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Posts tagged yash johar
How the Guide songs helped the film find a distributor
04 days ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 20, 2013)
Forty-eight years later, Dev Anand’s ‘crazy dream’ remains unforgettable for its songs: Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai, Din dhal jaaye, Gaata rahe mera dil and Piya toh se naina laage re. And it was Piya toh se naina laage re that found Guide a buyer.
After the debacle of the English version, directed by Tad Danielewski, there were no takers for the Hindi version of Guide. A couple of distributors gave it a thumbs-down and director Vijay Anand aka Goldie refused to screen it. The film remained in the cans till producer Yash Johar, who was with the Navketan banner at the time, persuaded a Delhi distributor to watch two songs.
According to Dev, as soon as Piya toh se… ended, this distributor told Johar he was buying the film, which then premiered at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir in 1965. It received a lukewarm response from the film fraternity but enjoyed a 10-week run at the theatre. When drought hit Gujarat, posters of ‘Guide praying for rains’ mushroomed all over the state and the movie completed its silver jubilee in Ahmedabad. Dev was determined to risk his career as a hero for the part of Raju Guide, who lures the young and beautiful wife of an ageing archaeologist with the promise of fame, landing in prison for fraud instead and finally finding salvation, masquerading as a sadhu.
But it was the songs that landed Waheeda Rehman the role of Rosie in the movie. Danielewski had decided to cast Leela Naidu, who’d been paired More >
Big B brought bad films; Haven’t liked a SRK film after DDLJ-Rakhee
18 months ago
by Fenil Seta
in Interviews
Rakhee breaks her silence after 15 years. Tells us why DDLJ was the last Shah Rukh Khan film she liked
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 18, 2012)
Why are you so reclusive? Why should I be in the public glare? I don’t need too much money. I don’t have too many responsibilities any more. I love my independence. There is nobody to question me. For the longest time now, it’s been my farmhouse near Panvel and my animals. I think I may have belonged to the animal kingdom in my past life. And then, I have my books. I am happy and contented.
Has your love for animals and plants landed you in a spot? I remember Yash Johar coming home one day and falling off the stairs because my dogs chased him. He ended up getting a hairline fracture. Another time, I got into an argument with Amitabh Bachchan when our car stopped and he started looking for the water bottles that had been kept inside. When he realised I had used all that water over some plants, he quipped, “Where are you coming from?” To which, I replied, “Why do you carry a sitar with you when you don’t play it?”
Why did you stop acting? I withdrew from films once I stopped getting roles of my choice. But I will always remember my journey and how lucky I have been in getting to learn from so many directors. I shared a great equation with the Barjatyas, Yash Chopra and Dev Anand. I still remember shooting at the TOI building when Satyen Bose slapped me when I didn’t get a scene right in Jeevan Mrityu. I recall when I More >
Rohit Shetty to direct film for Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions
11 year ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Bollywood biggies Karan Johar and director Rohit Shetty on their reasons for coming together for a film
Sarita Tanwar (BOMBAY TIMES; May 9, 2012)
One of B-Town’s biggest producers and one of the industry’s most successful directors (in recent times) are coming together for a film. Big news? Hell, yeah!
‘Who?’ you ask. Karan Johar and Rohit Shetty. Okay… wait, what? They’re worlds apart, cinematically! So, how did this happen? Says Karan, “We are both passionate about cinema. Apart from that, I greatly admire him as a filmmaker and a person. He has tremendous goodwill in the industry. He has the respect of his cast and crew. Everyone who has worked with him has a word of praise for him. And that’s so rare in the industry. I know that they love and respect him, and for me that speaks for the kind of person he is. As a director, his track record speaks for itself.”
That brings us to the film’s genre. “Nothing is finalised yet,” says Karan, “Right now, Rohit has some commitments to finish and once that’s done, we’ll figure that and the cast out. Then, we’ll make the big announcement.” It will be big. You can count on stars queueing up. Shetty and Johar will have the pick of the lot.
