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Aamir Khan’s co refuses to let Oppn use Peepli Live song
Jul 11th
Bharati Dubey | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; July 11, 2010)
Mumbai: Official sources from Aamir Khan Productions have denied any possibility of letting political parties use a song from the coming film, Peepli Live.
“It will not lend itself to political use. The song in question is part of the story of the film, which is a humorous take on urban and rural divide that exists in India; inflation is a general issue,’’ a spokesperson for the production house said on Saturday. “Aamir Khan Productions also maintains a strictly apolitical stand. There is no question of allowing the song to be used for political campaigns.’’
Opposition parties, mainly the NDA, had contacted Aamir Khan Productions, asking them for the permission to use the song, Mehngai Dayan—the lyrics are about how inflation is eating into the happiness of people—for election campaigns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The song, in its rural style, complains about the hike in petrol and diesel prices.
The Congress had gone filmy the similar way last year, when it adopted the Oscar-winning Jai ho as its anthem before the general elections. However, the party has now called the Oppostion’s bid to procure the Peepli Live song as a political gimmick. Rajiv Shukla of the Congress said, “The BJP wants to take political advantage of everything, including films.’’
Jai Ho was not the first time that Bollywood was used by political parties. Chak De was used by the Congress unit of Gujarat in 2007 before the state election there. Lyricist Sameer said, “I had written a parody of the song, Chor Bazari from Love Aaj Kal for chief minister Ashok Chavan for his election campaign. Most people connect with films and music. That is perhaps why political parties try to rope in artistes and songs.’’
The lyricist recalls how his father, Anjaan’s song from Don, Khaike Paan Banaraswala, was used by the Congress to promote none other than Amitabh Bachchan during the 1984 election campaign in Allahabad.
Pratik to walk Hindi, talk Hindi
Jul 8th
The stylishly dishevelled actor would undergo a drastic, rather rustic makeover for his next, Milan Talkies
Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 08, 2010)
Forget Pratik’s shaggy metro sexual Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na image; he’s up for a complete makeover. For Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Milan Talkies, which starts shooting in October, Pratik will have to undo his urban look and get into a brand new rustic avatar. Pratik has been asked to study the local dialects of Uttar Pradesh very carefully. He also has to watch Amitabh Bachchan’s body language in Namak Halaal, a film that incidentally starred Pratik’s mother Smita Patil.
In Milan Talkies Pratik plays a small-town boy from UP who makes duplicate video films of famous blockbusters. This character was earlier to be played by Irrfan Khan who had even begun researching on the basics of such a character and his mannerisms.
But at that time Irrfan’s other film Paan Singh Tomar with Dhulia was in progress and while playing the character of the real-life athlete, Irrfan broke his ankle, which in turn caused a delay. Hence, there was no way Irrfan could accommodate another Dhulia project into his schedule. That’s when Pratik was brought into the picture.
Says Dhulia, “Pratik came to my mind immediately because he’s dark and very intense, much like his mother (the late Smita Patil). I had seen and liked him immensely in Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. One hurdle was that he had so far only been seen as an urban personality. But Pratik has also done Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat, where he plays a small-town character. I haven’t seen a frame of Dhobi Ghat but if Aamir Khan had faith in Pratik to play a non-urban role, I was sure he could.”
Pratik was asked by the director to shed all his sophistication for his playing this role. The young actor will now have to change his look, body language and speech to play the character. And one of the most important additions would have to be acquiring a North Indian accent. But that might take a while since the actor has barely managed to get a hang of normal Hindi.
So, Dhulia has found a unique way of getting Pratik to speak like a street-smart small-towner from UP. “I’ve asked him to read a Hindi newspaper every morning and to watch Hindi plays and films with UP-Haryanvi heroes like Bachchan saab in Namak Halaal. As for his clothes he doesn’t have to dress up too flamboyantly. No small-town guy dresses up in red shirts and yellow trousers any more.”
Subhash Ghai buys IHLS’ UP/Delhi distribution rights
Jun 22nd
Bowled over by Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor’s on-screen chemistry, Subhash Ghai buys distribution rights of Karan Johar’s next, IHLS
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 22, 2010)
Subhash Ghai is reliving his Ram Lakhan days. He is so impressed with Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor that he feels “They’re like Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, a pair that has terrific chemistry and will sustain.” Fingers crossed.
So smitten was Ghai that he wasted no time in buying the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh distribution rights of Karan Johar’s forthcoming film, I Hate Luv Storys from UTV for Rs 3.5 crore.
