Whether you agree with him or not, Anurag kashyap is one of the most compelling Directors in India. His innate rebellious natures transforms itself onto the screen so effectively that he is constantly challenging any preconceptions that you may have. Don’t expect easy plots or ‘armchair’ cinema from him. His characters and nature of his scenes are so compelling that you cannot help but accept his argument for the moment, only to think long and hard about it when you get home. Gulal is such a film and coming so soon after his path breaking Dev D, presents a completely different side of Anurag, a political one, not seen since his terrific ‘Black Friday’, Argue amongst yourselves later, but on screen his scenes and characters are explosive.

Link: http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2009/03/gulal_by_anurag.htm

Slumdog Crorepati and Dev D have done rock steady business in their sixth and fourth week’s respectively. As per the collections available yet it seems that Slumdog Crorepati has recorded higher collections in its sixth week than fifth week while Dev D is just 10% lower in its fourth week than its third week. Slumdog Crorepati (dubbed) and Dev D both look like crossing the 15 crore nett mark.

Both films along with Raaz - The Mystery Continues are the only successes of 2009 till date.

I am really happy about Dev D. And it shows that the audience can take different cinema. If Delhi ^ is not doing well it has only itself to blame.

Link: http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/mar/04slumdog-is-number-one-film-worldwide.htm

“The song Jai Ho has become a world anthem,” writer Vikas Swarup whose book Q & A inspired the movie said last week after the Oscars were announced. Old timers recall the title song from Raj Kapoor’s [Images] Awara which became phenomenally popular in the 1950s. But the song immortalised by Mukesh was a sensation, along with the movie, across the Soviet Union and the satellite countries, China, the Arab countries and Turkey.

The Oscar-winning Jai Ho, on the other hand, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Be it Uruguay or Croatia or the Netherlands or France [Images], it is a big draw for the film. It is unlikely anyone walks out before the song ends. Distributors of Slumdog Millionaire in Mexico and several other countries said that the song is becoming popular in the clubs, too.”

“Riding on the waves of post-Oscar fame, Slumdog Millionaire [Images] rose over the weekend to be the number one film across the globe, grossing $27 million, nearly $12.5 million of the total gross came from the United States where it is playing in nearly 3000 movie houses. The worldwide gross for the film now stands at about $210 million.

“The whole world is falling in love with the film,” said Ashok Amritraj, the producer of 100 films in Hollywood. Amritraj who is also a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) that gives out the Oscars [Images].

They are the trio that breaks into groovy open-hand dances under frosty blue neon lights in Anuraag Kashyap’s Dev D. And as Dev sinks deeper into his hallucinations, they reappear with their gravity-defying gyrations in the songs Nayan tarse and Pardesi, lending the moments their psychedelic stupor. They are the Twilight Players, a group of three brothers from London, who are currently visiting their ancestral home in Phagwara, Punjab, and basking in the success of Dev D.

Christened Gurpal Singh Phgura, Amrik Singh Phgura and Sukjeevan Singh Phgura, the three now prefer their “trade” names — Sinbad, Ammo and Jimmy. A smart move given that their clients are often some big international names—they’ve performed with Michael Jackson, Madonna and Kylie Minogue. “Our style is inspired by a number of dance forms and is always about attitude, never just dance,” says Sinbad, 42, the oldest, in a heavy Brit-American accent.

Their father moved to London as a teenager in 1959 and the brothers were born in there. Sinbad was still in school when he participated in the BBC TV show Top of the Pops in the 1980s. Shortly after that, he found himself part of a dance troupe in Los Angeles called Twilight East. Ammo, 12 years his junior, says, “Jimmy and I had always looked up to Sinbad and tried to do things the way he did. We followed him to Los Angeles to dance. The only difference is that we opted for formal education at the Performing Arts School of Hertfordshire, UK.”

Fans of the 1970s’ funk music and Bollywood among others, their dance moves resemble a cross between the 1950s’ bop jazz and Michael Jackson. The brothers insist that they’ll never compromise on their dance style, which includes their costumes and attitude. “We turned down several Bollywood projects because they did not suit our style. We met Abhay Deol and Anurag Kashyap a year before the film was to begin through our agent Geeta Handa and hit it off immediately. The results are spectacular because the film allowed us to do our stuff,” says Ammo.

