Sunday 25 September 2011

Simbu and Dhanush's common friend : Richa

Silambarasan and Dhanush's common friend : Richa Gangopadhyay

Tamil cinema for a long time has been insisting that language is no barrier for debuting. Tamil cinema has been importing new faces and fulfilling the desire of Tamil audience. In that way, Richa Gangopadhyay is the recent new comer to Tamil cinema.

Silambarasan and Dhanush's common friend : Richa Gangopadhyay

She made her first debut in a Telugu film titled Leader which had Raana in the lead role. This film was a super hit. Apart from this she has also acted in the Chandramukhi 2. Director Selvaraghavan has introduced Richa Gangopadhyay in Tamil. She is pairing with Dhanush in the film titled Mayakkam Enna which is directed by Selvaraghavan.

Silambarasan and Dhanush's common friend : Richa Gangopadhyay

Even before the release of this film she was signed for the female lead role in Osthi which has Simbu in the lead role. When asked Richa Gangopadhyay that who is her best friend among Dhanush and Simbu, she says, “Both of them are my close friends. Dhanush taught me about lot of things in acting while Simbhu patiently taught me the steps in the dancing sequences. Apart from Dhanush and Simbu, there are lots of other actors in my friendship list.”

Film on the Catholic Saint Michael

Film on the Catholic Saint Michael

A film titled St Michael (Tenkasi to Rajavoor) is being produced in English. It is understood that St Michael had come to Tenkasi even before Jesus Christ was born. He had come there to spread the Good News. He has travelled from Tenkasi to Rajavoor which is situated between Nagercoil and Kanyakumari.

The film St Michael is directed by Titan. His first venture “Thottu kattava” is scheduled to release next month. All the crew members of this film are from Hollywood. Titan is also donning the role of St Michael. The shooting of the film is to commence soon and will speak about St Michael evangelization which he did from Tenkasi to Rajavoor.

Even today the people who are mainly Catholics celebrate the feast day of St Michael with pomp and glory. The annual feast starts on the first Friday of May with a flag hoisting followed by a ten day Mass and adoration. The eighth and ninth days are marked with a car procession to St. Michael, the Arch angel. People affiliated to different faith without any difference gather there as well.

St. Michael, who ranks among the seven archangels, is also one of the three angels mentioned by name in the Scriptures, the others being St. Raphael and St. Gabriel. St. Michael is spoken of twice in the Old Testament, and twice in the New. St Michael is placed over all the angels, as prince of the Seraphim. He is the special patron of sick people, mariners, and grocers.

Suriya to Clash with Vijay

Surya to Clash with Vijay

It would be Vijay versus Surya this Dewali at the box office. Vijay’s Velayutham and Surya starrer 7am Arivu will hit the screens for the festive occasion. Both these films are highly expected.

Surya to Clash with Vijay

7am Arivu has Surya and Shruti Hassan playing the lead pair and is directed by A.R Murugadoss and Velayutham has Vijay, Genelia and Hansika Motwani in the star cast and is directed by Jayam Raja.

With both actors having a huge fan-following and the movies made in a huge -budget with best names involved in the making of the movie, expectations are high.

Mankatha (2011) - Tamil Movie Review

Mankatha (2011) - Tamil Movie Review

Cast :
  • Ajith Kumar as Vinayak Mahadevan
  • Arjun as Prithviraj
  • Trisha Krishnan as Sanjana Arumugam
  • Vaibhav as Sumanth
  • Mahat Raghavendra as Mahat
  • Premji Amaren as Prem
  • Ashwin Kakumanu as Ganesh
  • Jayaprakash as Arumuga Chettiyar
  • Lakshmi Rai as Sona
  • Aravind Akash as Faizal
  • Subbu Panchu as Kamal Ekambaram/Praveen Kumar
  • Anjali as Suchitra Sumanth
  • Andrea Jeremiah as Sabitha Prithviraj
  • Vijay Vasanth in a cameo appearance
  • Kainaat Arora in a special appearance
  • Debi Dutta in a special appearance
Directed by : Venkat Prabhu
Produced by : Dhayanidhi Alagiri, Vivek Rathnavel
Screenplay by : Venkat Prabhu
Story by : Venkat Prabhu
Singers : Yuvan Shankar Raja, Ranjith, Sucharita, Anita, Premgi Amaren, S. P. B. Charan, Bhavatharini, Krish, Mano, Haricharan, Tippu, Naveen, Madhushree, Karthik, Vijay Yesudas, Anusha Durai Dayanidhi
Lyricist : Vaali, Gangai Amaran, Niranjan Bharathi
Music by : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematography : Sakthi Saravanan
Editing by : Praveen K. L., N. B. Srikanth
Studio : Cloud Nine Movies
Distributed by : Sun Pictures, Radaan Mediaworks, Ayngaran International (United Kingdom), FiveStar (Malaysia)


Mankatha after having played ‘uLLe veLiye’ for quite a while, strikes finally, AND in style! For his golden jubilee flick, Ajith, the ‘golden hearted’ lad of Tamil cinema teams up with the uber cool Venkat Prabhu and his gang of boys and the effect is exciting to say the least.

When you have the handsome Vinayak Mahadev (Ajith) team himself with a few boys on his ‘Money’ mission and when there is cop Prithviraj (Arjun) who is hot on their trail, what you get is a heady cocktail of events that suck you into the premise of Mankatha albeit a bit late.

For Venkat Prabhu, it is a huge responsibility to fuse in his irreverent style of film making with the sensibilities of Ajith’s image and the director has not compromised one bit here and kudos to him for this.

Mankatha unfolds languorously and takes its own sweet time to establish the premise when the major portion of the first half keep flitting in between many tracks with three romances. When you start wondering whether the movie is going anywhere at all, it shifts to third gear to be only brought down by a song or two. And when the director finally decides to cast everything else away and focus on the central plot, the story takes an interesting detour and mutates into a Grand Prix race all the way from the second half with Venkat Prabhu reserving all his aces for the climax.

There is always no dearth of humor in Venkat Prabhu’s films but in Mankatha it is a bit muted when compared to his other works. Mostly the comic lines are at the expense of Premji and the best example is his analogy with Youtube sensation Sam Anderson. Dialogues like - “Light pottutu daan otta koodadhu, lightaa pottutu ottalam” bring cheers. And the typical Venkat Prabhu’s conceptualization of humor in a serious situation still finds place but they are few.

The cat and the mouse game is exciting and the best part is you are never able to realize how many cats and mice are involved in the game. Even better is the fact that you cannot be quite sure of who is playing the double cross on whom and it is not until the final frame that you can put all the pieces together. Hats off to Venkat Prabhu for keeping the audience guessing all the way and scripting an absolute cracker of a climax! The chess board sequence just before the interval block is unique and intelligent.

The portions that looked unnecessary additions in the first half are all neatly explained in the context of things at the end, leaving no loose ends.

With an ensemble cast, there is every likelihood that at least a few would be relegated to the sidelines but all of them are there deservedly.

When we talk about performances, Ajith is unarguably the pièce de résistance of Mankatha and it is his uninhibited performance that captivates the audience. For him, it is a superb knock on the field well laid out by Venkat Prabhu. He simply sizzles in his action shots and his cute expressions in dance sequences are a revelation. The consistency in Ajith’s characterization is a major plus for the film. Next to Ajith, it is action king Arjun who has held on to his fort. Premji, Jaiprakash, Vaibhav, Mahat and Ashwin round out the supporting cast who blend in with ease with the story. As it is a men’s film, women have nothing to do in Mankatha.