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| Subhash Ghai | Sonam Kapoor in I Hate Luv Storys |
The deal between Mukta Arts and UTV was cracked on Tuesday. Confirming the same, Subhash Ghai’s cousin Sanjay, who handles these territories says, “I think I have bought it for a very economical price. We run many cinemas in the North. We should be doing very good business with this purchase. I shall recover my money in the first week itself.”
Sanjay also confirmed the fact that his cousin Subhash has been very impressed with Imran and Sonam’s chemistry. “We were thinking of buying the rights of this film for a month-and-half now.”
I asked Dimple to be my WIFE-Amar Singh
Jun 4th
Actor Amar Singh’s appearing with ‘Bobby’ in a Malayalam film
ROSHNI K OLIVERA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; June 4, 2010)
Cinema can make strange bedfellows. And, top of the list for 2010 is the imaginative pairing of Amar Singh and Dimple Kapadia in the Malayalam musical Bombay Mittayi by Umar Karrikkad. The former Samajwadi Party heavyweight, now ailing and in political wilderness, is being pursued by producers to look at films as an alternate career. And, perhaps influenced by elder brother Amitabh Bachchan’s success in Bollywood, Amar Singh has now pitched his hat into the ring. This is his second ‘acting’ role. Earlier, yielding to pressure from friends in the industry, Amar Singh made guest appearances in films… but always as himself.
His first acting role is in Dev Anand’s murder mystery Chargesheet, in which Amar Singh flamboyantly plays the Home Minister. “So what if it’s only in a film and only for a day,” the disillusioned politician wryly commented. But even before Chargesheet can release, Amar Singh has completed his second film — the Malayalam musical, which is also ready for release. Not even Ranbir Kapoor had such beginner’s luck!
When he was approached with the role, Amar Singh — always the wily politician, agreed on one condition. “I said the actress who plays my wife should be of my choice,” he told BT. The filmmakers agreed. “That’s when I called Dimple, who is a close friend. She immediately agreed,” chortled Amar Singh, who kept telling the actress during the shooting that it was like “Bobby revisited after 30 years”. He was not nervous facing the camera. “I’m not camera shy, I’ve been rather over exposed, this was a picnic,” he admitted modestly. Bollywood’s trade pundits, and Amar Singh’s fans and enemies from his Samajwadi Party days, are anxiously awaiting the release of Chargesheet and Bombay Mittayi.
While he’s already looking at his next role, somebody with an eye on the boxoffice has asked Amar Singh to play ‘Deshbandhu’ Chittaranjan Das — the nationalist leader, lawyer and poet, in a Bengali film based on Rabindranath Tagore. “I’m reading the script,” said Uttar Pradesh’s new hero.
Sunny in Neerraj Pathak’s Gannit
Mar 18th
Sunny Deol teams up with Neerraj Pathak again, this time for a Gannit, a gritty political drama set in Uttar Pradesh
By Subhash K Jha (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 18, 2010)
Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh… these are the players from Uttar Pradesh’s political scene who are expected to inspire characters in Neerraj Pathak’s fictionalised account of the state’s turbulent politics.
After Right Yaaa Wrong and the half-complete The Man, Sunny Deol and his director Neerraj Pathak will team up for the hard-hitting political thriller titled Gannit.
Shedding light on the subject, Neerraj Pathak says, “It’s a realistic political drama set in Lucknow and will be shot on location. The film will have three heroes, but I’ve only decided on Sunny Deol so far. It will be unlike anything Sunny has done. We’ve done two very different films together so far. Now it’s time to go from action-thrillers to a realistic political drama.” The shooting starts later this year.
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| Sunny Deol with Neerraj Pathak |
When asked if Irrfan Khan who co-stars with Sunny in Right Yaaa Wrong will also be part of Gannit, Neerraj Pathak says he is undecided. “I’d love to work Irrfan again, although he didn’t have faith in Right Yaaa Wrong. When I had approached him, he thought I wouldn’t do justice to his role since I was Sunny’s friend. When the film was complete, he was still uncertain. But that’s okay. I was new and I’m just grateful actors like Sunny, Irrfan and Konkona Sen-Sharma agreed to work with me.”
Neerraj Pathak says Sunny will be a part of all his future projects. “He has stood by me, given me a chance to make a film.”
Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia and Amole Gupte in With Love To Obama
Mar 16th
By Nikhil Ramsubramaniam, March 15, 2010 – 18:40 IST
As the whole world seems to be coming to terms with the recession, filmmaker Subhash Kapoor has gone ahead and made a comedy film on how recession impacts the underworld. The film titled With Love To Obama stars Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Amole Gupte, Amit Sial and Sanjay Mishra in lead roles and is currently in the post-production stages.
