician who lived from 1786 to 1853. It is the largest of the main Arago crater’s four satellite craters and rests in the Sea of Tranquillity, directly south of the main crater. The Apollo 11 lunar landing site lies southeast of the crater, which is visible from Earth when viewed with a standard consumer-grade telescope under optimal conditions.
Among others receiving the rare tribute of having a lunar crater named after them in the past century are Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Sir Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar and Jules Verne. The International Lunar Geographic Society advocates privatised exploration, settlement and development of the moon, according to information on its website.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra-new VVIP on the block?
Jan 21st
Vinod Chopra’s entourage cordons off a major public road in Bandra to let the producer into a bylane
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 21, 2010)
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| Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s trip to St Paul’s Road in Bandra caused a traffic jam during rush hour. At around 6pm on January 18, his security guards blocked the entire road; barring all vehicles and pedestrians from using St Paul’s Road for about 10-12 minutes. Vidhu made a grand entry from the other side, which is a no entry and then drove into a bylane.
A reputed director, who happened to be there at the same time said, “Roads are usually blocked for politicians and that too by cops. Now, roads are being blocked for filmmakers as well. It was shocking. Some private security guards simply blocked the traffic from the other side of St Paul’s Road, which is a one way road. Ten minutes later, Vidhu Vinod Chopra drove along on the wrong side of the one way and only after that was the traffic allowed to ply.”
Didn’t the traffic police object? The director replied, “Normally there are traffic cops but on at day, there were none.”
Vidhu Vinod Chopra remained unavailable for comment. But we wonder, has he forgotten his Munnabhai Gandhigiri lesson?
Movie Review: BAABARR by FENIL SETA
Oct 26th
Parinda, Satya, Vaastav, Company and Gangster-these are handful of Hindi films which were based on the mafia/gangster menace and also very well executed. Now Baabarr should be added to this list of ‘finest gangster films of Bollywood’! The film is violent, gory and raw but at the same time, it’s thoroughly engrossing packed with award-winning performances and amazing execution! It was a must-watch but unfortunately, was missed by many!
The story of the movie: The film is based in Amarganj, the Uttar Pradesh town where criminal incidents occur daily and has become a part and parcel of the residents. In one of its dingy lanes, Baabarr (Sohum Shah) emerges as a ruthless gangster. Working with his 5 brothers, Baabarr runs an extortion racket and doesn’t think twice before killing. The govt entrusts the task of eliminating Baabarr and his gang and all their activities to S P Dwivedi (Mithun Chakraborthy). How Dwivedi, along with corrupted Daroga (Om Puri) go about doing their duty is what follows next in the film.
Director Ashuu Trikha may not accept, but the truth is that Baabaar, undoubtedly, is based on dreaded UP gangster, Rafiq Qureshi’s life. The director and the screenwriter (Ikram Akhtar) wonderfully trace Baabarr’s journey from his first murder at 12 years to his death at just 22 or 23 years. The film keeps you on the edge of your seat right from the beginning and has several high-voltage shocking scenes which give goosebumps.
One of the four factors that make Baabaarr stand out is that it takes us to a world which we are ignorant about. The film throws light on Amarganj where murders take place casually, where people have more guns in their houses than chairs, where people are never ever given lessons on good manners and where people are addressed as ‘Oye Pehelwan’ instead of ‘Hey Dude’! However, the setting doesn’t look unrealistic at all (it isn’t actually) and the viewer absorbs everything that is projected in the film. Secondly, every character in the film is added with a purpose and each of them is damn interesting. My 5 favourites were Baabarr, Daroga, Maamu (Tinnu Anand), Sarfaraaz (Shakti Kapoor) and the sexiest one in the film, Tabrez (Sushant Singh)!
Thirdly, everything that happens in the film has a purpose. Meaning, none of the scenes were unnecessarily added-it was all connected to the main plot. For instance, one may feel that grown-up Baabarr’s intro scene where he kills a businessman named Jilani was just added to project Baabarr’s ruthless and merciless nature. But the scene is well connected to the next one and also to the storyline. And lastly, the climax of this film is shocking! There is an excellent twist that takes place which catches you unawares! It doesn’t spoil the film at all and also looks justified. In short, a great work by the writer-director duo!
Some scenes of the film are memorable. Baabarr’s first murder at 12 and Baabarr killing Jilani in his own factory set the mood. Tabrez finishing Akram in a cow slaughter house is gruesome scene but clapworthy. The intermission point was easily the best scene of the film!
The only glitch in the entire film is that it gets a bit slow in the 2nd half.
Every actor in the film has pitched in a fabulous performance-in fact, much much better than their other films in recent times. Newcomer Sohum Shah rocks with his finest performance. Since it his debut, he doesn’t come with the baggage of any past significant performance and thus, one connects to his character instantly. Also, the actor wonderfully exhibits the ruthlessness that his character needed. Even his dialogue delivery rocked. This year, except Raj Singh Chaudhary of Gulaal, none of debutants have managed to impress and hence, Sohum has high chance of bagging the Best Debut award next year!
