Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Mallika Sherawat - The queen of ‘Nakhras’

When Studio 18 signed Mallika Sherawat as the female lead of their film ‘Masquerade’, little did they know that they are playing with fire (red-hot one) and now, madam Mallika has annoyed director Kundan Shah with her ‘Nakhras’ to such an extent that the makers are left with no other option than to shelve the project.

Reports are that Mallika was signed for Rs. 9.5 million and was even paid 25% of her fee as the signing amount before she reported for the movie’s shoot. However, Miss Sherawat started throwing tantrums even before shooting could begin saying that she was not happy with the choice of the director and the cinematographer. When director Kundan Shah refused to give in to her interference, Mallika coolly went to the press and declared the she had walked out of the film.

The standoff between the two reached such a peak that eventually Studio 18 found no alternative but to call off the project. Now the production house has lodged a complaint with IMPPA asking Mallika to return the signing amount paid to her.

On the other hand, Mallika refuses to entertain any calls from Studio 18 and refuses to talk to the media on the issue.

mallika sherawat

Anjana Sukhani - Good times ahead

The future seems bright for Anjana Sukhani as the girl awaits the release of not one, but three of her films in toe.

Anjana Sukhani has already worked, though not with much weightage and recognition in ‘Salaam-e-ishq’ and ‘Sunday‘. Now, she is set to set the screen afire with three big releases, ‘Golmaal Returns’, ‘Allah Ke Banday’ and ‘Jai Veeru’.

The actress is excited about all her projects and says, “Allah Ke Banday is expected to release in early June, in which I am paired with Sharman Joshi. This adventurous film also stars Naseruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni and Anupam Kher”.

However, her film ‘Jai Veeru’ by Narendra Bajaj- Shyam Bajaj is going down in enthusiasm because of the failure of ‘The Train’ and ‘Aggar’.

“It’s a good film, but I guess the makers are taking it a little slow as of now”, is what Anjana has to say about the movie. Adding on, she says, “It is a fun film with Fardeen Khan and Kunal Khemu being part of it. I am sure it would get released before 2008 ends,” says Anjana about it.

On the other hand, Anjana is having a ball of time shooting for ‘Golmaal Returns’. In fact, during one scene with Ajay Devgan and Shreyas Talpade being shot at Film City, the girl found it difficult to control her laughter while shooting. When, she could not control laughing even after more than a dozen re-takes, the actors and the director lost their patience. It was then, Ajay Devgan gave Anjana one of his serious and intimidating looks and told her to stop laughing and get serious about work. Devgan’s gesture worked and Anjana gave the next shot perfectly.

Anjana has a lot to say “I am paired opposite Tusshar Kapoor here, and imagine all the fun I would be having since Tusshar continues to play his mute character which was so popular in ‘Golmaal’. The manner in which we both interact is a mystery and you should see this ‘unusual love story’ to believe it”.

anjana sukhani

anjana sukhani

Chitrangada Singh is back

The memories of the talented dusky beauty of Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi’ are afresh in the hearts of the cine goers. Now, after a long silence of three years, Chintraganda Singh is back and how!

Reportedly, the gorgeous actress has been signed by Aamir Khan for his next production ‘Delhi Belly’. The film is supposed to be a quirky, risqué set in New Delhi.

Earlier, the film was to be directed by Swedish director Robert Nylund, but now he has been replaced by ad-filmmaker Abhinay Deo( famous for ‘Youngistan’ Pepsi ad).

Chitrangada is also playing the female lead in director Onir’s next ‘Sorry Bhai’ opposite Sanjay Suri and Sharman Joshi . She is also playing Chandramukhi in Sudhir Mishra’s ‘Aur Devdas’.

chitrangadha

he female lead for ‘Kajraare’ from Pakistan

T-Series’s ‘Kajraare’, an intense Indo-Pak love story, directed by Pooja Bhatt with Himesh Reshammiya in the lead role, had been announced a while back but the female face was still missing from the chain. Now, finally the hunt is over, as the popular Pakistani TV actress, Monalaizza, has been chosen for the role.

“Monalaizza’s character is very intense and spans a lot of emotions. We had to look for an actress who would be Pakistani and yet had the persona to essay a character who remains herself though there is a lot in store for her in that journey that is called life through KAJRAARE…”, said Divya Kumar, the creative director of the film.

