Steven Baker Talks To Kalki Koechlin

(Steven Baker is a Hindi film journalist and post graduate in Indian cinema)

Kalki Back With ´That Girl in Yellow Boots´ , ´Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara´ & ´Happy Days´!

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Resident Evil: Afterlife – Trailer

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Once upon a time in Mumbai – That 70s (flop) show

So here is a gangster with a heart of gold who loves the city where he grows up and becomes its self-appointed safe-keeper. And there is another gangster, who is more ambitious then conscientious, who ultimately manages to overthrow the … Read More

Komal Nahta on OATIM opening and KM BO

Box Office: ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’ Off To A Good Start

Komal Nahta

great news for the industry, the Ajay Devgan – Emraan Hashmi starrer Once Upon A Time Mumbaai got off to a very good start … Read More

Filing of income tax return deadline extended till Aug 4

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department on Saturday extended the last date of filing income tax returns to August 4 due to inclement weather and some technical snags.

Last dates for filing of income tax returns was to expire today.

“The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to extend the due date of filing of income tax returns to August 4, 2010,” the board said in a statement.

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गणेश चतुर्थी पर झोपड़पट्टी में लड्डू का टोकरा लेकर पहुँचे रफ़ी साहब

गणेश चतुर्थी पर झोपड़पट्टी में लड्डू का टोकरा लेकर पहुँचे रफ़ी साहब

(Todays generation must read this and understand how little gestures like this from legends have made India what is today, instead of making issue out of every possible thing that can make them hog limelight, on both sides of the fence)

श्रध्दांजलि, दीपक महान | शनिवार , 31 जुलाई 2010

पिछले कई सालों से मैंने रफ़ी साहब के बारे में अपने जज्बातों का ज़िक्र किया है पर आज उनकी पुण्यतिथी पर मैं आपके साथ बाँटूगा कुछ जाने अनजाने लोगों के विचार जो मेरे पास रिकॉर्ड कर, सहेज कर रखे हुए हैं । ये संवेदनशील बातें करते हुए कई दफा मैंने लोगों को हँसते-रोते देखा, बड़े बुजुर्गों और रोबदार व्यक्तियों को भावुक होते हुए देखा और ये जाना कि एक आम इंसान के दिल के कितने करीब हैं रफ़ी साहब। ये बातें सिर्फ अपने देश की सीमा तक ही सीमित हों ऐसा कतई नहीं है, बल्कि कई बार विदेशियों या फिर विदेशों में भी अजीब अनुभव हुए और रफ़ी साहब की तारीफ के कारण भारतीय होने पर गर्व हुआ ।

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ENDHIRAN Music Released. People go Crazy

Just insane. Rajni is loved

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Aamir’s smart move for PEEPLI [LIVE]!

Aamir’s smart move for PEEPLI [LIVE]!

Aamir jokingly added, ‘I don’t want you people to throw shoes at me and before any of you can pull my legs

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Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai First Day Business

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai had a below par first day of 5.50 crore nett approx. The film did pick up but the big jump occurred mainly in the Maharashtra and Gujarat area. Mumbai circuit was best while CP Berar and Nizam were next as many cities of Maharashtra are in these circuits.

The North, Bengal, Rajasthan and CI were all pretty low. The film will depend heavily on what happens on Saturday and Sunday. It needs these days to be strong and the sustain on Monday in order to emerge a decent success at the box office.

The all India break down is as follows.

Mumbai – 2.25 crore

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Scre Latest Top 10

1. Aisha 2. OUATM 3. IHLS 4. Pepli Live 5. Trajneti 6. 3 Idiots &. Khatta Meetha 8. Raavan 9. Lamhaa 10. Kites ( Courtesy: Landmark)

To be noted: a smal, non romantic film like ppepli LIve’s Soundtrack is … Read More

Ra.One Set Photo

Thx Maxy from SB… P)

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Thoughts on “Once Upon a Time…”

Ah.. After a long time I saw Hindi movie which was good and was able to “satisfy” me as an Audience. Once Upon A time.. Is a very good Effort by the Director. Also, its very refreshing from the current Bollywood movies. Yes, it seems slightly predictable but the movie is good and certainly one of the better movies of this year.