Very much looks like it, with Us box office exceeding 100 million, rest of world above 70 milllion and still going strong. Look at it fro other perspectives: 8 Oscars, including 3 for Indians. Dev Patel signing the Shyamalan film,and Freida signing the Woody Allen film. India is certainly the current flavour in Hollywood.

It’s not quite Slumdog’s tale of rags to riches — more like shining maggots to Oscar gold. The path that led Japan to take its first Oscar in Best Foreign Language film at this week’s Academy Awards started with the film’s lead actor, Masahiro Motoki, contacting author Shinmon Aoki to quote a passage of his novel Coffinman: The Journal of a Buddhist Mortician in the actor’s own travel diary. “Maggots are life, too,” the passage, in the voice of the novel’s protagonist, reads. “When I thought that, I could see the maggots shining.”

The rest, as they say, is histrionics. Two days after the awards ceremony in Hollywood, some one thousand people lined up at movie theaters in Tokyo’s Marunouchi district to see the film for which director Yojiro Takita brought home an Oscar. Departures(Okuribito) is the comical and dramatic story of an unemployed cellist who finds work cleaning and preparing the deceased for burial. The film has already grossed more than $34 million in Japan since its September 2008 release. (The film is scheduled for limited released in the U.S. in May.) Sales of Aoki’s novel, on which the film is based, have spiked, along with advance sales of the DVD. (See the top 10 Oscar Dresses.)

The win came as a surprise to many — and none more than Takita, the director, who hadn’t prepared an acceptance speech. Not only was it the first time for Japan to take home two Oscars — the 12-minute The House of Small Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie) won for Best Animated Short — but both films were in categories never before won by Japanese films. Departures won an upset victory over the Israeli animated documentary Waltz with Bashir and the French entry The Class, the story of a Paris schoolteacher. The last time that a Japanese film was nominated for the category of Foreign Language Film was with The Twilight Samurai in 2003. Samurai, The Legend of Musashi won an honorary foreign language film award in 1955 — and two Japanese films were awarded in the same category in 1954 and 1951 — but that was before the 1956 establishment of the foreign language category.

The turning point for Departures, which won the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, came earlier this year, when the film won the audience prize at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January. “For me that’s a bellwether,” says Japanese film critic Mark Schilling.”A lot of the Academy members live in Palm Springs and go to that film festival. They liked what they saw. I thought they responded to the craft of [the film], and the quality of it.” Sachiko Watanabe, a veteran film critic for 35 years, says Sunday’s wins herald that the era in which Japanese films are judged with a sense of exoticism is over. “The fact that the Academy Awards recognized this is a big encouragement to the Japanese film industry,” she says. Festivals like Berlin, Venice and Cannes have recently given more recognition to Japanese films, of which more than 400 were released last year in the domestic market. They now outnumber foreign films being shown in Japan, and increased competition in the film industry is slowly improving the quality of films and creating an environment for movies like Departures, to rise to the top.

SachinTenulkar, AR Rahman and Amir Khan. Something about the three that sets them apart. apart from their short stature that is. Their striving for excellence, their single minded dedication to their craft, and their standing apart from the crowd. The only area where Amir differs from the other two is in display of modesty and not being dragged into controversies related to competitors. You try to talk to Tendulkar about Dhoni or Rahman about Nadeem Shravan or Himesh Reshamiya or whoever, they brush the questions aside with polite, politically correct answers. That is partly because Rahman and Sachin are so sure of their place in history that don’t have to bother. Amir is obviously a little more insecure. With Amir slowly getting his due recognition, that should change.

