Vilasrao Deshmukh and RGV indulge in some role-play
Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma’s visit to the Taj Mahal hotel along with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his actor son Ritesh last Sunday resulted in a mass public outcry. Citizens across the country could not fathom what RGV and Ritesh were doing inside the Taj along with the CM’s convoy. Irrespective of RGV clarifying that he just happened to be there, people don’t seem to be in any mood of forgetting the incident.
The very next day saw Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil resign from his post and soon there were protests all around pressuring Maharashtra Chief Minister- Vilasrao Deshmukh to step down as well. While the debate still continues, this cartoonist from popular tabloid Mid-Day seems to be in the mood for some fun. The cartoon shows an extremely worried and harrowed Vilasrao Deshmukh pleading with RGV for a role in one of his films. RGV finally seems to have agreed to give Senior Deshmukh the role of the hero’s father and even asks if the Patils would be interested in being part of his future project. With the situation being serious and grim over the last few days, this cartoon, though hilarious, surely carries a sarcastic tone.
"Cleavage, skirts, bikini and what about acting" - Neetu Chandra
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Neetu Chandra has come up with her career best performance in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! [though she isn't quite willing to take the compliment in entirety since she feels she was equally competent in Traffic Signal too] and media too has been unanimous in acknowledging her good performance in the film even though she has a relatively lesser role to play. Does she regret that she wasn’t seen much in the film?
“Why should I”, Neetu shoots back, “The film was called Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and not ‘Oye Sonal Sonal Oye’. I knew my role and how it added on to the film’s soul. I am happy that I have justified my presence and good reviews coming my way are a testimony to that.”
An emotional letter from Ashish Chowdhry
Yes I am not yet in the frame of mind to talk or deal or replay the destruction of my family and their souls but I would still like to pen down my gratitude to you who stood by, called, sms’d and comforted me at a time where my whole world collapsed.
If there is anything that can hold me together now and not let me crumble fully, are the two small innocent lives who in a matter of seconds lost the two people who were their world. Who only waited not understanding why their parents haven’t returned from dinner yet. Their innocent hearts looking into our eyes when we finally broke the news. They were searching for some meaning out of this meaningless act of perversion And those are the two lives who are holding me and my family together urging us to be strong…for them.
The gold rush ends in Bollywood
The film industry, in the last two years, has witnessed exponential growth. In 2006, it was estimated to be worth US $1.8 billion and according to estimates was to grow to US $ 5.1 billion in 2011. The last five years also saw the entry and consolidation of corporate houses in the business. Flush with funds, top-billed stars and filmmakers could ask for the moon and get it. Tie-ups, mergers and acquisitions of unimaginable scale had become the norm-the recent Big Picture Entertainment investment in Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks for US $ 550 million being an example. With a financial crisis across the global bourses, has the film industry’s dream run come to an end?
Presently, Bollywood players claim that all is well with their world though insiders on condition of anonymity are willing to admit that things look set to change soon. Raising funds for projects will be more difficult as banks are facing a liquidity crisis. Companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange and have IPOs have reportedly been impacted by the global financial crisis. According to reports in the pink papers, the shares of Indian companies have already gone down in value over the last year.
”Raaz -the mystery continues music is going to be bigger than any of the previous ones” - Emraan Hashmi
At Bollywood.tv, we were the first to unveil the music of Raaz - The Mystery Continues a.k.a. RTMC which is expected to add on to the enviable catalogue of HIT soundtracks coming from the house of Vishesh Films. While the formal release of the album is still a few days away, we had an exclusive hear at the songs and were left stunned with at least a couple of them, especially ‘Maahi’ and ‘Soniye’ that are expected to add on to list of chartbusters that Emraan Hashmi has been accumulating ever since he first hit the Bollywood scene with Footpath.
However, even as all his films have successively featured at least a chartbuster song or two, Emraan is now super positive that RTMC is going to out do each of these previous albums. Even though this pretty much sounds like a tall claim considering the fact that early this year, Emraan has seen Superhit music in Jannat, the man does believe that the main attraction of RTMC would be its stunning soundtrack.
Will Devender, alias Lucky Singh, do a Charles Sobhraj on Oye Lucky?
Films based on real-life characters always seem to get into trouble. Whether it was the real life Bandit Queen who wanted to be compensated by Shekhar Kapoor or Bhanwari Devi who created a Bawandar in Jagmohan Mundhra’s life, biographical films almost always court trouble in this country.
Quick on the heels of Charles Sobhraj threatening to sue author Farrukh Dhondy for borrowing from his life, UTV and director Dibakar Banerjee have clammed shut on the origins of the car-stealing protagonist Abhay Deol in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
A feel-good fare!
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Debutante directors have new stories to tell. Predictability is passé, unconventional is in. First-time director Sourabh Shrivastava’s OH, MY GOD!! may give an impression that it’s yet another offshoot of BRUCE ALMIGHTY [the source of GOD TUSSI GREAT HO], but the fact is that OH, MY GOD!! reminds you of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee/Basu Chatterjee films of the 1970s and 1980s.
Like most debutante-helmed vehicles, OH, MY GOD!! comes with its share of plusses and minuses. In this case, the aces overpower the deficiencies. It has its heart in the right place. Given the fact that OH, MY GOD!! has been shot in 19 days, it doesn’t look like a hurried job at all. Sourabh takes a simple story of a simpleton and narrates it in the most simplistic manner.
Olympics preparations forced Nikhil Advani to shoot Chandni Chowk to China in Bangkok
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Nikhil Advani’s dream of making the first Bollywood film in China could only be partially realized. After a major part of the shooting, the director and his entire crew had to hastily leave China and look for an alternative place to shoot the rest of the film. If New York is being shot in Philadelphia. Chandni Chowk To China has been shot in Bangkok. And with good reason.
Says Nikhil, “It was the year of the Olympics in China and it became impossible beyond a point to shoot in the country where our film is based. Maybe a quieter less flamboyant film…but not the kind of action that Akshay has shot.”