On the downside, the number of gun battles and their lengths may tire you a bit and the vital heist which should have been extremely powerful lacks the fizz. Songs are not a value addition to the film at all and are mostly road blocks sans ‘Machi open the bottle’.

Success of a cinematographer and editor lies in their unobtrusive work in sync with the subject, and cinematographer Sakthi Saravanan and editors Praveen & Srikanth score in this department.

“Unakku ide maadiri 500 pondaati kedappa daa.” - with this dialogue, Ajith completes his mission of breaking all the syntax of a Tamil hero and has gone on to prove that an actor should strictly treat the script as the hero. Take a bow Ajith! It is a memorable 50th film indeed.

Verdict : Ajith's 'Golden' gamble with Venkat that has paid off !

Dookudu (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Dookudu (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Cast :
  • Mahesh Babu
  • Samantha Ruth Prabhu
  • Abhimanyu Singh
  • Kota Srinivasa Rao
  • Vennela Kishore
  • Chandramohan
  • Prakash Raj
  • Rajiv Kanakala
  • Sayaji Shinde
  • Supreet
  • Adithya
Directed by : Srinu Vaitla
Produced by : Ram Achanta
Written by : Gopimohan
Singers : Shankar Mahadevan, Rahul Nambiar, Karthik, Rita, Ramya N.S., Navin Madhav, Ranjith, Divya, Koti, Ramajogayya Sastry, Vardhini, Ranini Reddy, Megha
Lyricist : Ramajogayya Sastry, Viswa, Bhaskarbhatla
Music by : Thaman
Editing by : M. R. Varma
Distributed by : 14 Reels Entertainment Pvt Ltd


There are two types of films, type one..there is something called substance, the result could be good or bad at the box-office but people will talk about it and the actors cum technicians can flaunt with pride to the future generation. Type two is kitsch, it could be taken from one's own films or be inspired from some other language movie, modified and altered with entertainment and requirement of the audiences in such a way that the result will be spoken of and measured only in money terms. It can mint huge money or it might not.

Dookudu falls in that type two category, the movie has had fantastic openings obviously because of Mahesh but does that mean it is a good story? Dhee, a film by the same director had freshness, the comedians carried it on their shoulders, it would have worked with any actor as it's hero. As the director's success rate improved so has there been a change in star heroes but along with that the pressure on him to churn out a variety in comedy tripled.

One can see the director suffering from a delusion that a character like Solomon Raj by MS Narayana could whip up something far more light and extensive here. The most proved and accepted part of entertaining audiences is by performing mimicry or actually making a spoof of film stars but if you keep watching it more than once it ends up being like Siva Reddy imitating Rajasekhar and you begging him to give you something novel.

Very clearly the onus was on Brahmanandam and MS Narayana to provide the laughs though it was in their humility to say that they need padding. MS Narayana looked and behaved like a worn-out and extremely fatigued horse and through him the director fulfilled the target of eliciting laughs from aiming all the heroes and their fans. Brahmanandam wasn't spectacular though he got a lot of screen space.

What about the story? The first few minutes which focused on the character played by Prakash Raj shows he is not going to vanish so fast or an actor like Prakash Raj will not be wasted in some inconsequential scenes. The father-son sentiment ruled throughout the film and romance takes a back seat in the second part of the story. The seriousness of the story is lost with villain Sonu Sood listening to Ghantasala's song and you know from here on they are going to end up as dummies.

The film has too many plots, too many characters and very soon you give up the job of joining the threads together and would want to just sit back and not bother about the story but just follow the tamasha. Not that there are any pluses in the film, you genuinely feel the emotion when the son and father embrace each other in the last scene. The Telangana dialect by Mahesh worked but one sees no reason why he suddenly has to change his style of speaking.

However uninteresting the story is the confidence and energy levels, the body language and the speed with which Mahesh said his dialogues is commendable. However none of the songs or dances made any lasting impact. As usual the lines given to him are traditionally characteristic especially when it came to describing the heroine her looks and reminded one of Athadu, how he is never direct in wooing girls.

Samantha's make-up was bad, she was painted to be on par with Mahesh's colour. There is one scene in which she whispers and convinces Nasser about Mahesh being the right guy for her. Mahesh giving a blank stare and her dialogue having no extension in the second half of the story seemed very functional. The pairing was fresh but there wasn't enough scope to show the chemistry they shared, the romance ends abruptly however Samantha freaked out on the dances and seemed to enjoy every move.

The movie appeared disjointed with Mahesh appearing, walking in and out of roles and costumes and rounding up with a cop's dress in the finale. He's had some sparkling dialogues here and there that would make his fans go berserk but that's about it. Parvati Melton makes an entry in a fabulous figure and Vennela Kishore's character is interesting amongst the rest of the comedians.

Dookudu is too lengthy a movie, the story is again the same old (in caps) bundle of sugarcane sticks that has been folded with difficulty (in caps) and squeezed into the machine to extract juice.

Friday 23 September 2011

Velayudham Release Date Announced Officially

Velayudham Release Date Announced Officially

Ayngaran, international market leader for Tamil films has announced the release date of 'Velayudham' in its official website! This Ilayathalapathy starrer will see release just one day prior to Diwali, on October 25!

Trade sources are speculating that 'Velayudham' will be one of the biggest releases on the international front after the Rajinikanth - Shankar venture, 'Endhiran', as it is said that Ayngaran will be releasing 'Velayudham' in over 350 theatres in the international market!

'Velayudham' stars Ilayathalapathy Vijay, Hansika Motwani and Genelia D' Souza in the lead roles with music by Vijay Antony. The film portrays how a commoner from a village who comes to Chennai, goes on to become a superhero to teach a lesson to the baddies in the city.

The film is much-expected by Vijay fans all over and boasts off a big budget and will portray Vijay in a never-seen-before avatar.

Thursday 22 September 2011

Richa Gangopadhyay is Happy with Osthi

Richa Gangopadhyay is Happy with Osthi

Richa Gangopadhyay is happy with the way her role has shaped up in the Simbu starrer Osthi. Speaking about her role, the actress has said that director Dharani has polished the script and in the process her role has turned out to be meatier than that of Sonakshi Sinha’s role in the original version Dabangg.

Osthi is the remake of the Bollywood film Dabangg starring Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Simbu and Richa are essaying the roles in the Tamil version, it may be recalled. The actress is extremely excited about the project and more so because director Dharani has given her due importance in it.

The audio launch of Osthi is to be held on October 6. Thaman has scored the music for this flick.

Sayali Bhagat : Brand Ambassador of MTNL Bharat Berry Services

Sayali Bhagat : Brand Ambassador of MTNL Bharat Berry Services

Former beauty queen turned actress Sayali Bhagat has been signed as the brand ambassador of MTNL's Bharat Berry services (Blackberry like services by Government owned telecom service provider MTNL). Previously, actresses Deepika Padukone and Preity Zinta have endorsed government owned telecom services by BSNL, but this is the first time that a Bollywood actress has been signed to endorse telecom services by MTNL.

Sayali said on Twitter, "Proud to be associated with MTNL Bharat Berry as their Brand Ambassador and become the first user through MTNL."

Ajay Data, Founder and Managing Director, at Bharat Berry services by MTNL, said, "We cordially welcome Sayali to the MTNL Bharat Berry family. We are extremely happy to have her with us. We look forward to a long lasting fruitful brand association with Sayali as our ambassador."

