Where Bollywood Comes Alive
Posts tagged the great indian butterfly
Sanjay Gupta, John come together after 5 years
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, February 25, 2011 – 14:51 IST
John Abraham is the chosen one by Sanjay Gupta for his comeback film. The actor has been signed up for an action thriller which would be going on floors soon. This would also serve as a reunion for Sanjay Gupta and John Abraham who had last worked together in Zinda (2006).
“For quite some time, Sanjay has been deciding on the starcast for his next multi-starrer. In fact this new action thriller that he would be directing is being pitched as the ‘baap of all action entertainers’ that have ever come out of Bollywood. It’s a multi starrer and while there are number of other actors who are in the film, John is a prominent name to be on board”, says a source closely attached to the film.
After Zinda, Sanjay Gupta went on a sabbatical for five years and only shot for one of the short stories in Dus Kahaniyaan. As a producer he did release films like Woodstock Villa, Acid Factory, The Great Indian Butterfly and Pankh but as a director he lied low for a long duration. No wonder, when he decided to call the shots again, John was one of the first actors that he approached.
“Zinda was a milestone for John because in the film he was an unpretentious antagonist. Pitched against Sanjay Dutt in the film, he gave a very good account of himself and as an actor; he was taken far more seriously post Zinda. John too understands this. This is the reason why he too didn’t think twice about doing Sanjay’s comeback film”, adds the More >
Alibaug shelved: Final blow for Sanjay Gupta-Sanjay Dutt collaboration
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Joginder Tuteja, August 23, 2010 – 12:18 IST
//
var iurl ='http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href='+document.location+'&show_faces=false'; document.getElementById('fblike').src=iurl; // ]]>Sanjay Gupta may not really be able to bring his own life story on the big screen for wider audience with everything seemingly over for Alibaug. Launched with much fanfare almost four years back, the film is completely on the backburner, so much so that even Gupta is unsure about any further progress on it.
Says a close friend of Gupta, “The film was a prestigious venture for Gupta, since it meant a diversion from the action fare being churned by his production house. He was looking at venturing into different cinema and while The Great Indian Butterfly and Pankh came in a little later, Gupta wanted Alibaug as his first take on some slice-of-life films. He was very attached to Alibaug as he wrote the film and had designed it as a quickie.”
However, this was the time when tragedy struck. There was rift between Sanjay Gupta and Sanjay Dutt and though for quite some time, there was no official statement from any of the two; it was becoming clearer with every passing month that Alibaug seemed to be in jeopardy. There were some portions of Alibaug that were indeed shot with Sanjay Dutt but because the entire shoot was never completed; there was always a risk factor involved w.r.t. the film’s completion.
For those who came in late, Alibaug was meant to be a totally
More >WHO KILLED small cinema?
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
SO LONG Even a feted film like Love, Sex Aur Dhokha didn’t last in the multiplexes beyond a week
The low-budget film, which was giving big-ticket cinema a run for its money only a couple of years ago, is said to be in its death throes
Meena Iyer | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; May 16, 2010)
The euphoria over Dibakar Banerjee’s path-breaking Love Sex Aur Dhoka, released this March, lasted less than a week. On the tenth day, the DVD of this unusual film made it to shelves across the world.
So what exactly happened? Why did the film that had every critic in town salivating over its form and concept meet with this fate? LSD broke many norms—it was shot on HD, it had greenhorns instead of stars, the concept wasn’t stolen. Yet, the film that gave the theatre-going audience a completely new experience couldn’t hold out for more than a few days at a multiplex.
LSD’s fate reflects the crisis that the small film—feted by audience and critics alike just a couple of years ago—finds itself in today. In a market that suddenly seems to have developed cold feet about the genre, there are over 100 small films, censored and ready, which have no buyers.
Two years ago, this category of cinema was being celebrated. Almost every big film corporation had developed a sub-brand committed to the cause of the smallbudget film, from UTV’s Spotboy and PNC’s Guerrilla to Mukta Arts’ Malpix and Sanjay Gupta’s White Feather Films’ Arthouse. Besides the big More >
The real status of Sanjay Dutt’s pending films
03 years ago
By Joginder Tuteja, April 19, 2010 – 13:56 IST
Recently it was reported that Sanjay Dutt is booked till 2011 with multiple projects in floors. Understandably so since he is the only veteran star from the generation of Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol and Mithun Chakraborty, who continues to have a huge fan following and can get audiences rooting for him if he really wishes so.
