Showing posts with label Ranbir Kapoor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ranbir Kapoor. Show all posts

Friday, November 11, 2011

Rockstar reviews!


ndtv.com: 2.5/5 However, in its initial build-up, informed with a robust sense of quirky humour, Rockstar shows a fair degree of promise. Ranbir Kapoor, as JJ, makes a go for it with infectious intent. He gets the lingo and diction right; the gawky gait is delightfully apt.....Sadly, the narrative, lacks the substance that a film as long as this would have needed to sustain itself.



rediff.com:2.5/5Many will swoon over Nargis, and the fairer sex will find Ranbir's transformation irresistible, and forgive the fact that his fingers don't move at all like someone who has been playing the guitar since childhood. Or that throughout the movie he plays variety of gorgeous electric guitars without a cable -- or a wireless device -- attached to any of them. That's like trying to drive a car without fuel

 timesofindia.indiatimes.com:4/5




dnaindia.com: 4/5 But while good acting is always an incentive, it’s a director’s vision that makes a film truly watchable, and Imtiaz deserves credit for trying his hand at something different from what the mainstream churns out every week. And for bringing back the one aspect sorely missing from Hindi films lately -- music.




Sunday, March 6, 2011

The PERFECT awards! Oscars, TwiFi and others in between



We were told TwiFi Awards would be the perfect platform to pick the best and most deserving candidates to award. It helped that the platform was being set up just as the usual award shows were going on in B-town, with the same perform and walk away with the prize allegations, the behind the curtain machinations, the favorites, and even talk of the buying and selling of awards. It all seemed a bit sleazy and most of these ceremonies were simply big dance and perform parties. A leading journalist took the opportunity to berate the B-town awards and tell to look to the Oscars for how it is really done – see their professionalism, their selection process, and their seamless and classy show!

Friday, December 3, 2010

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”!


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Box Office: Anjaana Anjaaani & Robot


ANJAANA ANJAANI, riding on the star power of Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, opened to very good houses at multiplexes across the country. Multiplexes in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Hyderabad and other centres opened to almost packed house. The opening and noon shows were in 80% to 90% range. At several stations, they were 100% too. However, the single screens are expected to be slow not just for ANJAANA ANJAANI, but for ROBOT too since the audience hasn't really gone out in mass-dominated Hindi belt.


ROBOT [Hindi version] has started slowly, its opening was 30% in morning and noon shows, but the reports are very good and the film is expected to grow by evening. The film has opened to an exceptional response in South.


Sunday, October 3, 2010

Anjaana Anjaani reviews updated 28 reviews

 
Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama:  4 stars "This film has everything going for it"
Movie Challenge:  4 stars "I really don’t know why but I feel good."

Renuka Rao, DNA:  3.5 stars "romcom with a difference"
Janhvi Patel, StarBoxOffice:  3 stars "sweet romantic comedy"
Subhash Jha, IANS:  3 stars "gets to it's targeted destination"
Spicezee: 3 stars "Three cheers for this one!"
Sonia Chopra, Sify:  3 stars "end is cliched but the ride is a full one"
Sampurn wire: 3 stars "You will surely love the light-hearted fun of Anjana Anjani"
Yashika Kapoor, Total Filmy:  3 stars "must watch for youngsters"
Sarita Tanwar, Mid-day: 3 stars "quite a novel effort"
Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India: 3 stars "Partially engaging"
K.K. Rai, Stardust Mag: 3 stars "first half relatively slow"

Deepa Garimella, Full Hyderabad:  2.75 stars "nicer, saner parts come Ranbir Kapoor is in the frame"
Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express:  2.5 stars "good actors made to boost a limp story"
Sukanya Verma, Rediff:  2 stars "daft film"
Gaurav Malani, Economic Times: 2 stars "in first 10 minutes, you can predict last 10 minutes"
The Indian: 2 stars "Anjaana Anjaani is a perfect example of gloss overshadowing the content"
Komal Nahta, Koimoi: 2 stars "doesn't involve the viewer" "forced drama"
Anupama Chopra, NDTV: 2 stars "emotions and characters are singularly plastic" 

