Story: Be-spectacled geek, Abhay falls in love with college hottie, Alisha and silently slinks away into the shadows when he realises she's unattainable. Seven years later, he re-enters her life as the nanny and hopes to woo the single mom, this time at least. Does he succeed?
Susmita Dasgupta finds Amitabh Bachchan an interesting subject to study. Here, she decodes the superstar, the subject of her PhD and a book Is there an Amitabh ‘before’ and ‘after’ ABCL? There is definitely a before and after ABCL Amitabh. The ABCL tragedy, like all stupendous failures have split Amitabh into a before and after image. The trauma of having failed appears to have drastically changed the person whose image was that of the invincible.
It is easy to fall in love with every performance in this intimate yet generic insider's look at the workings of the entertainment industry.
But the one that I carried home with me was Sheeba Chadha. A marvel of subtle writing, Sheeba plays a podgy, cunning but simple-hearted producer's sister-in-law whose husband (Aly Khan) is carrying on with a struggling starlet right under her naïve eyes.
One not-so-pleasant afternoon, Sheeba barges into her husband's van and sees a red-nosed bleary-eyed Konkona Sen Sharma (who has just been told she doesn't get a role she has been waiting all her career for). Sheeba senses what's going on. But she quickly digresses her mind from her husband's extra-marital affair.
The industry is filled with such deliberately desensitised people who function within the fickle and frighteningly flamboyant film industry with gut-wrenching self-delusion.
"Luck By Chance" -- a truly out-of-the-box outstanding work of subtle, sly, satirical and whispering art -- is filled with people whom you're bound to have met in the fetid corridors of Bollywood or the Hindi film industry, as the star-mother Dimple Kapadia insists on calling it.
Never before has the film industry been perceived with such intuitively internalised abundance. A subtle splendour galvanised by performances that range from the credible to the incredible takes the narrative to pinnacles of expressiveness.
The performances help to ignite the characters into states of subtle yet vivid shades. The ambitious mother-daughter (Dimple-Isha Sharwani) pair, the strugglers, wannabes and losers...oh yes, every character in "Luck By Chance" possesses a luminously lived-in quality, bringing to the surface feelings, thoughts and images that are normally not brought out on screen.
Every player -- parodic, poignant and pitched perfectly -- makes savage fun of the very foibles that they probably practice with masterful manipulative hands in real life.
Zoya Akhtar gets into the star space without a moment's aggression in her storytelling. The moments that define the relationships are built stealthily. This is a world that every person in the Mumbai film industry (for Dimple's sake, let's not call it Bollywood!) knows first-hand.
The debutante director occupies that space with unostentatious spirit, nurturing interludes between characters (the two strugglers Farhan Akhtar-Konkona, producer-wife Rishi Kapoor-Juhi Chawla, ideologically separated co-actors Farhan-Arjun Mathur) with the cautious care of a mother who wants to bring up her child with the right values without drawing attention to her nurturing acumen.
This is a work of tender, subtle care with moments whose immense value strikes you after the wonderfully conversational dialogues (Javed Akhtar at his expressive best) have had their say.
At heart, "Luck By Chance" is a story of one man's plunge into the morass of compromise as he heads towards his dreams. Farhan gets what can only called another chance to do the histrionic dance. As he goes from wide-eyed wannabe to a morally devalued creature, the narrative charts his course with savage humour.
Farhan's scenes with the nakedly adulatory star daughter(Isha playing dumb dead-on) are designed as a blend of satirical erotica and ideological annihilation. Farhan gets it right.
This is a work that oozes outstanding acting talent from every nook and corner. Whether it's Aly as a on-the-move producer or Arjun as a struggling actor who would rather struggle in theatre than compromise, every character plays a person you've met if you've ever been a part of the Mumbai film industry.
Super stand-out performances by Rishi, Dimple, Sheeba, Hrithik Roshan(as a superstar on the skids) and of course, Konkona, whose best performance this is.
On the deficit side, (yes even a film of such high order must face the music) the narrative with its inbuilt jokes and references is too much a Bollywood insider's job, largely inaccessible to the common man who wouldn't know the name of Ranbir Kapoor's secretary and couldn't care less.
On most levels, "Luck By Chance" stands tall and luminous, portraying the world of arclights with a synthesis of style, sympathy and substance that is the opposite of the synthetic way the world of showbiz is generally portrayed in cinema.
