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Category: Hindi

  • Animated Mahabharat…this one is for kids

    Animated Mahabharat…this one is for kids

    MUMBAI: Mahabharat is Jayantilal Gada’s ambitious effort and boasts of the greatest casting coup on Indian screen. In that, the film’s animated characters are modelled on the popular Hindi film stars. And, to complete the effect, the actors themselves have given voice to their screen images.

     

    Mahabharat is said to be the greatest epic ever written and though proud of the tome, not many know how to make kids aware of it! Though in abridged version, a film like this helps. The story, which has inspired many an Indian film scripts, is about Kauravs’ greed, backed by their guile, to rid their cousin, the Pandavs, of their hierarchical right to inherit the kingdom of Hastinapur. The kingdom is ruled by Dhritrashtra, who is blind but the final word is always that of Bheeshma, referred to as Pitamah (Amitabh Bachchan). The villain of the piece is Duryodhan (Jackie Shroff), the eldest of the 100 strong Kaurav clan ably aided by his manipulative maternal uncle, Shakuni (Anupam Kher). Bheeshma is the wise one who loves Arjun and the Pandavs and can see through the devious Duryodhan and Shakuni.

     

    Producer: Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Kaushal Kantilal Gada.
    Director: Amaan Khan.

    The trouble starts when Bheeshma announces the appointment of Yudhishthir (Manoj Bajpayee) as the King in waiting by Bheeshma and endorsed by the Kind, Dhritrashtra, thus upsetting Duryodhan who felt he was the rightful heir to his father. Fuel is added to the fire when Arjun manages to win the contest of shooting an arrow at a fish’s eye looking at its image in water in which Duryodhan fails and win the hand of Draupadi (Vidya Balan) in marriage. Duryodhan not only wants to possess Hastinapur but also wants Draupadi for himself.

     

    Draupad and Shakuni start plotting against Pandavs. One of the ploys is to exploit Yudhishthir’s weakness for gambling; he is lured into staking everything including his kingdom and, after losing it all, even Draupadi. What follows is the most dramatic scene Indian myth has ever told, that of disrobing Draupadi by Dushashan and Lord Krishna coming to her aid.

     

    As things emerge, Pitamah decides to offer Pandavs a new territory which Shakuni says should be the Paradise of a land but, actually, is barren and rock laden. However, with the help of lord Indra, the Pandavs turn into heavenly!

     

    However, Duryodhan would not let Pandavs rest in peace. Having tricked them in a gambling game with the help of Shakuni, the Pandavs are sent to 13 years of exile the last year of which being very conditional when they are not to be discovered.

     

    Finally, the Pandavs overcome everything they are ordained to for the sake of principle in which Kauravs don’t believe. Yet, the Kauravs’ overreach finally leads to a war between both the clans with the ever supportive Lord Krishna being with the Pandavs.

     

    Of course, there are side stories of how Draupadi was won and asked to be shared between the brothers, the story of Hidimba and Shakuntala and Abhimanyu. But, they are in passing.

     

    The finale is about the war between Pandavs and Kauravs and Geetasaar by Krishna when Arjun is reluctant to fight his own mentors as well as near and dear ones like Bheeshma. The war scenes are not impressive.

     

    There have been a few attempts before to tell Mahabharat but this one is better. This one has the advantage of impressive artiste participation with Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunny Deol, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Ajay Devgn, Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher, Vidya Balan.

  • ‘Heropanti’ shoot commences in Mumbai

    ‘Heropanti’ shoot commences in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Sajid Nadiadwala’s Heropanti, which stars Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon, has begun shooting for its Mumbai schedule. The movie which shot its first schedule in Chandigarh and Patiala extensively, finished their shoot in Delhi recently.

     

    Jackie Shroff’s son, Tiger Shroff, who is making his Bollywood debut in Heropanti, will be seen doing adrenaline-filled action scenes in the movie. The young actor is paired opposite model- Kriti Sanon- in the action-romance film. Video clips of Tiger training for the film show him doing gravity defying stunts and acrobatics for which he trained rigorously with his trainers. After Mumbai, Heropanti is expected to move on to its next schedule in Kashmir.

     

     

    Directed by Sabbir Khan, the film is an action-romance and is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandsons Entertainment Pvt Ltd. It is slated to release on 16 May, 2014.