Mayank Shekhar, Hindustan Times:  1.5 stars "story that doesn't exist"
Rajeev Masand, CNN IBN:  1 star "deathly boring"

Vinod Mirani, IndianTelevision:  "uninspiring" "will pass unnoticed"
Prashant Sharad Mane, Deccan Herald:  "leaves the audience yawning"
Shilpa Jamkhandikar, Reuters Blog:  "Avoid this unless you want to die of boredom"
News Locale: "You cannot afford to miss this one. Go, grab a ticket"

Ganpati News: "great movie experience"

Avg. rating: 2.66 stars (61.25/23)

Monday, September 27, 2010

Emotional Atyachar review *ing Ranbir Kapoor


Frequently Asked Questions:

First up, what is Emotional Atyachar?  It's not just a song from an Anurag Kashyap film anymore.  It is one of the staples of trashy guilty pleasure television made famous by channels like Bindass and MTV.  For similarly satisfying American trash, refer to The Jersey Shore, one notch above the now defunct Jerry Springer Show.  Think about it this way: if Mad Men is gourmet, Emotional Atyachar is buying a 25 cent bag of Cheetos from a gas station while wearing flip flops.

The premise of the show? A person comes on the show to do a "loyalty test" on their partner.  The show sends their own crew members to flirt with the suspected person and then record it all on hidden cameras. The footage is then shown to the world and a showdown usually occurs at the end. This could be comprised of sobbing, fighting, hitting, spitting, and traditional beat-downs.  This is what we call the "pay-off"- the reason that the audience watches the show. Who doesn't want to see people getting their asses kicked.  I'm in.

Why Ranbir Kapoor you ask? Emotional Atyachar is so popular and famous now that all celebrities make their rounds of it, watch the cheating action, dole out some advice (and secretly enjoy the beat-downs like the rest of India) and promote their films.

Deepika tested Ranbir's loyalty?!  All of us wish this to be true but alas that was not to be. A truly golden opportunity missed. Please send all future suggestions to Deepika Padukone's PR agents. They are slacking.  I don't think the daily interviews dumping on Ranbir are quite doing the trick. They need to try for something more effective and entertaining.  Deepika owes us big time after Housefull as it is. We might begin to forgive her if she pulls off this coup.

Now on to the show.

After the requisite song snippets from Anjaana Anjaani (really? A cheating show to promote a love story? Marketing FAIL), Ranbir appears looking to be a wearing a thick toupee with long sideburns.  He immediately suggests making a film based on this tv show (Picture Amitabh Bachchan doing his trademark "Hain"?) because people need to be made aware these things happen in real life.  Who would know better than Ranbir.  Smirk.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Star Vs Genre


A comment From KB made me think about this question, how important is star and how important is the genre of the movie? In times where uto 50 of the earnings of a movie are made in its opening week, ex:

Movie--------Opening---Final-----Opening %
MNIK--------29.5-------73-------42
MP-----------10.5-------28-------35
Wanted-------17.0-------61-------28
Love Aaj Kal-28---------67-------42
Raajneeti-----34---------93-------36
Ghajini-------30--------115-------26

Friday, September 10, 2010

Do duni char promo





Amidst the huge fanfare of Dabangg this small movie's promo came out, its really endearing to say the least. Looks like middle class India has finally found some representation in BW, enough of huge mansions with chopper parking lots.

Friday, June 25, 2010

The Fate of Ranbir Kapoor

A star with disarming manners, a football nut who hopes Argentina lifts the World Cup, a young man who is terrified of commitment, Ranbir Kapoor is on a sudden dramatic flight to the very top. And it is written on his face that he is the next Number One. 