However, the question arises that based on his appearance and the kind of character he played in Baabarr, will he be offered other types of roles in future? I hope he gets as he’s a truly a gem! Best of luck! (P.S.: Is Sohum Shah Mukesh Shah’s son who is the co-producer of the film?!)
Mithun Chakraborty does his job with élan. His meeting with Sohum is an explosive scene! Om Puri rocks and this was certainly one of the finest performances of his life. The way he changed his mannerisms, walking style and accent for this role and did a great job is definitely praiseworthy. Same goes for Sushant Singh who delivers phaadu performance! I have loved this talented actor since 16 December and am impressed to see him in such an interesting role. Here is an actor who deserves to be a superstar!
Urvashi Sharma was fine but one may argue that her character was unnecessary. Mukesh Tiwari was brilliant, esp in the pre-climax scene inside the prison. Ditto for Tinnu Anand, who shows his extremely talented side in the pre-climax. Shakti Kapoor is surprisingly, extremely likeable! Govind Namdeo was as usual. Kashish Khan as Baabarr’s wife gives a nice ‘Kaminey’s Charlie-type’ performance! Abbas Ali Moghul, the action director of the film, is there for a scene and plays the role of Akram Qasai. He’s a great actor! Pratima Kazmi plays Lilavati, a character based on Mayawati. Shockingly, a beep tone is inserted whenever her name is mentioned in the film! Others also do a great job.
Anand Raj Anand’s music was alright. The title song is impressive. Suhass Gujarathi’s cinematography is brilliant and the dingy by-lanes of Uttar Pradesh towns are well captured. Abbas Ali Moghul charms as the actor and also as the action director! Although some scenes had too much bloodshed, it was needed. Sunil Singh’s background score was in sync with the film’s mood.
Vikram Misra and Ikram Akhtar’s dialogues were one of the best things about the film. The best dialogue of the film (and one of the best in recent times) is: “Gas khatam ho gayi hai…tujhe jalakar chai banayenge tujh pe!” Absolutely rocking!
Ikram Akhtar has also written the story and script of the movie and he excels thoroughly! The film keeps you on the edge of the seat and doesn’t bore even for a moment! Great job by Akhtar, who has scripted some contrastingly light films like Nayee Padosan, Joru Ka Ghulam, Chal Mere Bhai etc!
Finally, Ashuu Trikha is a revelation! The director has always done a fine job in his past films (Deewanapan, Sheesha, Alag) but was let down by faulty scripts. In Baabarr, however, he is armed with a flawless script and he does a brilliant job. He succeeds in exposing the gangster-police-politicians nexus that is rampant in the interiors of the country and where lawlessness prevails. Hats off to Ashuu and hoping to see him with such nice films in future!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. Baabarr’s childhood
2. Baabarr finishing Jilani
3. Tabrez’s entry
4. Baabarr and Tabrez’ confrontation during the tender meeting
5. The intermission point
6. Baabarr shot
7. Dwivedi teaches Daroga a lesson
8. The last 25 minutes
On the whole, Baabarr is surely one of the best gangster films that has come out from Bollywood. Although it has excessive violence, it manages to impress with his intriguing execution and performances. The film wasn’t publicized well when it released in September this year. But now, all movie buffs, do catch it on DVD! Don’t Miss It!
My rating-**** out of 5!
This review first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Baabarr-178084-1.html
Industry reacts to SRK's detention
Aug 16th
| If Shah Rukh can be discriminated against (on the basis of religion), who else is left? This is a man who was listed by Time magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in the world. Doing this to him springs not only from discrimination but also a lack of knowledge —Farah Khan | DIRECTOR |  |
| I have been detained thrice at American airports. The immigration officers have a lot of attitude and are very arrogant. They don’t care who you are. Besides, they don’t like you speaking unless spoken to, and something similar must have happened with Shah Rukh. The officers’ standard reason is that your name is suspect, which is very arbitrary. And if a person has been cleared once, shouldn’t their system register it? Also, how much time does it take to find out who Shah Rukh Khan is? A google search would give more hits than Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise put together. They took two hours to find who he was? This clearly means that it was a case of harassment. I feel their security system is based on paranoia, and this incident with SRK, who has millions of fans in America, is going to spread ill-will against their country —Kabir Khan | DIRECTOR |
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| I have faced a similar situation thrice, and it is because of my name. This country doesn’t care about a head of state like APJ Abdul Kalam, so why would they care about a celebrity? They work like machines. The reason for their attitude towards us is a blend of their arrogance and their paranoia about a certain religion. When they issue us a visa, can’t they differentiate between a suspect and a well-known person? —Irrfan Khan | ACTOR |
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| It’s shocking, disturbing and downright disgraceful. It is such behaviour that fuels hatred and racism. SRK’s a world figure for God’s sake. Get real! —Priyanka Chopra | ACTOR |
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