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Mayakkam enna movie review

2011-11-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

Depicting the multi-layers of human relationships and its ramifications comes very naturally to Selvaraghavan and when he has a National Award Winner for histrionics as brother to translate his vision onto the big canvas, what more can one ask for? The combo has proved themselves in the past and reiterates the theory in Mayakkam Enna too.

Mayakkam Enna is about a man who rediscovers himself in the journey of life and the crucial role of a woman in it. The premise remains Selva’s comfort zone and the director has played it with aplomb.

Firstly Selvaraghavan should be lauded for taking on a fairly bold subject and not bowing down to any commercial element in the form of inane comedy or such unnecessary detour. It needs immense courage and conviction and hats off Selva! And to weave a story about normal people and to tunnel into the innermost recesses of a tortured soul is a child’s play for him and he has reveled in it.

Dhanush’s biggest advantage is, the moment he appears on screen, you immediately invest your emotions with him and start caring for him (character) unmindful of its color. And in Selva’s films, it definitely goes a few notches high. The scene where he expresses his anger, irritation and edginess to his friend on being rejected by the ace photographer is just one small sample of this malleable actor’s prowess and Mayakkam Enna is sated with such performances.

Richa Gangopadhyay- Is she a debutante? Hard to believe! She is the perfect foil for Dhanush. Mayakkam Enna’s finest moments belong to the scene where Richa reveals her impotent anger at Dhanush on losing her baby. There is not a single dialogue in this powerful scene and you only have Richa’s emotive actions. It’s surely a masterpiece that would make your eyes go moist.

It is not an exaggerated statement to say that G V Prakash’s RR is exceedingly brilliant bringing out the finer feelings so beautifully and Selva has utilized GV’s music alone to convey his thoughts instead of dialogues in many sequences. After Ilayaraja’s RR, it is GV’s RR that is going to be well spoken for a long time. And of course, Oda Oda and Adida Avlai are situational and hence enjoyable.

Selva’s narration is also aided well by the lyrically inclined work of lensman Ramji and the frames are a poem by themselves. When the protagonist is a wildlife photographer, there is always an additional advantage and Ramji delivers the best. Kola Bhaskar’s editing enhances the brilliance of the film.

Richa’s character in the first half is likely to be misunderstood as someone very frivolous but the second half has made her highly respectful and strong and her characterization is sure to find patrons in women audience.

On the downside, Mayakkam Enna is very languorously narrated with a lazy rhythm which may not go well with the mainstream audience. The characters of an attention seeking or a weak hero and a strong heroine may be viewed as Selvaraghavan’s clichés.

To sum it all, Mayakkam Enna is emotionally rich and is an inebriating experience by itself.

Desi Boys Movie Review

2011-11-28T05:57:00.001-08:00

Desi Boyz is a very important movie for several people, Akshay Kumar hasn’t had a proper hit in a while, John Abraham's last film proved that he single handedly can’t pull in the audience to watch his movie And its the debut film for one of the greatest entertainer David Dhawan's son Rahul Dhawan. And with Ra One destroyed after the record setting first week and Rockstar's below average second week it’s indeed a very important release for Bollywood. Can Akshay Kumar and John Abraham create the same magic which they did six years ago with 'Garam Masala'?. Even in this movie they have a time of their lives enjoying with a lot of women, just that this time, the situation forces them. But they do not really complain till it threatens to take away what or who they love the most.

Desi Boyz is set in the background of the 2009 recession which starts taking its toll on the employment scenario in UK. Nick Mathur (John Abraham) is a successful investment banker who shares his house, salary and beer with his childhood friend Jerry Patel (Akshay Kumar). Jerry is the perfect bachelor- happy-go-lucky, college drop-out, under qualified for any job and most often unemployed. He sponges off his best friend to lead a life of comfort and to support his dead sister’s child Veer. However, soon their lives take a hit when Nick loses his job. The never ending expenses to sustain their love and loved ones force them to take on the less respected job of male escorts under the banner of Desi Boyz.

Will this job sustain them for long? What if their loved ones get to know of this? Well, things take a sudden turn when they are exposed and their profession threatens to take away Nick’s fiancé (Deepika Padukone) and Veer.

First time director, Rahul Dhawan does follow in his father’s footsteps. The film is a decent entertainer with humor sprinkled throughout. The first half is well paced with many developments that keep us engaged. All the scenes with the child are emotionally strong. The second half, on the other hand, has quite a few loopholes. With no money, Akshay Kumar going back to college and John spending time in wooing Deepika rather than looking for a job dilute the film. The court room scene is bizarre, especially when Sunjay Dutt hands over his visiting card to the judge. These gaps take out the punch from the film, not to mention the ending.

On the positive side, the second half brings more laughs with the short and sweet performances by Omi Vaidya and Bharati Archekar. The latter brings in nostalgia as we are reminded of Radhika in 'Wagle ki Duniya', a famous TV serial of the late 80s. Akshay and John look fit and put up a decent performance, but nothing outstanding. Deepika does well. Chitrangadha Siingh as the second female lead sizzles on screen and plays her role commendably. Anupam Kher and the kid who plays Veer, deliver their parts effortlessly. Sanjay Dutt in his cameo appearance could have been better.

N Nataraj Subramaniam wields the camera beautifully. The introductory shots establishing the situation in London are very well taken. Technically, in terms of editing, the film is good, though the graphics were not very impressive. Art work is commendable.

Pritam scores with his already hit title track. The other songs are decent too. But sadly the choreography does not match the energy of the songs. Especially, the steps for a song like Desi Boyz could have been much livelier.

Overall, Desi Boyz is a one time watch, a decent entertainer. And with no other major releases this week, you can watch it this weekend though Rockstar would be my suggestion if you have not already seen it.

Damn 999 movie review

2011-11-26T05:58:00.000-08:00

Disaster movies are quite a rare genre in Indian Cinema but a genre that is heavily liked by Indians with the super success of Independence day, Armageddon, Day After Tomorrow and the recent record breaking 2012 standing testimony to the fact. Dam999 is supposed to be based on a dam disaster in China but setting it in Kerala, the statement it wants to make is quite clear. Unfortunately Sohan Roy puts too many sub plots that the main plot looks rather lost in the crowd.

An impending horror and 9 different people having different problems face the same incident differently. Every single person takes one of the navarasa's to give us an array of emotions. Unfortunately the movie was supposed to be about a dam disaster and we have come in for some stereoscopic graphic fun. Finally the Dam does break but is it a bit too late?

Sohan Roy could have made a better movie on a subject which is very relevant today especially in the south. I guess he wanted to convey his take on several subjects through his movies and instead of making several movies on each he made one movie with every single subject thrown in. Be it the Navarasa angle, talking about superstitions, about Ayurveda, about astrology, about politics, about culture, about mother nature.. etc he just loves to preach. If only someone had preached him about film making we could have had a better experience. The movie didn’t need to be a 3D stereoscopic movie in the first place and you didn't need so many characters for a disaster movie. And at the end of it all not even a single character stays fresh in your memory. The swat style rescue effort will definitely evoke some laughter from the audience but its unintentional humour. After some 1 ½ hour of talking finally the dam breaks and then you are shown some badly worked on graphics which will make you feel cheated. By the way its a half English, little bit of Hindi and tamil and the movie is based on Kerala.

So many in the cast and none impresses. The only three who come close to impressing you are Ashish Vidyarthi, Rajit Kapoor and Vimala Raman, in the same order, but they too suffer from bad characterization. The rest of the cast are too theatrical or just sing out their amateurish dialogues with minimal to no emotion.

Technically the movie is decent for the budget they have used, Ajayan Vincent’s cinematography is decent – it has a too blue tinted camera work which did look cool at the start but over the passage of time it tires you. Editing, by Suresh Pai, misses the mark thanks mainly to the haphazard screenplay. Art work by Thotta Tharani is spectacular, the sets done by him will amaze you. Ousephachan’s music is decent but none mention worthy.

Overall it’s a lost cause. It’s a disastrous disaster movie which will find few to no takers at the boxoffice.

vithagan movie review

2011-11-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

Vithagan has garnered interest for quite a few reasons, one of them being Parthiban’s 50th film. Of course, the actor has not made much ado about this fact as he candidly admitted that for audience, these landmarks and statistics are immaterial and a wholesome entertainer is what they expect. Vithagan has also aroused interest because of Parthiban who is known for his intelligent and creative brainwaves which is evident from the tagline of the film in English that states ‘With the gun’ and also a novel post card appeal to viewers along with the movie ticket.

The film deals with the life of a cop and many dons and baddies who traverse his path and the events that happen when cupid strikes him. Parthiban is the Vithagan of the film having shouldered the responsibility of story, screenplay, dialogues, and direction in addition to penning the lyrics. In all these assignments, Parthiban the lyricist and the dialogue writer comes out with honors.

If it is a Parthiban film there would not be dearth of witty one-liners and clever dialogues and Vithagan also abounds in these sectors. For a film to totally engage the audience, it is imperative that every department works in sync and sadly it is not the case in Vithagan. The first half makes you sit up and take note as the content is arresting. Director Parthiban moves his film forward in an exciting manner. There are quite a few smart frames and the one just before the interval when Parthiban throws a wedge to keep his boss’s chair stationery but it lands with a gap wherein a title card ‘gap’ appears to indicate interval is just a sample.

Parthiban’s dialogues as always are full of clever pun and wit. To a remark from Poorna who points out that he laughs, Parthiban’s retort, “Naan ippadi daan kovapaduven’ is smart. The scene at a hotel involving the old crony of villain who insists that he pays the bill is hilarious although it has no relevance to the story whatsoever.

Second half is a complete antithesis of first half which is replete with logical loopholes, ambiguous characterization, many mindless killings sans rhyme or reason and distorted screen play. The film wobbles on to a goal less destination and you wonder what the director has in mind. Parthiban is shown to be very powerful and clever but it is perplexing as to why he takes such a long time to attack the villain. Law and order has taken leave in Vithagan where everybody roams with powerful firearms as toys and no questions asked.

Parthiban is shown as an honest and clever cop who basically covers his tracks intelligently in the 1st half and in just one single shot, he does a total volte face and is shown to be making a very foolish mistake. From then on the viewer is left in confusion about his character as his ideologies are thrown to wind. Milind Soman who features in 2nd half looks as dashing as ever but there is nothing special in him to validate his presence as anybody could have done his role. Poorna looks ravishing and her costumes (Nalini Sriram) are trendy and chic. Romance does not seem to go well with Parthiban as much as action, comedy or taunt does.

Under Joshua Sridhar’s music, some songs are hummable and the picturization in a few numbers is praiseworthy. White women dancing in black saris in the melodious ‘kkudhe’ number is an interesting conceptualization. In the ‘thanana thanthanana number, the flowers in the love struck Poorna’s sari turning into actual flowers shows the aesthetic taste of the director.

Toting up, Vithagan is like an inclined see-saw with the first half on top and second half in the ground.

Thambhi vettothi sundaram movie review

2011-11-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

Thambi Vettothi Sundaram, a story that has been publicized as one that reflects the true picture of the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border made it to theatres on that fancy date 11-11-11. It has been a while since we saw Karan on screen, same holds true for Saravanan who is sparsely seen after his Paruthiveeran heroics. Not surprisingly, the most popular face in contemporary months in this film is Anjali; just goes to show the kind of performances she has turned in over her past few films.

Thambi Vettothi Sundaram is set in Kaliyakkavila, a town set on the state border. This place has a very unique distinction; almost everyone here is educated and quite peculiarly, almost every second person is involved in some kind of illegal business ranging from smuggling to the brewing of illegal liquor and other such activities. This place is certainly an antithesis for all those who believe that education is the one solution to all social evils. Here, people seem to be corrupt in spite of education. Sundaram (Karan) is one from the town, well educated, but not yet initiated into any subversive acts. He has no idea to drift off onto the wrong side of the law, but the place and people are such that he finds it near impossible to follow a straightforward means of livelihood. He is confused, vexed, angry and then finds someone (Saravanan) who seems to understand his troubles; they form a jolly good duo. So, who is Saravanan, what does the duo end up doing, do they cleanse society, do they join the fray, do they make enemies? And, in the midst of this, there is a love story as an admiring Anjali falls for Karan; not without good reason!

The debutante Vadivudaiyan has done a fair job in sketching characters and writing a script that is packed to the brim with characters, events and twists all interconnected in multiple ways. But, he stretches his yarn too hard and too long. It does not snap, yes, but it is strained to the hilt and you feel it while watching the film. It is serious and grim right from the start, perhaps necessitated by the story, but in a movie that runs for over 150 minutes, the mood weighs down the audience considerably. He has put in place a graph that does not remain without a spike in it for too long, but some of them feel artificially inserted. The final portions become especially wearisome as people from all sides are baying for each other’s blood. And, your sympathies are undecided because almost everyone in this town has a shady dealing or two. Instead of finishing things with a gripping and short climax, the director has opted for some strong medicine and stretched it to a culmination that looks a bit more dramatic than is called for. In the end, what the director wants to convey is clear. It is the society (that is each one of us) that is responsible one way or the other for breeding criminals, mostly out of promising young people. And, the age old wisdom of ‘crime never pays’, if it does, it is only short term! Good things to say, but they could have been said without making the audience feel stretched weary. It is interesting to note that the team has decided to do away completely with any traces of comedy that so often form integral parts of Karan starrers; a brave move which would have been lauded much more if the product delivered was of a higher standard.

There is not much in the characters to challenge the actors. Karan goes through his role with the experience of a seasoned performer. For most parts, he has to look angry, disappointed and disillusioned in turns, except in the romantic scenes; he does them well. Saravanan is asked to do what comes to him best and he delivers that without any problems, but he could do with something that challenges him more. Anjali has quite a bit of footage considering that it is a crime, punishment and revenge driven story. She looks good and emotes well as we have known her to. Her presence in the ‘Kolaikaara’ song is really wonderful. In fact, the song is one of the highlights of the film with all departments, art, camera, music, choreography and the actors making it a very good experience. The other actors in the movie have little else to do but appear angry and vengeful.

The dialogues and the dialect could have been taken care of in a much better way. After having been publicised as a Tamil Nadu-Kerala border story, one does expect a Malayalam-Tamil hybrid to come through in the dialogues; that does not happen. The Malayalam slang is limited to one or two words which often open sentences, afterwards, it is all normal Tamil which you would hear anywhere in the state. It is like using the phrase ‘yelle’ in every sentence to masquerade normal Tamil as the Tirunelveli dialect.

Technically, Thambi Vettothi Sundaram passes muster. The camerawork is adequate while Vidyasagar’s music makes an impression.

Overall, Thambi Vettothi Sundaram is a film that is loyal to its story; there are absolutely no diversions. But, is that enough for a good viewing experience? The grim and serious nature gets to you after a while and the happenings one after the other seem to lose sheen and credibility as we go deeper into the film. Thambi Vettothi Sundaram could have been much better, only if it had been packaged a bit more cleverly.

