The best, the worst and the in between - adieu 2010

The year is racing to a finish, and it is time to look back at what went by, or rather whizzed by. I wish I could have read more, seen more films, traveled more places – and eaten less
Films: There were some really good ones and there were some really bad ones, and then there was mostly a lot of stuff in between. After a hiatus from Bollywood I went back to watching a lot of BW films (mostly what released in theaters here), while picking my HW films with care and caution! Here is a HW list:
1. Inception – loved the film, the mind-bender that kept us thinking and discussing for days on end. Leo DiCaprio did not disappoint and Marion Cotillard was luminous.

Best & Worst 2010

It's the time for all end of the year lists so why not join in and make our own.  Purely subjective list and keep in mind I have not yet seen all movies.  Here goes nothing...

Best Film:

From the slim pickings this year, I"ll go with Band Baaja Baaraat. Frothy but realistic, fun but down to earth, YRF comes up with the film that reminds you why you love Bollywood.  It's the kind of sweet, earthy, lovely little movie that no other industry in the world can come up with.

Honorable mention: none (the caveat being that I have seen very few BW films this year)

Worst Film:

Too many to count.  Tees Maar Khan, Golmaal 3, Dabangg, Action Replay, We are Family, Kites, and many more I can't remember.

Wong Kar Wai's new film - The Grandmasters

If, like me, you got excited at the very idea of seeing footage from a new Wong Kar Wai film, then dial it down a bit. Because while, yes, this is a brief teaser for the great director’s new film The Grandmasters — his own take on the same story told in the film Ip Man — there isn’t actually any film footage here.

And this is the way it ends

This was the year a bunch of plastic figures gave me a lump in the throat, the biggest by far generated by all the touchy-feely films I saw. This was the year the world’s best known social misfit provided us an in into how we out ourselves on digital networks. This was also the year we discovered we could be dreaming within a dream, which, in turn, could be a dream. Toy Story 3 and The Social Network are right up there, at the top of my Hollywood movie list: both films, on the surface so dissimilar, were achingly similar — about shaping up to a future not known. Growing up is not easy, and there is never a time when you are not looking for love, whether you are a toy or human. Inception was a startlingly innovative idea, that you could be floating in free-fall in someone else’s dream, which led us straight back to that eternal question that floats out of films that make us think: what is real, what is not?Closer home, in one of the best films of 2010, Bollywood gave us a whole new way of looking.


Link

On Rajesh Khanna's birthday - the BBC documentary

The man who mesmerized women of all ages for almost a decade, got letters from them written their own blood, and caused mass hysteria wherever he went, Rajesh Khanna, is the subject of this documentary:
BBC reporter Jack Pizzey managed to get exceptional access to Rajesh Khanna and the result is this fascinating documentary – Rajesh Khanna – Bombay Superstar.

I'm not dumb: Katrina

I'm not dumb: Katrina

Kabhi introspective, kabhi frank... Katrina speaks her heart


You keep getting these 'hottest', 'sexiest' awards year after year – and now do hot item numbers too – while asserting that you're the frumpiest among your sisters. Explain the contradiction.
On screen, obviously, I do work to look glamorous, that is my job and looking that way is my presentation for my job. But I don't go to bed like that.

Off screen and in my everyday life, however, I don't want to walk around like that. Whoever wants to be my friend or would like to come near me for any reason, I want them to see me. I don't want them to see a person like that. That's not me.


