RIP :Legendary singer Shamshad Begum dies at 94

Legendary playback singer Shamshad Begum, who mesmerised music lovers with classics like Kahin pe nigahen kahin pe nishana, Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, Kabhi aar kabhi paar and Kajra mohabbat wala, died at her Mumbai [ Images ] residence from age-related ailments.

She was 94.

“She was not keeping well for past few months and was in and out of hospital. She passed away last night at our home (Powai in northeast Mumbai). The funeral was a solemn affair with a few friends present,” Begum’s daughter Usha Ratra said.

The singer had been living with her daughter and son-in-law Yog Ratra in Mumbai ever since her husband Ganpat Lal Batto died in 1955.

Read More

2012 Box Office Verdict: 12 Bollywood Movies including English Vinglish and Oh My God declared Super-Hit

With 10 months of the year 2012 having faded away, it is amazing to watch back how well many movies in this year have done. This year has indeed been a good one for Bollywood. 12 Bollywood movies have so far been declared Super-Hits. The 12 movies are just from the time span of January 2012 to October 2012.

Koimoi has classified movies based on the below parameters:

Hit: Film which doubles the investment; Super-Hit: Film which more than doubles the investment; Average: Film which only recovers investment; Plus: Film which recovers investment & yields some profit; Flop: Film which loses 50% or more of investment; Losing: Film which does not recover the investment but loses less than 50% of it.

Based on these parameters Koimoi has established that the following movies has more than just doubled the investment. We have listed starting from the highest to lowest, ranking based on estimated multiples in Returns of Investment.

Read More

Koimoi: Box office Verdict 2012

Hit: Film which doubles the investment; Super-Hit: Film which more than doubles the investment; Average: Film which only recovers investment; Plus: Film which recovers investment & yields some profit; Flop: Film which loses 50% or more of investment; Losing: Film which does not recover the investment but loses less than 50% of it. * Still Running.

ZeeNews: ‘Student Of The Year’ review: Gear up for a lukewarm movie-wala-film!

http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/movies/student-of-the-year-review-gear-up-for-a-lukewarm-movie-wala-film_121315.htm

Take a cauldron. Mix in ‘Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire’ in generous doses, the essence of ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’, few minutes of some other films-set-in-school, and add a dash of ‘3 Idiots’ for flavour. What you have is Karan Johar’s latest offering, ‘Student Of The Year’. The director’s latest offering justifies, to the last bit, the adage – ‘all that glitters is not gold’.

Set in the picturesque locales of Dehradun, more precisely, in the Forest Research Institute and Kasiga School, ‘Student Of The Year’ has every element of a Karan Johar school/college film. Beautiful surroundings; the fluff of snobbish, brand-obsessed people; few nerds – one of them bespectacled, inevitably; a Dean who just doesn’t understand the values of friendship and camaraderie and so on. You ask for it, and you get it. No stone is left unturned in leaving a large, bold Karan Johar signature on the film.

St. Teressa’s School is one of the best schools in the country. Students here, every year, have their eyes and goals set on only one end – the Student of the Year Trophy. A bespectacled Kayoze Irani narrates the story of St. T’s ten years after their batch dissipated from the school, and now gathered at the deathbed of their Dean, Yoginder Vashisht (Rishi Kapoor). The run for the Student of the Year trophy, ten years back, was one that was nothing short of a live-or-die competition for the inmates of St. T’s. However, no matter how much the posters of the film shout out, it certainly is no ‘competition for life’. Sigh.

Read More

2nd Week Worldwide Box Office Collections Of ENGLISH VINGLISH

“English Vinglish” Marks The Victory Of Concept & Sridevi

“English Vinglish” started slowly at box office and after a good growth on Saturday and Sunday, film looked to settle with average numbers. But film’s amazing and a bit surprising performance in week two gave it not only the Hit tag but also marked the victory of a concept film and start status of Sridevi.

Film has collected some huge numbers overseas which are unheard of for a heroine oriented film. This was solely due to film’s overseas friendly content and presence of Sridevi. This is 3rd clean hit from R Balki (though this one was directed by his wife Gauri Shinde) after “Cheeni Kam” and “Paa”.

Film collected 60 lakh and 55 lakh on Wednesday and Thursday to take film’s two week collections to 31.50 cr nett. Film collected 10 cr nett in 2nd week which is approximately 45% drop from 1st week which is rare in today’s time. Though film will be out of most of the cinemas next week due to mammoth release of SOTY, but one thing is sure that Sridevi is back and with a bang!

Below are the collections for the film -

Read More

Review: Karan Johar’s ‘Student Of The Year’ is all fluff and no stuff

t would’ve been more apt to title this movie ‘Dancer of the Year’, instead of ‘Student of the year’, because that’s what Karan Johar’s pretty students do the most. They break into a jig at the drop of a hat.

