Lara Dutta Into Blogging

Actress Lara Dutta is following in the footsteps of megastar Amitabh Bachchan by launching her own voice blog.

"Hey! I just started Voice Blogging, you can dial *5148* from your Airtel number to listen to me. Catch you all there," Lara posted on her microblogging site Twitter.

Meanwhile, the actress is set to co-host this year's International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Colombo June 3-5.

"I am not performing this year but will be hosting the show along with Boman Irani and Riteish Deshkmukh," Lara, who was present in the capital for the launch of an international clothing brand Zara, told reporters here Friday.

Lara has also been roped in to star in Farhan Akhtar's Don 2 alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Arjun Rampal.

Kareena Cooperative in milenge milenge Promos

The makers of Milenge Milenge have denied reports that actress Kareena Kapoor is playing truant with producer Boney Kapoor in doling out shooting dates for the promotional video and publicity shoot of the film.

Milenge Milenge, which is believed to be a remake of "Serendipity", is being produced by Boney Kapoor and directed by Satish Kaushik, under the banner of SK Films.

SK Films insists that the stories floating around the film are baseless and untrue.

"Though the film has been in the making for some time now, the delay has been due to certain unforeseen factors and not because of any hesitation or reluctance from the actors to complete the film," said an official statement here Friday.

"Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor inspite of their busy schedules have completed the entire dubbing of the film in time for the release and have given appropriate time for the promotional campaign," it added.

"Shahid has completed his portion for the promotional music video and Kareena will be doing hers shortly as she was busy shooting in Goa."

Milenge Milenge is in making since 2004 and is now slated to release on July 9. The first teasers of the film have already hit the television screens.

Anjaana Anjaaani Inspired from Pc

Director Siddharth Anand says his new film Anjaana Anjaani, which stars Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, is inspired by the hit American sitcom Friends.

"I remember when I watched Friends I wanted to meet and know every character. That's how I want audiences to feel about Ranbir and Priyanka in Anjaana Anjaani. When Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge came out, you wanted to feel and touch Raj and Simran. That's how I want audiences to feel about Ranbir and Priyanka...everyone in the team has given his or her best to this film," Anand said.

Anjaana Anjaani has been scripted by author Advaita Kala.

"She wrote a chick-lit novel called Almost Single. I asked her to develop a story by my wife Mamta. Ranbir and Priyanka had no reference points in any film for their performance...These are characters going through extraordinary, not easily relatable circumstances. It's about few days that two strangers spend together."

Siddharth shot in Central Park's skating rink. "We shot in iconic New York. We had the skating rink shut down for our shoot for three days. Then we shot with Ranbir and Priyanka in New York's Caf Lalo where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks met in When Harry Met Sally."

And they also needed to shoot on a bridge and they finally headed to Kuala Lampur to do that.

"We needed to take over a bridge completely for three-four days. Because of 26/11, we couldn't get the necessary permission. We finally got the bridge in Kuala Lumpur. They made it as easy for us as shooting in Goregaon. Thanks to our producer Sajid Nadiadwala, we could shoot anywhere I wanted," said Anand, who has made films like Salaam Namaste and Bachna Ae Haseeno.

The whole film was shot in live sound and is set to release on Oct 1.

Contrary to expectations, Ranbir's singing debut won't be part of the film's CD.

"Ranbir has sung a one-and-half minute track. But it is part of a comic scene. So he will only be singing in the film. We needed Ranbir's character, not Ranbir, to sing. So those who want to watch him sing will have to wait for the film," Anand said.

"I did my first film Salaam Namaste in 2005. If I'm doing another romantic film it better be even cooler and more contemporary. Anjaana Anjaani is the riskiest film ever. I've experimented with the style and performances.

"If audiences believe in the couple, they'll come back repeatedly to watch them. If they don't they'll reject them completely. It's so character-driven. If their performances don't work, the film doesn't," he added.

Bollywood Beauties Start dominating in Stunts too

Cuts and bruises are no bar. From Priyanka Chopra to Deepika Padukone to Aishwarya Rai, Bollywood actresses are willingly treading on treacherous terrain as they get into action mode like their male co-stars.

"Just because I'm a girl it shouldn't be presumed that I can't enter the boys' territory. I'd do the stunts better than the boys," Priyanka told IANS.

The actress, who was seen as Abhishek Bachchan's bodyguard in Drona, learnt the Sikh martial art form called gatka for the film. She also underwent rigorous training and learnt kung fu for her character in Farhan Akhtar's Don

"I quite enjoyed the cuts and bruises," said Priyanka who has replaced action star Akshay Kumar as the host of TV show Khatron Ke Khiladi.

She will be performing some of the most daring stunts as the host of the show. Currently she is shooting for it in the jungles of Coorg, Karnataka, and a special gym has been set up for her there.

Aishwarya, who turned into a stunt woman for the 2006 hit movie Dhoom 2ll once again be seen stretching the risk factor in Mani Ratnam's forthcoming release Raavan as well as Shankar's Endhiran.

"Aishwarya suffered all the wounds, pain, fever and insect bites heroically in the forests. For all the dangerous scenes, she hardly ever used a duplicate. She was totally up to the task," said her Raavan co-star Vikram.

Deepika is not far behind. She gave a glimpse of her daring side in Chandni Chowk To China where she played a Chinese girl and jumped over walls and did somersaults as a martial art expert.

In Pradeep Sarkar's Lafange Parindey, she will be seen taking a dip in a deep mud pit even though her co-star Neil Nitin Mukesh was reported to have asked for a body double to do the same scene.

"Yes, I did jump into the hole to make it look like an accidental fall. That's what was required to make the fall look convincing," Deepika told a website.

Katrina Kaif too is getting into action mode for Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. She is learning dirt biking for her role.