Since the achievements of Sachin and Rahman is easy to see, let me do a bit of explaining about those of Amir. He has been a bit of a late bloomer, starting to discover his rhythm from Sarfarosh and Ghulami and coming onto his own with Lagaan. What a journey it has been since then1

The modern Hindi film industry can be effectively divided to pre and post-Lagaan. Imagine what the film achieved. an Oscar nomination ( and pretty close to a win) with a film that was not an art-house fare like Salaam Bombay, nor a humanistic dram alike Mother India, but a rollicking entertainer with song and dance! A period sports film that was 3and half hour long! And it worked and how! It led to more period films like Bhagat Singh films and Jodhaa Akbar , and more sports films like Chak De India. It awoke the West to Bollywood. In the same year he came out with Dil Chatha Hai. A true cult film if there was one. This was the precursor to all those hip youthful movies that the gen-x audience love. From Salam Namaste to Rock On. He makes Mangal Pandey with an art house director like Ketan Mehta and it gets a record opening. Next he comes out with Rang De Basanti, allowing himself to be cast as one among three, with no explicit romance, no lip-sync songs , and it becomes a super-hit and the film for the politically conscious youth. Fanaa is not a particular good film, yet it gets a record opening and helps him reinforce his box office status, allowing him to make Taare Zameen Par. Again what a film. a film with a child hero, with dyslexia as the them! How many could even spell the word before the film? A film which features a painting competition as its climax, a film where Amir himself appears at the half time. Made under less than ten crores it nets more than 60 crores. t’s a film that is seen by thousands who never watched a Bollywood film. It is used as case study by NGOs and health care professionals. Oh, before I forget, it was his directional debut as well. Soon after he produces Jane Tu ya Jaane Naa. With two virtual newcomers on a shoestring budget with a new director. The film bowls everyone with its charm, emerging as the most loved film of 2008. Grossing more than two and half times its sizable opening week figures. Towards the the end of same year he comes out with Ghajini, a film with violent action, a film that most people predicted would keep the family audience away. No such luck. The film took a record opening till date 50 cr approx for a 7-day week. And a mind boggling total of 115 crores. A film that had a director and lead actress totally new to Bollywood, a theme that many considered risky. Yet Amir made t work. The people who dont see the mark of a perfectionist even in a commercial venture like this will never understand Rahman or Amir. For a sufi it does not matter if it is a Lattoo or an Arziyan, Papu Cant Dance or Kehno Ko Jashne Bahara both demand total devotion, and both can test your ability as an artist. Successes like Ghajini are no accident. Every arc of the script has been carefully structured. The choice of Asin as the heroine, the styling of Amir’s appearance, his acting which is mostly silences ( when did you last see a Hindi film actor speak so little in a film?) , the use of songs like Kaise Mujhe Mil Gayi.. all these are careful choices. Choices only a master of his craft can make. And next he has lined up 3 Idiots, a film whee at 43, he plays a college student, and I will bet by last wretched rupee he will pull it off. And his forthcoming productions like Dhobi Gaat and Delhi Belly will have the nation talking about them, discussing, debating. Because make no mistake, Amir’ films have impact far beyond the box office ( Think Lagaan, think Dil Chahta Hai, Think RDB, and think TZP). and with Ghajini he has shown that he can play the box office game as well as anyone else. Actually he does not have to play the game, like Rahman he can swim against the stram, march to his own tune, make the films that he believes in, give them his best, and the box office will take care of itself.

Little Masters, keep going on. The journey of a pioneer is that of a loner. So don’t worry about what others are saying or doing,. You just keep going on your chosen path. Follwers, admirers and co-tarvellers will come along.

SCREEN:
There are no two opinions on the variegated, fresh music score of Dev D. Here’s meeting Amit Trivedi, the man who has perpetrated an Emosonal atyachar on the charts

Like most young composers today, you too have a background in ad films and bands, right?
Well, I was arranging and programming for my friend Amartya, who does ad films, and I did some amount of composing. You must mention him as he has had a large role in my career. I was also a part of Om, the Fusion band, on their album.

And then how did Aamir, your first film, happen?
The story’s not so simple! Aamir may be my first release but technically my first film was Dev D. Aamir was done while I was working on Dev D. Anurag Kashyap was the creative producer of Aamir and he told me that I have to do that film midway through Dev D and introduced me to Rajkumar Gupta.

So tell us the story of Dev D, Anurag and you.
At the beginning, I must say that owe this film to my close friend and colleague Shilpa Rao. It was she who suggested my name to Anurag. As you know, Anurag is a mad genius who’s always been experimenting with his films and his music. He wanted a new guy for the film, with a new approach and a new sound. And Shilpa suggested my name.