From extravagant weddings to snow-clad mountains, to funky clubs, to almost anywhere, they invest every waking hour in matching their steps to a host of remixed, old Hindi film classics.

At KJo’s new school, it’s only the dance moves that count, and nothing else.

Textbooks, sports and any other extracurricular activities, barring the one that touches the heart, are sidelined and pitched towards the fag end of the two-and-a-half-hour race.

Read More

She has what it takes

This has probably never happened in the history of Bollywood. A 49-year-old mainstream actress, absent from the limelight for almost 15 years, makes a comeback in a starring role.
Her role in English Vinglish has won over the fans all over again. What’s more, contrary to what was normally seen in her heydays of the eighties, this time critics as well as the cerebral crowd are loving it too.
But then Sridevi has always been an enigma, a departure from all that has forever defined stardom for the average Bollywood heroine over the years.
The press would recall her as a star who avoided giving interviews or resorting to convenient antics to hog off-screen spotlight even in the days when she reigned as Hindi cinema’s undisputed number one female star.
Fans would vouch for her innate ability to smoothly mix sex appeal with a peculiar streak of innocence.

As Mr India director Shekhar Kapur once famously said, Sridevi was almost a ‘child woman’ on screen – her face seemingly unaware of what her body was doing to her legions of male fans.
English Vinglish was, of course, different. Gauri Shinde’s film demanded Sridevi wholly rid herself of the cute sexy charm of yore.

Madhuri Dixit , pictured left will be seen in Dedh Ishqiya and Gulab Gang and Manisha Koirala will be seen in Bhoot Returns
She plays a middle-class Marathi homemaker draped in the whole nine-yards, conscious of her self-complex of not knowing spoken English in a world that laughs at her ignorance of the language, and yet driven by the steely resolve to prove a point in her own quiet way.
Mainstream superstars are known to be shackled by the very image that takes them to the top.

In Sridevi’s case, you cannot think of many instances barring Yash Chopra’s Lamhe in 1991 where a script offered her the scope to break free.
If English Vinglish is the season’s surprise hit, it is because debutant director Shinde bravely created room for her lead star to move beyond the trademark Hawa hawai image.
You would say that at 49 it was impossible for a senior actress to turn on the formula that worked for her when she was 20.
In an era when every other PYT actress is gunning to score with the oomph quotient, Sridevi had to do something different.
That she has managed to impress despite moving away from the image that made her a phenomenon is itself an achievement in Bollywood, where stars are not encouraged to experiment.
Shinde has said Sridevi is a star who ‘is completely there when she faces the camera’, describing her as ‘a director’s actor’.
Uncanny, how her description echoes what Shekhar Kapur said 25 years ago after Mr India became a blockbuster.

Read More

Baradwaj Rangan – Lights, Camera, Conversation… “Speaking volumes through silent cinema”

But there are all kinds of silent-film acting, with different levels of exaggeration, and what Sridevi does is just enough to render dialogue or explanation unnecessary. This is not the silent-film acting of far-flung arms and clasped bosoms, but the … Read More

english-vinglish earns rs-27cr in the opening-weekend

Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish that opened to a tepid response on Friday, picked up over the weekend, and has remained steady since then.

In the opening weekend, English Vinglish grossed Rs 17.25 crore in India (net collection: Rs 13.25 crore)

and Rs 9.75 crore overseas

. The film opened to modest collections but with favorable reviews combined with superb word of mouth, the film grew in business over Saturday and Sunday, especially at the multiplexes.

Read More

‘English Vinglish’ earns Rs 13 cr in 3 days, ‘Oh My God’ still going strong

New Delhi: Sridevi’s comeback film ‘English Vinglish’ had a slow start and earned Rs 2.5 crore on Friday. However, the positive reviews from critics and the viewers did wonders for the film. ‘English Vinglish’ earned Rs 13 crore in the … Read More

English Vinglish Overseas and Saturday Huge Growth in India also

As expected:

Komal Nahta Tweets: EV doing wonders in Overseas already: UK £37k Friday. Superb for a film with NO hero and Sridevi coming after 15 years! EV friday in USA: ??$180k (similar to Agneepath)!!!! GREAT! EV in UAE: Unbelievable … Read More

English Vinglish: 10 scenes that make it Sridevi’s best performance

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/english-vinglish-10-scenes-that-make-it-sridevis-best-performance/298209-8-66.html

A matchless cook, a caring mother, a perfect homemaker and an expert in making laddoos, Shashi Godbole’s character in ‘English Vinglish’ is so beautifully crafted that it looks very close to reality. Tired of becoming a butt of jokes … Read More

Few More reviews EV: GLAMSHAM (****) ,Yahoo (****) & Mayank Shekhar- catch it, watch it

GLAMSHAM
Gauri Shinde has come up with a gem in her directorial debut. The story is very modern, yet archaic; sober, yet hard-hitting. And adding punch with lots of pizzaz to the entire duration of the film is Sridevi. She has come back with the proverbial BANG! Probably, this has to be one of the best knock-out return of an actress who once ruled the roost.