And last but not the least, Kareena Kapoor, who scorched the headlines for her size zero, will be in a full-on action role in Agent Vinod opposite beau Saif Ali Khan.

Commenting on her role, Saif said: "She does play an undercover agent from another country. Kareena will do everything I do in the film, and she'll do it even better. She will kick butt better than all the other girls in our industry; that's for sure."

Last year Lara Dutta turned into action heroine for the thriller Blue and performed stunts 70 feet under water with sharks.

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti gave a glimpse of her courage in her very first film, Luck, opposite Imran Khan. She was seen doing everything - from flying down a parachute, to escaping killer sharks underwater to being tied to a speeding engine.

Stunts no longer remain a male dominated territory.

Katrina Too Hot For Censor Board

Raajneeti has finally got a UA certificate but not without some vital scenes, including Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif's "aesthetically shot love making scene" that director Prakash Jha says was "absolutely essential", being edited out.

"It was a very aesthetically shot love making scene. Arjun and Katrina are two very beautiful people. And they made love to the camera. The Tribunal (Film Certification Appellate Tribunal) felt it was a bit too explicit for a 'UA' audience. I didn't argue," Jha told IANS.

Jha's weeklong battle with the censor board ended Wednesday with the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi viewing Raajneeti and granting it a 'UA' certificate.

The director had challenged the censor board's decision earlier last week to grant Raajneeti an 'A' certificate with cuts. Jha sees the reduction of the Katrina-Ranbir love making scene as a blow.

"The love scene was absolutely essential. Unlike other directors I had not shot extra footage so that the censors could take away whatever portion they liked. I had shot the love making scene exactly the way it was meant to be. I've had to reduce it by half.

"It's a disappointment to all of us. I've also had to beep out the F word uttered by Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in two different places in the plot. Ex-justice Usha Mehra, who headed the Tribunal, requested me to do away with the F word. But it didn't make a difference," he said.

Ajay Devgn, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai too will be seen in Raajneeti. Releasing June 4, the political thriller will be the behind-the-scenes look at politics, strategies behind election campaigns, scandals and much more.

Apparently, the censor board had earlier objected to two sequences - one showing the rigging of elections by fitting ballot boxes with specially designed gadgets and the other showing a female politician offering sex in exchange for an election ticket.

"An 'A' certificate brings on a specific mindset on the audience. They think the film has sleazy content. So I preferred to let the film be referred to the Tribunal," said Jha.

Also Arjun's volatile character in Raajneeti shouts lurid and graphic expletives in Hindi at a police officer. These remain intact while the 'f' word is gone.

Several recent Hindi films like Omkara and Ishqiya were plastered with expletives but got away at the censors with an A certificate.

Ranbir Kapoor on location Hunt

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and director Imtiaz Ali were spotted club hopping in Delhi Wednesday and sources claim it was part of location hunting for their next film Rockstar.

"Imtiaz and Ranbir went to F Bar, LAP (actor Arjun Rampal owned club) and then checked out Agni (bar) and Aqua (lounge bar) at The Park hotel," a well-placed source said.

"They are probably planning to zero in on a club like place for the shooting of their next," the source added.

While spokesperson of F Bar and The Park didn't comment on the visit, an employee from LAP confirmed the same.

Imtiaz was sporting a jeans and shirt while Ranbir was wearing a jeans, T-shirt and a baseball cap.

Co-produced by Eros International Media Ltd and Shri Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, the movie's story is said to be inspired by the lives of rockstars.

Sharuk Khan Misses Juhi Chawla

Bollywood superstar misses working with Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza with whom he teamed up in the initial days of his career.

Shah Rukh gave hits like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman (1992), Yes Boss (1997) and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000) with Juhi and Mirza.

"Last night (I) was thinking wot (what) beautiful times I had making 'Yes Boss'...'Raju Ban Gaya (Gentleman)'...'Phir Bhi Dil Hai(Hindustani)'... missing Aziz (Mirza) and Juhi (Chawla)," Shah Rukh wrote on his twitter page.

The 44-year-old was last seen with Juhi in Amitabh Bachchan starer Bhootnath, a comedy directed by Vivek Sharma.

Shah Rukh also started a production house called Dreamz Unlimited with Juhi and Mirza as partners and produced films like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Chalte Chalte under the banner.

Shah Rukh is the most popular Bollywood celebrity on Twitter with more than 400,000 followers.

Sneha To Play Mom's Role

Sneha will play Ananya’s mom in the Malayalam film Sihar. Though Sneha has starred in several Malayalam films in the past, this is the first time she will be paired opposite Mohanlal. The shooting of this film will begin next month.

Sneha is one of the bankable stars in the south Indian film circuit and accepting mom’s role for another heroine so early in her career, has the Tamil film industry surprised. It is worth mentioning here that there were reports that Sneha refused the Sarath Kumar-starrer Jaggubhai offer because she was required to play Shriya’s mom.

Sushmitha Sen wants to become biological mother

Sushmitha Sen, the former Miss Universe, has two adopted babies already. And the lady seems to want more! This time around she wants to become a biological mother.

Sushmitha has been reportedly linked romantically with several stars and businessmen in the past, but the wedding band eluded her. Sush has also said in an interview that she did not meet a person who could capture her attention so far.

Sushmitha, known for her boldness, has now said that she is set on becoming a biological mother. However, the actress did not disclose anything about her marriage.

Kites Movie Review

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Kangna Ranaut, Barbara Mori, Kabir Bedi, Nick Brown.


Kites from the day it was announced, has been an event movie, with the lapse in release increasing the expectation to monstrous proportions. But with great powers come great responsibility, and the trio Hrithik Roshan – Rakesh Roshan – Anurag Basu seemed aware of it. Amidst the heat and the terrible traffic, I finally reached the already packed capacity theatre in Mumbai, expecting magic from this romantic action flick.