Fake Ranbir Kapoor wants to get under the skin of Kishore Kumar for his new movie. He’d like to research the role with Asha Bhosle. On Twitter, he asks the legendary singer if he can drop by her home, adding, “Aapke haathon ka khaana khaane ke liye betaab hoon. (I long to eat your home-cooked food)” The artiste then graciously invites Fake Ranbir over, promising to ‘cook up a storm’.

A look of genuine dismay flickers across the face of the real Ranbir Kapoor when he hears about this Twitter exchange. Yes, he is committed to a biopic on the colourful playback singer to be directed by Anurag Basu, but shooting begins only late 2011. Meanwhile, he has never met ‘Ashaji’ in person, and pleads, “Can someone please, what’s the word —tweet—and tell her that it’s an imposter?” Fake Ranbir Kapoor often spams the actor’s granduncle Shammi Kapoor with requests. He gets no love there because “Shammi Dadaji knows I’m not on Twitter.”

Ranbir Kapoor is introverted, polite, smiles easily. We are in a snug room in his bungalow that overlooks a manicured garden. The room is done up in rich upholstery and an entire, rough, whitewashed wall is covered with beautiful crosses. You’d think you had wandered into a shrine if it were not for two huge, stout bottles of fine Scotch in a corner bar. On the floor rests a big silver vessel with a tap attached, carrying the unique RK studio emblem. This room has not changed in nearly 25 years, he says, but the bungalow will be torn down next month to make way for a bigger mansion.

The fourth generation Kapoor is grappling with his own fame. Even his imposters on Twitter and Facebook have hundreds of followers. Fans wait outside the wooden gate of his Pali Hill bungalow, KrishnaRaj (named after his grandparents), till he comes out to sign autographs. Young girls try to pull his shirt and older ‘aunties’ in Hong Kong pay lakhs for a charity dinner with the young stud.

His latest release Raajneeti has become a pan-India hit. “It’s second only to 3 Idiots in its opening week,” says a Bollywood trade source, “Raajneeti is now the biggest hit of 2010.” Ironically, Rajkumar Hirani had approached Ranbir to play the character of Rancho in 3 Idiots, but the director realised the star was too young to play the older Phunsuk Wangdu. In Raajneeti, Ranbir’s character is a strange stew of the Pandava Arjun, political scion Rahul Gandhi and mafia heir Michael Corleone. “I didn’t follow Al Pacino’s performance, though I knew that Raajneeti had touches of The Godfather. Pacino is one of the finest talents and I didn’t want to mimic him,” says Ranbir, an ex-student of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, an acting school founded by Strasberg, Pacino’s acting coach.

There were flashes of his family in his ill-fated debut Saawariya; snatches of Raj, Shammi and Rishi. Yet Hindi movie lovers have embraced Ranbir for his own consummate talent. In 2009, he grew into his new acting shoes with Wake Up Sid and Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year. Last November, the comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani gave Ranbir his first superhit, while Raajneeti has cemented his success, despite its ensemble cast.

The star is shooting towards the top slot. Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan are doing fewer films and busy being the financial or creative proprietors of their films. Akshay Kumar was a contender but slipped after a string of five flops starting with Chandni Chowk To China, while Salman Khan’s hits like Wanted are offset by duds like London Dreams and Veer. Hrithik Roshan was dubbed the Crown Prince all these years, but movie-goers were cold to Kites and the trade predicts that his next projects (Guzaarish, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) will cater to niche audiences.

Later this year, Ranbir has love story Anjaana Anjaani, directed by his Bachna Ae Haseeno director Siddharth Anand. He soon begins shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s film Rockstar, then will move to Anurag Basu’s romantic murder mystery Silence. He has been approached by Mani Ratnam for his next movie tentatively titled Azaan, and there’s the Kishore Kumar biopic. “I commit to two films in a year and discuss one more in advance. I don’t commit to more because sometimes, by the time you reach that project, you’re bored. I don’t have a plan. I go with my gut,” he says.