Bollywood Hungama got in touch with director Subhash Kapoor (who earlier directed the cricket based film Say Salaam India) to get some more dope on his film. “My film With Love To Obama is a mad-cap comedy that projects a different take on recession. While we all know how recession impacted the corporate world, the job market and the business world, my film talks about the impact of recession on the underworld. While most stories around recession are generally sad stories, mine is a funny and humorous take on the impact of recession on the bhais of the underworld. The film has a rustic feel to it and is set in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh.”
Speaking about the cast, Subhash Kapoor says, “With Love To Obama has an ensemble cast featuring Rajat Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Amole Gupte, Amit Sial, Manu Rishi and Sanjay Mishra. Rajat Kapoor plays an NRI who, after losing everything to recession in USA, comes back home to sell of his ancestral property in UP. However, things take a turn for the worse when a group of gangsters kidnap him assuming him to be a millionaire. What happens when the gang members realize that he is a pauper forms the rest of the story. Neha Dhupia, Sanjay Mishra and Amole Gupte play gangsters. Amole’s character is that of a typical white collared UP politician who is involved with all kinds of nefarious activities. The film takes a hilarious look at the journey of these various characters.”
Commenting on the unusual title, Subhash says, “Even though the film is set in small towns of UP, there is a lot of reference to the United States of America. In fact through various situations in the film, the characters come to believe that the only person that can help them overcome this problem of recession is Barack Obama. Hence the title With Love To Obama”
With Love To Obama is produced by Ashok Pandey of Revel Films and is likely to release around June-July this year.
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
Guard detained for Rs 84L robbery at Hema Malini’s Goregaon house
Mar 2nd
S Ahmed Ali | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; March 2, 2010)
84-LAKH ROBBERY (Brief Informtation):
HOW: One or more people broke the grille of a window at the rear end of the bungalow at Yashodhara Hilltop Society in Dindoshi, Goregaon (E), to enter the house. They damaged the latch of the bedroom door and broke the lock of the safe to steal the valuables. The police suspect it to be an inside job and have detained one of the two guards at the bungalow. A team has been sent to UP to nab the other suspect.
WHEN: Hema Malini’s cousin, who usually looks after the bungalow discovered the crime on Saturday morning when he found grilles of a window broken and valuables missing from the bedroom safe. The police said the robbery occurred possibly between Friday night and Saturday morning.
THE LOOT: In her complaint, Hema Malini said gold and diamond jewellery, worth Rs 79 lakh, and Rs 5 lakh in cash were stolen from her safe
DETAILED INFORMATION:
Mumbai: The Dindoshi police claimed to have solved the Rs 84-lakh robbery at actor Hema Malini’s Dindoshi bungalow last week, with the detention of one of the two security guards who were deployed at the house round the clock.
The other guard, also suspected to be involved in the robbery, has allegedly fled to his native place in Uttar Pradesh with the loot and a police team has been dispatched there to nab him. “We have detained one of the chowkidars who has given us some leads in the case. We are on the right track and hope to solve the case in a day or two,’’ said additional commissioner of police (north region) R E Pawar.
Hema Malini’s cousin, who usually looks after the 2,500 sq-ft bungalow at Yashodhara Hilltop Society in Dindoshi, Goregaon (E), discovered the crime on Saturday morning, when he found one of the windows broken and valuables missing from the safe inside the bedroom. He immediately called up the actress—who had just returned from Nagpur where she had gone for a dance performance—and the two went to the Dindoshi police station together.
In the complaint, which was lodged by the actress’s cousin, said while she was away in Nagpur, someone had broken into her house and stolen gold ornaments and cash, collectively worth Rs 84 lakh. “I was away for a dance show when this robbery occurred. No papers were lost, only jewellery and money are gone,” said Hema Malini. When asked if she suspected anyone, she said the police were working on it and would hopefully nab the culprit soon.
The valuables were kept inside a safe in her bedroom, said the police, who are baffled that the actress kept so much of gold and money in a bungalow (AA-39), where she stays only on weekends. Though Hema Malini claimed to visit the bungalow pretty often, a source said she stayed there hardly once a month. Following the complaint, a team from the Dindoshi police visited the actress’s bungalow and after an inspection, they said, the incident took place possibly between Friday night and Saturday early morning. Prima facie, it looked like the robbers broke a window at the rear end of the bungalow to gain entry into the house. Closer observation revealed that the accused had not only broken the iron grille on the window but also broke open the damaged the door latch of one of the bedrooms and that of the safe. “There must have been at least two to three people who were involved in the crime. They seemed confident about the layout of the house and they were so deft at breaking in that no one heard them while they were at it. From the look of it, it seemed like that of an inside job,’’ said a police officer.
