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Tag: Amitabh Bachchan

  • I am scared of not living up to the audiences’ expectations: Amitabh Bachchan

    I am scared of not living up to the audiences’ expectations: Amitabh Bachchan

    NEW DELHI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has one fear: “I am still scared of not living up to the expectations of the people,” he says.

     

    Now in his early seventies, the star says box office figures do not affect him so much as what people say about a film in which he has enacted a role since the expectations from him have grown over the years.

     

    Bachchan also denied that he overawes other stars on a film set and he has confidence in his fellow stars. However, he admitted that he does help them feel comfortable, even as he denied ever giving tips to directors or interfering with their vision of a film. He said he liked working with children as he found them very ‘uninhibited’. “It is a wrong premise that I direct other directors or stars,” he reiterated.

     

    The star was speaking at a press meet about his latest film, ‘Bhootnath Returns’ directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar of T-Series and Abhay Chopra, Kapil Chopra, and Renu Ravi Chopra of BR Films.

     

    Being released on 11 April, the film has been presented in the name of the late B R Chopra and the late Gulshan Kumar. Others in the film are Boman Irani, child actor Parth Bhalerao, and Usha Jadhav, though there are guest appearances by Ranbir Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan.

     

    Although the story to a large extent deals with elections, Bachchan denied that it was in any way made to capitalize on the poll season, adding that the story had been related to him more than eighteen months earlier. He also said the same actors could not be taken as it was a completely new story.

     

    Tiwari said he had taken up the film as a sequel to the first film as ‘Bhootnath’ had captivated the audiences even as it left a strong message-oriented impact. “I cannot give any assurance about a sequel of ‘Bhoothnath Returns.’ There was a lot of pressure working with Amitabh Bachchan, and two big production banners but they really made me feel comfortable with them.”

     

    Bachchan particularly praised Yo Yo Honey Singh who had sung a song in the film. “You do not need to put a lot of efforts working with him,” Bachchan added.

     

    Bachchan said the film takes off from where the first film ended, when Bhootnath lands in heaven but is a butt of humour as he could not frighten even a child (Banku in the earlier film) so he is sent to earth again in the slum colony Dharavi where he meets Akhrot who is the only human who can see him. The film then goes on to comment on elections and Khan and Kapoor make appearances to encourage people to exercise their franchise.

     

    While reiterating that he had retreated from politics as that was not his arena, Bachchan said “every vote makes a difference, and it is in any case the democratic right of citizens.”

     

    Bachchan said in answer to a question that AB Corp was still in the business of making films, but did so in collaboration with other filmmakers. Insisting that he was doing films that could be seen by the family, he was also doing a series with Sony which is being overlooked by Anurag Kashyap, apart from coming for another season of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.  

     

    Bhushan Kumar said he had been very excited when he heard the story and had immediately agreed to come on board as producer as it had been his dream to do a film with Bachchan.

     

    Parth, who is a child star from Marathi cinema, said he had been frightened at first when told he would have to act with Amitabh Bachchan. But later he enjoyed working as he had a lot of fun with him.

  • IAA Green Awards: Maneka Gandhi urges advertising industry to exercise caution

    IAA Green Awards: Maneka Gandhi urges advertising industry to exercise caution

    MUMBAI: The advertising industry was at the receiving end at the International Advertising Association’s  (IAA’s) Olive Crown Awards – Asia’s only awards for green initiatives in advertising which were held in Mumbai’s Palladium Hotel over the weekend.  Environmentalist and parliamentarian Maneka Gandhi was felicitated with a special award for her years of diligent efforts to get the environment in the nation’s mainstream consciousness and getting regulations passed which saw animals and the coastal zone get protection. She received the recognition from Amitabh Bachchan.

     

    Even as she thanked the advertising  industry for bestowing the honor on her, she urged the creative community to be careful while using animals in the communications and commercials that it creates.

     

    She referred to ads in which a pug was used, something which she has highlighted in the past too.  “The problem with the ad was that it sparked off a demand for the pug which is not a local animal. Thousands of them were imported and the Indian climate does not suit them. Then these pugs find it very difficult to deliver; most of their stomachs burst during delivery.  Owners who could not handle these little cute creatures just abandoned them. And we had hundreds of them turning up at our animal shelters.”

     

    Gandhi then spoke about a TV commercial which featured an orangutan stealing underwear and amusing an Indian housewife. “We noticed that more and more orangutans were being smuggled after that TV commercial was aired,” she said. “We captured three of them headed for Chennai and have been on alert since then. A business man there had got fascinated by the orangutans and had ordered them.”