Director Pooja Bhatt is very happy with the choice and says, “It was Javed Shaikh who helped us find Monalaizza. And she suits the character very well. We checked out over 70 actresses before we finalized her.”

Monalaizza, not to mention, is beaming with joy, “It is a beautiful character and the emotions that I have to essay are immense. I feel privileged to be selected by Divya Kumar and Pooja Bhatt for this character.”

The film, a love story starring Himesh as a lawyer, would be shot in Lahore, Morocco and Europe.

mona

‘Raaz 2′ is not a sequel to ‘Raaz’

Director Mohit Suri celebrated his birthday with his crew on the sets of ‘Raaz 2’. On the occasion, the directors Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt made it clear that the film is NOT a sequel to ‘Raaz’. It has its own storyline and has nothing to do with the original one.

The film launches a fresh face Adhyayan (Shekhar Suman’s son) playing Kangana Ranaut’s boyfriend. Kangana Ranaut plays a supermodel in the movie and of course, there is Bhatt Camp’s favorite Emraan Hashmi too.

The movie shot some of its portions at Goregaon Film City, Mumbai on 11th April, 2008 which had Kangana walking the ramp.

The newcomer Adhyayan revealed that he believes in supernatural things and in real life seems to be very scary of minute things also. Adhyayan said, “The scary part of the movie for which we will be shooting is yet to come with much scary locations.”

raaz2 movie

raaz2 movie

raaz2 movie

raaz2 movie

The funeral of Shomu Mukherjee

The cremation of Kajol and Tanisha’s father and yesteryear actress Tanuja’s husband, director and producer Shomu Mukherjee, 65, was held at Santacruz, Mumbai, on April 10, following his death due to a cardiac arrest that morning.

Tanuja and Shomu met during the making of Shomu’s first production film ‘Ek Baar Muskara Do’ (1972) starring Joy Mukherjee and Tanuja. They got married in 1973 and the couple had two daughters, Kajol and Tanisha.

Amongst the Bollywood fraternity that attended the funeral were Shammi Kapoor, Karan Johar, Bappi Lahari, Ashutosh Gwarikar and Maushmi Chatterji. The entire Mukherjee clan was present, including Rani Mukherji, who is the daughter of Shomu Mukherjee’s cousin Ram Mukherjee.

shomu mukherjee funeral

shomu mukherjee funeral

shomu mukherjee funeral

shomu mukherjee funeral

shomu mukherjee funeral

Amrita Rao in love with Goher or Farhan?

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There is much confusion over Amrita Rao’s new love is it Goher Mumtaz the lead guitarist of Jal Band or Farhan Saeed the lead vocalist of the band?

An insider revealed, “Goher came to Mumbai to shoot the video Chalte Chalte, with Amrita. During the shoot, the duo became very friendly and gradually grew fond of each other. In fact, the shoot is over long back, but Goher keeps coming to India often.”

When Goher was asked about Amrita he said, “We are good friends. I don’t think there is anything wrong in sharing a great friendship. I don’t have many friends in India. She is one of my closest ones. Amrita and I are in touch. I come to India every month. We like spending time together. In fact, I have convinced her to come to Pakistan and perform here.”

Even Amrita kept mum about her new love, “Yes, I am quite fond of all three members (meaning Goher, Farhan Saeed and Shazi) of the band. It was a great opportunity to work with someone from Pakistan. Even a simple pleasure like sharing an ice cream with someone from across the border is fun. But love is confined only to the video. When I actually fall in love, the whole world will know about it.”

Hansika’s mom gives interviews on her behalf

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Most of the times journalists are left amazed when teen actress Hansika Motwani gives interviews with utmost grace and maturity. But the truth is that it’s Hansikaa’s mother who actually receives the calls and gives interviews on her behalf.

An insider reveals, “Her mom also wanted to become an actress in her young days, but failed and now she enjoys giving interviews which she always wanted to, and she always make sure to boost her name behind the success of the actress.”

Hansikaa reportedly dislikes her mother’s interference but can’t do anything about it.

Kajol’s father passes away

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Tragedy struck Kajol when her father Shomu Chaterjee passed away a day before the release of her new flick ‘U Me aur Hum.’

Shomu Chatterjee was a very well known writer, director and producer and made classics like Sangdil Sanam and Pathar ke Insaan.

