'Kidnap' lacks composer Pritam's signature style (Music Review)

Sep 30, 2008
Film: "Kidnap"

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty

Lyricist: Mayur PuriSingers: Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Akriti Kakkar, Adnan Sami, Sandeep Vyas, Suzie Q, Shreya Ghoshal

Rating: **
Composer Pritam Chakraborty's new offering "Kidnap" will disappoint his fans because only the first few songs of the album manage to impress. The rest are skippable.Although it is Pritam's album, Sandeep and Sanjeev Vyas have created one track as guest composers.The album starts with the fast track "Mit jaaye" by Sandeep and Sanjeev. The number, written by Sandeep himself, has a rock base to it. But it is not good enough to be downloaded."Hey ya" is the next track. Sung by Suzie Q, the composer tries to make a peppy and youthful numbers, but fails.Shreya Ghoshal sings "Mausam". It is a sweet and pleasant number with a slight tinge of sensuousness. Shreya is at her best and the music director has kept the instruments light. Overall, it is a nice piece.After listening to the previous tracks, one finds "Haan ji" out of place. Rendered by Adnan Sami, the song does not seem to fit in because of the way it has been presented or composed and also because it has very little connection with the movie's genre. Skipping this number wouldn't harm anyone."Meri ek ada" is also incorrectly placed in the album. Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and Akriti Kakkar croon this piece, which is more like an item number.The album may not be one of Pritam's successes, but it could definitely be given the credit of not belting out downright boring thriller pieces.

source: www.bollywoodworld.com

I can even look good in a bikini: Gul Panag

Sep 29, 2008 Mumbai, (IANS) Former Miss India Gul Panag, mostly seen in de-glamorised acting roles, recently caught public attention by posing in a black lingerie for the cover page of Maxim, a magazine for men. Gul said she did it to show off the "glamorous and real side" of her personality.
"It was not for a change in my image. I am very happy to have the image that I have. I am associated with a certain type of work and I don't want to change that ever. But what is important is that people should understand that what they see on screen and what I am are two different persons," Gul told IANS.Gul has received critical acclaim for playing offbeat roles in films like "Dor" and "Manorama Six Feet Under", in which she was seen mostly in Indian attire."In reality, I am not that kind of person as shown in most of my films. I am not a village girl clad in 'saris' and 'salwar-kameez' in real life. I am a regular modern girl who is glamorous in real life and that's what I wanted to show. In fact, nobody has ever seen me in 'saris' and 'salwar-kameez' in real life," said Gul who debuted with Parth Arora's "Dhoop" in 2003."I can look good in a bikini or any other sexy outfit or equally convincing in a nightie. That's the job of an actor," she added.Commenting upon her roles, she said: "I believe that I'm extremely versatile as I can do power packed performances as well as look good as and when required. I don't want the people to be confused that the role that I have been playing in my films is what I am in real life. It's just the man who is playing the villain in films is not bad in real life."What made you say yes to Maxim?"Why not? It's the highest selling men's magazine in the world," she said.Asked about her future plans, she said: "It's not that I'll be doing more glamorous or power packed roles. It's about the offers. Glamour cannot be substance to a role. However, in most of my forthcoming films, I have glamorous roles."In 'Hello' I am glamorous. I have two more films - 'Straight' and 'Hello Darling' - in which too I have glamorous roles."The actress said she is playing a modern, urban young woman in "Hello"."My character is neither black nor white. It has a huge amount of grey in her. In the story, she is stuck in a conflict in choosing between love and practicality."Based on novelist Chetan Bhagat's "One Night At The Call Centre" also stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, Sharman Joshi, Amrita Arora and Arbaaz Khan.Gul said she liked the story and her role in particular. "I never sign a film unless and until I am convinced with the story. In this case, I knew the story beforehand because I had read the book earlier. It is an extremely interesting story and I hope people will like me in the role."Gul said she enjoyed most working for "Manorama Six Feet Under"."It is closest to my heart and I enjoyed working in it the most."Among the newcomers, Gul finds Imran Khan as most dynamic and wants to work with him."I think Imran is extremely talented and the most promising among the newcomers. I came to meet Imran for a short while during an audition where we interacted and I found him a highly sensible and dynamic actor. If given a choice among the newcomers, I would definitely choose him," she said.