However, what also remains true is the fact that he is only star amidst other major actors who has the biggest line up of pending/stuck/almost shelved projects up his plate.
The situation today is that Sanju baba has close to a dozen odd projects that are still waiting to reach the deadline in spite of their target release timeline left behind long back.
Joginder Tuteja brings to you the status of where each of these films stand, what their makers have to say, whether these films will ever see the light of the day and if so, then when?
——————————————————————————– Film: Mr. Fraud
Original plan for release: 2006
Producer: Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision Ltd
Director: Abbas -Mustan
Co-stars: Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Tanushree Datta
Flashback
This Abbas-Mustan directed comedy had a fruitful London schedule way back in 2006. However, Sanjay Dutt’s personal problems resulted in any further shoot being delayed while there were also hassles around combination dates of all the stars (Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Basu, Tanushree Dutta) as well. Close to 70% of the film was already canned but there More >
I’m a mascot for small films-Sandhya Mridul
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
DEEPALI DHINGRA (BOMBAY TIMES; March 23, 2010)
Sandhya Mridul has never been big on conventional roles. That’s the reason we get to see the talented actress once in a blue moon on the big screen. “After Page 3, I tried to convince myself to go with the flow and take roles that require me to look glamorous, but I realised I couldn’t cheat on my passion,” she says candidly. Sandhya is gearing up now for her next release The Great Indian Butterfly and is mighty relieved that the film is finally seeing the light of day after lying in the cans for a really long time. “It’s one film I’ve put my heart and soul in,” she says, explaining that the film is very emotional, and therefore, was exhausting to shoot. The film that revolves around a married couple, deals with the complexities of urban relationships. “The conversations are so real, I can imagine a couple in today’s times talking like this,” she adds. Now the next film Sandhya is hoping would release soon is BBD where she is in the esteemed company of Naseeruddin Shah and Kay Kay Menon. “It’s another wonderful and difficult film we shot for and it’s been stuck for the past two years,” she rues. But even all this has not dettered her from her decision to not do commercial cinema for the sake of it. “I think I’m a mascot for small films,” she says with a smile and adds, “I take the best from what is offered to me. I’m not somebody who thrives on looking good. I like acting parts and More >
Publicity material of The Great Indian Butterfly robbed
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 18, 2010)
It’s a curious theft and Sanjay Gupta is still scratching his head trying to make sense of it.
The entire publicity material of his upcoming film The Great Indian Butterfly has gone missing while in transit from his godown to the office of Eros, which is distributing the film. With the film slated to release in the first week of April, it’s a race against time for Sanjay to get all the material commissioned and prepared again.
“We’re certain it’s an inside job but we still haven’t figured out who did it,” Sanjay told Mumbai Mirror. “I wasn’t there that day because I was busy writing a script. My office has informed me that the loss will put us back by around Rs 10 lakh. The standees and vinyl designs are quite expensive and we barely have enough time to get the whole thing redone.”
But what possible use could his film’s posters be to someone else? “Even I can’t understand that,” says Sanjay. “But thankfully, at least the designs are ready so we won’t have to waste time redesigning the material.”
Sanjay Gupta marries Anu…again!
03 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
KNOTTED: Sanjay Gupta and Anu Lekhi at their wedding
Sanjay Gupta marries ex-wife Anu Lekhi, in Bollywood-style romance
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; June 5, 2009)
This kind of thing only happens in Bollywood. And, giving rise to new story ideas is filmmaker Sanjay Gupta who remarried Anu Lekhi — the wife he divorced five years ago. Sanjay, actually, is not the romantic-comedy type of filmmaker; he is known more for stylised thrillers. But in real life, there must be plenty of romance in the rugged director for his earlier experience has not made him shy of tying the knot with the same woman again. They did it on Wednesday at a temple in Khar according to Hindu rites. Sanjay chose the same date as one of his favourite actors, Amitabh Bachchan — who married Jaya Bhaduri on June 3, 1973. Sanjay first married designer Anu on August 18, 1997, after a long courtship. “We know each other for 15 years now,” said the new groom, his voice brimming with happiness. Five years ago, the couple had divorced, and Anu moved to Pune to live with her parents. Though the media sometimes buzzed with stories of Sanjay’s indiscretions, the filmmaker said he was always committed to Anu and there was no other serious commitment. “I have been stalking her all through these five years,” admitted Sanjay, “she is my soulmate.” The man who made such high-onaction films like Kaante, Musafir and Zinda said he himself had been to hell and back over the last few years! “I have More >