Films to look forward to in 2009 - Part 2

Raavan
Director: Mani Ratnam
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Ravi Kishan

After years of speculation on a cinematic version of Indian epics like Mahabharat and Ramayan, finally one director has set to do the honours. This Mani Ratnam project is being directed amidst complete secrecy in the forests of Kerela. All that is conjured about the film is that while Aishwarya Rai is obviously playing Sita, its not husband Abhishek Bachchan but south actor Vikram playing Ram. Rather Ratnam has turned tables with casting Abhishek Bachchan as the Raavan. Let's see what difference Mani Ratnam imparts to the epic, which is known to almost every citizen of the country.

Luck
Director: Soham Shah
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Shruti Hassan, Mithun Chakravarthy, Ravi Kishan

Luck marks the debut of Kamal Hassan's daughter Shruti Hassan who will star opposite Imran Khan and will also lend her voice for some rocking numbers composed by Pritam. Luck also brings together the Kidnap duo of Imran Khan and Sanjay Dutt together. Ravi Kishan plays a psycho in the film and his character is akin to several animals rolled into one. One could credit the animal instincts to director Soham Shah who last directed the wildlife horror Kaal for Karan Johar and has now shifted to the Sanjay Dutt camp. The film is shot throughout in South Africa and promises to be high on adrenaline action.

Rajniti
Director: Prakash Jha
Cast: Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Manoj Bajpai, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif

Prakash Jha delves into his favourite territory again and as the title clearly suggests Rajniti is a film on present-day politics merged with chapters of Mahabharat. Ajay Devgan will symbolize the character of Karn, Nana Patekar of Krishna, Ranbir Kapoor of Arjun and Katrina Kaif of Draupadi. Also Vivek Oberoi was offered a role in the film but he opted out due to date problems.

Kaminay
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra

Kaminay is an action-comedy and, as the title suggests, is about cunning people. Shahid Kapoor has lost weight for this role and his look in this film is being kept as a close-guarded secret. So much so that Shahid has stopped making public appearances until the promos of the film are out. Insiders reveal that Shahid sports a tanned look in the film with beard and different haircuts. Priyanka Chopra, on her part, is learning Marathi for her character in the film. There's also buzz of a passionate lip-lock between the two in the film.

Renzil D'Silva – Karan Johar Project
Director: Renzil D'Silva
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Tara Sharma

Not much is known about this untitled project other than the fact that it's a political thriller and the first film to have Saif Ali Khan opposite Kareena Kapoor post their couple status. Tara Sharma is cast opposite Vivek Oberoi in the film.

Renzil D'Silva has created his own brand value as a writer with Rang De Basanti post which he has scripted several films under production like David Dhawan's Hook Ya Crook , Soham Shah's Luck , Rakyesh Mehra's Paanch Kaurav , Shoojit Sarkar's Kishore Kumar biopic and films for Mani Ratnam and Arjun Rampal. Finally he turns director with this film which has dialogues written by Anurag Kashyap, who once was not on very good terms with Karan Johar.

Blue
Producer: Sri Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta

The combination of Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt could be lethal if exploited sensibly. Blue promises to be an out-an-out action thriller and has some amazing underwater sequences. Not just Akshay and Sanju but also Lara Dutta has done an action sequence amidst whales.

Kites
Director: Anurag Basu
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut

Post Jodhaa Akbar , Hrithik is really taking it easy and this would be his first release as the main lead (other than an extended special appearance in Luck By Chance ). After proving his credentials with Gangster and Life in a Metro , Anurag Basu is amongst the top league and is directing an intense romantic film. Originally producer Rakesh Roshan was trying to rope in actress Penelope Cruz but finally they zeroed in on Latin actress Barbara Mori for the role. This one promises some terrific chemistry between Hrithik and his female costars.

