CineDen: June 2013

Sunday 30 June 2013

I’m a different kind of shopaholic: Ann Augustine

I'm a different kind of shopaholic: Ann Augustine

Actress Ann Augustine admits she was rebuked by her mom and close friends for not giving due attention to her engagement preparations.

So, she tells us that for her wedding, she has no plans to let her folks do a repeat act again.

"I'm a different kind of shopaholic, who'd rather spend on bags and tops than on anything else. I've never been interested in saris and jewellery. However, for the wedding, I really am planning to shop big time, unlike how I did for my engagement," Ann says.

Wedding bells for Mithra Kurian

Looks like the wedding season in Mollywood will continue, with actress Mithra Kurien rumoured to be tying the knot this year.

Reports suggest that Mitra will tie the knot with keyboard player William Francis by the end of this year.

An industry insider tells us, "The two fell in love at a star night in the US in 2012. Their families met recently in Kochi and it was decided that the marriage will happen later this year. However, the date is yet to be confirmed."

Mitra was unavailable for comment.

Prithvi's next is titled Painting Life

Award winning hit duo, Prithviraj and Dr Biju, will team up for the third time for Biju's next project. Titled Painting Life, the movie will see the actor playing a director in the movie. It traces the adventurous journey of a film crew who gets lost during the course of their travel. "The story revolves around a film crew, which consists of five members. And, they get trapped in a village. It's the story of their survival," says the director.

The movie will be shot in Chitkul, which is known as India's last inhabited village. Dr Biju, who just returned from location hunting shares that their journey in real life was also adventurous. The cast also includes God for Sale fame Anumol. Painting Life will start rolling in September. "Prithviraj is in London now and I'm waiting for him to come back to confirm the dates," says Biju.

Bhama on a roll

Malayalam actress, Bhama, also a well known face in kannada film industry is known for her choice of quality films. No wonder then the actress has a good line up of films. But what is interesting is the fact that the actress will have four releases in a span of two months if everything goes well, which might be something new to Bhama.

Out of the four films, Auto Raja is already released and is doing pretty good. This is Golden Star ganesh's comeback film , and has earned appreciation from everyone. Bhama's other films, Barfi, Appaiah and Ambara are also expected to release in the coming days. The next release will mostly be Barfi followed by Appaiah and Ambara respectively.

In fact, Appaiah was supposed to be Bhama's first release this year, however, the release got postponed and recently ads were released depicting the release of the film.

Sanjjanaa misses the Bigg Boss family

Actress Sanjjanaa gets all emotional on Twitter as the Kannada reality show Bigg Boss comes to an end today. The actress was one among the 15 contestants of the show, which was hosted by Sudeep.

The final episode will be aired today and the most expected moment by fans of the show, i.e., the winner, will be announced today. The finalists of the show are Swami Narendra Sharma, Nikita Thukral, Vijay Raghavendra and Arun Sagar. According to reports, the fight is between Arun and Vijay. However, audiences will get to know the results in a few hours from now.

While the contestants of Bigg Boss is getting all sentimental as they performed for the finale, Sanjjanaa took her micro-blogging page to reveal how much she will miss the reality show. She posted saying, "In Pune airport now, off to hyd, Will miss the Bigg Bigg big boss family..was a funfull short journey..it passed lik a dream."

She even said that today roads will be isolated in the city as the finale episode will be aired on TV today. "Join us n Hook up Wid ur TV this eve n watch @KicchaSudeep ,banglore faced low traffic last 3months frm 8pm,today d roads will b isolated."

While the host of the show Sudeep insisted that every member of the show should be happy being a part of season 1's Bigg Boss, Sanjjanaa added, "Nothing feels as great as success,being a part of the most successful show of Karnataka is an honor n a blessing,finale will create history!"

Suraj Pancholi says no to narco-test

Suraj Pancholi, who is in judicial custody in connection with the Jiah Khan suicide case, was to undergo a narcotics analysis test. The Mumbai police had sought the Andheri Magistrate Court's permission for the same on Thursday, June 27. The Court will hear the police's application on Monday. But according to the law, the accused has the right to refuse a narco-test.

Suraj's lawyer Zamir Khan said to a newspaper that they would do just that. "We are not going to give our consent to it as Suraj is of tender age," he said. Suraj's custody was earlier extended till June 27. The 22-year-old upcoming actor will now be in jail till July 11. Watch this space for more updates.

Friday 28 June 2013

Manisha Koirala is back in Mumbai post her cancer treatment

Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, who has successfully recovered from cancer, returned to Mumbai from New York after completing her treatment. She was spotted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport sporting a colourful headgear to hide her bald head.

Manisha arrived with her manager and a few friends. She waved and smiled at the crowd while coming out of the airport before setting off for her residence in Andheri.