Orkut Oru Ormakoot Set to Release Soon

Orkut Oru Ormakoot Set to Release Soon

Vinod, brother of noted filmmaker and screenplay writer Lohitha Das, has teamed up with Manoj to make the film Orkut Oru Ormakootu. The duo, which has also penned the screen play, has already completed the shooting of the movie. They are planning to release the flick very soon.

There are four heroes in this film Orkut Oru Ormakootu and the peculiarity of the film is that all the heroes are sons of prominent film personalities like director Sibi Malayil's son Joe, Lalu Alex's son Ben, actress Shobha Mohan's son Anu, and photographer Gopla Krishnan's son Vishnu.

The story is about four friends living together in a flat. Rony is a humourous character, Arun is a little bit shy, Abi is a hot tempered one and Sooraj is romantic. Their parents are rich and they are not aware of the value of money and live a posh life. A girl named Chrystal enters their life and the story turns there. Rima Kallingal dons the role of Chrystal.

Orkut Oru Ormakootu is produced by Johny Sagarika under the banner of Johny Sagarika Group Combines. Debutant Swaroop Philip has cranked the camera. Other cast includes Siddique, Harisree Asokan, Sreejith Ravi, Balu James, Arjun Ashok, Sasi Kalinga, Menaka, Tini Tom, Bindu Panicker, Lakshmi, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Jeofi Mathew.

Mahesh Babu's Dookudu Releasing Today

Mahesh Babu's Dookudu Releasing Today

After a small lull, finally South Indian movie buffs can gear up for a real treat. Telugu movie Dookudu which got embroiled into censor storm has been given green signal and now the much awaited film releases on September 23.

Starring Mahesh Babu and Samantha, ‘Dookudu’ has already created a lot of buzz down south.

The film was delayed by a few weeks due to censor trouble. The censors were apparently not happy with the print of the film, which according to them was ‘not clear’.

Apparently, the film’s makers, including director Sreenu Vytla, are confident that it will go on to be a superhit.

Prince Mahesh Babu’s fan following will ensure a good opening for the film, which is produced by Anil Sunkara, Achanta Gopinath and Achanta Ram under the banner of 14reels Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Samantha Ruth Prabhu plays the female lead in Dookudu.

Special attraction of the film is of course Parvathi Milton who sizzles in an item song!

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Sumanth is a Very Close Friend : Kriti Kharbanda

Sumanth is a Very Close Friend : Kriti Kharbanda

She’s 22 years old, stunning and being constantly linked to her co-star Sumanth from Boni. “I am not marrying Sumanth,” says the beautiful Kriti Kharbanda and denies rumours about her link-up. She says, “Nagarjuna’s nephew is a close friend. He’s soft-spoken person and an introvert.” But she accepts that she and Sumanth are close friends and she meets him every time she is in the city. “What’s wrong with going for dinner or hanging out at a coffee shop with my friend?” she asks.

“He’s a gem of person and gave me solid support and advice when I was down after my debut film Boni flopped,” she adds. In fact, Sumanth has introduced her to some of his friends at Secunderabad Club. “I played basket ball at the club and also had dinner with a few of them, but no one talks about that, because they are not celebrities” she says. Kriti does not think she will stop being friends with Sumanth just because of some rumours. “Even my mother found him to be a gentleman,” she adds. But she’s a bit worried about Sumanth’s family. “He belongs to an illustrious family in Tollywood and I don’t want these reports to hurt their feelings,” she argues.

On her plans to buy a property and shift to Hyderabad, she says, “Of course, I am buying a house since I intend to do more Telugu films. I am just 22-years-old and I don’t want to get married. However, I am also a romantic heart and if I happen to find Mr Right, I will definitely let you know,” she points out. What about marrying an actor? She says, “Barring few black sheep, acting is a decent profession, so I have no issues marrying an eligible actor.” Her career is currently flying. She’s even acted alongside superstar Pawan Kalyan in Teen Maar and even though it tanked, it helped her get more work. “It gave me enough mileage and two big offers as well,” she explains. So, she is pinning big hopes on Mr Nokia with Manchu Manoj to break her T-town jinx. While other actors don’t get along with their contemporaries, she admires Trisha, who acted with her in Teen Maar. “I am also fond of Anushka and Tamannah. They are gorgeous and immensely talented,” she says. Like any typical Bangalorean, she believes in “work hard and party harder.” But Kriti doesn’t do late nights while working. “Looking fresh and charming is the key for any actress,” she adds.

Royal Stallion of 7aam Arivu Sold

Suriya in Royal Stallion of 7aam Arivu Sold

That’s right, a royal black horse which was used by Suriya in the period portions of Murugadoss’ 7 Aum Arivu has been sold for a good price recently.

The four-legged beauty had helped him immensely in the shooting as it had been trained specifically for a crucial segment. Since all scenes involving the animal were completed, it had been put up for auction at the oldest market, said to be functioning since the Tipu Sultan days near Erode.

The decision was taken since the crew wanted the animal to have a safe haven. The sale fetched them a substantial price of Rs 5 lakhs, surpassing many other similar auctions in the past.

The unknown new owners sure do have a star in their ranks — and a costly one at that!

The animal and crew exchanged farewells as they took different routes. Who knows, this may not be the last we’ve heard from this unnamed mount…

Mugguru (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Mugguru (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Cast:
  • Navdeep
  • Raahul
  • Avasarala Srinivas
  • Shraddha Das
  • Sanjana
  • Sowmya
  • Reema Sen
  • Sivaji
  • Brahmanandam
  • Ali
  • Ahuti Prasad
  • Venu Madhav
Directed by : V.N.Aditya
Produced by : D. Ramanaidu
Written by : V.N.Aditya
Music by : Koti


Legendary producer D. Rama Naidu’s Mugguru is a family entertainer directed by V.N.Adithya. Ramanaidu who is making low budget entertainers these days experimented with Mugguru. With three heroes and heroines and having Sivaji and Reema sen as guest roles Mugguru serves as a good entertainer.

Plot of Story :

As the title itself reveals, Mugguru (three guys) named Pavan (Navadeep), Maruti (Rahul) and Anji (Srinivas Avasarala) are good friends. As they don’t have good education or financial background they wanted to do something to settle in their life.

In process they plan to kidnap a person called JP. But they will save him from some danger that was created by some other group. Impressed by their courage and kindness JP offers them jobs in his Malaysian company. And he promises of his 3 daughters’ marriage with the three guys.

Meanwhile, they start to impress his daughters. All goes well for them till the Bala Tripura sundari (reema sen) enters the scene. What troubles she gave to those three guys and how they overcome the problems and able to manage to get marry their loved ones form the climax.

Cast Performance :

Navadeep looked good and gained marks for his performance among the three heroes. Rahul and Avasarala Srinivas did well to their part.

Shradha Das looked hot, Sanjana, Sowmya managed to look good. All three girls didn’t have much screen time except for dancing in a couple of songs. Brahmanandam did his best to make audience laugh. And Ali too did justice for his role as comedian and added humorous flavor for the story. Reema Sen is good. It seems she took extra care to look gorgeous. Shivaji did an extended guest role.

Brahmanandam, who tries to make the movie good by making an appearance in the climax, did to some extent.

Director concentrates to establish the plot and few tricks of the three lead men to trap their girls in First half. Interval twist raises some expectations. And the second half reveals the flash back which leads to the climax.