  • Dilip Kumar’s unreleased film to hit the theatres soon

    Dilip Kumar’s unreleased film to hit the theatres soon

    MUMBAI: The first superstar of Indian cinema may soon be making a comeback to the big screen. Yes, we are talking about Dilip Kumar, one of whose unreleased film from the 1990s is set for a theatrical release.

    According to reports, Aag Ka Dariya starring Dilip Kumar and directed by VS Rajender Babu will be released sometime in Januray 2014. The reports confirm that the film didn’t see the light of the day earlier because of a financial dispute and also because the original print of the film was badly damaged in the intervening years. But Babu recently discovered a “perfect print” of the film with a distributor in Singapore and was surprised to find it that it was kept so carefully.

     

    If the film releases, it may be considered 91-year-old Kumar’s last film. Interestingly, the film also stars actress Rekha.

  • Kareena Kapoor to act in a Pak TVC

    Kareena Kapoor to act in a Pak TVC

    NEW DELHI: Actor Kareena Kapoor will be seen in a Pakistani television commercial to promote QMobile’s Noir series. The smartphone targets a high end market and competes with brands like Samsung, Nokia and HTC.

     

    Recently, QMobile introduced android powered Z3 and Z4 in the local market at a price range over PKR 30,000 boasting huge specifications, according to Pakistan‘s More Magazine. 

    Kapoor who flew to Bangkok for the TVC, is charging more than PKR 50 million for the project. The mobile company had brought a specialised production team from New York for it.

     

    QMobile CEO Mian Zeeshan Akhter said, “Being a Pakistan mobile phone company, QMobile has always set a benchmark when it comes to the introduction of technology in Pakistan. We also feel proud to take our commitment to next level by endorsing our brand with globally famed figures”. 

     

    Not only TVCs but Kareena will find prominent place on mega signboards and print material all over the country, an official of the company confirmed.

  • Celebrate Christmas with a new Dhoom song

    Celebrate Christmas with a new Dhoom song

    MUMBAI: In another innovative first, Yash Raj Films’ will be releasing a tub-thumping new version of their iconic Dhoom Machaale anthem song by actor, singer, dancer, theatre producer – Saba Azad. The song is backed by a cool new music video that features a video montage from all the three Dhoom series. So in a first, viewers will get to see Aamir, Katrina, Hrithik, Aishwarya, John, Bipasha, Abhishek and Uday together in one video.

     

    Saba says, “I’m super excited to take a crack at such a huge hit that amazing singers like Sunidhi and Vishal Dadlani have sung before, it’s a privilege to feature in the video alongside Bollywood’s biggest names.”

     

    Caratlane.com VP, offline marketing, Calvin John, says, “We are constantly seeking innovative opportunities of integrating CaratLane.com seamlessly within content, that has wide reach across TV & Digital mediums, is engaging and has immense potential of being viral. The Dhoom anthem provides us with that innovative window of showcasing the brand seamlessly within the song. This association with YRF gives us an opportunity to showcase what CaratLane.com has to offer for urban Indian women – Chic Jewellery along with its pioneering new way to shop – ‘Try at Home’, apart from leveraging its most successful movie franchise.”

     

    Yash Raj Films VP Ashish Patil adds, “At YRF, we’ve always believed in going beyond the brief with our brand partners to create high impact quality content that connects with audiences and adds value back to the brand. We’re quite excited about this crunchy new version of the iconic Dhoom anthem by one of our most talented artistes, Saba Azad. And it’s a pleasure to partner with Caratlane.com as both the brand & their products are a magic fit for this kick-ass new video. It’s sure to machao some serious Dhoom!”

    The funky new version of the song has been composed by Raghav Sachar, who plays over 32 different musical instruments. The mash-up is a great mix of R&B, whistle tones, rap and a fresh new interpretation of the chartbuster. The video has been directed by Adil Shaikh, known for his choreography of some of the biggest hits right from Bachna Ae Haseeno to Go Goa Gone.

     

    Yash Raj Films had earlier also promoted the film’s anthem soon after the release of the first film in the franchise with famous Thai singer, Tata Young back in 2004. The song Dhoom Dhoom was the singer’s most successful single ever in India. It was a major hit, reaching number one for several weeks to months in many Asian countries music charts. It was number one in various countries such as India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries starting from August 2004 to as far as late as 2005.

