Archive for Som
An Ardent Cinema Enthusiast!
November 17th, 2008
Move over Bhoot and Phoonk. Ram Gopal Varma’s Agyaat is here. Ramu’s next film entitled Agyaat would be something he has never a done before. A film about an invisible predator creating havoc among a group of people in an isolated spot.
An old Hollywood formula. “But never done properly in Hindi cinema. Something like the Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno. These were about natural calamities striking a group of people. Mine would’ve a far less identifiable enemy, attacking a film crew on an exotic island,” informs Ramu, as he divulges that his media film Rann has been shifted to January 2009.
The film written by two Varma discoveries Punet Varma and Hari will be shot by a debutant cinematographer Surjo. It will be shot in Sri Lanka from next month. “The media film Rann, I’m starting at the end of January 2009. Agyaat, I’ll shoot in the Sigria jungles of Sri Lanka. I recently went location hunting there. It was a stunning stretch of wilderness. I’ve never seen anything so frightening in my life. All the principal photography will be done in Sigria in 35 days. Then the special effects will be done in Mumbai. My Phoonk had very hastily done special-effects. Agyaat will be a first of its kind in terms of effects. In fact, Agyaat is being made primarily for the special effects.”
November 17th, 2008
Rohan Sippy is working furiously towards his next starring Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor. Sources reveal that the Bluffmaster! director wants to roll his film in Feb 2009.
However, Rohan will have to wait as Abhishek has given block dates for Mani Ratnam’s film.
November 17th, 2008
Sonu Niigaam talks.. Rachana Dubey listens…
Apparently, you’ve cut down on your concert tours.
The schedules aren’t as dense now because I want to spend time with my son Neevan. He’s all of one. I want to see him grow up every day. If I have a longish tour, I take my wife (Madhurima) and him along. I can’t stay without my son. He’s more attached to me than to his mother.
November 16th, 2008
Mumbai, November 16, 2008: The Nanavati Hospital’s new, state-of-the-art Electrophysiology and Electroacoustic Centre of Audiology & Speech Therapy Department was inaugurated by Film star Hrithik Roshan. The Hospital authorities stated that the center, built in memory of Hrithik Roshan’s grandmother Late Smt. Ira Roshan, has become a reality because of the support given by him to the Hospital.
The Centre is a testimony to the Nanavati Hospital’s continued commitment to providing the community with the most advanced medical care. The centre offers its patients the best talent in the country and the most sophisticated medical technology available worldwide.
Read the rest from the Website
November 16th, 2008
Bollywood bigwigs talk about the effect of Global Recession on the Hindi Film industry
Vashu Bhagnani (producer): “Ironically, it’s the culture of corporatization that has both organized and spoilt the film industry. While it made everyone more professional and we no longer shook hands over deals and actually put everything on paper, the corporate culture also brought arbitrary money from the outside. These corporate houses were willing to pay stars anything just to get them on board. The crazy star-buying spree has had a snowballing effect. Prices have hit the roof. Stars will definitely have to bring down their prices, though they would still be indispensable. Audiences do come to watch stars.
Madhur Bhandarkar (producer-director): “There’s a serious melting-down going on everywhere. And stars have already been forced to reduce their prices. Even the ones who command no fan- following had begun to charge Rs. 2 crores. The bubble was bound to burst, better it happened sooner rather than later. Would I make more budget-friendly films? My budgets are entirely dictated by the theme. I’ve made Traffic Signal for Rs. 4 crores. I made Fashion for 40 crores.
November 16th, 2008
We have another movie based on a conman, coming up in Dibakar Banerje’s Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye.
And though it has been compared with the Abhishek Bachchan starrer Bunty Aur Bubli, we have the real story behind it. We stumbled upon the fact that this Abhay Deol starrer is actually based on a real-life story of a ‘super chor’ called Devender, who’s also known as Bunty. He’s currently awaiting his trail in Tihar jail. Abhay’s character in this film is actually based on Devender whose modus operandi is to outsmart people, chowkidaars and policemen with his sharp mind and wit.