Please read more

Man vs nature – 127 Hours and North Face

127 Hours

Christmas rolled around and I still had not seen 127 Hours. So with much trepidation that was the movie chosen for Christmas eve. Of course the story of Aron Ralston, the intrepid mountain climber who got his hand stuck under a boulder in a rock fall, is very well known so one has a good idea what to expect from the film. The unexpected comes in the form of James Franco and Danny Boyle’s treatment of the subject matter. The cardboard cutout bad boy of Spiderman has grown up to be a fine actor, filled with fun and gravity at the same time. The trip planning begins and as Aron (Franco) runs around throwing things into his backpack we are shown a Swiss Army knife that is too far back on a top shelf, out of reach, and the camera lingers on it for a few extra seconds. Similarly it lingers on a slowly dripping faucet in the apartment. Thus the stage is set, there will be moments when the Swiss Army knife will be sorely missed and water will be in extreme shortage. As in Aron’s book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”, the movie zigzags between Aron’s past life and his present predicament and we wait with trepidation for what has to come.....


If 127 Hours was most unsuited as a holiday film, the follow-up was a shockingly worse pick! 127 Hours showed us how a man with indomitable will could triumph over nature. Yes it was a harrowing tale, but not as harrowing as my next Man vs. nature film. The 2008 German fictional film North Face (German title Nordwand) has some basis in historical facts and recounts a famous 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face. The pair of German climbers Toni Kurz (Benno Fürmann) and Andi Hinterstoisser (Florian Lukas) resign from the German army to make their attempt on the Eiger. Word is out that the German government is very anxious to see the peak scaled and they want the glory to be theirs. There is also a team of Austrians who are backed by a newspaper to scale the peak. Eventually the Austrians team up with the Germans who are further ahead, presaging the Anschluss, the Nazi-led incorporation of Austria into Germany. A young, awkward and gauche newspaper employee (and friend of the German climbers; Johanna Wokalek) looks to launch her career based on the story of the German triumph over the Eiger and is egged on in her quest by her cynical boss (Ulrich Tukur). Both stay at a luxury hotel at the foot of the Eiger and watch the attempt through telescopes, all the while trying to capture the audience reaction on camera.
We are told, as per legend, the Eiger is inhabited by an ogre – and that is how the mountain gets its name. As the two pairs of climbers start their ascent using an unconventional route, things start to slowly go very wrong.....

Read more about both films at LINK

On Ghalib's Birthday

Today is Mirza Ghalib’s birthday. What a wonderful opportunity to bring together my favorite ghazal singer and my favorite shaayar!
Here is a small selection:
Koi ummeed bar nahin aati
Aage aati thi haale dil pe hansi
Ab kissi baat par nahin aati!
Hai kuch aisi hi baat jo chup hoon
Warna kya baat kar nahin aati!

Tees Maar Khan review *spoilers*

The Tale of a Conman and his Wife

You know you're in for an erm... experience when you see Shirish Kunder putting himself in the credits six times. He exceeds Midget Khan levels, who has a habit of focusing on a giant "A" for as long as other movies would finish their entire credit sequences in. His gall is so jaw dropping his credit as "music director" comes before the one for Vishal Shekhar!

The film soon begins with in vitro animations of a dancing baby (pole dancing, no less) quite obviously stolen from the famous "dancing baby" of the 90s.  Born to be a conman (modeled on Mr. Farah Khan himself?) he will grow up to be Akshay Kumar aka Tees Maar Khan.

A hamming police chief comes on to talk about gazillions of rupees worth of loot being taken to Delhi by train which they expected to be stolen by Siamese twins, the Johri brothers. Kunder doesn't seem to have learned after the Anupam Kher dwarf fiasco in Jaan-E-Maan that just putting the differently-abled on screen doesn't make it instantly hilarious.

The Johri brothers would need the help of other crooks among whom is someone named Ismail Koyla.  Witness the supposed hilarity in the script that took four years to write: "It's hard to tell if Ismail is blacker than koyla or if koyla is blacker than Ismail!" The poor jokes keep coming among which is how Ismail's weapon is the "black of night." Har har.