Recently, the 42-year-old actress posted a picture of her bald look after losing hair to several rounds of chemotherapy.

"How can I describe what I have been through...last 6 months is like waking up after a longest sleep...everything is different now!! (sic)," she tweeted.

Manisha has been tweeting happy pictures of her time with family members in the US. In these pictures, she is either sporting an attractive scarf or a cap. Post treatment, she has also been interacting with other cancer survivors in the US as part of the hospital programme.

The nineties superstar was diagnosed with ovarian cancer last November and had gone to the US for a six-month treatment.

She decided to return to Mumbai after the hospital announced she was totally free of cancer.

Meanwhile, her return has triggered off the buzz that she will soon make a comeback in showbiz. Sources close to her, however, said she doesn't have any plans to make a comeback anytime soon.

"Manisha is fully fit but she will go slow on work as of now," said a source close to the actress.

Manisha was last seen in Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot Returns but before she could take up any other project after that she had to move to US for treatment.

Sunday 23 June 2013

Lindsay Lohan smokes on balcony of Malibu rehab facility

LiLo is lying low.

The troubled starlet, 26, was photographed this week for the first time since entering her mandatory 90-day stint in rehab.

The "Mean Girls" actress appeared on the balcony of the swanky Cliffside facility in Malibu, Calif. She appeared relaxed and happy, wearing a red plaid shirt and chatting with friends.

After checking into the Betty Ford Center on May 3, Lohan transferred to Cliffside last week, Daily News' Confidenti@l reported.

In the cushy clinic, which runs up to $68,000 a month for a private room, Lohan seems to have been recovering nicely.

"Cliffside is better for her than Betty," the star's father, Michael Lohan, told Confidenti@l. "She has more freedom, it's more personalized, and the treatment is better for her."

"You can never tell if it's going to stick or not until she gets out of rehab, but she's doing great," he continued. "She sounds fantastic."

Lohan was slapped with the 90-day sentence in March after pleading no contest to reckless driving and lyring to a police officer in connection to a car wreck in June 2012.

Saturday 22 June 2013

Kim & Kanye's Baby Name Finally Revealed?

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West appear to have decided on a name for their famous newborn. According to global reports this morning, the little has been named 'North West'.

It's claimed that she has no middle name, but has already got herself an A-list moniker, 'Nori'.

Kim & Kanye's Baby Name Finally Revealed?

A source close to the couple told E! News: 'They will call her Nori for short. She has black straight hair! Lots of it! Looks like a good mix of both of them [Kanye and Kim] but more like Kim. She's adorable!

'Kanye is so in love with her. He won't leave her side.'

The reports come just days after a rumour that the pair had in fact named their new daughter 'Kaidence', continuing with the long-standing Kardashian tradition of names beginning with the letter 'K'.

The little one arrived last Saturday, 15 June, five weeks early at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

The reports are thought to have originated from US gossip website TMZ who claim to have obtained a copy of the birth certificate. The couple have yet to release an official statement themselves, despite 'North West' trending worldwide on Twitter this morning.

Back in March, Kim Kardashian denied that she would call her first child 'North', joking to Jay Leno: 'I do like Easton, Easton West.'

Something tells us they're still undecided...

Rita Ora Describes Her First Meeting With Madonna

Rita Ora has opened up about her very fist meeting with Madonna, following the announcement that she's the brand new face of the star's Material Girl fashion line.

Rita is following in the stylish footsteps of Kelly Osbourne and Taylor Momsen, who've both fronted the high street line, which was launched by Madonna and her daughter Lourdes (Lola) Leon back in 2010.

Rita Ora Describes Her First Meeting With Madonna

At this week's Sony Xperia Access launch, held at Sony Music's London HQ, we caught up with Rita for an exclusive chat, during which she told us about her very first meeting with the Queen of Pop.

Talking about the first time they met, she revealed: It was actually at Chime For Change, I met her for the first time. We shot the campaign around London and it was such a fun campaign to do because those were the kind of clothes that I would buy before I was doing any singing and [they are] that same price range.

And I really support the mother and daughter combination. I'm really close to my mum so it's like… it really made sense to do it and on top of that… it's Madonna! When Lola kind of mentioned me to her mum I was so flattered. Long story short, I met her, I walked in and I felt like I was going to puke.

It was like meeting my generation's version of Elvis Presley, do you know what I mean? I'm not even exaggerating, I was so, so… like I've never felt that before in my life where I felt like I had nothing to say.

I just stood there and was like… "thank you". And she said "This is a very organised meeting". And I was like: "No, this is just like an honour".

She added: 'It was the biggest compliment in the world for a singer to ask me to the the face of their line.'

So what can we expect from the first photoshoot?

Rita says: "Just a lot of fun, like I'm around London sitting on phone booths, messing around and stuff."