Where’s the lust in Hindi movies?

Blog in HT by Poonam Saxena

Picture this. A couple having phone sex, their soft voices charged with sexual longing. Quite easy to imagine, right? Now try and picture the scene in a Hindi film. Kindly retrieve your jaw from where it’s just dropped somewhere near your knees.

That phone sex scene is from Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D where the three main characters, Dev (Abhay Deol), Paro (Mahi Gill) and Chanda (Kalki Koechlin), are (gasp) seriously turned on by each other.

I’ve always been a bit irritated by the fact that in most Hindi films (yes, yes, there are the exceptions, but you can count them on the fingers of your hands), the hero and heroine, though allegedly madly in love with each other, never seem to be wracked by sexual desire. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t liking + lust = love?

Not in the world of Hindi films. For the longest time, love had to be chaste and pure. (Even in the recent Ghajini, Aamir and Asin barely touch each other). And if (tauba! tauba!) the hero and heroine indulged in any galti, everybody knew what would happen (the heroine would get pregnant, try and commit suicide, be saved but would be destined to lead a blighted life).

Yes, that’s Dev D. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India gave it a 5-star rating. and now Namrata Joshi of Outllok to has given ita 4 out of 4 ( must See) rating. In the past Khalid Mohammad had givem Khamoshi and K3G 5-star ratings and I think Times of India had given Main Madhuri Dixit Bannana Chati hoon 5-star ratings. But all these wre quirks, the general ratings did not confirm to these exceptions. But the case of Dev D is different. Being given full marks by two major reviewers ( whatever may be my individual assessment of them) is a unique critical achievement. take a bow, Anurag Kashyap!

Review by Namrata Joshi
****
In a wonderfully composed scene, a married Paro (an explosive Mahie) meets her ex beau Dev (a perfectly slothful Abhay) in his hotel room. She chides him for the mess, asks him to take a bath and washes his filthy clothes. He says he loves her; she gets busy arranging his room. As always, they fight like animals. The Paro-Dev love is all about “biting” and “chewing”, it’s lascivious and lusty and so shorn of sentimentality that you feel alienated from Dev rather than sympathise with him. The triumph of Kashyap’s revisionist take is that it puts Devdas in his place—a self-destructive loser, not a tragic hero (it’s he who rejects Paro, not his family, mind you). On the other hand, Paro knows exactly what she wants—sex or marriage.

The tenderness comes out in the protective friendship Dev strikes with Chanda (Kalki as the vulnerable Lolita) whose life has been wrecked by the MMS scandal. She says all she needed from her father was a hug and Dev cuddles her in return. These little touches catch your eye. Like the phallic reference when Paro pounds away at the handpump on being spurned by Dev, or that delightfully flummoxed look on her husband’s face as he watches his brand-new wife dance maniacally.

While Kashyap’s story is Indian, his cinematic influences come from the West—Danny Boyle of Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. The neon Paharganj, the carnivalesque, hallucinatory feel, characters living on the fringes—Kashyap’s nonconformist young cinema is not the brand-peddling Karan Johar sort, nor is it the sanitised Rock On variety. It’s about the ugly sub-culture—the hedonism and debauchery, rootlessness and irresponsibility, vodka and coke, cyber sex and MMS porn—a world we know of but squirm at.

Since we have been talking a lot about cult classic , let’s look at it from a different perspective. What is the difference between a classic and a cult classic.

I can start the discussion with one definition of a classic:

Classic Films are often distinguished or unique works of cinema that have transcended time and trends, with indefinable quality. Classic films are often universal favorites that hold up after repeated rescreenings.

Over to you now.

I have devised a quasi-scientific methodology to determine how big a Blockbuster a Blockbuster really is or was.

First the methodology. Then the explanation.

The Methodology: take any film, say Sholay, which came in 1975. Take its Net Gross, from one source, au BOI: 15crore. Take three other films. The nearest big grosser of the same year. The biggest grosser of the previous year. And the biggest grosser of the following year. Find the factor of that film’s grioss aginast these three fgilms. Find the average of these three factors. That’s the Era Domination Point ( EDP) of the film. The higher the film’s EDP, the bigger blockbuster it is. One could make it more and expansive by including three previous years, three foloowing years, and nearest thre big grosser of the same year and so on. But sticking to thre films will givea good enough indication.