Last April, when we met after he’d wrapped up shooting for Wake Up Sid, Ranbir spoke excitedly of reading all kinds of scripts. Things have changed since, he is busier now. “I can’t meet as many people, but I still take the final call on my scripts. The only people who help me are my mother (Neetu Kapoor) and Ayaan Mukherji (director of Wake Up Sid).” Father Rishi Kapoor is the only person who intimidates Ranbir. “My dad can see through me and catch false notes. I call my sister (Riddhima) and my mom groupies; they cheer everything I do. My father doesn’t cushion anything. He’s completely honest.”

So is Ranbir. From losing his virginity at 15, doing marijuana while studying in New York, or commenting on the highs and lows of his parents’ marriage, he’s always been forthright in interviews. Ranbir does them rarely because he feels an actor must preserve his mystery, especially if you’re here for the long haul (he talks of acting/directing for the next 40 years). Twitter is dangerous for an actor, he says, because you only interact with your fans and develop a ‘God complex’. He says he’s not vain since he knows he has “a very ugly face, long torso and bad hair. What works for me is that I love acting, and I emotionally live out my characters”.

“Rocket Singh will always be one of my favourite performances, but I’m a pretty detached person,” he says. Even his mother Neetu has commented on how she has never seen Ranbir angry. An action director who has worked with Ranbir since he was an assistant director on Black, says he has no airs. “I saw him drinking chai the other day on the road at Andheri with Imtiaz Ali. A crowd gathered and he had to leave, but he was cool,” says the source.

Ranbir may be grounded, but the offers and his remuneration are shooting up. It is dad Rishi who manages his salary. “The most boring part of my week is the one hour I spend with my accountant,” he says, grinning.

Ranbir is a mixture of old film family tradition and Generation Next. His manners are impeccable and he makes it a point to escort you to the gate (like his father Rishi) after interviews.

He was only six when his grandfather Raj Kapoor passed away, so what he remembers of his childhood is not the overwhelming presence of a cinematic giant, but a life filled with film screenings, music sittings and “passionate people fighting over a stupid costume or a dialogue”.

The actor says his days at HR College in Mumbai are a hazy blur of accounts and commerce, which went way over his head. Meanwhile, he made “nearly 300” short films with his friends, assisted his dad and uncle Rajiv Kapoor on their film shoots, spent a season studying acting in New York, and assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Black. “I learnt more from Bhansali sir than I would have in any film or acting school,” he says.

The star is unapologetically obsessed with cinema, but he has other interests too. He is rooting for Argentina in the Fifa World Cup and spends good money visiting football venues all over the world. He loves riding his electric scooter Segway in the dead of the night in Bandra’s bylanes. A keen basketball player as well, Ranbir’s face brightens up as he talks about how he was recently invited by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to the centre court for a Knicks vs Lakers game. “I met Kobe Bryant, who signed a pair of shoes for me. It was nice of him to do that for a random fan from India.”

Ranbir’s playboy reputation has only added to his star status. Rumours have linked him to both Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra. He broke up with girlfriend Deepika Padukone last year and is happy being single. “I feel I spoke too much about it in the press,” he says. “Of course we’ll work together again. There’s a slight friction because we were in an intense relationship. But what should remain now is a calmness and sense of camaraderie.”

Like his films, Ranbir says he has sorted out his love life too. “I’ve never experienced heartbreak. Maybe it’s because I don’t surrender enough of myself in a relationship,” he says. The actor believes he will get married when he finds the right person, but says “commitment is scary because it’s hard work and you need to invest a lot of time in a marriage”. Meanwhile, his career remains at the top of his mind, and the actor is doing prep for Rockstar while enduring an “unwanted break” from work. “Yes, I’m getting some good alone time. But if I’m not on a film set, I feel a bit meaningless,” he says.