Sounds fabulous.

Post-mortem confirms James Gandolfini dead of heart attack

'The Soparanos' actor James Gandolfini died of a heart attack of natural causes, an autopsy has confirmed.

Michael Kobold, a family friend and spokesman for the Gandolfinis, said that nothing else was found in Gandolfini's system, ABC News reported.

Kobold said that James' funeral will be held in New York on Thursday, Friday or Saturday of next week.

According to officials, James was in his room on Wednesday at Hotel Exedra when he became sick at around 10 p.m. local time.

Dr. Claudio Modini, who was in charge of the emergency room at Policlinico Umberto I hospital the night James arrived, said that he did not believe that drugs or alcohol played a role in the star's death, even though Gandolfini was known to be a smoker.

Bipasha Basu uses own fitness DVD for workout

Fit and fabulous Bipasha Basu never gives her workout session a miss. So, when she was in Ooty shooting for 3D film 'Creature' and didn't find the gym facilities satisfactory, her own DVDs came in handy.

The actress has so far launched two fitness-based DVDs – 'BB Love Yourself: Fit and Fabulous You' (2010) and 'Breakfree' (2012).

"In Ooty, the gym is not that great, so the workout DVDs are helping us all! Waiting to launch 'Unleash' next," tweeted the 34-year-old, who has flaunted her perfect curves in movies like 'Jism', 'Dhoom 2' and 'Players'.

Sonakshi Sinha loves her nose ring

Actress Sonakshi Sinha is one of the few actresses who wears a nose accessory even on screen. She says it is convenient to wear and gives her the 'desi' look.

Sonakshi Sinha had her nose pierced when she was 16.

"I have worn a nose ornament right from my first film ('Dabangg') and I keep altering from a nose ring to a stud," Sonakshi, who is known for sporting various Indian avatars in her films, said in a statement.

The 26-year-old will flaunt a nose ring once again in her forthcoming film 'Lootera'. The actress will wear a traditional nose ring, which also enhances her character in the movie.

"I have used a very traditional Bengali-looking nose stud in the shape of a flower. It's a hassle-free accessory and is also the mark of an Indian woman," she tweeted.

Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani get emotional

Rough and tough Vishal Dadlani and melodious beauty Shreya Ghoshal ended up in tears when they had to select one between a brother and a sister for singing reality show 'Indian Idol Junior'.

Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal Dadlani get emotional

Vishal and Shreya judge the show along with Shekhar Ravjiani. It became the strenuous task for them to select the top 10 young singers of the nation, said a statement.

There was a point when Shreya and Vishal had to choose one between a set of siblings. They couldn't control their emotions and eventually shed few tears, said a source.

Shreya says eliminating kids is the toughest part about being on the show.

"I just do not like this part of show when we need to say no to the contestants and especially to those cute and little ones. It really feels sad," said Shreya.

Jiah Khan’s suicide is very unfortunate: Vidya Balan

Terming Bollywood actor Jiah Khan's suicide as "unfortunate" actor Vidya Balan on Thursday said she could never understand why people resort to taking their own lives. "It is very unfortunate. I hope no one ever has reason enough to end their life. I really can't imagine whether that requires courage or the opposite of that, because I have never been able to fathom why people commit suicide…I think it is very sad," Vidya said on the sidelines of a promotional event for the forthcoming film Ghanchakkar at the Park Hotel in Kolkata.

Jiah Khan’s suicide is very unfortunate: Vidya Balan

The 25-year-old Britain-born Jiah was found hanging at her flat in Sagar Sangeet building in the posh Juhu area of northwest Mumbai June 3 when her family had gone out. Jiah shot into the limelight with her 2007 debut movie Nishabd, in which she starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan. She was also seen in films like Ghajini and Housefull.

Vidya was dressed up as her character Neetu for the promotional activities of the film in a polka dotted matching ensemble. "People will see me and think this is the girl from Ghanchakkar…loud makeup and matching clothes," said Vidya.

Directed by Rajkumar Gupta, Ghanchakkar hits theaters June 28 and stars Emraan Hashmi as the male lead.

