


1) Saawariya
Shail Hada
2) Jab Se Tere Naina
Shaan
3) Masha-Allah
Kunal Ganjawala, Shrey Ghoshal
4) Thode Badmash
Shreya Ghoshal
5) Yoon Shabnami
Parthiv Gohil
6) Daras Bina Nahin Chain
Richa Sharma, Shail Hada, Parthiv Gohil




Verdict: Four on five
Om Shanti Om
Music directors: Vishal-Shekhar
Music label: T-Series
When we speak of tradition, we often think of it as an indistinguishable lump of past, which has nothing to do with the present or future. But come to think of it one realises how important any tradition is in shaping the sensibilities of the present. Farah Khan of all people should know this. Unlike most of her contemporaries, she’s a director who has grown up on typical masala Bollywood films and belongs to that tradition of filmmaking. And her unapologetic attitude towards this tradition is reflected in her work. At times she looks back at tradition and laughs at it, but all in good spirit. The music of her film appropriately reflects her position. And it is for this ‘retrospective’, that the film’s music deserves to be applauded.
Vishal-Shekhar (of whom Vishal has been a hardcore rocker) too have very beautifully adapted their music to suit her sensibilities. The thing with Om Shanti Om’s music is that it’s rooted in a tradition of filmmaking that is often rejected by the highbrow intellectuals. So if you are looking for some music that you can sit back and listen to on a quiet Sunday evening, this is certainly not it. And in that sense, a critical dissection of the album is also an exercise in futility.
Let’s just say then that not very often does one come across a music track like Om Shanti Om which makes you laugh, cry and dance. It’s the kind of music that needs to be felt and not just heard. Please don’t mistake this for an impulsive gush. But for someone whose staple diet has been Hindi film music, one cannot help but smile at the cheeky ingenuity.


Domestic B.O.: Disaster strikes!
The makers of NANHE JAISALMER and AGGAR may’ve thought, there’re no major releases on September 14, let’s lock the date and start booking movieplexes. But a rival film may not necessarily blow your film to smithereens, as has been proved yet again.
The date [September 14] coincided with the commencement of the holy month of Ramzan. Plus, a crucial India-Pakistan cricket match was to be played the same evening. Saturday, the next day, was Ganeshotsav. Not many would venture into theatres anyways. That’s what I announced on my show a few days prior to the release of these two films.
The industry wasn’t gung ho and weren’t expecting magical numbers from both NANHE JAISALMER and AGGAR, so the near-empty halls that greeted the two films didn’t really catch anyone by surprise.




“I am really excited about the gay neighbours,” says Eva.
Eva Longoria is desperate to be friends with the new gay couple on Desperate Housewives.The actress is ‘really excited’ Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm — who will play Wisteria Lane’s first gay couple, Bob and Lee — have signed up for the new series and wants scriptwriters to give her character Gabrielle a storyline with them.
Eva says, “I am really excited about the gay neighbours, it is about time. I am surprised we haven’t had them before. They’re my neighbours and I haven’t really interacted with them too much. I would love to see that in the script. Gabrielle should be friends with the gays.”
The 32-year-old star also revealed Bob and Lee don’t get on with Teri Hatcher’s character Susan. She added, “They have a lot with Teri Hatcher — they are like, catty with her and they don’t like her and it is so fun.” var RN = new String (Math.random()); var RNS = RN.substring (2,11); var b2 = ‘ ‘; if (doweshowbellyad==1) bellyad.innerHTML = b2;


She will be seen in commercials for a premium brand of paint.
Gauri Khan has just bagged her first brand endorsement. Wife of advertisement-regular Shah Rukh Khan, she will be seen in commercials for a premium brand of paint.
Gauri, who has always maintained a low profile, is known for designing costumes for Shah Rukh in his early films including Baazigar (1993). Later she went on to become a producer with Main Hoon Na (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007). Our source informs, “Gauri is gradually coming out of her homemaker mode. She has been successfully producing films and now she will endorse a paint brand.”
She has been approached for acting assignments and advertisement commercials before too. Our source adds, “We have always encouraged Gauri to take it up. But somehow, things didn’t work out until now. Finally, she has given her assent. In fact, she flew in from Dubai last night, so that the contract could be signed today.”