The trio wanted to make a stylish romantic drama with some heart pumping chase sequences with a suspense ridden finale. What they have achieved is all that, but with no heart. One could realize their intention to touch the chord which movies like 'Qayamat se Qayamat Tak' and 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' so easily achieved. But it’s not a check list of factors, but a perfect script which makes the experience an unforgettable one. Unfortunately Kites fumbles in that regard.

The movie starts off with a wounded Jai(Hrithik Roshan), in Mexico who is in-search of his true love who had gone missing. Jai's story then shifts to a flash back mode to know who he is and why is he in Mexico in such a horrible state? As the entire movie rests on a wafer thin story, let’s get straight to the analysis.

Anurag Basu has helmed the mic pretty convincingly and the movie looks rich. The intimate scenes, the action sequences, and the finale looked too stunning to be true. Especially the pre climax rain sequence reminded me of 'Sin City'; brilliance would be an understatement (a little bit of 'Road to Perdition' as well, but that’s just me!). The first half moves in a sluggish pace only to be redeemed in the second half with three car chase sequence, three shoot outs and a few intimate scenes before the finale.

Hrithik Roshan is too good an actor to make mistakes and he is flawless as usual. He dances, looks and emotes like a star. Barbara Mori looks hot and has also come out with a touching performance. The scene in which she slaps Hrithik and the subsequent dialogues rendered are powerful and her eyes speaks volumes. Kangana Ranaut is just a show piece, she looks a million bucks and after a sensational dance sequence, she is hardly covered in a close up. She is there just to add to the glamour and star power. Nick Brown, over does his role but still is convincing enough as a baddie. Kabir Bedi is efficient.

The movie belongs to the technical crew who elevates the movie to new levels. Cinematography by Ayananka Bose is superlative. The pre climax sequence is enough to register his name in all the major cinematography awards category ofa the year. Editing is good, but the first half needs more mending as it tends to drag a bit. Rajesh Roshan has done a decent job with 'Dil mera' being the pick of the lot and others being hummable as well. Action sequences are a little over done. Yes, we love car chases, but car slamming onto one another with a big blast? Few action sequences do escape your logical senses.

Our heart didn't go out for the couple, the movie tried really hard, but somehow the connection was never made. And what was expected to be a thrill ride, just ended up being a normal ride with few good stopovers in the middle. Watch it for technicality and the chemistry between Hrithik and Barbara.

Verdict: An exquisite looking string-cut Kite!

Simran To Do Serial

Simran is gearing up to tread the path that many of her counterparts have set already. Yes, she is working on buying prime time slots in a popular television channel and talks are on. Simran’s first venture will be a television serial.

The lady has decided to rope in another actress to don the all-important role. And this time around, Kasturi seems have proved lucky. She has been signed up to play the protagonist. Simran’s decision to choose Kasturi is based on the recommendations of her friends and colleagues, sources say.

Kushboo Appreciates Tamannah

Remember just a few days ago Kushboo made an appeal to all filmmakers in Kollywood to offer chances to heroines speaking Tamil and not to import them from Mumbai?
She has now appreciated Tamannah for picking up the language fast. Kushboo said that she is really awed by the fact that Tamannah, though a Sindhi and brought up in Mumbai, could speak Tamil so well within such a short time.

It may be noted that Tamannah entered the film industry with Kedi in 2006 and is able to converse in Tamil within a span of four years.

Kamal's World Tour

Having found a place to kick start the shoots of the as-yet-titled Kamal-KSR-Udhayanidhi project, the crew including Kamal and director KSR are flying to Spain and Germany for hunting locations. The movie, as such, will go on floors in the first week of June in China. Apart from Kamal, the movie has Trisha, Madhavan and Vaishali in the cast.

Groundwork for the movie is already over and the script is reportedly ready as well. It’s also learnt that photo shoots were recently held in Chennai with the lead cast of the movie.

Rajeev Menon's Workshop

The Mindscreen Film Institute, which is run by director Rajiv Menon, is conducting a Summer Film Acting Workshop from May 24th to June 2nd 2010. Thirty students will be admitted to this workshop where they get to learn the nuances of acting. Since the medium of instruction for this workshop is English, the eligibility criteria clearly states that only people who can understand the language can enroll. There are no age criteria, No gender criteria, and Students, Working professionals and Amateur artistes are eligible.

The fee for the course is Rs. 20000. Those interested can contact the Workshop Coordinator Ranjeeth Kumar S. at 9841612595 for more details.

Bollywood Ignores South Indian Actors

Siddharth, who had debuted in the Tamil film Boys, has gone a long way as far as his career is concerned. The actor has made his mark in Bollywood with the recently released Striker, which has been declared a smash hit.

Speaking about the Bollywood industry in an interview, Siddharth rued about the media’s ignorance of regional films. He pointed out that the media is always looking to highlight the B-Town while subduing others.

He furthered that the south Indian actors are looked down in Bollywood and are not given due respect.

Raavan is not just Ramayan

A special event on the Mani Ratnam-directed Raavanan was held in Chennai recently. Priyamani, Vikram, Karthik, Prabhu, Vairamuthu, AR Rahman and others participated in the event. In an effort to introduce the film, actor Karthik and Priyamani held an interview session.

To a question on whether the film is an inspiration of Ramayana, Vikram said that it has traces of Ramayana, Mahabharata and Silappadhigaram. When asked if he is the Raavanan, Vikram replied that it is his pet name in the film.

Vairamuthu read out the lyrics that he had penned for the movie and AR Rahman sang it on stage much to the delight of the audience.