The Bling Ring (2013) - English Movie Review

Cast :

Katie Chang as Rebecca (Rachel Lee)
Israel Broussard as Marc (Nick Prugo)
Emma Watson as Nicki (Alexis Neiers)
Claire Julien as Chloe (Courtney Ames)
Taissa Farmiga as Sam (Tess Taylor)
Georgia Rock as Emily (Gabby Neiers)
Leslie Mann as Laurie (Andrea Arlington-Dunn)
Carlos Miranda as Rob
Gavin Rossdale as Ricky
Stacy Edwards as Marc's Mom
G. Mac Brown as Henry
Marc Coppola as Marc's Dad
Janet Song as Rebecca's Mom
Annie Fitzgerald as Kate (Nancy Jo Sales)
Erin Daniels as Shannon
Halston Sage as School Girl
Nina Siemaszko as Las Vegas Detective
Paris Hilton as herself (Cameo)
Kirsten Dunst as herself (Cameo)
Lindsay Lohan as herself (Cameo - archive footage)

Directed by : Sofia Coppola
Produced by : Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola, Youree Henley
Written by : Sofia Coppola
Based on : "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales
Music by : Brian Reitzell, Daniel Lopatin
Cinematography : Christopher Blauvelt, Harris Savides
Editing by : Sarah Flack
Studio : American Zoetrope, FilmNation Entertainment, NALA Films, Pathé, StudioCanal
Distributed by : A24

In 2011 a crack burglar unit was sentenced to prison by a Los Angeles court fofor a series of crimes they most certainly committed. This group of mostly girls had burglarized the homes of nearly a dozen high-profile celebrities, making off with nearly $3 million in clothes and jewelry. Today, a film based on their exploits is being shown in theatres. If you can find it, if there’s little else playing or you’re tired of hearing about Man of Steel, maybe you can see The Bling Ring.

I write that because I’m still not sure what Sofia Coppola’s new movie is about — it opens with Nicki (Emma Watson) giving one of those humanitarian speeches that clearly wasn’t proof-read by an attorney and has about as much basis in thought as — Ooo! A penny! And then follows Marc (Israel Broussard), the awkward new kid at the remidial school. He’s mocked and picked on, partly because he’s the new kid, partly because he harbors some cross-dressing tendencies. Fortunately one of his classmates, Rebecca (Katie Chang) befriends him and, during a casual drive, asks which if any of friends are out of town. He mentions one. She suggests they break into the house. And they do. And they steal some cash, clothes, and jewelry. They meet up with some other friends afterwards and brag about robbing the poor saps.

And eventually the gang gets the idea to rob celebrities’ houses. Their plan is ingenious — track when a particular celebrity will be away, say for a party or box social. Then go to Google to look up their address. Then go there when the celebrity is not there. And then rob them blind. Paris Hilton is their first and most popular target, for a reason that provides one of the film’s best jokes, so I won’t reveal it here.

But that’s basically the film — following robbery after robbery after robbery after robbery after robbery — and I think there’s some I missed, too. Whatever Coppola finds so fascinating about this concept is never clearly revealed, but she does, and she delights in filming each caper, from the slight planning to the break-in (or, in many cases, wander-in), the girls (and guy) dressing up in the dubs of the rich and famous and rattling off the names of brands whose products evidently cost the GNP of small European countries, and then enjoying the spoils at home. They smoke and drink and party all nights as well.

Naturally it’s a bit difficult to put myself in the place of a materialistic teenage girl; I’m the wrong gender, and shoes with exotic names don’t exactly blow the skirt I’m not wearing up. Granted some of the heists are gorgeous to watch — particularly one shot exclusively from the outside, and in one take that shows Coppola’s been watching some Jacques Tati. And Watson is fine as Nicki, devoid of decency and self-doubt, ensconced in a world that hasn’t any room for other humans. Leslie Mann is a welcome surprise, too, but, as with the robberies, her constant New-Age/The-Secret-obsessed schtick wears itself out quickly.

But again, what is the point? Coppola said the story resonated with her because “It says something about our culture.” What is that? Or rather, what is she saying it says? Despite the endless parade of expense, I don’t think she’s been sucked in by the very excess she seems to want to condemn. Even when she went all bubble-gum-girly-pop before in Marie Antoinette, she grounded that film with a rather sympathetic portrayal of her subject. The girls here have no such depth — nor any reason for their crimes other than ability; that they can justifies their doing so. They learn no lessons, feel no remorse and even less loyalty, and…and talk vapidly. So yes, people like this may exist. What of it?

Perhaps the message is that there is no message — maybe the emptiness is the point. Maybe I’m just looking too deep into shallow puddles.

World War Z (2013) - English Movie Review

Cast :

Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former UN investigator who is called to return to his previous job as a UN Investigator to investigate the pandemic that is spiralling out of control across the globe
Mireille Enos as Karin Lane, Gerry's wife and mother of their two children
Fana Mokoena as Thierry, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations
Daniella Kertesz as an Israeli soldier known as "Segen", who accompanies Gerry in his mission
James Badge Dale as Captain Speke, a U.S. special forces soldier stationed in South Korea
David Morse as Gunter Haffner, a former CIA operative who is a prisoner on a US Army base in South Korea
Ludi Boeken as Jurgen Warmbrunn, the head of Israel intelligence agency Mossad
Matthew Fox as a U.S. Navy SEAL operative
Abigail Hargrove as Rachel Lane, Gerry and Karen's elder daughter
Sterling Jerins as Constance Lane, Gerry and Karen's younger daughter
Fabrizio Zacharee Guidoas as Tommy, a boy who is rescued by the Lane family