Technical Points :

V.N.Adithya, who wants to rise again after his prolonged break of having hits pinned high hopes on this movie. And it seems that he got succeeded in his attempt.

Music by Koti is as loud as the comedy in this film. Cinematography and editing are good. Making with a small budget is the plus point for this film to survive at the box office.

Final Word :

“Mugguru” is as a youthful entertainer and resembles the thoughts of the youth. Humor in the movie could attract the audience and ShraMuggurus hot looks plays the way.

Catch a show……..

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Osthi Music Release Date Announced

Osthi Music Release Date Announced

‘Osthi’ is Simbhu’s next film that is fast progressing with its busy shooting schedules. The film is getting released on Diwali – October 26!

The latest is that the audio of the ‘Osthi’ is being released on October 6th in the presence of a galaxy of celebrities. It is rumoured that Simbhu is trying to bring Bollywood star Salman Khan for the audio release.

‘Osthi’ is a remake of Salman Khan’s Hindi blockbuster movie ‘Dabangg’. The Tamil version is directed by Dharani and features Simbhu, Richa Gangopadhyay and Santhanam. Bollywood bombshell Mallika Sherawat is doing an item number, popular ‘Munni Badhnam Hui…’, in the film!

Vellore Maavattam Release Date Announced

Vellore Maavattam Release Date Announced

The release date of ‘Vellore Maavattam’ is announced. The film was scheduled for this month-end release. Now, it has been re-scheduled and announced with a fresh date.

The film is now releasing on October 5th in theatres.

The film features Nanda and Poorna in the lead roles and is directed by R N R Manohar. Sundar C Babu has scored the music and Vetri has handled the camera. The film is produced by AGS Entertainment.

Monday 19 September 2011

Madhuri Dixit Relocating to Mumbai

Madhuri Dixit Relocating to Mumbai

Good news for all hard core Madhuri Dixit fans. She is all set to leave Denver, USA and is planning to come back with her entire family. Ten years after marriage, Madhu and her husband Dr. Shriram Nene have decided to relocate to India.

Madhuri has done the last film in 2007 for YRF and that is Aaja Nachle. She has two sons Arin and Ryan. Now, Madhuri is renovating her flat in Juhu. There are good schools for education of my children in Mumbai and there are plenty of opportunities to work as doctor for my cardio vascular surgeon husband. "For all my fans, we r relocating to India! It will b good to b back home," Madhuri Dixit tweeted.

Sunday 18 September 2011

Dhada (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Dhada (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Cast:
  • Naga Chaitanya as Vishwas
  • Srikanth as Vishwas's brother
  • Kajal Aggarwal as Rhea
  • Samiksha
  • Sriram
  • Kelly Dorji
  • Brahmanandam
  • Rahul Dev
  • Mukesh Rishi
Directed by : Ajay Bhuyan
Produced by : D. Siva Prasad Reddy
Story by : Ajay Bhuyan
Singers : Nikhil D Souza, Neha Bhasin, Kalyan, Andrea Jeremiah, Neeraj Shridhar, Karthik, Mega, Priya Himesh, Jaspreet Jasz, Suchitra, Sagar, Richard, Ranina Reddy
Lyricist : Rama Jhogaya Sastry, Ananth Sreeram
Music by : Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography : Gnana Shekar V.S
Editing by : Dharmendra Kakarala
Studio : Sri Kamakshi Enterprises
Distributed by : R R Movies


Contrary to his earlier films, Naga Chaitanya has tried out a full length mass entertainer to lure the fan base in the form of Dhada. Understandably so Dhada movie review has huge impact on the movie talk and collections. So let's check out Naga Chaitanya's Dhada Telugu movie review.

Story :

Vishwa (Naga Chaitanya) is a graduate student in US and lives with his brother Sreeram and wife Sameeksha. He wants to come back to India but falls in love with Riya (Kajal). Rahul Dev is a mafia leader and does business in human trafficking with Kelly George and one day, he forces Sreeram to join hands with him indulging in anti social activities. On the flip side, Riya is the daughter of a rich businessman Mukesh Rishi who plans to get Riya married to his counterpart for his strategic business plans while Rahul Dev and gang are trying to nab Viswa. So why and how Sreeram is involved in illegal activities? Why are Rahul Dev and men are after Viwsha? The answers would be unveiled towards to the end.

Analysis :

Dhada movie is totally a senseless script and director Ajay Bhuyan has no idea whatsoever what's he trying to convey. There's no proper story, screenplay and I really wonder how come Naga Chaitanya did such a movie, which has nothing in it except ballyhoo. At no point you feel like you're watching a movie (starring Naga Chaitanya) and you'd get the feeling as if you are seeing a documentary made in US. Dhada movie seriously suffers from lack of concrete story, lackluster screenplay, untimely songs and no character in the movie gets connected.

There are several fundamental flaws made by Ajaj Bhuyan - When making action films, the conflict element between the hero and the goons should be very strong. The characters surrounding hero should elevate his image and create hoopla, which would be the build up to climax. However, Dhada is completely opposite as you'd be wondering about characters and their justification. The movie creates lot of confusion as to what character is actually doing what and in the end...director has made a mess of the movie.

CineDen Perspective :

When I stepped into Prasad IMAX for the 8:45 AM show only 60% of the hall was full and I was shocked to this for a hero like Naga Chaitanya who is on the brink of tasting hat trick success. Dhada movie talk and review had lot of expectations but the movie is a huge let down as it fails to create even an iota of an impression amongst the audience. There's no natural flow of dialogue delivery, the characters are confounding and villains, as usual in Telugu cinema, make a grand appearance but fallout very chintzily.

Proper planning, pacca script work, casting appropriate to the story are basic elements for a movie, which have gone completely lost in Dhada. Wonder whether Naga Chaitanya has done through the script before signing this film! The movie is a wrong movie for Chaitu and it is very early for him to enter into mass movies since he still looks boyish and immature. Its really amazing to think why the makers took this much time to make such an icky movie.


Plus Points :
Find out and win a trip to Europe

Minus Points :
No proper story
poor screenplay
miscasting

Performances :

Naga Chaitanya : This is the first time Naga Chaitanya is doing a mas movie and he fails miserably. His dialogues lack power, his body language is weak and his looks lack the killer instincts.

Kajal : Kajal is more like a doll and has nothing to perform except few close shots.

Final Word : Dhada review might evoke Dhada for 2 major stakeholders! Yes, Dhada movie will surely trigger 'Dhada' for audience and distributors.

Kandireega (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Kandireega (2011) - Telugu Movie Review

Cast:
  • Ram as Seenu
  • Hansika Motwani as Shruthi
  • Aksha as Sandhya
  • Sonu Sood as Bhavani
  • Jaya Prakash Reddy as Rajanna
  • Chandra Mohan as Seenu's father
  • Srinivasa Reddy
  • M. S. Narayana
  • Pragathi
  • Ramaprabha
  • Raghu Babu
  • Dharmavarapu Subramanyam
  • Brahmanandam in a Cameo
  • Swati Reddy in a Guest Appearance
Directed by : Santosh Srinivas
Produced by : Bellamkonda Suresh
Singers : Ranjith, Hemachandra, Deepu, Revanth Kumar, MLR Karthikeyan, Bindhu Mahima, Geetha Madhuri, Sravana Bhargavi, Ranina Reddy, Suchitra, Dharshana, Aalaap Raju, Naveen, Karthik
Music by : Thaman
Cinematography : Prasad
Studio : Sri Sai Ganesh Productions, Multidimension Entertainments Private Limited


Ram is back with Kandhireega film after taking a brief pause in his career after Rama Rama Krishna Krishna. He put his faith in young director Santosh Srinivas and gave him a chance to direct him. Kandireega is produced by Bellamkonda Suresh who tasted a huge hit with his recent release Kanchana. Kandireega is a formulaic film which is made within a successful format. Nothing great about the movie and we can't write it off either. This serves what the audience wants and serves it hot. Read on Kandireega review...