Rann

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Manisha Koirala, Riteish Deshmukh, Sudeep, Paresh Rawal, Gul Panag, Raima Sen

Ram Gopal Varma's next Rann promises to be a realistic look on the modern-day media industry and its exploitations for monetary gains. When News Channels, Political parties and Industrial czars are the principal movers and shakers in a film, there is obviously a tremendous scope for high drama.

In the film, Amitabh plays the founder of the first ever private news channel in the country and is a hardcore upholder of journalistic ethics. His ambitious son played by Sudeep (of Phoonk fame) looks at the channel purely as a business enterprise. Riteish Deshmukh plays an idealistic journalist who believes in reporting news than manufacturing it. Manisha Koirala plays the programming head of Bachchan's news-channel.

Lamhaa

Director: Rahul Dholakia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Kapoor

After Parzania , director Rahul Dholakia is being counted amongst the sensible filmmakers of the industry. His next film Lamhaa is set in the Kashmir valley where Sanjay Dutt plays a military intelligence officer. He sports a rugged bearded look in the film with coloured hair. While major portions of the film will be shot in sets erected at Filmcity in Mumbai, some important portions are to be shot in Kashmir and Manali. Bipasha Basu who was playing the female lead left the shoot suddenly from Kashmir, despite strict security measures in which the film was being shot. The producers are contemplating of replacing her with Vidya Balan.

Veer

Director: Anil Sharma
Cast: Salman Khan, Lisa Lazarus, Mithun Chakravarthy

Salman Khan had earlier pitched in story idea for his films like Chandramukhi and Baaghi . With Veer , he turns a full-fledged screenplay writer and if the genius of his father Salim Khan (of the famous Salim-Javed duo) has rubbed onto him, this should be a movie to look up to.

Veer is a period film with a war backdrop set in the 1900 where Salman Khan sports an ethnic look with long hair, antique beaded neckpiece, fur jacket and traditional kada.


Wanted Dead and Alive
Director: Prabhu Deva
Cast: Salman Khan, Ayesha Takia

The intentional 'and' in the title makes it sound self-contradictory. But that's the way the makers want to project this remake of South hit Pokhiri. Pokhiri could be to Salman, what Ghajini is to Aamir . The film would be south actor and choreographer Prabhu Deva's first directorial venture and thereby promises a rocking dance number by Salman Khan. Also probably this could be Ayesha Takia's last film considering she is planning to quit post her marriage.

English actress Lisa Lazarus is cast opposite Salman Khan with Mithun Chakravarthy playing a supporting actor and Jackie Shroff donning a negative role.

Films to look forward to in 2009 - Part 1

Here's a list of films to look forward to in 2009.

3 Idiots

Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan, Kareena Kapoor

Chetan Bhagat's first novel Five Point Someone based on student life at IIT was a big hit when published some years back. Rajkumar Hirani takes a break from the Munnabhai series to adapt this literary work into cinema. Aamir Khan will once again play a college student post Dil Chahta Hai . With Hirani's expertise this one shouldn't turn out into some Hello , a tacky adaptation of Bhagat's second novel which was way too filmi and formulaic as compared to his much interesting first.

What's Your Rashee?

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Cast: Harman Baweja, Priyanka Chopra

More than Harman Baweja, we have faith in Ashutosh Gowariker who has a grand cinematic vision. Just like he directed a simple and small-scaled Swades post Lagaan , he is directing a comparatively undemanding film What's Your Rashee post the exasperating magnum opus Jodhaa Akbar . The film is based on an Indian novel and it will be interesting to see Gowariker recreate the Harman-Priyanka chemistry.

My Name is Khan

Director: Karan Johar
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol

Karan Johar takes a U-turn from his candyfloss filmmaking and tackles a more serious issue with My Name is Khan where Shah Rukh Khan plays a Muslim named Rizwan Khan and is detained in LA as a suspected terrorist. Add to it his character also suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a milder form of autism and his impairment makes his behaviour more suspicious. Shah Rukh has gained weight and will be sporting a new trimmed hairdo for the film.

