Posts Tagged ‘Kabir Khan’

We love year end lists. It’s great fun to see who thinks what about which film at the end of the year. Rajeev Masand does a year end roundtable with actors and directors.

In this year’s roundtable, he has six filmmakers who talk about some of the newsy topics and the challenges they faced. The directors are Sriram Raghavan (Badlapur), Anand L Rai (Tanu Weds Manu Returns), Zoya Akhtar (Dil Dhadakne Do), Shoojit Sircar (Piku), Sharat Katariya (Dum Laga Ke Haisha), and Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan).

Rensil D’Silva ? He is ad filmmaker & screenwriter ( Rang De Basanti, Luck ) and is making his directorial debut with Saif Ali, Kareena Kapoor & Vivek Oberoi in the lead. The film is titled Kurbaan ( earlier titled Jehad) and is produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.

new yorkHere is the dope. Rensil recently checked out Kabir Khan’s New York, the new film from Yashraj Films. And he was shocked to see that two scenes in New York are exactly the same as it is in his film Kurbaan. Now how is that possible ? He quickly called up Karan to inform him about it. Karan generally sends all his scripts to Aditya Chopra for his feedback. Well, the dots got connected soon.

Now, Rensil D’Silva doesnt know what to do. He can’t go back and re-shoot those two scenes. And if he keeps the same scenes, it will look like he copied it from New York. Which scenes ? Read on.

1) The scene where Nawajuddin is driving the car and Katrina Kaif is sitting next to him. The police guys stops the car and asks Nawajuddin to show his license. He doesn’t understand english and so reacts violently thinking that police guys are harassing him because he is a muslim.

2) The second scene is the one where John Abraham introduces Neil Nitin Mukesh to his group. He picks out the traitor in the group and tells him to run away. And then John turns to Neil and asks him to take aim at the guy.

First was Suchita Bhhatia and now its from Karan Johar. what is Aditya Chopra upto these days ?

Strangely, K Jo sold the distribution rights of his two forthcoming films Kurbaan & Wake Up Sid to UTV, instead of Yashraj films who have been distributing his films for long. And now this incident. Will K Jo trust Adi again ? The answer isn’t difficult to guess.

Suchita BhhatiaWho is this Suchita Bhhatia ? Whats her background ? That’s what Kabir Khan, the director of New York is wondering. And like him, if you are in the same boat we got the dope.

Suchita Bhhatia – Freelance writer. Have worked on Ad films with Dibakar Bannerjee. Done the making of Piyush Jha’s Sikandar & Bhavna Talwar’s Happy. Last job with Bhavna Dharam Talwar. Is from Delhi.

new yorkHer story – In 2006, she emailed Aditya Chopra introducing herself as a screenwriter. Chopra replied back and asked her to meet Arjun Sablok. She met Sablok & narrated him two story ideas. One was Osama – A Love Story. Two lead characters. Set in New York. They are in college. Fall in love. Gets married. 9/11 happens. The guy is muslim, is picked up and is sent to jail. Illegal detention. Torture. Harsh life. He comes out of jail and joins a terrorist group. Her script is registered with FWA ( Film Writers Association).

The basic premise of the story suspiciously sounds similar to New York’s main plot.

Yashraj Films version – Arjun Sablok says he doesn’t remember meeting her or hearing any story similar to New York. Kabir Khan has no clue because she never met him and doesn’t even claim so. Kabir Khan says she is doing it all for free publicty and claims that Aditya Chopra doesn’t reply to any stranger’s email.

Current status – Suchita has lodged a complaint with FWA ( Film Writers Association). Submitted email proofs and her story. Yashraj Films has decided to file a defamation case againt her. Is it to scare her or is it for true ? Not confirmed yet.

new yorkto find out that circumcision comes from two latin words circum (meaning around) and caedere (meaning to cut). And New York is just “around” a triangle love story that has been “cut” to give some thrill. Story is by Aditya Chopra. Need we say more.

So let the right ones in. Kabir Khan. In. Irfan Khan. In. Katrina Kaif. In. Nawazuddin. In. John Abraham & Neil Nitin Mukesh ? They are cute. Get them in.

