Exclusive
Theatrical Trailer of AAMIR
AAMIR, dirtected by Anurag Kashyap’s protege Rajkumar Gupta, is one of the smaller but more interesting films to arrive on our screens this year. Starring Rajeev Khandelwal in the titular role, this UTV produced film, is already being talked about in industry circles for its look. Shot in the Muslim ‘ghettos’ of Mumbai, AAMIR takes the viewer from Crawford Market to Bhendi Bazaar and from Dharavi to Behrampada.
Here’s a synopsis, courtesy indiafm-
Aamir, the name literally means leader and our protagonist becomes a follower not because of faith, not out of zeal, but out of ‘fear’.
Geographically Aamir’s maze is set in the Muslim dominated, but poor, areas of Bombay. In its lanes and by lanes, cheap restaurants and lodges, amongst nameless pimps and whores, run-down buildings and over-crowded markets, filth and squalor, Aamir is supposed to understand the life he has lived, the ‘choices’ he has made, his dreams, his love and his immediate fears. T
The Real NG awards: To NGites, from NGites
Ok seriously telling you, I am bored of reading how this award should go to Shahrukh, that to Aamir, that one to Amitabh. We are so obsessed with these stars, that we don’t even think about ourselves. So I thought, why not spoil ourselves. I mean Hollywood does it, Bollywood does it, Kollywood does it, so even we should take off some time to self-indulge ourselves and pat our backs for being what we are, “Star Fanatics”. These are not Oscars, Filmfare, Razzies or Na-reals, these are the awards which will be given by NGites, to NGites from NGites. Being a noob (those who don’t play CS, newbie) over here, I came up with a few categories, rest are open to you all to add, till lets say 12:00 noon, April 11 2008, Central. And vote your options as well, and e shall have this “award ceremony on April 12th 2008, 12:00 noon, again Central. But these are not forums, so I just hope this thread is kept alive by your participation, opinions, votes and even curses thrown at me.
This is the first and the last time that I would be serious in this post of mine, This is just for fun, with no intention of dis-reputing or bad mouthing anyone, if there is anyone to blame then that should be me, and yes I am immature, crass, vulgar and all that, but please do not indulge in personal attack with other members.
Race: Its not just about Katrina and her clothing
I hated the idea of even watching Race (forget about liking it) which came across to me as one more flick which will focus more on cleavage of Katrina than her acting, but thanks to Hardik and Bolly in ShoutBox I saw the movie and liked it immensely. It is one of better efforts of Abbas Mastan after Baazigar. Yes there are songs and dressup which is aimed to pump the adrenaline in your blood, but whats even better is that it keeps your mind working throughout the movie and gives you total entertainment. I am not surprised that this movie is so much liked by the people and not so much among critics, which again proves that critics are probably loosing their touch with the taste of people.
not The NaachGaana Awards (nTNA) 2008
Hey NGites. A lot has happened since I last compiled these awards. Back in 2007, when not The NaachGaana Awards(nTNA) was in its third year, I was lonely, unemployed…Qalandar was a dear friend in the virtual world…and Satyam and Tango argued incessantly. 2008: nTNA is in its 4th year and I am very much in love & employed…Qalandar now has a face…and Satyam and Tango…well, some things don’t change. And thank god for that.
I apologize for coming out with these awards this late. Being hard-pressed for time, I haven’t added any categories to the existing ones. Do forgive me for the pedestrian writing as well.
As was last year, the awards cover everything from the creative to the technical to the popular categories. I must reiterate that these are my personal choices, and do not necessarily reflect mass opinion.
I haven’t seen Dil, Dosti, Etc. and Manorama- Six Feet Under. So these films, like Dor and Kabul Express last year, won’t feature in the lists. There is no bias there. Also, my criteria for these lists are simple- the films have to be in Hindi and/or a Bollywood production. So like Water last year, Parzania is not eligible nor are productions like Loins Of Punjab Presents, etc. And like Ayesha Kapur in Black, Darsheel Safary’s performance in Taare Zameen Par hasn’t been considered as I only take into account performances given by actors above the age of 18.