He is supposedly an aspiring individual who loves the good things of life and is generally enamored by the lifestyles of the rich and famous. And he robs things because he didn’t have access to them in his early years. So it could mean a mere music system, a cute teddy bear or even a car. So, given so many similarities with Devender, is the film based on his life? Says Dibakar, “I have met several thieves during my research including Bunty. And so, it depicts the lives of several Bunties.” Talk about art imitating life!
November 16th, 2008
The word media seems to have become Abhishek Bachchan’s ‘favourite’ word as Shubha Shetty-Saha discovers during this interview
You must have pinned a lot on Dostana…
The story is different and novel. I have not done comedy for a long time. It’s special as Tarun (Mansukhani), who is a childhood friend, has directed it.
There is this gay angle to the film…
Not at all. This whole gay angle is being blown out of proportion, because the media had already decided what the film is about before even watching it…(huh?)
November 16th, 2008
He has played this role in many films. And as the DDLJ team comes back to the screen this December, Shah Rukh Khan, by turns brash and self-effacing, tells us that lover-boy Raj grew up long ago ¦ harneet singh
T HE SIGNS THAT you’re in a superstar’s home are everywhere. In the study, the awards are displayed proudly on the shelves.
Matte-finish publicity stills of his forthcoming production, Billu Barber, are lying on a side table. Biogra phies and autobiographies of James Dean, Jack Nicholson, Guru Dutt, Dev Anand, Michael Jackson and Peter Sellers jostle with classics like The Fountainhead, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Colour Pur ple and Animal Farm. Shah Rukh Khan owns the entire collection of Tom Robbins, Haruki Murakami and Mirza Ghalib. There are three books on learning to play the guitar; on the coffee table is a book on the origins of Shaolin Kung Fu. His PowerBook G4 is lying on the sofa next to him. Daughter Suhana has just told her daddy that since it’s a holiday the next day, both Aryan and she will sleep at five o’ clock in the morning. Movie and board game marathon plans are already in place.
But right now, all his attention is focused on next month’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi that teams him with DDLJ director Aditya Chopra after eight years. To cynics, Rab Ne… might appear yet another love story from the house of chiffons (read Yash Raj Films). But when you consider that DDLJ, the first film of the Adi-and-SRK combo, is 683 weeks not out, and playing at the famous Maratha Mandir in Mumbai, December’s release assumes significance. (That’s 13 years plus for DDLJ, by the way.) Since it’s also Khan’s first release in over a year, you can’t be surprised by the buzz around it.
Quiz him on the gap and the superstar replies, “I don’t like it at all. I’ve only two beliefs: a) I’m a genius and b) a genius is only a genius if he’s prolific.” That vintage SRK-ism over, the actor tells us how two of his proposed projects, Robot and 3 Idiots, fell through. “Because the makers threw me out of the films and chose to do them with other actors,” he got unexpected time off. “Eventually it worked out fine since Adi was ready with Rab Ne… and I had the time to start it at once,” he says.
November 16th, 2008
In an attempt to structure a story on how Priyanka Chopra is distancing herself from boyfriend Harman Baweja after his debut film, Love Story 2050 tanked, leading dailies and tabloids here in Mumbai carried solo pictures of Priyanka Chopra juxtaposed with those of Harman with Victory co-star Amrita Rao, all clicked at the same function. Predictably, the accompanying copy was on how Priyanka and Harman turned up solo at Farah Khan’s triumphant lingerie fashion show and avoided each other.
The truth is vastly different.