The Explanation: Take Sholay. The previous year’s biggest grosser was Roti Kapda Makaan , grossing 2.9. Sholay improved on that by a margin of 5. You could say the conditions had changed., there were more theaters, process were higher, whatever. But look at it, the next year’s top grossr was Dus Numbari, with 3.3. And in the same year as Sholay, the next big grosser was Sanyasi with 3.3. So it is easy to see how Sholay wasa phenomenon. My method shows Mughal-E-azam and HAHAK were the closest in term of being that big phenomenon. With these films we get quantum leaps in BO performance. On the other end of the scale is OSO, with 79.4 crores. In the same year Welcome grossed 70.75 crores. Krissh had earned 73.5 crires the previous year and Gahjini the next ear is likely to earn 120 crores. Obviously not all that impressive a
blockbuster.

“I look at myself as an audience while making a film. If I feel excited and interested about something then I believe the audience will also be interested and excited about it. Other than that, I refrain from watching movies. I must have watched about not more than 3-4 Hindi films in the last ten odd years. I might see a Gujarati, Tamil or even an international film but I haven’t seen any of the recent big films. The only reason for that is that I don’t want to be calculative while making my films. A lot of my friends insist that I watch Hindi films, especially because I make them myself. I don’t want to know where the public claps or whistles, I know what kind of reaction I expect in my films if I get it great, otherwise it’s called unwanted reaction. And till date whether it’s the films I have written or directed, I have never had to experience unwanted reactions. Another reason I don’t watch these films is because I think I will become burdened with too much information regarding cinematic technicalities, I want to keep the madness and excitement alive when I make my films and don’t want to be influenced.”

Link: http://www.businessofcinema.com/news.php?newsid=11454&page=3

Dev D

Rating: *****

After the terrific but highly underrated score for Aamir, Amit Trivedi comes up with his second movie score which could just be the most radical mainstream Bollywood album ever.

Trivedi composes as many as 18 tracks: angry rock, authentic classical, honey-soaked melodies, novel fusion and some plain good music, accompanied by murky, deep and rather whacked out lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

The brass band version of Emotional attyachar is probably the craziest and most original song in years while its rock version just blows your socks off –– the perfect antidote for a broken heart.

Then there’s the heady Duniya, the toxic Nayan barse and the Rajasthani-rock Pardesi.. add to all this the dreamy Dhol yaara dhol, and you get one helluva album. Way to rock!

Gulzar: A Wednesday and Yuvvraaj.

Imtiaz Ali: Mumbai Meri Jaan, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Rock On!.

Rakesh Roshan: Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday and Rock On!.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra: The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire.

Vipul Shah: Jodhaa Akbar, Mumbai Meri Jaan, A Wednesday, Rock On! and Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na.

Link: http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/review-of-ghajini/

Review by : Stefan in Twitchfilm.net

The tattoos on the body, the Polaroid snaps, the notes scattered around the house, and the smoking gun evidence? Short term memory loss, happening every 15 minutes. If this doesn’t seem like Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece Memento, then I don’t know what does. Written and directed by A.R. Murugadoss, I don’t see much of a nod of acknowledgement to Nolan’s work, and falls back on the fact that this is a Hindi remake of Murugadoss’ own Tamil movie of the same name Ghajini, produced in 2005 (Nolan’s was in 2000), which joins the ranks of films having their titles named after the chief villain.

In any case this isn’t the first time that we see very obvious similarities in premise and characters being adopted for Bollywood’s own productions, and the shot-in-Singapore Krrish comes to mind as well, as they had the entire setting of John Woo’s Paycheck incorporated into that film. But of course in any version some merits could be found, but I believe some form of acknowledgement would be in order, other than, in this case, a quick flash of a very wordy disclaimer about Ghajini being gleaned from various short stories and material (and another paragraph which I missed given the fine print, and short duration on screen, but I’m pretty sure no mention of Memento).