Directed by : Marc Forster
Produced by : Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Ian Bryce
Screenplay by : Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof
Story by : Matthew Michael Carnahan, J. Michael Straczynski
Based on : World War Z by Max Brooks
Music by : Marco Beltrami
Cinematography : Ben Seresin
Editing by : Roger Barton, Matt Chesse
Studio : Skydance Productions, Hemisphere Media Capital, GK Films, Plan B Entertainment
Distributed by : Paramount Pictures

World War Z is probably the most solid zombie flick we’re going to get for a while. The characters are well-defined, the acting is better than it needs to be, the look is good, and the story is constructed as a pretty compelling mystery. That’s both a plus and a minus for the film. The detective aspect is an innovative take on a genre that already has, within its endless sub-genres, the romantic comedy (this year’s Warm Bodies), and the movie wastes no time getting straight to it. On the other hand, its commitment to the mystery narrative makes the action sequences feel like they were brought over from another movie. When Gerry (Brad Pitt), the ex-UN agent (his original job function is never made explicitly clear) gets a lead that takes him to Israel, he meets up with an official who apparently foresaw the zombie outbreak and constructed a massive wall around Jerusalem. The guy’s reasoning is simple: “We ignored warning signs before and suffered because of it, this time, I figured, ‘What the Hell?’” As soon as Gerry’s finished asking questions, someone in the crowd starts performing an impromptu song. No reason, just because. And the static from her microphone alerts the zombies outside the city, who form a massive pile and (SPOILER, though it’s in the trailer) spill out over the wall and overtake the city.

Later in the film, a zombie sneaks aboard an airplane, again waiting until Gerry’s business with the pilot is finished to expose himself (also in the trailer), and still later, Gerry ends up in a science lab, where The Something That Will Save Us All is buried deep within, yup, zombie territory. Now it’s not that I don’t want creepy, filthy zombies in my zombie movie (it’d be hard-pressed to calls itself such without them), in fact I do, but every time they show up, it feels like a burden on the story. Would the city officials in Jerusalem really allow someone to randomly burst into reverberant song when they know that the zombies are attracted by precisely that kind of noise? Would a zombie really just lock himself in the bathroom of an airplane and choose to attack at the time most convenient to the protagonist? Did the writers Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof have an executive hovering over them while they wrote, pointing to each place in the script where they could include a zombie-fied action sequence?

And let’s go back to the microphone. It’s established early on that the zombies are attracted to loud noises and will herd toward the sound’s source. Now Brad Pitt, er, Gerry, is tasked with uncovering the origin of the zombie virus so that a cure can be manufactured and humanity can be saved. While he was doing that, and seeing the zombies scale the walls of Jerusalem, did it ever occur to him (or the military for which he’s working) to use a loud noise and herd the zombies away from everyone else? Sure, it’s not a cure, but as a temporary solution, it would work a lot better than what they eventually end up doing.

And back to the first hand, sure, the action sequences may be contrived, but they’re still good. And sure, the fact that Gerry’s working for the government solely because they’ve agreed to protect his family if he does so, has a twist late in the film that doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t take up too much time. And sure, Gerry adopts the child of another family who’s overcome by zombies, but he’s forgotten about soon after. And sure, Gerry’s daughter’s asthma looms large early in the film but it, too, is ignored. And sure, Gerry teams up with a feisty Israeli (Daniella Kertesz), but she doesn’t serve any real purpose in the story. Sure, all those questions pile like zombies up, but fortunately these ones don’t quite spill over the wall. Sure.

Friday 21 June 2013

Shortcut Romeo (2013) - Hindi Movie Review

Cast :

Neil Nitin Mukesh as Suraj
Ameesha Patel as Monica
Puja Gupta as Sherry
Rajesh Shringarpure as Rahul
Jatin Grewal as Ashish
Ashutosh Kaushik
Errol Marks
Meherzan Mazda
Vrajesh Hirjee
Mumaith Khan
Himesh Reshammiya in a special appearance in a song
Bhrigu Das

Directed by : Susi Ganeshan
Produced by : Manjari Susi Ganeshan
Screenplay by : Susi Ganeshan
Story by : Susi Ganeshan
Music by : Himesh Reshammiya
Cinematography : N. K. Ekambaram
Editing by : Dilip Deo, Hardik Singh Reen
Studio : Susi Ganesh Productions

Shortcut Romeo is desperate to be stylish, desperate to have a story, desperate to fill in all the elements considered to constitute a Hindi thriller - love, drama, action, betrayal. Only thing missing seems to comedy, thank goodness for some mercies. Yet, you have to give them some leeway for trying, even if they tried way too hard.