Shomu Chatterjee is survived by his wife Tanuja and two daughters Kajol and Tanishaa.

Let’s pray that God give strength to the Mukherjee family to cope up with this tragedy.

U Me aur Hum movie review

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U Me aur Hum

Director: Ajay Devgan

Cast: Ajay Devgan and Kajol

After Aamir Khan who shined with his first directorial debut its time for Ajay Devgan too who has come out with a soul stirring movie like U Me aur Hum. UMAH clearly scores over Krazzy 4 this week with Ajay Devgan’s great direction and above all Kajol with a great performance.

U Me aur Hum is a love story about Ajay (Ajay Devgan) who falls in love at first sight with Piya (Kajol) on a cruise. In the first half of the movie we see a typical Bollywood romance with Ajay wooing Piya. The second half becomes intense which shows that marriage is only successful when both husband and wife stand for each in their times of distress.

Ajay is psychiatrist who is on a vacation trip with is friends and their respective spouses (Karan Khanna, Sumeet Raghavan, Isha Sharvani and Divya Dutta). Piya (Kajol) is a waitress in the cruise bar and when Ajay spots Piya he falls head over heels in love with her. Piya a strong-headed girl rejects Ajay’s advances. But Ajay is so much smitten by Piya that he tries every trick to woo her which includes trespassing into her cabin and reading her personal diary: Book of Possibilities. Psychiatrist by profession he uses the right tactics to win Piya’s heart. Piya finally falls for him but when he confesses her about reading her diary and using it to get her all hell breaks loose and Ajay is left alone.

But destiny brings them back together again and this time they end up marrying. Marriage for Piya and Ajay is like heaven and soon they become an ideal husband and wife for their friends. But as everything good comes to an end their marriage life starts getting complicated and another nail in the coffin is Piya’s illness: ‘Alzheimer’. How Piya and Ajay save their marriage and love forms the rest of the story.

The story of the movie is told in a flashback by Ajay Devgan, which adds charm to the movie. Aswan Whir does justice to the U Me aur Hum by rendering witty humorous dialogues to thought-provoking ones with great finesse. Ajay Devgan is terrific both in front of the camera as well as back of it. Kajol is as always awesome in her performance as an Alzheimer suffering young lady and is a strong contender for this year’s best actress award. Supporting actors irritate you a bit and there is nothing much to write about them.

Vishal Bharadwaj spins the magic of Omkara once again by rendering good music. The best song is the title track ‘U Me aur Hum’ and the peppy ‘Jee Le’ and the best thing U Me aur Hum is the great chemistry between real life husband and wife Kajol and Ajay. Ajay Devgan is the man behind direction and views but Kajol brought them to life.

U Me aur Hum will appeal to the younger audience, couples, couples soon to tie the knot and everybody else who is in love. The film has its share of drawbacks and mistakes but those can be forgiven ‘coz its Ajay’s first movie as a director. The movie will definitely force you and your better half to become HUM and make your relationship much better.

Krazzy 4 movie review

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Krazzy 4

Director: Jaideep Sen
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Irrfan Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Suresh Menon, Juhi Chawla and Dia Mirza

Debutante director Jaideep Sen must have foreseen the future of his movie Krazzy 4 and that’s why roped in SRK and Hrithik Roshan to become the saving grace of the movie. But inspite of SRK, Hrithik Roshan, Rakhi Sawant, Ram Sampath (for giving negative publicity for 2 crores), a great star cast and numerology the film turns out to be a dud.

Krazzy 4 is the story about four mental guys Raja (Arshad Warsi), Gangadhar (Rajpal Yadav), Dr Mukherjee (Irrfan Khan), Dabboo (Suresh Menon) and their doc Dr Sonali. Raja is an angry mental man and will hit out at the slightest provocation or even without and has an intermittent explosive disorder in simple words ‘Sarphira’. Dr Mukherjee aka captain of Krazzy4, is a clean freak, wants everything to be perfect and clean and suffers from a personality disorder.

Gangadhar is a schizophrenic who lives in the past and his pals are Nehru, Gandhi, Tilak and Patel. He and his imaginary pals are busy fighting for swaraj and freedom. Last but not the least is cute Dabboo who with his 3/4th pants is everybody’s pet and is frightened to an extent that he doesn’t speak a word.