Story :

Seenu (Ram), who didn't even complete his graduation comes to city with an aim to complete degree. But he falls for Shruti (Hansika) at the first sight and comes to know that she is facing problem with a thug Bhavani (Sonu Sood), who wants to marry her against her wish. Seenu confronts Bhavani and a challenge from Bhavani gives an opportunity for Seenu to win Shruti's love. One Seenu gets over Bhavani, he falls into a bigger problem called Rajanna (Jaya Prakash Reddy). Rajanna's daughter Sandhya (Aksha) loves Seenu at first sight and asks her father to get her married to him. Now, Seenu has to use his brains to get out of this problem as he knows that sheer muscle power isn't enough to get over Rajanna.

Analysis :

Kandireega is a routine fare in which the protagonist can beat hundreds of goons at will. When a problem arises where he can't just flex his muscles, the protagonist falls on mind games and tricks to fool the villains. This is the success formula that was used in many films like Dhee, Ready and to some extent in Brindavanam too.

The first half races ahead with not much story. Director filled the film with good comedy and entertaining elements to keep the audience interested. However, the film goes overboard towards the interval, where the hero does fight after fight to prove his strength to both villain and heroine. Things gets settled when the hero starts to use his brain. Few characters in the film take absolute U turn in this hour and makes this a laugh riot.

Even though the scenes and characters that we see on screen are familiar, we won't complaint as the movie entertains to the maximum. Director did well to keep the audience focused with few screenplay tricks and made the better use of most of the star cast to inject comedy. There are times where the director tries too much to make it a comedy caper but it is covered by the performances.

If this film has a better audio and better looking heroines it would have worked out better. Compromise on few things may affect its prospects. Nevertheless Kandireega works due to the funny moments and ample entertainment.

Performances :

Ram is energetic as usual but gives a feeling that e\he is talking and doing so much for his frame and age. Director should have toned down action part and massy dialogues to make this character more believable. Hansika is on the heavier side and looked elder to Ram in few scenes. She is not at all pleasing in few scenes. Aksha did well with the Telangana accent but she too suffers bad looks in this movie.

Sonu Sood character has two shades in this film. He is brilliant and perhaps the hero of this film. In some frames he looked handsome and fierce than Ram. Jaya Prakash Reddy is good in a routine role. Raghu Babu is okay. Brahmanandam rocked in one scene. Rest of the star cast did well within limitations.

Tehnicalities :

Dialogues are good in comedic scenes but could've been better in the conversations between Ram and Sonu Sood. Music by Thaman is not up to the mark. Except Champakamala... none of the songs have repeat value. Andrew's cinematography is fine and so is the editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. He should have trimmed it as it lasted for almost 2 hour 45 minutes. Production values are okay.

Debutante Santosh Srinivas did well to make his debut count. He can handle commercial entertainers with panache. He also has a good sense of screenplay which comes handy in long run.

Plus Points :
- Sonu Sood's performance
- Ram energy
- Comedy

Minus points :
- Goes overboard in action sequences
- Deja vu feel in the film
- Music
- Hansika

Final Word : This Kandireega's sting is sweet and fun!

Box office predictions : Dhada's dismal show will benefit this movie at the box office. Dearth of good Telugu movies in the recent past would also help the course. Kandireega should be a winner all the way.

Saturday 17 September 2011

Direction is Dia Mirza's next plan

Direction is Dia Mirza Handrich's next plan

After trying her hand at production, former beauty queen and actress Dia Mirza is now exploring other aspects of cinema and wants to don the director's hat in near future.

The former Miss Asia-Pacific walked from the ramp to the arc lights in 2001 for "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein" and after a decade as an actress she moved into production with "Love Breakups Zindagi". She has co-produced it with Zayed Khan and Sahil Sangha and is ready to serve it to the audience next month.

"I think today I am at a whole new phase of my life and there is a lot that I have to look forward to. What I do believe in doing right now is doing everything with a lot of conviction and understanding," Dia, who plays the main lead in her debut production venture with Zayed, told IANS in an exclusive interview.

"There are certain aspects of cinema that I want to explore. I want to get into direction as the next possibility. I will always continue to act. But I want to grow. I want to do more exciting things," added the 29-year-old who believes in telling "simple and meaningful stories".

She already has two stories in mind and says: "I want them to be engaging. I want to tell the story of heart and a story of resurrection. Resurrection of human spirit. I have two ideas in mind that I am working on. They will be technically sound. I want to make them with very good actors," she said.

Would Dia act in her directorial venture? Her reply is that "it would be way too difficult to direct and act in the same film. I have managed producing and acting pretty well, but it would be unreasonable for me to act in my film. My main idea is to explore the mediums of cinema."

In the last 10 years, Dia had more misses than hits. However, she enjoys acting as she finds it therapeutic.

"Acting is a self-explanatory process that helps you to unravel yourself. It helps you literally dig into your own life and your own past. There are different characters demanding different aspects of emotional baggage that you create along your life journey," she said.

"I find acting actually very therapeutic," added the actress known for her work in "Tumsa Nahin Dekha", "Deewaanapan", "Parineeta", "Dus" and "Lage Raho Munnabhai".

She is excited about "Love Breakups Zindagi", a slice-of-life film made under her banner, Born Free Entertainment.

She "identifies" with her character in the film and says "in most ways, Naina is so me! I identify with her situations and a lot of her traits. She's maternal, independent and finds beauty in other people's happiness. But unlike me, she doesn't believe in confrontations or even bothers to listen to inner voice."

Dia has completed a decade in the industry but says she never imagined to be the one.

"It's amazing to look back, I was a girl from Hyderabad who set out herself free - but I was not sure about my aspirations. I didn't know what my passions were at that time," Dia said adding that she never "imagined I would be an actor".

"I grew to discover my love for acting. The last 10 years have been a drawing of experience from my strengths and weaknesses and from now on it starts afresh."

"It's been an interesting journey where I have had an opportunity to play a good daughter, be a support system to my family. And I think that is the greatest meaningful form of true success where you can be of help to people around," she said.

Friday 16 September 2011

Singham Screening for Goa Cops

Singham Screening for Goa Cops

Rohit Shetty's "Singham", is drawing accolades not just from the masses, but also from cops all over India.

Recently, the Director General of Police in Goa had a screening for 900 cops all over the state and all of them enjoyed the film.

Rohit got a call from his producer from Goa who told him the DGP Aditya Arya in Goa wanted to show the film to the the Goa police. After the show, Rohit got a call from the Goa DGP who wanted to personally thank him for making such a film on them and added that at last someone had made a good film on the police force showing them in the right light.

For Rohit it was quite a big honour. He's shot five films before "Singham", but never has a film of his got such reactions, love and respect.