Anuradha Ramanan Dead

Popular writer Anuradha Ramanan succumbed to a massive heart stroke on May 16th, 2010 Sunday. She underwent a heart surgery a decade ago and was on regular check ups. She was recently diagnosed of kidney failure and was treated with blood dialysis on regular intervals. However, Anuradha’s end came due to a heart stroke.

The author has penned several novels and short stories and several of them have been made into feature films and television serials.

The cremation is expected to take place today.

Singamuthu Arrested

The tiff between Vadivelu and Singamuthu intensified with the police arresting the latter on allegations that he threatened to kill the former. A police complaint in this regard was filed by the manager of Vadivelu, following which Singamuthu was arrested and sent to Puzhal prison.

The trouble started between the two actors, who were once close pals, due to a land deal. It may be recalled that Vadivelu alleged that Singamuthu cheated him to a tune of several crores by fixing land deals. Singamuthu was arrested and remanded to 13 days judicial custody.

All Kushboo Programs in Jaya Tv Scrapped

The popular television game show, Jackpot, which was being televised in Jaya TV, has been scrapped. The decision comes in the wake of Khushboo joining the DMK, the archrival of Jayalalitha, who owns Jaya TV.

Reacting to this, the actress said that she had expected the program to be scrapped. Khushboo said that she was merely conducting the show as an actress and it is the channel’s decision to scrape it.

There are reports that Jaya TV has stalled all the programs in which Khushboo had been a part, which means none of her serials will be televised anymore on that channel.

Badshaah Company Review

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Meiyang Chang, Vir Das, Anupam Kher.
Direction: Parmeet Sethi
Music: Pritam Chakraborty
Production: Yash Raj Films
Yash Raj, after a series of flops, a Rab Ne., a New York and the supremely lovable - yet a box office disaster ‘Rocket Singh’, has once again invested quite heavily on actor Parmeet Sethi’s first directorial - Badmaash company. Coming-of-age movies are quite the trend in Hindi cinema, and who best to portray the brilliant young kid with a vision than the person who has specialized in such movies - Shahid Kapoor.

The movie is about Karan (Shahid) and his friends, who ride on an idea to do the wrong, and start enjoying its dividends only later to realize - that dishonesty pays but doesn't guarantee eternal happiness and joyous life. When Karan finally understands it, he is all alone in the jail. Can Karan bounce back and get his life back on track? Well what’s the fun in reading the visual content?

Badmaash Company is a mixed bag, it starts off promisingly only to fall in the cliché trap with predictable proceedings but leads to a decent finale. The pace does shift regularly but somehow at the end of it all you do come out satisfied. Parmeet Sethi does impress with his directorial debut and shows immense promise, no wonder Yash Raj has signed him for two more movies. In the scene when Karan moves out of his house or the intimate scenes of the lead pair - the director had shown immense maturity and understanding of the medium. At the same time, the movie does suffer from being too predictable. And the climax sequences looks unrealistic.

Shahid Kapoor is not at his sizzling best but still is likable, the best thing about him is his confidence level and he is never short of that. Anushka sheds her inhibitions to flaunt her assets and sizzles on screen with her well-toned body and her scintillating performance. There are a few sequences when she does overact but can be pardoned as she makes up for it. Vir Das, the stand-up comedian is brilliant as Chandu. He sure is going places. Meiyang Chang is decent as Zing. Anupam Kher is dependable as always and so is Kiran Juneja.

Cinematography by Sanjay Packium is good, so is the editor Ritesh Soni but the movie does not boast of a good musical score and though one or two songs are good, it somehow doesn't suit the movie. Overall - the movie has a good technical crew who could have done a better job.

Badmaash Company could have achieved greatness but does have to be content with a good film tag. A tag that can carry the film forward at least until the ‘Kites’ fly in.

Verdict: A coming of age feel good entertainer.

Kutty Pisasu Film Review

Starring: Baby Keerthika, Ramji, Sangeetha, Ramya Krishnan, Ganja Karuppu.
Direction: Rama Narayanan
Music: Deva
Production: Rama Narayanan
The summer treat for kids is here. It is not quite often that film makers are inclined to consider children as their target audience. So, the basic premise of having a movie that caters mostly to children, and perhaps to the child in every adult, in itself is different and ought to be welcomed. But, putting that aside and looking at the movie objectively, this is what we have to say about Kutty Pissasu.

Kutty Pissasu is an interesting mix of the ‘desi’ elements that have pervaded our cinema for many decades and new age technology, an amalgamation of superstition and science (not very scientific). The basic plot of the movie is the old reliable good vs. evil tussle. The superstitious aspect of the movie consists of a human sacrifice, a temperamental but benevolent goddess, a centuries old boon, reincarnation and revenge. The new age angle is brought about a ‘Transformers’
 

style car which becomes a life-size robot every now and then to bash up the baddies and even dance to a few tunes.

Ramki and Sangeetha play the happy middle-class couple with a daughter who has just about started going to school. Everything is fine in their lives until it starts appearing that their daughter has become a different person altogether. How could that be? Well, there is only one way possible – when a wandering spirit decides to enter into a body to achieve its end.

What does the spirit have to do so desperately? We are told about how an innocent lady was put to death by a gang of men blinded by superstition in order to obtain a few magical secrets. Now, she wants to wreak revenge through this toddler. But, it is not going to be all that easy against scheming baddies. So, in comes the car (‘Transformer’) to help the small girl. And, as it turns out, even the car is a reincarnation; that of the killed lady’s brother, who too was a victim of the gang’s atrocities. There is also a centuries old boon from a goddess which protects the kid and her companion in her quest for vengeance.

Quite obviously, the film contains a lot of make believe and many points that require suspension of disbelief. But, isn’t that the kind of thing that we expect while watching a film that is directed towards children. It is not laden heavily with emotions and twists, just a simple good vs. evil fable and it does not take much to guess which side wins in the end. But, the bottom line is whether the kids will be able to enjoy what is on offer?