Karan continues, “Dharma has produced many films with first-time directors (Soham Shah, Nikhil Advani, Ayan Mukherjee, Punit Malhotra, Rensil D’Silva, and Karan Malhotra). This is the first time we’ve got an established director… someone who is on top of his game. He’s made six films in five More >
Anupama Chopra talks about her new book
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Anupama Chopra walks the tightrope as she continues her love affair with the film industry even as she gives it the objective eye
Namrata Bhawnani (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 08, 2011)
Pre-1993, when Bollywood was being bankrolled by the underworld, the industry was almost blasé about its murky associations, says author Anupama Chopra.
In her new book, First Day First Show, she quotes a producer-director, “What is the problem if people are taking money from these people? Their money is not contaminated. It doesn’t matter as long as you make the film and repay them.”
Anupama laughs, “Back then, I was naïve enough to ask producers ‘Are you the mafia?’ People visited Dubai to pay homage to Dawood.
The money was generous, paid on time and there were bankrolled shopping sprees. When the industry became a target with the shootings, it was a dark, weird time. Now I don’t hear of them funding the industry.”
The petite writer is chatty even though she is in a rush to prepare for her trip to Cannes. Three years ago, when she was on the jury, she nearly collapsed while chasing Hollywood stars for interviews and trying to catch all the films. “I had to shoot in a wheelchair,” she says, bursting into peals of laughter.
Her book chronicles the evolution of what was essentially a chaotic cottage industry into its current more sanitized avatar.
Twenty years ago, Anupama returned with a master’s degree from a top journalism school in the US, to become a film journalist when More >
KJo signs Robin Slater for Agneepath
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
The Hollywood make-up artist is on board. Amongst other things, she is working on Hrithik Roshan’s look, which will be very different from Amitabh Bachchan’s in the original
Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 23, 2011)
Karan Johar has thrilled for two reasons: one, about remaking Agneepath, a cult classic that his father Yash Johar made and two, about signing Hollywood make-up artist Robin Slater, who happens to be a two-time Oscar nominee.
Slater will design the look for both Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt in the remake.
Slater is not new to Bollywood though. Our source said, “Robin has known Karan for some time now. She also worked on SRK’s look in My name Is Khan.”
The late Mukul S Anand directed the 1990 original, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty and Danny Denzongpa in the lead roles. The remake will be directed by Karan Malhotra and is already on floors.
The source added, “To design a special look for Vijay Deenanath Chauhan’s character and that of Kancha Cheena’s played by Hrithik and Sanju respectively, Robin was chosen again.”
Apparently, Slater is currently in Mumbai and is working on both Hrithik’s and Sanjay’s looks. And guess what? Both their looks will be very different from the looks sported by Amitabh Bachchan and Danny in the original.
The shooting has already begun, they say, but the looks are being kept under wraps.
When contacted, Karan Malhotra, the director of the film, confirmed the news and said, More >
Hrithik-Priyanka to get ‘passionate’ in Agneepath
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Subhash K. Jha, January 20, 2011 – 12:17 IST
You’ve never seen them like this before. Unprecedented sparks are going to fly between ‘passionate’ Priyanka Chopra and ‘intense’ Hrithik Roshan in Agneepath.
Says a source, “Hrithik and Priyanka don’t believe in half-measures. If they’ve to convey intense feelings and passion they will go the whole hog in Agneepath. If in Krissh they romanced innocently keeping the kids in mind, their togetherness in Agneepath will be for Adults only.”
The camaraderie between Hrithik and Priyanka is so palpable that Karan Johar gets a sense of deja vu. As a child, on his father Yash Johar’s sets of Agneepath in 1990, Amitabh Bachchan and Madhavi shared the same easygoing bum-chum bantering and witty vibes as Priyanka and Hrithik.
Says a source, “Karan was just a teenager when his father had produced the original Agneepath. He still remembers the fantastic rapport between Mr. Bachchan and Madhavi. That relationship, Karan and his Agneepath remake’s director Karan Malhotra felt, needed to be developed. The Hrithik-Priyanka bonding in the new Agneepath will build on the relationship that Karan had seen between Mr. Bachchan and Madhavi in the original Agneepath. The love story would be the core of the film.”