Akshay Kumar, will be a part of this one, and paired opposite him is the lovely Katrina Kaif.
Vipul Shah has decided to essay the role of Mr Producer, while handing over the directorial baton to Anees Bazmee for a motion picture, funnily titled Singh The King. “It’s an action comedy,” says Vipul.
Anees Bazmee will be directing the movie. I describe his kind of cinema as Manmohan Desai’s cinema in today’s time.” Vipul’s favourite actor, Akshay Kumar, will be a part of this one, and paired opposite him is the lovely Katrina Kaif. Another Namastey London?
Fortunately, these two have emerged as the only two people who suit the characters in the script,” states Vipul. About other actors as part of the cast, we hear even Neha Dhupia may be a part of it.


‘Making Om Shanti Om was easier than Main Hoon Na’ - Farah Khan
By Businessofcinema.com Team
19 September 2007, 08:32 PM
2004 witnessed the hit pairing of producer-director Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, who delivered their maiden hit, Main Hoon Na. And now with their second film, Om Shanti Om, Farah takes pride in ‘reintroducing SRK.’
Moreover, in this film this exuberant lady director has paid ode to 70s era of Bollywood, which she considers as the film’s USP. However, to execute the same was a mammoth task, right from getting the props and equipments to visual effects, but Farah managed all and how!
In an interview that followed the film’s music launch, Farah (who’s eagerly awaiting the film’s release and her triplets!) gets vocal about OSO.


Entertainment tax on films to be reduced
By Businessofcinema.com Team
20 September 2007, 02:04 AM
MUMBAI: With a view to boost the Indian film industry, the Center has asked various Indian State governments to reduce the entertainment tax on films.
At the 26th conference of State and UT Ministers of Information and Cinematography - SIMCON XXVI, the information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi highlighted a number of issues facing the film industry. One of the major problems that the industry is facing is that of piracy and also the heavy entertainment tax levied.
Keeping this in mind, the government has proposed a reduction of entertainment tax from the current 50 per cent to 25 – 30 per cent. The entertainment tax had been gradually reduced from 75 per cent to the current 50 per cent. The minister said that this would further reduce theatre ticket rates and boost sales and footfalls.


Yuvraj was already fuming with 5 sixes he was hit by mascarenes(in england) and flintoff just took off the cap.If anyone of you missed it (heck i can watch it many times) take a look it already has more than 300,000 views.See how yuvraj and flintoff have a verbal brawl before the fateful over(flintoff is also making faces between the sixes as though he knows he is the culprit,yuvraj just didnt care and went for the full monty as ravi shastri says).Also note how the english commentator(david lolyyd),just stopped speaking after 3 sixes.Thanks.


source Glamsham
18.09.07 The UK Box Office has never seen anything like this before; a Shah Rukh Khan film being swept away by an Akshay Kumar starrer. “Chak De India” has still to break the $1m barrier in the UK while “Heyy Babyy” is nearing $1.5m. In it’s 7th week of release, “Chak De India”’s collections stand at $867,265, while “Heyy Babby” is at a staggerring $1,382,988. For the past weekend, “Heyy Babyy” has raked in just over $24,000 (per screen average at $1,217) and “Chak De India” $2,731 (per screen average $390).


Show of emotion is not aggression: Dravid
Bobilli Vijay Kumar
Rahul Dravid is as inscrutable as they come. Quiet, reserved and extremely passionate about his cricket, he has managed to hide his real personality. In an exclusive interview, a week before he gave up captaincy, Bobilli Vijay Kumar unravels Dravid, the real person, and breaks a few myths.
Have you always been Rahul Dravid, as the world now knows you?