While Karan maintains that the film is a true story based on a couple's life in LA, some say it is inspired from the Oscar nominated Dustin Hoffman – Tom Cruise starrer Rain Man . Incidentally the film is already in news for its alleged similar storyline with Yash Raj Films' New York starring John Abraham, Neil Mukesh and Katrina Kaif. But to us the plot sounds more similar to Naseeruddin Shah's Shoot on Sight .

Kambhakkt Ishq


Director: Sabir Khan
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards

Expect Sajid Nadiadwala to make his project as grand as possible. His favourite and the current superstar Akshay Kumar plays the lead role with Kareena for company. But the film is making news for its international star cast and this time there are no itsy-bitsy names but established stars like Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards who have cameos in the film.

London Dreams

Director: Vipul Shah
Cast: Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Asin

The film was originally launched in 2006 with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan and was being directed by Rajkumar Santoshi then. Some scenes were even canned with Salman Khan in Amritsar's Golden Temple. But then like most Santoshi films, this one too got shelved. In 2008 the film was revived with the same cast but Vipul Shah at the director's seat.

London Dreams is seemingly about rock musicians played by Salman and Ajay Devgan and rumoured to be inspired by the Oscar winner Amadeus . It would be interesting to see the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam duo of Salman and Ajay together after a decade. Another attraction is Asin who is already making her presence felt in Bollywood.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel

Ranbir Kapoor takes the Salman Khan legacy by being named as Prem in this love story. Interestingly he is paired opposite Salman's ladylove Katrina Kaif in the film. This is director Rajkumar Santoshi's first love story, who is otherwise known for socially driven action films. Not an intense romance flick, this one will have some light-hearted humourous moments. Santoshi explains the character of Prem as the Charlie Chaplin and Raj Kapoor of present times.


Main Aur Mrs Khanna

Director: Prem Soni
Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan

Kareena Kapoor confessed that she was nervous working with Salman Khan in this film despite having shared screen space with him in Kyon Ki . Salman and Kareena play a happily married couple until Kareena falls for a club worker played by Sohail Khan. Govinda plays a marriage counselor who attempts to patch up their strained relationship. Does that sound like Biwi No. 1 with gender-reversal of sorts?

Allegedly Main Aur Mrs Khanna is the same film that was responsible for the Shah Rukh – Salman spat on Katrina's birthday party as, reportedly, Salman wanted SRK to play a cameo in the film which he refused.

Hook Ya Crook

Director: David Dhawan
Cast: John Abraham, Genelia D'Souza, Uday Chopra

The film was announced in 2006 with R Siddharth (of Rang De Basanti fame) and Amrita Rao in lead roles. In 2008 the lead pair was replaced by John Abraham and Vidya Balan. The film finally goes on floor in 2009 with Vidya being replaced by Genelia D'Souza.

Scripted by Renzil D'Silva (of Rang De Basanti fame), Hook Ya Crook is a comedy but not like David Dhawan's earlier slapsticks. This one has dark shades with a good dose of action, as well.

Aladin and the Mystery of the Lamp

Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandes

Sujoy Ghosh's Aladin is a magnanimous fantasy film based on the popular Arabian Nights fable and has Riteish Deshmukh play Aladin while Amitabh Bachchan is the Genie. Sanjay Dutt plays a negative character while Aladin's love interest Jasmine will be played by newcomer Jacqueline Fernandes.

Bachna Ae haseeno

Truly a Yash Raj film with all those colorful dresses, songs, dances, beautiful foreign locations or shall I say DDLJ served to you in a new platter with fresh faces. It has lot of reference to the movie as well.

Like DDLJ it also has a flirt and careless person whiling his time away in the first half who turned out to be a mature and ultra emotional person in the second half. It also has a song picturized in Punju wedding. It also has songs beautifully picturized in foreign locations. Australia is looking much more beautiful in this movie than it was in Salaam Namaste. It seems Siddharth Anand is exploring it more and more with his every visit.

