Posts tagged talaash

I recorded my vocals for Ambarsariya at 3 am-Sona Mahapatra

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6 days ago
by Fenil Seta in

Sona Mohapatra, on her latest track Ambarsariya, her unconventional singing voice, other projects and being her own person

Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; June 14, 2013)

 

Soulful, clear and definitively Indian, Sona Mohapatra’s latest track Ambarsariya, is a refreshing adaptation of a popular Punjabi folk song. The decidedly desi gal speaks here on why it is important to stick to your roots.

Take us through the soundscape and the development of Ambarsariya. Fukrey is a light hearted, really fun joyride set in Delhi and specifically in a Punjabi neighbourhood. As the project progressed, I heard song after song being created and visualised from the principal male characters’ perspectives. I kept protesting about it. Two days before we delivered the soundtrack to the music label, this soulful ballad took birth in its desi-goes Parisiancafe avatar. Ram’s instinct was that the film would benefit by having a simple love song. I recorded my vocals for Ambarsariya at 3 am over this really unusual chord progression, recorded by a guitar player in the UK with Ram directing him through video telephony. The European touch (the accordions you hear in the track) happened in Mumbai, though. Incidentally, I had also recorded a Punjabi version of the song the same night but Ram decided that adapting the song partly to Hindi would only help many more people to understand and therefore enjoy the song. He was right! I insisted on keeping some parts in Punjabi to retain authenticity. The More >

Reema Kagti & Zoya Akhtar: Our ladies of good counsel

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1 month ago
by Fenil Seta in

Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar, Hindi cinema’s first women co-writer pair say no one would care if they didn’t work together

Dhamini Ratnam (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 28, 2013)

 

What makes a team work? A self-help corporate manual would list efficiency, deadlines, constant reassessments, and shared goals. Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar — distinctly non-corporate types (Akhtar likes her afternoon nap; she counts it as part of her work hours) — however, would add one more: A shared value system.

“Our politics are the same. Our values are the same. We both agree on what objectifies someone, for instance. We both find the same thing vulgar,” says Akhtar, 40, occupying one edge of a long green sofa at her suburban sea-facing home. Talaash director Kagti, 42, sits at the other end as the sea shimmers invitingly from across the room’s French windows.

Meanwhile, inside the two directors — who first met during the filming of Kaizad Gustad’s Bombay Boys (1998) — are trying to explain what they find vulgar.

“Item numbers?” we enquire. “Not all,” both say instantly. Then Akhtar brings up the Boob song performed by Oscar host Seth MacFarlane during the awards ceremony held earlier this year. In it, the comedian sang about all the actresses whose breasts were visible in films. “It would have been okay if they had spoken about nudity across the board. But they didn’t. They talked about hard-hitting films that weren’t about being gratuitously naked, and then they reduced the whole film to ‘I saw More >

Lata Mangeshkar congratulates Kareena after watching Talaash on TV

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2 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

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Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 17, 2013)

 

Recently Kareena Kapoor’s last release Talaash had a television outing. And incidentally, Lata Mangeshkar caught the screening on TV and called the actress to compliment her on her performance in the film.

A source says, “Last week Kareena got a call from Lataji. The singer happened to see her film on TV and really loved her performance. So she thought of conveying her message to Kareena and made the call.” Apparently Bebo was so overwhelmed with the singer’s words that she could not stop telling people around her about the incident.

“Lataji has always liked Kareena’s performances in various films and wanted to tell her this. However, somehow she never got a chance to meet or express herself to the actress. She thinks that she is one of the best actresses of the current generation.”

Actors, filmmakers talk about prostitute phenomenon in Bollywood

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2 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

As Kangna Ranaut gears up to play one, After Hrs talks to actresses and makers of films based on similar subject to find out why such roles stand out…

Aakanksha Naval-Shetye (DNA; March 23, 2013)

 

Playing a courtesan onscreen has almost always been a staple outing for our B-Town beauties. In the earlier years the actress used to be a mujrewali rather than sex worker. Vyjanthimala (Devdas), Madhubala (Mughal-e-Azam), Meena Kumari (Pakeezah) and Rekha (Muqaddar Ka Sikandar) to name a few. Only Sharmila Tagore (Mausam) Waheeda Rehman (Pyaasa) and Shabana Azmi (Mandi) were bold enough to play a full-blown street walker. The newer lot doesn’t shy away from playing a prostitute onscreen. From costumes, to dialogues and body language, they go all out to get it right. Kareena Kapoor has done two such roles (Chameli and Talaash) while others are Tabu (Chandni Bar) Sushmita Sen (Chingari) Rani Mukherji (Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Saawariya) Neha Dhupia (Julie) and Aishwarya Rai (Umrao Jaan). The latest in line to play such a character is Kangna Ranaut in Rajjo.