The first thing that one feels after seeing the movie is that it could have been a bit lighter and breezier for the benefit of children. The human sacrifice, the spirit, reincarnation and the goddess episode add a bit of tension to the proceedings. But, in spite of them, there is a positive feel and energy to the film. Krithika, the girl who plays the ‘Kutty Pissasu’ has done a commendable job. Her performance in terms of acting doesn’t evoke great appreciation, but she does score heavily with her dance moves in the songs, especially Dolo Dolo.

Among others in the cast, Ganja Karuppu gets a character role unlike the ones he has done in his career. With very little scope for comedy, he proves that he has the ability to pull off non-comic roles without looking too bad. Kadhal Dhandapani gets an interesting role as a sorcerer to which he has done justice while Ramya Krishnan and Nasser are polished in their brief appearances. The rest of the cast, including Riyaz Khan as the lead villain, do their jobs to satisfaction.

Technically, Kutty Pissasu has some fine special effects work to talk of. The fact that all the graphics were done without any help being sought from Hollywood or other industries augurs well for Tamil cinema. This is proof that there is local talent that can do a fairly good job. The dance moves of the ‘Transformer’ robot and its fight moves have been really well crafted. But, there is the feeling that the camera work could have been a shade better to match up to the graphics. Songs and BGM by Deva suit the mood and feel of the film.

A veteran like Rama Narayanan must be thanked for taking the effort to revive an almost forgotten genre. The intentions are very plain and clear, to capture the imagination of the children. Though there seems to be a bit of old school thought (like human sacrifice and reincarnation) which might not be readily identified by today’s young children, there are enough cars and colors to keep them happy and engaged.

Verdict: Jolly summer outing for kids!

Housefull Review

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan.
Direction: Sajid Khan
Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani , Loy Mendonca
Production: Eros Entertainment
A biggie, which has done just about everything in the marketing front to make it the first choice in the theaters for any film lover this weekend. But was it worth it? The very first thought that comes to mind is the amount of money put in for the movie, or any other Akshay Kumar movie for that matter, in the past five-odd years. If you add 'Kambakth Ishq', 'Blue', 'CCTC' or so, you might end up with a figure which is not just mind numbing but as a good citizen you might also talk about money and/or resource wastage, forgetting the fact that as a good fan you have also seen all the previous movies in the first weekend. And all his movies never stopped outdoing the previous in the first weekend grosses but almost, most of the times, never see a profit. And 'Houseful' falls under the same cadre. A movie which will surely boast of an earth-shattering opening but can it sustain? Well let’s not predict the impossible and let’s get on to analyzing the obvious - 'Houseful' is below average.

Well, the movie is about a unlucky loser Aarush (Akshay Kumar) for whom nothing seems to go right. He hates his job, he loses his girl, and he goes to London to meet his childhood friend Bob (Ritesh), where some more misadventures follow only to get married to the wrong woman. But in the process, meets Miss. Right, Sandy (Deepika Padukone). Surprise! Sandy is the sister of Aarush's first girl friend Pooja (Malaika Arora) and also happens to be the sister of a strict secret agent Major Krishna Rao (Arjun Rampal). What happens next? If you have seen the Tamil hit, Kamal Hassan–Prabhu Deva starrer 'Kadhala Kadhala' and the Hollywood Blockbuster 'Meet the Parents' you wont have any problems answering that one, except for the utterly over-the-top and melodramatic Climax in the Buckingham Palace.

Houseful is a gag-fest, it doesn't rely on situational humor but more on physical and slapstick humor which might have few takers, but universal appeal is out of question. There are few really funny moments but we thought it was a two and half hours laugh-a-thon, right? Sajid Khan relies extremely on over-the-top physical humor but you need people who could carry that out to get the desired results, Ritesh was exceptional and carried out all the stupidity with extreme sincerity but the rest are a tad below mark, Boman Irani was good but somehow the movie would have got more elevation if the role was carried out by Paresh Rawal. Akshay Kumar was fine as usual but nothing spectacular to write about, Lara again overdoes her role but is still lovable, Deepika hams but looks gorgeous, Jiah Khan is wasted and she looks uninterested. It was good to see Randhir Kapoor after a long time and he does a good job. Arjun Rampal looks good and does a good job portraying the strict police officer. Chunky Pandey overacts as usual. Lilette Dubey is wasted but yet she does a brilliant job in the few scenes where she does make an appearance.

Technically, the movie was good, with the cinematography by Vikas Shivraman, being good but not great, though the much-talked about bikini's of the threesome was indeed taken brilliantly (for the front benchers and the people who are not ready to accept publicly their front bench mindset). Music was decent but we indeed expected greatness from Shankar-Ehsaan and Loy, so we are left a little disappointed. Editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat was fine though there were many continuation problems.

Overall, a movie which again had the potential but too much melodrama just spoils the soup. The second half does makes you sit up only to get dumped due to the utterly nonsensical climax.

Verdict: Error of comedy

Irumbukottai Murattu Singam

Simbudevan known for his fantasy movies with comical undertones has come up with yet another one with “Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam” (IKMS) .Here he has tried to pay his tribute to the cowboy genre of movies of the yore. The setting in itself is an interesting one – quiet fascinating for the kids while a trip down memory lane for the older viewers.

Movie has typical Simbudevan stamp of political satire & political references sprinkled all over which are enjoyable but he ought to have worked hard as afar as the scripting goes which is very loose & lackluster to be honest. Scenes tend to get repetitive & frankly tiring to say the least with people jumping onto horses every now & then ,songs springing out of nowhere adding to the misery of the viewers.