Naan sivanagiren movie review

2011-11-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

There seems to be quite a fancy going around with the date 11.11.11. And, that too with it being a Friday, quite a few movies tried to make this dramatic release date a publicity tool. Was Naan Sivanagiren also trying to do the same? We cannot be sure. The makers have tried to produce a suspense thriller with a message! After watching this movie, one has to say that trying to convey a ‘message’ at the end of a movie has become a sort of a cliché in recent times. Even films that offer nothing substantial in terms of content try to squeeze something at the end that passes off as a message; as if that would absolve them of making a sorry movie to start with.
Naan Sivanagiren deals with the skewed mindset of a youngster who became so because of many distasteful experiences in his childhood. The movie starts off with showing many random murders all over Chennai city. They all seem to bear a resemblance, but the police are nowhere close to finding the killer. And, a new ACP is deputed to handle the sensational serial murders in town. Who is behind these murders, what is the motive and was the culprit nabbed?
The concept of one wronged person taking it upon himself to punish all others who are committing sins is something that is often seen in Tamil cinema. It is a case where you can no longer avenge on your own and therefore select similar cases and intervene in them, thus seeking a personal and sadistic satisfaction. Here, the modus and the motive are the ones that should hold the audiences’ attention. But, sadly the director has not been able to establish an intelligent modus, nor does the lengthy flashback, giving us the reason for such disturbed behaviour, earn the person any sympathy. What drags the movie further down is the arrival of the heroine who takes pity on the protagonist far too soon for the audience to digest. Their relationship is not sketched well. Finally, if the police investigation following the killer had been shown in an interesting manner, things could have been better. But, it all falls flat as the police is not required to investigate anything; everything seems to be handed to it on a platter; even the killer’s identity. These are too serendipitous to accept.
Finally, we can undeniably see shades of some super hit thrillers of the past which includes Sigappu Rojakkal. If you look closely, you will also be able to notice similarities with many other films.
Everything about the film is on a mediocre level. The story and screenplay are complete let downs. The camera work is highly inconsistent and the music is just passable. It is one of those movies which make you restless right from the start to finish.
The only bright spot you can take away from this movie is the performance of Uday Karthik, the lead protagonist. He shows the ability to adapt to the character. The heroine Varsha and Adithya as the ACP are disappointments.
And, finally the movie tries to finish by delivering a message on work life balance. It must be said here that movies must earn the right to spread messages through their overall quality.
Naan Sivanagiren is a movie that is mediocre throughout. You can evidently see attempts at recreating the magic of some of yesteryear’s thrillers. But, this is not even a patch on any of them.

Rockstar movie review

2011-11-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

Now that SRK's latest has fizzled out, the stage is set for RK to come and flaunt his box office power. Ranbir Kapoor has a healthy success rate and he does boast of a good opening weekend pull for his movies. Added to RK's star status, director, Imtiaz Ali also has followers after giving hits like Jab we met and Love Aaj Kal. So the stage is set for this Rockstar to impress, only to add in Rahman and we expect nothing short of magic. And the director has fulfilled it, well – partly!
The movie is about Janardhan (Ranbir) a wannabe musician who just doesn’t know how to crack into the music field. Something is missing and he finally figures out that all great artists have one thing in common – pain. And he decides that if he had a heart break he can achieve greatness. He proposes to the most popular girl in college expecting her to turndown the offer and he can become big but things don't go as planned. He does become a famous Rockstar when he is in love but is just not ready to let go. What happens next is for everyone to experience and enjoy and mere words cannot do justice to the magic Imitiaz has in store for the audience.
The movie is an experience one should not miss but at the same time this is not a movie for everyone. It will test your patience and some people might feel lost with the complicated non-linear way of storytelling. But if you can get through the pace 'Rockstar' is surely a treat to watch. Imitiaz Ali's first movie was about the protagonist running away from responsibilities, the second is running away for love, the third being running away from love only to talk about the protagonist running toward his dream in his fourth venture. He keeps on impressing you and this movie seems quite away form his comfort zone and yet he has come out with a spectacular display of his talents as a master storyteller. The scenes in the dargha, just after Nargis says no to Ranbir when he first proposes and the scene in which Jordan (Janardhan changes his name to Jordan) sings with several prostitutes 'Duniya ne humko diya kya' and the scene after that proves again and again that we are seeing a master at work.
But Rockstar would not have been this impactful if not for Ranbir, he has proved his mettle in Wake up Sid, Rocket Singh but he encompasses to greater height in this movie. Future of Hindi cinema is indeed in good hands. Nargis Fakhri looks fresh and impresses at the start but once the story starts demanding emotions she is just not able to cope. Unfortunately the whole movie also depends on how Nargis carries off her role and that is one of the biggest drawbacks for Rockstar. But she does share scintillating chemistry with Ranbir. It was emotional to see Shammi Kapoor the last time on the big screen and it was also heartening to hear in a Chennai theatre several claps alongside mine when he first came on screen. A legend of the highest order. Aditi Rao Hydari suffers due to an undeveloped characterization but still impresses in the few scenes she gets. Kumud Mishra is splendid. Piyush Mishra just blows you away, as always, a rare gem indeed. Shernaz Patel enacts her part with conviction. The rest of the cast too has handled their role with complete understanding.
Technically the movie is superior, with spectacular cinematography by Anil Mehta – his work in the Dargha alone can stand testimony of his expertise. Editing by Aarti Bajaj, is haphazard mainly due to the complex screenplay but overall its a neat job. The movie could have done away with at least 15 minutes but that’s just me. Art direction is exceptional as well. But one man just out shines the rest and takes all the credit and its none other than Rahman who has provided with one of his best album. This can very well be in his top ten lists which is no mean achievement. 'Naadan Parindey' and 'Jo bhi Mein' will keep on echoing in your mind long after the show is over. It’s Magic! Pure Magic!!

Imitiaz Ali does try to make that lasting impact movie (eg. Ek Dhuuje Ke liye' or 'Tere Bin') but Nargis just spoils the fun. But people who love music will love this extraordinary journey of a musician, and even if you don’t you will fall for Ranbir or Rahman or both.

Miley na miley hum movie review

2011-11-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

Bollywood seems to be running out of stories. We’ve seen it before and we see it again in Miley Na Miley Hum.

The film revolves around Chirag (Chirag Paswan) the only son of Siddharth (Kabir Bedi) and Shalini (Poonam Dhillon). His parents separated when he was a child due to their individual passions, tennis and business. So naturally, he grows up wanting to unite them. Meanwhile, his parents have found the girl of their choice for Chirag- the typically modern Kamiah (Sagarika Ghatge) and the equally typical Punjaban Manjeet (Neeru Bajwa), his father’s best friend’s daughter. To escape from the situation, Chirag pretends to be in love with Super Model Anishka (Kangna Ranaut) who is unaware of Chirag’s existence. Yet, Chirag manages to strike a deal with her to make her pose as his girlfriend. And the rest is pretty obvious.

Chirag Paswan is a decent find. His performance is passable considering that this is his first time on-screen. However, he has a long way to go. Kangna continues to be an average actor. She fails to impress. Kabir Bedi and Poonam Dhillon deliver their roles well. The others in the film are passable.

The film does not stand strong in the acting department, nor in the story. Tanveer Khan has tried certain novelties in terms of the treatment that bring moments of relief in an otherwise predictable story. The characterization could have been better defined to keep the audience engaged. The film is well paced and the writer- director avoids the usual teary-eyed melodrama that is considered an integral part of such films. However, he does fail to make the romance between Chirag and Kangna click.

Technically, cinematography by Baba Azmi is beautiful, especially the vineyards that Siddharth (Kabir Bedi) owns. Sajid- Wajid’s tracks make for a good listen but they don’t stand out.

Overall, the film is an attempt at romance and thriller, but lacks the energy to keep the audience watching.

velayudham movie review

2011-11-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

Vijay is back to what he does best; mass entertainers, and what better time to unveil a mass entertainer than Diwali. With the music already a rage, the excitement was palpable as fans headed in droves to theatres on the festival of lights.

Velayudham is seen in many ways as a comeback to triumphant ways for Vijay. Yes, Kaavalan was a respite, but it is Velayudham that will more or less decide whether the tried and tested formula that have been followed for Vijay starrers for almost a decade can still hold the audience.

Lets make things clear first, Velayudham holds no surprises in the premise or the central conflict. It is not only something that is seen in a large percentage of commercial entertainers, it is also along lines that are very similar to quite a few earlier Vijay films. But, Vijay films have always been about his presence making things much more exciting than they appear to be in the script.

Velayudham deals with ‘one man saving the society from evil forces’ premise. Yes, we have seen it many times before. Here, the story is about how and why the man rises, how Velu becomes Velayudham. Once he has risen there is no looking back as he hunts down one bad man after the other, but that also earns him enemies who are nothing short of bloodsucking vampires. How does that affect his personal life and how he puts an end to what he began?

As you might guess, the seat of action is Chennai, cinema’s chosen city to portray all corrupt people in Tamil Nadu and the messiah is one who arrives from the village knowing nothing about the notoriety of the big bad city. Of course, he soon finds out and decides that it is better to react than be subdued. And, there is a generous dose of brother-sister sentiment thrown in.

Déjà vu anyone! Well, don’t mind that because Raja has woven a script that makes you forget all this and concentrate only on the screen. The first half is really a joyride, especially for Vijay fans as he is introduced as the fun loving, mischievous young man who will go to any lengths to make his sister (Saranya Mohan) happy. Vijay is an absolute livewire, be it in the electric dance sequences or the enjoyable comic exchanges, first involving Parotta Suri and M.S.Bhaskar and later with the extremely effective Santhanam. Of course, the director has not failed to keep pushing the central plot ahead steadily to leave the interval intriguingly poised. The second half arrives with more of action than anything else. Yes, there is place for a bit of romance and also some cleverly placed comedy sequences late into the half, but on the whole action does dominate. Again, as we have seen repeatedly with commercial films, it is the overdose of the action element, especially projecting the hero as an unassailable superhuman that makes viewing a bit difficult. Velayudham too falls prey to the same errors, though not to the irrecoverable extent that many other movies have fallen. Raja intersperses high octane action with a couple of well placed songs (Molachu Moonu and Rathathin Ratham) and a very sentimental pre-climax portion to keep the audience from feeling action weary. But, the dominant feeling as the end credits start to roll is that a racy and intelligent climax (not that the one now is non-inttelligent) instead of the hero’s mass appeal and a preachy message would have made the movie much better.

Raja has done a fine job of mixing all the elements that go towards making a mass hero film, though he has lost the balance a bit in the last hour. His adeptness at placing comedy, romance, sentiment and the mandatory 5 songs into a script that has an alter-ego(istic) superhero should be commended. Nothing looks out of place, as we enjoy Santhanam’s wisecracks, Vijay’s dances and the brother-sister sequences. It is a while since we have seen Vijay excel in an emotionally heavy scene, Raja gets it out of the actor, in Velayudham. Also, placing 5 songs in a movie with none of them sticking out like a sore thumb is quite an achievement; though we should say that Vijay’s presence is a major factor in ensuring this.

Everyone in front of the camera has done a fine job. Vijay is sprightly, energetic and every bit the way we love to see him. He has experimented a bit with his look in the songs and they have come out well. Hansika is there in many scenes, but for most parts is a silent spectator, being called upon once in a while, mostly for glamour. She does not look out of place as a village girl, but the makers’ claim that she would remind us of Khushboo is an overstatement. Genelia gets quite a significant part and looks convincing. A laugh is guaranteed every time Santhanam is on screen. Saranya Mohan too deserves a round of applause for being good enough to make the audience feel the depth of the siblings’ bond.

During most of the talkie portions, the camera strictly adheres to the requirements. Some well shot scenes within a train are worth mentioning. But, it is in the songs that the lens turns on the magic. At least a couple of them are visual treats. The capture of landscape for Molachu Moonu is delectable. Action too has been designed well. Though the movie is of the superhero type, the fights have not been taken to those levels; keeping them down to plausible levels (by commercial cinema standards). Dialogues too deliver the occasional punch and there is one particular reference to the rather benign ways of India.

Velayudham is a regular commercial entertainer which shows one man rising for the masses to right the wrongs in society. Yes, we have seen this kind of movie many times. But, a deftly written script keeps us engaged on screen for most parts until Raja gives into the temptations of adding extra mass appeal to a film that is already built around it. There are many scenes that instantly remind us of films seen earlier, but Viijay’s presence makes up for these glitches. There are also a few instances where the dialogues have political overtones (or are we imagining things, given the nature of the season). If the director had steered clear of these elements and concentrated on building a solid last hour which did not rely too heavily on the leading man’s charisma to carry it off, Velayudham would have been an even better end product.

Behindwoods placed Rajinikanth's movies in TOP 100

2011-03-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

Behindwoods has ranked the top
HUNDRED MOVIES IN THE LAST TEN YEARS (2001-2010) THAT YOU MUST WATCH :-)

SUPERSTAR RAJINI's MOVIES are placed in TOP 100 :-)

...1. Chandramukhi. (2005)
2. Sivaji. (2007)
3. Enthiran. (2010)

Nama Thalaivar mattum One Yearku 2-3 films release pani irunthaa, Top 50 places naama thaan :-)See more
SUPERSTAR RAJINI's MOVIES in TOP 100 :-)

NYC Artist

2011-02-19T05:02:00.000-08:00

Hello mates it gives me immense pleasure to introduce the best things to best people. Recently i had come across this interesting website which is all about beautiful artist and his wonderful creations. Marko Stout is a wonderful New York City artist who uses the most wonderful universal archetypes, symbolism and collective unconscious imaginery to examine human condition and mind body experience.It just gives a way to look at the world so differently, he just helps us to be empathetic through his beautiful creations.His main theme of arts are seriously amazing, he just makes us wonder what is real and is the so called reality an illusion? He makes us to think and tries to think us from different angles.He just views matter and mind as interlinked process.
The cave is an interesting scenario where by people would be having a belief of what is an illusion to be a reality. The cave exhibit would include a large collection of mixed media works similar in nature.The exhibit will showcase works of freshness and originality which are unique and never seen before type of categories, which would provide the observer spiritual experience and mystical experience.The exhibit will evoke a deep sense of thought and is guaranteed to be a truly metaphysical event.So what you people waiting for ?! Log on to the website to get the maximum out of it ! Cheers People!

Online Casinos Guide

2011-02-03T04:19:00.000-08:00

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Deepika Padukone : Officially confirmed Heroine Of Rana

2011-02-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

Asin has been signed up to play the female lead in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Housefull 2. The film is being produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Sajid Khan. Earlier, Deepika Padukone was to play the heroine in this film but she moved out of project for reasons best known to her.

Sources, however, point out that Deepika decided to stay out of Housefull 2 as she has been approached for a Rajinikanth-starrer and wants to keep her dates free.

Deepika’s present projects are Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan and Desi Boys while Asin is working alongside Salman Khan in Ready.

Officially Confirmed- Rana Crew

2011-01-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

It has been officially announced that 'Rana' will be the next film of super star Rajinikanth and the air is getting filled with the movements in Rana's camp.

In the official statement sent by the production house a few days ago, it came to light that almost the entire whiz kid team that was part of the phenomenon 'Endhiran' is being retained for 'Rana'. AR Rahman, ‘Randy’ Ratnavelu, Antony, Rajeevan and others will work for the Eros film also.

Now there are some more credits that have been finalised. Noted writer S. Ramakrishnan will be writing the dialogues of 'Rana'. S. Ramakrishnan is not new to Rajini camp as he has already written the dialogues for Rajini in the film 'Baba'. His other notable films include ‘Album’, ‘Sandakozhi’, ‘Unnale Unnale’, ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ and most recently ‘Chikku Bhukku’.

On the musical front, AR Rahman is the music director. Vaali, Vairamuthu, Thamarai, Na. Muthukumar and Madhan Karky are writing a song each.

Arch Rival Priyanka Vs Kareena

2011-01-30T05:55:00.000-08:00

The uneasy peace between arch rivals Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra looks fragile at the moment.

On Friday night, Kareena drove down from Pune to Mumbai to shoot for an award function but was kept waiting by Priyanka, who was already on stage.

Bebo assumed it was only a matter of few hours but Priyanka's prolonged rehearsal took forever.

All dressed up for her shoot, newly curvy Kareena was in for a dose of humiliation, but surprisingly kept her cool. Keeping her feelings in check, Kareena gave the organizers a piece of her mind next morning, only to be told that it had been a technical glitch.