Risky business? Kangna Ranaut feels that a film’s risk factor has nothing to do with the subject, but the execution, “And that applies to all films not just films based on prostitution. It is not about actresses making bold choices, but filmmakers being ready to explore such topics onscreen. That has been possible because of actresses who have shown that it can be done.” She agrees with most actresses when they say that it’s More >

Aamir Khan prodcutions rejects 200 scripts in a year?

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3 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

His production house has reportedly rejected 200 scripts in 12 months, including those from Vishal Bhardwaj, Pradeep Sarkar and Priyadarshan. So what’s cooking?

Soumyadipta Banerjee (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 18, 2013)

 

At a time when most other production houses are lining up their projects for 2015 (their schedule for 2014 is already full) and busy putting together their “slate” for the year, employees of Aamir Khan’s production house are twiddling their thumbs. Aamir, who takes the final call on all projects, has not green-lighted any project since Talaash, which was announced in 2010. This makes it the only A-list production house with no film on the floors. It is also unlikely that any film will go on the floors this year.

According to reports, Aamir’s team has carefully evaluated around 200 scripts in the last 12 months. There are 15 submissions every month, and Aamir has declined to put his money into any one of them.

An insider at Aamir’s production house explained that the apparent tardiness is because of the lengthy process that has been put into place for evaluation of scripts. “We receive anything between 10 to 15 scripts a month. Now, we have set up a system to evaluate them. First, the script is subjected to a round of initial scrutiny to see if it should move to round two. If we accept the script, we give the filmmaker a signed letter from Aamir saying that he has accepted the script and that if he finds it good enough, he will get back to the filmmaker,” More >

Katrina Kaif zooms ahead of arch rival Kareena Kapoor

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3 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Upala KBR (DNA; March 13, 2013)

 

Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kapoor always ran neck-and-neck for the number one position. Both vied for the same roles, same endorsements, wooed the same actors onscreen, and were on the wishlist of the same producers. Kareena always had an edge over her rival because along with being a pretty face, she has some solid performances behind her. (Chameli, Omkara). Katrina, who has always relied on her looks, more than made-up for the lack of talent with her hard work. The ‘lucky’ tag helped. Most heroes consider Kat lucky because she has had more ‘hits’ at the box-office than misses.

Until the beginning of last year, Bebo had a clear advantage because she had worked with SRK and Aamir Khan. But then Katrina landed Jab Tak Hain Jaan with Shah Rukh Khan and then came the announcement of her signing Dhoom 3 with Aamir. The field was leveled. Later in the year, Kareena tied the knot with Saif Ali Khan and there was a definite shift in Kat’s favour. Producers worry when an actress of a certain age gets married then comes the pressure to start a family. Producers are worried that the ‘heroine’ (pun intended) will get pregnant and their films will get stalled. No one wants to take the risk when big money is at stake. Almost overnight Kareena lost the edge she always had over Kat.

The signs… Kareena’s item song Fevicol Se in Dabangg 2 was received with less enthusiasm than Malaika’s item song in the prequel. That was the first blow. The second sign was More >

Romance in Bollywood: From flowers camaflouging kiss to instant ishq wala love

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4 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Subhash K Jha (MID-DAY; February 14, 2013)

 

From two flowers coming together to camouflage a kiss, to sexually explicit scenes and dialogue, celluloid mirrors quick-fix love and push button passion in a world, which has little time for romance.

n 1970, Asha Parekh starred as a (pretend) widow in Kati Patang and Rajesh Khanna was her silent lover. There was not a single touch or caress between the two. Distributors were aghast, ‘How can we have the biggest romantic star of all time not even embracing his heroine once? Audiences would boo the film out of theatres,’ they said. But director Shakti Samanta stuck to his guns. No way. The widow wouldn’t cuddle up to the lover boy, come what may. Jump to 2000. Girls in movies like Ragini MMS look straight at the guy and ask, “Have you come yet?”