Ok now the movie - I loved it, simply because I love songs, dances, romance, good looking people and colorful clothes - its good enough for me to pass 3 hours. I liked Jhoom Barabar Jhoon also. Common whats the smirk for? I really enjoyed that dance competition and Amitabh was looking awesome in the title song. What more do you want?

I am not writing the story here - I am writing why should you watch this movie?

a) Ranbir is looking like a dude, dancing superbly, acting well ( I almost started hating him in the first half and was sympathetic towards him in the second half)
b) Bipasha, even though she is looking elder to Ranbir, but she is looking drop dead gorgeous and performed so brilliantly. Its time you should take Bipasha seriously, she is more than a hot babe now.
c) Deepika is looking the best and the chemistry between Ranbir and Deepika is rocking in the movie. She is very dignified and professional in the movie. Guys you will not mind watching the movie for Deepika and Bipasha.
d) Minnisha is a complete misfit in the movie. Firstly because she was potrayed as 15 years old and she is looking way too older for that age. Secondly, poor thing is lost between the two ultra gorgeous and tall ladies.
e) Khuda Jaane and title song simply rocked; Jogi Mahi and she is a small town girl are peppy; lucky boy is what I hum the most.

All and all - go and watch the movie - big deal!!

Ranbir Kapoor - The new SRK in making

Be it his witty answers in interviews or lot of public appearances just before the release if his movie or his representation of an ideal son and ideal boyfriend - Ranbir always reminds me of Shahrukh Khan.

Like SRK, he will be seen everywhere from reality shows to talk shows just before the release of his movie and he will mingle with the crowd, he will interact with everyone in a very sweet and nice way.

Like SRK, his answers are very witty and intelligent and his interviews are always interesting and entertaining.

Like SRK, he is ultra sweet with his leading ladies at least in front of camera.

Like SRK, he is making his off-screen image of an ideal man doing full justice to all the relations around him even after being a celebrity.

Like SRK, he is making his mark with extra emotional and romantic roles.

Its too early to comment whether he is following SRK acting wise or not but offscreen his PR and Marketing skills are seems to be influenced big time from SRK.

YouTube is the new convinient theatre

Sigh is Kinng. I loved this movie. I am so surprised that people get disappointed with the movie stating that there is no story / no sense in the movie. My point is why you had such expectations at the first place. It was supposed to be a funny film and it is just that. I absolutely loved Akshay and Katrina in it and it is a great entertainer. Javed Jaffery and Om Puri as usual are brilliant. Akshay truly is a rock star.



GOD Tussi Great Ho is below average and if you have already seen Bruce Almighty then its a sheer wastage of time. The funny moment between Sohail and Salman are just the same as they were in Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya. Amitabh and Priyanka are wasted in the movie; they dont have much to do. Salman couldnt even touch Jim Carrey. Not to forget that I am a huge fan of Salman.



Mission Istanbul. A very boring movie; Producers has spent so much on special effects and stunts, I wish they would have spent something on the cast also. Besides Vivek, everyone specially Zayed disappoints in the movie. Shabbeer could have been better but he has nothing to do in the movie. Can safely avoid.



Kismat Konnection. OK movie; no harm in watching it on YouTube for free. Vidya is definitely looking elder to Shahid and I dont know why she was paired opposite to him at the first place. It doesnt have the Aziz Mirza charm and freshness. Juhie is funny in her short and comic role.



Money Hai to Honey Hai. Govinda should select his movies very carefully now. When Bhagam Bhag and Partner were hit for whatever reasons; why he want a flop to his credit. He might not get the full credit of the success of these films but he would definitely get the credit for the failure of this one. He cant do a lead role and he cannot, I repeat, cannot dance with Eesha Deol. He is a brilliant comic actor but brilliant comic actor too get old and they cant keep on doing the same thing all their lives. Avoid by all means.

