Archive for the ‘bollywood’ Category

Amitabh Bachchan starrer new film Paa is ready for release on Dec 4th. Its directed by R Balki and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan & Paresh Rawal. Music is by Ilaiyaraaja and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. The first trailer of the film will be out on 6th November 2009. Till then its all covered up! Here is the first official poster of Paa!

Paa

Btw, click here for the official website address of the film. So far not much there but just a bit of Ilaiyaraaja’s music.

And if you are too curious to remove the carton from the pic and see how Bachchan looks as a 13 year old in 39 years body, click here.

In the film Paa, Amitabh Bachchan (Auro) suffers from a disease called Progeria, a rare genetic disorder in which a person ages three times faster than a normal person. Its a family drama in which Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan are parents to Amitabh Bachchan, their 13 year old son who looks 39, and its all about how they try to deal with it. The look has been designed after much research and the make up used to take almost 4-5 hours everyday.

Strangely, the basic premise of Paa sounds similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s film Jack starring Robin Williams. To quote from IMDB….

JackThe movie is about a boy with a unique aging disorder: one that makes him age 4 times faster than normal. Movie picks up when Jack (Robin Williams) is 10 years old, but looks 40. He tries to go to public school for the first time, and tries to become friends with kids his own age. His physical appearance causes him lots of problems, however.

So, is Paa really Jack ? Inspiration, plagiarism or just coincidence ? Few more days and we will have the answer.

aladin webpageIts filmy friday and two big releases this week. Aladin & London Dreams. Aladin is directed by Sujoy Ghosh, produced by Eros Entertainment, and stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez. Some early reviews are out and it looks like a mixed one.

Taran Adarsh(Indiafm) – On the whole, ALADIN is a terrible waste of a terrific opportunity. Hugely disappointing! – 1 / 5

Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – But all their enthusiasm and special effects wizardry is let down by the half-baked story. Aladin never soars. See it if you must – 3/5

Chandrima Pal (Rediff) – What Ghosh dishes out in its place is some half-hearted hocus-pocus, a clumsy mix of old world lore with contemporary indifference, sloppy trips to the flashback and awkward bursts of forced sentimentality. Make a wish, Genius insists. Too late for that, isn’t it? – 2/5

Gaurav Malani (Indiatimes) – Just in case a Genie ever emerges out from your lamp, wish for once that our filmmakers come up with better ‘bound scripts’ and more enthralling adaptations. Till then all flights of fantasy should go on strike – 2/5

Udita Jhunjhunwala (DNA) – You are left wondering who films like this will appeal to. They are not amazing enough for adults or fun enough for kids. If I had a magic lamp, I would use one wish to ask for some decent, sincere films, the kind Ghosh made once upon a time (Jhankaar Beats) – 2/5

Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – Few films encourage you to free your mind and unleash your imagination. Say what you will about the Amitabh Bachchan-Ritesh Deshmukh starrer Aladin, but you cannot complain that you’ve seen this kind of Hindi film before – 3/5

Anand Vaishnav(Buzz18) – Ghosh’s setting is neither magical enough for a fantasy nor identifiable enough to be real. It’s too confusing for kids and adults alike. Except for a few laugh early on and Bachchan’s stand out act, Aladin is another addition to Bollywood’s failed attempts at fantasy – 1.5/5

Nikhat Kazmi (TOI) – To sum up with the refrain (Aladin, Aladin, kahan hai tera jinn) of the film: Aladin, Aladin, kahan hai tera sheen? Truly, a big let down from director Sujoy Ghosh who lost both his jhankar and his beats after ‘Home Delivery’ and ‘Aladin’, his films following a scintillating debut with ‘Jhankar Beats’ – 2/5

Shubhra Gupta (Indian Express) – Aladdin’ proves just one thing: Indian filmmakers should stay strictly away from the fantasy genre. The magical mystery tour that this film is meant to be falls way short of its target – 1/ 5

Minty Tejpal (Mumbai Mirror) – Aladin is a good example of how to take a beautiful fairy tale, and proceed to fairly destroy it. Since we all know the timeless story, director Sujoy Ghosh decides to give us his own special updated version, starting from the revamped genie – 1/ 5

