Archive for October 25, 2009

Aishwarya-AbhishekAishwarya Rai & Abhishek Bachchan have been paired together on the big screen (Guru, Sarkar Raj) but so far no joint endorsement. Now for the first time the couple has come together for Lux soap. The first tv commercial featuring them is out today.

Its conceptualized by JWT Mumbai, shot by Stephen Meads (of London-based production house Short Films) and has music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Also the voice sounds like Shankar’s. Not sure. Check it out.

WTF! Nothing impressive! We didnt get whats the big deal is all about!

The rumour is they have been paid Rs 25 crore for the deal. Huh! Our bet, somebody must have heard it wrong. Going by their endorsement fees, it cant be more than Rs 2 & 5 cr for Abhishek & Aishwarya respectively. And here is the video of them talking about the commercial…

Talking of TVC’s, the two commercials which is making us smile these days are of Vodafone Diwali offer and Max New York Life Insurance. One has the killer Dadduji with “meri rai mein” quote and the other has Mummyji with “gande underwear alag rakhna” dialogue. Nothing extraordinary but they get the ordinary life pitch perfect! Two scenes which are very common in Indian middle class families. Click on the video to play.

And if you go by Rotten Tomatoes score card, its a new low in Mira Nair’s career!

Amelia1

For Top Critics, the score is at 12%, lowest rating for any film by Mira Nair so far! Her last film The Namesake scored 87% on the same scale.

And if you have not been following the film and wondering whats Amelia, then read on. 

Amelia posterAmelia is a biopic on the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to finish a record breaking flight around the world. It stars Hilary Swank, Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor. When it comes to biopics, Hollywood has delivered some great ones on screen and with the big ones, they rarely go wrong,  and manage to pick up few Oscars too.

So what went wrong with Amelia ?

To quote from the review of Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers…

“Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?” Amelia asks in a voice-over. And you want to shout, “This movie does, honey.” There’s not a real or spontaneous minute in it.

Click on the Rotten Tomatoes link at the top of the page to read other reviews. Though Roger Ebert seems to be in minority this time as he has rated it 3/5. To quote from his review….

I’m not suggesting that Mira Nair and her writers, Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan, should have invented anything for “Amelia.” It is right that they resisted any temptation. It’s just that there’s a certain lack of drama in a generally happy life. 

Amelia” is a perfectly sound biopic, well directed and acted, about an admirable woman. It confirmed for me Earhart’s courage — not only in flying, but in insisting on living her life outside the conventions of her time for well-behaved females.

BTW, if you havent seen the trailer of the film yet, click on the play button.