The Fate of Ranbir Kapoor

A star with disarming manners, a football nut who hopes Argentina lifts the World Cup, a young man who is terrified of commitment, Ranbir Kapoor is on a sudden dramatic flight to the very top. And it is written on his face that he is the next Number One. 


Fake Ranbir Kapoor wants to get under the skin of Kishore Kumar for his new movie. He’d like to research the role with Asha Bhosle. On Twitter, he asks the legendary singer if he can drop by her home, adding, “Aapke haathon ka khaana khaane ke liye betaab hoon. (I long to eat your home-cooked food)” The artiste then graciously invites Fake Ranbir over, promising to ‘cook up a storm’.

A look of genuine dismay flickers across the face of the real Ranbir Kapoor when he hears about this Twitter exchange. Yes, he is committed to a biopic on the colourful playback singer to be directed by Anurag Basu, but shooting begins only late 2011. Meanwhile, he has never met ‘Ashaji’ in person, and pleads, “Can someone please, what’s the word —tweet—and tell her that it’s an imposter?” Fake Ranbir Kapoor often spams the actor’s granduncle Shammi Kapoor with requests. He gets no love there because “Shammi Dadaji knows I’m not on Twitter.”

Ranbir Kapoor is introverted, polite, smiles easily. We are in a snug room in his bungalow that overlooks a manicured garden. The room is done up in rich upholstery and an entire, rough, whitewashed wall is covered with beautiful crosses. You’d think you had wandered into a shrine if it were not for two huge, stout bottles of fine Scotch in a corner bar. On the floor rests a big silver vessel with a tap attached, carrying the unique RK studio emblem. This room has not changed in nearly 25 years, he says, but the bungalow will be torn down next month to make way for a bigger mansion.

The fourth generation Kapoor is grappling with his own fame. Even his imposters on Twitter and Facebook have hundreds of followers. Fans wait outside the wooden gate of his Pali Hill bungalow, KrishnaRaj (named after his grandparents), till he comes out to sign autographs. Young girls try to pull his shirt and older ‘aunties’ in Hong Kong pay lakhs for a charity dinner with the young stud.

His latest release Raajneeti has become a pan-India hit. “It’s second only to 3 Idiots in its opening week,” says a Bollywood trade source, “Raajneeti is now the biggest hit of 2010.” Ironically, Rajkumar Hirani had approached Ranbir to play the character of Rancho in 3 Idiots, but the director realised the star was too young to play the older Phunsuk Wangdu. In Raajneeti, Ranbir’s character is a strange stew of the Pandava Arjun, political scion Rahul Gandhi and mafia heir Michael Corleone. “I didn’t follow Al Pacino’s performance, though I knew that Raajneeti had touches of The Godfather. Pacino is one of the finest talents and I didn’t want to mimic him,” says Ranbir, an ex-student of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, an acting school founded by Strasberg, Pacino’s acting coach.

There were flashes of his family in his ill-fated debut Saawariya; snatches of Raj, Shammi and Rishi. Yet Hindi movie lovers have embraced Ranbir for his own consummate talent. In 2009, he grew into his new acting shoes with Wake Up Sid and Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year. Last November, the comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani gave Ranbir his first superhit, while Raajneeti has cemented his success, despite its ensemble cast.

The star is shooting towards the top slot. Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan are doing fewer films and busy being the financial or creative proprietors of their films. Akshay Kumar was a contender but slipped after a string of five flops starting with Chandni Chowk To China, while Salman Khan’s hits like Wanted are offset by duds like London Dreams and Veer. Hrithik Roshan was dubbed the Crown Prince all these years, but movie-goers were cold to Kites and the trade predicts that his next projects (Guzaarish, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) will cater to niche audiences.