Tanu weds Manu - Awesome trailer

Tees Maar Khan reviews! 1.8/5 so far

While we await the major ones from India, the film has released in the UK, UAE and USA and some reviews are coming in.
searchindia.com  (no rating) "Even by the lowly standards of Akshay Kumar's recent films like Action Replayy, Tees Maar Khan is bad."
upodcasting.com (no rating) "It’s what Housefulll wishes it was, what Action Replayy could never accomplish and what Golmaal lies in bed at night crying it could be one day."
Renuka Rao dnaindia.com 1.5/5 Tees Maar Khan is a classic example of a cluttered film in which a hodgepodge of characters incoherently jabbers ludicrous dialogues building up an odd plot that just refuses to make any sense at any point of time.
Nikhat Kazmi TOI 2.5/5 But eventually, fun needs a foundation too and spoofs need some substance to carry them through. TMK has colour, humour, pace but nothing does seem to fall in place in terms of plot and character connect.
Zahra Khan, Associated Post USA 1.5/5  Tees Maar Khan is a classic example of a disordered film in which a sputtering incoherent jumble of characters absurd dialogues build a strange plot that just refuses to make any sense at any point in time.
Rachel Salz, NYT unrated “Om Shanti Om,” a huge box office success, was Bollywood at its most pleasurable. “Tees Maar Khan” is Bollywood going through the motions.
moviereviews.ae unrated Other Akshay Kumar movies have been blasted in the past, but this one will take the cake for being the most unlikeable of the lot!
Mihir Fadnavis 0.5/5 ‘Tees Maar Khan’ is brutally unfunny, horrendously contrived and wholly annoying.
Pankaj Sabnani (Glamsham) 2.5/5 The film isn't exactly unbearable, but falls way short of expectations. 
Kunal Guha, Yahoo 1.5/5  The dialogues are lame and lack wit, punch, drama and everything else one expects from filmy dialogues.
Taran Adarsh bollywoodhungama.com  3/5  If only its content was powerful enough, it would've truly been a tees maar entertainer! 
Gaurav Malani Economic Times 2.5/5 Tees Maar Khan doesn’t even guarantee thirty good laughs in its three hour runtime.
Aseem Chhabra rediff.com 1.5/5 TMK, scripted by Khan's husband?Shirish Kunder, is like that tasteless, dull chewing gum that you feel like throwing away as soon as you take the first bite.
Anupama Chopra ndtv.com 2/5 Tees Maar Khan.. is disappointingly limp and insistently low IQ. The film has little of the effervescence and flair of a typical Farah Khan film.
Sukanya Verma Rediff 2/5 Sheila ki Jawaani ...But that's not going to wipe the disappointment off genuine admirers of Farah's quirky creativity, including yours truly.
Raja Sen Rediff 2/5 And even as our arms do obediently rise for Tees Maar Khan, they do so more to facepalm in whatmighthavebeen exasperation rather than applaud boisterously, as they did with her earlier films.
Sukanya Venkatraghavan Filmfare UNRATED Tees Maar Khan directed by Farah Khan (How could you!) is just a relentless assault on your senses.
Vinod Mirani indiantelevision.com  UNRATED In fact, Tees Maar Khan loses steam about 15 minutes into the film after the song Sheela ki jawani and becomes intolerable post-interval.
Khalid Mohamed PFC 1.5/5 Throughout you’re shocked by the higgledy-piggledy screenplay and the blood-curdlingly loud direction.
Mayank Shekhar HT 1/5 It’s one thing to repeatedly make ‘nudge nudge wink wink’ sort of ironic nod to films or ‘filmies’. It’s quite another to know nothing else. 
Rajeev Masand CNN IBN 2/5 it’s surprising she delivered not the trademark Farah Khan entertainer one expected from her, but a typical harebrained Akshay Kumar comedy instead.

A Western with a difference – True Grit

What would a normal 14 year old in the late 1800s do upon finding out her father was murdered by a scoundrel and a thief? Mattie Ross (played by Hailee Steinfeld) is no ordinary 14 year old. She takes the train into Fort Smith to deal with her father’s body and stays back – determined to avenge his death.