Reveals a source present at the awards, "Kareena landed at Yash Raj Studios around midnight she found the stage occupied by Priyanka.

She waited patiently for a few minutes. On spotting her, Priyanka came down from the stage and told Bebo that she couldn't give up the stage till 1 am (though the latter had been assigned the stage at 12 am)."

Priyanka's spokesperson maintained she wasn't aware of Bebo's having to wait for four hours, saying:"Not that I am aware. Priyanka had a long act with many changes."

Kareena remained unavailable for comment.

Big Boss- 4's Shweta Tiwari married ?

2011-01-29T05:58:00.000-08:00

Rumours of Bigg Boss 4 winner Shweta Tiwari tying the knot secretly with 'close friend' Abhinav Kohli have set the gossip mill turning.

According to reports, the couple tied the knot just before Shweta's stint in the Bigg Boss house, in a private ceremony. After weeks of strongly denying any romantic involvement with Abhinav, seems like the cat is finally out of the bag

Her ex husband Raja Chaudhary, whom the actress has accused of domestic violence more times than one, is getting increasingly protective of their daughter, Palak. Was that reason behind Raja's misbehavior at Shweta's home in Abhinav's presence recently?

Only time will tell!

Shruthi Haasan Stays Connected with her father

2011-01-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

Many stars from filmdom and sports have now started connecting with their fans through several social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and Shruti Haasan is no different.

What is different about her is that, she has gone to the extent of connecting with her father Kamal through Twitter. Seeing Shruti tweet her father and him tweeting back to her, we asked her the reason and she says, “Father is busy with his work and me with my schedules and we hardly get to meet. There is no better way to connect with him but for Twitter.”

It was just a few days ago that we reported about Shruti being busy with projects and her daddy dearest being proud about that. Talk about tech-savvy strong relationships!

Siruthai Film Review

2011-01-27T05:57:00.000-08:00

No qualms on formulaic flicks. If the variables are near to nil, the formula renders no use. Oops. Thats too much of math in the review, isn't it?? Well, the art of film-making is a math too. Petty flaws near and far could not just flip the movie, but flop its prospects too. Sadly, 'Siruthai' is one such movie, that comes with a formulaic, yet gripping storyline, that falls prey to a half baked execution. Lets take a sneak peek of where this 'Siruthai' Roars and where it Squeaks.

Roars:

Santhanam: Much inspired from the eminent humorist Goundamani, Santhanam has nothing new to offer for a vintage Tamil spectator. Still, he manages to tickle your rib in most of his attempts during the movie. A helping hand to place the movie from a 'worse' track to a 'bad' track.

Karthi's': The good done by Karthi to the movie stops with a casual, yet catchy performance as 'Rocket' Raja, an easy-go-lucky thief and the differentiations he managed to pull of through his looks and body language from this character of his to the other 'wannabe' powerful character of his.

Tamannah: Doesn't fail to make you drool in spite of a loosely knit love track.

Squeaks:

Screenplay & Editing: The much to be concentrated areas of screenplay and editing were weighed less for more attention to the Karthis, that left him lift the entire burden of the movie. The very essence of a successful movie, particularly commercial ones is that its snags should be overshadowed by its advantages. 'Siruthai' fails in that aspect. The illogical instances were extensively highlighted.

Cop Karthi: At a few places, Karthi as an upright, rough cop was a terror to the villains. At other places, he was almost a terror to the audience. Blame the screenplay, not him! A character that required the aggression of Sivaji Ganesan's SP Chowdhury, got stuck midway between Vadivel's Telex Pandian and Rajnikanth's Alex Pandian. Pity you, Rathnavel Pandian.

Siruthai is a total timepass if and only if you are one who likes Santhanam's flavour of comedy and eager to see Karthi in a larger than life role.

Kollywood fans are prone to keep kidding successful stars when they slide down. Sadly, guess Karthi would be 'that' centric attraction hereon.

Sorry, Karthi.. Jintha tha jintha jintha jintha tha tha... :)

My Verdict: 4/10

Aadukalam Film Review

2011-01-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

After fighting an enduring battle outside the theatre to get myself a ticket, I entered the cinema hall, battered and bruised, all set for Aadukalam nevertheless. The ambience was just right; I was watching a movie in a village after a long time as I hadn’t booked tickets in advance. The mood of the people around seemed to be in blissful confluence with the onscreen characters.

The movie starts off with a breezy voiceover by Vetrimaaran, a slide show encapsulating the history of rooster-fighting making up the background. As the title suggests, the movie is about battlefields and the fights that are orchestrated on and off the same. It’s also a tale of pride, ego, confidence, revenge and infidelity.

Rooster fighting forms the backbone of the movie; the movie see-saws through the lives of characters in the heart of Madurai who are solely dependent on the same for livelihood. The resulting possessiveness about the “art”, the honour and pride that comes with it proves to be Aadukalam’s Aadukalam. The characters, their emotions and their actions are chiseled in accordance with the happenings on the battle-field!

Everything that happens as a result of the battlefield endeavors and results make perfect sense; they take the movie towards the rightful destination modeled on realism. But it’s the side-tracks and the romantic interludes that fail to strike a chord. The romance in this movie can be compared to that in “7g”: in both cases, the heroine accepting the hero’s proposal seems impossible just because the female leads in both the movies find their respective pairs repulsive initially; also for the simple reason that their characters are diametrically opposite and so are their family backgrounds. The scenes outlining the lead actress’s disgust for the hero are so strong in both the movies that, though the directors of the respective movies try very hard to make us comprehend to the ensuing battle of love between the two at an emotional level, they fail. But I have to add that Vetri’s effort to fool us with his romantic fantasy has surely met with more success than Selva’s. Acting is reason enough to give this movie a shot. I loved the old man who plays “Pettaikaran” more than Dhanush in this flick. Dhanush’s acting prowess, especially in the movies where he plays the “locallu” guy is well known. To emulate Dhanush and make a mark when Dhanush is playing his favourite character takes a lot of effort and surprisingly, the old man seems to have done it with graceful ease. Having said that, Dhanush himself has come up with a cracker of a performance. He reverberates with oodles of energy scene after scene and after Selva, Dhanush seems to be very comfortable working with Vetri! The partnership is a success again. Kishore is another asset to the team.

GV has come up with beautiful songs for the movie and they have beautifully blended with the mood; the placement of the songs warrant mention. The BGM though, didn’t appeal to me. It seemed very repetitive and monotonous. Editing is one big letdown in this movie: I wonder why our filmmakers are so intent on stretching a movie to 150 minutes and beyond. To make things worse, a lot of scenes have been scissored abruptly. Aadukalam is what it is solely because of its screenplay. The emotions have worked wonderfully well and the innovative engineering of a plethora of reactions around the red-hot core of rooster fighting made for intriguing viewing. The computer generated rooster fights have come out very well and the level of interest here is sure to keep the audience on seat edges. Lighting seems to be another neglected element in the movie, with the director making it difficult for us to differentiate between characters in a few scenes. Apparently, the director has employed this technique to reflect the emotions; but he needn’t have done it to this extent! It also takes the sheen of the otherwise flawless cinematography. One big surprise in Aadukalam was the disappearance of a seemingly important character after the end of the first half, who was apparently used only for the build up.

To sum it up, Aadukalam is refreshingly innovative and deserves applause for Vetrimaran’s eye for excruciating detail and desire for perfection. The movie is not without its set of flaws though. Go enjoy this flick and raise the bar on your expectation meter for Vetrimaran’s next venture! Hope he comes up with such innovative themes devoid of clichés in the future.

kaavalan Film Review

2011-01-25T05:50:00.000-08:00

Having witnessed Sura-The Disaster FDFS,I had my doubts about watching Kaavalan.However all the "will it release/won't it" did its part,and suddenly I was all excited about this latest Venture of Vijay.

The movie starts off with a shot of a train,followed by few scenes of a woman giving birth to our protagonist.

So 1980s was the thought running through my head.This is followed by a couple of mundane,disjointed scenes where Vijay is introduced and His character of Bhoominathan is established.

Bhoomi gets into fights and considers Muthuramalingam as a demigod,Simply because he had an extra seat in his ambassador and is willing to drop a struggling pregnant lady at the hospital.So when hears about the impending danger Muthuramalingam faces he decides to pack his bags and serve as his Kaavalan.Again so 1980s.What follows is a song/fight sequence and you begin to wonder, "Won't Viay ever learn his lesson."

He has!When inquired about how his movies feel all to similar,Vijay has maintained that,its what his fans want and he is happy to play the same role over and over again to Please them.However the rest of the TC fans,have found his movies repetitive and it reflects badly on the Box office reports.The first 20 mins of the movie were similar to his previous movies and this could be to attract his "fans" and B&C audiences! What follows is anything but similar to Vijay movies of last 3 years.There is no looking back hereon.

Vijay is sent as the Body Guard of Asin to her college,and although he is just another student like asin studying in the institution he dresses up in a bodyguard uniform so that everyone knows that he is her BG.

Asin is tired of Vijay following her all around the college and decides that the only way to make him give up on his uniform is by pulling a prank on him.The film moves at a rapid pace and the pre interval block is engaging.

The 2nd half carries on from where the 1st left of,and is every bit as engaging. I am not going to dwell on the details of the 2nd half,to avoid spoiling it for you.

The movie had been Amazingly crafted and had impressed me for a good portion of 2 hours!The climax is a bit of a damper for me personally!It goes on a bit too long for my liking.Having said that,I have noticed that Several people have acknowledged that the climax is one of the major positives of the movie-So I leave that to your discretion.

Now to the Artists & Technicians involved:

Vijay: "The one man entertainment troupe is back."was the quote from one of the popular reviewers.So True.he is well and truly back.He underplays his role as Bhoominathan-The innocent,charming, humorous lover boy! Here he is not spewing punch dialogues directed at rival actors/politicians.Nor does he mesmerize us with his dance!Yet he manages to centre of attention,with his screen presence and comic timing.The scene at Botanical garden is a clear sign of how the actor has changed in 1 movie.

Asin: Hardly do you come across a Vijay movie,where the Actress has scope for performance.Then again,this isn't like every other Vijay movie.She plays her role credibly,however I felt that she broke into tears in every other scene-Which could have been avoided.

Vadivel: Lets get this straight,he isnt as funny as he was in friends!Not close to it!But he isn't as bad as he was in Sura/Villu either.Vadivel is funny and helps to carry the plot forward.

Cinematography: Top Notch.I am not certain about who has handle the camera here,but whoever it is has done a fantastic job.

Vidhyasagar: The BGM is appealing and all songs other than "Vinnai Kappan" are pleasing!Vidhyasagar is something of an enigma,you never know what to expect of him.He follows one great album with another poor one. He maintains his track record,He is Good in kaavalan and is appalling in Siruthai[more on that later]

Siddique: He doesn't have a great script,but he has a tight screenplay laced with comedy and makes the best use of the cast he has assembled.Job well done.

Bottom line:I am not really a fan of romantic movies,however this one is engaging and keeps the audience guessing.Its the perfect entertainer for this Pongal,and I hope it goes onto become a success at the Box office,simply for Vijays courage to 1.Finally break away from his formula. 2.Stand up against the mighty forces and ensure that his movie released against all odds. And also Because its a Good movie and deserves to enjoy Box office success.

Rating:3.5/5 There is no .5 on claps and Boos.So I had to go either 3 or 4,and I decided to go with 4,simply cos

Its something Different

Actress Namitha to Host JackPot

2011-01-24T05:46:00.000-08:00

The popular TV show Jackpot on Jaya TV is currently being hosted by actress Nadhiya. If sources are to be believed, Nadhiya has been shown the door and the producers have approached glam doll Namitha to take her place. It is noteworthy that the show was hosted by Kushboo before and the TRPs reached dizzying heights. But when Kushboo joined DMK, she was ousted from Jackpot and Nadhiya took her place.

Nadhiya has done no wonders to the show and the TRPs have gone down tremendously. Namitha is currently grabbing eye balls for her latest skin show in Illaignan. She was one of the judges in the show Maanaada Mayilaada in Kalaignar TV, and her infamous way of talking stylish Tamil is something of a mockery. Will she do well in Jackpot? Let's wait and watch!

Raid At Priyanka's house

2011-01-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

The Bollywood divas, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif had surprise visitors today at their doorsteps. We are not talking about Shahid Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor but Income Tax officials consisting of 50 members including officers and clerks at their respective premises for suspected tax evasion. The raids started around 7.30 am simultaneously at 12 sites, including the residences of the two actresses in the western suburbs. Priyanka's home in Versova, Andheri West, was raided. Also homes of Priyanka and Katrina’s secretaries, their respective office premises and other locations were raided, the official said. The income tax department had earlier sent several notices to both the actresses, seeking details of their finances but failed to get a satisfactory response. It seems both the actresses were a little too busy to pay their Income Tax.

Danush-Vetrimaran-Divya Spandana

2011-01-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

The winning combo of Dhanush and Vetrimaran are all set to join hands yet again. Their first movie together was Polladavan, which apart from being Vetrimaran’s debut, also gave Dhanush a new dimension as an action hero. The film gave its female lead, Divya Spandana, the much-needed break in Kollywood. Nearly four years after the release of Polladavan, the combination was back with the recent Pongal release Aadukalam which is creating waves at the box office and is also being given a thumbs up by critics. They are to delight us again with another film that would hit the floors in 2012. We hope for a hat-trick!

Nadunisi Naigal gets an A certificate

2011-01-20T05:23:00.000-08:00

Nadunisi Naaygal has been certified with an A certificate. The Censor Board couldn’t place their scissors anywhere in this gripping thriller and so decided to award an A certificate.

Nadunisi Naaygal, which stars Veera and Sameera Reddy, will be released on February 11th, 2011 across the globe. The film’s Telugu version Yerra Gulabeelu is also expected to hit the screens on the same day.

The movie has garnered a lot of expectations among Gautham’s fans because it is a thriller and mystery.

Rahman Promotes Robot in US

2010-09-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Music director AR Rahman is busy with his Jai Ho tour in the US. He was in Los Angeles on Sunday for his show at the LA forum. Inviting everyone to his show, Rahman also urged fans to watch the Robot. "Friends, see you at the LA Forum tonight - come watch the Robot. If you are looking for tickets, the Forum box office has them", was his message to friends on Twitter.

With the trailer of Endhiran and Robot released, people are most anxious to watch the movie. Rahman's music has already topped the charts and is a rage among fans. With personal invite, fans must be rushing to get tickets for the magnum-opus.

Endhiran Trailer creates Magic

2010-09-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

The Endhiran mania will touch unseen heights on Saturday, September 11. The reason being the theatrical trailer of Endhiran will be released tomorrow. Fans already got to see the teaser promos of the magnum opus by Shankar when the audio was launched in Malaysia last month. Now with the trailer release, the expectations will be like never before.

The trailer will be shown in Sathyam Cinemas, Rocky Theatre, Ambattur and Kasi Theatre, near Ashok Pillar. If it is your lucky day, you can also see your favorite superstar Rajinikanth at the Satyam Complex where he will release the trailer.

Endhiran Release Centres in Chennai

2010-09-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

Endhiran, which is touted to release in over 3000 theatres worldwide, will be released on about 30 theatres in Chennai alone.

The details of the theatres in which Endhiran will be released in Chennai are: Sathyam, Devi, Escape Cinemas, Inox, Abirami, Sangam, Albert, Udayam, Kamala, PVR Cinemas and others. The suburban theatres which will screen Endhiran are Kasi, Brindha, Thyagaraja, Devi Karumari and others. Mayajaal, which is in the suburbs will release the movie in its 60 screens while Udhayam in all its 4 screens. The new multiplex of Sathyam Cinemas, Escape will reserve 2 screens for Endhiran.

