Yash Chopra Signs on Rahman

After two decades of making music for Bollywood, AR Rahman finally enters the famous YRF banner. The Oscar winner and veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra will be working together for the first time. The film also marks Chopra’s return to direction after seven years. The name is still undecided but, of course, it will star Shah Rukh Khan. “Rahman has created outstanding and memorable music. I am looking forward to having some wonderful music in my film, combining his contemporary music sensibilities and my old world lilting melodies,” said Chopra, while speaking about the collaboration.

Rahman is equally pleased about the project. “I have seen that Yashji always portrays music as the inevitable essence of love and divinity in his movies. I hope that we can work well as a team,” he said. The scripting of the movie is being completed by Aditya Chopra and the casting for two leading ladies opposite SRK will take place after that.

No, Salman Khan won't turn superhero soon!

Unlike his contemporaries like Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan bollywood actor Salman Khan is not fascinated by 'super hero' films and says he is not doing any film of that sort.

"I am not doing a superhero film. I don't want to be bitten by a spider. I don't want to be a spider man. I don't want to wear red underwear from outside. I want to be 'Sal man'," the actor told reporters at the music launch of his upcoming film, 'Ready'.

There was a buzz in B-town that Salman would be playing a spy agent with super powers in Kabir Khan's next. The film will be produced by Yash Raj.

A spokesperson for Yash Raj said, "The cast is not final yet. We will make an announcement when it is finalised."

Earlier, Hrithik Roshan broke the mould with the first Bollywood super hero flick 'Krrish'. Now, Shahrukh Khan is doing it in 'Ra.One'.

In a gala event at Film City, Salman released the music of his upcoming film, 'Ready', alongside leading lady Asin Thottumkal, Zarine Khan, Anees Bazmee, Sohail Khan, and producer Bhushan Kumar. The film's music has been created by Pritam and Devi Shri Prasad.

Khan even went ahead and performed on a song from the film 'Dhinka Chika' from the top of a colourful bus designed for the event.

The special item song 'Character Dheela' along with Zarine Khan and 'Dhinka Chika' is already creating waves among the masses. Apart from these two groovy numbers, the album has a melodious romantic track called 'Humko Pyaar Hua' besides a wedding song 'Meri Ada'.

The album contains a total of eight songs and has remix versions of four songs.

Ready features Paresh Rawal, Arya Babbar and Mahesh Manjrekar in supporting roles. While Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Kangana Ranaut, Zarine Khan and Arbaaz Khan will make cameo appearances.

"I don't know whether this film will be at par with 'Dabangg' or not. We make every film with the intention that the audience will like it. Insha Allah the film will click," Salman, who took everyone by storm in 'Dabangg', said.

The film is scheduled for release on June 3.

In a touching gesture, Khan also felicitated the employees of Film City while launching the music of his upcoming film 'Ready'.

While the female employees were given sarees, their male counter-parts were given shirts by the actor at the function attended by hundreds of workers from Film City on Monday evening.

Salman saluted the security guard of Film City, greeted kids besides and also offered them chocolates. "While I was shooting here (Film City) for my film 'Body Guard' I realised that there are so many people working hard here. When we do events there are people who do not appreciate it. I thought why not appreciate the work of those who help us all here," Salman told reporters.

Recollecting his early days of shooting at Film City, the 'Dabangg' actor said, "I remember when I was shooting for the song - 'Dil Deewana' from the film 'Maine Pyaar Kiya' in a temple here... women used to come and offer us water. They all work hard for all of us."

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Shah Rukh, Shahid and Priyanka set to rock Durban

Durban is in for some real Bollywood flavour when stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra will groove to their hit numbers Sunday at an event to celebrate 150 years of India-South Africa friendship.

The concert, which promises to bring together the world of cricket and entertainment on a common platform, will be hosted by actor Anil Kapoor.