Another downer is that the comedy quotient is very low in the movie & hence when enters the theatre looking forward to having a blast laughing , naturally one is bound to get disappointed with when things are on the contrary.

Dialogues are the major strong point of the movie which keeps the viewers awake . None is spared with writer Simbudevan having a field day taking dig at all & sundry ,especially the India- US nuclear deal , Western World Imperialism , state of affairs in Sri Lanka & our apathy towards it , to mention a few.

The attention to details that Simbudevan has is amazing. Infact the background & the minute detailing in the background are more enjoyable & hilarious than the main movie in itself.

The casting of the movie is also impressive with everyone from Raghava Lawrence to V.S.Raghavan playing their parts well.Special mention to M.S..Baskar who have the audience in splits whenever he is onscreen with his bizarre language. Saikumar gets to mouth almost all the hard hitting dialogues .Nasser is another actor who stands up tall among the crowd.

Na.Alagappan’s visuals pay homage to the grand old man of cow boy genre movies in Tamil ,Karnan. Also his use of color tones are interesting for he tend to use them in accordance with the original movie that is getting referred to , like for instance the camera work & color tone used have a heavy inspiration from the “Indiana Jones ” series of movies. Whether it is intended or coincidental is for the makers to clarify.

G.V.Prakashkumar’s songs are very average with none hummable while Sabesh-Murali’s BGM reminds that of the old cowboy movies.

On the whole, family & kids may enjoy IKMS for its petty humor & novel settings but for the majority of the cinegoers it is a tiresome experience .

Bottomline : IKMS- not roaring loud enough to merit attention.

2.5/5

Rahman's Daughter At Hospital

Music maestro AR Rahman's daughter Raheema had been admitted to the Asian Heart Hospital in Bandra earlier this week following cardiac problems but is "recovering fast".

"For the past three nights I have exclusively been playing the role of a loving father, with no music, nothing. I want to sincerely thank all my friends and family members for their prayers and good wishes," Rahman posted on his Twitter page. 

"God has been kind and Raheema is recovering fast. I also want to thank all my friends from the media for their support and for respecting our privacy," he added. 

The 11-year-old was operated upon by doctors on Wednesday night. Rahman has two more children - daughter Khatija, 14 and five-year-old son, Ameen.

TUM MILO TOH SAHI MOVIE REVIEW

Starring: Nana Patekar, Dimple Kapadia, Rehan Khan, Sunil Shetty, Vidya Malvade.
Direction: Kabir Sadanand.
Music: Sandesh Shandilya
Production: Fourth Wall Productions.

Tum Milo Toh Sahi- a Kabir Sadanand directorial looked very interesting. The innovative and good looking creatives added to its curiosity and to top it all Nana Patekar and Dimple Kapadia in the lead role. But some movies cannot be saved by actors alone.

Three parallel stories, converging in a coffee place might sound somewhat similar to the 2 week old Love Sex aur Dhoka but this is no masterpiece. Three parallel stories of love get entangled in the survival of an old coffee shop. Of the six main characters, one betrays trust of friends and family to get rich, one loses all hope and the rest of the four tries to fight for the shop. But buried secrets have to be dug out to save the 75 year old shop. Can the coffee house survive?

Kabir Sadanand does show improvement from his previous attempt wielding the gramophone but yet the movie is far from what it could have been. The first half is slow and the second half is even slower. Nana Patekar's and Dimple's story is easily the lifeline of the movie and the other two stories are boring and uninteresting especially the young love story. Scenes where Dimple is given an offer by Sunil is real powerful and Dimple's histrionics in the scene is praiseworthy. Songs crops up without reasoning and the item song by Tanisha is not needed. The climax is a big let down as it lets out the twist so easily.

The movie boasts of an utterly simple cinematography, a medium musical score and a below average editing. The movie has an atrociously silly background score which worsen the movie going experience to a large extent.

Nana Patekar and Dimple Kapadia easily carry the movie on their able shoulder with some inspiring performances. But neither Nana Patekar, who acts as a Tamil Brahmin mouths Tamil fluently nor does Dimple able to naturally mouth the Goan Hindi. Vidya Malvade looks ravishing and does a pretty good job but Sunil Shetty falls flat with a mediocre performance. Rehan is natural and is instantly likable. Anjana impresses with her attitude more than her acting. Mohnish Behl overacts. Others in the cast have little to do but nothing terrific or harming to specify.

A movie which boasts of several amazing talents fails to impress because of its hackneyed screenplay. If you are a hardcore Nana Patekar or Dimple's Fan you would not be disappointed but that being so less a population the movie can be welcomed with empty theatres leading to a fast entry in the DVD counters.

Verdict: Superlative Nana and Dimple try in vain to bank a sinking ship

Sadiyaan Movie Review

Starring: Luv Sinha, Ferena Wazeir, Rekha.
Direction: Raj Kanwar
Music: Adnan Sami
Production: Inderjit Film Combines
There are people who want to change the phase of the film industry with experiments and creativeness. And there are some who still believe in the innovations and experiments of the yesteryears which have long become part of our history books as a way of story telling. Raj Kanwar is one such filmmaker who still believes old is gold, and with hits like Vivah we can be pretty sure that they do have its audiences.

Films based on the partition have had some mixed reactions among the audience and this time it is not lost friends who wants to play cricket or long lost lovers trying to reunite or husband infiltrating the borders to get his wife back, but this time Raj Kanwar has decided to take the plight of two mothers. One losing her son due to partition and the other finding this boy and bringing up as her own. So starts an emotional battle between two mothers and the son trapped in-between.