Just before the show took off, the VIP table where Karan Johar, Gauri Khan, Preity Zinta, Sonali Bendre and Susanne Roshan were seated, was crammed. That’s when Harman Baweja walked in, solo. He went largely unrecognised, as it is his ladylove who is the more famous face today. Finding no seat at the VIP table, Harman quickly shared dress designer Shabina Khan’s chair at the adjacent table. As the show started, a flurry of quiet messages went back and forth and three empty chairs were produced, linking Shabina’s table with Karan’s. Harman nodded his approval and moved into one next to the dress designer. Five minutes later, a plump girl tapped Harman on the shoulder and whispered. The young actor nodded again in the direction of the two empty chairs and voila! Ten seconds later, Priyanka Chopra in a shiny micro mini rushed in and sat next to Harman. ‘Mummy’, she mouthed. Her mom appeared and took the next chair. All this went on in the audience while Farah’s show took the spotlight.
October 8th, 2008
Drona might have been slammed by the critics but director Goldie Behl has taken the response with a very positive outlook. In age when actors and directors take things very personally and retort with viciousness, Goldie has worked constructively towards the reviews.
A major grouse from the film was that the songs worked as speed-breakers on Drona’s adventurous journey. Goldie was quick enough to trim the length of the songs on Friday itself. “I have cut as good as 13 minutes from the films, primarily the songs which proved as a major hindrance to the flow of the film. The original length of the film was 2 hour 17 minutes and now it’s close to 2 hours only”, says Goldie.
The edited version was showcased from Saturday itself and the makers say that it’s picking up mainly with the kids.
October 8th, 2008
NG members are requested to put up this week’s Boxoffice related reports,updates and numbers of films in this one thread instead of consuming separate/individual thread. Thanks! BOI’s report:Kidnap All Set To Win Initial Eid Battle Kidnap looks set to win the first round of the Eid battle as all signs are that it will get a better opening than Drona. The multiplex chains are giving the better screens and more shows to Kidnap while the advance booking at single screens which opened yesterday was better for Kidnap. Despite Kidnap being a 20 crore film compared to the 50+ crore of Drona, in terms of release Kidnap is set to have a bigger release in all the circuits of India. The team of Drona have done a great job with its publicity campaign over the last week but exhibitors are favouring Kidnap. The multiplexes are going for Kidnap due to the popularity of Imran Khan with the urban youth while Sanjay Dutt gives it tremendous face value in the smaller centres. The advance at single screens of Kidnap is only behind Singh Is Kinng and Race for 2008. The first round is set to be won by Kidnap and it remains to be seen how the public reacts to both films and what Monday brings. Taran Adarsh:’Kidnap’ versus ‘Drona’ Now here’s one week everyone’s looking forward to. After a string of low-cost and medium-budget fares making a mark in the holy month of Ramzan, let’s get ready to embrace the biggies, starting from this week onwards. All eyes are on KIDNAP and DRONA. For various reasons… KIDNAP is crucial for director Sanjay Gadhvi as also Imran Khan. Gadhvi makes his first film outside Yash Raj and naturally, people are expecting the moon from Gadhvi’s new outing. Will KIDNAP be as successful as DHOOM and DHOOM 2? KIDNAP is also an acid test for Imran Khan, who has been cast in a role that’s in sharp contrast to the one in JAANE TU… YA JAANE NA. Will it work? Will Imran stand up to a giant like Sanjay Dutt, who has decades of experience behind him? Similarly, DRONA is crucial for Abhishek Bachchan and Goldie Behl. Abhishek has had a string of flops after GURU. JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM and LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG, produced by Yash Raj, have proved supreme disasters at the box-office, while SARKAR RAJ met with average success in Mumbai-Maharashtra and South. Elsewhere, it was a flop. Since DRONA rides on Abhishek’s shoulders, it’ll be interesting to see if the actor pulls in the audiences in its opening 4-day weekend. Also, Goldie Behl has to prove his abilities after he flunked the test in BAS ITNA SA KHWAB HAI. Thursday, October 2 holds the answers!
October 8th, 2008
All NG members are requested to put up all the media and critics’ reviews of “Kidnap”,”Ramchand Pakistani” and “Drona” in this one thread instead of posting them on separate/individual thread. Thanks!