Bollywood & PETA petition to save elephants
By Businessofcinema.com Team
19 September 2007, 06:43 PM
MUMBAI: Following an 18-month campaign by PETA, the city of Mumbai has announced that elephants will no longer be allowed in the city. The campaign featured advertisements against elephants in captivity starring actors Rahul Khanna and Celina Jaitley.
Letters written by MP Shatrughan Sinha and MP Maneka Gandhi; and a petition was signed by Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, John Abraham, MP Priya Dutt, Sanjay Dutt, Sanjay Leela Bansali, Isha Koppikar, Mahesh Bhatt, Yana Gupta and Gulshan Grover.


Filmy is calling those who never miss first day first shows. Nirmalya Deb writes about a new television show that will offer more choice in the prime-time slot


Scores 45 runs in 9 balls, Six sixes in one over.


Cricket thread- Shame on selecters for dropping Sehwag
With two consecutive blistering knock, Sehwag has given a resounding slap to the selectors for dropping him from the ODIs. Instead of encouraging him as he comes back to form and drop him.
The ultimate insult is dropping him along with Bekarkar and Toota Patel!


They’re India’s own ‘Brangelina’
Superstars are proud of Indian film industry; just don’t use the term Bollywood around them
August 25, 2007
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporter
With a newlywed glow enhancing their megawatt movie star status, Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan are playfully affectionate, finishing each other’s sentences as they hold court in a hotel suite.
It’s the very room where I interviewed Abhishek’s father, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan, when he was in town for the Toronto International Film Festival last year.
True to his Indian roots, the first thing Abhishek asks upon hearing my name is where I’m from in India. My mother is Maharashtrian and my father is from Karnataka, I reply.


Actor Abhishek Bachcan was recently accused of ‘unprofessional conduct’ whilst he was shooting for a commercial for a radio-station of which he is the brand ambassador. Reportedly, Abhishek reached three hours late on the sets, played truant at the rehearsals and frequently disrupted his shooting to visit wife Aishwarya Rai, who was also shooting in the vicinity for ‘Jodha Akbar’.
Choreographer Bosco (of Bosco-Caesar duo), who was directing the dance sequences and is also a buddy of Abhishek, refutes the charges leveled against the star. “Abhishek didn’t play truant. It’s a distortion of facts. Sadly, nobody even bothered to crosscheck them with me,” he says adding, “It’s true that Abhishek came on the sets at 12 noon. But he had reported two hours earlier. He was in his makeup room getting his makeup done. The rehearsals with the junior artistes were in full swing but he was not required for that.”
Bosco continues, “Rather than disrupting our shooting, he was more than accommodating. He completed all the sequences by waiting for five more hours beyond the scheduled time,” insists Bosco who incidentally has choreographed Abhishek’s songs in ‘Dus’ and ‘Bluff Master’.
But wasn’t it true that Abhishek kept vanishing from the sets to see wife Ash. “Of course, I won’t deny that he would go over to meet Ash who was shooting in the neighbourhood. But that was only during the lunch and tea-breaks,” clarifies Bosco.


Is it his rugged look, his DYOT (Do-Your-Own-Thing) super-cool attitude or the fact that he’s a self-confessed “jeans-kind-of-guy” that makes Abhishek Bachchan the perfect brand ambassador for Flying Machine jeans?
Maybe, it’s a bit of it all. Flying Machine — India’s very own indigenous brand of jeans — is back, re-launched in a new avatar, and who better than Abhishek Bachchan to sport the new look with elan?
“Yes, I’m most comfortable in a pair of jeans,” confirms Abhishek, adding that he is proud to be associated with Flying Machine because “the product is now positioning itself as an Indian international brand. Currently, the market is flooded with international jeans brands, and India’s original jeans, Flying Machine, is on par with the rest, both creatively and technically. It’s about time we stepped onto the international platform here as well”.
It’s all about cutting-edge fashion with a cutting-edge brand ambassador. ‘Right here, right now’, India sure is ‘flying’ high!