     

    The Dhoom Anthem premieres exclusively on YRF’s YouTube channel on Tuesday, 24 December ensuring that everyone has Dhoom at Christmas!

  • ‘Dhoom 3’ enters 100 crore club within three days: BO

    ‘Dhoom 3’ enters 100 crore club within three days: BO

    MUMBAI: Coming at the end of 2013, Dhoom3 has proved to be the biggest genuine blockbuster of the year doing equally well in Hindi version in India as well as overseas and also doing well in its dubbed Tamil-Telugu versions. The film has achieved the rare honour of crossing the 100 crore collection mark in its opening weekend. The film has also earned the distinction of maintaining 30+ crore collections on all three days without a single extra holiday. The film collected 100.76 crore for the first weekend from Hindi screens (6.85 crore from Tamil and Telugu) setting a new benchmark for an opening weekend. The collections are reported to be very steady today (Monday) all over. For a change, exhibitors, especially the single screen managements, are happy with the film.

     

    Surprisingly enough, R…. Rajkumar has done reasonably well in its second week in the absence of any opposition by collecting 16.2 crore and taking its two week tally to 58.5 crore.

     

    Jackpot, however, remains on the lower side with collection figures of 4.7 crore in its first week.

     

    Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela has added 2.1 crore in its fifth week to take its five week total to 105.25 crore.

     

    What The Fish is poor with collection of 75 lakh in its first week.

     

    Bullet Raja has collected 30 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to 32.6 crore.

  • Deepika hasn’t replaced Kareena in Shuddhi: Karan Johar

    Deepika hasn’t replaced Kareena in Shuddhi: Karan Johar

    NEW DELHI: Rumour mills have it that Deepika Padukone has replaced Kareena Kapoor in Karan Johar’s Shuddhi that is being directed by Karan Malhotra. However, these reports have amused Kareena and everyone else associated with the film as there is no truth to this.

     

    The filmmaker from Dharma Production clarifying the same said in a release: “Kareena Kapoor is very much a part of Shuddhi that stars Hrithik Roshan, directed by Karan Malhotra. The film will commence next year..” 

    On his part, Karan Malhotra (of Agneepath fame), who is helming the project, also rubbished the rumours and said: “Kareena is very much part of the film. It (rumours of Deepika Padukone doing the film) is not true. We have not approached anyone. It is one hero-heroine project… So it’s only Kareena in the film.”

     

    If sources are to be believed, Kareena is confirmedly a part of the film and has already allotted bulk dates for the same .She is very excited to be reuniting onscreen with Hrithik Roshan since their chemistry has always spelled magic at the box office.

  • Aamir vs Aamir

    Aamir vs Aamir

    MUMBAI: Dhoom 3 proves to be a good sequel, for once. Unlike many films that simply use the name and brand, it actually carries on the characters from previous movies. Once again, Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra, two Mumbai cops are chasing after a villain, this time as a team sent to Chicago Police to solve a case of bank robberies. The reason being that the thief leaves a message in Hindi and it is assumed that he has to be an Indian.

    Dhoom 3 starts off by setting a tempo for the fast-paced thriller that it promises to be with Uday and Abhishek demonstrating their fighting instincts and coordination as they take on a local basti don in Mumbai. As the action moves to Chicago, it is Aamir’s turn to show his mastery with his bike. In fact, Aamir’s arsenal of gears and gadgets would give James Bond a complex!

    Aamir’s story dates back 25 years to when his father, Jackie Shroff, ran The Great Indian Circus in Chicago. The circus had not been doing too well and the local bank owner threatened to attach the circus if Shroff didn’t not manage to pay off his dues within five days; Shroff devised a new circus act which he was sure would revive his circus and pleads for a little more time. When refused, Shroff kills himself. Aamir is now grown up and ready to take revenge for his father’s death, which he calls murder. His plan is to ruin the bank, force its closure. He robs the bank’s branches one after the other. His style is that when he robs a bank, he throws a part of his loot on streets outside the bank and watches people pounce on this rain of dollars. The bank is losing reputation as well as standing in the stock market.