This friendship concert is an initiative by AAMEDIA, a South African corporate, and Cricket South Africa. It is being directed and executed by Wizcraft International Entertainment and Cineyug Productions.

'Wizcraft has had a very warm and welcoming relationship with South Africa. The second IIFA Weekend and Awards were held in Sun City in 2001 and we returned for the fourth edition of the same in 2003 in Johannesburg forging a strong relationship between the two countries,' Wizcraft director Sabbas Joseph said in a statement.

'The hospitality extended to us was touching and overwhelming. South Africa holds a big place in our hearts,' he said.

'We have made new friends and fond memories and now an opportunity to come back and produce a concert in Durban. Celebrating Indian cinema and cricket is truly a privilege,' he added.

The event will be held in commemoration of the arrival of the first Indian labourers in 1860 to work on the sugarcane plantations in South Africa.

The concert will also honour Sachin Tendulkar and Makhaya Ntini - two great stalwarts of cricket from India and South Africa respectively.

Several South African artistes are also scheduled to perform at the event, including Liquideep, Locnville, Drum Cafe, HHP, and 1st Project.

Wizcraft is looking at many other events in 2011. It is set to produce a concert for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 in Sri Lanka and also has been selected to execute the opening ceremony of the event to be co-hosted by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

It will also produce the 6th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards Jan 11.

Movie Review: Dev D

There's a major difference between K.L. Saigal, Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Abhay Deol's Devdas. The first three films were faithful to Sarat Chandra's legendary novella, while Anurag Kashyap's deviant take on Devdas is contemporary and in the process, differs from the original work.

In Kashyap's DEV D, Dev is into drugs and vodka. Paro sends her nude pic to Dev via email and later, wants Dev to have sex with her in the fields. Chanda, a hooker, indulges in phone sex mainly. Clearly, Kashyap's Dev, Paro and Chanda are audacious and rebellious.

There's no harm if you pick up an enticing story and tell it your way, but Kashyap goes a bit too far, crosses all limits and tends to get abstract once again. And that's the reason for DEV D's downfall.

To Kashyap's credit, a number of individualistic scenes are interestingly handled. Unfortunately, the proceedings gyrate from absorbing to boring to yawn-inducing. The writing [screenplay: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane] lacks consistency.

So what's the final word? Does Kashyap redeem himself after the boring and listless NO SMOKING? Unfortunately, he doesn't. Watching DEV D is akin to doing atyachaar on oneself!

Son of a rich industrialist, who is sent away to London when he was 12, Dev [Abhay Deol] returns to his hometown and to Paro [Mahi Gill], his childhood sweetheart. Inseparable as they seem, a misunderstanding puts their lives in a tizzy; Paro is married off to someone else and Dev goes into severe depression.

Not one to take on responsibilities for his acts, Dev digs deep into drugs and alcohol for salvation. He stays away from home, but his finances still come from a doting father.

Lenny [Kalki] likes to live her life on the edge -- a rich student with a penchant for adventure. After a devastating MMS scandal, she's abandoned by her family and is forced into isolation. As a runaway, she finds shelter with Chunni, a pimp. With great determination and inner strength she adopts an alter ego -- Chanda.

As Chanda, she gets to be a high profile escort by night, while Lenny remains a college student by day. At this juncture, Dev enters her life…

Despite the fact that you know the basic plotline of DEV D even before the reels begin to unfold, what you're keen to know is, how has Kashyap executed the subject? The sequences between Dev and Paro at the start are captivating and the volatile relationship they share makes you realize that Kashyap is on the right track. Note the altercation between Dev and Paro, which prompts Paro to marry Bhuvan, who's much older to her, besides being a father of two.

Post Paro's marriage, DEV D starts going downhill. Lenny/Chanda's MMS scandal is straight out of life and the reasons that make her turn into a hooker are well explained. But the sequences between Dev and Chanda lack fizz. Equally sad are the scenes between Dev and Chunni. Besides, there's not much movement in the story after a point and the goings-on get boring. The journey to the climax is prolonged and tedious.