Q&A: ‘Even Bollywood craves for national awards’
19 Sep 2007, 0008 hrs IST
With Kaalpurush earning him a fifth Golden Lotus for Best Film, Buddhadev Dasgupta creates a national record. Each of his features and documentaries has won some Lotus. Awards at Venice, Karlovy Vary; competitions at Berlin, Locarno; retrospectives at Toronto, Brazil: who says celluloid poetry has run out of steam? The director speaks to Ratnottama Sengupta:
Many say Bollywood now represents Indian cinema abroad. Is it true?


Sukanya Verma | September 19, 2007 | 12:41 IST
RATING: 4 STARS OUT OF 5
Farah Khan loves the seventies! If the choreographer-turned-director’s debut Main Hoon Naa saw her parody the swinging era, her latest Om Shanti Om, too, time travels all the way from 2007 to 1977 to explore her favourite decade in its hey day.
A full-blown musical set within the film industry and involving a reincarnation theme, Om Shanti Om, with its clever title and chromatic glory promises to be quite the cracker this Diwali.
While Shah Rukh Khan leads the brat pack, Arjun Rampal and Shreyas Talpade also star in this November�9 release (Yup, same day as Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s grand opus Saawariya), which introduces model-turned-actress, Deepika Padukone on the big screen.


‘Playing only romantic leads limits you’
Arthur J Pais | September 19, 2007 | 19:29 IST
There are two things that can happen as you watch The Last Lear, the kind of� film Amitabh Bachchan says he has been waiting for a very long to work on.
You could come dazzled watching his performance as an eccentric and often cantankerous retired Shakespearean stage actor, wondering why he had not played a similar before. Or, you may like his work but wonder if he had not overdone while reciting soliloquies from Henry V, The Tempest, King Lear and Hamlet.


Jodhaa Akbar art director Nitin Desai was asked to design a light-weight sword for Hrithik Roshan, as the original was too heavy for the actor to handle.
Stories about what goes into the making of a historical film have always been fascinating, and so is the case with Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar.
It is heard that Hrithik Roshan requested art director Nitin Desai to design a special light-weight sword for him instead of a sword designed by Ashutosh and his creative team.
It seems the sword, studded with precious stones, was too heavy for Hrithik to handle in fight sequences.




1. Shah Rukh Khan
Now, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar don’t even make it to the top three, thanks to the new Om Shanti Om song and a post-40 Shah Rukh Khan startling the world by turning out to have the most-ripped body in Bollywood. Digital rumours aside, this is one helluva sculpted body surely making every other Hindi film actor sweat.




Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) Bollywood actress and social activist Shabana Azmi will join several eminent activists from across the world at the UN headquarters in New York, Sep 22-26, to plead for food for the entire globe.
The activists include the Brazilian prime minister and a Nigerian actor.
“It’s very simple, really. Food needs to be put on everyone’s plate. In the UN General Assembly they had promised that by 2015 they’d remove hunger from the world. They haven’t even achieved 50 percent of that target. So all of us from across the world will have just one chant - put food on everyone’s plate.” Shabana told IANS.


Naseer’s happy to be with Shabana again in Rice Plate
Subhash K Jha , Indo-Asian News Service
Mumbai, September 19, 2007
First Published: 16:45 IST(19/9/2007)
Naseer’s happy to be with Shabana again in Rice Plate
After two decades Naseeruddin Shah teamed up with his oldest colleague and accomplished actress Shabana Azmi for a Rohit Roy directed short film titled Rice Plate and said it was fun shooting despite the fact that he didn’t have too many dialogues in the film.
“It was great fun shooting with Shabana after so many years. We’ve also done an unreleased film Libaas together. This time in Rice Plate Shabana has all the dialogues. She plays a talkative Malayali woman while I watch her silently. I play an ordinary insignificant man. My speciality!” Naseer told IANS.


Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan donate money
Bollywood is known to do its bit for many charitable causes and superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan recently proved that Bollywood is always ready to help.
The two actors donated money to help with medical bills of noted Marathi poet Namdeo Dhasal. Bachchan donated Rs.5 lakhs while Salman donated Rs.1 lakh for Dhasal’s treatment. Director Madhur Bhandarkar also contributed Rs. 50,000 for the poet’s treatment.
Bachchan claims that like Namdeo he too suffered from the same ailment called myasthenia gravis and hence he knows the feeling. Amitabh says, “This is my way of helping in a small way.”


Sachin, Sania appreciate ‘Chak De India’
19th Sept 2007 09.00 IST
By Agencies
Cricket idol Sachin Tendulkar and tennis star Sania Mirza appreciated the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De India with Tendulkar hoping hope it goes on for long.
Appreciating the movie, Tendulkar said in Kolkata on Tuesday, “I hope it goes on for long. We follow the success stories in other sports, be it hockey or tennis. At some stage I hope we will get to see movies on other sports as well.”
The master blaster, however, did not agree that the film took a dig at cricket. “That’s not the idea in the movie. Whatever it says about cricket is pure humour.”


After the stupendous success of the Munnabhai series, Rajkumar Hirani is now busy with his next.
As is by now well known, this time Hirani has opted for Shah Rukh Khan, who was the original choice for Munnabhai MBBS, but it did not work out, and in walked Sanjay Dutt.
And the rest, as they say, is history!


September 18, 2007 5:34:07 PM IST
Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network
View Bhool Bhulaiyaa Movie Stills
The year 2000 saw director Priyadarshan teaming up for the first time with actor Akshay Kumar, in HERA PHERI and it resulted in their first commercial success.


Globetrotting Bachchans
By: Shaheen Parkar
September 19, 2007
Wizcraft has chalked out the details for The Unforgettable Tour taking off in July
B-Town’s The Unforgettable Tour is finally on course, amidst buzz about which stars came on board, their skyrocketing fees (and demands) and the mind-boggling logistics involved in what is being described as ‘a mother of all stage shows’.
Wizcraft, the organisers of the show, have finally chalked out the details.
As reported ‘Bachchan and bachcha to go on world tour’, (HiTLIST, November 2, 2006), Wizcraft pulled off a casting coup of sorts by getting Bachchans Sr & Jr together for live shows across the globe.


Sony & Eros to partner on Indian Films
September 19, 2007 4:21:19 PM IST
Bollywood Trade News Network
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Eros International will co-invest in a slate of Hindi films popularly known as Bollywood to be released in India and around the world, it was jointly announced by Michael Lynton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures, and Kishore Lulla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eros International.
Under the terms of the non-exclusive agreement, Sony and Eros will jointly develop, produce and acquire multiple films for the new Hindi film slate. Sony Pictures is expected to distribute some of the titles in the United States, and Eros will use its established infrastructure to distribute the films in other international territories. The two companies will work jointly in India.
Commenting on the announcement, Lynton said, “This deal continues Sony Pictures dedication to the region as we embrace and support local talent and invest in films made specifically for audiences in India and the Indian diaspora. As a global company, we are committed to international cinema in India and around the world � we want to satisfy the demand in local markets for high quality original stories told in their original languages. We have a strong track record of film and television production and distribution in India and we’re proud Eros International, the leading player within the Indian entertainment arena, will be working with us to find unique and inventive films for Indian audiences and fans of Indian cinema everywhere.”


Anees Bazmee’s WELCOME in December?
September 19, 2007 3:36:21 PM IST
Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network
Anees Bazmee’s NO ENTRY was unanimously declared the biggest hit of 2005 by almost the entire trade. It is but obvious that the curiosity and buzz for his next major release, WELCOME, is quite high. The Firoz Nadiadawala project, featuring the likes of Firoz Khan, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Mallika Sherawat is one of the most awaited projects of the closing months of 2007.
While the release date of WELCOME is being publicized by some sources as November 23, as per our trade inputs, WELCOME is likely to release in December and in all probabilities on December 7.
The publicity of the film has already commenced, though in the traditional style. Yes, the posters of the film are dotting the walls of cinemas and multiplexes at some of the smaller circuits


Akshay Shah Reviews JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA (Hindi, 2007)
Link
Allbollywood
Dedicated to The Great Bong!