Well, there are some reasons why I chose to watch this. First up, the music’s by A.R. Rahman, and for all the good publicity he’s getting for his work on Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, I just had to experience yet another piece of his musical magic on a film, besides one that I’ve watched much earlier this year in Jodhaa Akbar. One just cannot imagine how his musical talent will be put to good use in a film which looks and feels like Memento, and this being the next best thing. “Guzarish” is a track used in the trailer, and it is currently my new ear worm.

Another reason is of course, Aamir Khan. Yet another prolific actor with a penchant for perfection, it was interesting to see how his take on the protagonist’s short term memory loss, would rival that of Guy Pearce’s. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve only seen him in action in Lagaan, so this would be yet another opportunity to witness his ability which can be measured against a benchmark. But don’t expect the same though, because Pearce’s version was more of a thinking man who questions and second guesses himself, while Khan’s version was in two parts to serve the story, one as a raging hulk monster who tears through his opponents with savage violence fueled by anger and hatred, coupled with the hurt he experienced and recalled (Hulk producers take note, in case Edward Norton decides against any more sequels, look in the direction of Aamir Khan), while the other as mild-mannered Sanjay Singhania, CEO of a telecommunications company in Mumbai.

I had reached a total of 26 reviews giving 91, or average of 3.5 so far.

This includes Kahild Mohammad, Rajeev Masand, Kaveri Bamazee, Anupama Chopra, Namrta Joshi, IndaiGlitz, Glamsham, PlanetBolywood, Taran Adarsh,Buzz 18, Buisnessof Cinema , etc. Only major critic not covered so far Bardwaj Rngan.
3.5 is jsu below movies like TZP, CDI and rock On, which have got close to 4.

And some members here have tried to say Ghajini is not about quality!

I know there’s still Ghajini to come. But not taking that into account here is my list. Actually, it’s my ruminations rather than ‘list’, which I have somehow grown to dislike.

Among the films, the ones I have seen twice in the theater, putting my money where my moth is, are Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Rock On. and I can see them n number of times again. Thee is a kind of natural flow, a kind of musicality I look for in films that I love. These two had it. Witty writing, subtleties, charming performances, and wonderful music, heartwarming emotions, that’s what one goes to Hindi film for, right!

Jodhaa Akbar had these elements in some measure. But t was also uneven, and a tad too long. But I can see it again with a FF button handy.

Aamir is another perfect film, even if grim, has the beauty ofa wonderful structure, and for that reason I can se it again and again.

Saw RNBDJ last night. Among the crappiest in years. The whole plot device of Raj is as amateurish as a primary school student’s script. Forget the wife not recognising, how does Siri learn to behave like Raj? The whole idea is so juvenile, I dont know where was the so called ’soul’ in the film. Even Suri’s chracter was so ill defined, he uses phrases like ‘ I am a light sleper’ and the tells ‘ Hamne kisi ladies ke sath lave nai kiya or whatever’. The Phir Milenge song was so badly done, I mean Frahan’s spoof in “DCH’ was way wittier and Farah’s ” Deewangi’ was way sassier. Actually the film was so mind-numbingly boring for me I dont even care to discuss it much. We were 6 adults and 3 kids seeing it. The kids liked it. None of us 3 couples did. We were so bored out of our heads we didn’t even stay for the end credits. Actually the theater guys did not even play it. We came back to a friend’s house and had a stiff drink each to wash awy the numbness. We were up till 4 am ( It was a night show we saw), and not even once did we discuss the film. It was so forgettable.