You have a blackmailer (Neil Nitin Mukesh) taking advantage of having caught a rich woman (Ameesha Patel) red-handed. But this lady ain't going to take it lying down and gives him a good fight at being nasty. Interestingly, both supposedly have shades of good in them too.

The schemes and counter-schemes they design are too elaborate and lie too obviously at the mercy of coincidences, which actually happen. Not to mention, they are a tad predictable too. The characters are either nasty or uninteresting for you to invest in them. That leaves the dialogue in the writing department to pull you in. Shortcut Romeo doesn't manage to take you in with any good lines either.

The performances too are as dull as one would expect from Ameesha Patel or Neil Nitin Mukesh. However, the latter does try hard to infuse life into his lines and to bring out the mean streak in his character. Puja Gupta too tries her best to be sensuous and simple, but that ultimately amounts to a one-expression deal. The rest of the supporting cast is outright bad with their dialogue delivery and body language.

Even so, it does feel like the makers give Shortcut Romeo its best shot. It doesn't feel like they take the audience for granted. Its just that the ability of the writer/director to engage us is limited.

Raanjhanaa (2013) - Hindi Movie Review

Cast :

Dhanush as Kundan
Sonam Kapoor as Zoya
Abhay Deol as Akram
Swara Bhaskar as Bindiya
Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Murari
Shilpi Marwaha as Rashmi
Arvind Gaur as Guptaji
Suraj Singh as Anand
Sujata Kumar Krishnamurthy as Chief Minister
Vipin Sharma (cameo)

Directed by : Anand L. Rai
Produced by : Krishika Lulla
Screenplay by : Himanshu Sharma
Story by : Himanshu Sharma
Music by : A. R. Rahman
Cinematography : Natarajan Subramaniam, Vishal Sinha
Editing by : Hemal Kothari
Distributed by : Eros International

Just when you thought film industry had lost its touch in creating romantic stories that could last for a long time, filmmaker Aanand L Rai sets his foot strongly in the romance genre with his love story Raanjhanaa.

Kundan (Dhanush), ever since he first lays his eyes on Zoya (Sonam Kapoor), falls hopelessly and irreparably in love with her. He goes to all length, takes her rejections, her repeated slaps etc. but his love only grows stronger till she finally gives in. That’s class 9 and on knowing about her attachment to a young Hindu boy, Zoya’s conservative family sends her off to Aligarh at their relatives’ house. Years pass, Zoya moves to JNU, Delhi for further education while the son of local pandit Kundan nurtures his love for her that only grows leaps and bounds with each passing year.

However, her dreams shatter when she returns as he finds out that she is besotted with another man Akram/Jasjit (Abhay Deol) from her college. Despite his unrequitted love, Kundan decides to unite the two lovers and while you think the film would slip into the Hum Dil Chuke Sanam region, Aanand L Rai incorporates many twists and turns that, although faulty, that make the film at least unpredictable.

To start with, filmmaker Aanand Rai wins your heart within ten minutes of the film as Raanjhanaa opens to a refreshing backdrop of Benaras where amidst Holi and Dushera and other festivities you see the innocence of young love taking shape.

The entire first half is extremely endearing, breezy and refreshing and sucks you in the story completely with you losing track of time. You really want to lovers to meet, you yearn for your predictions to come true but the filmmaker doesn’t give you what you want and instead holds your attention with a story you haven’t seen before.

But just when you come back after the interval with your hopes high you are let down by the archaic story-telling approach with predictable twists and turns where the filmmaker takes complete cinematic liberty to move his story forward. The entire sub-plot of politics, penance, revenge etc. appears improbable and hence disappointing too. But it’s the again where Rai sweeps you off your feet and leaves you cathartic.

The film stands tall on four strong pillars - Dhanush, chemistry, backdrop of Benaras and last but not the least AR Rahman. Filmmaker clearly scores an ace by casting Dhanush in the film. The South superstar in his debut Hindi film itself portrays a range of emotions right from love to rage, remorse to repentance. Even the age span gets depicted by him brilliantly.

If Dhanush wins your heart, Sonam Kapoor pleasantly surprises you too. It’s safe to say that the actress finally marks her debut as an “actor” as she performs commendably and complements both Dhanush and Abhay Deol well. Abhay too despite a bit role gives an impactful performance. Both Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub and Swara Bhaskar have been given laudable parts to play as Kundan’s friends and get some of best dialogues to mouth in the film.

Cinematography by Natarajan Subramaniam is delightful as his camera captures the bylanes of Benaras like never before. Music by AR Rahman is one of the highlights of the film and the tracks blend brilliantly with the story.