     

    She told the creative heads and senior marketers present at the awards ceremony at the Palladium Hotel in central Mumbai that they should work on communicating the right environmental messages whenever they can as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives.  And that they should exercise extreme sensitivity while drawing up creative for ads as the content of commercials has a tremendous impact on the general Indian viewing public at home.  And in the process it can impact the environment or animals.

     

    The IAA presented Olive Crown Awards to McCann Erickson as the green agency of the year and to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as the green advertiser of the year for the clean up campaign the two created for Bengaluru.

  • IAA Olive Crown Awards to be presented on 14th March

    IAA Olive Crown Awards to be presented on 14th March

    MUMBAI: The IAA Olive Crown Awards from the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA), in their fourth edition, will be presented at a glittering function to be held on 14th March 2014 at the Palladium Hotel, Parel, Mumbai.

    The Olive Crowns are Asia’s first and only awards that salute excellence in communicating sustainability. Endorsed by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) these awards for “green” advertising have been warmly embraced by the industry and have grown in stature and size over the last four years.

    The awards are run like a cause without no fees for creative entries and a non-ticketed, entry-by-invitation-only awards ceremony.

    This year the IAA introduced a new special award for the Corporate Social Crusader of the year. This award saluted a corporate for an outstanding CSR initiative.

    “The response to this award from top corporates is very heart-warming” said Mr. Srinivasan K Swamy, President India Chapter IAA. “The awards ceremony promises to be as meaningful as it will be entertaining” he added.

    Mr. Pradeep Guha said “The association of 9XM as presenting sponsor with the Olive Crown awards is in its third year now. We believe that industry associations should work for the general good and are therefore happy supporting such initiatives. I am personally happy with the way these awards have grown and the elite attendance at the awards function only endorses this.”

    The Green Partners for the Olive Crown awards are Hungama.Com and the Patrika Group. The Banking Partners are Yes Bank Ltd.

     

  • Amitabh Bachchan hits 10 million fans on Facebook

    Amitabh Bachchan hits 10 million fans on Facebook

    MUMBAI: Amitabh Bachchan, the legendary Bollywood actor known to be quite active when it comes to social media, has managed to garner 10 million fans for his page. Bachchan has won many major awards in his career, including three National Film Awards as Best Actor (a record he shares with Kamal Hassan and Mammootty), a number of awards at international film festivals and award ceremonies and fourteen Filmfare Awards. He is the most-nominated performer in any major acting category at Filmfare, with 39 nominations overall.

     

    Bachchan, commonly referred to as Big B, put up his 508th post on Facebook, stating, “B 508 -10 MILLION !!!!! Thank you all… just so overwhelmed ..what a way to start the day …”

     

    Bachchan made his Hollywood debut in 2013 with The Great Gatsby, in which he played a non-Indian Jewish character, Meyer Wolfsheim sharing screen space with famous Hollywood actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire.

     

    Bachchan is set to make his debut in scripted television in a drama created by Anurag Kashyap.

  • Stories of super traits of superstars

    Stories of super traits of superstars

    MUMBAI: As a journalist for eighteen years and now the editor of an entertainment weekly – Screen from the Indian Express Group, Priyanka Sinha Jha has met and interviewed many stars from the Bollywood industry, but it was a blog by the Bollywood stalwart Amitabh Bachchan that compelled her to think what goes behind the making of a star. Her book – Supertraits of Superstars published by Rupa Publications – that hit the book stores recently features 11 stars from the Bollywood industry, their journeys, their struggles and a lot more.

     

    The germ of this idea, Priyanka says, was sown while reading one of Amitabh Bachchan’s blogs wherein he had quoted his father, poet Harivanshrai Bachchan saying, “Man ka ho to achcha, man ka naa ho to aur achcha”. “The thought led me to wonder how an iconic superstar like him, tided over the rough and tumble of life, and eventually it took shape in the book Supertraits of Superstars,” says Priyanka who is inspired by authors like Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Shobhaa De, Gerald Durell, Emma Bombeck among others.

     

    While she started working on the book in 2012, the principal writing was done over a period of three months. “It took a while to arrive at the format of the book,” informs Priyanka. The book features the stories of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Vidya Balan, Karan Johar, John Abraham, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

     

    Priyanka has explored that one idea which differentiates these actors from the rest of the B-Town brigade and one of those defining traits that makes them stand out. It is not just the story, the book also suggests how a reader can benefit from knowing about the stars.