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Box Office: Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai opens well with 80% occupancy

MUMBAI: Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, directed by Milan Luthria that stars Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Prachi Desai, has taken a good opening at the box office.

The gangster flick that depicts the crime scenario in Mumbai during the 70s and 80s has not only got good reviews but has also been liked by all those who’ve seen the film. The film opened to about 75 – 80 per cent occupancy.

The advance bookings of the film too are doing well and according to the multiplexes the weekend looks very good.

The other release, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, based on the novel by the same name by Stephenie Meyer, which stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart, too has got a decent opening with around 40 – 50 per cent occupancy. However, the movie is expected to do better by the late night shows and should pick up well over the weekend.

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some thoughts on Rocket Singh – salesman of the year

Rocket Singh was a huge surprise last year. Not only did it meet the expectations, it did surpass them by a good enough margin to be a must watch film in a year dominated mostly by mediocre to above-average films at best. I, no doubt have a weakness for 3 idiots for its strong entertainment quotient but this one gets my vote as a better film in the quality segment.

The film tells about the story of a young Surd Harpreet Singh, who has always been a below average student. He barely manages to pass his final year exams to become a graduate. Things don’t seem very bright for him however he has already decided that he wants to choose sales as his profession. Although he seems very enthusiastic about it and lands up a job in a reputed computer company, he soon realises the pitfalls of working in an unethical corporate environment. He is almost fired because of some unintentional deed and has to struggle to save his job. A chance encounter with a small scale business owner gives him a brilliant idea to help his customers in a ‘secret’ sort of way.

Rocket Singh, released last year under the banner of Yash Raj films was another of Yashraj’s slew of flops which they haven’t been able avoid for quite some time now. Blame it on their poor scripts and mediocre storytelling in an age where Bollywood has moved out of the regular commercial fare. Nowadays,for a film to succeed, you need to either back it up with content or excellent marketing.

But what was most unfortunate with last year releases, on the box office frontwas that finally a good film from Yashraj didn’t find many audience. One of the bigger reasons for its failure, as per my understanding,was lack of enough entertaining moments. Another was because of a poor marketing strategy which simply didn’t work for the film. Whatever the reason could be, Rocket Singh cannot be ignored for a variety of reasons:

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Prediction Thread- Toran Adarsh’s report tomorrow

I start it.

OATIM Picks up….

Genre for a film is very important. A film based on the 70s underworld of Bombay may not connect initially with todays’ generation. No one expected OATIM to take flying start and it did … Read More

A designer gangster flick – Sandy’s review of Once Upon a Time In Mumbaai

Director: Milan Luthria
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Kangna Ranaut, Prachi Desai and Randeep Hooda
Rating: **

Milan Luthria, who showed promise with his earlier films like Kachche Dhaage and Taxi No 9211, takes a Ram Gopal Varma subject, and treats it how a Karan Johar would. Over-stylised and shallow, the film serves old wine in a new bottle, with none of the grittiness and punch that one saw in gangster flicks like Satya and Company. And even if it tries to be different in tone, it doesn’t have the class of a Johnny Gadaar. Luthria peddles a less than serviceable script, perhaps hoping its period details will keep it interesting for the audiences. It tries to capture the zeitgeist of the 70s as seen in Deewar and Trishul, but the setting comes off as too staged – the result being that the film moves in a self-conscious manner, with stock, one-dimensional characters and relentless dialogue-baazi, that is the single-most irritating part of the film.