    What makes these heists exciting is their aftermath as Aamir charts his escape in a long chase by the police with his multipurpose bike. In fact, he is techno savvy and all his robberies and escapes are executed with the help of many gadgets. It is time to get Abhishek and Uday in on the scene. It is also the time for Aamir to revive The Great Indian Circus and to get the glamour quotient on the scene. Katrina Kaif is trying to get a break into the circus but dressed like a geek, she does not impress Aamir’s assistant who keeps rejecting her. Aamir agrees to give her five minutes to prove her talent and sees a geek turn out to be a glamour doll.

    Producer: Aditya Chopra.
    Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya.
    Cast: : Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, Jackie Shroff.

    Having opened up the other side of the story, that of the circus and its background, it is time to spring a surprise on the viewer; there are two Aamirs. The other one is always in the background because he suffers from autism, due to which faces communication problems and has strange mannerisms. That is the circus’s secret behind their most famous trick where Aamir enters a wooden box on stage but emerges from some other corner of the hall. (This seems lifted straight from The Prestige, which tells a similar story about a magician.)

    As Abhishek and Uday try to solve the jigsaw puzzle, they spy on Aamir and follow the closet Aamir on his once a week Sunday outing. Abhishek makes sure he drives a rift between the brothers. Sadly, these plots make Abhishek look more like a villain than a supporting actor! These manoeuvres also make the proceedings very slow and insipid especially after the racy first half had set the pace. As the Aamir brothers embark on the last leg of their ‘destroy the bank’ operation, there is one more chase before the film ends by springing another surprise.

    Being third in the Dhoom trilogy, some may make comparisons and feel that story/script wise D2 was better; however, this film is much more ambitious, lavishly shot and full of special effects. It has good music that is very well choreographed and the film is a visual delight. With other characters being insignificant, the film is Aamir vs Aamir talent showcase as he gets to juxtapose two totally different characters in the same frame most of the time. He is simply amazing. Katrina Kaif is the other character who gets some importance in this film and she does very well while also excelling in dance numbers. Abhishek gets no scope while Uday is the joker in the pack. Direction is competent and handling of double roles is apt. Technically the film is very good.

    Dhoom 3 is set to shatter collection records and create some of its own new records. Expectations were high from the trade and especially the exhibitors and it will live up to them.

  • The Lunchbox wins more international awards

    The Lunchbox wins more international awards

    NEW DELHI: The Lunchbox has won the highest number of awards with three awards – Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Outstanding Achievement for star Irrfan Khan – at the 56 Asia-Pacific Film Festival held in Macau.

     

     Kore-Eda’s Like Father, Like Son won the two top awards of Best Picture and Best Director.

     

     Hong Kong producer Nansun ShiI served as the head of the jury. She was joined by China’s Zhang Zhao, Malaysia’s Afdlin ShaukiI, Taiwan’s Sylvia Chang and South Korea’s Hur Jin-ho.

     

     Meanwhile, The Lunchbox has also won two awards at the 10th Dubai International Film Festival held in the Madinat Arena of the Madinat Jumeirah resort: Irrfan Khan received Best Actor for his role portraying the role of a lonely man nearing retirement. Director Ritesh Batra shared the Special Mention for his screenplay with Souleymane Démé for his role in Grigris, a France-Chad co-production.

     

     The best director went to India’s Sandeep Ray for Thin Arms in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Shorts competition.

     

     The president of the AsiaAfrica Feature jury was Indian film-maker Shekhar Kapur. Its members include Lebanese actress Carole Abboud and cinematographer Tareq El-Telmissany. Kapur thanked his five-member jury, saying “We started with complete disagreement but within two or three hours ended in complete agreement. So we did our job well.”

  • Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor Khan is keen to balance her work in commercial cinema with more challenging films. The 32-year-old Pataudi bahu has announced that she has been signed by director Dev Benegal for Bombay Samurai which features Farhan Akhtar as well as by Rohit Shetty for the sequel of Singham.

     

    While projects with Sudhir Mishra and Aanand Rai are also under discussion, Dibakar Banerjee is keen to cast the actress in his next film venture. Kapoor recently admitted that she missed out on working with Ram Leela director Sanjay Leela Bhansali after she walked out of the film, but claims she has “no regrets.”