The latest buzz is that the post-production work of Endhiran is almost complete with the team looking to wrap it up in a coupe of days to facilitate release on the September 24th.

Endhiran Release Date

2010-09-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

As is the case with every Rajinikanth movie, Endhiran too has not disappointed fans. There is not a single day when fans do not get news about the magnum-opus directed by Shankar. There was a lot of speculation about the release date of the movie when the audio was launched in Malaysia. It was first announced that Endhiran would be released on the first week of September. Then, due to logistical reasons, the release was postponed to the last week of September.

Even last week, we read news that Endhiran will release on October 1, as the number '8' is lucky for director Shankar. Now, you will be the first to know that Endhiran will be released on September 24, 2010 which is less than three weeks from now. The countdown begins.

Aamir Eager to watch Endhiran

2010-09-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Aamir Khan had said that he is eager to watch Endhiran, produced by Sun Network’s Kalanidhi Maran and directed by Shankar. The actor pointed out that he grew up watching Rajinikanth-starrers mainly because of the actor’s style. Aamir added that is keen to take a peek on Endhiran to know what style Rajini had done for the Robot role.
For the first time, Rajini has paired up with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Endhiran and this has also caused a lot of expectations. The film’s music has been scored by Oscar winner AR Rahman.

Endhiran Fever Attacks Cricketers

2010-09-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

If we are kept guessing about the release date of the Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai starrer Endhiran, there is an ardent fan of the superstar who is having sleepless nights. We are talking about the wily Sri Lankan off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan. It is known that he is a huge fan of Rajini and is eagerly waiting for the release of Endhiran. Murali is in town to practice with Chennai Super Kings who are due to play in the Champions League T20 tournament in South Africa.
The Champions league starts on September 10 and ends on September 26, 2010. Now, with recent news suggesting that Endhiran may be released on October 8, Murali will be relieved that he can concentrate on cricket for a while. We hope he comes back in time to watch the movie First Day First Show.

Endhiran Release Date

2010-09-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Looks like the hullabaloo behind Endhiran’s release date will never die down. The movie was speculated to be released in the first week of September but still there are no signs of it. Fresh rumors quoting unconfirmed production sources mention that a new release date, October 8, has been finalized upon. Incidentally, the number eight is supposed to be Shankar’s lucky number.

There are also industry-talks that speculate the movie’s release date to collide with Diwali that falls on November 5. The movie, however, is ready for release and only a release date announcement from the producers will put an end to unverified speculations

Endhiran Singer In Town

2010-09-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

Songs of Rajinikanth starrer Endhiran has been topping the charts ever since it was released. One notable song is 'Kilimanjaro' which has been sung by popular playback singer Javed Ali and Chinmayee. Javed Ali who has sung in films like Sarvam, Vaamanan and Raavan is back in Chennai after a while. Javed, who is the student of noted Ghazal singer Ghulam Ali, will enchant Chennaites with his Ghazal songs. This Ghazal show will be held at the Music Academy in Mylapore.

Javed, who is a part of A.R. Rahman's Jai Ho world tour, is sure to thrill the audience with his Ghazals. Grab a ticket

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2010-09-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

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2010-08-18T05:51:00.001-07:00

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Endhiran Audio Review

2010-08-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

1. Pudhiya Manidha - SPB, AR Rahman, Khatija Rahman

A completely unusual intro song for Superstar Rajnikanth. A kind of a slow groovy start to the song with Rahman behind the mike crooning and is later joined by his daughter, Khatija, who debuts in singing. Once SPB hits the mike, the song hits fever pitch. Nostalgic memories flow of Rajni's memorable association with SPB in various blockbuster hit songs. Even at this age, SPB sings like an emperor who has complete control of himself. Rahman has the guts to experiment in a 'Rajni intro song' but his experiment here is a super success! People will still say Oruvan Oruvan was the best intro, but the class of this song is on a far different level

Rating: 5/5

2. Irumbile Oru Idhaiyam - AR Rahman, Krish 'N Krissy

A techno kind of a track, that has the man himself, Rahman, singing it. A perfect track for the discotheques, the energy of the track is infectious. Rahman delivers the track with the kind of ease that he is always known for. This could be a track that would not find favor with everybody in their initial listenings, but this is a highly infectious track that will keep you grooving and dancing as you keep listening to it more and more. Kash 'N Krissy seem to be a very good find (sung the 'Dochey' song in the Telugu movie Puli with music by Rahman).

Rating: 4/5

3. Kilimanjaro - Javed Ali, Chinmayi

Another peppy song, this one starts with tribal kind of beats. Javed Ali, the new regular in ARR's troupe predictably carries off the song in his own lively way. Chinmayi is the surprise here. Her voice is completely unrecognisable, and it rears up at only a few places near the end that its actually Chinmayi singing. But she is brilliant. Excellently voice modulated. A very entertaining track, the kind of track that 6 to 60 age group people will enjoy. Excellent random use of tabla by ARR in the song along with the drum beats. He is the experimentor's delight. A sure superhit track, the visuals (Shankar should ace it as per prediction) should take this track to great heights.

Rating: 4.5/5

4. Kadhal Anukkal - Vijay Prakash, Shreya Goshal

A Bollywood kind of romantic melody track that finds a place in Endhiran. Surprising since its a Rajni film, but the track rocks! Vijay Prakash, who has rapidly grown in stature in the Tamil music scene with songs like 'Hosanaa' and 'Veera Veera' (both Rahman tracks) is in top form with this song. And joining him is the queen of current Indian female playback singing, Shreya Goshal. Both singers complement each other really well and lift the song very well. A Rahman vintage track, the beats and the instrumentation are in perfect sync and are really attractive to hear. A feel good track, one that can be played on a romantic evening.

Rating: 4.2/5

5. Chitti Dance Showcase - Pradeep Vijay, Pravin Mani, Yogi B

Looks like some kind a theme track. Reminds one of the 'Liquid Dance' track from Slumdog Millionaire. Excellent beats and guitar really rock this song. The pace of the song fluctuates wildly but the music at each pace is so good to listen that you completely do not mind it. If used as a theme song, this track will enhance the movie like no other. One of the best theme tracks (if it is one).

Rating: 4.5/5

3. Kilimanjaro - Javed Ali, Chinmayi

Another peppy song, this one starts with tribal kind of beats. Javed Ali, the new regular in ARR's troupe predictably carries off the song in his own lively way. Chinmayi is the surprise here. Her voice is completely unrecognisable, and it rears up at only a few places near the end that its actually Chinmayi singing. But she is brilliant. Excellently voice modulated. A very entertaining track, the kind of track that 6 to 60 age group people will enjoy. Excellent random use of tabla by ARR in the song along with the drum beats. He is the experimentor's delight. A sure superhit track, the visuals (Shankar should ace it as per prediction) should take this track to great heights.

Rating: 4.5/5

4. Kadhal Anukkal - Vijay Prakash, Shreya Goshal

A Bollywood kind of romantic melody track that finds a place in Endhiran. Surprising since its a Rajni film, but the track rocks! Vijay Prakash, who has rapidly grown in stature in the Tamil music scene with songs like 'Hosanaa' and 'Veera Veera' (both Rahman tracks) is in top form with this song. And joining him is the queen of current Indian female playback singing, Shreya Goshal. Both singers complement each other really well and lift the song very well. A Rahman vintage track, the beats and the instrumentation are in perfect sync and are really attractive to hear. A feel good track, one that can be played on a romantic evening.

Rating: 4.2/5

5. Chitti Dance Showcase - Pradeep Vijay, Pravin Mani, Yogi B

Looks like some kind a theme track. Reminds one of the 'Liquid Dance' track from Slumdog Millionaire. Excellent beats and guitar really rock this song. The pace of the song fluctuates wildly but the music at each pace is so good to listen that you completely do not mind it. If used as a theme song, this track will enhance the movie like no other. One of the best theme tracks (if it is one).

Rating: 4.5/5

Overall: Awesome album that will be a feast for Superstar's fans and for Rahman fans. An album that is highly entertaining and should break records before the film's release. Considering that the director is Shankar, expect the songs to be called "classic, masterpiece" after the song visuals come out. The combo of Shankar and Rahman NEVER FAILS!

Adventurous Game

2010-08-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hello mates it gives me immense pleasure to introduce the best things to the best people.Recently i had come across one of the interesting site.It is none other than algadon.com . Its all about a game which is adventurous, interesting and its almost like a real life for people who live across.. People can even play with others online which makes the game most interesting and at the end of the day, the best person is being awarded based upon his performance.The story is all about ancient century, where there were lots of castes, there was confusion and is a fantasy role playing game set in the medieval land of Algadon.These sort of interesting game are created by the one and only http://www.algadon.com/ .

Species, races, and nations clashed, rose and fell with every new dawn; an endless maelstrom of disorder and chaos. Eventually, though, the world saw a new light. A man called Algadon rose up in one small, insignificant tribe and saw a vision of a better world. Against a harsh resistance, over time Algadon united the human tribes through diplomacy or war. Once accomplished, his influence quickly spread. Alongside the fractured races of the world, his nation expanded quickly, drawing all who would under his banner. Ever onwards, Algadon's empire expanded, until almost all the known world was under one banner. Those races that would join were welcome, and for the first time men could stand beside elves, dwarfs, or orcs without blood being spilt. Go and register yourself and enjoy playing it ...So what you people waiting for ?! Log on to the website to get the maximum out of it ! Cheers !!

Surya and Joe's Son name

2010-07-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Suriya and Jyothika’s new born son has been named! The naming ceremony was a very private affair with only family and close friends attending it. When everyone was expecting the couple to name their son that means light or brightness, they have named him Dev.

It may be recalled that when the actor was questioned about when he would name his son, he had replied their family would consult their astrologer and name him on an auspicious day. With the naming ceremony taking place after a month of Dev’s birth, it indicates that Suriya and family had indeed been waiting for an auspicious day.

kareena to gain more weight for her next film

2010-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

If reports are to be believed, Kareena Kapoor may soon go back to her size zero image. The actress has been signed up by Karan Johar for the film Short Term Shaadi. With this film, the lady will pair up with Imran Khan for the first time.

Sources in Bollywood say that Karan had asked Kareena to lose weight in order to fit the role she plays. Ironically, the actress was keen on putting on more weight as her partner Saif Ali Khan insisted on it.

Abi - Kat for Dostana-2

2010-07-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

Abhishek Bachchan and Katrina Kaif will be pairing up for not just one but three films. The duo had starred in Sarkar together about five years ago. The three films that they have signed up together are Tarun Mansukhani’s Dostana 2, Abbas-Mustan’s Italian Job and a Vipul Shah film.

Katrina, who is currently at the Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara shooting, will be available for the Dostana 2 shooting early next month, say sources.

Trisha not available for promos

2010-07-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

It is common knowledge that film promos mean a lot in Bollywood as it is considered to be essential for a film’s success at the box office. Even Trisha had once said that she is awed by the way a film is promoted in Bollywood.

However, Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan are reportedly not happy with the actress because she is not available for the film’s promos. The lady is currently stationed in Europe, where she is participating in the Kamal Haasan starrer Manmadhan Ambu and hence could not make it to the promos.

Inception Film Review

2010-07-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

The relationship between movies and dreams has always been — to borrow a term from psychoanalysis — over determined. From its first flickerings around the time Freud was working on The Interpretation of Dreams, cinema seemed to replicate the uncanny, image-making power of the mind, much as still photography had in the decades before.

And over the course of the 20th century, cinema provided a vast, perpetually replenishing reservoir of raw material for the fantasies of millions of people.

Freud believed that dreams were compounded out of the primal matter of the unconscious and the prosaic events of daily life. If he were writing now, he would have to acknowledge that they are also, for many of us, made out of movies.

And movies, more often than not these days, are made out of other movies. Inception, Christopher Nolan’s visually arresting, noir-tinged caper, is as packed with allusions and citations as a film studies term paper.

Admirers of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 will find themselves in good company, though Inception does not come close to matching the impact of those durable cult objects. It trades in crafty puzzles rather than profound mysteries, and gestures in the direction of mighty philosophical questions that

Nolan is finally too tactful, too timid or perhaps just too busy to engage.

So Inception is not necessarily the kind of experience you would take to your next shrink appointment. It is more like a diverting reverie than a primal nightmare, something to be mused over rather than analysed, something you may forget as soon as it’s over.

Which is to say that the time — nearly two and a half hours — passes quickly and for the most part pleasantly, and that you see some things that are pretty amazing, and amazingly pretty: cities that fold in on themselves like pulsing, three-dimensional maps; chases and fights that defy the laws that usually govern space, time and motion; Marion Cotillard’s face.

Cotillard, her most famous movie role evoked by occasional eruptions of Édith Piaf on the La Vie en Rose soundtrack, is the film’s principal enigma and its chief signifier of emotion.

She is not, however, exactly a character in Inception. Rather, at least as far as a first-time viewer can guess, she is a projection in the subconscious of her husband, a specialist in corporate mental espionage known as Cobb and played by Leonardo DiCaprio with some of the same twitchy melancholy he brought to Shutter Island.

To say too much about their marriage would be to risk compromising some of the pleasures of discovery tucked into a carefully crosshatched, multilayered story.

Better to explain what Cobb does for a living, since that exhaustive enumeration of the metaphysical rules of his profession occupies an awful lot of the dialogue in Nolan’s script.

Using a combination of drugs, wires and other vaguely Matrix-y methods, Cobb and his co-workers penetrate the minds of their slumbering targets, usually for the purpose of extracting hidden information.

But a wealthy client named Saito (Ken Watanabe) induces them to try the much more difficult trick known as inception, which involves planting an idea in someone else’s mind that will bear fruit in the real world. “That’s impossible!” more than one person has occasion to exclaim.

In any case, Cobb and his team are trying to induce a young man (Cillian Murphy), whose father (Pete Postlethwaite) is a business rival of Saito’s, to break up the company he is about to inherit.

This bit of commercial intrigue provides the fairly banal material foundation on which Nolan’s phantasmagorical world is built. The pursuit of competitive advantage by well-dressed, emotionless men is hardly the stuff that dreams are made of, Humphrey Bogart’s observations at the end of The Maltese Falcon notwithstanding.

And the content of those dreams, once Cobb and company have dropped into their mark’s sleeping mind, is often curiously pedestrian.

Most of the time, one group of guys with guns chases another, in cars across the rain-soaked streets of Los Angeles, on foot through the corridors of a retro-elegant hotel, and on skis and snowmobiles through an icy Alpine landscape from which James Bond might recently have departed.

A lot of this is — what is the critical term of art I’m looking for? — pretty cool. And the heist-movie cast of mind-cracking technicians is also cool.

Dileep Rao is the shaggy, anxious nerdy one. Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are a pair of wisecracking specialists in something-or-another, and Ellen Page is the architect. This means that she designs the physical environments in which the dreams take place, and also that, like a precocious sophomore in a graduate seminar, asks the right questions and spells out the obvious connections.

She also notices that Cobb’s personal issues are clouding his ability to work, and putting the rest of them at a vaguely defined but serious risk — a graver danger than just waking up. (The conceit that they’re all dreaming takes some of the edge off the movie’s violence, since it’s hard to grieve for extras who are just “projections” in some else’s mental theater. On the other hand, that is pretty much what all movie characters are. This is what I meant by overdetermined.)

Cobb, whose life depends on suppressing emotions and memories that he cannot control, is thus a typical Christopher Nolan hero.

His air of guilt and sorrow — the sense of unfinished psychic business pushing against his conscious intentions — marks his kinship with Christian Bale’s Batman, with the detective played by Al Pacino in Insomnia and with the anguished amnesiac played by Guy Pearce in Memento.

