NAACHGAANA

Peepli Live Review – Variety

Raju Guide |

13 | February 9, 2010 at 4:41 am | 124 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

A UTV Motion Pictures presentation of an Aamir Khan production. Produced by Khan, Kiran Rao. Executive producer, B. Shrinivas Rao. Co-producer, Ronnie Screwvala. Directed, written by Anusha Rizvi.

With: Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghubir Yadav, Malaika Shenoy, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shalini Vatsa, Farrukh Jaffer, Vishal Sharma.

A peppy screwball comedy with elements of social satire, “Peepli Live” suggests a rural Indian take on Billy Wilder’s “Ace in the Hole.” A big carnival of media and politics swirls around farmer Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) when he announces plans to kill himself, the poor man hoping his surviving family members will collect compensation as part of the government’s “suicide program.” But Natha, natch, is in no hurry to fulfill his part of the bargain. Whether or not India’s first-ever Sundance entry can capitalize on the international success of “Slumdog Millionaire,” it deserves a long life in distribution.

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Shiv Sena attacks cinemas due to screen ‘My Name Is Khan’

sandy |

7 | February 9, 2010 at 2:17 am | 92 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Shiv Sena attacks cinemas due to screen ‘My Name Is Khan’

Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS) Shiv Sena activists Tuesday attacked several places that will screen Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan”, barely an hour after Mumbai Police assured full security at the 63 cinemas and multiplexes that will showcase the movie.

Sena mobs attacked and damaged the booking windows of the Mehul Theatre in Mulund and staged noisy protests outside Shreyas Theatre in Ghatkopar, both in the suburbs, officials said.

Groups of Sena activists were also seen protesting and shouting slogans in Kanjurmarg, Bandra, Khar and other parts of the city even as police promised tough measures to prevent any untoward incident during the release of the film directed by Karan Johan and also starring Kajol.

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‘3 Idiots’ helped multiplexes out of strike slump

sandy |

1 | February 9, 2010 at 2:14 am | 36 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots, that has gone on to become the biggest hit in Hindi film history, has helped multiplexes recover from the two-month strike last year.

3 Idiots — which takes a critical look at the education system in the country — has already earned more than Rs.382 crore (Rs.3.82 billion/$82 million) worldwide since its release Dec 25 last year.

“Losses have reduced post 3 Idiots. We have had a gross revenue of Rs.1.6 crore from the movie till date. There were a lot of expectations from it and it fulfilled all expectations,” Amit Awasthi, manager (programming and operations) of Spice Cinemas at Noida, tells us.

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My Name Is Khan In Huge Demand Overseas

Doga |

2 | February 8, 2010 at 8:25 pm | 60 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

My Name Is Khan may well create a stampede at the box office in International markets going by the demand for prints across all International markets.

The film is looking to release on over 550 prints. My Name Is Khan is looking at a 200 print release in North America and also a humongous 200 plus prints in Europe. Normally Europe has around 75 prints for a big release with 50 going to United Kingdom and around 25 for rest of Europe.

My Name Is Khan due to craze of Shahrukh Khan in Europe will have 100 prints in United Kingdom alone and over 100 in the rest of Europe. The film is huge demand in Germany and Poland.

The gulf region is expected to see a 50 print release while Australia is around 30 prints. My Name Is Khan has the potential to become the first film to cross the 100 crore mark from international markets if it lives up to the enormous hype it has created in Overseas markets.

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The rhetoric of change- Pritish Nandy

Rocky |

5 | February 8, 2010 at 11:50 am | 59 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Last week we saw the Thackerays confront Shah Rukh Khan and Rahul Gandhi on two entirely separate ideological premises that somehow got all mixed up in the public eye. So much so that the Sena itself, for once, got so confused that they backed off and gave away the match point to their opponents. The winners were gracious in their victory and, for the time being, it looks as if Mumbai belongs not to its many claimants but to the larger vision of modern India emerging by popular consensus.