As a friend said what else do you expect from Yashraj Films ? They will romanticise terrorism too. And thats too little and too late. When the world is done with it and have moved ahead, we suddenly have woken up. In Kabir Khan’s New York, 9/11 seems just one more coincidence as there are such big holes in the film through which the twin towers can easily pass through. Too filmy, too convenient and too many unanswered questions. Here goes few which we could not digest. (Spoiler Alert)

FBI – at one point it detains anyone it wants. At other, it waits & waits & waits. For evidence. It negotiates with a terrorist. Oops, make that terrorist’s wife. Ganga gaye to gangadas, yamuna gaye to yamunadas.

John Abraham – even after nine months in jail, the hulk still has the bulk. Otherwise whats the point of shooting him nude, right ? The eye candy should score some ticket sales atleast.

College – Like in all hindi films, for two years, they all just sang “Hai junoon”. Much much later you get to know that John was studying architecture. And so he uses his architecture gyaan for cleaning windows!

Mom-dad – If I am not wrong, I did hear about John & Katrina’s parents. Katrina gave quite a long lecture on that. But even as they go through so much shit in life, their parents seem to be busy holidaying in Timbucktoo. More Casting ? Cut it.

Buck Fush – Except few people with placards in one shot, it doesnt feel like a story set in New York. You don’t even get to know the city & its politics. Its only there till college romance where foreign extras have been hired in good numbers.

Nawazuddin – The actor who packs more punches & definitely more emotions in one confession statement than the entire star cast & the complete film put togther. But the way he suddenly pops in & pops out, I am wondering why suddenly this dose of realism. His short story felt much more genuine than others. 

Kabir Khan’s debut film Kabul Express was also on the similar lines. Tackling a world issue in a commercial format. But this one is purely commercial trying to be seriously concerned. And this is just the beginning. More circumcision will soon follow. Rensil D’Silva with Qurbaan starring Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor & Viek Oberoi. And finally Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan starring Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol. Will they cut more or less or just around it ? 

Dvd recco – Watch Khuda Ke Liye. The Pakistani film was shoddily made but had its heart at the right place. Naseerduddin Shah’s debut film Yun Hota To Kya Hota was a collage of few stories that smoothly flowed in. From Hollywood, United 93 & Michael Moore’s brillant documenatry Fahrenheit 9/11 are must watch.

PS – Mayank Shekhar, what were you smoking ? 3.5 for this one ? We used to think Nikhat Kazmi & Taran Adarsh are the twin towers of film criticism. When did you join the gang ?

new yorkThe dry days are finally over. The first big release of the season is New York, directed by Kabir Khan and stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh & Irfan Khan. The film’s reviews are out and they are as extreme as they can be. Did they all see the same film ? Doesn’t look like. Hav a look. For full reviews, click on the links.

Rediff (Raja Sen ) –  New York is a sham –  1 / 5

Indiafm (Taran Adarsh) – Go for it now! – 4/5

CNN IBN (Rajeev Masand) – Not convincing – 2/5

Mumbai Mirror (Minty Tejpal) – Worth the price – 3/5

India Today (Kaveree Bamzai ) – Politics score, not the plot – 2/5

Hindustan Times (Mayank Shekhar) – For sure, NY see! – 3.5/5

So what do you guys think ? We are yet to watch it.

PritamAccused of plagiarism! And according to news reports, the music composer has hit the half century mark on plagiarism charts with this song. After West, the current trend is to look east for inspiration and Pritam does the same. The song in question is Hai Junoon from Kabir Khan’s New York. Its plagiarised from a song called Naluri Lelaki by an Indonesian band Samsons. Check out the two songs and see if you think the same.

There is an interesting twist in the tale too. It seems singer-composer Pankaj Awasthi revealed the same in the youtube link of the original song by posting a comment there as Awasthiji. But later on the comment was removed “by the author”. Itwofs.com has a screenshot of the page before it was removed. You can check it here.

Pankaj Awasthi is credited as music composer for one song in New York, Aye Saaye Mere. It surely was a brave step on Pankaj’s part to come out and put the comment but then why remove it ?! Was it because of Yashraj Films or Pritam ? We love and respect Pankaj Awasthi’s music, much more than Pritam’s or Yashraj’s, and hope that he gets a fair deal without being threatend for being honest and candid. 