DiCaprio exercises impressive control in portraying a man on the verge of losing his grip, but Nolan has not, in the end, given Cobb a rich enough inner life to sustain the performance.

The accomplishments of Inception are mainly technical, which is faint praise only if you insist on expecting something more from commercial entertainment.

That audiences do — and should — expect more is partly, I suspect, what has inspired some of the feverish early notices hailing “Inception” as a masterpiece, just as the desire for a certifiably great superhero movie led to the wild overrating of The Dark Knight.

In both cases Nolan’s virtuosity as a conjurer of brilliant scenes and stunning set pieces, along with his ability to invest grandeur and novelty into conventional themes, have fostered the illusion that he is some kind of visionary.

But though there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Nolan’s idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness — the risk of real confusion, of delirium, of ineffable ambiguity — that this subject requires.

The unconscious, as Freud (and Hitchcock, and a lot of other great filmmakers) knew, is a supremely unruly place, a maze of inadmissible desires, scrambled secrets, jokes and fears.

If Nolan can’t quite reach this place, that may be because his access is blocked by the very medium he deploys with such skill.

And the limitations of Inception may suggest the limits not only of this very talented director, but also of his chosen art form at this moment in its history. Our dreams feed the movies.

The movies feed our dreams. But somehow, our imaginations are still hungry.

Udaan Film Review

2010-07-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

In 1959 in France, a teenage boy ran away from a juvenile home. That moment in 400 Blows was symbolic for French cinema, as with it they left the baggage of cliché behind and embraced a new, youthful vibrancy that would change cinema of the World.

Fifty years later, Hindi cinema finds itself just at that moment of epiphany with this year's, perhaps even this decade's best Hindi film, in Udaan. Will Hindi cinema hold on to the wings of this film and take flight?

Rohan is just another 'average' kid, rebellious and dreamer. After being expelled from boarding school, he has to live with his authoritarian, oppressive father in the steel town of Jamshedpur. It is obvious that the apple has fallen as far from the tree as it is possible.

The father runs a small steel plant and wants his son to be an engineer and enjoys defeating him in running, while the son sits on railway tracks, under a tree, by the bed of a river, composing poetry. Senior Singh cannot digest the fact that his son dreams of being a writer. So he makes his rules clear to both Rohan and his young step-brother Arjun.

Rohan rebels in his own little ways, but has to concede to his fathers demands. When he comes to know that the reason for his step-brother's hospitalisation is because of a beating from his father, he seethes with rage, but can do nothing.

Yet, in the end you cannot hold a rebellious spirit down and Rohan breaks free from his shackles.

Udaan will not only resonate with those who had a troubled childhood, but with anyone who has faced oppression, or ever nurtured dreams. The film is an analogy of life and of a nation's social ethos.

Another film that came out earlier this year Leaving Home, a documentary about the band Indian Ocean, resonated with the same middle-class aspiration that Udaan dabbles with. There too the band members detail how they had had to fight their own parents and the system to become artists.

The cast gives a stellar performance.

Rajat Barmecha as Rohan is a precious find, while Ronit Roy as his father reminds you of another super-villain of world cinema, nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Looking at his maturely restrained performance, you wonder what he is doing wasting time overacting for television.

Yet, the winner is director Vikramaditya Motwane. Like Francois Truffaut with 400 Blows, his is also a delectable, beautiful debut. And like Truffaut himself, he too had been a rebel with the film being a veiled biography.

Hence, in the end, when Rohan outruns his father, you cannot help but celebrate, and like 400 Blows did, you only wish Bollywood too comes out of the shackles of its own clichés and open its arms to directors like Motwane.

If nothing, the fact that even after seven months Bollywood has not had a single hit in 2010 should be sign enough for them to adopt the much needed newness.

Perhaps it is too much to expect. But then, all the best things in the world exist because of these individual rebellions, from people who have run away from conventions to create their own dreans.

Udaan is both a celebration and a triumph of that spirit rebellious.

Neetu chandra with Baton

2010-07-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

Actress Neetu Chandra became one of the few privileged Bollywood celebrities to have the honour of running with Commonwealth Games torch, in her hometown Patna this week.

Neetu was selected for the relay, popularly known as 'Queen's Baton' relay, owing to her active association in sports.

Apart from being a regular basketball player, the actress is a Black Belt 2nd Dan, having participated in various martial arts tournaments at national and International level.

"The Commonwealth Games promote international integration, so it was a huge honour for me to sprint with the torch. I got goose bumps in excitement," Neetu said after the run.

"The Queen's Baton felt like a power baton and gave me a different kind of high. It was a mix of pride and responsibility," she added.

The baton will arrive at the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony on October 3, 2010 in New Delhi after having visited the other 70 nations of the Commonwealth and
travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games.

Madharasapattinam Film Review

2010-07-13T07:19:00.001-07:00

Get ready to be transported back into Madras. The makers have promised a trip from Chennai to Madharasapattinam and that is exactly what has been delivered through this movie. But, is it just a trip back in time or is there more to look forward to? Before we begin analyzing Madharasapattinam for what it is, let us lay down

lines that quite clearly define what it is not. Any movie set in the pre-independence era carries the expectations of portraying the freedom struggle. Madharasapattinam makes little or no attempts to get into that. Yes, the events of the freedom struggle and subsequent achievement of independence from British rule are important events that have a bearing on the story. But, those events have not been shown in detail, nor have any of the legendary names associated with the freedom been depicted. So, Madharasapattinam is not a documentation of the freedom struggle and events associated with it. Then what is it?

It is a love story set against the backdrop of India that is on the verge of independence. A young British lady (Amy Jackson) is visiting India. She is from a family that is well connected to the highest echelons of power in the Madras presidency. As it is, tensions are brewing between the British and Indians all over the country. That rubs off on a small washer man community in Madras who stand in the way of the powerful British personnel when they attempt to evict them from their place. It hurts the ego of a highly placed British officer who challenges a young dhobi (Arya) for a one-on-one which would decide the fate of the place. The British lady happens to be a silent spectator to all that transpires between the British and the dhobi community; she notices the young man who has the courage to stand up to a mighty force. Soon, she finds herself attracted to this man who also seems to be reciprocating those feelings. But, the proximity between the two does not escape the eyes of the power hierarchy who look down upon the relation as a disgrace to the family and the empire. With freedom fast approaching and the British getting ready to leave the country, time is running out for the couple who have to make a decision between love and country. What happens to the love story that faces the wrath of mighty empire whose ego has been badly bruised by the freedom struggle? Watch Madharasapattinam to find out.

The storyline and the events might sound a bit familiar to you. Yes, there are points in the movie where one is able to draw parallels to other great movies. The opening portions remind us of Titanic, while the challenge thrown by the British at the dhobi community gives us a Lagaan feel. But, in spite of all this, Madharasapattinam has a unique identity and the reason for that is in the title of the film itself - Madras. That is the single biggest highlight of the movie.

Full marks to the team of Madharasapattinam for recreating Madras, which existed only in photos, history books and minds of people who lived during that era. Though most of us do not have a very clear idea about how Madras would have looked like before 1947, the picturisation is good enough to convince us that this is an authentic representation. First on the order of merit for making this possible is the art department headed by Selva Kumar. We are taken to a Mount Road (not Anna Salai) that is not overflowing with traffic, the old Washermanpet, the haloed building of the Madras Central and the Buckingham Canal which once was the backbone of a very efficient drainage system of the city. We are even shown a Cooum that is not filthy; which is hard to imagine, considering the state of the river these days. All sets are exquisitely constructed and look very original. Hordes of junior artistes have been employed in proper period attire to add to the authentic feel. What is provided by the art department in terms of magnificent sets has been enhanced into a wonderful on screen experience through Nirav Shah’s lens. The cinematographer is in top form capturing Madras in all its glory. The tone adopted to give a period theme is apt.

Other technical aspects of Madharasapattianam also a delight, especially G.V. Prakash’s background music. The small touches that he has provided, especially when the love between the lead couple begins to bloom, are wonderful. The songs too are a treat, especially ‘Vaama Dorayamma’ and ‘Aaruyire’. Though there is a feeling that adding a few western pieces here and there would have made it even more perfect for the movie. Costumes of the entire cast are almost perfect, especially Amy Jackson’s.

Performances are a real delight in Madharasapattinam. The one who walks away with the top honors is Amy Jackson for a beautiful portrayal of a lady torn between her love and the mighty empire. She looks absolutely beautiful, emotes well through her expressive eyes and is able to earn the sympathy of the audiences during tough times. Arya is perfect for the character of the dhobi who is also a wrestler. He is intense, manly, yet soft and romantic when it is required. A convincing performance. The rest of the cast too is spot on in delivering the goods. The British cast looks convincing as the colonial power. VMC Haneefa delights as the dubashi (translator) lending many moments of fun as he plays around with languages that he does not know. Nasser brings power and intensity to the character that he portrays. The lady who portrays the aged Amy Jackson, through whose memory the story is told, also impresses a great deal

While there are positives aplenty for Madharasapattinam, there are one or two aspects that could have been better. The dialogues do not seem to be the kind that would have been spoken before 1947, the lines look very contemporary, especially the Tamil dialogues. One can overlook this in a commercial film. Using the proper 1940s Madras Tamil could have worked either way for the movie. There are quite a few English dialogues (understandably), but they do not look like an inconvenience or act as a barrier between the film and the audiences; the subtitles have been done well.

Overall, Madharasapattinam is a film that takes you back in time and shows you a Madras that exists only in photos and memory. Hats off to the entire team for making this possible and kudos to Vijay for heading this team and pulling off the huge task. Also thanks to AGS Films for taking up such a subject which would have definitely cost a lot. Madharasapattinam is a pretty often seen love story where poor boy meets rich girl, much to the angst of the family. But, it is the backdrop and the treatment that make it a different experience. Watch Madharasapattinam for some great art work, cinematography, performances and to appreciate an effort that is a rare occurrence in Tamil cinema. But, do not look for a documentation of the freedom struggle and other historical milestones. Just enjoy the trip from Chennai to Madharasapattinam

Verdict: Enjoyable trip to Madras Presidency!

Milenge Milenge Film Review

2010-07-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

If only the world hadn’t drooled upon the Zero figure of Kareena, if only Kareena and Shahid hadn’t grown into such brilliant performers in the past few years, if only we all have not been accustomed to all those Vishals, Dibakars and Anurags and most of all, if only Shahid and Kareena hadn’t broke up, this attempt at remaking

the John Cusak starrer ‘Serendipity’ by the remake king - Satish Kaushik would have had few more chances of increasing its first week collections by a tiny margin. But this long delayed movie may have looked quite an interesting watch due to the cool posters but is as dated as Kareena’s flab.

The story is about Kareena waiting for Mr. Right, Shahid Kapoor posing to be Mr. Right falls in love with Kareena. Shahid becomes Mr. Right but its too late, Kareena is long gone leaving away a trail – a fifty rupee note with Shahid’s name and phone number and Kareena’s name and phone number in a book which is being passed on from one old book stall to another. And now it’s left to Destiny (read - the Director) to reunite them. Can it?

Satish Kaushik, a brilliant actor, is not an accomplished filmmaker by any standards. He has found few successes but the success rate ratio is pretty low. And this one too is a losing venture from the very first frame. The story is outdated, acting – overdone, comedy – crass, screenplay – lackluster. And when I sit and wonder about the plusses and minuses of this movie, there seems to be dominance of the latter as I hardly could come up with one or two in the former side. So the Satish Kaushik’s cameo and the rare glimpse of Aarti Chabbaria’s sexy body seemed to be the only plusses and the rest (which is almost 97% of the movie) is forgettable.

Kareena Kapoor looks dead throughout the movie; she looks uninterested from the second reel. Shahid looks fresh but overacts in almost all the scenes. Delnaz Paul is her usual quirky overacting self, Satish Shah and Kiron Kher has only one emotion throughout - the first being happy and cheerful and the second giving a mysterious smile. Satish Kaushik does a cameo effectively; Aarti looks hot but has no role.

Technically, the movie looks as old as floppy drives, S Sriram’s cinematography may have looked good if the movie had released three years ago as it was supposed to, and the same can be said about the rest of the crew too. Himesh comes up with a real bad score with not even a single song is hummable or presented well.

Overall, Boney Kapoor, not even in the wildest of imagination, would have thought Shahid and Kareena would break up as due to that the movie had been in the cans for quite a long time. And the producer would have just expected that both will surely Milenge Milenge, if only life can also be controlled by Satish!

Verdict: Outdated beyond belief

I hate love stories Film Review

2010-07-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Its Dharma Productions and the marketing campaign had been spot on. But somehow I started getting a bad feeling about the movie; I thought this movie would go in the similar cliché fashion as many other Bollywood blockbusters. A critic going inside the theatre with a preconceived notion or expectation might have been considered a crime but for a person who sees at-least 300+ movies a year its much better to have such expectation games to feel active and fresh every single time we enter the theatre dome. Was it cliché ridden? Yes, was it a bad movie? That’s a definite no.

The pleasant surprise came in the first reel itself when the hero narrates why he hates love stories having a particular cliché. And all over the movie it has several satire's and spoof on such movies but at the end of it all by having all the cliché added in a different way the director wants to state that such reel cliché can actually happen in real life.

Jai (Imran) is the assistant director to one of the most successful romantic directors in India, Veer (Sameer Soni). But unfortunately Jai hates love stories reel or real and especially movies of Veer, but he needs to be there for he wants to become a director. The work place is filled with people who loves fantasizing and loving each and every single cliché Veer comes up with and to top it all the new art director the young and beautiful Simran (Sonam) idolizes Veer's movies. Simran wants to be in such a fairy tale life only to be turned topsy turvy by Jai. Simran who has a perfect love life with Sameer Dattani slowly falls for the care-free, independent and Casanova or in short term, imperfect Jai. But Jai Hates love stories and never ever wants to be in one. Can Jai fall in love with Simran? But this film being what it is, can it be any other way?

For most parts the movie seemed to be a parody of the cliché and that makes the movie a complete fun to watch. The movie had an under-base of comedy and it has worked well for the movie. The movie does move quite slow in the first half and doesn't quite shift gears in the second but still overall you do come out of the theatres with a smile on your face and the first timer- Punit Malhotra should be patted on the back just for that. A non-melodramatic rom-com which is sure to be lapped up by the youngsters. All the scenes of the sarcastic mother of Imran are a laugh worthy. There are loads of continuation problem though, how can Imran's Mother in Delhi be having a lunch get-together when Imran is in Mumbai taking a night flight? So much of a time difference between Delhi and Mumbai? Well, Its Bollywood for crying out aloud, anything is possible.

Imran is cute but somehow he is just not right for emotional or romantic roles. He just couldn't pull it off but as a Casanova he carries off the comic lines with exquisite timing. Sonam Kapoor is not a great actor herself, but she has improved quite a lot from her Saawariya days. Her laugh looks artificial and her dialogue delivery forced but she is pretty convincing as a dreamer and looks ravishing in modern wear. Even though their acting prowess is highly debatable Sonam and Imran Jodi clicks as they posses a powerful chemistry. A chemistry which was electrifying! Anju Mahendru as Imran's mother was brilliant, unlike any Bollywood movie's before(not that I can remember of) she is the sarcastic kinds and she kindles the love inside Imran which makes all the difference and so is the very cute and lovable Kavin Dave(The sprite guy) who makes you smile whenever he comes on screen. Sameer Soni as Veer is brilliant as the eccentric and vibrant celebrity director. The rest of the crew is just about fine.

Technically the movie looks as rich and sophisticated as any Dharma Production with an exceptional contribution behind the camera by T. Ayananka Bose. The editing looks neat with no major glitches. The soundtrack is young and vibrant and who else could have made it this trendy than the talented young duo Vishal-Shekar? Salim Sullaiman's background worked quite well with the mood of the movie. Art direction was brilliant as well. Dialogue written by Punit himself is the high-point of the movie. Costumes by Manish work wonders for the movie too.