Listen to Tashan Music
(Link below, haven’t tried it since have no sound on computer at moment…but some forums are saying the Anil/Akshay Tashan tracks are stupendously funny)
NG Movie Thoughts - Race
Members:
Please use this thread for writing mini reviews.
This thread is in exclusive section. Please click on exclusive for easy access.
Shahrukh, Saif and Filmfare
And the love affair continues; after last year’s absence of Saif, Shahrukh-Saif “jodi” appeared once again on what is deemed as, Indian oscars, for the third time. Only difference was this time they were bit more sarcastic, there were few more pot shots, and whole lot more or wounded souls.
I know I a late in discussing this matter which must have been analyzed on 1000s of different sites, and millions of people, but I had a rough week. Though I agree that the award show which actually gives power award to Yash Raj for making, JBJ, LCMD, TRRP, must not be an award ceremony as prestigious as Oscars. But hey we are filmi people, and no matter what these are the oldest award and still one of the most respectable ones, even more than National awards I believe which has become more of a political gimmick nowdays.
Anyhow, going ahead with the topic. I know that many “jokes” of one of the best “couple” fell flat on the face. But what I was glad to see was that they were rude, I remember Jon Stewart trying to be that when he hosted 2006 Oscars, but was crushed on the ground by whole of media. The fact is that these balooning egos need some one pinch the air out of them, and Shahrukh and Saif did exactly that. Whether that was Ram Gopal Verma, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, or Sanjay Leela Bhansali, everyone got the well deserved whipping. I know there are many sympathizers for these names on these boards, but the fact is these people actually came out as sore losers. Whether that be Vidhu Chopra’s comments after Oscar nominations or SLB’s after reports of Saawariya, we as audience got a feeling as if they don’t really care about us, they are self indulged egotists, I know Shahrukh is also one of them, but for some reason he has credentials to prove that, and on top of that, you won’t find Shahrukh blasting off press. He might say something tongue in cheek, but never blasted his top off as his targets had done in the past.
Some called it taking too far, but I ask you guys, haven’t you seen Jon Stewart???? when he blasts his targets off the globe every weekday night at 1:00 AM central, the whole of world loves him. His antics are never questioned but also gave him a cult reputation. But I think we Indians do not have a sense of humor, thats why for every comment, there are protest marches, some articles and some frownings, may be we are too comfortable with some Ruby Bhatia, Simi Gerewal, and Karan Johar, but when someone comes to say what we all feel like as a joke, we deem it as rude.
JayShah’s Saturday Box Office Column – Jodha Akbar superb in Week Three…
Note all numbers are from IndiaFm
Reporting Methodology
1) New films most of the time where possible will be benchmarked against other films ‘in the same range’. The gross used for the older films will be either one’s I have computed or a BOI gross or a gross from Joginder’s column
2) Films currently playing – I will always do some trending analysis. This is always against the ‘week before’
3) To compute subsequent week grosses I will always benchmark against ‘the first week’. Before it was always the preceding week, but Week 1 is always the best base because it gives maximum centres to use
4) Going forward I will show ONE example in FULL and show the results of the remaining scenarios
New Releases
There were no notable new releases in the past week.
Past Releases
The Naachgaana Awards ;)
Best NG Hindi Movie Review (Reviews of Baradwaj & Joginder are not considered as they are posted in other popular sites)
The Nominations are
Ach Reviews Jodhaa Akbar
Jodhaa Akbar is a dynamic paradigm of intense film-making.
It took almost 2 years to make this movie. Some of the biggest names in Bollywood were associated with it. A huge budget was put aside to make a movie whose genre is considered to be a jinx by one and all. The movie release got postponed twice. The low-key promotions was appended with the movie becoming the center of communal controversies.
Does Jodhaa Akbar live up to the expectations?
Yes, I have seen Jodha Akbar
This thread is a barometer of NGites liking or not liking the movie. Some people write reviews but most of us just want to be done with couple of sentences.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘I will say Aamir did me no favour.’