But what were the real issues? The SRK one was simple. Shah Rukh had lamented that the Pakistani cricketers were unfairly sidelined by the IPL. The media picked it up, made headlines out of it. Many of us had said the same thing on twitter and got away with it. He couldn’t. The knives were out before he could even explain himself. The real question dying to be asked was: If SRK was so concerned about the Pakistani cricketers, why didn’t he bid for them? Instead of asking the obvious, the Sena lost the plot and told SRK to stop pleading for the Pakistan players or go and live in Pakistan. It was political rhetoric, badly phrased. To mock SRK’s tears over Pakistani cricketers is one thing. To question his patriotism is another. The actual issue remains unaddressed: Should we continue sporting ties with Pakistan when shells are fired on our borders every day and 26/11 remains unpunished?

read the rest from HERE

ISHQIYA: Qalandar’s Mini-Review

Qalandar |

2 | February 8, 2010 at 8:46 am | 72 views | Reviews| Share

Ishqiya is better than most films the Hindi film industry makes, even if its pleasures weren’t the ones I was expecting. I went into the film looking for a taut, erotically charged thriller about a femme fatale manipulating two saps over a pot of gold, film noir in a bhaiyya-setting as it were. What I got was a compelling evocation of a small-town U.P. milieu (the (in)famous badlands of Gorakhpur district, along the Nepal border), a locale debutant director Abhishek Chaubhey has presented even more naturally than his mentor Vishal Bhardwaj ever managed with his out-of-the-way settings in either Maqbool or Omkara(that is to say, Chaubhey does it “simply”, such that the presentation of the milieu (to “outsiders”) does not itself become the point of the film). (more…)

is it just me or this movie sounds total kick ass?

MrCool |

10 | February 8, 2010 at 6:37 am | 135 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

There is something about this production that sounds extremely interesting. Possibly Vipul Shah’s most important production yet..This may also be a big spring back to front for Akshay/Aish.

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http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/2010/02/08/13750/index.html

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How BIG is MNIK gonna be?

Ihab |

6 | February 8, 2010 at 2:20 am | 184 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

I have been a Box office enthusiast since 4 years and also been following Hindi Movies quite actively since a long time but Never have I seen such hype, Buzz, Curiosity etc around a Hindi movie like this before. I mean there have been couple of movies like OSO, Ghajini, Singh Is Kingg etc which enjoyed good buzz but the Buzz which MNIK is enjoying is something different.
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Taran Adarsh : MNIK Review – 4.5 Stars

Doga |

6 | February 7, 2010 at 9:06 pm | 287 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

MY NAME IS KHAN makes two strong statements…

* The first: B.C. [before Christ] and A.D. [after death] are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. There’s a third designation now – 9/11. Post September 11, the world stands divided. Terrorist outfits continue to strike in the name of religion and the common man, not even remotely associated with these groups, is bearing the brunt. The world is not a safe place anymore.

* The second statement: There’re two sets of people in this world – the good and the bad. No matter how strong the evil forces are, good always triumphs.

Write your own movie review of My Name Is Khan
MY NAME IS KHAN mirrors the era we live in. Not a day goes by when you haven’t heard/read/watched news of terror attacks and innocents being killed. We live in turbulent times. Also, the movie states – and states very strongly, without mincing words – Not all Muslims are terrorists.

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MNIK to create history

Doga |

32 | February 7, 2010 at 5:17 pm | 389 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

The countdown has begun. There are just four days left for the release of Bollywood’s most-hyped flick, filmmaker Karan Johar’s My Name Is Khan, and the uproar is deafening.

The factions trying to put a spoke in the wheel of MNIK will be clearly outnumbered by a community called SRK junkies who are parched for a full-fledged Shah Rukh Khan flick. MNIK, coming as it is after SRK’s Om Shanti Om (2007) — if you don’t count Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) and Billu (2009) — is being touted by trade experts as a blockbuster even before it opens.

Says Komal Nahata, “From what I know about this film, its script is bound to resonate with a global audience. Without giving away anything from the story, I can tell you that it is the first time that mainstream cinema has addressed the Hindu-Muslim issue in such a sensitive way. And yet, the film has entertainment at its core. It is a fabulous script… and I just get the feeling that the recent controversies that have surrounded it will help rather than hamper its box-office appeal.”

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The Final countdown for MNIK

sandy |

19 | February 7, 2010 at 6:03 am | 301 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Ok, the countdown begins. Twitter is buzzing with reactions for the film. So far one negative response from Sagarika Ghose (CNN-IBN) against several positive ones – though mostly from stars and others of the Kjo-Srk camp. So where is this highly anticipated film heading?

Likely Scenarios

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The enduring charm of Pride & Prejudice

sandy |

0 | February 7, 2010 at 4:48 am | 53 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Why is it that Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice enjoys such a place of pride in the history of literary annals? The book has been re-imagined for the screen at least thrice, once as mini-series on BBC, which is still considered the most definitive adaptation of Austen’s classic. Yet, the fascination for it remains and this eighteenth century novel remains one of the most widely read texts in the world.