What stays with you are moments like the one where the struggling hero approaches the once glamorous star mother at a party and wins her over... a moment that builds up into a muffled explosion of ambitious scheming achieved at a place where the sound of broken hearts is inaudible.
David Dhawan's next directorial venture "Hook Ya Crook" will go on
the floors next month, UTV Motion Pictures, which will produce the
movie, announced on Saturday.
The movie, a comedy, has John Abraham in the lead role with Amrita Rao and R. Siddharth, who last appeared in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Rang De Basanti" in 2006.
Written by Rensil D'Silva, "Hook Ya Crook" is Dhawan's first movie to be launched after the success of Salman Khan starrer "Partner".
This will be John Abraham's second movie with UTV Motion Pictures after "Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal."
Shilpa Shetty’s got a wrist in plaster. She was rendered hors de combat while practising cartwheels for the new action film she is planning to produce that has been written by Mushtaq Sheikh.
“Either that, or I’ve torn a ligament because of the wear and tear of weight training,” rued the actress with the hour-glass figure. She’s been told to take it easy at least for three months. “So I can’t shoot for the film,” added Shilpa, regretting that her ambitious multi-starrer has to be on hold. But, undaunted, Shilpa has picked up all the scripts at hand and is reading them so that she can start working.
“It will have to be a script which is not complicated, less painful and not a multi-starrer,” admitted the actress. As a first time producer, she realises a multi-starrer might not be the best way to go. “I wouldn’t get dates from the actors. It’s quite a difficult task. I kept other projects on hold because of my film. I realised that I had turned more of a producer and less of an actress. So now I’m going to turn that around and complete the films I’ve signed,” said Shilpa.
Looking at the bright side, she agreed that it was good thing that her mega budget film was hold during this period of recession. “Due to the global meltdown, the financiers want to cut down on costs which is not possible,” said the actress.
So, what does Shilpa Shetty intend to do now? “I’ll wear a long-sleeved dress to camouflage the plaster on my wrist while doing Big Boss for Colours. And a fat kada when shooting for Sunny Deol’s The Man,” said the actress, making light of her problems.
The breaking news is that Golmaal Returns is a clear rip-off of a 1973 Hindi film Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar . And though the era-old film was a decent story in itself and even remade as a Marathi film in the 80s, the Golmaal sequel doesn’t match up to either while deriving from both.
Gopal (Ajay Devgan) is married to a size-zero couch potato Ekta (Kareena Kapoor) who, influenced by her K-serials, keeps suspecting her husband at the slightest provocation. One fateful night Gopal gets stranded in a yacht with Mira (Celina Jaitley). While framing a fake story to suit her wife, Gopal spontaneously invents Anthony Gonsalves as his friend cum previous night partner. He makes his office subordinate Laxman Prasad (Shreyas Talpade) his partner in crime, posing him as Anthony Gonsalves.
While seeking inspiration so far from the original, the writer attempts to infuse uncalled for innovation by adding a murder mystery to the plot with Inspector Madhav (Arshad Warsi) suspecting Gopal behind the killing. The screenplay is reworked to accommodate the leading quartet and is revised with spoofs so contemporary that at times it makes you wonder if the script drafts were devised on the sets.
There are subtle references to the earlier episode though this one isn’t a continuation of the first part. Vrajesh Hirjee’s serpentine act is repeated from the original and there’s also a tribute-cum-takeoff on the missing member Sharman Joshi. The film takes forward its legacy of ‘Black comedy’ and also adds Bhansali’s Saawariya to the spoof-list. The humour varies from superior to slapdash variety ranging from subtle satire on Saif-Kareena tattoos to the overstated Ekta Kapoor soap spoofs. There are some intended parodies which never take off like the character names Gopal Kumar Santoshi and Mira Nair. Then there are some jokes that clearly fall flat like the Ajay Devgan – Celina Jaitley salsa sequence on the yacht.
The writer wittily evades the censor scissors by having the mute Tusshar Kapoor indulge in most of the cursing. But script supervisor Robin Bhatt keeps making intermittent appearances with some lame internet jokes. Sample one gem of a dialogue when Kareena says, “Main serial watcher hoon aur mere pati serial killer nahi ho sakte”. The first half is thankfully devoid of any song tracks and you don’t mind excusing the only action item number in the second half that is declared to be derived from Rajnikant’s Sivaji – The Boss.
In trademark Anees Bazmee – Priyadarshan brand of comedies, the climax gets together the entire cast including supporting actors to villain sidekicks for a silly and intentionally exaggerated ending.