IIFA Awards 2008

I found IIFA awards very entertaining much better than all the award function of all this season (though I hated them in 2007) – Ritesh and Boman were very entertaining as hosts – simply superb and it was a nice change to some new faces doing the hosting – I am bored to hilt to see the same faces over and over again. The more I see of Ritesh the more I feel there is so much of untapped potential in him; he really needs someone to take it out. Boman as usual was a thorough entertainer. Though they were also mean to an extent to the rest of the fraternity; but by no means can they give any competition to Shahrukh and Saif in Filmfare awards or Sajid and Karan in Zee Cine awards. Shahrukh’s gang comes out in public with a sole purpose to prove that Shahrukh is great and all the people Shahrukh doest like are good for nothing.

Urmila can do a better job if she doesn’t use such heavy accent – it was really not going well with her but she was looking very good :)

Now about performances:

a) Akki truly rocks and he precisely did that in the event – he ran from the stage and sang a song right amongst his fans – you read it right – he is a real dude :)
b) Clips to show nomination for movies from Ritesh and Boman – simply hilarious
c) Harry and Priyanka – Priyanka did an awesome job of matching steps with Harry
d) Kareena – I tell you something has happened to this lady – or may be success gives you the confidence – or may be the magic of newly found love - have never seen her in such spontaneity and cheerfulness. I like one thing about her; she never forgets to thank Shahid on the face of Saif for the movie – that’s professional. I wish Shahid would have also won half the no. of awards she has won for Jab We Met. Common guys he was equally good.

If you have missed the show; catch the glimpses here and don’t forget to watch the repeat telecast – there has to be one!!

Harman Baweja – the new superstar on the block

I was watching IIFA awards yesterday and the second best part (best is ofcourse from my all time favorite Akshay Kumar) of the event was Harman’s and Priyanka’s dance number.

Looks like it’s an era of long faced heroes. After Hrithik and Ranbir its Harry – in fact – he is a mix of both of them. Harry looks very promising to me in the promos of Love Story 2050; but it was a visual treat to watch him live in the award function. I have practically fallen in love with him. He is an extremely good looking hunk who can easily give Hrithik a competition in dancing.

I can confidently announce that this guy is here to stay and rule the Bollywood. Mind you, I am a real connoisseur when it comes to Bollywood actors. I have forecasted for Salman Khan in "Biwi ho to Aisi", much before the release of "Maine Pyar Kiya" that this guy will be a big star someday and see where he is today. He is still my first love :)

He is paired very aptly with Priyanka Chopra – good news for all the tall actresses – they have one more hero with whom they can dance with their high heels on.

Way to go Harry – I am eagerly waiting for your new movie to release.

Aamir - Just OKAY!

Aamir is a story of a muslim doctor who works in London and supports his family in India. He comes home to see his family and turned into a scapegoat by one the extremist group for some mission unknown to Aamir throughout the movie. He was bound to follow his instructions as his family was kidnapped. The entire movie is all about Aamir dancing to the tunes of an extremist terrorist and exploring the worst of the slum areas of Mumbai.

I was excited in the beginning as the suspense was building up and I was curious to know what will happen next or why this is happening but the same situation has prolonged too far and then I got bored and was waiting for the movie to finish. How long you can be interested in one situation that’s been shown to you for the last 1.5 hours. Aamir is an excellent debut for both the director Raj Kumar Gupta and actor Rajeev Khandelwal. I am not a die hard fan of Rajeev akka Sujal unlike many girls but to give him the right credit I do agree he is a very talented actor. After the movie I am waiting to see how he will fair in a regular Bollywood masala flick.

First of all there is no Bollywood masala stuff (item numbers, romantic angle, song and dance track etc) to break the monotony of the hero following the directions from villain over the cellphone; on the top of it the movie is tragically slow. A hard core bollywood ishtyle fan like me won’t appreciate it that much.

I didn’t like the end as I don’t like good guys dying in the movie at the end. Alt least in the reel world things should be ideal. Even though the good guy is struggling in the entire movie he should meet a happy fate in the end.