In one of Amole Gupte’s most candid interviews till date, he speaks to Sandhya Iyer about Aamir Khan, TZP and his next project
It was a Friday afternoon in Pune that allowed us the rare opportunity to get upclose with the ever-elusive Amole Gupte, writer of Taare Zameen Par. We made a trip to his modest three-room flat house near Chandni Chowk where we were welcomed by his wonderfully hospitable Maharashtrian parents. Amidst friends and family, Amole was in an unusually good mood and was will almost willing to spill the beans on anything one wantedThere’s considerable interest in knowing what your next film will be
I’m working on two scripts. One is about food -a celebration of Mumbai street food. For me, that has always been an indicator of Mumbai outdoors. It also holds a special place in my heart because it happens to be
the city I grew up in.
NG Site improvement and suggestions thread
Please write all suggestions in this thread so that they are trackable.
1. For adding link with color.
2. Gravatar
Please goto http://site.gravatar.com and register with same email ID as one for NG. You will receive a mail for verification. After you verify, you would be able to upload avatars from Disk or URL at gravatar website. Make sure to mark the avatar as G rated. Associate (confirm by double clicking on uploaded image) the uploaded image with same email ID. It would show up here at NG.
3.
Artilces copied pasted directly from Glamsham or IndiaFM in “View” mode create havoc with NG front page. I would suggest use “Code” mode [Only text is copied, Images are left out].
Zen’s review: Watching Taare Zameen Par
Hats off to Aamir for backing this film, and staying with it to the end. Watching TZP is a very satisfying experience whether you are a film buff, or just looking for a good movie experience. About the story of an 8 year old boy Ishaan (Darsheel Safary) who is failing at school and his parents cannot undertsand why, moreso given that his older brother is a prize student, always gettiing top grades and excelling in sports too. The first half of the film revolves around little Ishaan’s daily torment of going to school and back, his evening with his parents, and er, that’s it, not much. This would have been very boring in the hands of your usual bolly director, but not this rookie Khan. During this very mundane daily cycle, the screen is filled with impressive scenes, at times so slow that you wonder at the lazy camera work, yet each scene does not feel wasted as we are invited to understand the struggles of a young boy. From catching goldfish, to gazing at the birds playing through the classroom window to wandering aimlessly in the city, enjoying the normal spectacles of city life, that we adults rarely reflect on, the character of the kid is not only established this way but quite effectively developed through these memorable scenes.
Supposing that one is ignorant of the central issue that the film is about dyslexia, the scene when Ishan responds that he can’t read because the letters are dancing when asked to read by his teacher becomes both a key revealation and a defining moment in the development of our hero’s character. But we had known this all the time, and this is where TZP fails, in that the the screenplay is rather weak as far as dramatic moments are concerned. Apart from the wonderful scenes inviting us to Ishaan’s lonesome world, everything else seems a bit contrived, as the family chit-chat, or the very cliched cruel teachers to failing students, or when Ishan tries to convince his brother to help him cover his truancy. Somehow, it is only the father that appears most authentic of the family and played very well by Vipin Sharma, is it? The mother (Tischa Chopra) is effective too but the screenplay does not give her much room to impress.
Darshel Safary is quite believable as the truobled Ishaan but he sometimes wear the same expression when he is supposed to be scared, sad or nervous. I couldn’t help guffawing that Aamir must have been directing him to open his eyes wide when he wants to emote surprise or wonder, just like Aamir does in his films. By the time, Ishaan is bundled off to boarding school, the dark make-up around his eyes becomes more emphasised and displaces all the emoting that the boy is supposed to do to the background, which is conveniently timely as Ishaan is also relegated to the background in the second half of the film once his saviour, the new Art teacher at the boarding school Ram Nikumbh played by Aamir Khan makes his entrance.
At this point the film picks up pace with colour and there is a marked change from the dark nature of the first half. Nikumb’s entry is massy and cinematic as he plays a flute whilst his eager students curiously tried to take a first look at their new art teacher, culminating in Bom Bom Bole. There are great moments as the song plays out with the funfilled air contrasting with Ishaan’s gloom, though I did think that it would have helped the realism by Aamir stopping the music one second to ask Ishaan “Kya Hua?” before the song continues. That’s just me, and it is not only about thinking that a sense of drama in the proceedings does help, but also about making it as real as possible.