Tusshar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade share capable chemistry and comic timing in the film and come up with the most entertaining acts. Tusshar’s mute act ranges from the absolutely incomprehensible to the palpably peculiar antics. Shreyas has a natural flair for comedy and makes you laugh with effortless ease. Ajay Devgan is decent but Arshad Warsi is underused. Amrita Arora can’t act to save her life and while not much is expected from Celina or Anjana, even Kareena fails to impress. Her talent isn’t justified in her shallow characterization.
Golmaal Returns reloads its cast with some new girls but doesn’t replenish its humour with more wit and imaginative gags.
ActressDia Mirza, who had walked the ramp during the last edition of LFW in April, will not be seen at any of the fashion weeks in Delhi.
Dia, who was here recently, told us, “I love walking the ramp. Modelling is still very close to my heart and I love the adrenaline rush that a show gives. The thunderous applause and fashionable dresses – I love it all. But this time, I will not be here when the fashion weeks happen in Delhi. I will be in Cape Town , finishing the last leg of shooting for Ramu’s film Acid Factory.”
The actress, it seems, has also fallen in love with Delhi. “I am happy that work keeps bringing me to Delhi. I simply love the city,” she said.
Sanjay Dutt plays 'Sattarbhai', a bully who collects loan instalments from bank debtors, in his forthcoming film 'EMI'. The character has been inspired by a real-life collecting agent and the Bollywood actor spent a lot of time with him to get his act right.
'Sanju sir's character is modelled on a real-life agent. In fact, the whole film's plot about all these debt collectors who have the thankless job of getting bank loans back from debtors was inspired by the real-life Sattarbhai,' said TV tsarina Ekta Kapoor, who is co-producing the film with Suniel Shetty.
The real-life character's identity is, however, being kept a secret right now.
Said Suniel Shetty: 'We don't want the real Sattarbhai to come into the picture until Sanju baba's fictional avatar is properly unveiled to the public.'
Sanjay Dutt met, interacted with and studied the real-life Sattarbhai very closely to get into the skin of the character. And he was glad that he wasn't playing an underworld gangster yet again.
'This is my most seriously funny and socially relevant character since Munnabhai. And I'm happy to be doing something that doesn't require me to go into the underworld,' he quipped.
As for the real Sattarbhai, he is free to share the thrill of the film unless he suddenly decides to demand a bigger share in the movie's investments.
This isn't the first time this question has cropped up. When Preity Zinta played a real-life battered wife in Deepa Mehta's 'Heaven On Earth', the woman who inspired the character suddenly came forward to demand a huge amount of money.
'She demanded an obscenely astronomical sum of money that really put Deepa Mehta off,' a member of the 'Heaven On Earth' team said.
However, producers Ekta and Suniel seem pretty sure their real character won't suddenly demand his pound of flesh.
'He's more than happy to be a role model for a character that Sanju baba is playing. We'll include him in the promotional events of 'EMI' very soon,' said Suniel.
There's also the debate of 'EMI' sharing its title with the international music label. Any copyright hassles on the anvil?
'But we've registered our title. And EMI is accepted bank jargon, short for Equated Monthly Instalments. If EMI is a music company, then we're glad to be keeping such musical company,' Suniel joked.
C Kkompany (comedy)
Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Raima Sen
Direction: Sachin Yardi
THREE losers -- Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav -- form a fictitious underworld gang to solve their personal problems. But soon, the gang ends up as the popular trouble-shooter for the aam aadmi who tries to solve his paani, bijli , pension problems by appealing to the Counterfeit Kkompany.
Munnabhai, anyone? Only, this one is such a pale-pale attempt to create a desi Robin Hood, it almost makes you cry. Actually, this one's hardly a film. Instead, it's more like a promo for Balaji Inc, where all the big and small stars from Ekta Kapoor's factory keep parading up and down, for no reason at all. And if that's not enough, there's the czarina herself trying her hand at emoting. Bad job.
Mukhbir (drama)
Cast: Sameer Dattani, Raima Sen, Om Puri
Direction: Mani Shankar
SHADES of The Departed , did we say? Well, Sameer Dattani does a Leonardo Di Caprio here as he infiltrates a terrorist gang to help the assiduous cop (Om Puri) nab them before their bombs go boom.
The film does have its moments, specially when the hapless young infiltrator is forced to prove his loyalty in some nerve-wracking sequences. Rahul Dev essays the role of the terrorist with credible menace, but it is Om Puri who walks away with the applause as the cop who tries to clean up the system, even though he knows it's a deadly game.