About the call that Rohit received from the DGP, he says, ""Singham" has got me a lot love and respect!" Mr Arya told Rohit, 'I want to thank you on behalf of the entire police force. You have actually shown cops as heroes and thus helped in motivating the police a lot.'

Earlier also the director has had quite a few emotional moments when airport cops have come to him and said 'Hamne "Singham" dekha and thank you for making such a film.' Rohit says he hadn't expected this kind of a positive reaction from the police and the audience when he made the film.

On asking him about his favourite scene from the blockbuster film, says the director, "The scene of Ashok Saraf - when he breaks down is close to my heart as it's taken from a real life scenario. Our hawaldars do more than 18 hours of duty and yet get less than what a corporate office peon does."

Thursday 15 September 2011

Sonam Kapoor in Vijay - Murugadoss film?

Sonam Kapoor in Vijay - Murugadoss film?

Last we heard about Vijay - Murugadoss film is Vijay's photo shoot with Angela Johnson. Now some sources goes back to the old story that Sonam Kapoor has been roped into the movie.

Sonam Kapoor in Vijay - Murugadoss film?

Here is the news source :
Bollywood hotties have been the destination for our filmmakers and heroes as well. Either you’ll have them arriving from God’s own country or the Maxim City of Arabian sea belt. Vijay’s heroine for Murugadoss’ film is gonna be from the latter one and it’s none other than Sonam Kapoor.

Sonam Kapoor in Vijay - Murugadoss film?

The actress with her slim and beautiful looks always suits perfect in homely and glamorous appeal as well. Indeed, she has been the one that Kollywood heroes were desperately looking for. Finally it’s Vijay finding her as A R Murugadoss ‘The Ghajini Man of Bollywood’ bringing her into K-town now.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Nikita Thukral Banned in Kannada

Nikita Thukral Banned in Kannada

The Kannada Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) has imposed a three-year ban on popular actress and item girl Nikitha from acting in Kannada movies for allegedly creating trouble in her co-star Darshan's married life.

Darshan's wife Vijayalaksmi filed a police complaint alleging that her actor-husband assaulted her and threatened her and their young child with his licensed revolver. The actor was arrested on Friday. In her complaint, she blamed Nikitha for the problem in her marital life.

The KFPA office bearers decided to ban the actress after visiting Vijayalaxmi in the hospital on Saturday, sources said. "It’s a lesson for other artistes. We want them to be more professional and concentrate only on their jobs," KFPA president Munirathnam said.

Meanwhile, Nikitha called the ban “ridiculous” and accused the KFPA for acting “without proof.” The actress said: "Without consulting me, the KFPA has slapped the ban. Darshan and I have acted in three movies. There’s nothing between us beyond a professional relationship."

Shriya Saran to Appear in the Buff?

Shriya Saran to Appear in the Buff?

Shriya Saran has always been one of the most glamourous heroines in the South. But she was taken aback when noted Bengali filmmaker, Rituparno Ghosh asked her to appear in the nude for a scene in his film. Apparently, her character is a prostitute and the scene was important to the script.

The actress reportedly has mixed feelings because the role is a superb one and will really bring out her acting prowess. Moreover, Rituparno Ghosh did wonders for Aishwarya Rai's career and could do the same for her. But she does have reservations about the nude scene though she knows that Ghosh is a reputed director and will shoot the scene in an aesthetic manner without any sleazy elements. What will she decide?

Dia Mirza Handrich on a Joy Ride

Dia Mirza Handrich on a Joy Ride

Dia Mirza turns producer with Love, Breakups, Zindagi. She talks about her new role

Dia Mirza, best known for her role in “Rehna Hain Tere Dil Main”, has turned producer. The first film of the company, Born Free Entertainment Private Limited, that she set up with good friends Zayed Khan and Cyrus Sahukar, “Love, Breakups, Zindagi” is ready for release.

“This is possibly the most beautiful phases in my life.” Talking about her chance encounter with acting, she says: “I never imagined I would be an actor. I grew to discover my love for acting. I was intrigued by the various facets of filmmaking. Offers for acting began pouring in after I had won Miss India pageant in 2000. I didn't take them up then. It was only much later that I did.”

Dia learnt from her mistakes. “When some of my movies didn't do well I took the initiative to learn more about filmmaking. By and by, I understood its finer aspects. About four years ago, I began doing work I respected. Yes, I've made mistakes. I've agreed to act in films out of a favour for a friend. But that's the past and I've left it behind and moved on. I'm at a stage where I do work because it makes me happy, I don't do things to prove a point.”

Quiz her on the kind of roles she would like to do, and Dia replies: “I don't look for ideal roles. I look for a good script, because filmmaking is about story-telling. The film must be socially relevant, even if it's a commercial film. Cinema is a human-driven process. It means you need to give respect to the art and have faith in the cast and crew. I believe that the negative in a film, captures the soul of story. The energy behind the scenes transcends into the film.”

“Love, Breakups, Zindagi” was a “joy ride” for Dia. “A large cast and the workshops helped us to make a wonderful film. It's a film about relationships for which we forged strong bonds among ourselves.” Acting is never an easy job, the glare of the arc-lights adversely affect actors at times.

“Though I enjoy acting thoroughly, the most taxing part about acting is that you are not at the most comfortable physically. You have to, at all times, no matter what happens, maintain your equilibrium.”

Her approach to a role isn't a carefully considered one. “Ultimately, what one sees in a role is your soul. I dissect a role, read the script and build a graph on the character. I like to stay with the character as much as possible.”

Dia confesses that she's an avid reader. “I love reading science fiction and of late, I like reading biographies. A lot of good movies can be made based on the lives of people such as Amrita Shergill and Rukmini Devi. They were remarkable women. We may be contemporary women in name, but we aren't half as modern and inspiring as the women of the 19{+t}{+h} Century.”

A woman of many talents, Dia says: “I've written columns. I'm also a painter; some of my work has also been used as sets in my films. Pottery is another one of my passions. I yearn to learn something new every year.”

Someday, Dia would like to publish a collection of her favourite quotes. “Mahatma Gandhi's quotes inspire me. I remember reading many quotes as a child. I used to go through ‘The Reader's Digest' and pick out lines from it that had an impact on me.”

As for being a recognised style icon, Dia contends that she has a natural style of her own. “I enjoy clothes and accessories. Travelling has exposed me to different styles. I just wear whatever suits me and I'm comfortable in.”

Vidya Balan to Smooch Tusshar Kapoor

Vidya Balan to Smooch Tusshar Kapoor

‘Vidya Balan’ starrer ‘The Dirty Picture’ is presently the talk of the town. Vidya’s sizzling poster with three men closely attached to her is creating waves all over. In the movie, Vidya completely gets into the character of South sensation of the 70’s Silk Smitha and looks very hot and sexy.

Vidya Balan to Smooch Tusshar Kapoor

She has few intimate scenes with her co-stars and among those is with Tusshar Kapoor who is basically known for his comic roles. Vidya will be sharing a lip-lock with Tusshar. At the first the scene was decided to be shot in Hyderabad but later the shooting has been shifted to Mumbai.

‘The Dirty Picture’ produced by Ekta Kapoor and directed by Milan Luthria is the most awaited film of the year. The other star casts of the film include Naseeruddin Shah and Emraan Hashmi.

Let’s see whether Vidya will able to do justice to the south sensation Silk Smitha who finally had a tragic end.

Ace Photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha Passes Away

Ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha passes away

Veteran Bollywood and fashion photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, whose glamorous photoshoots helped propel many actors to stardom, passed away on Tuesday following a heart attack. He was 62.