The year is somewhere in the 70s. Sultan (Ajay Devgn) grows up as a poor, but large-hearted man, who slowly but surely rises up the ranks in Mumbai’s underworld – which the film insists – wasn’t all that bad then. The goons had a heart and loved the city. So even if Sultan smuggled items and participated in petty crimes, he made sure that Mumbai remained clean from crime. The film keeps re-asserting Sultan’s largess and his essential goodness with literal scenes like him distributing cash to beggars at traffic signals and so on. He falls in love with an actress, Rehana (Kangana Ranaut), who he woos until she finally gives in. Sultan has no real enemies and all seems fine. The only minor irritant being an inspector (Randeep Hooda), who keeps issuing threats of arresting him, but never does so. Things change after an upstart, Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi) joins the gang. He has none of Sultan’s morals, and once he assumes some power, things go haywire, and herein are sowed the seeds of Mumbai’s infamous and gruesome gang-wars.

The subject had potential, but save for a few scenes, the script has little novelty. Also, the three main relationships in the film don’t touch a chord. The Ajay-Kangana romance is insipid. The Prachi (Desai)- Emraan track is better fleshed-out, but there is a sense of deja vu. The worst is the Ajay-Emraan pairing; they don’t connect as characters at all. It seems odd that a sensible guy like Sultan would hand over the reigns of his gang to a trouble-maker like Shoaib. Omkaara, Company, Satya – all had this angle, and it was deftly handled. Here, Shoaib’s ascent is forced and unconvincing.

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Below The Mark Opening For Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

Below The Mark Opening For Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

(This is quite a surprise because the movie has had good reviews)

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai opened to a disappointing response at the box office this … Read More

Milind’s Top Ten Crime Dramas Ever!!

Sachin bhai has termed OUATIM somewhere in between ‘Satya’ & ‘Company’.And i have complete faith in his reviews. Let me take a chance to present the top 10 gangster movies ever[both hollywood and bollywood combined].

1. The Godfather and Godfather … Read More

Late Mohammad Rafi´s Two Unheard Gems Released!

Late Mohammad Rafi´s Two Unheard Gems Released!

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First look at the new Indian Coin !

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Ajay more than Akshay

Against the backdrop of all this brouhaha over Akshay Kumar, it is Ajay Devgan who shines as a far more interesting actor-star. Look at his portfolio! Dramatic action films like Company, Gangajal, Apaharan, Raj neeti. Comedies like Golmaal, Al The … Read More

The Underworld in Cinema!!

It was most probably Deewar for which Amitabh Bachchan met ‘Haji Mastan’-the then crimelord of the City of Dreams-Bombay.

Cinema has always paid tribute to the mafia/underworld/crime-lords from time to time in a regularly regular fashion. Be it ‘The Godfather’/ ‘Scarface’/ ‘Carlito’s Way’/ ‘Departed’/ ‘Pulp Fiction’/'Gangs of New York/’Donnie Brasco‘ in Hollywood or Be it ‘Deewar’/'Agneepath’/'Zulm Ki Humkumat’/'Satya’/'D’/'Risk’/'Vaastav’/'OUATIM‘ in Bollywood…..they all have not only showcased the lifestyle of gangsters but also their modus operandi.It has been a far more superlative effort by Hollywood to capture crime on reel as usual but Bollywood has its masterpieces.Some highly absorbing pieces of cinema have adorned the Silver Screen that have sung the untold saga of crimes in the history of Indian Cinema.

If ‘Deewar‘ showcased the influence of  poverty and humiliation in childhood in the rise of ‘VIjay‘, ‘Agneepath‘ had the similar reasons to showcase the rise of a gangster. The desire to hit back at the system that has mauled you can find two avenues:

1.Either you are join the system and try changing it for good!!

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Tere Mast Mast Do Nain (Dabbang) Song Promo

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Hindustan Time’s Review: Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
Director: Milan Luthria
Actors: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi
Rating: ***

Sultan Mirza turns into a bit of a Mirza Ghalib over a few drinks. Or so his girlfriend (Kangna Ranaut) suggests. A woman’s deep attraction to powerful men, at its bizarre state, reveals itself in the shape of the ‘gun moll’. The examples are aplenty.