Eventually however, it is the multiplicity of plots and subplots that act as a dampener and transform the film into a somewhat rambling investigation into the state's counter-terrorism programmes.
Rock On (drama)
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny
Direction: Abhishek Kapoor
IF you really want to see how Bollywood has matured and come of age, then here's the perfect litmus test. For Rock On is a film that not only breaks new ground in terms of its subject matter -- now when has desi movielore ever tackled something akin to Hollywood's That Thing You Do -- it creates a whole new EQ (emotional quotient) for mainstream cinema. Of course, there is the great passion reminiscent of Dil Chahta Hai , but here, there is a poise and a restraint that portrays the friendship between four rock musicians, with all its ups and downs. The bonds are strong, but there are the dark sides too, like rivalry, physical violence, the fear of failure....Yet, no one hollers, no one screams and ever so often, you feel a tug at your heart.
The film traces the relationship between the four buddies from college days until their stagnant thirties, when the band has been disbanded due to interpersonal rivalries and the foursome has drifted apart. The lead crooner, Farhan Akhtar is an investment banker who has stuffed away the memorabilia of the past in the attic of his well-ordered house. The lead guitarist, Arjun Rampal, is a miserable man, echoing the anguish of an artiste who cannot go commercial, even if his family struggles with bread and butter concerns. Purab Kohli, the kick-ass drummer, is now selling jewellery in his father's store, while Luke Kenny is literally dying of frustration, strumming tunes for Anu Malik. It's left to Prachi Desai, Akhtar's lonely young wife, to forge a reunion and bring the band together for a final concert that almost takes your breath away and has you cheering, as you did in Chak De and Lagaan .
Surprisingly, everything falls in place in this refreshing, new film. Farhan Akhtar's vocals are absolutely fundoo, even as the foursome pitch in perfectly orchestrated performances. If you actually had to choose, then the vote would go for Arjun Rampal who displays a newfound maturity and looks absolutely groovy with his windblown hair and his guitar-strumming stance. Farhan Akhtar too is a surprise package, delivering a well nuanced portrayal of a rock star-turned-boring-yuppie. The girls, Prachi, Koel and Shahana, are riveting too.
But finally, it's the message of the film that makes it a winner. Follow your dreams and life will literally be on song!
OKAY, so Hindi films find a new hero this time. He's the naxalite who first kills the corrupt state agents and then ends up killing for the state. Now that's quite a bold step for Bobby Deol who decides to don a different role as Chamku, the favourite lieutenant of a Pushkin-reading Danny Denzongpa who talks of class conflict and revolution from his secret adda in the dense jungles.
The film begins on a promising note with some imaginative frames capturing the action as Bobby goes about his business with deadpan glee. But midway, you realise the Naxalbari was just a convenient ploy to package the same old formula of an action hero who is out to avenge the death of his father. Chamku was actually a happy village boy who saw his father being shot by the local thakur and could never rest happy ever after. Not even when he finds the chiffon-clad school madam (Priyanka Chopra) who sings Yippie-Yippie, whenever she sees him. Strangely, she never knows what her brooding beau actually does, even though he keeps disappearing for covert missions for his new boss (Irrfan Khan).
The problem with Chamku is its disjointed script and its relentless flashbacks which mar a film that could have tread new ground. Although, we do laud the attempts of the Deol Inc to turn to serious cinema.
FIRST of all, it's hard to believe a post modern filmmaker like Ram Gopal Varma could actually make a film that ends up upholding mumbo-jumbo. The rationalist engineer (Sudeep) ends up chasing shamans and witch doctors to save his possessed daughter (Ahsaas Channa), even as the doctors fail to cure her of her demons with their psychological fundas.
The film ends up as a warning to all you scientific non-believers out there who scoff at black magic, voodoo and the mysterious lemoo (lemon). The next time you see bones in your backyard or a crow staring down at you from the overhead tree, don't take it lightly....Oh, really!
But he doesn't only get the premise wrong. The film fails to create a single scare, even though the camera does slide into strange places, focusing on all the stuffed toys and the ugly artefacts in the house and the soundtrack gets dizzy with ominous sounds.
Technically speaking, there's only one `jump' moment, when Sudeep moves but his mirror image doesn't move. The rest of the chills are ekdum thanda , as the story traces the attempts of a young couple to cure their daughter of the mysterious ailment that seems to have stricken her. From a happy-go-lucky kid, she's now a girl who grunts in a man's voice and flies up to the ceiling, a la Exorcist .