Mayank Shekhar (Hindustan Times) – At 65, his(Bachchan) on-screen presence is likely to get scarcer with age. Audiences are still interested in his work. If only he wouldn’t green-light unbelievable, hollow, expensive rubbish that’d be pelted on us merely because, he said yes – 1/5

Kaveree Bamzai (India Today) – Why has the Genie chosen Aladin to save the world from the hands of Sanjay Dutt, the Ringmaster? What will happen when the comet crashes into Khwaish? And will Genie get his wish and head off to retirement, to wear his blingy jackets and do the disco? Yes, all is revealed in the end, but by then we’ve had too much of Mr Muscular (Sahil Khan) and Ms Great Legs (Fernandez) – 2/5

So, why are critics giving bad reviews to Aladin ? Our theory – Because they took Sanjay Dutt too seriously who said…Buri aadat badal daalo, Aladin ko maar dalo!

London DreamsThe other big release is London Dreams directed by Vipul Shah, and stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan & Music. And from the early reviews it looks & feels like Gujju Rock On!

Taran Adarsh(Indiafm) – On the whole, LONDON DREAMS has superb performances from its principal cast and several emotionally-charged sequences as its two trump cards. But its biggest drawback is its climax and also the music, which is the weakest link of the movie – 3 / 5

Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – Most of us don’t watch Hindi films for their verisimilitude but honestly, how much disbelief can a viewer suspend. There are a few nice songs here and occasional moments of charm provided by Salman Khan, who once again, plays a variation of Salman Khan. Otherwise London Dreams is as much fun as a stuck record. See if it you must – 2/5

Anand Vaishnav (Buzz18) – Eventually London Dreams is all about the joy of watching Salman and Ajay’s chemistry. Their star power makes up for all the flaws. Both have put their heart and soul into the film, delivering powerhouse, career defining performances – 3.5 / 5

Chandrima Pal (Rediff) – You may like London Dreams for its beautiful frames, some paisa-vasool moments between Salman and Devgn, a good background score and catchy songs. For the rest, you need willing suspension of disbelief. And large doses of it – 2.5/5

Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – London Dreams, directed by Vipul Shah, is a frustratingly foolish film about foolish people. It’s the kind of film whose central conflict could be instantly resolved if the characters concerned simply sat down and had a chat – 2 / 5

Khalid Mohamed(Khalidsspot) – With all its mad flaws and inadequacies, Shah’s enterprise still sees him going beyond the klutzy rishtas and pishtas. If you think that’s sufficient reason to buy a ticket , check out this London Whippy Whippy Shake – 2 / 5

Shubhra Gupta (Indian Express) – With his latest film, Vipul Amrutlal Shah goes back to familiar territory : Punjabi ‘munda’ in London town, all set to conquer the world. Akshay Kumar did it wonderfully in ‘Namaste London’. This time around, it is Ajay Devgn’s turn, accompanied by partner-in-crime Salman Khan, but the two-for-the-price-of-one isn’t as much of a success – 2/5

Minty Tejpal (Mumbai Miror) – At the end, London Dreams is worth a watch, though it could have been far better – 2 /5

Mayank Shekhar (Hindustan Times) – This is how hinterland ticket-holders would like to see both.Don’t worry about the story-line. There is no writing, merely good locations and great lighting; wouldn’t shock me if it sort of lit up the producer’s balance sheet as well. Well – 1.5 / 5

Kaveree Bamzai (India Today) – Imagine Rock On!! in Punjabi with stereophonic emotional drama? Can’t? Well that’s London Dreams, where two best friends fall apart over a girl and their music. Now where have we seen this before? Yes, yes, everywhere. But Vipul Shah’s forte has never been originality. It has been energy and joie de vivre, which the film has in plenty. Almost enough to save it. Almost – 2.5/5

Our take – We think if they had gone to the stage with dandiya sticks instead of drum sticks it would have been good fun!

Forget the biggies, we are going to MAMI Film Festival this weekend!

3 IdiotsIts one of the most anticipated films of the year! And finally here is the first look of the film! The trailer of Rajkumar Hirani’s Three Idiots starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi & Boman Irani. The film is produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, has music by Shantanu Moitra and lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. 

Earlier a 10 second teaser was leaked out. Now here is the full 90 seconds trailer. Enjoy!

And if you missed it earlier, here is the story/plot/synopsis of the film…..