The sole reason I was curious to watch this film was to see the combination of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge winners all in one movie with a range of interesting Bollywood character artistes. The stage was set for one map-cap laugh-riot. So does the movie work? Not, far from it! JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA is a regressive, B-grade comedy which ultimately comes across as a delayed venture from the 90’s rather than a movie releasing in ’07.
The movie revolves around Lal (Sunil Pal) and his jija Das (Vijay Raaz). Lal wants to set-up his own business and make some money in life while Das is an out of work driver. When Lal wins 2 lakhs the duo come up with an idea to start a travel agency by buying bits and pieces from old cars in chor bazaar and creating a bus. Their next mission is to find passengers to board the bus and take them to Goa. Lal manages to gather an odd mixture of 15 people to board the bus. One of the passengers Harley Davidson (Mac Mohan) dies on the trip half way, but before dying he reveals to the passengers the whereabouts of a treasure he’d hidden away and draws them a map. So no-one cheats anyone the map is ripped in to 15 odd pieces and each member given a piece to carry with them. As expected greed takes over and the passengers all decide to steer off in their own direction to the postmaster’s (Asrani) house who knows further information about he treasure. Along the way there is A.C.P Shakti Singh (Shakti Kapoor) who is after the loot as well as some gangsters (Tinnu Anand, Sanjay Mishra). Where’s the loot hidden and who gets it forms the crux of the story.



source:upperstall
Synopsis
An homage to the noir genre, Manorama: Six Feet Under is about an amateur detective in a small town who finds himself caught in a web of lies, deceit and murder. SV is a government engineer but his real ambition has always been writing detective fiction. Unfortunately, his maiden attempt, a novel called Manorama, sank without a trace and he has been reduced to writing for cheap pulp magazines. Stifled by the dreariness of small town existence and frustrated by his failure, SV’s life takes a turn when the wife of a powerful local politician arrives at his doorstep with an irresistible offer; the chance for SV to play a real life detective by spying on her husband. Intrigued and tempted by the opportunity to redeem his self worth, SV accepts.Upon completion of his assignment, things take a turn when SV discovers that the woman is not who she claims to be. The situation get further complicated when she is killed in a mysterious accident.Sensing foul play, SV begins investigating her death only to discover that nothing is what it seems to be and that redemption doesn’t come easy….
Manorama: Six Feet Under was not the first feature film I wanted to make. There was an earlier script called Chasing Rainbows that I had peddled around for a few years. It was a more expensive script to produce and the standard response was to bring in a few stars. Now, most producers don’t really care about script and story; if you have stars attached, the project is pretty much a go. Not having access to any heavyweights, I decided to work on a cheaper-to-execute story idea. The plotline and characters for Manorama: Six Feet Under had been floating around in my head for a while so I roped in Devika Bhagat to co-write the script.


Frah Kahn is trying hard to replicate the masala movies of the 70s. But can she hold a candle to the real cult movies of the era like Manmohan Deasia’s AA or Naseeb? MHN may have made decent money but I think the film is totally forgettable with no shelf life unlike AAA or Naseeb. Does the movie have a single innovatively conceived and picturized song like My Name is anhony Gonsalves. Or a single comedy moment like a drunken Amitabh in front of the mirror trying to put plaster on his face? Or a campy line ‘ Zindagi mein aadmi sirf do bar aisa bhagta hai, Olympic ka race ho, ya police ka case ho? Naa, she is just a pretender riding on the SRK hype and PR overdrive. I dont have much hope for either of the two Diwali release: OSO or Saawariya. Both are going to be over-the-top overblown products with no soul. I would love to be surprised and proven wrong though. OSO is great at concept level and Bhanasali has some talent and ambition. ( Didn’t like his Devdas, Black or Khamoshi. Only in HDDCS did he manage to strike a balance and tell a heartwarming story with sincere performances anfd great music.)