Source: www.bollywoodworld.com

Punjabi no barrier for 'Heaven On Earth': Deepa Mehta

Sep 25 Mumbai, (IANS) Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta says there will be no barrier to her latest film "Heaven On Earth" because it is in Punjabi, as domestic violence has universal resonance and audiences across the globe can relate to it. This was evident at the recent Toronto Film Festival where the film got a standing ovation.
"This was the film's first public screening. And no one saw it as an esoteric film in a regional Indian language," Mehta told IANS.The film is about domestic violence in the immigrant community in Canada and stars Preity Zinta in the lead role.Mehta is nonchalant about the language and added: "Punjabi is as Indian as Hindi or English. In fact, last year it was Rituparno Ghosh's 'The Last Lear' that was shown at the Toronto Film Festival."Though I'll dub 'Heaven on Earth' in Hindi for some areas in India on the producer's insistence, I think audiences all over the world would read the Punjabi characters in 'Heaven On Earth' without prejudice, just as Priyadarshan's 'Kanjeevaram' was appreciated in the Tamil language."Mehta says she will dub "Heaven On Earth" in Hindi because the film's Indian distributor Ravi Chopra thinks the film will have wider reach in Hindi."I've to respect Mr. Chopra's opinion. He and his father, the illustrious B.R. Chopra, understand the Indian market much better than I do. They've earlier distributed my film 'Water'," said Mehta.Set in the Toronto suburb of Brampton, "Heaven On Earth" is the story of a Ludhiana girl, Chand (Preity), who moves in after marrying Rocky Grewal (Vansh Bhardwaj) only to find herself locked in a loveless marriage, and a life of beatings and torture by her husband and in-laws. Chand's journey into hell begins the moment the naive girl lands in Canada, which is considered heaven in Punjab.At the Toronto Film Festival screening, the film had audiences glued to their seats even as the end-titles rolled by."Everyone just sat in their seats when the film ended. I thought, 'Oh oh, this one is a dud'. But when we got a 10-minute standing ovation, I understood the 18,000-strong audience didn't move because they were so moved. I think 'Heaven On Earth' connects with an international audience even better than my previous 'Water', which was short-listed for an Oscar, for the simple reason that domestic violence has more universal resonance than the plight of widows," said Mehta.Preity impressed the audience as the battered wife at the festival."She scored with both the Indian and non-Indian audience. The NRIs were floored to see her deglamourised avatar in 'Heaven On Earth'. And the firangs first saw her as this scared-timid-withdrawn abused wife and then at the festival dos she appeared in a flaming-red gown as the chic suave diva - the Preity that Indian audiences know," said Mehta.In terms of quality and connectivity, this year's Toronto Film Festival has been the most productive for Indian cinema at any international festival in recent times.Mehta was bowled over by the films with Indian themes."Not just me, but everyone was stunned by the films from and about India this year. My dear friend Nandita Das, who has been part of two of my most important works 'Fire' and '1947 Earth', wowed Toronto with her directorial debut 'Firaaq'. Nobody said it was a good first-time attempt. They looked at Nandita's film as a work of great wisdom and experience... that's how good her debut is."Mehta also can't stop raving about Priyadarshan's paean to the sari weavers in "Kanjeevaram"."It is such a powerful document on human resilience. Every frame is as intricately woven as one of those saris that the Kanjeevaram weavers pore over for months and months. I had seen only one film 'Viraasat' by Priyadarshan earlier. I was completely floored by 'Kanjeevaram'. It's one of the best films to come out of India in recent times."The festival this year was the first festival that Priyadarshan ever attended."Maybe the Indian presence at international festivals has begun to make some sense now."The other film that Mehta fell in love with is Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire". Set in Mumbai, the film revolves around a Mumbai slum kid Jamal who wins a fortune on a reality quiz show. It bagged the top People's Choice Award at the film fest."It takes an extraordinarily compassionate look at Mumbai. Nobody can accuse Danny Boyle of being patronising towards the city. In fact, the Indian films this year went beyond cultural paradigms," she said.

Source: www.bollywoodworld.com

Adlabs creates record in 2K digital movie screening

Sep 25 Mumbai, (IANS) Adlabs Films Ltd, a part of the Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has crossed a milestone by having 10,000 movie screenings in 2K digital format since the process was launched in April this year.
These screenings included Bollywood, regional as well as Hollywood movies shown in BIG Digital 3D format. 2K digital format refers to images with 2048 horizontal pixel resolution. These images are sharper than usual images. The record was achieved with the evening screening of Shyam Benegal's "Welcome to Sajjanpur" at the Imax Wadala, which is Mumbai's first multiplex to be converted into a 2K digital cinema.Adlabs was India's first cinema chain to start screening movies in 2K digital format by using Hollywood standard DC I-grade projectors and servers. "In fact, Adlabs was the world's first cinema operator to commercially distribute movies in digital format through optic fibre cable (OFC)," claimed Patrick Von Sychowski, chief operating officer of Adlabs Cinema.Movies are encoded in at Adlabs Digital Cinema Mastering Facility at the Film City in Goregaon here and then sent over 200 Mbps connection to its Content Distribution and Logistic (CDL) hub at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in New Mumbai.From the DAKC hub, the contents are sent further via dedicated 100 Mbps OFC to cinemas as far as Ahmedabad. OFC allows for fastest delivery of digital cinema movies."Adlabs' Digital Cinema Mastering facility at the Film City in Mumbai is Asia's first such facility to have received the international Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) accreditation," Sychowski said.