Dil Toh Bachcha Hai ji Trailer ( updated with New Song )

I went into depression, but am back: Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan says he had gone into a depression mode but is now back and full of energy. The 45-year-old superstar also believes he is very poor at expressing his innermost feelings, be it love, anger or friendship.

“I feel so much healthy and refreshed from within — due to the injury and the suffering I had got into a depression mode but now I am out of it. I feel happy and boosted with energy,” Shah Rukh told IANS in an interview here. The actor tore a ligament in his shoulder during shooting in 2008 and underwent surgery early last year.

When asked how he copes with the controversies and comparisons, Shah Rukh said he lacked in the art of expression, which is often misinterpreted by the masses.

“I am a different person in my films; I am very vocal and expressive in them, but in my personal life I am a very weird person. I face difficulty when I have to express my innermost feelings. I am very shy, quiet and reclusive as an individual.

“It is not something I am proud of but I lack in the art of expressing my love, my friendship, my anger, my apologies, which people misinterpret at times.

“I am always compared; that is a part of my life. A newcomer comes I am compared; anybody does a film which is a bigger hit, I am compared; anybody does a lesser film, still I am compared. So comparisons don’t bother me."

LINK

50 cr weekend predicted for Tees Maar Khan

Ormax Media Launches Moviescope: Predicts 50 Cr Weekend For Tees Maar Khan Sunday 20th December 2010 23.00 IST

Press Release Mumbai, Dec 19, 2010: Media research and consulting film Ormax Media has predicted that Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan, releasing on Dec 24, is set for a historic Rs. 50 cr opening weekend net collections. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. The box office prediction has been arrived using Ormax Media’s newly launched film research tool Moviescope. Moviescope is a Film Research Engine designed to take care of all the needs of a producer. This includes four components - Ad Pre-Test, Film Pre-Test, Awareness Tracking (Cinematix) and Exit Polls.

Shah Rukh Khan in Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Two States

"I am not the number one star for myself because I try harder every day; I have always believed that I haven't done the best and could have done better. The day I stop doing that I will stop working."

Asked about his current movie projects, he said, "I am working on quite a few projects as of now. I am in the mode to work round the clock with television and films. I am currently shooting for Ra.One, Don-2, and Vishal Bharadwaj's film which is an adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's Two States."

Trailer of Hanna

The creative team of Band Baajaa Baraat talks!

Rarely does a  new team (if you take Anushka Sharma out of the equation) create such a buzz!  Habib Faisal directed the less know Do Dooni Char, wrote Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, and TRRP while Maneesh Sharma and Ranveer Singh are totally new.  Here they talk at length about the film and why it worked!  What an endearing team.

Milliblog Annual Music round-up 2010

Here we go again…at the end of another calendar year…another annual round-up. 2010 was a phenomenal year for Hindi film music and Indipop; an average year for all 4 South Indian language film music.
The lists here are in order of preference.

Hindi

Mainstream Hindi film music had a wonderful year, yet again. It was clearly Amit Trivedi’s show..a fact that he sealed with a national award for Dev.D! The other composers who really made a mark include Vishal and Shekhar. Their consistency in making highly listenable music was marred only by the kind of projects that came to them. And, some of the most unheard, underrated music made its mark too, at least on Milliblog – soundtracks like Soch Lo, for instance. When it comes to listing the top 3 soundtracks of the year, Uddan tops the list clearly for me – it was a triumph of a fantastic film and even better music by Amit. Vishal Shekhar’s Anjaana Anjaani may be have drubbed severely as a film, but it was one of the few soundtracks of the year that was listenable back to back, almost every single track of it. I also had a tough time choosing the 3rd one – it was a difficult toss between No One Killed Jessica and Striker, but I choose to go with the latter because of the sheer vibrancy a multi-composer soundtrack like that offered.