Sedate, peaceful, purposeful yet not losing her mind, Sridevi tackles a subject, so close to home, with a rare maturity that only motherhood can bring. Vidya Balan has fierce competition now. Another ‘hero’ is on the horizon. And Sridevi is a serious contender with this performance of hers for the Best Actress Award. Kahaani mein twist!

view ENGLISH VINGLISH stills

A round of applause to these two women, Gauri Shinde and Sridevi, for ENGLISH VINGLISH that is sure to have the audience coming in for a second helping.

Read More

Komal Nahta: EV Review

“On the whole, English Vinglish is a simple tale sensitively told and extraordinarily enacted. It may have taken a slow start but it has immense power to grow greatly because of positive word of mouth and ultimately prove a hit! No doubt, it will work more in the cities and the multiplexes but business from there will be big. Ladies will give a huge boost to the film. It also has tremendous repeat value be­cause it is a very uplifting and feel-good film.”

ENGLISH VINGLISH
Hope Productions Pvt. Ltd., Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R.K. Damani and Eros International’s English Vinglish is the story of a middle-class Indian housewife, Shashi (Sridevi), who doesn’t know to speak proper Eng­lish. Her lack of knowledge of English often makes her the butt end of jokes at home. Not just her husband, Satish (Adil Hussian), but even her school-going daughter, Sapna (baby Navika Kotia), does not miss any opportunity to ridicule Shashi’s English-speaking skills or, rather, the lack of them. Shashi and Satish also have a little son, Sagar (master Shivansh Kotia). Shashi is a fantastic cook and has a small business of selling delicious laddoos. Her self-esteem and self-respect are at an all-time low but like a loving wife and mother, she bears it all.

Shashi goes to America to attend the marriage of her niece, Meera (Neelu Sodhi). Satish sends Shashi much in advance so that she can help her widowed sister, Manu (Sujata Kumar), with the wedding preparations. He and the kids are to follow after a few weeks. Manu also has a younger daughter, Radha (Priya Anand).

A couple of incidents at the airport in India, on the flight to America and in America unnerve Shashi so much that she immediately decides to undertake a crash course in English while in America. Too shy to tell her sister and her neices about her Eng­lish-speaking classes, she attends them daily without their knowledge. Shashi meets people of different nationalities at her school and they become very close to one another. The other students are: Eva (Ruth Aguilar), a Mexican lady; Salman Khan (Sumeet Vyas), a Pakistani; Ramamurthy (Rajeev Ravindranathan), a South Indian; Yu Son (Maria Romano), a Chinese; Udumbke (Damien Thompson), an African; and Laurent (Mehdi Nebbou), a handsome Frenchman. Laurent soon falls in love with Shashi. The English teacher is David Fischer (Cory Hibbs).

Read More

Amul Welcome Sridevi returns

Read More

Raja Sen: English Vinglish is a winner all the way

****
In India [ Images ], our post-Colonial hangover includes a peculiar English-language elitism, where those even halfway in control of the language thumb their nose at those unable to speak it.

Where folk routinely, and with unforgivable curtness, cut folk off mid-sentence to snappily correct pronunciation. Which is why a scene in Gauri Shinde’s new film — where a simple Maharashtrian woman is castigated by her family for calling jazz “jhaaz” (even as they proudly call it “jhazz” themselves) — rings so true.

They don’t intentionally mean to humiliate the woman with their constant use of English, but appear befuddled by her lack of what they imagine to be the most basic of linguistic skills.

Shashi, the devastatingly unassuming heroine of English Vinglish, is a homemaker and crafter of much-adored laddoos, a fledgling entrepreneur doing what she does because its the only thing she’s applauded for. Not knowing English, however, cripples her at nearly every turn, till the fact that she can’t speak the language becomes her not-so-secret shame, not unlike Kate Winslet’s [ Images ] illiteracy in The Reader. And here’s the thing: Sridevi does far better.