source: www.bollywoodworld.com

Ajay Devgan's close shave with death while shooting in Thailand

Sep 25 New Delhi, (IANS) Bollywood star Ajay Devgan escaped death while giving an action shot for a film near an island in Thailand - the weather suddenly changed and the chopper moving over him nearly lost control. He escaped unscathed, despite the helicopter blades whizzing inches from him.
He says he was shooting with other actors near Phi Phi Island. The action director Jack Gill had planned out a stunt in which the jet-ski chase was suppose to be shot from a chopper."Initially, as we started filming and moving around in the shallow waters, the waves were moderate... so we decided to move ahead in the deeper waters since the scene required a proper aerial view which should look like a chase from a top angle," Ajay wrote on his blog www.ajaydevgan.net. He was shooting with four other stuntmen."They were moving aggressively in the sea trying to give their best shots by manoeuvring with their cuts around me… The chopper was also hovering right above us and as close as possible to us to get better shots," he added.According to Ajay, all seemed to go well until they realised they were nearing another smaller rocky island called Maya Bay. "Suddenly the weather started to change. The wind and the waves were trying to show us their stunts and our guys instantly thought of retreat."A sudden gust of strong wind hit me and next moment the chopper above us lost control and blades were so dangerously close to us that we could feel the strong whipping winds of our helicopter," he described.Ajay, who featured in several action movies including his debut vehicle "Phool Aur Kaante" and "Raju Chacha", says this incident will be etched in his mind for a long time.

Source: www.bollywoodworld.com

Shah Rukh turns property developer in UAE

Sep 18 Dubai, (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is now trying a new role as a property developer, conceptualising a series of buildings in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an entertainment website reported here.
Khan's first project is called Shah Rukh Khan Boulevard and is located on the island of Al Dana in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE-based website Masala reported.Covering an area of 1,700 sq km, Ras Al Khaimah is among the five emirates that form the northern emirates of the UAE and lies along the border of Oman."Our inquiries have revealed that the superstar, who has been lying low since that July 17 tiff with Salman Khan, will be in Dubai to announce the project at the real estate expo City Scape (in Dubai), to be held from Oct 6 to 9," the report said. The cluster of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments are being designed by well-known architect Toni Ashai and Shah Rukh has associated himself with the project through TSA International Investments, a leading real estate financial consultancy in the UAE.According to the report, buyers have been invited to offer refundable 'expression of interest' cheques for the apartments, but sales will begin only after the official launch by the King Khan Oct 20, before his 'Temptation Reloaded' show in Dubai. Khan already is associated with the UAE'e leading real estate developer Nakheel and owns a house on the posh Palm Jumeirah manmade island off the coast of the Dubai.Though Bollywood actors have earlier endorsed real estate projects in the UAE, this is the first time that a celebrity would actually be developing a property himself, the report said.

source: www.bollywoodworld.com

Abhishek Bachchan to make TV debut, interviews Big B

Sep 18 New Delhi, (IANS) Treading the same path as his father, Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is set to make his small screen debut.
He'll host the first of three episodes of an exclusive chat show titled "The Big B's Den" that will revisit memorable moments of their 'Unforgettable' world tour.In the following two episodes, Amitabh will be seen interviewing the other members of his world tour. He will discuss their first hand experiences, unforgettable moments, success-runs among other topics. It will be aired on NDTV Imagine Friday at 10 p.m.The Bachchan's 'Unforgettable' tour started in Toronto July 18 and ended in London Aug 24. It saw livewire performances by Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai with other actors like Preity Zinta, Riteish Deshmukh and composer duo Vishal-Shekhar.There were some guest stars as well - Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty and Madhuri Dixit, who performed in Toronto, Britain and the US, respectively.The chat show is produced by Wizcraft Television