     

    Talking about how she shortlisted the stars for the book, she says, “I selected 11 superstars who have displayed a certain defining supertrait in their lives so for instance,  Mr Amitabh Bachchan for his impeccable discipline, Mr Shah Rukh Khan for the passion and enthusiasm which he brings to everything he does…and so on.”

     

    Call it the advantages of being a journalist or sheer luck, Priyanka didn’t have to struggle much in finding a publisher. “Fortunately for me, Mr Kapish Mehra (owner, Rupa Publishers) and I were on the same page and he approved the idea almost immediately,” she says.

     

    In fact, she got huge support from the publishers. “They gave me ample freedom and were open to most of my suggestions about the book,” she adds.

     

    Priyanka’s husband, filmmaker-writer Piyush Jha also had a successful stint when he turned to writing from filmmaking with two back-to-back bestsellers – Mumbaistaan and Compassbox Killer. However, with utmost humility, in all his interviews, he has given the credit to his wife for turning him to writing. He has often mentioned that it was his wife who realised his potential to write and got him into it.

     

    Quiz Priyanka about the support that she got while she was writing the book and she says, “Well, if it wasn’t for Piyush’s support and guidance at every step, I probably would have never got down to writing it. He was instrumental in getting me out of my comfort zone and send a proposal to the publishers. I can never thank him enough for making this dream – of writing a book – come true!”

     

    Interestingly, Piyush, who mastered the art of distribution of books during the release of his books, has even suggested interesting strategies for this one. “Distribution is actually an area that I know very little of, but Piyush, who acquired a detailed knowledge of it when his books often comes up with innovative suggestions on that front,” says Priyanka.

     

    The book has already got a lot of prominence and a good start at various literature festivals like the World Book Fair in Delhi and the Patna Lit Fest. However, Priyanka thinks it is too early to comment on the response the book is getting. But those who have read the book have felt quite inspired. “With that being said, I would think the purpose of Supertraits of Superstars, has been well served,” she remarks.

     

    An online edition of the book will soon follow. Though Priyanka confesses to still prefer reading books in the old-fashioned manner, she thinks that during travels e-books are a boon since they all fit in within your Ipad! And thus an e-book of her books isn’t a bad idea!

     

    However, the book is available on all possible online sites. In fact the publishers have tied up with Flipkart and Infibeam in the online space and Crossword bookstores in the retail space, informs Ritu Vajpeyi Mohan from Rupa Publications. “The response has been fantastic. People have loved the book and the concept. We have received encouraging responses from a variety of readers,” she adds, also informing that 7000 copies have been published in the first edition and it is being distrbuted all across from tier I to III towns.

     

    The book is priced Rs 195. 

  • Amitabh Bachchan and Honey Singh come together

    Amitabh Bachchan and Honey Singh come together

    MUMBAI: While Amitabh Bachchan has followers from all age groups, a few younger fans may be added to his fan base as he will soon be seen with rapper Honey Singh in the movie Bhootnath Returns. And the credit for the collaboration goes to Bhushan Kumar of T-Series who has brought them together.

     

    The rapper has composed a special number for the film. Big B, who has always been at the core of experimentation has proved it yet again that age isn’t a barrier for anything. This special number is yet another nouveau offering from the icon to look forward to.

     

    Kumar and Honey Singh have earlier given chartbusters such as ‘Sunny’ from Yaariyan, Lungi Dance from Chennai Express among others.

     

    Produced by Bhushan Kumar and Abhay Chopra (B.R Films), directed by Nitesh Tiwari Bhoothnath Returns stars Amitabh Bachchan along with Boman Irani and will release on 11 April, 2014.

  • Now, health on call!

    Now, health on call!

    MUMBAI: What if you called a friend and heard a celebrity sharing health tips instead of the usual caller tune? Would you get annoyed, give a good ear or better still, make it your own to spread awareness.

     

    Well, Leo Burnett and World Health Organisation (WHO) certainly seem to think you will change your caller tune. Which is why the duo has created a campaign titled ‘Donate your Caller Tune’ which lets you hear health advice from a celebrity and activate the same on your mobile phone in a bid to keep up the good work.

     

    The initiative, being promoted on digital platforms, covers 12 diseases with 12 celebrities talking about them, including the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham, Cyrus Broacha, Parineeti Chopra and Shankar Mahadevan.

     

    Easily the world’s biggest mobile health campaign, ‘Donate your Caller Tune’ has been kicked off in India and will travel to other countries only after strengthening base here.