Two friends embark on a request for a lost buddy. On this journey they encounter a long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash and a funeral that goes impossibly out of control.

As they make their way through the perilous landscape, another journey begins: their inner journey through memory lane and the story of their friend–the irrepressible free- thinker Rancho[Aamir Khan], who in his unique way, touches and changes their lives.

It is a story of their hostel days that swings between Rancho college romance with the spirited Pia [Kareena], and his clash with an oppressive mentor[Boman Irani].

Finally, in misty mountains of unparalleled beauty, the friends[R Madhavan and Sharman Joshi] find the key to the secret that they seek.

3 Idiots is a comedy of ideas that is as provocative as it is funny, as wildly entertaining as it is insightful. A laugh-riot that talks about the most important of human pursuits: self-actualization.

We understand shit about fashion! But we can surely spot the shit too. We rarely follow any fashion week but this one got us ROFL! At the ongoing Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi, Jaya Prada walked the ramp for designers Ashima & Leena. Check it out!

jaya prada

We are still confused about it. What the fuck is it ? Its her Junglee queen or  flower vase or fruit basket avatar ? Or is it Lajpat Nagar effect ? To quote India Today – the showstopper for designers Ashima and Leena had the audience in splits with her (Jaya Prada) disastrous diva act on the ramp. You can read the full report here.

And you have to see her walking ? Click on the play button.

In the second video, she describes her experience about walking the ramp. She thought she was the QUEEN! Ok, so its confirmed. Its The Jungle Queen avatar. Enjoy!

Aladin - Ritesh Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez & Amitabh BachchanFor the first hundred people!! Yes, thats what he tweeted on monday late night after watching Aladin! And like us, if you are following his tweets, its difficult to say how many times he has already seen the film. He saw the film during edit – alone, with Sujoy, with Shekhar, on big screen – with Ritesh, with Sujoy and again and again! Have lost the count. To quote his tweet …

you know what? after tonight, i’ll stick my neck out. i’ve rarely seen a film as big as ALADIN, yet so complete as an emotional journey. 

And the ticket refund one….

 loved ALADIN so much tonight, that if you go, and don’t like it, i’ll refund your ticket-price, for the first hundred people! there!

Woohoo! So, BIG is the key word here. The film is directed by Sujoy Ghosh and stars Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh and Jacqeline Fernandez. The cast and the crew have been tweeting non-stop about the film since last few weeks forming a mutual admiration club. Here’s what Ritesh tweeted after the screening last night….

saw Aladin @sujoy_g extremely proud of you and the film. You delivered more than u promised me. BIG THANK U for my BIGGEST FILM

“Big” is again the key word. It becomes bigger to BIGGEST! Big B also blogged about it. To quote from his blog….

I live with the images that last night’s trial of ‘Aladin’ have impressed upon me. I am proud to have been a part of this venture, that has certainly created a finesse and grandeur in fantasy film making much much more than what I had expected from it. It is smooth and vibrant and not in your face yet effective enough to know that it is. The characters , the settings, the music and the situations all have been blended in a most ingenious manner. For the first time in my entire career of film trial history, the audience that habitually consists of trade people, applauded after a song sequence came to an end. We in the business have become accustomed to watching films with the patent ingredients that help us assess the potential of a film. It was and is difficult for me to state whether I found those ingredients last night in ‘Aladin’ and therefore a prediction is difficult to come by. But then some of the last few releases had drummed up sufficient passion in their patent ingredients, but did not come up winners. The unpredictability of this business is the only predictability.

Well, unlike Vishal, Bachchna is not willing to stick his neck out but wraps it up on a slightly skeptical note. So, what do we know ? Here is what our spies told us.

OK. Its BIG in scale. Big is surely the key word! And better. Much better than anything you have seen in a hindi film. Unlike other hindi films, the special effects are damn smooth. But its a children’s film, as in, its a complete masala entertainer for family. With a hero, heroine, villain, love story and a Genie – what else can you deliver!

So, you going for Aladin or London Dreams this friday ?

Chance Pe DanceThe first trailer of Ken Ghosh’s new film Chance Pe Dance is out. Its produced by UTV and stars Shahid Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza. The film was earlier titled Yahoo. As always, most of the time the first trailer of our films dont say much about the film but puts out a montage of some of the best looking shots and so is this one. Check out.

