Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Producer Ekta Kapoor‘s Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai was just completing its 100-day run when news came in that Kapoor and her director Milan Luthria have already started working on its sequel.

“The response to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai has been overwhelming and with Love Sex Aur Dhokha earlier this year, we‘ve clearly shown our versatility and mettle as creative producers. I‘m sure a sequel to Once Upon… isn‘t far. We are thankful for the support received both from the audience and trade alike,‘ said Kapoor in a press statement. 

Directed by Milan Luthria, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai was released on 30 July. This film had Ajay Devgn killed and it was said that if ever there was a sequel Emraan Hashmi would be the main protagonist, but a few changes in the script has prompted his exit from the sequel.

“Working on Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai has been a wonderful experience. It was a great collaboration of my creative experience and strong production and marketing expertise of Balaji Motion Pictures that helped transform my vision into the end-product we saw on screen,” commented Luthria.

On the female front, Kapoor has made up her mind to have another actress in the sequel.
 

MUMBAI: India‘s first day creature-based horror film Kaalo was screened recently at the 6th Annual South African Halloween Horror Festival that was held from 28 October to 5 November at Cape Town.

Produced by the husband and wife team of Yash and Mamta Patnaik under the banner of Beyond Dreams Entertainment, the film has been directed by Wilson Louis based on his own screenplay. 

Shot exclusively in the deserts of Rajasthan, the film revolves around a deadly witch creature attacking a bus full of tourists in the deserts of Rajasthan for the killing of a young girl played by Shwini Khare. Avers Louis, ” The witch hunts for small girls whom it later sacrifices for its own purpose.”

The film is due for a 17 December release.

Producer-Director: Vipul Amrutlal Shah Cast: Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai, Neha Dhupia, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Ranvijay Singh

MUMBAI: Action Replayy has a reasonably promising theme, which could have become a joy ride from 2010 to 1975 and back. But, alas, it lacks in substance to build on this theme and lame efforts at comedy make it pure dullsville till the last few reels when the film gains some momentum.

Aditya Roy Kapoor does not mind being in love, parenting a child or a live in relationship, but abhors the very idea of marriage. Randhir Kapoor, his girlfriend, Sudeepa Singh’s granddad, sets him a deadline till midnight next day to decide because after that he plans to proceed on time travel in the time machine he has invented. 

Aditya’s reasons for avoiding marriage have a solid base; he has never seen his parents, Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai, happy or in love or not fighting with each other. His idea of a surprise party for his parents backfires when both fight in front of the guests. Aditya learns that the very beginning of their relationship/ marriage was wrong. He decides to set the foundation right. He hijacks Randhir Kapoor’s time machine and lands up back in time in 1975 when his parents were yet to be married!

There, he finds his father-to-be is a shabbily dressed, idiotic looking man dominated by everybody, while his mother-to-be is a tom-boy with a couple of make-believe bullies who also treat his father shabbily. Aditya Roy Kapoor sets out to set things right, play cupid to his parents, make both of them fall in love with each other.

The plot is lost as Akshay plays the buffoon to childish gags. The rest of the cast is too feeble to lead. It is only in the last few reels when Akshay Kumar comes into his element that the film generates some pace.

Vipul Shah has tried to go into details to create 1975 ambience which is quite off the mark; dressing, hairstyle, peace pendants are more like 1960s rather than mid 70s; also twist dance went out of vogue long before that; Bori Bandar of the 70s with miles between two vehicles? That would be a car driver’s dream!

Sets, miniatures and surroundings don’t convince. Playing Aandhi number in the backdrop to establish 1975 makes you wish Action Replayy had such songs too, at least one or two! Dialogue could have held this film together to an extent but it is only towards the end that you hear some witty repartees.