source: www.bollywoodworld.com

1920

Cast: Rajneesh Duggal, Adah Sharma

Director: Vikram Bhatt

Rating: *
After "Phoonk", you'd think the possessed woman was a thing of the past. But wait, it's time for another lady to elevate far beyond her bed in a horizontal high that gives you a crick in the neck. "1920" is "Phoonk" in Scotland (or whichever foreign scenic spot), where the devil catches hold of the leading lady as she rests her head on the rattling bed, moved back by almost a century.Screenwriter Vikram Bhatt attempts to thrust a weight over the theme of exorcism by taking the supernatural theme to British India. So we have soldiers, mutineers, rebels and renegades popping into the Scottish scenario like random guests at a outdoor masquerade party.And then we have a doctor mentioning a certain "Dr Sigmund Fried" who is doing research somewhere far away from this film's horrific domestic tussles, researching on the human psychology. By the time we get to the grisly climax with flying chairs and human limbs, writer-director Bhatt, trying to do a razz-matazz to his supernatural hit "Raaz" five years ago, is on to a bigger formula.The holy chants of the Christian priest (Raj Zutsi, trying hard to pronounce Latin correctly and translating it promptly into English and Hindi) merge into the chants of the Hanuman Chalisa. This is secularism gone supernatural!There's something terribly artificial about implanting a historical element into a tale that essentially wants to tap the most primitive and primeval fears of the audience. Rather than going into a tale of betrayal during times of cruel colonialism, Bhatt's narrative should have just stuck to its gory guns.Then maybe, just maybe, the B and C centre audiences who got the jitters watching "Phoonk" would've trembled at the diabolic toss and turn that the love birds experience in a verdant castle that is supposed to be situated somewhere in India in the year 1920.So panoramic and National Geographic is the view that we often want the lead pair (both wooden and uninspired even when the ghouls provoke them into animated retaliation) to just move out of camera range. Alas, "1920" has a scary story to tell.We are scared all right. Though for reasons other than the ones Bhatt would want us to be.
Souce: www.bollywoodwrold.com

The Last Lear

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, Shefali Shah, Divya Dutta

Screenplay Writer & Director: Rituparno Ghosh

Rating: *** 1/2
Greatness, they say, is never thrust on you. You are either born with it. Or you are not. Amitabh Bachchan is at a place today where nothing and everything he does surprises us.The Bachchan saga gets one more twist in the tale as the ageing, cantankerous, flamboyant, eccentric and embittered Shakespearean actor battles old age, unwieldy hair and a receding genius.And what a tale! Rituparno Ghosh specialises in telling stories that pitch two utterly unmatched characters against each other in a battle where the lines are drawn between the egos of the two individuals."The Last Lear" is actually a series of dramatic dialogues sewn together in a pastiche that suggests pain to be the constant subliminal text of all human interactions.So we have this bearded 'intense' director Siddharth (Arjun Rampal) who decides to make a film on the life of an unemployed ageing clown. For the role, he approaches the reclusive wacky stage actor Harish Mishra (Amitabh) who sneers wryly at the very thought of entering cinema at his age, and then warms up to the idea and gives the part his heart and soul.Interesting possibilities pitching cinema against theatre examined, explored, searched and dissected by the director with the microscopic manoeuvrings of emotions that the camera ferrets out of the human heart and makes visible to our eyes.In Ghosh's incandescent world of human suffering and redemption, you won't find more than two people in the same room at any given time. Sometimes there are three. But then the third individual is so still in her space, you hardly notice her/his presence beyond a shadow.Such is the truth of Divya Dutta's character. As the benevolent nurse on night duty to look after the dying Shakespearean actor, she gives the actor's mistress Vandana (Shefali Shah) and his co-star Shabnam (Preity Zinta) quiet company. The two women talk the night away on the man they're both fascinated by.Ghosh goes backward in time from the night the film featuring Harish Mishra is premiered to the interactive events leading up to his selection and shooting for the film.The narration is purposely loose-limbed. Even the one-to-one interactions that are the backbone of this beautifully layered chamber-piece are done with the casual grace of a trapeze dancer walking the familiar tightrope blindfolded and not fearful of the fall.The characters are all in desperate need of redemption. Whether it's the jaded but still-spirited Shakespearean actor or his unhappy overworked mistress, or the model-turned actress Shabnam, or even the young journalist (Jisshu Sengupta) trying to piece together the opulent mystique of the Shakespearean actor's ego and enigma - the characters are perched on the brink of self-destruction, holding on to that thread of self-esteem, which keeps them from that fatal fall."The Last Lear" is Ghosh's second film in a row after the Bengali movie "Khela" to be located in the film world. The distance between the 'reality' of the acting world and the realism of the real world where people are often acting before one another, is covered by the sensitive director with supple grace.The English dialogues are spun in spoken sensitivity. But the words do get in the way of the characters sometimes.When the film starts Shabnam is on the verge of breaking up with her suspicious husband. By the time she starts shooting with Harish Mishra in a scenic hill station, she's in an off-camera dialogue with her aged co-star and ready to scream out her angst in a war-cry of articulated liberation.Preity does here what most actors shy away from. She actually listens to her co-stars as they express their angst.The film is littered with luminous performances. If Divya is quiet and warm in her small role, Shefali simply takes over the screen each time she walks into the frame.And after "Rock On", Arjun Rampal delivers another pain-lashed performance.As for Amitabh, he goes from venom to vitality in quick succession, creating for his character a kingdom of theatrical yearnings.Ghosh has created a world carved out of mahogany-like glistening surfaces, hiding fears and anxieties that have little to do with Harish's age, and everything to do with the rage that the experience of life brings in its wake.Indranil Ghosh's artwork and Abhik Mukherjee's cameras write out the poetry of the motion picture.Watch "The Last Lear" to see the layerings of emotion that the director extends into his narration without losing sight of the lightness of touch in the outer crust.