October 8th, 2008
In order to arrest its sagging sale, well-known Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza evolved a new marketing technique. It offered a Bollywood DVD film every Saturday at a concessional price to its readers. The result: sales of the paper goes up by 50,000 copies.
If one buys Gazeta Wyborcza’s weekend issue and pays the quivalent of $2.50 extra, one can take home a Bollywood film with Polish subtitles.
Shah Rukh Khan is the most popular Indian star in Poland and his films such as “Kal Ho Naa Ho”, “Dil Se”, and “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” are the most in demand.
October 8th, 2008
The hoardings of Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion, put up five days ago, have only Priyanka Chopra. This did not go down well with Kangana Ranaut, who has a crucial part to play in the film. In a fit of anger, Kangana called up UTV on Sunday from Las Vegas complaining that they had no business to omit her from the hoarding put up at Bandra (opposite Lucky Restaurant).
But how did Kangana know about the hoarding at Bandra? A source from the unit of Fashion says, “It’s a small world. Apparently, somebody from either the Fashion unit or the film industry must have informed her.”
October 8th, 2008
Recently, to shoot a special song an integral part of Shah Rukh Khan’s Billo Barber - the film’s director Priyadarshan specially called up Santosh Sivan and requested him to wield the camera as he trusted no one but Sivan to do justice to the lavish song he had planned.
The entire Mukesh Mills Compound was painted black to shoot the song. The sequence portrays SRK’s character performing live in a concert.
October 8th, 2008
Though Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali had always expressed a desire to work together, no project ever materialised. But now it seems that the superstar has given the thumbs-up to the filmmaker and will be working in his next project. His business manager neither denied or confirmed Hrithik’s commitment and not much is known on the genre of the movie or about the cast.
Hrithik, who is extremely choosy about the films he does, is presently shooting for his home-production ‘Kites’ in Los Angeles. He will be back in Mumbai with his team on October 12 after which he shoots for the Mumbai schedule.
The film’s shooting was disrupted by Hurricane Ike during the shoot in New Mexico, but according to his manager it has not affected the schedule as they continued the shoot in Las Vegas. The Anurag Basu directed project, which is reportedly based on Woody Allen’s ‘Match Point’, a tale of love, betrayal and adultery, and has Hrithik with an interesting new look.
October 8th, 2008
Mumbai: Kareena Kapoor turns net savvy. The actress is all set to launch her own website.
“Kareena’s official website is going to be more fashion oriented. The site will have updates not only of Kareena’s fashion trends but also the other trends that take place all over the globe,” revealed a source close to the actress.
The source adds, “Her website is going to be absolutely tech savvy the Kind. It’s going to be on the lines of Victoria Beckham, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez’s sites and fashion pages. Completely international befitting a celebrity of her stature.”
October 8th, 2008
A special screening of Richard Attenborough’s Academy Award-winning movie Gandhi will be held at the Middle Eastern International Film Festival (MEIFF) 2008 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Actor Ben Kingsley, who won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the film, will attend the special screening at the Emirates Palace Hotel, according to a MEIFF statement.
The film has been dubbed into Arabic and will have its first local premiere at an international film festival in this region.
October 8th, 2008
Gyani Gurbachan Singh, the Jathedar Akal Takht (highest Sikh temporal seat), expressed shock over the behaviour of Sikh cricketer Harbhajan Singh [Images], who danced on television dance show, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena with Mona Singh, wearing a tilak and dressed as Ravana.
The Jathedar said the incident has caused severe resentment among the Sikh community and has sought apology from the off-spinner. Gurbachan said that being a Sikh, it was highly objectionable of Harbhajan to wear tilak and act as Ravana and dance publicly, and that these things would not be tolerated. Various Sikh and Hindu organisations, including the Shiv Sena, protested against the dance, and demanded apology from the performers.