Overall it’s the same old wine in a bottle which states the fact quite clearly that it is the old wine over and over again. The movie would have fallen flat if not for the quirky and brilliantly penned dialogues, scintillating chemistry from the lead and some amazing tunes by music wiz duo. Go for it with an open mind and come out smiling.

Verdict: A perfect Valentine's Day movie. Go for it.

Kalavani Film Review

2010-07-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to expect anything dramatic or even plain different from a movie that has no popular credentials to back it up. Give those preconceived notions the elbow since unpredictability is the essence of life. Kalavani an Indie movie, despite its unsophisticated title, comes across as a whiff of fresh air and stands apart from the other small timers for not having taken itself seriously.

The basic issue with small time movies is that they want to make a quick buck and hence come across as shoddy and despicable. What’s so different about Kalavani is that the movie is so light hearted and the cheerfulness is infectious. It unfolds and folds in the manner of a delightful short story.

Vimalraj (the grubby Meenakshi Sundaram from Pasanga) is the ill-behaved son of the gullible Saranya and her husband Ilavarasu. Vimalraj’s financial needs are met by his susceptible mother, whom he either hoodwinks or intimidates to fulfill his frequent needs to gamble or hang out with his friends. He pushes the boat out and spends his time whiling away, aided by his friends. In the course of the time, he also spots a girl and falls in love with her – much to the despair of her brother who nurses a rivalry against him.

But he dares those boundaries and abducts the girl, eventually marrying her. The brother, however, is still fuming with rage and is out to slice him into pieces. But does he do that? And if he didn’t, how did Vimal manage to avert that? All this is answered in an interesting climax that is pleasantly humorous.

For Vimalraj, this role is just a reprisal of his Pasanga chapter and he does it with ease. Saranya is impeccable as ever and Ilavarasu, as the dutiful father, deserves a mention too. Ganja Karuppu’s comical interludes save the movie from sagging in the first half.

Kalavani, thankfully, has no blood and gore. Although the director has been successful in bringing a remote village in Tanjore to the screen, the dialect takes a beating. It appears butchered and city dwellers will have a hard time deciphering the dialogues. But the cinematography more than makes it up for that.

S S Kumaran’s rerecording passes with average marks and a couple of songs, shot neatly, also manage to pull it off. Direction Sargunam’s Kalavani might not be an awesome piece of work, but the movie manages to stand apart from its contemporary Indie ventures for its sheer lack of pretentiousness. The movie is, therefore, guileless and an attempt to watch it will not ruin your weekend plans.

Verdict: Periya Pasanga!

Thittakudi Film Review

2010-07-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

At one side, we have movies that take Tamil cinema to the next league with world class potential and at the other, there are such movies that even describing them would make one cringe. Director Suntharan’s Thittakudi is one of those B graders simply made to add credit points to the director’s profile and to make the producer Siva Kogul Raj’s finances dwindle.

Set in the Thittakudi town, the movie follows the life of a waywardly young man (played by Ravi) who decides to take life in his hands in the absence of proper guidance. He makes merry, sleeps with every single willing woman, drinks and gambles and falls in love - or pretends to. And the poor girl (Asvatha) who falls for him loses her virginity, after which she is abandoned by him.

The villagers’ attempt to bring the two together fails miserably and the girl gets married to another hopeless bloke. Now Ravi becomes destitute and seeks penance for having deserted the love of his life.

It’s not only that the director has included many obnoxious scenes in the movie; in the name of twists he has packed it with malicious content. Although there was no justification for those scenes, the fact that he used such scenes makes a huge difference to the movie’s social standing.

You don’t tend to remember any of the performances by the end of the movie, no matter how emotionally dramatic the scenes were. Mainly because Thittakudi has no heart in its right place and comes across as rather hollow.

Director Suntharan probably wanted to give some sort of social message with his movie but the way he scripted the screenplay, the movie sounds more like a wannabe sensationalist. If loose morals that make people lose their minds and do pretty awful things do not count for sensationalism, what else will?

Verdict: Stay far, far away

Veluthukattu Film Review

2010-07-08T06:59:00.000-07:00

As much as we are stuck with the song-and-dance routine in our movies, there are a few recurring themes those can just not simply be done away with. Veluthu kattu, produced by S A Chandrasekhar and directed by Senapathy Magan, deals with exactly one of those themes: it’s Amman Koil Kilakaale meets Kilakke Pogum Rail.

Veluthu kattu revolves around a puppy love that develops into something big, parental pressure against the couple’s marriage and their need to prove themselves to win their parents approval. All this happens after two jail sentences imposed on each of the lead and their wait for each other until the sentence is over. So filmy indeed!

Debutant Kathir plays a hopeless and cantankerous guy whose short temper almost costs him his love. Kathir slacks in his studies and ends up being a no-gooder. Arundathi is his childhood sweetheart whose parents refuse to get her married off to Kathir for obvious reasons. Kathir is in a need to prove himself and upon Arundathi’s insistence, goes to Chennai in search of greener pastures. He befriends another girl, secures a big fat loan, gets into a restaurant business (as simple as that indeed!) and makes big money.

But all is not well with Arundathi, who is forcefully married to another man in Kathir’s absence. Arundathi does not take it lightly and hacks her husband to death. This eventually sends her to the prison. Now what will happen of Kathir? Will he wait till she returns?

With a storyline like that, the movie could have fit anywhere between the 70s and the late 80s. But blame our stars; we stand witness to a melodramatic and twisted tale of women falling for men who are supposedly good at heart but still good for nothing other than wooing them. Time and again! And it’s not only a singled out case. We are a jinxed audience and the director probably thinks this is what we deserve.

There is lots of scope for Kathir to improve in terms of performance and everything while Arundathi can shine in the hands of an able director and a good role. The movie, as such, wallows in melodrama so much that you stop caring for its actors; and most of it seems forced as well.

In the otherwise dismal state of affairs, the songs are just above passable in Bharani’s music. Director Senapathy Magan might want to do a reality check as to how life is lived in villages. For one, girls from the villages are not naïve enough to squander their lives for unreasonable and foolish men. It’s mortifying even to think!

Verdict: Amman Koil Kilakaale meets Kilakke Pogum Rail!

Raavanan vs Raavan

2010-07-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

For years now Mani Ratnam has never been able to create a movie in the league of Nayagan, Iruvar, Anjali or Kannathil. With Raavanan (with the *an*), he has created a masterpiece which can stake claim as one of his best Tamil films ever. Raavan (without the *an*) is good, but unfortunately Abhishek had to be pitted against Vikram and this is a no contest.

Unlike what most reviews say, Raavanan is not to show how Vikram is a Robin Hood or the gray in his character. Its a typical Mani Ratnam movie where the audience effortlessly falls in love with the anti-hero (more effortlessly with every film of his - from the detailed story in Nayagan to not so detailed in Dalapathy to more and more crisp editing in Dil Se and Guru).

Also, unlike what most reviews say, Raavanan is anything but slow - It shows editing at its best and crispiest - The Prithviraj - Ash romance in one song, the Naxal theme in one song, Vikram’s character in a couple of frames and Vikram falling in love in one brilliantly choreographed song which is poetry in modern frames! The editing is so taut that it’s easy to miss a dialogue or a connection to the epic - Hanuman, Vibheeshan, Kumbhakarna, Jatayu. Blink and you miss a scene where Ash gets out of the train and waits for Prithviraj. Turn away and you miss the human side of Vikram falling in love with Ash.

This is one movie where Mani Ratnam has deliberately left a lot of ambiguities. What does Sita go back for? What happens after the end? Who does she love, or does she love Raavanan at all? Who is Raavanan - A brilliant psycho? Millions of voices ringing in his head? Is the movie about Good Vs Evil, about how love destroys, about the captive and captor? Or is it about the Naxals? Or a bit of everything? Or is it a simple love story? Is Prithviraj involved in the Shurpanaka incident? Is he just a righteous cop who'll do anything for justice? Was Ash imagining Vikram falling on her and getting close to her, like the other dream sequences?

There’s no point talking about the brilliantly backlit frames, excellent music or the sets or the cinematography - These are all taken for granted in a Mani Ratnam movie. As are good acting performances from the side cast, especially Priyamani, Prabhu, Karthik and Ravi Kishen.

Finally, the point which most reviewers have missed. Ash's performance - The best by any adult heroine in a Mani Ratnam film (along with maybe Manisha in Bombay), and the best by any heroine in recent times.

And Raavanan Vs Raavan - Raavan is by far better than any of the mindless stuff which comes out of Bollywood these days. And Abhishek doesn't have a good PR manager like that fellow who played Arjun in Rajneeti :) Abhi isn't as good as Vikram, but by any standards an Abhishek performance in a Mani Ratnam film is better than any other peer - Ranbir, Imran Khan etc.

Mani Ratnam is way ahead of his time in filmmaking. He defines moviemaking style in India in terms of camerawork, choreography, music and themes. Nayagan came in years before Company and Sarkar or any Mafia movie in India. Look at Mammootty and Rajnikanth in Dalapathy versus Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgn in Raajneeti. Dil Se was way ahead of its time. When Yuva was released, Bollywood was still caught in the traditional fare. Now, six years after Yuva we have mainstream films which are not typical love stories. So we need to wait for a few years for critics to applaud Raavan (without the *an* - that’s already a masterpiece) as a path breaking movie. Haven’t we waited years for critics to say Iruvar, Dil Se and Yuva were good movies after they were ripped apart when they were launched?

Finally - Which other director in India would have the guts to present Ram as the villain and Raavan as the hero?

Raavan makes you think. It requires you to keep up with its breakneck speed. Not a simple movie like Guru, which is why it has flopped.

A letter to Priyamani

2010-07-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

The more I look into Raavanan, the movie, the more I admire you for the excellent actor you are Priyamani

To say you were very good as Vennila would be an under statement. Your portrayal as Vennila went beyond my expectation.

We see how much faith the director had in you to have depended on your face and voice, to relate the story of the horrible thing happened to Vennila.

I was struck with an odd feeling when I saw this scene because I think this is the first for our cinema to enact a delicate scene like this, with an unbearable calmness, through the victim and her voice. The director needs to have tremendous confidence in himself and with the actor, you Priyamani. Fantastic.

What is amazing is that the director and the actor came together brilliantly in this scene, to bring out Vennila's pain in a simple narration. But I do not see them. I only see Vennila, who has to repeat what had occurred to her, in spite of the mental and physical pain, she was going through. It really touched my soul Priyamani. Thanks to you, it was educational.

Calmness you emoted, which comes to a person after (a good cry) a devastating trauma and the voice modulation you lend to Vennila for the narration and the body language (movements or lack of it) everything is brilliant. I never thought a scene this delicate can unfold in this manner.

Vennila had to talk about such a sensitive issue out loud, and that too to her brother she respects and loves. She is worried for her brother and for herself also, because she might not be able to handle it, if he gets angry and shouts or goes after them in rage. Brother instead goes into pieces. He was so helpless that he feels the entire world on his shoulders. Director and Veera are amazing here.

Vennila will live in our hearts for a long time to come. Congrats Priyamani and best wishes for all your endeavors in the present and in the future..

Akshara Ready to make the mark

2010-07-04T03:04:00.001-07:00

"I have put 110 per cent in ‘Khatta Meetha’ and can't wait for July 23 when the film releases," says Trisha, who is making her Bollywood debut with the Priyadarshan-directed movie, which has Akshay Kumar as the leading man.

The actress, who is currently shooting with Kamal Haasan in France for 'Manmadhan Ambu', says, "My role in ‘Khatta Meetha’ was meaty and everything was just so perfect. Everything just happened over a 10 minutes phone call, all thanks to Priyan."

On things she expects from her Bollywood venture, Trisha says, "I am looking forward to more acceptance and appreciation. I am very much interested to see how people from south, from where I belong, react to it."

Excited about working with Kamal, she says, "What a man he is. Kamal sir is an awesome genius who has wide knowledge about anything not just under the sun, but beyond that too. I am enjoying every bit of working with him."

Trisha Says i can't wait for khaata meetha Release

2010-07-03T03:00:00.000-07:00

Asin's Reply to Complaint made

2010-07-02T02:52:00.000-07:00

Asin’s visit to Sri Lanka for the Hindi film Ready’s shooting has drawn a lot of criticism among the various associations in the Tamil film industry. Recently, the Nadigar Sangam secretary, Radha Ravi had said action would be taken against Asin after consulting with various associations.

Reacting to this, Asin has said that she was not instrumental in choosing the shooting locations for Ready and had to merely abide by the selections made by the director and producer.

Asin rued that when the Indian cricket team visited the island for the Asia Cup last month, they were not stalled by any association. So why this partiality, she reportedly asked in an interview.

Priyamani and Bhavana to act Together

2010-07-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Vikram’s sister in ‘Raavanan’ and Ajith’s love interest in ‘Aasal’ are set to share the screen space, but not in a Tamil movie. Priyamani and Bhavana will work together for a Kannada film, titled ‘Vishnuvaradhan’.

The movie, apparently titled as a tribute to the late Kannada superstar ‘Vishnuvaradhan’, will also have Sudeep and Sonu Sood in pivotal roles, say sources in the know. “It has a different storyline with equal importance to all stars,” they say.

“Priyamani, who is getting ready to leave for the United States, will join ‘Vishnuvaradhan’ team on her coming back to India by the end of July, while Bhavana will start working for the movie from August,” sources add.

Interestingly, this is not the first time for either Bhavana or Priyamani, both from Mollywood, to act in a Sandalwood film. Priyamani has acted in films like ‘Raam’ and ‘Eno Onthara’ while Bhavana starred opposite Puneet Rajkumar in ‘Jackie’.

About Chikku Bukku Story

2010-06-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Why did director Manigandan choose the title Chikku Bukku for the Arya-Shriya starrer? Replying to this, the director has said that the lead pair meets on the train, fall in love on the train and split on the train. With the train being an integral part of the movie, he decided to name it Chikku Bukku.

The film begins in London and moves on to Karaikudi. Though it is a love story, neither the hero nor the heroine faces any resistance from their families to enter wedlock, Manigandan declares. He says that Arya and Shriya find fault with each other and make matters worse. This is the crux of Chikku Bukku, he is reported to have said. The film’s audio is expected to be launched during the second week of July.

Trisha Pretty good At Hindi

2010-06-29T04:10:00.001-07:00

Trisha Krishnan, the south Indian babe, whose first entry in Bollywood is with Akshay Kumar starrer 'Khatta Meetha', is fluent in Hindi. Trisha's voice is being dubbed by a professional in the movie directed by Priyadarshan.

She actually did want anybody else to dub for her lines in 'Khatta Meetha as she can read and write Hindi very well. She is good in spoken Hindi too.

Still since the actress is playing collector role, it requires a perfect diction, perfect Hindi without any slang being used. Hence she was not allowed to dub her lines in the movie in her own voice.

Lets hope if not in her first debut in Hindi, she might get a chance to dub her lines in the movie in her own voice in future.

Sameera's Best Varnam Aayiram

2010-06-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Ask Sameera Reddy what her best role till date is and the actress replies that it is in Vaaranam Aayiram, where she is paired opposite Suriya. Though, Sameera dies midway through the film, her performance in it was so strong. Sameera says that the role in VA is something she could connect to and it was so real. In Hindi she likes her role in Yeh Hausla.

Sameera is currently busy with a Gautham Menon project and the Hindi flick Red Alert: The War Within, in which she plays a naxalite.