source: www.bollywoodworld.com

I didn't enquire about my role in Shyam Benegal's film: Amrita Rao

Sep 11 Mumbai, (IANS) After doing a cameo in "Shaurya", Amrita Rao will be seen as an illiterate village girl in director Shyam Bengal's first comedy "Welcome to Sajjanpur".
Amrita, whose featured in hits like "Main Hoon Na" and "Vivah", says she is a big fan of Benegal and accepted the offer without asking about her role in the film, which is Benegal's first comedy."Ever since I had seen 'Zubeidaa', I wanted to work with Shyam Benegal. When I got a call from his office, I was thrilled. When I met him I was in such awe of him - I didn't ask him any questions about the film at all,"

Amrita told IANS in an interview."Welcome to Sajjanpur" is about Indian villages. Like many other villages Sajjanpur has all the modern tools of communication - Internet, email, cell phones, but lacks literacy.Amirta, who speaks a Hindi dialect spoken in rural Madhya Pradesh, says playing the role was neither too difficult nor easy."It was again not too difficult and not too easy. I worked hard on my dialogue delivery. Ashok Mishra, who is the writer as well as the dialogue coach of the film, used to help all of us to get our dialogues right," she said.Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Why did you choose to do "Welcome to Sajjanpur"?

A: Ever since I had seen "Zubeidaa", I wanted to work with Shyam Benegal. When I got a call from his office, I was thrilled. When I met him I was in such awe of him - I didn't ask him any questions about the film at all. All I knew at that time was that I want to do this film.

Q: This is Shyam Benegal's first comedy film; what do you have to say about his comic sense?

A: Well, I would like to define Shyamji as somebody with a great sense of humour who just went against contemporary cinema, had courage to make such wholesome cinema, an entertaining film with a beautiful plot.

Q: What made you play the role of an illiterate woman in the film?

A: I loved the way my character develops in the film. The peculiar get up of a villager, the different dialect in which I had to talk, my costumes, the star cast of the film, everything excited me to play my character.

Q: How difficult or easy was it for you to play your character, did you take any references for it?

A: Well I won't say it was very difficult, but it wasn't a cakewalk either. I did take reference for my role by observing village women, watching news on them, spending time with them, visiting small villages, my own search through internet; so basically I did a lot of homework for my role

.

Q: Since the film is about writing letters, do you answer your own fan mails?

A: Yes, of course, I do. Whenever I get time, I sit down to answer my fan mails. I write letters to a lot of my cousins too.

Q: How was it working with your co-stars - Shreyas Talpade, Divya Dutta, Ravi Kishan and Ila Arun?

A: Shreyas is a brilliant actor and an amazing co-star. I had a whale of a time working with him. Divya Dutta is super talented, it's fun to be with her. Ravi Kishan is a powerhouse of performance and Ilaji is just adorable, she used to make all of us laugh like crazy on the sets. It was an incredible experience to work with all of them.

Q: All actors speak Hindi in the films, but you have gone one step further and spoken a different dialect of Hindi, how difficult or easy was it for you to learn the accent?

A: It was again not too difficult and not too easy... I worked hard on my dialogue delivery. Ashok Mishra, who is the writer as well as the dialogue coach of the film, used to help all of us to get our dialogues right.

Q: Which Shyam Benegal's film is your personal favourite?

A; That's a difficult question. All his films are excellent but one, which I love the most, is "Zubeidaa". I think it was an amazing film.

Source: www.bollywoodwrold.com