Akshay Kumar is totally out of sync with the character of a loser despite being made to look like one. Aishwarya Rai tries to imitate mid-70s heroines (Zeenat Aman/Mumtaz?) instead of acting like one and manages to be a caricature at best; pouting and making eyes is not 70s acting. Aditya Roy Kapoor and Neha Dhupia are good. Ranvijay Singh is okay.

Action Replayy falls far short of providing entertainment for most of its part and disappoints.
 

MUMBAI: This year‘s Diwali has an air of excitement all around with two big-banner, big star-cast releases in the Rohit Shetty directed Golmaal 3 and Vipul Amrutlal Shah‘s Action Replayy.

While Golmaal 3 has Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Tushaar Kapoor, Action Replayy has Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai displaying their acting prowess.

For cinema theatres that tend to focus on cashing on the maximum during the opening weekend of a film‘s release, big-banner releases mean reaping in good business.

Avers Fun Multiplex senior vice president Deepak Taluja, “After Dabangg and Robot, there is an air of expectation all around. People are excited of the two big releases and are in a gung ho spirit.”

Although the amount of money at stake this year is half the production cost of the three films released last Diwali, the exhibition industry is hoping for a better show. As many as ten big films are due to hit the screens in the coming weeks with hopes pinned on the Diwali releases. Industry watchers say that as much as Rs 1 billion is riding on the two big releases.

Says Cinemax CEO Sunil Punjabi, ” After a long time, this Diwali is set to be phenomenal. For most of our big properties like that of Versova, we have kept as many as 28 shows per film per day starting from 6.45 am. On the contrary, for our smaller properties like Sion we have lesser shows while for our single-screens we have planned as many as six shows per day divided between the two films.”

Among the three releases last year, Blue and Main Aurr Mrs Khanna fared dismally at the box-office. All the Best, another big-budget film, managed to bring in the audience.

This year has been a lacklustre year as far as films are concerned with a few big-banner films like My Name is Khan, Dabangg and Robot doing stupendous business at the box-office while a small-budget film Tere Bin Laden did considerable good business. Other films like Ishqiya and Raajneeti turned out to be average fare while the others fell by the way side.

Says trade analyst Amod Mehra, “The year has not been so good. The success ratio has been very low. The worst period for the industry was in May and June when two films, Kites and Raavan, bombed badly at the box office. Dabaang and Robot has provided us a ray of hope. Things are looking very promising this festive season.”

Following the Diwali weekend releases, November will see the release of the Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Guzarish besides Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 1 in 3D. December will see Farah Khan‘s Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer Tees Maar Khan.

MUMBAI: Reliance Big Pictures and its international subsidiary IM Global will release their first Hollywood film Skyline on 12 November. The film has been produced and directed by Colin and Greg Strause.

While IM Global will release the film in the UK and US, in India it will be handled by Reliance Big Pictures simultaneously in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. 

The film is about a group of friends, who after a night of partying are distracted when beams of light awake everyone in Los Angeles that then attract every person like a moth to a flame. As the night progresses, they soon discover that once exposed to the light they vanish into thin air, as well as extraterrestrial forces that later threaten to swallow the entire human race.

The special effects of the film has been done by Hydraulx that has provided visual effects for some Hollywood biggies like Avatar, Iron Man 2, 2012, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 300, The Day After Tomorrow and X-Men Origins: Wolverine among several others.

The film stars Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, David Zayas, Scottie Thompson and Brittany Daniel.

MUMBAI: Reliance Big Pictures is all set to remake the Tamil hit Singam with Ravi as director.

For the project, the production house has signed Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty whose film Golmaal 3 releases this week. 

Confirming the news, Shetty said that the project will start rolling in February next year. “I will start the scripting soon after my film is released and then we will start,” Shetty averred.

Produced by K E Gnanavel Raja and Reliance Big Pictures, Singam released on 28 May by Sun Pictures. The film had superlative performance by Surya, Anushka Shetty and Prakash Raj and was a runaway success.
 