When asked about the Hrithik-Priyanka rapport, Karan Johar said, “All I can tell you at the moment is that Priyanka is not playing a nurse like Madhavi in the original and she is not playing prostitute either. Yes we’ve built on the More >
I change diapers every morning-Sanjay Dutt
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
Sanjay Dutt on how he burps the twins and even cleans their mess…
Meena Iyer | TNN (BOMBAY TIMES; December 8, 2010)
Even at 51, Bollywood’s enfant terrible Sanjay Dutt is your quintessential rock star. After 28 years in showbiz and a legacy of movies (most of which have gone unnoticed except the Munnabhai series), there is very little that can actually affect his Box Office positioning. While he is out of the numbers race, Sanjay still manages to get enviable roles and a remuneration befitting a superstar.The paparazzi, however, continue to have a blast, taking potshots at his personal life. But Sanju is a seasoned player for the most part. He continues to bask in the warmth of his marriage to Maanyata and enjoy the gurgles of his two-month-old twins — Shahran (royal warrior) and Iqra (the learned one).
The reason why he is open to a media interaction today is because he has a stellar part in Eros International and Anil Kapoor Films Co Ltd’s whacko comedy No Problem, directed by Anees Bazmee, lined up for release tomorrow. Besides which, Sanju’s producing David Dhawan’s Rascals. And since you can’t have enough of comedies now, he is also in Indra Kumar’s Dhamaal-2.
“There’s plenty of work happening,’’ he smiles. “As much as I can handle. I’m balancing the lighthearted stuff with Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Power and Karan Johar’s Agneepath, where I play a suave villain. I shared a very deep bond with Yash Johar, Karan’s father… and More >
Abhi wants to teach Hrithik a lesson…
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
…On how to play Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, a role immortalised by his dad in Agneepath ; the film is being remade by Karan Johar
Kunal M Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 06, 2010)
The mantle of remaking Agneepath has rightfully gone from Yash Johar to his son, Karan Johar. However, protagonist Vijay Deenanath Chauhan’s coveted role will not go to Amitabh Bachchan’s son, Abhishek; instead, Hrithik Roshan will play it.
The Amitabh-Mithun-Danny starrer was a superhit in 1990 and it went on to be a cult film for generations to come. Amitabh Bachchan also won a national award for the film.
But considering the protagonist’s role has now gone to Hrithik, you wonder if Abhishek is upset.
Our source said, “Agneepath is Abhishek’s favourite film and he has watched it many times. So, when it was announced that Hrithik would play Amitabh Bachchan’s role, everyone thought Abhishek would not take it well.”
Apparently, during the shooting of Koffee with Karan, where Abhishek had come with his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karan asked a question during the rapid fire round about how Abhishek would dress if he had to go for a masquerade party. Incidentally, the same night Hrithik had thrown a party.
So, Abhishek said that he would go as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan and give tips to Hrithik about how he should play the role.”
Karan Johar remained unavailable for comments. Fazila Allana, head honcho of Sol Production Pvt. Ltd, which produces the show, did not deny More >
KJo on why Hrithik and not Abhishek for Agneepath remake
02 years ago
by Fenil Seta
in Bollywood News
By Subhash K. Jha, October 20, 2010 – 13:41 IST
It’s official. Karan Johar finally admits it is Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra in the Agneepath remake.
Speaking officially for the first time about the casting of the Agneepath remake, Karan Johar coolly and cleverly passes on the buck to his newbie director Karan Malhotra for Abhishek Bachchan’s non-presence in the remake…a casting digression that jolted everyone who thought Abhishek was a natural and inevitable inheritor of the Agneepath role.
Says Karan Johar, “When my father (the late Yash Johar) produced Agneepath, he left everything to his director Mukul Anand and kept completely away from the project. I’m carrying on the family tradition. The casting for the Agneepath remake was decided by the director Karan Malhotra. He decided on Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra. Why Hrithik and not Abhishek? I think Siddharth has his own ideas on how to present the character. I think the protagonist in the new Agneepath would be very different from how he was in the original.”
The script for the new Agneepath is also entirely re-vamped. Priyanka Chopra won’t play a nurse, like Madhvi had done in the original. And the Mithun Chakraborty’s character from the original has been done away with completely.
If there was any tension about the Bachchan’s scion, Abhishek not even been approached for the remake of Agneepath, it was wiped away last week at the haute couture week where it was crystal-clear in public that the More >