Though the film’s promo says it all but  if you are interested to know more about the plot, story or synopsis and the characters, we have got it. Read on.

New York is directed by Kabir Khan ( Kabul express) and stars John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif. Its produced by Yashraj Films.

Synopsis :

new yorkNEW YORK is a contemporary story of friendship set against the larger than life backdrop of a city often described as the centre of the world. Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) has gone abroad for the first time in his life and soon enough he begins to see and love America through the eyes of his American friends – Sam (John Abraham) and Maya (Katrina Kaif). It is the story of these three friends discovering a new world together.

But one day the world around them changed…

For most of us, larger events in the world are just headlines in the newspapers but these events can change our lives… forever. NEW YORK is one such story of 3 young friends whose beautiful lives are turned upside down by larger events beyond their control.

At this point enters Agent Roshan (Irrfan), an FBI undercover agent who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of these friends into a dangerous and thrilling roller coaster ride.

Characters:

Samir or Sam(John Abraham) – is as all his university mates call him as the ‘star of campus’. Athletic, good looking and bright he is one of the most popular boys in New York State University.

Maya (Katrina Kaif) – is an Indian girl born and brought in New York as Sam’s classmate and fills the campus with her cheer and fun-loving bohemian attitude. 

Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) – is a middle class Indian boy from Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, is a bright student who gets a scholarship to come and study at the NYSU.

Roshan (Irfan Khan) – is an FBI undercover agent of South Asian descent who is ready to go to any lengths to protect the freedom that he believes everybody in America enjoys.

For the sms joke on the film New York, click here and for the promotional video Hai Junoon, you can click here.

We could not connect the two. The film New York and its peppy promotional video Hai Junoon. The film is set in New York post 9/11 and the video makes it look like rom-com-buddy-film kind. The film is directed by Kabir Khan, produced by Yashraj Films and stars John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif.

Here is the video of the song  Hai Junoon. Though we havent heard the original one, this one is remix version. Music is by Pritam, lyrics by Sandeep Shrivastava and the singer is KK. The music is out in the market now. Enjoy!

If the video is not loading on this page, click here for link to the youtube page.

We are starting a new feature – Bolly Jokes. We will share the jokes and smses doing the rounds in the industry. With the strike finally over, new promos & songs are back on tv channels. And here is a sms joke that we received from a sound designer who is working on a Khan film. Here it is… 

new yorkQ. Where do you get a bundle of woods ?

A. Jungle

Q. Where do you get a bundle of three good looking woods ?

A. New York!

Hahahahahehehehhhoohohohhoho. We could not agree more. One has dimpled cheeks, other one has milky white complexion and third one is Barbie doll! And all three have one thing in common – zero expressions. In such a horrible siuation, we were desperately looking for a reason to watch New York starring John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Katrina Kaif. The film is directed by Kabir Khan ( Kabul Express). We finally found it – Irfan Khan. Yes, he also stars in the film. We had no clue till we saw the full page ad of New York in the newspapers today where they have put Irfan Khan alongwith the other stars. So is Irfan Khan in YRF’s A-Club now ? 

Finally! After criticising every celeb blogger for doing the job what journalists should be doing, Shah Rukh Khan has finally joined the club. As the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, who have been facing criticism from all quarters, Shah  Rukh Khan has finally decided to make his views public. His blog can be found at www.kkr.in. The first two posts read more like motivational speeches and less of blog! Looks like he is still playing the role of Kabir Khan from Chak De India!

Well we can understand why.  Firstly, the bad performance of the team and add to that, the mayhem created by  fakeiplyplayer who is leaking out every possible detail about the team. Khansaab must be going insane. Too much to handle!

For those of you who love lil’ bit of philosophy, here is Theodore Roosevelt’s quote as put up by Shah Rukh Khan on his blog…

It is not the critic who counts;

    Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,

    Or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

    The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,

    Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;

    Who strives valiantly;

    Who errs, who comes short again and again,

    Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;

    But who does actually strive to do deeds;

    Who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions;

    Who spends himself in a worthy cause;

    Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,

    And who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly,

    So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who

    neither know

    Victory nor Defeat.