So what is it that attracts filmmakers to keep revisiting Pride And Prejudice, as director Joe Wright last did with his Keira-Knightley film in 2005. Is it because Austen’s heroine in the novel – with her pluck and wit – appeals as much to modern-day men and women as she did in her period? Now much has been made about Austen being a feminist and so on. Beyond the fact that the author liked and rewarded her heroines for being less superficial than the rest, it must be fairly stated that there was no real attempt on Austen’s part to drastically break away from the prevaling conventions and ideas of her time. She was very much part of the patriarchal set-up and didn’t really bother herself with the gender politics, though she was keen and discerning enough to understand that it existed. Her stories faintly hinted at injustice towards women, wherein they could not own property and so on, but she mostly adapted to the time she lived in. If anything, she laid some stress on her female characters negotiating their space and freedom in their given circumstances.

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Baradwaj Rangan reviews Striker

Aarohi |

BOARD EXAM

A carrom whiz is constantly tested by life in a beautifully textured docudrama that keeps us at an arm’s length.

FEB 7, 2010 – SURYA (SIDDHARTH), THE MINOR-LEAGUE LEADING MAN of Striker – I hesitate to call him “hero,” for he stands resolutely, refreshingly life-sized – is someone with major dreams. He lives in the Mumbai suburb of Malvani (the film is based on true-life events, we’re told), where his best buddy Zaid (Ankur Vikal) smirks about not having stepped beyond Ghatkopar – but Surya envisions a lucrative future in Dubai. Despite his brother’s (Anoop Soni) admonitions that life isn’t wish-fulfillment fantasy, like the kiddie tales in Chandoba, Surya forks over a sizable sum to a dubious travel agent and, unsurprisingly, loses it all. What will make good this loss are his considerable skills in carrom, a game he has a natural flair for but hasn’t visited in six years. How does Surya feel about this, and what is his relation to the game? If he’s rusty after all those years away, we’re not aware of it. If he’s disgruntled about being forced to return to the board, if he thrills at the speedy recovery of an innate talent, if he resents the game that’s forced him to partner with slippery underworld customers, we have no insight.

MORE HERE

Shiv Sena won’t block SRK’s film!

Doga |

10 | February 5, 2010 at 9:10 pm | 153 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

Turning the heat on Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray called him ‘a traitor’, but said that Sena will not block screening of SRK’s film.

In an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamna on Saturday, Thackeray said: “Sometimes we feel why are we doing all this? How do we awaken this Congress party? That’s why we have decided rule the way you want to. You have come to power using the machinery. Hence we are aware of how far reaching your power. You are using and will continue to use your power to brutally attack the Shiv Sena, Shiv Sainiks and Saamna. This is how you rule. So go ahead. Let Pakistani cricketer play anywhere they want in the country. Let Australia continue attacking Indians. Let Pakistan continue 26/11 like attacks anywhere in India. Let Shah Rukh Khan show his film My Name Is Khan without security,” Thackeray said.

“Traitors, with the blessings of the Congress, go ahead; the Shiv Sena will not block you. Why our Shiv Sainiks should be beaten up and arrested?” he added.

LINK

Doesn’t pocket the Queen…Sandy’s review of Striker

ăbzee |

Starring: Siddharth, Ankur Vikal, Aditya Pancholi, Seema Biswas, Anupam Kher, Nicolette Bird
Director: Chandan Arora
Stars: **1/2

Chandan Arora is the man behind two of the most criminally underrated films of the past decade – Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon and Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh. His third, Striker unmistakably has some of the strengths of these two earlier films. But this coming-of-age tale, though moderately engaging, is never entirely satisfying or emotionally stirring as it could have been.

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Karan Johar on the idea behind MY NAME IS KHAN

Doga |

0 | February 5, 2010 at 4:25 pm | 45 views | NaachGaana Bol| Share

MY NAME IS KHAN may be facing quite heat at the moment and is trapped in a powerful storm. However, film maker Karan Johar continues to be convinced about the basic idea behind making this Shahrukh Khan and Kajol starrer. Though a few are left wondering of he along with Shah Rukh and Co. decided one fine day that ‘Ok, let’s make a movie which would make people sit up and say that even they can make different cinema which is way apart from their truly mainstream commercial work so far’?, Karan rejects such insinuations.
“I truly believe that if you are motivated just for the sake of it, you would get caught eventually. You can succeed only if you have a very strong conviction backing up your thought”, smiles Karan.