All said and done, Bhoot was the bigger scare than Phoonk.
MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM gives the impression of an out and out zany comedy feast, which is set to hit the screens on August 22nd 2008. The film marks the return of the unique and lovable pair of Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat (after the hit PYAAR KE SIDE EFFECTS) and they have the support of two of the industry's best actors, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon. A VENUS production, MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM is directed by Sanjay Chhel who has earlier made KHOOBSURAT and KYA DIL NE KAHAA. With music by Anu Malik , the lyrics are penned by writer/director sanjay Chhel. Synopsis: It's Mission...Mohabbat...Madness... MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM is a Mad Contemporary Comedy about how a small town Drama Company gets involved in a deadly mission to save the country Circa 1993 - The country was burning due to the Babri structure demolition and communal riots. A small town like St. Louis near Goa, where police, CBI and RAW officers were put on high alert due to illegal activities like Rdx and Arms landing at the coastal area !! Set up in the same town is Kalakar Theatre Company, a Theatre group of self indulged dreamy actors who are always left with no choice but to perform the same age old period play 'Mughall-E-Azam' every time. One fine day, they come to know that, an underworld don is planning a severe bomb blast in the country. A funny and thrilling roller-coaster ride begins when the entire Drama Company designs 'A deadly game plan' and gets into the act to save the entire city from these blasts. Performing multiple roles in disguise, the characters make you go crazy and eventually, save the entire nation from the big bomb blast in a hilarious slapstick climax. It's a story of losers becoming winners...'Actors' becoming 'Heroes'... A comedy which thinks and winks!! Character Sketch: 1) Mallika Sherawat - Queen of glamour Shabnam A sexy, smart, naughty actress who has big dreams. She feels that the Bollywood is awaiting her and on the other hand, she is waiting for a 'young lover' in her boring married life. A fuuny 'Anarkali' of 'Mission Mughall-E-Azam', she can seduce the entire country. And this quality of hers in the end helps save the country as well. She is the heart of this film. 2) Rahul Bose - Prince of romance Arjun A dashing secret agent who is secretly in love with Shabnam. He has a serious agenda in his mind and sweet love plan in his heart. He is the one who motivates the theatre group for something bigger than just a few claps and eventually traps them in a deadly game. He is a mind of this film. 3) Paresh Rawal - Shahenshah of comedy Uday Shankar Mazumdar Uday Shankar is a possessive husband who is excessively obsessed about his acting. He doesn't act, but overacts. He plays Akbar like Othello, and Othello like Hanuman! He thinks that he is a living legend even though the audience almost goes dead due to his overacting. An innocently committed actor and a born loser, in the end, he risks his life to perform a challenging role! He is the soul of this film. 4) Kay Kay Menon - Ace of andaaz Haldi Hassan Stylish, romantic, Urdu gazal singer always ready to fall in love with each of his female fans. He speaks romance, sings romance, he lives romance. But no one understands his classic urdu lingo and also his mysterious mind. Read more...
God Tussi Great Ho (comedy) Cast: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Sohel Khan Direction: Rumi Jaffery Critics rating:
IT takes the charisma of Salman Khan to make this film work, but only in places. The actor's comic timing and his spontaneity does create some magic intermittently, but, by and large, it's the loose script and the hurried directorial approach that lets him down.
A desi version of Bruce Almighty , the film does borrow heavily from the Jim Carrey venture as it traces the desperate attempts of harried TV anchor, Salman Khan to shed his 'loser' tag and counter the ill-luck that seems to follow him everywhere. Despite being talented, he loses his job, he fails to cement his relationship with his girlfriend (Priyanka Chopra), has an angry father (Anupam Kher) raving at his failures permanently and a plain Jane sister who desperately needs to get married. In such a dismal scenario, he has just one favourite punching bag: God, whom he blames for all his ills. Naturally, God (Amitabh Bachchan) strikes back and hauls him up to the moon where he abdicates his responsibility and asks the eternal whiner to run the show for ten days. Only so he may stop whining.
Okay, so the job's back, the rival's (Sohel Khan) demolished, the girlfriend's swinging in his arms again, the father's speechless, the sister's got a make-over and life's a ball. Until the chaos begins....The film has a tedious second half; the music is lacklustre; Priyanka Chopra is a mere prop; Sohel Khan's funny. Meant mostly for Salman buffs.
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