No One Killed Jessica updated Aitbaar song

Vintage Indian Ads

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My Favorite Holiday Movie – The Princess Bride

 The Princess Bride

When the family gathers, in goes Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride DVD and a good time is had by all. The story of a sweet princess (Robin Wright), a silently adoring farm boy (Carey Elway), a scheming Sicilian (Wallace Shawn), a dumb kind hearted giant (Andre the Giant), an evil prince (Chris Sarandon), and an avenging son (Mandi Patinkin), is told to an ailing grandson (a cute as a button Fred Savage) by his grandfather (Peter Falk).

Madhuri does a dance class for today's leading ladies!

The Dhak Dhak girl does a six minute set of some of her best songs and we realize what was missing from the movies - that 1000 watt smile, those seamless dance moves, that abhinaya through body language.  Madhuri - please come back!!!

Tees Maar Khan Updated with Bade Dilwala promo!

Tree Of life Trailer

The 30 Best Films of the Decade

....
Neil and I anticipated this task back in October and began planning what would become far too much work for two people who essentially sit around watching Animal House all day. Still, despite the cyclopean nature of the beast, we dug our feet in and compiled just over 3,000 films that were released from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 (the future!).

Rango Movie Trailer

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Official Trailer

Smita Patil's death anniversary

Here are a few films of hers I love - time to celebrate what we did get to see, while we mourn what we lost:

What a woman wants! Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika

Loosely based on the life of the Marathi stage and screen actress Hansa Wadkar, Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika (1977) deals with a woman’s search for identity and fulfillment. Usha grows up in a near destitute family of performers.

From near-demise to resurgence of the romcom – Band Baaja Baaraat!

Band Baajaa Baraat

When I saw the promos of Break Ke Baad (BKB) I knew to avoid it like the plague. No way could I take one more romcom with guys and girls cavorting about in trendy clothes playing at the game of love. Was the romcom as imagined by Bollywood truly dead? But strangely enough, I could pop in the Jab We Met DVD anytime and catch the shenanigans of Geet and Aditya.

Tron Legacy Soundtrack ?

Anyone tried it ? its really great OST.

Pattern recognition? Aishwarya’s past and Abhishek’s future!

Abhi-Aish

If you look closely a pattern emerges. I am not alleging anything, simply pointing out what seems so obvious. Aishwarya does Jodhaa Akbar with Ashutosh Gowarikar. Abhshek is cast in Gowarikar’s next – Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey!
Aishwarya does Guzaarish with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Abhishek is now to act in the next Bhansali film!
Aishwarya does Action Replayy with Vipul Shah. Abhishek is set to act in Vipul Shah’s next!
Coincidence? You be the judge, I am simply presenting facts!

More HERE

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Band Baaja Baaraat reviews - 3.3/5 so far

Bhavnaa Somiayya, Lehren ‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ – a Lehren Review - 4/5 out of which 2 are for Anushka Sharma, Mogambo khush hua!
Anupama Chopra ndtv 3/5 The love story of two wedding planners in Delhi, Shruti and Bittoo, played by Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh, has a charm and sweetness that's been missing from YRF movies for many moons now.
Rajeev Masand, CNN IBN 3/5 director Maneesh Sharma’s Band Baaja Baaraat. It’s a romantic comedy done correctly. Fun, but with warmth at its heart. Don’t miss it.
Taran Adarsh BollywoodHungama 3.5/5 It has an appealing plot, which has been handled with dexterity and most importantly, it has characters that instantly make a place for themselves in your heart.

The Rite Trailer

Real Steel Trailer

Yamla Pagla Deewana - FS were remiss to not cover this one! so we present Tinku Jiya

No Problem - reviews! 1.65/5 so far

Raja Sen, rediff.com 1/5 No Problem is devoid of taste, flavour and jokes. As producer Anil Kapoor ignominously submits his pride to a flatulent ape, all this film shows us is how far you need to go to make a buck in this town.
Taran Adarsh bollywoodhungama.com 1.5/5 t lacks a cohesive screenplay, it lacks in entertainment and most importantly, the humour falls flat. NO PROBLEM is full of problems. 
Nikhat Kazmi Times of India 3/5 But rest assured, No Problem will make you forget your problems, provided you are willing to get goofy and give up your quest for meaning in masala
Anupama Chopra NDTV 1/5 as I watched this incoherent patchwork of singularly unfunny gags, I decided that No Problem is even a few notches below Akshay Kumar's stunningly awful Kambakkht Ishq.