The girlfriend here is a ‘70s film actor. Sultan’s the dominant Mafiosi. His life, she tells him, could make for a great film: “You don’t need to act. There’s a new boy Amit. He has eyes just like yours. They speak volumes.”

The scene refers to Amitabh Bachchan of course, and perhaps a story that later became Yash Chopra’s Deewar in ‘75. The actor before you is Ajay Devgn. You tend to agree with the parallel drawn.

Few actors in mainstream films manage a self-assured, under-stated swagger, convey so much silently, sometimes just with their glance and droopy eyes. It’s a camera art. Bachchan perfected it as the ‘angry young man’. Devgn, you can tell, is his fine successor.

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OUATIM – 4 Stars from TOI

Story: Revisit the 1970s Mumbai underworld when smuggling was the most heinous crime (the age of innocence, huh!) and benevolent don, Sultan Mirza (reference point: Haji Mastan) was the mafioso king. The film presents the rise and reign of Sultan over the city as a glorified Robin Hood figure and his tempestuous relationship with his biggest fan-turned-foe, Shoaib Khan (reference point: Dawood Ibrahim), who joins him as a rookie gangster, only to outplay him and usurp his empire. This becomes the beginning of Mumbai’s tryst with ugly crime: gang wars, shoot-outs, bombs, terror and the big bad bhai log as we know them today….

Movie Review: So, you’ve seen Satya and loved it. You’ve also seen Company and lapped it up too. Had a most satisfying encounter with Black Friday also. You’ve even read those page turners on Mumbai’s underworld, Maximum City and Shantaram, and wondered if there’s anything more left to be said about the shining city’s sleazy underbelly. Hold your breath. For Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai might just take your breath away with its iridescence and engaging quality.

True, the film does re-open the familiar X-files of Mumbai’s most well-known crime story — the stormy relationship between Haji Mastan and his protegee Dawood Ibrahim, even though it does begin with the mandatory disclaimer of steering clear from real life. But it does it with an elegance and an intensity that keeps you glued to your seats, despite the fact that you know where the drama is headed for. And that’s because director Milan Luthria chooses to anchor his film in the emotional heartland rather than dabble with guns and gore. Refreshingly, the film goes low on violence and focuses more on the emotional quotient, throwing light on how Sultan Mirza (an awesome Ajay Devgn) rose to his Shahenshah-esque status in the underworld and how he tried to tame the roguish new team member, Shoaib Khan (an edgy Emraan Hashmi). Alas, in vain!

And here-in lies the dramatic core of Rajat Arora’s dynamic script which catapults the two lead characters as a study in contrast. While Sultan is showcased as the archetypal gentleman crook with a strong moral fibre, Shoaib is unprincipled and rotten to the core. Like that dada of all Dons, Vito Corleone, our desi Godfather too refuses to do drugs and insists he dabbles only with stuff banned by the law of the land not by his conscience. Shoaib, on the other hand, is game for any and everything — treachery, infidelity, gang war, bloodshed — in his unbridled bid for power. Of course, he begins as the trusted acolyte of the man he venerates as God himself (Maine toh bhagwan chun liya hai, ab aap insaan chuniye, he tells the iconic Sultan), but it doesn’t take long before he sets his eyes on the wider horizon. Mumbai mere neeche aur main dhuey ki tarah upar (Mumbai below me while I scale above as smoke), he declares and roller-coasts his way on the road to pure crime and total immorality, ending up as the outlaw who managed to rule the city with remote control. Interestingly, despite presenting Sultan as a larger-than-life figure, the film does manage to keep its moral compass straight and has a seminal sequence which categorically brands all its seemingly heroic characters as criminals, charisma notwithstanding.

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