Mr. Rajadhyaksha passed away at his residence here, his family said. The funeral of Mr. Rajadhyaksha, cousin of writer Shobhaa De, will be held this evening.

His first encounter with fashion photography happened in 1980, when he shot pictures of veteran actress Shabana Azmi, Tina Munim and Jackie Shroff.

Mr. Rajadhyaksha left his advertising job in 1987 and took up commercial photography full-time. He soon started doing product campaigns, media assignments and fashion portfolios.

In 1997, he released a coffee table book, ‘FACES’, containing 45 film personalities beginning with Durga Khote and ending with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In 1992, he wrote his first screenplay for Bekhudi, which launched actor Kajol’s career and his second Anjaam presented Madhuri Dixit in a challenging role.

Mourning Mr. Rajadhyaksha’s death, Ms. De said, “Gautam’s soft-focus photography style was unique and his artistic personality was unmatched. There will be only one Gautam.”

Bollywood Mourns

Several Bollywood personalities also took to Twitter to express their grief over his demise.

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar said, “He used to like opera and had a sound knowledge of classical ragas. He talked to us on music and also explained photography to me.”

“Gautam Rajadhyaksha the most gentlest of humans, and one of the finest photographers in the industry, a friend, family favorite. RIP. Too shocked to learn of Gautam! Were talking about him just the other day. Many of his pictures adorn our house and our books,” Amitabh Bachchan wrote on Twitter.

“Gautam ! You have left behind a legacy that shall keep you in our hearts forever... pictures that you took shall be with us always!,” Bachchan added.

“Photography and possibly one of the sweetest and most gentle people you would ever meet. Rest in peace Gautam, you will be greatly missed,” Abhishek Bachchan said.

“Shocked to learn Gautam Rajadhakshya passed away. Great photographer, artist old friend and supporter,” filmmaker Shekar Kapur said.

Photographer Dabboo Ratnani said, “Rest in Peace, Gautam Rajadhyaksha. You will be dearly missed.”

“Gautam Rajadhyaksha was one my most favourite people in the fraternity...funny, sensitive and always positive..I love you gautam and I miss you,” Karan Johar wrote.

“Rest in peace Gautam Rajadhyaksha — every photographer aspired to be him and every face wanted to be captured by him — will miss you,” Riteish Deshmukh said.

Other celebrities like Sonu Nigam, Celina Jaitley, Madhur Bhandharkar, Boman Irani, Pritish Nandy, Farhan Akhtar, Tusshar Kapoor, Neil Nitin Mukhesh and Maria Goretti also mourned the death of ace photographer.

Maharashtra Governor condoles Rajadhyaksha’s death

Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan has expressed grief over the untimely demise of the writer, cinematographer and ace photographer. The media and film industry has lost one of the finest craftsmen in photography, the Governor said in his condolence message.

“Gautam Rajadhadhyaksha was one of the most respected names in the world of cinematography and still photography in the country. He had taken photography to the level of a fine art. Getting photographed by Gautam was a matter of immense pride and prestige for people, especially those from the film industry.

“He was a well-read person and came across as an extremely humble and courteous person. I had the privilege of meeting him on a couple of occasions and was touched by his simplicity. In his demise, we have lost one of the finest craftsmen in photography and a gem of a person,” he said.

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan earns Rs.25.6 Crore over Weekend

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan earns Rs.25.6 Crore over Weekend

Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif-starrer romantic comedy 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' has not got a bumper opening like 'Bodyguard' but the film is doing good business - it earned Rs.25.6 crore over the weekend.

Made at a budget of Rs.30 crore, which includes cost of production, print publicity and marketing, the Yash Raj Films' venture opened to 80-90 percent occupancy.

'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' has had a good start. It opened with 90 percent occupancy and the content is quite appealing to the youngsters. Even Monday has seen a good occupancy,' a source from PVR told IANS.

Directed by debutant Ali Abbas Zafar, the romantic comedy is set in an urban middle class family and deals with two brothers - Luv Agnihotri (Ali Zafar) and Kush Agnihotri (Imran).

'People are liking the movie as it is a very light-hearted film and has a different concept. Not only our weekend shows got good response, even Monday, which is a general a working day had houseful shows. Both Imran and Katrina have done a good job. Even Ali Zafar is good,' said Puneet Sahay, senior manager for programming and operations at Spice Cinemas.

Yogesh Raizada of Waves Cinemas says it's a well-packaged drama.

'The response to the film is very good. It has opened up with 80 to 90 percent occupancy. All the actors Imran, Katrina and Ali have justified their characters. It is a family entertainer and has a mix of emotion, drama and comedy. Overall its a good product,' said Raizada.

Cinema owners say the film is likely to be affected by Shahid Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor starrer 'Mausam' that releases Friday.

'With the release of 'Mausam', the film is likely to get affected as the shows will be less but we still expect 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' to do well in the second week,' said Sahay.

Raizada said: 'The occupancy is likely to fall to to 40 percent to 50 percent.'

John Abraham's Passion for Bikes

John Abraham's Passion for Bikes

Extensive knowledge about the engines, and a ringtone of his very own Yamaha R1's sound, it definitely sounds like our chocolate boy John Abraham is in love again! But this time, it's with his Yamaha R1 1000cc and V-MAX 1700cc motorcycles.

According to Abraham, his motorcycles are his babies and he also believes that they are the most powerful machines in the world. He has also revealed that he has even managed to get away on them for late night rides!

Other than that, the actor has been busy shooting for his forthcoming Force opposite Genelia D'Souza which releases on September 30th.

Monday 12 September 2011

Kareena Kapoor does a Mujra for 'Agent Vinod'

Kareena Kapoor does a Mujra for 'Agent Vinod'

Who can forget Meena Kumari’s courtesan’s act in `Pakeezah` as she dances to the evergreen mujra `Inhi Logon ne le leena dupatta mera`! Classic beauties including Madhubala, Rekha and Hema Malini too have tried their hands at it and so have the contemporary beauties of our times - Madhuri, Aishwarya, Sushmita and Rani.

Mujra might be a dance form practiced by the courtesans to entertain their visitors but no one can deny the nazaqat and grace of this art form. And Bollywood has been instrumental in giving mujra a renewed status- the dance form earned respect and esteem apart from heaving sighs of onlookers.

Now, the latest to join the mujra bandwagon is Kareena Kapoor.

The hottie is said to have done a ‘mujra’, a first in her decade long career, for Shriram Raghavan`s `Agent Vinod`, featuring her beau Saif Ali Khan in lead.

The song has been choreographed by Saroj Khan while Manish Malhotra has styled her.

Bebo looks absolutely stunning in the bright red attire, with loosely pinned hair.

Unit sources confirmed that, Kareena, who is not a trained kathak dancer, had a tough time in perfecting her steps. Reportedly, the sequence which was shot recently was canned for nearly 22 hours!

Finally, when it got over, she had bruises over her hands and knees as the song involved many floor movements besides other dance steps.

No pain, go gain!