     

    So why was India chosen as the launch pad? Because non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are presently the leading cause of death across the globe and in 2008, India alone accounted for 53 per cent of all such deaths worldwide. Also because India has a record 600 million mobile phone users and WHO aims to reach all of them through this campaign.

     

    WHO India representative Dr Nata Menabde says: “Donate Your Caller Tune is an idea where people take responsibility and ownership to spread awareness of health concerns voluntarily. To us, this simple idea of using a caller tune to create mass awareness appealed a lot when presented by Leo Burnett. Caller tunes are very popular in India and it made perfect sense to leverage the power of the mobile phone to create awareness about health issues.”

     

    Leo Burnett NCD K V Sridhar who himself suffers from diabetes, believes the campaign will benefit millions. “Diabetes runs in my family so when I got a chance to educate people, I jumped on it,” he says, giving the example of actor Imran Khan who chose to become an ambassador for cancer awareness because he lost his near and dear ones to the disease. “I usually get 40-50 calls in a day and I’m sure others do too. So, instead of hearing a song or a joke, wouldn’t it be better if we created awareness about various health related issues by donating our calling tunes for the cause?” he questions.

     

    Apart from roping in 12 celebrities, the other herculean task for Leo Burnett was to get all mobile service providers on board. The campaign was launched in November last year with just two service providers VSNL and Airtel and it is only now that others have joined the fray.

     

    People interested in participating need to SMS their service provider to activate the caller tune for the cause they wish to support and spread awareness about. Charges vary as per the service provider.

  • ‘Sholay’ is history!

    ‘Sholay’ is history!

    MUMBAI: There was a time when the trend was to convert old black-and-white classics into colour format and re-release them. The trend did not last for obvious reasons. Converting normal films into 3D started in the US while in India doing so with Sholay will prove to be the ultimate test for Hindi films since it is a trendsetter – box office hit and a cult. If it works, it will open the floodgates of more such attempts and if it does not, it will put paid to all such aspirations. The original was written off during its initial few weeks of its release as a major failure but, finally, its technically better 70mm/stereophonic version turned the trend in its favour to make it what it became, a legend. Will this additional technical enhancement reactivate its box office account?

     

    To refresh the memories on the story front, Sholay (1975) finds its roots in the all time classic, Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese film, Seven Samurai (1954), which was later adapted in Hollywood as The Magnificent Seven (1960). A farming village in Mexico hires seven gunmen from the US to protect them from a bunch of 40 bandits who raid them every year to take away their farm product. In Sholay, Sanjeev Kumar, an ex-policeman hires two petty goons, Dharmendra and AmitabhBachchan, known for their valour to save his villagers from a similar exploitation by the gang of Gabbar Singh, played by Amjad Khan. Though his first major break and his entry happening almost 75 minutes into the film, his character became a cult figure.

     

    The film is an old fashioned three-and-a-half-hour-long one since in those days less than three hours made people feel cheated. And the film justifies its duration by giving many side actors of the time memorable roles and lines. Among them were Asrani (Angrezon ke zamane ka jailor), Mak Mohan (Sambha), AK Hangal (the blind Imaam of the village mosque), even Hema Malini’s tonga-pulling mare, Dhanno! The writers, Salim and Javed, who made the story/script writers respectable in the film industry, specialised in penning memorable dialogue and that is the reason that even though the film’s music track was not found to be popular and its albums were not in demand, the music company, Polydor India, minted on the release of the film’s dialogue tracks on LPs and cassettes.

     

    If slotted, Sholay would fall in the category of dacoit film. Yet it was much different from other dacoit films, blending the past and contemporary movies of that era. The one memorable dacoit film before Sholay was a few years earlier, in 1971 in Mera Gaon Mera Desh followed by Khote Sikkay in 1974; the trend came to an end since no one could better Sholay and also because Sholay stayed in theatres for five long years. While these were all make-believe dacoit films, the real one came around in 1994, Bandit Queen. 

     

    How can one review a film made over 38 years ago and had tomes written about it?

     

    As for this 3D version, it has been very economical with 3D scenes and not gone overboard. The 3D resolution is such that you may easily watch it without 3D glasses but the main 3D scenes would be missed; the few that the film has are not worth missing.

     

    The opening response in the initial shows has not shown much enthusiasm by moviegoers and, if the trend continues through the weekend, this will be the epitaph for the legend of Sholay.

     

    Producer: G P Sippy.

    Director: Ramesh Sippy.

    Cast: : Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, HemaMalini, Jaya Bhaduri, Amjad Khan, SatyenKappu, AK Hangal, Sachin, Jagdeep, Leela Mishra, Asrani, Keshto Mukherjee, Mak Mohan, VijuKhote, Iftekhar, in spl appearance Helen and Jalal Agha.