Says Asha Parekh, “It’s all too blatant and upfront in today’s films. When I did Kati Patang with Rajesh Khanna there was Anand Bakshi’s poetry to express love between the couple. In the very romantic Yeh shaam mastani Rajesh Khanna didn’t even brush his hand against me. But the intense feelings came through. Those were times of forbidden love. Parents monitored relationships. Today, which 20-something girl or boy would listen to the parents if they forbade a marital alliance? Forget marriage, we now have live-in relationships. And that too we get to see in our films.”

Like we see in Pyaar Ka Punchnama. Parekh feels cinema is only a reflection of reality. “Today, we have songs devoid of More >

After Krazzy 4 case, me & Ram were out of work for a year-Sona Mahapatra

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5 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Composer Ram Sampath and singer Sona Mohapatra live on love, music and unwavering work ethics

Anand Holla (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 13, 2012)

 

Last May, a week before Aamir Khan’s ambitious TV debut Satyamev Jayate was to go on air, the fate of its rousing title song was perched precariously on Ram Sampath’s platelet levels. Sampath and songstress wife Sona Mohapatra, had discarded a bunch of songs that would be played at the end of each episode, days before he was admitted to Jaslok Hospital with typhoid and malaria. “After watching 20 hours of the show’s footage on various issues, we realised that we would have to start from scratch and create songs that surmised the respective subjects. Also, we didn’t know which of the eight options we had worked on would be used as the title track,” says Mohapatra.

While the duo struggled with deadlines, Mohapatra heard rumours that Sampath could be replaced. The producer of Khar-based recording studio Om Grown Music met Khan to sort things out. “I told Aamir that nobody could get the emotional context of this show better than Ram. He told me — Ram will only do it…don’t worry,” she says. Sampath, meanwhile, rustled up a mini studio inside his hospital room to complete the work. “Aamir trusts me because our relationship is based on integrity,” he says.

Integrity is a recurring theme in a life-and-times conversation with the 30-something couple. Before he trickled into public consciousness with the Delhi Belly (2011) and Talaash (2012) More >

Thinking Outside The Box Office

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5 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Three stars redefined Bollywood 2012 – narration, location, women

Srijana Mitra Das (THE TIMES OF INDIA; December 31, 2012)

 

In the silk and tinsel that is Bollywood, three new stars emerged in 2012. These were not three Khans but three cinematic ingredients – location, narration and women. This is a major break from the past – and an excellent portent for the future.

In a remarkable reflection of current political culture, women took centre stage in pop culture too. Painted, dented or tormented, strong female characters occupied the heart of hits, from the enigmatic Vidya of Kahaani to the shy Shashi of English Vinglish and the satiny Simran of Talaash. Each protagonist came to life through extraordinary performances, Vidya Balan leaving viewers breathless following her twisting turns through Kolkata’s lanes, Sridevi feelingly balancing female dignity against family peace and Kareena Kapoor whose Talaash was a triumph, every sparkle in Simran’s eye, every pout of her lips, every arch of her eyebrows a coquettish twist to the tale.

But the women didn’t stop there. Off-screen too, Bollywood had its most remarkable year of female power, reflected in the emergence of successful women directors. From Zoya Akhtar – capturing the idiosyncrasies of three undecided men, calling themselves ‘bwoyz’ in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) – to Gauri Shinde who took Shashi to Central Square and Reema Kagti who dived deep into murky Mumbai, Bollywood never before saw a time when the More >

Imran reprimands mamu Aamir for his ‘brief’ swimming trunks

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5 months ago
by Fenil Seta in

Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; January 3, 2013)

 

Aamir Khan first took swimming lessons at the age of 46, for his film Talaash. But now, he enjoys it so much that he actually looks for excuses to stay in the pool. As luck would have it, Aamir has a swimming pool next to his house. His nephew Imran Khan’s remodelled bungalow, NH 24, also has an indoor pool that Aamir frequents.

Here, one must add a little detail. Aamir, who plays a gymnast in Dhiin 3, has developed a chiselled body. Naturally, the actor is happy to display it.

On one occasion, he landed up at Imran’s pool in a very hot pair of swimming trunks that were a bit too short. And guess who was most aghast at spotting Mamu like that — Imran. Sources say the nephew asked his uncle to change into something more conservative because there were others in the house and he didn’t want them to see Aamir in such a hot, sexy avatar.

So, did Aamir comply? “Yes, he did,” says our source. “Aamir understood Imran’s point of view and sportingly brought out a less tantalising pair of trunks.”

We hear that when Aamir goes to the pool at NH 24, he adheres to Imran’s strict dress code.

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