Later this year, Ranbir has love story Anjaana Anjaani, directed by his Bachna Ae Haseeno director Siddharth Anand. He soon begins shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s film Rockstar, then will move to Anurag Basu’s romantic murder mystery Silence. He has been approached by Mani Ratnam for his next movie tentatively titled Azaan, and there’s the Kishore Kumar biopic. “I commit to two films in a year and discuss one more in advance. I don’t commit to more because sometimes, by the time you reach that project, you’re bored. I don’t have a plan. I go with my gut,” he says.

Last April, when we met after he’d wrapped up shooting for Wake Up Sid, Ranbir spoke excitedly of reading all kinds of scripts. Things have changed since, he is busier now. “I can’t meet as many people, but I still take the final call on my scripts. The only people who help me are my mother (Neetu Kapoor) and Ayaan Mukherji (director of Wake Up Sid).” Father Rishi Kapoor is the only person who intimidates Ranbir. “My dad can see through me and catch false notes. I call my sister (Riddhima) and my mom groupies; they cheer everything I do. My father doesn’t cushion anything. He’s completely honest.”

So is Ranbir. From losing his virginity at 15, doing marijuana while studying in New York, or commenting on the highs and lows of his parents’ marriage, he’s always been forthright in interviews. Ranbir does them rarely because he feels an actor must preserve his mystery, especially if you’re here for the long haul (he talks of acting/directing for the next 40 years). Twitter is dangerous for an actor, he says, because you only interact with your fans and develop a ‘God complex’. He says he’s not vain since he knows he has “a very ugly face, long torso and bad hair. What works for me is that I love acting, and I emotionally live out my characters”.

“Rocket Singh will always be one of my favourite performances, but I’m a pretty detached person,” he says. Even his mother Neetu has commented on how she has never seen Ranbir angry. An action director who has worked with Ranbir since he was an assistant director on Black, says he has no airs. “I saw him drinking chai the other day on the road at Andheri with Imtiaz Ali. A crowd gathered and he had to leave, but he was cool,” says the source.

Ranbir may be grounded, but the offers and his remuneration are shooting up. It is dad Rishi who manages his salary. “The most boring part of my week is the one hour I spend with my accountant,” he says, grinning.

Ranbir is a mixture of old film family tradition and Generation Next. His manners are impeccable and he makes it a point to escort you to the gate (like his father Rishi) after interviews.

He was only six when his grandfather Raj Kapoor passed away, so what he remembers of his childhood is not the overwhelming presence of a cinematic giant, but a life filled with film screenings, music sittings and “passionate people fighting over a stupid costume or a dialogue”.

The actor says his days at HR College in Mumbai are a hazy blur of accounts and commerce, which went way over his head. Meanwhile, he made “nearly 300” short films with his friends, assisted his dad and uncle Rajiv Kapoor on their film shoots, spent a season studying acting in New York, and assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali on Black. “I learnt more from Bhansali sir than I would have in any film or acting school,” he says.

The star is unapologetically obsessed with cinema, but he has other interests too. He is rooting for Argentina in the Fifa World Cup and spends good money visiting football venues all over the world. He loves riding his electric scooter Segway in the dead of the night in Bandra’s bylanes. A keen basketball player as well, Ranbir’s face brightens up as he talks about how he was recently invited by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to the centre court for a Knicks vs Lakers game. “I met Kobe Bryant, who signed a pair of shoes for me. It was nice of him to do that for a random fan from India.”

Ranbir’s playboy reputation has only added to his star status. Rumours have linked him to both Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra. He broke up with girlfriend Deepika Padukone last year and is happy being single. “I feel I spoke too much about it in the press,” he says. “Of course we’ll work together again. There’s a slight friction because we were in an intense relationship. But what should remain now is a calmness and sense of camaraderie.”

Like his films, Ranbir says he has sorted out his love life too. “I’ve never experienced heartbreak. Maybe it’s because I don’t surrender enough of myself in a relationship,” he says. The actor believes he will get married when he finds the right person, but says “commitment is scary because it’s hard work and you need to invest a lot of time in a marriage”. Meanwhile, his career remains at the top of his mind, and the actor is doing prep for Rockstar while enduring an “unwanted break” from work. “Yes, I’m getting some good alone time. But if I’m not on a film set, I feel a bit meaningless,” he says.