Selva Regrets Divorce

2010-06-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Director Selvaraghavan seems to have second thoughts about his divorce. He had very recently tweeted: “I wish I could have saved my wedding!!!” It is worth mentioning here that the Selvaraghavan and actress Sonia Agarwal divorced following differences of opinion.

The director is currently working on a film with Vikram playing the lead and yet another movie that will have Telugu star Rana Daggubati.

Meanwhile, there are reports that Sonia Agarwal has been offered an important role in a film by Kasthuriraja, father of Selvaraghavan.

Aishwarya Rai's Scanned Passport on net

2010-06-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Cell in Mumbai. The actress was shocked to find a scanned copy of her passport leaked in the World Wide Web. Following this, she lodged a complaint. In her complaint, the actress had stated that all the details of her travels to foreign countries and her birth date have been leaked.

The actress has said that she had never given her passport to a third person barring the production houses to make arrangements for film shootings held abroad. The police are investigating the issue and are said to suspect that one of the production house could have leaked the info.

Anushka Backing Sentiment

2010-06-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

How can we forget the most fearful voice of Ravishankar in ‘Arundhathi’ saying ‘Amma Bommali’ for Sonu Sood which connected well with audience and ‘Bommali’ has become a buzz word for Telugu people. Taking the ‘Bommali’ sentiment forward, director Meher Ramesh has used this word in the lyric of a song in ‘Billa’ which was again super hit by the composition of Mani Sharma.

Anushka has thought of keeping the ‘Bommali’ sentiment alive even for ‘Panchakshari’ from her close friend and producer Bommadevara Ramchandra Rao. During all the pressmeets and promotional programs for ‘Panchakshari,’ Anushka was seen calling Bommadevara as Bommi. This time sentiment turned into ointment as Bommi’s ‘Panchakshari’ bombed at BO but still Bommi came out with colors as he gained a table profit of nearly Rs. 3 crores. Hope Singanamala, Mahesh Babu and Trivikram are reading this.

Rain Spoiled Katrina's Trip

2010-06-24T03:29:00.000-07:00

Katrina Kaif was supposed to fly down to Mumbai for a day to attend the Raajneeti success party Wednesday from Spain, where she is shooting for Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, but the actress had to drop her plans because of the inclement weather there.

The Raajneeti team has a lot to celebrate about, but director Prakash Jha wanted no celebration until his lucky mascot Katrina was available.

But Zoya's crew has been facing rough weather ever since they arrived in Spain. Apparently six days of shooting had to be cancelled because of heavy rains. And now they need to quickly make up for lost time since their work permits and visas would expire.

Jha admits that Katrina would be unable to make it to the party.

"They've lost a lot of time because of the rain in Spain. I couldn't dream of having a Raajneeti bash without Katrina. And I had postponed it until her availability. But now it's impossible for Katrina to fly down," Jha said.

Katrina even requested the film's producers and the director to accommodate her absence for less than a day.

Says a source close to Katrina: "Since Prakash Jha was very, very keen to have her down to Mumbai for the bash, and had even made all the arrangements for her flight, Katrina was not willing to give up the idea of attending the function. She offered to be back in less than 24 hours. Katrina was willing to fly to Mumbai, attend the Raajneeti bash on Wednesday and fly out the same night to re-join the ...Dobara team the next morning. But this has not been allowed."

Jha will now record a video message from Katrina and play it at the party. "So she will be with us in spirit if not in person," he said.

Katrina, on the other hand, tried to sound diplomatic and not disappointed. "It is a big day. And the success of Raajneeti is very precious to me. But I can't leave the crew in Spain."

She admits there're lots of unscheduled breaks. Katrina has got one of her sisters, Melissa, to join her in Spain to give her company at break time.

"London is just two hours, so Melissa could join me. Mumbai is in another hemisphere. Flying down is impossible. Please tell Prakashji, mera party baqi raha," she said.

Neetu Chandra : Confident About Her Dancing Skills

2010-06-23T03:26:00.000-07:00

After attempting a mujra a la ageless beauty Rekha in Sadiyaan, actress Neetu Chandra is yearning to set the dance floor on fire like international divas Jennifer Lopez and Shakira and prove that she can dance better than most other actresses in Bollywood.

"I am sure I can dance better than most other actresses in the film industry. But it's just that they get the chance to show their moves," Neetu told IANS on phone from her hometown Patna.

"Unfortunately, my choice of films has been such that they hardly have any scope for dancing numbers. But I have a long way to go and I am just waiting to get a spicy song.

"I would love to do a commercial dance number and move like Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Their style is lovely. And any such change would be great fun for me," she added.

The actress, who received rave reviews for her performances in National Award winning films like Traffic Signal and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, learnt Kathak in school and is currently taking lessons in western dancing.

Neetu is a huge Madhuri Dixit fan and says she would love to dance on songs like "Choli ke peechhe".

"She was a class apart. The kind of music came in her days is no longer composed in the industry. Songs like Choli ke peechhe' and Dhak dhak karne lagaa were amazing. I would have loved to perform on those numbers. I know I can never be Madhuri Dixit, but even if people say I'm 10 percent of her, I would feel my efforts have paid off," she said.

Among the latest numbers, the 33-year-old says she she could have done a good job in songs like Chhaliya Chhaliya and Happening, originally performed by Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta respectively.

Nevertheless, she says both of them did a fabulous job.

Don't you fear being tagged as an item girl after featuring in an item song?

"I can never be tagged as an item girl because I have lost that opportunity. I never got a chance to dance. I hope filmmakers cast me for a dance number soon. All seven films that I have done have been performance based. There was no space for me to do any dance in them," she said.

But Neetu will do an item nunber only if the script will demand so.

"All actresses - Aishwarya, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji - have all done item numbers. They can dance, but they did it only when the script required it. So I would love to do it when a script requires me to do it. I am not afraid of being put into an image of an item girl - because I keep breaking my own image with every film."

Her forthcoming projects are Khusar Parsad Ke Bhoot, Anees Bazmee's No Problem and Barnali Shukla's Kuch Love Jaisa. She also has a Tamil project in her kitty.

Bips : Only healthy Products i will promote

2010-06-22T03:21:00.000-07:00

As a power couple, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu draw the line at health and fitness products and services endorsements. Proof of that recently came when they turned down an offer to promote an Indian herbal aphrodisiac despite being offered crores.

A source confirms, "They were approached to endorse the product but refused. Though the concoction consists high quality extracts from some of the world's most exotic herbs, it's a potent and effective natural sex enhancer."

No viagra, please!

The buzz is that the aphrodisiac contains viagra. The source adds, "John's manager was approached for a couple endorsement but she said that they don't back products that have viagra and said no. The jodi is committed to health and fitness and Bipasha has promised to endorse only health products."

When contacted Bipasha says, "I strongly believe in credible products and these are in sync with my passion for fitness and health. I am very happy to be associated with products that encourage people to switch to a healthier lifestyle. But I have never been approached for the other thing (the herbal aphrodisiac)."

However she stresses she would endorse products not connected to health and fitness but are "In sync with my personality. It could be cosmetics, automobiles, luxury products, fashion goods, home appliances etc." Bips endorses a brand of honey only because the brand is committed to health and fitness. Says the actress, "I strongly believe in credible products and this one is in sync with my passion for health.

Sex and The City 2 Film Review

2010-06-21T03:11:00.000-07:00

Sex and the City 2 comes to Indian theatres after having earned the dubious distinction of being the worst reviewed film in recent history. Critics across the US and the UK have lambasted it for being tone-deaf, vacuous and ridiculously-over-the-top.

I walked into the theater with the kind of perverse fascination that you reserve for a train-wreck, thinking: how bad can this be. Well, the reviews weren’t exaggerated. This film is just plain awful.

Or to paraphrase a line from American critic Roger Ebert: This movie isn’t the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.

Sex and the City 2 reprises the adventures of the four New York fashionistas who have beguiled the world since the television series started in 1998. Only now they are battling mid-life problems.

So Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker who has also co-produced the film, is trying to put sparkle into her two-year-old marriage. She’s afraid that she and her husband will grow into a boring, old married couple - the type who watch television in bed.

Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, is struggling with a nasty boss. Samantha, played by Kim Cattrall, is desperately fighting menopause with tablets and creams. And Charlotte, played by Kristin Davis, is trying to cope with the traumas of motherhood.

So when Samantha gets an all-expenses paid trip to Abu Dhabi, all four jump at it. What follows is a spectacularly aimless and obscenely extravagant adventure that helps the women come to terms with their various issues.

At its best, Sex and the City was a superbly entertaining female fantasy. The four friends never worked too hard but were always immaculately dressed. Yet their fierce bonding rooted the fairy tale in heart-felt emotion.

Sadly, that’s almost completely missing here. Except for one scene that rings perfectly true: Miranda and Charlotte discuss how hard being a mother is and Charlotte admits that when she thought her husband might have an affair with their young nanny, her first thought was: I can’t lose the nanny.

But the rest of this two and a half hour saga lurches from one random scene to the next without even attempting coherence.

Samantha gets arrested on the beach for having sex; Carrie runs into an old boyfriend and kisses him; Charlotte falls off a camel. And they do all this while changing a ridiculous number of outfits and wearing high heels on sand.

This film reportedly had a 10 million dollar costume budget. Of course the Abu Dhabi adventure brims over with cultural stereotypes but this entire film is so infantile that you can’t even seriously take offense.

Director Michael Patrick King who wrote the screenplay, attempts to make some statement about female solidarity and freedom but the writing is feeble and foolish.

Sex and the City 2 is unforgivably boring but what’s sadder is, that King has made these women, who were once so enjoyable, into caricatures of themselves. They all seem desperate, empty and in places, downright ugly. At one point, Carrie asks her husband: Am I just a bitch wife who nags you? You almost want to scream out aloud: Yes.

Sex and the City 2 is excruciating cinema. I recommend that you steer clear.

Raajneeti Film Review

2010-06-20T03:07:00.000-07:00

Raajneeti, writer-director Prakash Jha’s sprawling portrait of a political family, is a mixed bag. The film has moments of ferocious power and just as many flaws.

The narrative has a propulsive movement in the first half but becomes dramatically inert in the second. Jha, who has fought elections in Bihar himself, creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly ‘filmy’ moments – like a ridiculous love-making scene that is triggered because the characters get wet in the rain.

Apparently getting soaked in Bollywood still equals sex. And, as almost all the female characters in this film find out, having sex even one time, still equals babies.

The performances are strong—especially Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar—but the characters are largely one-note.

There has been much hype about Katrina Kaif learning lengthy Hindi dialogue for the film. She’s clearly worked hard but her luminous looks rather than acting are still her trump card.

Raajneeti is a film with ambition and scale but it works in fits and spurts. Jha’s political epic is too busy and bumpy and never quite fulfils the potential inherent in the story.

Raajneeti sources as much from The Godfather as it does from the Mahabharata. So we have sets of cousins whose rivalry spills into the open as soon as the head of the family suffers a stroke.

The film begins with a back-story of Sooraj Kumar, the Karna-like figure played by Ajay Devgn. Abandoned at birth, Sooraj is adopted by a Dalit family.

In quick succession, so many characters are introduced that Jha uses a voice-over to explain who is connected to whom and what the political affiliations are. It takes a good 15 minutes to take in the details and place the characters but the story-telling is engaging and soon you’re caught up with this Machiavellian family in which the plotting begins even as the father is still being treated by doctors. As the stakes get higher, the moves get bloodier.

Eventually, Samar Pratap, the Michael Corleone figure played by Ranbir Kapoor, the young brother who is working on a PhD on Victorian poetry, gets sucked into the murderous struggle for power.

Until here, Jha and his co-writer Anjum Rajabali tell the story with assurance and flair. But then the momentum dips and the intrigues become less and less interesting. Critically, Samar’s conversion to a ruthless murderer isn’t convincing. One minute he’s the student and the next, he, like everyone else is trigger-happy with bombs and guns.

Jha even borrows The Godfather’s famous severed horse-head scene.

Only here, a politician wakes up to find his male lover’s throat slit. Sadly, the gut-wrenching twist, when Kunti reveals to Karna that he is her son and therefore warring with his own brothers, is not done very effectively.

For the true power and emotion of that moment, watch Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug, in which the Mahabharata is transported to a business milieu. Shashi Kapoor who plays the Karna figure crumples slowly as he becomes aware of his own tragedy.

In its second hour, Raajneeti lets go of logic. We know that politics is an amoral, brutal cesspool but even so, leading politicians themselves murdering their rivals on a street in broad daylight is a bit of a stretch.

In a climactic shoot-out, we even have a perverted version of the Gita sermon in which the Krishna figure, played by Nana Patekar, insists on cold-blooded murder. Come on, finish them, he says.

Of course there is no one to root for in this gallery of rogues but more troublesome is the specious morality of the film. After a few feeble apologies, Samar Pratap finds a semblance of redemption.

Eventually then, Raajneeti is as exhausting as it is compelling.

Raavan Film Review

2010-06-19T02:55:00.000-07:00

The low-caste Beera rules the forest in Raavan, Mani Ratnam’s richly atmospheric adaptation of the Indian epic The Ramayana.

Though the film takes place in the present, Mr Ratnam’s forest remains an appropriately primeval place for mythic doings, full of fog and mists and rain and Beera’s mud-painted followers (shades of “Apocalypse Now”).

Raavan (Ravana in Sanskrit), as every Indian knows, is the demon in The Ramayana who kidnaps Sita, the wife of Rama: king, deity and model husband (as Sita is the model wife).

Early on in Ratnam’s film the question is asked: Is Beera (a gleefully hammy Abhishek Bachchan) Robin Hood or Raavan? He’s both — and more a hero in this telling, set on his turf, than is the Rama character, a cop called Dev (Vikram), who matches Beera in brutality and cunning, but not in heart.

Raavan has Bollywood glamour aplenty, with the lovely if occasionally dramatically challenged Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek’s wife, playing the Sita stand-in.

The real star, though, is Ratnam, a talented visual storyteller who directs action crisply and fills the screen with striking images. (One, of Bachchan’s falling body landing gracefully on a tree branch, is so good he uses it three times.)

Artful but not arty, Ratnam, whose films include Dil Se and Guru delivers the goods: There are songs and dances (A R Rahman of Slumdog Millionaire fame did the excellent score), and an eye-popping climactic battle, between the bad-good Beera and the good-bad Dev, on a teetering suspension bridge. And that, folks, is entertainment.

This film has been designated as a Critics' Pick.

Raavanan Film Review

2010-06-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

Let’s get this straight. Raavanan is not Mani Ratnam’s attempt to venerate the epic villain whose name the movie is titled after. It’s not also a study on complex human relationships weighed down by trust, conviction or quandary. It’s a pure cinematic retreat spanning across the dense jungles of Southern and Central India with exceptional cinematography (Santosh Sivan and

Manikandan), by-now cult songs (A R Rahman) and interesting performances by its lead actors. And the significance of the movie appears in the same order mentioned above.

Mani’s conviction of illustrating an unachievable love story between the two leads (Aishwarya Rai and Vikram) is palpable from the very start of the movie. However, the blossoming of love doesn’t quite form the back bone of Raavanan so much. The movie digresses into other aspects - a man hunt, flash backs, revenge drama and so on and so forth. The man hunts lack dexterity, the revenge drama that is triggered by the death of Vikram’s sister seems engineered and Prithviraj often comes across as stiff – showing unnecessary tautness in the character that is probably designed to defy emotions (may be because he is in his Khakis?).

But all that is absolved, as the movie stunningly unfolds often drenching itself in the monsoonal deluge making you feel rain-soaked. If you have any doubt about Mani’s eternal love affair with rain, Raavanan stands as a remarkable testimony. It rains in the song sequences, in encounters and in emotional scenes. And at other instances, the sky is constantly downcast as if threatening to pour down. And the cinematography captures it all in delightful exuberance.