‘Did Eklavya losing at the Oscars come as a surprise to anyone at all’
Following her Dharm
Director Bhavna Talvar speaks to Sandhya Iyer about Eklavya, life after Dharm and how she intends sticking to her ‘beliefs’
Apart from the fact that debutante Bhavna Talvar’s film Dharm came in for much praise this year, she hit headlines when she spoke out against Eklavya’s selection for the Oscars. Now that the film has lost out, Bhavna says the result should come as no surprise, “Did anyone
expect anything out of it? I just feel it was a lost opportunity. The matter is in court but I’d really like this thing to be set straight. We keep talking about how India never wins at the Oscars but unless we put a proper selection procedure in place, I don’t expect anything to
change. So yes, I have spoken out against this issue. How can I not? My own film is called Dharm and it’s about standing up for yourbeliefs,” she says, when we meet her at a Digital film event organised by SIMC.
According to Bhavna, the entire procedure by which Eklavya wasselected was rigged. “Vidhu Vinod Chopra placed his own people in the jury and asked them to vote for his film. When I raised an objection and the controversy came up, the jury’s president Vinod Pande
genuinely wanted to re-look at the selection but somehow the other members of the FFI (Film Federation of India) didn’t allow it. My film Dharm lost out by one vote and had the jury been fair, it would have been the selected film,” says the director who made her debut without
any formal training in filmmaking.
The Best in Music: 2007, Part 4
#5 Saawariya
Monty Sharma
Saawariya marks the “official” debut of Monty Sharma as a song composer after doing the background scores for Black, Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The Title track is the lightest and easily the catchiest track on the album. Its reprise version has debuting singer Shail Hada stretching out his vocal cords, in a version that manages to outdo the original. The heavy percussions combined with the slower pace of singing works well in Jab Se Tere Naina. The impromptu qawwalli is the highlight of Yoon Shabnami, a song that has some great musical arrangements. Daras Bina is a bit loosely structured compared to the rest of the songs with more of a focus on the ambience created by the backgrounds. The sole duet of the soundtrack is Jaan-e-Jaan is another lavish song. The rest of the tracks Chabeela, Pari, Sawar Gayi, and Thode Badmash are melodious and feature lush orchestration keeping in line with the rest of the album.
#4 Taare Zameen Par
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy & Shailendra Barve
Whether it is in acoustic or electric form, Ehsaan Noorie’s guitars have been a staple trademark to SEL’s sound. They provide the freshness and the “cool” to SEL’s work. But in the music of Taare Zameen Par, they make up the backbone of the album and truly set the direction of the music. No better example then Kholo Kholo that has those guitar riffs set the mood right for this wonderful track. The Title Track is a piece of inspiration and is very uplifting.Maa pulls at the strings of the heart with Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics providing high sentimental value. Bum Bum Bole is a load of fun while Bheja Kum is a weird mix of sound and dialogue. Jame Raho is really neat, with its catchy hook and effective transitions between the changes in pace. Shailendra Barve’s Mera Jahan is a light and breezy song that fits in with the rest of SEL’s work.
Ash was voted most popular female star. Not too surprising because she has always been very popular. ...
Nitesh, Aish should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Madhuri. The voters in this poll probably had ...
"Abhishek was at the most recent conclave with Johar and Mira Nair. I put up the video here at the ...
'The most surprising results from the polls were Aamir coming a close second to Amitabh in most accomplished actor category ...
"a sample of 1045 people . when sample of some 18000 people coudlnot give right results for the general elections ...
Satyam says:
May 12th, 2008 at 5:45 am
First off I very much like the idea of occasionally providing exclusive ...
"In general I should say that Aamir’s position was not at all surprising here. What surprised me was SRK not ...
"Edward Zwick (Defiance) - I am a big fan of Blood Diamond and Glory."--Henry im a huge fan of COURAGE ...
Satyam on Fanaa, I think Aamir somewhat took a calculated risk here and won it (a risk on prestige). The ...