Read More

The Guardian EV review: Peter Bradshaw, likable family comedy from India

*** Here is a likable family comedy from India with its own air of innocence, and a boisterous cameo from Amitabh Bachchan. Former ad director Gauri Shinde makes her feature debut, and the star is Bollywood veteran Sridevi. She plays … Read More

Now comes Sridevi 2

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Now-comes-Sridevi-2/articleshow/16668140.cms

Sequels have made smash hits into huge franchises. Batman, Spiderman, Superman… man man man! Now, welcome the biggest sequel to the smashest hit woman of Indian cinema. Sridevi-2. While Gauri was busy writing and directing English Vinglish, I was … Read More

Emirates 24*7 English Vinglish Review :Sridevi makes a ‘must-watch’ remarkable comeback

By Sneha May Francis-

Nothing forced about the movie, no unnecessary character; the only issue is Sridevi’s struggle with the English language

What Karan Johar tried to teach, over-and-over again through lavish sets and glossy frames, about loving one’s parents, first-time director Gauri Shinde endorses, but with simplistic aplomb.

Her lesson, however, is far more rooted in reality. A bit sluggish, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Although influences of her famed filmmaker husband Balki are inevitable in the styling and narrative, Gauri does show promise.

Read More

Gustakh Dil (Song promo) – English Vinglish

Read More

English Vinglish ready to break Salman’s Ek Tha Tiger’s record in TN

Ek Tha Tiger had one of the biggest releases in Tamil Nadu this year. The Salman Khan starrer Hindi movie not only set a new benchmark at Indian Box Office but also at Chennai Box Office. Now, yesteryear actress Sridevi’s … Read More

Subhash K Jha: Mini Review English Vinglish- If you see only 2 films a year make sure you see English Vinglish…twice

Sublime,subtle,seductive,engaging.. English Vinglish is a life-changing experience.It turns around the male gaze,making patriarchal tyranny seem like an acceptable tradition that we never thought we needed to break .With oodles of persuasive charm,director Gauri Shinde’s film breaks down the bastion of … Read More

Firstpost Bollywood Movie Review: Sridevi brings acting back in English Vinglish!

English Vinglish’s opening credits roll with congratulatory wishes – one for Indian cinema turning 100 years old and to Amitabh Bachchan on his 70th birthday, which falls on 11 October. The Bachchan wishes will explain themselves in the film, with his cameo extraordinaire.

Shashi Godbole (Sridevi) lives the life of a devoted housewife in Pune to a husband (Adil Hussain) who has no time to converse with her and is an attentive and loving mother to an annoying daughter, Sapna, who mocks her inability to speak in English.

But her adorable little boy, Sagar, who seems to be the only one who reciprocates her affection, is a constant companion. The scene where he bullies her into doing a Michael Jackson step is priceless. She also loves cooking and runs a part-time laddoo making business. Shashi is beautiful and perfect in every way, barring her English language skills. While this might be no big deal in India given the national language is Hindi, the social conforms and India’s increasing bent towards Westernising itself, it does become an issue and a big one with her daughter who is mortified and embarrassed by a non-English speaking mother.

The film traces the ordinary, everyday life of Shashi in a heart-tugging way – you feel for Shashi from the moment the screen opens with her making a pot of coffee in the morning and her husband calling out for tea. Thereon, every moment is filled with Shashi’s beautiful, large eyes expressing possibly every emotion known to man, ranging from a slight flicker to wide–eyed wonder, in a way that only Sridevi can.

Read More

English Vinglish: Another review

Sridevi is back and how! English Vinglish is worthy a comeback for this diva. The director of the movie Gauri Shinde has done perfect justice to Sridevi’s acting talent. English Vinglish was premiered at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, where … Read More

A Simple and Effortless Portrayal of a Beautiful Story- English Vinglish Review

English Vinglish’ is a beautiful film that brings to light the intricacies of relationships, marriage and friendships. It is an outstanding, yet a simple story. It is the brilliant directorial debut of ad film maker Gauri Shinde that brings several fresh faces to life on screen. But above all, ‘English Vinglish’ is the magnificient comeback of actress Sridevi. And yes, she doesn’t disappoint!

The 49 year old, dancing queen of the 80s and 90s has done it all before! She has been a part of award winning films like ‘Lamhe’ and ‘Chalbaaz’ apart from her success sprint in South Indian films, and yet, in ‘English Vinglish’ she is new, filled with expression and plays an inspiring leading lady.

‘English Vinglish’ is the simple story of Shashi (Sridevi) who cannot comprehend English. Wanting to change that one truth about herself Shashi enrolls into an English ‘tuition’ as she calls it, and realizes there is lot more to life, especially when she is in the vibrant city of New York.

When it comes to being a debut director, Gauri Shinde deserves a pat on the back for telling a complicated story effortlessly. Her fine treatment of the simple story and an eye for showing inter-twined relationships and strong emotions with ease, makes English Vinglish an unusual film.

Read More