Right after seeing Bachna Ae Haseeno I had mentioned how how I had always thought Aditya Chopra like Sanjay Leela Bhansali were the two overtaed directors in Bollywood. ( Between the two, I will always have more expectaions from a SLBs film, because at least he attempts some kind of artistic statement, even if he falters badly, and has extremely limited talent.) Bur Adi is plain mediocre. I had stated how he has no insight inro life and lives cocooned i films, and his writing is mostly derivative. His script language is old Bollywood, full of contrived script devices, sanctimonious sentimentality, and highfalutin dialogues. All of which have gone past their sale by date. Sawariya was the movie that exposed how SLB was wearing no clothes below his artistic pretnsions. I had predicted RDBDJ will do that for Aditya. Basically it is the insincerity of stories that Aditya tells. Take a movie like Autograph, so touching because it is a series of vignettes from the protagonist’s life, his school days, his youth, and lastly his struggling in the city days where he meets a female friend. He is going around looking for his past loves, distributing his wedding card ( he is getting married to a forth woman.) And the three women have things happened to them in the meanwhile, some dramatic, some not so dramatic. And the movie ends with his wedding reception where all three women show up. No melodrama. No wild turns and twists. And yet how the film works. Because the characters are flesh and blood, the situations are real and the emotional moments heart-felt. Look at what a contrived jumble with life-less characters Adi made of it in BAH! when will Adi learn that life can be interesting and touching wothout typical Hindi film twists and turns! With ratings betwen 2 and 2.5 ( Rajeev Masand, Nikhat Kazmi ( who is usually so generous she gave Yuvvraj 2.5), Mayank shekhar, Raja Sen) At least Adi has been pulled of from his critical high stool for sure. And I will predict the same fir BO too, and go against the stream in predicting a crash from Monday onwards. ( By the way I dont have high hopes from Karn’s My Name Is Khan too. He made a decent KKHH, but followed it up with disastrous K3G and lame KANK. In my opinion he does not have what it takes to handle a theme lie this. SRK doing more movies with these over-the-hill directors is a bit like AB putting his blind faith in the likes of Manmohan Dsai and Prakas Mehra in films like Mard and Jadugar,and slowly going down movie after movie. Thank god he also has Farhan’s Don I also coming up.) ( I must admit I haven’t seen RDBDJ yet and am not particularly keen. I have avoided Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic, Laaga Chunri Mein Daag, Jhoom Bara Bar Jhoom, Tashan and Neal N Nikki as well. Saw BAH just to check out Ranbir.)

mran reminds me of Marlon Brando: Kidnap director:Manisha Mahaldar / CNN-IBN

Link: http://www.naachgaana.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=25713&message=4

e first casting was of Sanjay Dutt and if Sanjay Dutt says no to a film, the film cannot be made. He said yes not once, but twice. Then I wanted to cast a boy across Sanjay Dutt because I was very clear that it had to be a man versus boy story. Imran’s face is very interesting. Many girls won’t like it but I didn’t find him dead drop gorgeous. He reminded me of Marlin Brando in The Waterfront. He has very expressive eyes, plus his entire demeanour is different. Also, he is a very unusual kind of guy, so that’s what I liked about him.”

I had expressed similar thoughts when discussing JTYJN vs BEH and Ranbir vs Imran sometime back. It will be interesting to see if Gadvi and Imran can pull it off.

RM asked Farhan which would be the 5 performances he would suggest as textbooks for any aspiring actor. Farhan said there were many but he would try and think of 5 and he mentioned Robert De Niri in Taxi Driver , Al Pacino in Godfather, Marlon Brando in Street Car Named Desire, small pause, Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar, long pause, ‘ I am trying to think of a more recent performance, Amir Khan in QSQT.

“Any film that you have sen and felt I wish I had made?”

” No. I don’t usually think of hypothetical situations. But, yes, a constant dream has been to the 5th Beatle. Yes,it would have been nice to have been the 5th Beatle.”

To quote Taran:

” Till a few years ago, traders would scoff and snigger at a film like ROCK ON!!. Believe me, most exhibitors wouldn’t be interested in playing the film. Why, a few decades ago, ARDH SATYA, CHAKRA and even JAANE BHI DO YAARO were limited to matinee and noon shows and a handful of theatres here and there. Beyond Mumbai, it was really tough to even procure theatres.

But multiplexes have changed all that. Today, the mindset has also undergone a drastic change, a change for better. And not just viewers, even writers and directors are thinking differently.”

I just observed: What is common to ” RDB’, “LRM”, ‘ Jab We Met”, ” Chak De” ” TZP’, “JTYJN” , and ” Rock On”? No foreign locations ( Unless specifically called for like in ‘Chak De” , no castle in England passing off as Indian Haveli, no duets by hero and heroine.

On the other hand look at some of the recent YRF films, ” LCMD, TRPP, TPTM, and BEH..they all have the outdtaed cliched devices of Switzerland and hero-heroine duets without having anything specific to say.