For the most part, Vikram owns the movie seizing it magnificently even from Mani’s own hands. His love blooms out of astonishment at the outwardly courage displayed by Aishwarya Rai and he makes those scenes persuasive for the viewer. He infuses life into the character and shows no jaggedness, falling for a married woman thus replicating, probably the characters of Raavanan. Suhasini’s profound dialogues come in handy in many places and the viewer is made to read between lines quite often.

Aishwarya Rai’s semblance of the late Padmini is unmistakable, it could be her dialogues or the way she manages her composure attentively even in the hardest of terrains the character puts her through. The lady sure has attempted to reach on par with Vikram in performance in many sequences. Kudos to Mani for a dignified portrayal of his lead woman. There is a refreshing strength in Ragini’s character brought out well by Aishwarya.

Prithvi plays a toughie police officer and somehow his character portrayal leaves a few questions unanswered: for instance, his love for Aishwarya Rai is weighed down by his commitment and that singular fact does not come across convincingly.

Priyamani plays the ill-fated Vennila and leaves a lump in your throat. Karthik in his second innings steals the show. Prabhu and Munna play support roles that ebb and flow with the movie.

Cinematography by Santosh Sivan is brilliant and has rendered the perfect support for Mani. His probing lens takes the audience through the thick jungles, the mighty waterfalls and the rough terrains of India. Music and art direction play equally momentous role in Raavanan as its lead actors. If not for Rahman’s songs and background score, Vikram’s unrequited love wouldn’t have been so painful for us. The songs have already been much debated about and leave no scope for further discussion. One word though: it’s not for nothing “Usure Pogude…” has achieved a cult status. You tend to try hard not to fall in love but fail with the song as Vikram heaves a sigh of relief, having seen Aishwarya Rai breathing and alive after a steep fall.

Sameer Chanda’s art direction complements the ruggedness and splendid beauty of the nature in the jungles so well you refuse to believe anything is man-made.

A major drawback is the lack of ‘Tamil’ feel in the film and its music; it more appears for the audience north of Vindhyas in many places. What Mani loses out is the pace over the later part of the first half; he gains it back with a major twist in the climax. Although you have a few questions about the incidents leading to the finale, those are done away with - thanks to the elegiac climax.

Verdict: Watch Raavanan, it’s visually poetic!

Hansika moment of misery

2010-06-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

Actresses losing flights have become common issues these days and media channels have been publishing so many useless facts of that sort. Here comes news on that dimension and this time, it’s about actress Hansika Motwani.

The South India’s hottie makes her debut in Jeyam Ravi’s ‘ITCH’ starring Jeyam Ravi in lead roles. The film started rolling in Paris and she had plans about flying down to London in the interim. Meanwhile, as she was about to depart from her motel, the actress was taken into an extreme of missing her passport. Soon the hotel management started up for a big search and finally found that the passport was placed in her other bag.

It was a moment to cherish back and the actress took deep breath of happiness nearly after 4 hours.

A beautiful careless girl, isn’t?

Shreya's Secret to Success

2010-06-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

Don’t expect this to be an article pertaining to her sexiest gestures over the post cards. Sorry, this is all about her good behavioral gesture that has been missing amongst many actresses at this point of time.

Sources in the film units have confessed that the actress doesn’t make herself more expensive to her producers. She doesn’t ask her production team for comfortability at the shooting spots. Reported by the production crew, Shriya affords to spend for her own wants and doesn’t depend on anyone else when it comes for a rise during shooting schedule.

On the button, this is the secret of Shriya’s success in spite of so many of her films not doing well at box office.

Success doesn’t come by hits, but by winning the hearts of people with one’s good deeds and Shriya you’re a winner now

Anushka and Genelia Warned

2010-06-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Nadigar Sangam has issued a warning to Genelia, Anushka, Sameera Reddy, Kajal Agarwal, Hansika Motwani and a host of other actresses who did not register at the Sangam till date. In a letter to these actresses, the President of the Sangam, Sarath Kumar and General Secretary Radha Ravi stated that they should become a member soon or face a ban in Kollywood.

It has been reported that some members of the Nadigar Sangam visited the Uttama Puthiran shooting spot where scenes involving Genelia were being shot and demanded that she register as a member to continue acting in Tamil films. The actress is reported to have acceded to this demand. It needs to be seen what the other leading ladies will do.

Ajith's 50th film Heroine

2010-06-14T04:26:00.001-07:00

With so much being talked about the proposed Ajith - Gautham Menon flick, the movie is also showing signs of going on the floors. Last heard on the script front, the movie will have Ajith playing double roles - one that of a cop and the other a villain. The movie is already speculated to be a cop movie and with this added piece of information, looks like it will be an action movie as well.

Earlier it was said Sameera Reddy will play the female lead but now we hear that Samantha, who played Trisha's role in the Telugu version of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa will be signed up. More details awaited.

Trisha's Request

2010-06-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Trisha, the brand ambassador for Love Indian Dogs, participated in the photo shoot for the ad that will be circulated by the PETA, an animal welfare organization. The lady’s black costume for this particular photo shoot was designed by noted designer Chaitanya Rao. Ace photographer G. Venkatram shot the ad at The Park Hotel.
Trisha has an adopted dog Cadbury, which she had found on the streets. She appealed to one and all to adopt an Indian dog from a shelter or from the streets

Madrasapatinam U certified

2010-06-12T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Vijay directed Madarasapattinam passed the censor test today with no cuts and a U Certificate. The movie, scrutinized by the officials, emerged largely unscathed. Madarasapattinam is a period drama, set in the colonial era that stars Arya, Amy Jackson, Alexx O'Nell, Nassar , Cochin Hanifa and Bala Singh.
The movie, produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram, is scored by G V Prakash Kumar. Director Vijay’s earlier credits include Kireedom and Poi Solla Porom.

Trisha and Kamal Leave India

2010-06-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

Manmadhan Ambu has officially kick started and according to highly placed sources from the production house, the crew is travelling abroad in batches starting from June 9 to 15. A total of 90 crew members are expected to travel with Kamal and Trisha already proceeding to France. First leg of the shoots will be held in France and Kamal, Trisha, Madhavan and Sangeetha are expected to take part in it.

The movie will be shot extensively abroad and the crew has plans to shoot in Rome, Venice and Malaysia as well. It’s also learnt that major part of the movie will be shot in a luxury cruise liner and that the producers are holding discussions to hire a huge ship for the purpose.

Surya Makes up like Simran

2010-06-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Suriya, who plays a cameo in Bala's upcoming Avan Ivan, will appear as himself. He is said to perform a dance number on stage for the movie. Looking back, Simran did the same thing, an item number of sorts, in the Bala directed Pithamagan. She was seen shaking a leg for a medley of old hits with Suriya in Pithamagan.

Avan Ivan is a light hearted comedy being directed by Bala, and has Vishal, Arya, Janani Iyer and Niveditha in lead roles. Produced by Kalpathi Agoram and scored by Yuvan, the movie is expected to hit the screens during late 2010.

Genelia In Velayudham PhotoShoot

2010-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

The photo shoot of the Vijay starrer Velayudham took place recently in which Vijay, Genelia and Hansika Motwani, the lead stars in the movie, participated. Sources say that the initial photo shoot did not require Genelia. However, the actress made it to the session after reports floated in that she took part in the IIFA in Sri Lanka, which the Tamil fraternity boycotted.

This is a clear indication that Genelia did not participate in the IIFA and is not facing the wrath of the Tamil film industry people. Velayudham will be directed by Jayam Raja and produced by Aascar Ravichandran.

Nayanthara Apt Choice

2010-06-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Director Kannan, who marked his entry to the tinsel town with Jayamkondan and went on cement his place with Kandein Kadhalai, is directing his next flick Vandhan Vendraan. The film stars Jiiva in the lead role. Vandhan Vendran is a bi-lingual and will be made in Telugu too. However, the director has plans to rope in a popular actor from Tollywood for the Telugu version.
The heroine search for both the versions has been going on for quite some time and finally Kannan has decided upon Nayanthara. With the lady being popular in both the Tamil as well as Telugu film industries, Kannan’s choice seems to be apt.

Happy BirthDay Shilpa Shetty

2010-06-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

It’s Shilpa Shetty’s birthday today! Born on June 8th 1975, she made her acting debut in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Baazigar in 1993. Since then Shilpa has seen several highs in her career. The lady married London-based businessman Raj Kundra last November and has been shuttling between India and England to balance her marital and professional life.

Though Shilpa was hugely popular in India as an actress, she became a celebrity worldwide when she participated in the Big Brother 2007.

Behindwoods.com and its readers wish the actress a very happy birthday!

Manmadha Ambu Kissing Scene

2010-06-06T05:43:00.000-07:00

Now that we all know that the Manmadhan Ambu is a romantic flick, the big question that all Kamal Haasan’s fans have is whether there would be a kissing scene, which his films are well-known for. This question was brought up during the press meet of Manmadhan Ambu, which took place recently.
To this, director KS Ravikumar said that such a scene would be in the film if the storyline so demands. However, it would not be incorporated so as to make it look out of place.

Manmadhan Ambu, which also stars Madhavan, and Trisha, will be shot extensively in Europe.

Shriya Confident Over Rahman's Song

2010-06-05T05:40:00.000-07:00

Shriya Saran is currently busy with Chikku Bukku, which has Arya playing the male protagonist. The lady also has Rowthiram in Tamil and a Telugu film titled Don Seenu. So, what made her accept an item number in the SJ Suryah-directed Komaram Puli? The actress says that it is only for A R Rahman’s music. She is so confident that this song will turn out to be a huge hit like all other ARR songs.

Shriya is back in the South Indian film circuit after a short stint in Bollywood and Hollywood. She had acted in Deepa Mehta’s Hollywood flick, What’s Cooking Stella?

Nadhiya Alset to Carry on JackPot

2010-06-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

Nadhiya’s costume sense was the talk of the town when the actress began her career in the late 1980s. She carved a niche for herself in the tinsel town with her clothes and matching accessories.

Now that Nadhiya has been signed up for the Jackpot Season 2, a show which was hosted by actress Kushboo, and also popular for her designer blouses, there seems to be a big question on what Nadhiya intends to do to keep the audience attracted to the show. A source reports that the actress intends to stick to her own style and is working with her costume designer to bring out the best.

Singam Film Review

2010-06-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Singam - Saamy's alter ego

Everyone in the tinsel world seems to know the sacred mantra - "Discover your winning formula and use it endlessly till you tire your audience out". When stars can follow this animatedly why not directors!! Director Hari has intently executed his working principle and fairly succeeded in his attempt sided with the marketing stalwart Sun Pictures who can package even the worst nightmare to look and feel like your most enticing dream.

Hari can duly be nominated for the best copier award who has managed a flawless remake of his own Blockbuster Saamy with different lead artists and a very few tweaks mostly insignificant to the actual plot and audience. There are too many familiar takes from the real McCoy that it gets very difficult not to see Saamy in every frame when you have actually spent $16 for Singam!!!

Surya, as always looks handsome. There is nothing much to look forward with his acting as he is played his part just fine. With the exception of a few places, when tackling the bad elements where he literally roars in an undesirable high pitch breaking with a croaky effect, he is passable.

The star's forte is his charisma in romantic clippings or at least that was how he came across to a few fans of his like me until he tied the sacred knot. He used to be an on-screen romantic delight with a spectacular co-star chemistry leaving a deeper impact than the movie itself. Of late the star's dancing skills are much better than his romance in the movie.

In Singam, the director has avoided chummy scenes with forethought honoring the obvious height difference which would most likely bring on criticism rather than appreciation. Thus, Anushka's presence is felt only in the few songs where she single handedly entertains the audience with her ample anatomy coupled with sensuous movements.

Comedy has taken a new definition with the so-called comedian Vivek. The scenes where this clown appears evokes every feeling but laughter with annoyance topping the list. All his scenes are a deliberate inclusion on a confirmed drooping mission. The movie would have been better off if VT Vijayan had considered using his "Cut" tool seriously on this buffoon's scenes.

With such a pathetic delivery, the Chinna Kalaivanar was bragging his soul out on the Cassette release function telecasted on Sun Channel a few days ago. His speech was so reassuring that I had my hopes very high only for an awful disappointment. He is the proverbial empty Vessel!

Surya's dance needs a special mention. It is not easy to have forgotten the Aval varuvala stunts by Surya which was called dance in those days. The star has scaled up enormously that he can very well be added to the league of dancer-actors in the industry - my personal favorites being "She stole my heart" and "Kadhal Vandhaale". Music was neither great nor boring..but DSP could have avoided singing in every song. He didnt spare the BGM either!!

I have a great regard for Prakash Raj who has played the anti role. In my opinion, he is one of the few versatile stars this industry has been gifted with. There are movies that I have watched including one starring Sibi Raj in the lead role, only because Prakash Raj was one of the casts. But for Prakash Raj, I wouldn't have cared to watch it even on Sun TV!! But neither was he convincing nor justified in the movie. The Prakash Raj air was completely missing. Looks like he had played the role just to add on to his bank balance!!

If you haven't watched Saamy, which I would think is inconceivable, then you might find Singam terrific. For those of you who are obsessed with Saamy (like me), Singam is yet another movie

Kangana Finds Herself Back

2010-06-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Actress Kangana Ranaut will be seen in a new "bold" avatar in Once Upon a time in Mumbaai where she plays the love interest of an underworld kingpin played by Ajay Devgn.

Director Milan Luthra who describes his leading lady as an "enigmatic and powerhouse performer" said that the actress was his first choice to play the free-spirited heroine in the drama set in the 70's.

"The film set in the 70's is a rewind to the era of romance, smuggling, cabaret and the mafia. A time when women had a liberated air to them, were fearless and bold. If anyone could carry the part of Ajay Devgn's love interest in the film, Rehana, it was Kangana Ranaut," he said.

According to him, Kangana fitted the role perfectly because she has a great body and her face is "chameleon-like", she can change into different looks everyday.

Kangana, who worked hard on her look in the film, studied the fads and trends of the 70's not just in Bollywood but even in the West, he said.

Once upon a time in Mumbaai starring Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut is all set to release worldwide on July 30.

Bipasha Next to join the Twitter

2010-06-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

Twitter is brimming with her namesakes, but the social networking website popular among Bollywood stars will soon get the real McCoy as Bipasha Basu plans to start tweeting soon.

The Bong bombshell is excited about launching her own Twitter page as many of her friends are already members of the website.

"I am not on Twitter right now, but it is exciting and I am going to join very soon," said Bipasha who was in town to launch a new line of mobile phones.

The 31-year-old actress is meanwhile gearing up for the International Indian Film Academy Awards that will be held in Colombo.

"I will be performing during the awards night and I am leaving for Colombo tomorrow for the IIFA weekend. It's going to be an amazing show and I am really excited about it," said the actress.

The dusky beauty is enjoying a career high and her personal life is also going great guns as is evident from the Filmfare cover she shot with boyfriend John Abraham where the scorching couple is shown lounging together on a bed.

One of the shared passions of the couple is football and Bipasha plans to catch some of the action happening on the pitch during the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
"I love football and I will fly to South Africa for one of the semi-finals or the final. I am not supporting any particular team though, I will just cheer for the side that is playing well," said the actress.

Bipasha has just finished the dubbing of 'Lamhaa', the Rahul Dholakia film which revolves around the militancy issue in Kashmir.

"The film is going to release on July 16 and I am looking forward to the audience response," said Bipasha.

The actress will be seen playing a Kashmiri girl in the film and the role required her to learn Urdu and go for a de-glammed look.

Lara Dutta Into Blogging

2010-05-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-18T03:45:00.001-07:00

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

2010-05-16T03:43:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

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.