And for story/plot/synopsis of Chance Pe Dance, click here.

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.

Fruit&Nut-1Funny man Kunal Vijayakar turns director with this week’s release Fruit and Nut. The film has Cyrus Broacha, Boman Irani, Mahesh Manjrekar and Dia Mirza in the lead and is produced by Studio 18. Some early reviews…

Taran Adarsh (Indiafm)– Director Kunal Vijaykar tries hard to keep you entertained, but the writing is just not captivating. Sure, you do laugh at a few jokes/situations, but there are times when the jokes aren’t too funny and also tend to get repetitive. On the whole, FRUIT & NUT has some funny moments, that’s it! A film like this holds very limited appeal – 1.5 / 5

Anupama Chopra (NDTV) – Vijaykar and his actors are straining too hard to make you laugh at jokes that are simply too flimsy for film. It’s exhausting more than entertaining. See it if you must – 1.5 / 5

Sukanya Verma (Rediff) -My advice, skip the movie, buy the chocolate. It’s good. It’s fun – 1/ 5

Anand Vaishnav (Buzz 18) – Fruit & Nut would have been a brilliant two minute spoof on TV. But when stretched into a two hour film, it runs out of steam. This chocolate doesn’t have a sweet enough aftertaste – 2/ 5

Gaurav Malani (Indiatimes)Kunal Vijaykar’s 5-minute Fully Faltoo series on MTV was funnier than this entire excuse for a film. Teaming up with Cyrus, he makes a bakra (scapegoat) of the audience. Fruit and Nut is cheesy filmmaking. In a nutshell, this is fruitless entertainment – 1.5 / 5

Nikhat Azmi (TOI) – Neither fruity nor nutty, this film ends up as a total squish. After an unfruitful watch, you feel completely let down since the film boasts of a Still from Fruit and star cast that includes most of the contemporary funsters of the entertainment industry – 1.5 / 5

Kaveree Bamzai (India Today) – Unfortunately, the writers seem to have exhausted themselves thinking of the funny names and the interesting premise. There is nothing beyond it, except for two senseless item songs, one each for Irani and Mirza to stretch their legs – 1 / 5

Rajeev Masand (CNN IBN) – Despite juvenile jokes like peeing on open electric wires, Fruit & Nut is mercifully not the sort of vulgar comedy we’ve got used to seeing at the cinemas these days. It’s best suited for those who don’t have a problem with silly, childish humour – 1.5 / 5

Well, this friday Cyrus & Kunal dont have to look out for bakras. They need to look in  the mirror!  

SwadesAshutosh Gowariker’s Swades is one of our favourite films. And among those counted few films in which we really liked Shah Rukh Khan.

What we knew was that the film is based on a tv series. What we didnt know was the long story behind this long film! A reader of our blog mailed us some interesting info about it. Its in first person account by Mr V. On Swades, Whats Your Raashee, Lage Raho Munnabhai & more! Have replaced few names with their intials. Read on.

Hi…Last afternoon I was at a brunch hosted by AL to celebrate his birthday….As the wine, mojito’s and beer started doing the rounds and the guests were getting a tad reckless…..Sanjay Chhel who was seated at my table along with GB suddenly stated…Swades was V’s script…..we all knew it… It had come on Zee TV’s Yule Love stories as a 1.5 hour, two 45 minutes episode story in 1996!!!!!!!!! Ashutosh played SRK’s role in it as an actor….i was taken aback at this sudden announcement! It was a de ja vu.

Cut Back to:-

Swades Premiere. December 2004 at Fame Malad…. During the interval inside the smoking room of the multiplex… as I was puffing away along side Abbas Mastan and a few others… Anurag Kashyap walked in saying…. V- Bhai this is your script Waapasi on Zee Tv… I will never forget it…..Abbas-Mastan turn to look at me wondering who the hell i am… and also who the hell is Anurag!!!!!!!!!

That night post the premiere….Satya the producer of the Yule love story who gets the credit for story of Swadesh, Anand Subramanium, an alumini of FTII who directed Wapasi and myself were stopped by Ashutosh wanting to know our reactions as we were the original creators of the film according to him……..All we said was he fucked up a simple love story of an NRI who comes to pick up his Kaveri amma…discovers his roots in a village, feels guilty seeing poverty and exploitation of poor and also finds his soulmate and decides to stay back.