Sunday 11 September 2011

Bol (2011) - Hindi Movie Review

Bol (2011) - Hindi Movie Review

Cast:
  • Humaima Malik as Zainub
  • Manzar Sehbai as Hakim Sahib
  • Atif Aslam as Mustafa
  • Iman Ali as Mina
  • Mahira Khan as Ayesha
  • Shafqat Cheema as Saqa
  • Zaib Rehman as Suraiya
  • Amr Kashmiri as Saifi
Directed by : Shoaib Mansoor
Produced by : Shoman Productions
Written by : Shoaib Mansoor
Singers : Shabnam Majeed, Sahir Ali Bagga, Bina Jawad, Atif Aslam, Hadiqa Kiani, Sajjad Ali, Ahmed Jahanzeb
Lyricist : Kashif Ejaz
Music by : Atif Aslam, Shoaib Mansoor, Sajjad Ali, Ahmed Jahanzeb
Distributed by : Geo Films, Eros International Ltd.


Back in 2007 a British-Pakistani friend strongly recommended the film Khuda Ke Liye, which she watched with us. Having never seen a Lollywood film before, I recall being impressed with the production values, acting, music and concept. Now years on with the export of so many great Pakistani singers to Bollywood (Adnan Sami, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam) it was only natural to be watching a film where I’d seen the director’s first film and in which singer Atif Aslam makes his acting debut.

Bol (Speak up) is the second film written and directed by Shoaib Mansoor and has done extremely well in Pakistan. Like his first film, this is also a social commentary, which looks to reflect a slice of society, as well as challenge it.

Based in Lahore, it takes place in the house of a family of young girls and highlights the challenges and confrontations they have with their father, who continues to embody the contradictions of many religious values, which in turn accentuates the growing poverty, troubles and sufferings of the family.

The story focuses on Zainab, a daughter who always feels compelled by her logical reasoning and sense of justice to challenge the values her father holds dear. It’s an emotional film, which looks at some serious issues through the experiences of its characters.

From a film making perspective it is technically sound, made with high production values, great cinematography and framing – showing the diverse shades of Lahore city, from it’s Mughal architecture, to flashy shopping malls, to it’s inner-city lanes, to the open air of the paddy fields and villages, to even it’s red-light districts – throughout the film we witness some amazing shots.

Acting wise, if you’re going to see this as an Atif Aslam movie, it’s not. Which for me was actually quite refreshing, to choose not to have a big star take centre stage. Atif was portrayed as a regular middle-class guy, no heroisms or histrionics, a reserved performance, which whilst nothing to rave about, you could say that he did what was required of the role.

The real two stars of the film were Zainab (Humaima Malick) and her father Hakim Saab (Manzar Sehbai). A particular mention of the father, as he chronicled the emotions of a religiously timid character, to regressively patriarchal father and finally a menacing and hypocritical tyrant, convincingly and whilst making you loath him throughout the film.

I also have to make a special mention of the young actor who plays Zainab’s younger brother and Shafqat Cheema who played the ‘pimp’. While your heart went out to the brother, you couldn’t help but laugh along with the dialogues and comic moments of the pimp.

Music wise, it was again refreshing to see songs woven into the storyline and not typically lip-synched or choreographed song sequences. There were some soulful numbers and while I enjoyed the first Atif Aslam song of the movie (Hona Tha Pyaar) – which was a slow love ballad, he made up for it with the second track (Kaho – Aaj Bol Do), which was more what we’ve come to expect from the rock star singer.

From a script perspective the original premise of the film was amazing, essentially a story of a father, Hakim Saab, who longs for a son after the birth of seven daughters, but is blessed with a eunuch. There then follows a story of Shafqat Cheema and his courtesan, who blackmail Hakim Saab to father a daughter with the courtesan, played by a beautiful Iman Ali, in exchange for money. Both were interesting concepts – but as stories, could have been told in either two separate films or better interwoven into one narrative, here we have one story begin as the other ends.

Also, throw in a catalogue of just about every social issue available: poverty, education, women’s rights, pressures of child-bearing, dated interpretations of religion, inter-generational struggles, corruption, sectarian differences and it starts to make you think – was the director trying to get all his messages across in one go as he thought he wouldn’t get the chance again?

What results is a complex and uneven narrative, in which not one single issue is explored deeply enough. If he’d done justice to just one single issue, it would still have managed to retain the bold and gripping objective the film was aiming to achieve. Story pacing (152mins) and narrative slightly lets it down for me. However, I wouldn’t let this spoil what is still a very well made and honest film.

My conclusion: interesting and at times entertaining, but will test your emotions. A special mention to the beauty of the language used throughout the film and opportunity to see Lahore in its various manifestations. I’m all for supporting emerging cinema and believe in time we’ll be watching more and more films coming out of Pakistan, so would definitely encourage those interested in watching more meaningful cinema with a social message to give this a shot.

Finally as the lovely host at Eros International said to me: it’s better than Khuda Ke Liye – I would agree!

John Abraham Matured as an Individual

John Abraham Matured as an Individual

They say life is the best teacher and it seems Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham believes in this. The actor is not sulking about his break up with Bipasha Basu and says he has matured over the years as he has learnt to accept the realities of life with a smile.

"I have matured enough in life. It's not necessarily with a woman, but every relationship in life matures you as an individual. So, I am sitting here before you guys as a much more mature individual," said John who split with Bipasha Basu earlier this year after an eight-year relationship.

"Earlier, may be three years ago, I would get upset about personal questions asked to me. Today, I am sitting, smiling, answering everything because it's a fact of life," said John.

The 38-year-old says he is not sulking and utilising the time to spend some quality time with his parents.

"I am just happy that I have time by myself. Honestly, once I became an actor in 2003, I did not spend enough time with my parents. I will be very honest, when we get into relationships and into our career, we forget that we have parents. We don't give them time," he said.

"I am spending as much time as possible with my parents because they are not doing very well physically. So, I am trying to spend as much time to just make out for all the lost time," he added.

The actor is preparing for the release of his next -- Force, which hits the screens Sep 30. He will also feature in Desi Boyz, Housefull 2 and Shootout at Wadala.

Dhanush is Best Actor at National Film Awards

Dhanush is Best Actor at National Film Awards

Regional cinema was in the spotlight at the 58th National Film Awards presented today. Big winners included Tamil actor Dhanush and Malayalam actor Salim Kumar who shared the prestigious Best Actor award. Malayalam film Adaminte Makan Abu bagged the Best Feature Film.

The awards were presented by President Pratibha Patil at the Vigyan Bhawan.

The awards were hosted by actors Mahie Gill and Rajat Kapoor. "I am hosting the national awards function in Delhi- its a new thing for me.. A little nervous..." the actor tweeted before the event.

Veteran Tamil filmmaker K. Balachander was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2010 for his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The 81-year-old writer-director-producer has directed nearly 80 films in his career and launched the career of Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth.

Hindi cinema's big award came from Dabangg, starring Salman Khan. Dabangg picked up the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

Directed by Abhinav Kashyap and produced by Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan and Dhilin Mehta, Dabangg was a runaway hit, collecting a record-setting 14.5 crore on the first day. That record has now been undone by another Salman Khan film, Bodyguard which coasted to a jaw-dropping 22 crore on its first day.

The Award for the Best Hindi Film has been given to Do Dooni Chaar, produced by Arindam Chaudhuri and directed by Habib Faisal. he unpretentious film brought back the 70s hit pair and real-life star couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh on screen after decades.

Other notable winners include Marathi actress Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and Tamil actress Saranya Ponvannan who jointly won Best Actress for Baboo Band Baaja and Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru. Husband-wife music-makers Rekha Bhardwaj and Vishal Bhardwaj won an award each for Best Female Playback Singer and Best Music Direction for Ishqiya.