MUMBAI: Going by Cinematix, the weekly tracking tool that measures the awareness and interest to watch upcoming releases, Sri Ashtavinayak Cinevision‘s Golmaal 3 is set to receive a major opening on release date.

The film, which stars Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Arshad Warsi and Kunal Khemu, is high on viewers mind as per the tool from media research firm Ormax Media.

The film has touched an interest of 79 per cent, the highest ever for any film in the week-1 stage. 

While Dabangg opened at 83 per cent interest in the week of its release, Golmaal 3 is likely to have a similar score. Therefore, there is a strong indication that the Rohit Shetty directed film will be the second biggest opening weekend grosser of 2010 so far, Ormax predicts.

As per Cinematix, Golmaal 3 may open to around Rs 350 million net on the opening weekend surpassing movies like Raajneeti and Kites if it gets favourable word-of-mouth on its release day.

On the other hand, Action Replayy is also slated for a good opening with a good unaided awareness of 46 per cent and interest of 54 per cent.

MUMBAI: The DVD of Aamir Khan Production‘s Peepli [Live] will be India‘s first DVD with option for the ‘Visually and Hearing Impaired‘ audiences.

Released by Excel Home Entertainment, the DVD will carry an inbuilt option that narrates scenes with details about actions, colour, expressions, etc. interspersed with actual dialogues for the benefit of visually impaired audiences.

Peepli [Live] will be released on DVD and Blu Ray formats and will have bonus features like a one hour documentary ‘Live from Peepli‘, deleted scenes, theatrical trailers, the music launch, interviews and production stills.

The Blu Ray disc is priced at Rs 799, while the DVDs will cost Rs 299.

Says Excel Home Entertainment Managing Director M.N.Kapasi, “We are
honoured with continuing our association with Aamir Khan Productions, after the
stupendous success of Lagaan on our home videos. We are proud to be part of this path-breaking DVD that will broaden and deepen the association of Indian cinema with visually and hearing impaired audiences.”

Comments Aamir Khan, “In my interactions in the past with institutions catering to visually and hearing impaired people, we realised a dearth of serious entertainment modes available to them. The ironic situation was that Indian cinema was still a major source of entertainment, even in its unfriendly format for the visually and hearing impaired. We hope to reach out and bridge the gap and are hopeful that this will soon be a norm in all Home Entertainment formats in the coming months.”

MUMBAI: Fresh from his latest film Khelenge Hum Jee Jaan Se, Ashutosh Gowariker has evinced interest in directing a Marathi film.

“I will love to make a Marathi film but I am hard pressed for time. Currently, I am busy with the release of my film,” Gowariker said.

Gowariker was speaking on the occasion of music launch of a Marathi film Sumbaran that would be premiered in the ensuing International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa.

The director also recalled his long association with the movie‘s music director Rahul Ranade. “My association with Rahul goes back to 1984 when we both had worked in Holi. It was because of him and the way the movie has shaped up, that I was compelled to come for this music launch,” Ashutosh said.

Gowariker has earlier helmed films like Lagaan, Swades and Jodhaa Akbar while he has acted in Marathi cult movies like Sarkarnama, Vazir and Ek Ratra Mantarleli.
 

MUMBAI: Former South African star opener Herschelle Gibbs has been offered a role in a Bollywood film.

Revealing the details in his autobiography To the Point, Gibbs says, “A totally unexpected surprise came my way recently when I was offered a role in a Bollywood movie that will start filming at the end of May next year. I‘m not sure what the part is or what I‘m supposed to do, but my agent has told me it‘s very good money for only a day‘s work.”

Without giving any further detail, Gibbs added that he would not like to play a negative character and would first find out more about the role. “Playing a bad-boy cricketer who gets involved in match-fixing probably won‘t be the smartest career move,” the opener quipped.

After staying away from India for about five years of fears of being arrested by the Indian police, who wanted to question him about his role in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga in 2000, Gibbs now wants to come to India.