Amit Trivedi's music sounds good to the ears. 'Emosanal Attyachaar' is already popular, besides a couple of other songs ['Nayan Tarse' and 'Pardesi']. But there're too many songs in the narrative. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography captures the rustic look of North India well.

Abhay Deol is natural. Mahi is decent, while Kalki shows sparks in a few scenes only. The balance cast, including the actor playing Chunni, are strictly okay.

On the whole, DEV D is NO SMOKING II. Does one elaborate more?

Source: http://www.bollywood.com/movie-review-dev-d

Movie Review: Dev D

There's a major difference between K.L. Saigal, Dilip Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan and Abhay Deol's Devdas. The first three films were faithful to Sarat Chandra's legendary novella, while Anurag Kashyap's deviant take on Devdas is contemporary and in the process, differs from the original work.

In Kashyap's DEV D, Dev is into drugs and vodka. Paro sends her nude pic to Dev via email and later, wants Dev to have sex with her in the fields. Chanda, a hooker, indulges in phone sex mainly. Clearly, Kashyap's Dev, Paro and Chanda are audacious and rebellious.

There's no harm if you pick up an enticing story and tell it your way, but Kashyap goes a bit too far, crosses all limits and tends to get abstract once again. And that's the reason for DEV D's downfall.

To Kashyap's credit, a number of individualistic scenes are interestingly handled. Unfortunately, the proceedings gyrate from absorbing to boring to yawn-inducing. The writing [screenplay: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane] lacks consistency.

So what's the final word? Does Kashyap redeem himself after the boring and listless NO SMOKING? Unfortunately, he doesn't. Watching DEV D is akin to doing atyachaar on oneself!

Son of a rich industrialist, who is sent away to London when he was 12, Dev [Abhay Deol] returns to his hometown and to Paro [Mahi Gill], his childhood sweetheart. Inseparable as they seem, a misunderstanding puts their lives in a tizzy; Paro is married off to someone else and Dev goes into severe depression.

Not one to take on responsibilities for his acts, Dev digs deep into drugs and alcohol for salvation. He stays away from home, but his finances still come from a doting father.

Lenny [Kalki] likes to live her life on the edge -- a rich student with a penchant for adventure. After a devastating MMS scandal, she's abandoned by her family and is forced into isolation. As a runaway, she finds shelter with Chunni, a pimp. With great determination and inner strength she adopts an alter ego -- Chanda.

As Chanda, she gets to be a high profile escort by night, while Lenny remains a college student by day. At this juncture, Dev enters her life…

Despite the fact that you know the basic plotline of DEV D even before the reels begin to unfold, what you're keen to know is, how has Kashyap executed the subject? The sequences between Dev and Paro at the start are captivating and the volatile relationship they share makes you realize that Kashyap is on the right track. Note the altercation between Dev and Paro, which prompts Paro to marry Bhuvan, who's much older to her, besides being a father of two.

Post Paro's marriage, DEV D starts going downhill. Lenny/Chanda's MMS scandal is straight out of life and the reasons that make her turn into a hooker are well explained. But the sequences between Dev and Chanda lack fizz. Equally sad are the scenes between Dev and Chunni. Besides, there's not much movement in the story after a point and the goings-on get boring. The journey to the climax is prolonged and tedious.

Amit Trivedi's music sounds good to the ears. 'Emosanal Attyachaar' is already popular, besides a couple of other songs ['Nayan Tarse' and 'Pardesi']. But there're too many songs in the narrative. Rajeev Ravi's cinematography captures the rustic look of North India well.

Abhay Deol is natural. Mahi is decent, while Kalki shows sparks in a few scenes only. The balance cast, including the actor playing Chunni, are strictly okay.

On the whole, DEV D is NO SMOKING II. Does one elaborate more?

Source: http://www.bollywood.com/movie-review-dev-d

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