Blessy Chettiar dnaindia.com 2/5 The film is capable of making you forget your problems, though momentarily.
Noyon Jyoti Parasara NowRunning 2/5 It is a whole load of trash that has been made out of crores of rupees. Not worth your minute or penny.

Band Baaja Baaraat updated with some numbers

The film is stated to have cost 8-9 crore with another 3-4 cr spent on print and publicity.  As per Boxofficeindia.com reports "The film can easily fetch 7-8 crore for satellite rights today but they have not been sold as yet and if the film does decent theatrical business this figure could go 10 crore. A big run at the theatres then the figure can go much higher. Then you have the music and video rights worth 3-4 crore. Overseas may not give much as the film has a new male lead though the YRF brand name could help."  The film is releasing with less than 600 prints and Friday should give a good idea of whether the viewers will come out for this one or not!

Is Imraan Khan's Delhi Belly shelved?

WTF : Imran Khan’s Delhi Belly is shelved!

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December is going to be the month of “shelved” news. First we told you the news about Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Broken Horses and now its about Imran Khan’s new film.

Its shocking but it seems to be true. The film was shot long back. And till now there has been no announcements about the release plan. Starring Imran Khan, Shenaz Treasurywala, Kunaal Roy Kapoor and Vir Das in the lead, the film has been directed by Abhinay Deo.

UTV and Aamir Khan produced the film. But at the editing stage they realised that its not making much sense. They shot, re-shot, edited, re-edited, tried everything possible and spent about Rs 20 crores on it but still could not make much sense of it. And now they have finally decided to shelve it.

Read more http://moifightclub.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/wtf-imran-khans-delhi-belly-is-shelved/

This is not potty humor! From the Minoans to the Caliphate (part 2 of 3)

My travels in Turkey and Greece reminded me that I had NOT continued my series on toilets and bathrooms around the world!  So I paid special attention to these attractions this time around.  Surprisingly sophisticated facilities were found wherever I went, be it the Sultan’s harem at the Topkapi palace or the ruins of Ephesus.
At the entrance to Ephesus one is greeted by piles upon piles of clay pipes, a testimonial to the advanced drainage system the Greeks and Romans had.

Clay pipes at Ephesus

Actors' Roundtable - the best of 2010 give insights!

Anaganaga O Dheerudu - Siddharth and Shruti Hassan with Disney

This looks to be a fantasy with superb effects!

The Beaver - Trailer

More on the Ranbir-Deepika-Sonam KWK kerfuffle!

Ranbir Kapoor and Imraan Khan appeared on Koffee With Karan and Ranbir acted like quite the player. He was quite open about how he uses camouflage to hide the names of his “female” callers on his cell phone – I believe the code word was “Battery Low”!

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey - reviews 2.5 stars so far