Raj Kanwar's Sadiyaan suffers from bad screenplay especially in the first half, cliched dialogues, outdated editing techniques (especially the transition). After a rather painstakingly slow first half (With half of the 20 odd people in the theatre leaving the movie half way through) the second half moves a little faster but the climax gets predictable. But the movie stands firm in the acting department especially the veteran actors, Rishi Kapoor, Rekha and Hema Malini. The scenes where Hema and Rekha share the screen is completely charged up.

Technically the movie is below average. The cinematography is tried and tested, editing lacked vision and the (transition laugh-worthy), the art direction gets browny points for the first few minutes the rest of the work in the movie isn't bad either but not great. Music is below average with no songs able to capture your hearts (audio/video) but the bg is decent enough to lure the audience.

In the acting Department the lesser said about Luv Sinha the better, he looks too thin, he needs to work-out, he can’t act, he needs to go to an acting class and he lacks the presence of his star father Shatrughan Sinha and needs to get some tips from him. Ferena reminds one of Negar Khan in a few instances, she is confident but lacks screen presence but she does have a bright future ahead of her. But the movie belongs to the veterans Rekha, Rishi and Hema who are just too good. Rishi continues his amazing form and Rekha after a long time gets a role where she can showcase her histrionics and she does that and more with flourish. Hema also after a hiatus on-screen is a treat to watch. Javed Sheikh is as usual dependable.

Overall a movie which is just 30 years too late. The multiplex will rub this off their vision but the rural areas might spring a surprise.

Houseful Movie Review

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Lara Dutta, Jiah Khan.
Direction: Sajid Khan
Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani , Loy Mendonca
Production: Eros Entertainment

A biggie, which has done just about everything in the marketing front to make it the first choice in the theaters for any film lover this weekend. But was it worth it? The very first thought that comes to mind is the amount of money put in for the movie, or any other Akshay Kumar movie for that matter, in the past five-odd years. If you add 'Kambakth Ishq', 'Blue', 'CCTC' or so, you might end up with a figure which is not just mind numbing but as a good citizen you might also talk about money and/or resource wastage, forgetting the fact that as a good fan you have also seen all the previous movies in the first weekend. And all his movies never stopped outdoing the previous in the first weekend grosses but almost, most of the times, never see a profit. And 'Houseful' falls under the same cadre. A movie which will surely boast of an earth-shattering opening but can it sustain? Well let’s not predict the impossible and let’s get on to analyzing the obvious - 'Houseful' is below average.



Well, the movie is about a unlucky loser Aarush (Akshay Kumar) for whom nothing seems to go right. He hates his job, he loses his girl, and he goes to London to meet his childhood friend Bob (Ritesh), where some more misadventures follow only to get married to the wrong woman. But in the process, meets Miss. Right, Sandy (Deepika Padukone). Surprise! Sandy is the sister of Aarush's first girl friend Pooja (Malaika Arora) and also happens to be the sister of a strict secret agent Major Krishna Rao (Arjun Rampal). What happens next? If you have seen the Tamil hit, Kamal Hassan–Prabhu Deva starrer 'Kadhala Kadhala' and the Hollywood Blockbuster 'Meet the Parents' you wont have any problems answering that one, except for the utterly over-the-top and melodramatic Climax in the Buckingham Palace.

Houseful is a gag-fest, it doesn't rely on situational humor but more on physical and slapstick humor which might have few takers, but universal appeal is out of question. There are few really funny moments but we thought it was a two and half hours laugh-a-thon, right? Sajid Khan relies extremely on over-the-top physical humor but you need people who could carry that out to get the desired results, Ritesh was exceptional and carried out all the stupidity with extreme sincerity but the rest are a tad below mark, Boman Irani was good but somehow the movie would have got more elevation if the role was carried out by Paresh Rawal. Akshay Kumar was fine as usual but nothing spectacular to write about, Lara again overdoes her role but is still lovable, Deepika hams but looks gorgeous, Jiah Khan is wasted and she looks uninterested. It was good to see Randhir Kapoor after a long time and he does a good job. Arjun Rampal looks good and does a good job portraying the strict police officer. Chunky Pandey overacts as usual. Lilette Dubey is wasted but yet she does a brilliant job in the few scenes where she does make an appearance.

Technically, the movie was good, with the cinematography by Vikas Shivraman, being good but not great, though the much-talked about bikini's of the threesome was indeed taken brilliantly (for the front benchers and the people who are not ready to accept publicly their front bench mindset). Music was decent but we indeed expected greatness from Shankar-Ehsaan and Loy, so we are left a little disappointed. Editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat was fine though there were many continuation problems.

Overall, a movie which again had the potential but too much melodrama just spoils the soup. The second half does makes you sit up only to get dumped due to the utterly nonsensical climax.

Verdict: Error of comedy

Pooja's gift to her Mother

Pooja’s presence at the Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers in Chennai turned out to be for the Mother’s Day celebration. The actress was in this popular jewelry showroom to pick out a gift for her mom. She picked up an exquisite platinum bracelet as the Mother’s Day gift for her mother Mrs. Umashankar.

On her gift, she said, “To a daughter, a mother is not just a mother but a friend and a guide for life. The relationship evolves and grows stronger over time. On this mother’s day, with this special platinum bracelet, I want to tell my mom that she is most precious to me.”

Pooja’s mother also gifted her daughter a platinum necklace

Myskin Happy that Kamal Project is Dropped.

What happened to much-hyped Mysskin’s project with Kamal Haasan? The answer to this question emerged in a popular magazine recently. And it was Myskkin who gave the clarification.

The director, when questioned about the Kamal project, merely replied that he is happy that it has been dropped. Mysskin added that it is peaceful to work in small films rather than concentrating on big budget movies with top heroes. He, however, failed to elaborate on what transpired between the two and why the project was called off.

Yutham Sei is the name of the film that the director is currently working on.