The bungalow, which is among two dozen buildings that is kept under watch round the clock, is surrounded by highrises on all sides. “Hema Malini deployed two gardeners and two private security guards who stay inside the servants’ quarters built adjacent to the bungalow,’’ said S Kakade, inspector of the Dindoshi police station. “Hema Malini has this house for the past 20 years and this was the first time that the place had been broken in. We are sure to solve the case soon.’’
Movie Review: ISHQIYA by FENIL SETA
Jan 29th
When our directors think of making thriller cum action flicks, they automatically base their idea in foreign countries. At such times, one should applaud Vishal Bharadwaj for consistently coming up with some fine thrilling fares which are based entirely in a part of our country. Maqbool, Makdee, Omkara, Kaminey…all were shot in desi land and succeeded in impressing the audience too. His latest, Ishqiya, directed by debutant Abhishek Chaubey, continues with his tradition. Set in eastern UP, the film has some terrific moments and is overall completely unpredictable. However, it’s in the 2nd half where the film falls at some places. More details later!
The story of the movie: Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and his nephew Babban (Arshad Warsi) steal money from their boss Mushtaq (Salman Shahid) and reach the city of Gorakhpur to seek refuge at a friend’s house. However, when they reach there, they come to know that his friend is no more. They are reluctantly welcomed by her widow Krishna (Vidya Balan). Both Khalujaan and Mushtaq find themselves drawn towards Krishna. Death is at their doorstep and to escape it, the trio is forced to take the path of violence. However, they have hidden much more than they actually show. Watch the film to find out how the trio gets engulfed in a web of crime, passion, betrayal and deceit.
Like all Vishal Bharadwaj creations, in Ishqiya too, you take some time to get absorbed into the plot. The first scene is intriguing and mysterious. The film gets on the right track as soon as Arshad and Naseeruddin enter the narrative. Their escape from Mushtaq (which was hilarious) and meeting Krishna for the first time impress. In fact, there’s nothing that one wont like in the first hour. The intermission point comes suddenly and innovatively!
The 2nd half begins with a bang and the entire kidnap drama is nicely executed. However, after this, a lot of skeletons start coming out of the closet. To add to it, the complex narration complicates things at several points. But the film picks up in the climax. The film end is completely justified but might receive extreme reactions from different sections of moviegoers.
Notwithstanding the flaws, Ishqiya is a creative brilliance to a great extent. The script is lyrical and symbolic (note how the gas cylinder is creatively utilized in the film’s plot). Only if the aforementioned flaws were absent, Ishqiya would have been a classic!
There have been buzz that Ishqiya might remind of Omkara as both are set in Uttar Pradesh. However, the film reminded me more of Manorama Six Feet Under (which was also produced by Shemaroo). This reminds me…kudos to Shemaroo for investing in such unconventional scripts!
Everyone performs exceedingly well. Naseeruddin Shah is extremely likeable as the music lover cum aashiq. He excels throughout the film and the Naseeruddin-Vidya chemistry is crackling! Arshad Warsi is revelation! After disappointing a lot in Short Kut, he’s back with a bang! He’s absolute natural and was best in the scene where he accidentally arrives at a meeting of Maoists. And note how he pronounces plan as plane! Great work, Arshad!
Vidya Balan is absolutely natural and as expected, comes with another applauding performance. Her role required her to be mysterious, saucy, raunchy and wild at times and she does it very convincingly. Salman Shahid gives an interesting performance. The actors who played Nandu, Kakkad and Varma were brilliant. Others do a great job.
Vishal Bharadwaj’s music is outstanding. When he and Gulzar team up, the product is always impressive and Ishqiya is no exception. All songs are best. Ibn E Batuta is there but the visuals shown on the TV (the trio dancing and celebrating) is missing from the film. The other 3 songs are nicely woven in the plot.
Mohana Krishna’s cinematography is flawless. Hitesh Sonik’s background score gels with the film’s mood. Vishal Bharadwaj’s dialogues are funny and witty. There are some expletives and abusive language used but no one would complain. Screenplay (by Vishal Bharadwaj, Sabrina Dhawan, Abhishek Chaubey) is tight for most parts of the films. It’s in the pre-climax where it turns out to be complicated. A simpler narrative was needed here.