Raanjhanaa to say the least may not be a perfect story but it sure is one of the best romantic films of the recent times. It deserves to be watched for Dhanush’s debut, Sonam’s acting and AR Rahman’s music packaged with a refreshing story.

Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugees in Jordan

Angelina Jolie visited refugees at the Jordan border recently.

The 38-year-old actress, who had undergone double mastectomy earlier this year, was photographed crouched down listening to stories from refugees and taking notes, reported Us magazine.

On UNCHR's website she wrote the purpose of her visit.

"To show support for Syria's refugees, to call on the world to address their plight, and to better understand needs in Jordan and other countries in the region most directly affected by this devastating conflict.

"The international response to this crisis falls short of the vast scale of this human tragedy. Much more humanitarian aid is needed, and above all, a political settlement to this conflict must be found," the website read.

Jolie traveled solo on the trip as her fiance Brad Pitt is busy promoting his new film 'World War Z'.

Miley Cyrus Spotted Wearing Engagement Ring: Post Pregnancy Scare?

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth were spotted taking a stroll in Hollywood on June 17. Not only was this their first time being photographed together since five months ago, according to US Magazine, Miley was wearing her engagement ring again! A smile was spread across Miley's face as the reported 3.5-carat ring was sitting right on her finger. Seems like things are looking good and back to normal for the couple of one year and we're convinced that Miley and Liam are working things out since their last reported "breakup".

Miley Cyrus Spotted Wearing Engagement Ring: Post Pregnancy Scare?

However, doesn't it seem a little suspicious, with Miley's recent pregnancy rumors, talk of medical issues and doctor visits still floating around, that she decides to put the ring back on now? Did Miley's last doctor visit, perhaps, involve less of a throat swab and more of a pregnancy test? We don't know for sure, but we wonder if the young couple's recent "kiss and makeup" ordeal involves Miley being a mommy-to-be...

Carly Rae Jepsen : I believe in Justin Bieber

Carly Rae Jepsen believes Justin Bieber is doing the best he can.

The 27-year-old popstar rose to fame on TV singing competition Canadian Idol and increased her popularity after touring with teen heartthrob Justin.

Carly claims the various controversies surrounding the 19-year-old have mostly passed under her radar.

Carly Rae Jepsen : I believe in Justin Bieber

"I actually am so out of the loop on any of that, to be honest," she admitted to Billboard magazine. "People are constantly, like, 'Is Justin OK?' I've not really noticed any of that. I feel like Justin's a guy who's working hard every day, and I think the media can sometimes be a little brutal with stuff and over-exaggerate things. But I stand by him. I support him. I think he's a good guy, and he's doing the best he can."

Carly has spent the majority of the past year opening for Justin on his Believe Tour.

She has also been working on a follow-up album to her 2012 release Kiss.

The star is keen to keep the details of her new record under wraps, but hinted that folk music will be a prominent feature.

"[It's] a pop album, but... an album that is my own version of pop. I can kind of explain it in some ways, and in other ways I'd rather not and let myself go in and create it," she explained. "My favourite pop artists at the moment are Robyn… Kimbra, La Roux and Dragonette. And I think I have a folky side in my blood from what I used to listen to with my parents, and it'll be fun to incorporate of that more in the verses of the pop songs, a little something deeper to the verses. That's what I love about the pop stars I just named, is they don't do just your regular kind of pop songs. There's some stuff to hold onto and dig into. That's what I want to do."

Carly hasn't set a date for when the new album will be released. She is happy just creating ideas for the record for the time being.

"I think Kiss was a bit of a rush," she admitted. "So I think I'll be kind of taking my time to make sure what I'm putting out there next feels like the strongest thing I can make."

Thursday 20 June 2013

Madhuri insists on her DOP friend for ad film

Time was when Madhuri Dixit was confident about her million-dollar smile and her ability to charm, no matter what the circumstances were. Now, it seems to be different.

Reliable sources tell us that when the actress, who was shooting a commercial recently, made it clear to the brand custodians that she would bring cinematographer Baba Azmi, her director of photography friend (with whom she has worked in Raja, Pukar) to light up her portions and not the designated cameraman for the commercial Piyush Shah, the man who has shot many big Bollywood films including Raj Kumar Santoshi's Chinagate.

Predictably, the brandwalas were in a predicament... they couldn't antagonise their star or upset their cinematographer. So a compromise was reached.

At La Dixit's behest, Baba was roped in for the shoot. While he set the lighting for gorgeous Madhuri, Piyush reportedly shot the commercial.

Jackie Chan's desi dance moves

He announced his love for Bollywood on his very first day in India, and this was made even more clear when Jackie Chan did some desi dance moves along with kids in the city recently.