Taran Adarsh Bollywoodhungama 4/5  "It's a film of immense significance which evokes a colossal patriotic fervor."
Phelim O'Neill, Guardian, UK 4/5 "A little-known episiode in India's independence fight gets the Bollywood treatment – and it works a treat"
Khalid Mohamed, PFC 3.5/5 "here a freedom fighter’s life kicks down the front door and sits at the head of the table. If you don’t care to know more about him, it’s your loss entirely."
Nikhat Kazmi, TOI 3.5/5 "it is the director's narrative style and his attempt to re-tell history through a racy-pacy tenor that gives the film its movement and manages to drive the message home. "
Pankaj Sabnani, Glamsham 2.5/5 "Almost the entire second half has poignant moments that keep you hooked. The scene in which the four revolutionaries kill themselves is tear-jerker. "
Raja Sen, Rediff 2.5/5 "The Chittagong Uprising makes for a smashing narrative, and Gowariker plays it loyally enough. It isn't subtle and the direction is straight out of the Jingoism Manual, but because the story itself has such immense meat, it's hard to not get sucked in as you watch it unfold."
 Anupama Chopra, NDTV 2.5/5 "Ashutosh recreates this largely forgotten event with sincerity and sweat but unfortunately Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey comes off a high school history lesson: plodding, stilted and in long stretches, staggeringly boring. "
Aniruddha Guha, DNA 3/5 "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey moves you, but sporadically"
Sukanya Venkatraghavan, Filmfare unrated "Trade fads be damned. And as long as there are stories like this waiting to be told, we hope people like Ashutosh Gowariker will tell them."
Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express 2.5/5 " in its execution, the gaps between the intention and the final product : the book’s gripping characters and its rousing patriotic tale never comes fully alive on screen."
Minty Tejpal, Mumbai Mirror unrated "Abhishek carries a knowing beatific look through the film, which gets painful, and Deepika looks gorgeous but disappears halfway through the film."
Komal Nahta, KoiMoi.com 0.5/5 "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is an unmitigated disaster."
And on TV Rajeev Masand - 2.5/5 - he likened it to a school play...

‘I’m not shy of going fully mental. I like mad things’ - Farah

‘I’m not shy of going fully mental. I like mad things’

She makes news for being friendly with Shah Rukh Khan as well as for falling out with him. She is campy and irreverent, and the only woman filmmaker who matters in Bollywood. Farah Khan, who is ready with her third film, Tees Maar Khan, on the tiff with one-time best friend SRK, her movies and her kind of moviemaking.


From Om Shanti Om to Tees Maar Khan, how would you describe the journey?


The first two years flew past. I had my babies (triplets Czar, Anya and Diva) and was busy with television shows. Last year, the drama began when news broke that I had signed Akshay Kumar for Tees Maar Khan. After that, my husband (Shirish Kunder) and I started a production company (Three’s Company), and now within a year we are releasing our first film.

Please read more

Shah Rukh Khan: the.one

We’ve seen you working out of your skin over the past few days. Does that stretch you out?
Ra.One is almost complete, barring a few days of polishing, touching up and reshooting. There are times when I go home, sit in my bathroom and stare out of the window feeling completely drained both mentally and physically. But it’s at such times when you feel most exhausted that you have to put in that extra effort and finish a job. There have been countless times when I’ve complained to my director and production team that I’m tired of making this film. But then I realise that everyone around me is as tired. I tell my team that when both he and his team mates are tired, it’s up to one of them to push the others and complete the work. Because it’s that last ounce of strength, which makes you truly successful. And, God forbid, even if things go wrong, you don’t feel guilty that you didn’t try hard enough. Recently, I read an interview with a big star saying that he wanted a holiday. And I instantly told myself, I need to work more, work harder and get things finished. If you ask me, I’d say I am running two days late in life. If I can get those two days from somewhere, I’ll be on schedule.

Don 2 updated with brief clip - Priyanka and Hrithik!

Vidhu Chopra's Broken Horses shelved and Sharman Joshi bags Ferrari ki Sawari?

Two news items from Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions. First, his much ambitious Hollywood debut Broken Horses is NOT happening.

He set up an office in LA, did recce for the film and even put out a video of it on his official website. But now it has been shelved. The main reason seems to be the problem in getting the cast onboard. Because in Hollywood, the rules aren’t the same. Though there was some buzz about Mickey Rourke and Nicholas Cage doing the film but it seems it all just buzz.

And the second news – Sharman Joshi has finally bagged a big film. The next production of Vidhu Vinod Chopra – Ferrari Ki Sawaari in which Joshi will play the lead actor. 

More at LINK