Abhishek Chaubey surprises. It is difficult to say that Ishqiya is helmed by a first-time director. He did his homework well and overall did a good job. Hoping to see him coming up with a better film next time!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. The beginning
2. Khalujaan and Babban escape from Mushtaq
3. Mushtaq reaches Krishna’s place
4. Babban with the Reds (interesting!)
5. Krishna attacks Babban and Khaujaan with a rifle
6. The intermission point
7. The trio planning the kidnap
8. Babban and Krishna follows Kakkad (hilarious)
9. The kidnap
10. Babban and Khalujaan at the factory
11. The climax
On the whole, Ishqiya is a good film which could have been better if it’s pre-climax had been written and executed well. This is a must for Vishal Bharadwaj fans and for all those who love out of the box subjects!
My rating-*** out of 5!
Dulha Mil Gaya runs to packed houses in Trinidad
Jan 23rd
By IANS (Mid-Day; January 22, 2010)
Shah Rukh Khan and Sushmita Sen starrer “Dulha Mil Gaya”, which was partly filmed in Trinidad and Tobago, is now running to packed houses in several parts of the country.
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The Bollywood movie opened here Wednesday. The scenes shot in Trinidad and Tobago ensured good participation not only from Indians, but other ethnic groups as well.
Anthony Maharaj, executive producer of the movie, said that the opportunity to produce “Dulha Mil Gaya” came from Maniedeo Persad, Trinidad and Tobago’s High Commissioner to India and Hindi film producer Vivek Vaswani.
Maharaj told the media that producing the movie was a great opportunity for the country in which 44 percent of the population has its origins from two states in India – Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
During 1845-1917, the Indians were brought here to work on the sugar and cocoa plantations and their children now constitute 44 percent of the total population of 1.3 million people.
Maharaj, who has distributed Indian films here since the 1940s, said to link up for this movie was an emotional moment.
“Dulha Mil Gaya” did not do well at the Indian box office, but is expected to be screened here for several weeks.
I’m not making a social statement with ‘Ishqiya’: Director
Jan 9th
IANS (Mid-Day; January 8, 2010)
Debutant Bollywood director Abhishek Chaubey says that his film “Ishqiya” has turned out to be a bold movie because of the rural backdrop. He, however, adds that he isn’t making any social statement with the film, which is a tale of romance, crime, suspense, passion and deceit.
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“One of the reasons why it comes across as bold is because it has a north Indian rural setting. If I were to place my characters in downtown Mumbai, then it would have been a normal movie. The locale makes the film fresh and unique,” Chaubey said.
But Chaubey clarifies that “Ishqiya” is not a social comment, rather it’s about the emotional journey of three people played by Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan.
“My backdrop, my setting, I have borrowed them from reality and I used them to tell the story. The film is about these three people, it is not a social comment. I’m not making any statement about society with my film. It’s basically about the emotional journey of these three people,” said Chaubey.
Asked what inspired him to set his film in an interior area of Uttar Pradesh, he said: “There are many reasons. The most important is that I am from there. My parents are from there, I was born there and I spent some part of my life there. I know a little bit about the place, people, culture and the landscape. And I wanted to set a film in a territory where I am most comfortable.”
“Ishqiya” could be described as a female-centric film because Vidya’s character has an important role in the movie.
“The woman in my film happens to be a very important character. She has her own issues. She has her own needs, desire and goals. She is not just an emotional support to the hero of the film. The female character in the film drives the plot in critical places,” said Chaubey.
“The film is a blend of romance and suspense. It deals with various aspects of love, lust, complete submission and false love. It is not just about the three central characters; other characters in the film are also connected to it,” he added.
Chaubey admits that the film will reflect his personal experiences as well.
“It’s very difficult for a director to make a film and not show himself. Definitely the film will have a reflection of me. You don’t plan it, you don’t think in that way, but the moment you start creating your characters, some of your personal experiences go into it.
“Things that you have experienced in your life that remain at the back of your consciousness pop up and help you in creating your film. Some part of my life has gone into the film. For instance, inputs for Vidya’s character came from women I met in my life.”
Chaubey says Vidya wasn’t apprehensive about the bold scenes, but she had to be given reasons why it was required in the movie.
“She was not apprehensive to do bold scenes, but she needed proper reason why those scenes were required. It was well explained in the script and I was also clear in my mind why her character is like that. So I gave her the details. When she came on the set, she knew what she was doing and why she was doing it.”
“Ishqiya” is slated for release Jan 29.