As photographers encircled the star at an event on Wednesday, an unfazed Jackie beamed at the children performing to Vande Mataram (he mouthed Maa tujhe salaam along with them), and bobbed his head to Jai Ho while also imitating their hand gestures. Later, Chan said to the kids, "You just have to try the hardest you can, and you'll see; you will achieve your dream."

Shabana Azmi to inaugurate a hospital in Indore

Shabana Azmi will be in Indore tomorrow to inaugurate a hospital.

After her Bhopal visit on February 14, where the actress and social activist had come to address people as part of the One Billion Rising campaign, an international movement aimed at raising awareness about violence against women, this is going to be her second visit to the state this year.

Sneha Ullal Hot Stills From Action 3D Telugu Movie

Sneha Ullal Hot Photo Stills From Action 3D (2013) - Telugu Movie

Ankur Arora Murder Case (2013) - Hindi Movie Review

Cast :

Tisca Chopra as Nandita Arora
Arjun Mathur as Dr. Romesh
Kay Kay Menon as Dr. Asthana
Vishakha Singh as Dr. Riya
Ashish Jain as Owner of the Hospital
Paoli Dam as Kajori Sen Public Procecuter
Sachin Khurana
Manish Chaudhari as defense lawyer

Directed by : Suhail Tatari
Produced by : Vikram Bhatt
Written by : Vikram Bhatt
Story by : Vikram Bhatt
Distributed by : ASA Productions and Enterprises, BVG Films

To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this film except for the fact that it is based on a real life incident. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it though. Read why.

Dr. Romesh (Arjun Mathur) worked under Dr. Asthana (Kay Kay Menon) at a hospital he was interning at. He had a live-in relationship with Dr. Riya (Vishakha Singh), his co-intern and girlfriend. However, when an 8-year-old boy Ankur Arora (Vishesh Tiwari) dies because of a silly medical mistake by Dr. Asthana, Romesh stands up to fight for justice along with Ankur’s mother Nandita (Tisca Chopra).

The story is written by Vikram Bhatt, who is known to make good thrillers. Although this film is based on a real life incident, the screenplay is well written, especially for the second half. The momentum slowly builds up making it more interesting to watch. Director Suhail Tatari has executed the story well with characters that are well written. There are a few filmy things in the film that might be a put off but the message is the main thing and that is conveyed appropriately. The camera work is good and there are some beautifully shot scenes in the house of Romesh and Riya. Luckily there’s just one prominent song in the film which is melodious and goes well with the theme. The background score enhances the flow of the film.

We have all seen Tisca Chopra as a mother before in Taare Zameen Par and we know how perfectly she fits into the skin of her character. Her acting in this film is also excellent! She’s not melodramatic or over-the-top. Just right. Arjun Mathur as Dr. Romesh is a bit dull in the start but gets better through the course of the film and does his role well. Kay Kay Menon as we know is a great actor and he proves that in this film too with his egoistic, grey character that you will love to hate. Vishesh Tiwari as Ankur is ok. I would have liked to feel more for him or when he died but sadly didn’t. I can’t blame him though because he’s still a child and not every child can act well. Vishakha Singh as Dr. Riya and Romesh’s girlfriend is alright. She’s not too good with doing emotional scenes. Her chemistry with Arjun Mathur didn’t show at all in spite of there being a couple of intimate scenes. Pauli Dam I have seen in a sleazy film again by the Bhatt camp and she was not bad then. She’s a decent actor and as a lawyer in this film too she’s convincing. She reminds me a lot of Mugdha Godse but acts better!

Ankur Arora Murder Case might not have got the right amount of publicity or promotion but as a film it is worth watching. I wouldn’t call it ‘entertaining’ but it is engaging and made with good intentions.

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Arjun Rampal dons the rustic look

Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal, who plays Rudra Pratap Singh, an ex officer of the Indian Armed Forces MARCOS unit and RAW agent in Nikhil Advani's 'D-Day', is working at keeping his character appear as realistic as possible.

In the film, produced by DAR Motion Pictures and Emmay Entertainment Pvt. Ltd that also stars Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Shruti Haasan, Huma Qureshi, Akash Dahiya, Sree Swara and Chandan Roy Sanyal amongst others, Arjun dons a blue lungi and a white vest, with a white knitted skull cap. Arjun looked the Pakistani man, a far cry from his previous glamorous avatars in stylish suits, jackets, jeans and even crisp kurtas. Sources say that Arjun was heavily involved in every stage of styling and even changed his look in the middle of the shoot to match the transition his character goes through.

Speaking of Arjun's enthusiasm on working on his looks Nikhil said, "Arjun plays an undercover spy and he wanted his character to look as authentic as possible. In fact, the lungi too was an addition made by him. Arjun has exceeded our expectations."

D-Day, produced and directed by Nikhil Advani, releases on July 19.