By trying to be in Appy’s words ‘A shantaram’ he went haywire with that electricity making incident which is incidentally a chapter in a Book titled Bapu Kutir… Bapu Kutir is a compilation of events & expereiences of some 10 people who gave up lucrative careers in the corporate world to follow Gandhian principles!!!!!!!!!!

The event in the film comes as tangent from no where… The Yule Love Story episode begins with the hero landingin Delhi looking for Kaveri amma and meeting the herione in the travel agency who gives him the wrong address and he takes a caravan bus to trace her and the story ends when his caravan leaves the village and the herione thinks he has left for good and turns to walk back and to her surprise he comes back in his caravan and honks behind her!!!!!!!!!

The character of Dayashankar Pandey of a village buffon wanting to go to USA in Swades is a character created by Naushil Mehta and myself in a play called Suitable Bride way back in 1996. Incidentally Suitable Bride is the inspiration for What’s Your Raashee…Its infact a straight lift of my play…. NM and I directed the play and also adpated it for stage from the novel Kimball Ravenswood. Seema Kapoor played 12 roles and Babbloo Mukherjee played Yogesh Patel…Darshan Jariwala plays the same character he played in the play!

Incidentally the play was a musical and had 12 songs… we had to drop the songs after the first 5 shows as the running time of the play was 3.5 hours and we realised audience were getting impatient. What’s Your Raashee is also 3.5 hours with 13 songs!!!!!!!!!!

There are 8 people who get the credit for screenplay in Swades and one of the guys told me that my dialogue script of Waapasi was photocopied and circulated amongst the 8 of them to change it from TV to a film script… Scene to scene, dialogue to dialogue ( i used to write dialogues in those days) were kept as in the original!

And exactly like Swades I am told I am getting a credit in What’s Your Raashee too in the begining acknoweldgements………You may ask why am i talking about it NOW!!!!! ST the producer of the show on Zee wanted to file a case against Ashutosh and UTV for cheating me of my credits and compensation… I didn’t want to file a case as i felt it was pointless exercise.

Ashutosh on his part had asked my permission to do the film saying he is using only the story and changing the screenplay….Well he did change the screenplay….By adding 40 minutes of NASA begining and end of film and a good 30-40 minute of the Bapu Kutir.

The reason I am talking about this today is I feel after what Amole Gupte went through…and more over… SC…whose idea Gandhi and Godfather… narrated to Mr. Dutt during the making of Khoobsoorat becomes Lage raho Munnabhai!

I feel there is no harm in giving the due people their credit or atleast let people know the real people behind these works…My name comes in the acknowledgements of Swades and Whats Your Raashee but I feel Swades is more Anand Subramanium than Ashu Gowarikar…..And Lage Raho Munnabhai is Chel rather than Hirani and Abhijat Joshi… and as for Taare Zameen Par… people in the know… know who directed the film 🙂

Wooohoo! Some revealations and it all seems so believable except the Lage Raho Munnabhai part! Whats your guess ?

BTW, according to IMDB, the writing credit of Swdes has nine names as follows.

Story – M.G. Sathya and Ashutosh Gowariker

Screeplay – Ashutosh Gowariker, Sameer Sharma, Lalit Marathe, Amin Hajee,  Charlotte Whitby-Coles, Yashodeep Nigudkar & Ayan Mukherjee 

Dialogue – K.P. Saxena

Aao Wish KarienWhat do you do when you have no films in hand ? Turn Producer. And thats the mantra of lot of out-of-work actors. Ask Dino Morea, Sushmita Sen, Sohail Khan among others. And the  new kid to join the club is  Aftab Shivdasani.

Aftab has started his own production house called Rising Sun Entertainment (Hmm..ambitious!) and their first film Aao Wish Karein is ready for release. Obviously it stars Aftab Shivdasani and his girlfreind Aamna Shariff and is directed by Glen Barreto (Jaane Hoga Kya ? Dont get us wrong. Thats the film he co-directed earlier, rite ? ). The story is about a kid who wants to grow up and suddenly one day his wish comes true.

The first promo of the film is out. All is well except the way they have decided to kill one of our favourite songs…sabse picche hum khade! Check out the video. It doesnt get any more boring than this! The song was earlier used in the film Lets Enjoy.