Film About Kasab to Release on may 28th

Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, who was sent to gallows by a Mumbai court on Thursday, also faces death in 'reel' life--and is hanged.

The Mumbai terror attack forms the backdrop of the film Ashok Chakra which will be released on May 28. The promos of the film will be out this Sunday.

Rajan Verma, a newcomer, who bears a striking resemblance to the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai carnage, plays the role of 22-year-old Kasab, a Lashkar -e-Toiba (LeT) terrorist.

The film will feature Rajan in a near nude scene accepting his guilt in the terror attack in a monologue before being hanged.

"The promos will release on May 9 and the hanging of Kasab in the film mirrors the public sentiment. Months before the (Mumbai) trial ended, we had decided that Kasab will be hanged to death in the film," said Verma.

A fast track court yesterday awarded death penalty to Kasab, holding him guilty of massacre of 166 people and waging war against the nation in the Mumbai terror attacks case.

The film which was earlier titled Total Ten has been directed by S P Munishwar and produced by Hari Om Sharma under the banner of Sapna Films Production.

The Rs 2.5 crore film based on media reports of the carnage and accounts of police officials and survivors pieces together the 60-hour ordeal the city went through.

Other actors in the movie include Homi Wadia (Hemant Karkare), Ashok Kulkarni (Ashok Kamte) and Ashish Vidyarthi (Tukaram Ombale). The film also has a host of small-time actors playing Kasab's Pakistani handlers.

Apparently trying to cash in on the November 26, 2008 terror attacks filmmakers had registered titles like Operation 5-Star Mumbai, Bird's Point of View: Taj Terror, 26/11-Mumbai Under Terror, Dahshat Ka Halla and Shootout at Oberoi, but only a few projects have taken off.

Bhojpuri star Kamal Rashid Khan's upcoming sequel to Deshdrohi also centres on the "sacrifices made by ATS officers" during the terror attacks.

Sura Film Review

Sura is the first vijay movie which released without any hype/expectations. But still, inspite of huge promotion done by sun pictures, the movie lags very much. Just imagine, what would have happened if the producer himself release the movie directly without help of sun pictures??? The answer is very simple, it might be out of theaters in less than a week.

Story Analysis:

In the recent years, none of the vijay movies will have a story, the same holds true in the case of sura too. Sura(vijay) a fisherman who lives with 100's of people in yaazh nagar located near sea shore. All the people see him as their leader and take any decision by consulting him. Villan Dev gill plans to build a theme park in the place where sura & co live, so he tries to shift all the people from that sea shore area to some other area. But sura interferes and advice the people to stay back in the same yaazh nagar. There the problem starts between hero and villain. As usual the remaining story is about how hero tackles all problem and kill the villain. I mean the same cat & mouse game which we have seen in 'n' number of movies in tamil cinema.

Cast & Crew Analysis:

Vijay played the lead role, his character is similar to his previous movies, so i don't need to explain it. But special mention should be made regarding his dance in naan nadandhal song, his dance was awesome. Tamannah played the role of lady love, as usual she appears for songs, little bit over make-up and over acting. Costume selection for tamannah was not that good, but she danced well along with vijay.

There are 'n' number of villains and i can't name all of them, but dev gill's character was not portrayed properly, looked like over acting. Vadivelu, the real Saviour of the movie, his combo with vijay was ok but not as good as pokiri but its 1000 times better than villu comedy track.

Cinematographer Eghabaram didn't do well, lot of irritating close up shots and screen color tone was very dull, he could have done better. Music by mani sharma was ok, bommaiyee and naan nadandhal song was good, regarding background score it was similar to telegu billa's bgm. I don't know who is the editor of this movie, he should have trimmed lot of scenes in many places and made the movie racy.

Captain of the ship, S.P Rajkumar should have concentrated on the story rather than thinking about where to place fight, songs, how to show vijay in the opening scene etc... he failed miserably and he also missed a chance of delivering a block buster movie by having gr8 combo like vijay and tamannah.

General Analysis:

First half was very slow,but it was like seeing sun tv news. i would rather say, vadivelu saved the movie in first half. But in second half, I didn't understand what was happening, it was very very worst along with sluggish screenplay. Other than vadivelu and vijay's dance, nothing is worth mentioning in this movie. And towards the end, especially the last 15 mins, really tested the patience of all the audience. The climax was very weak and looked so silly.

Major Highlights Of the Movie:

Intro of vijay was chance less,the full theater laughed instead of shouting and whistling. Only vijay can come out of water and fly in air for few seconds.

As usual many long jumps high jumps, for a change vijay have tried diving too, I think vijay is one of the potential candidate to participate in Indian Olympics.

Tamannah is fair, and its universal truth, in order to show vijay as a fair guy when standing near tamannah, they applied so much of powder on vijay's face,but i think they forgot to put make up for vijay's hands,, so face was in one color and rest of the body parts in one color.

In all the recent movies, vijay used to try a new get up, in pokiri it was imsai arasan 23 am pulikesi then in villu he tried out bharathiar get up etc..etc.. In sura he tried out avatar singh get up.. i mean the scene in which he comes as customs officer. That getup was very funny.

Only Vijay can attack the enemies using sivakasi rocket. Even by seeing it, enemies get scared and run away.

Just because of vijay buying 5 rupees pen from a blind person, tamannah falls in love at that moment. The love chemistry between tamannah and vijay is zero.

On the whole, it's a movie which can be avoided if you hate to watch masala movie. But a visual treat for all vijay fans, so don't miss it. Anti vijay fans do see it and laugh to the core for 3 hours.

Expected No Of Days Of Successful Run: 20 Days

My Verdict: Flop

Bottom Line: Ayya Vijay please change your track or else quit from tamil cinema.

My Ratings:1/5