     

    Disaster in making

     

    Mr Joe B Carvalho collects a bunch of small time actors with a reputation for having done good comedy films once upon a time and thinks it has the formula! How about getting a scriptwriter with a sense of comedy, humour, repartees and how about a director who shares these traits too? The so called comic actors can do precious little without content. The imagination is so scarce, that in this film based in Bangaluru, all the characters happen to be Punjabi!

     

    The film has no story as such so to narrate it is a task but, to put it in nutshell, like many such attempts it is about mistaken identities and a career loser, Arshad Warsi, who plays a detective. Now, how many times have we seen a fumbling, bumbling, detective before? Remembering Pink Panther at this moment will be sacrilege (though the poster design has certainly stolen from there).

     

    Warsi, a detective, is handed a case by Shakti Kapoor, who wants to stop his daughter from marrying a cook with whom she has run away. On the other hand, Snehal Dabi, an Idi Amin caricature, has fallen in love with Geeta Basra while she loves some diamond merchant. So being Idi Amin-like, he gives out a supari (contract) on her beau to Carlos aka Javed Jaffery; may the real legendary international assassin Carlos rest in peace!

     

    The comedy as well as the humour is just about nonexistent in this film. Casting is totally awry. The film credits four people for lyrics but not a single song makes sense (and they’re out of sync too). Arshad, Soha, Javed as well as the others are ineffective.

     

    Mr Joe B Karvalho is a disaster waiting to happen soon as opens on its first Friday.

     

    Producer: Bholaram Malviya, Shital Malviya.

    Director: Samir Tewari.

    Cast: : Arshad Warsi, Soha Ali Khan, Jaaved Jaaferi, Vijay Raaz, Shakti Kapoor, Vrajesh Hirjee, Geeta Basra, Karishma Kotak, Ranjeet, Himani Shivpuri, Manoj Joshi, Snehal Dabi, Chitra Shenoy.

     

  • O&M makes Big B a crusader

    O&M makes Big B a crusader

    MUMBAI: In a country where every year farmers commit suicide because of draughts, it is very important to educate and sensitise people about draught.

    With an objective to propagate water conservation, Dhanuka Agritech has launched a new television commercial featuring Amitabh Bachchan.

    The campaign has been conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather and depicts the dependence of Indian populace on rains and the associated happiness and prosperity. The jingle “Baadal barse tapur tupur” aims to connect with the audience and showcase the joy and euphoria that rain brings with it. The TVC further portrays how an individual can bring about change by undertaking small initiatives like harvesting rain water.

    Dhanuka Agritech group chairman RG Agarwal said, “Since decades, the DNA of Dhanuka Agritech has been to bring about progressive change in the lives of Indian farmers through dedicated knowledge-driven and development-related activities. The TVC is a further step in this direction urging every stakeholder to understand the importance of water conservation for a sustainable future. The ‘emotion’ is so forceful that everyone’s conscience will respond to this issue. The TVC is expected to catch on the breath of the nation.”

    The company has a flagship save water campaign with a tagline “Khet ka pani khet mein aur gaon ka pani gaon mein”.

  • Parle Products ropes in Big B as brand ambassador, again

    Parle Products ropes in Big B as brand ambassador, again

    MUMBAI: Parle Products has roped in Amitabh Bachchan again as the brand ambassador for its confectionary brand Kaccha Mango Bite.

    The brand owns the taste by positioning it as an exact copy of a raw mango – Kacche Aam ka Xerox.

    The TVC is inspired by childhood playfulness.The objective of the campaign is to make Kaccha Mango Bite popular among adults by making a strong connect with their childhood.

    Parle Products group product manager Shalin Desai said, “Kaccha Mango is popular for its flavor and well established amongst our target audience. The tantalizing khatta-meetha taste of raw mango is a favorite amongst children as well as adults. Mr. Bachchan has a magnificent personality and a strong connect among Indians across age groups. He embodies an exemplary blend of both style and performance, making him the ideal choice to endorse our products. The goodwill and reputation he has built over the last 3 decades compliments our own, built over the last 8 decades. His remarkable appeal which spreads across all sections of people in the country, compliments our brand communication.”

    Commenting on his association with Parle, Amitabh Bachchan said, “Parle has always been the most loved brand in the country amongst all age groups and we have a nostalgic connection with the brand.  I am thrilled to be a part of Parle’s new campaign.”