All hell breaks loose when their savior Dr Sonali takes them out for a cricket match just for a change, Dr Sonali is kidnapped and our Krazzy 4 are left stranded in the big, bad and mad krazzy world. How they survive and rescue their doctor forms the rest of the story.

When Jaideep Sen had power performers like Irrfan Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Suresh Menon and Arshad Warsi he failed to utilize their potential. Suresh Menon who is a terrific performer is kept on mute all the time. Arshad Warsi inspite of having a meaty role fails to deliver as an angry man. The only actor who is the saving grace of K4 is Rajpal Yadav with a rocking performance; perfect comic timing makes him standout amongst others. Juhi Chawla and Irrfan Khan as Mr. tidy.

The craziest thing about the movie is its bad story inspired from Hollywood flick “The Dream Team”, wonder how Senior Roshan approved of it. The script has some unrealistic scenes which makes you go What The F like Raja bumping into his ex-girlfriend Dia Mirza, Dr Mukherjee meeting his daughter on the road, the krazzy guys carrying a successful sting operation and the climax.

The film is 2 hours long and is interesting in the first half, and a bore in the second eventually ending in a bad climax. Both script and screenplay of K4 are bad.

Coming to the highlight of Krazzy 4-The item numbers, I personally liked SRK’s Breakfree more than Hrithiks, but both are great. Rakhi’s item number would appeal to the frontbenchers and will keep them happy. Rajesh Roshan’s music is disappointing but Break Free is awesome (Credit should be given to Rajesh Roshan for composing rest of the song apart from the 6 lifted seconds).

I hope Jaideep Sen comes out with a good movie next time with a powerful story. Meanwhile the audiences wouldn’t be crazy for Krazzy 4.

Kareena’s cute little fan

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Well if Shahid has a beautiful little girl as his special fan then Kareena has gone a step ahead by making the hottest little handsome in town as her fan.

The little fan we are talking about here is Darsheel Saffary aka Ishaan Awasthi of Taare Zameen Par.

The young lad is a huge fan of Bebo and is dying to meet her at any of the award functions.

Young Darsheel when quizzed about his favorite actress said, ” It’s Kareena Kapoor and I am looking forward to meeting her at any of the award functions that are coming up.”

Kareena are you listening?

Shahid Kapoor falls in love again

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Shahid Kapoor no longer remembers his stick-thin ex-girlfriend Kareena Kapoor because he has a cute, chubby little girl in his life now named Radhika.

Now don’t rattle your brain folks ‘coz Radhika is a one year old baby and Shahid’s co-star in Ken Ghosh untitled flick

A laughing Ken said, “Yes, Radhika is the new babe in Shahid’s life. She has a small role in the film and from the day they met they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. It was instant chemistry! Forget Vidya, Sania and Amrita Rao, Shahid had eyes for no one else but Radhika!”

Shahid who has a younger teenage brother has always loved kids but Radhika seems to be special for him. Radhika and Shahid share a great rapo and whenever they get free from the shooting they spend time with each other laughing, playing and chatting in gobbledygook. The pretty young baby is so smitten by handsome Shahid that the moment she sees him she stops crying and stars laughing.

Looks like Shahid’s fatherly instincts are beginning to show at the age of 27. Would we be seeing Shahid with his very own Radhika anytime soon? Well it’s for you to guess.

Shahid and Sherlyn paired opposite each other

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Outrageous Sherlyn Chopra has grooved her way into the Yash Raj camp and will be romancing none other than Jab We Met hunk, Shahid Kapur.

Yash Raj was keen to sign Sherlyn for his next movie, as he was impressed by Red Swastik performance.

A spokesperson of Yash Raj confirmed the news, “Yes, Sherlyn has been signed by Yash Raj to star in a film by Anurag Singh.”

The untitled flick is a love triangle between Sherlyn Chopra, Shahid Kapur and Rani Mukherjee.

When contacted Sherlyn was quite overwhelmed by the offer, “Yes you are right, now I am a part of the film. It feels really good to get associated with such a big banner in the very onset of one’s career. I was very confident that my hard work would pay me off. And now I’ll work harder to prove myself and showcase the best of my abilities.”

What has happened to Yash Raj? Sherlyn Chopra and Rani Mukherjee with cool dude Shahid! Com’on Shahid deserves someone better.