Gurbachan also said the incident would be probed though no one has lodged a complaint so far with the Akal Takht. “If somebody files a complaint, suitable action against the cricketer could be initiated irrespective of the fact that he is not a baptised Sikh,” the Jathedar said.
October 7th, 2008
If there’s one Bollywood actor who can sell salt from the ocean, then it has to be Shah Rukh Khan. Consider this: last year around the same time, SRK swooped down to Dubai with his slick ponytail, six-pack abs and in less than an hour, peddled the release of the hit Om Shanti Om, which also made a sculpted body seem like the most natural progression for a 40-something actor.
Cut to 2008, the smooth-talking romantic hero has a different strategy up his sleeve. Khan’s long hair has been chopped. The retro ruffled white shirt, unbuttoned at the chest had been replaced by a conservative black suit housing a suave lean, but not mean, businessman.
At the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai on Sunday, the Bollywood icon was hawking the idea of his Dh8 billion beachfront property on Dana Island in Ras Al Khaimah as a perfect petri dish for familial heaven.
October 7th, 2008
Mumbai: Shah Rukh’s Khan’s wife Gauri held a rocking party to bring in her birthday (October 
at their residence at Mannat in Bandra last night.
Personal invitations
October 7th, 2008
Mumbai, Oct. 6: Actor Shakti Kapoor’s son Siddhant and the daughter of Aditya Panscholi and Zarina Wahab, Sana, were picked up with about 240 others from a nightclub early this morning on the charge of possessing or taking drugs.
Siddhant is a DJ at the nightclub and discotheque, Bombay 72 Degree East, owned by another Bollywood personality, film-maker Prakash Mehra. Mehra, suffering from a host of ailments and confined to home, could not be reached.
Among those held are eight alleged peddlers, one of them a woman and another an Israeli citizen. About 100 Ecstasy and LSD tablets, charas and other drugs were seized, police said.
October 7th, 2008
Apparently, best friends Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra making different films on the same subject!
Close friends Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra making films is not news. What’s astonishing is that both are set to make different films based on the same story! Interestingly, the story is lifted from a 1999 Hollywood film Arlington Road.
While Aditya’s film titled New York being directed by Kabir Khan stars John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh in lead roles, Karan’s untitled film will be directed by Renzil D’Souza and will star Saif Ali Khan and Vivek Oberoi.
October 5th, 2008
Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Composer-singer-actor Himesh Reshammiya, who plays the lead role in the remake of the 1980s superhit “Karz”, admits Ranbir Kapoor would have been a better choice for the role and would have ensured the film’s box office success. Himesh plays the lead character of Monty,originally played by Ranbir’s father Rishi Kapoor in Subhash Ghai’s musical thriller “Karz”.
“Ranbir would have been a better choice as he would have brought success instantly. The film would have been a superhit before its release, but since I’m into the movie, we will have to wait for its release to see how it fares,” Himesh told IANS.
Himesh was all praise for Ranbir’s acting capabilities in his recently released Bachna Ae Haseeno and said his legacy of acting was unchallengeable.
October 5th, 2008
‘Goddess of Luck’, ‘Woman with a golden touch’, ‘Lucky Charm’ - Quite a few titles have been bestowed upon Katrina Kaif ever since she has delivered a string of successful films. A true ’superstar’ today, it was imperative that she appears on ‘Sajid Superstars’. Here is what she had to share on the show:
- The world waits with a bated breath to know whether she is single or indeed seeing someone (read Salman Khan). She was asked the obvious question on the show and she confessed - (hold your breath) - that she is still single. Well, before jumping from your seats, there is more to come. She tactically replied that as per her, a person is bound to be single until he/she is unmarried! Got the logic!
- In her career so far, she has delivered maximum number of hits with Akshay Kumar. As a ‘jodi’ they have been terrific and come with almost cent percent success rate. Katrina speaks about Akshay, his professionalism and his dedication in front of the camera. She also speaks about Vipul Shah, the man who gave her a challenging role in Namastey London and the biggest success of her career - Singh Is Kinng.