Monday, June 14, 2010

News and Gossip for the day




Salman Khan: I'm a difficult Boyfriend

Your fans may not want to see you as a corrupt cop in Dabangg.
He is the hero. If his salary is Rs 6,000 and he has a family of 15 to support, what will he do? You are bound to earn more money through other means. But if something kills your self-respect, then I don’t think you should do it. There is always a line yaar. I can go down to a level. But if you cross the level of your zameer (conscience), which a lot of people do, then it’s disgusting. To make money out of someone’s misery is the most disgusting thing ever. But if it doesn’t make much of a difference to you, then do it. Think of yourself as Robin Hood. He stole, but he stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

Stars often visit religious places before the release of a film. What about you?
Hmm. Na, na. Everyone has different beliefs.

What is your belief? Put in your work and forget about it?
Yeah pretty much. You want your film to do well but when you go to religious places to only pray for the success of your film, it’s selfish. Some people actually believe that when you want something you must go. That’s such a sho-sha (put on), just show. You should go there quietly.

Is that possible? Who does that?
Katrina (Kaif) actually believes in this. When she visits such religious places, she does it quietly. It’s not done just before a release. She goes to these places all the time. She goes because she really believes in them. My sister Arpita visits religious places too. So does my mother. I don’t go because a lot of disturbance is caused. There are people praying and when they see me there is chaos. I don’t like that. If I want to ask God for something, I ask wherever I am. And if I do go I make sure no one is aware about it.

What surprises you the most about life?
People surprise me every single day. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Have you painted while shooting for Dabangg?
No. I have yet to do a self-portrait.

You are a very successful star, which naturally comes with a certain discipline. But your ‘bratty’ image precedes you.
I haven’t struggled, I haven’t worked hard. I have taken it lightly. But I have also gone and given it my best, which is about two or three or four per cent of my capabilities. I have just been fortunate. All the stuff that was written about me was no big deal. It was not like I was one of these terrorists who deserve to go through all that. And somewhere it’s now known that I was not the person responsible for all those things. So without me saying anything people understand that.

Are you a difficult boyfriend?
Yes, I’m a difficult boyfriend but now I am more patient in love.

How do you deal with depression and low moments?
I go down to the gate of my building and take a look at my watchman.

Any plans to write your autobiography or are you going to commission me to write it?
(Sighs) See, I will not be able to write any lies. And I won’t be able to write the truth either. So, a book on me is out of the question.

LINK



Govinda surprise package in Raavan?

After Govinda signed up for Mani Ratnam’s modern-day version of the Ramayana, speculations about what his character in the film would be like have been taking the rounds. The actor is reportedly playing a character, modelled on Hanuman. He will be seen playing a forest officer who helps Vikram’s character Dev to hunt for his wife, Ragini (played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), who has been abducted by Beera (Abhishek Bachchan).

Reportedly, Ratnam, miffed with Govinda’s tardiness, altered his scenes, and the actor was aghast to learn that his part had been abruptly chopped. The actor’s absence at the music launch in May, compounded the speculation that there was something awry between the actor and the director.
Ratnam denies trimming the actor’s role: “Govinda’s role has shaped up amazingly in context of the storyline.”

When asked why he cast the actor in the forest officer’s role, Ratnam explains, “Sometimes we cast faces against the image. When you’re putting the cast together, you realise that for a certain role with limited screen time, a star will be essential because he or she can add meat to the character. Govinda easily blended into his character.”

Ratnam points out that one has to see the film to understand his perspective behind his casting. “Govinda put in an extra effort and made the role interesting despite its screen duration. He makes a considerable impact with his performance,” the filmmaker adds.

A source close to the film says that since Raavan was shot approximately in 200 days and every actor’s role was reduced a little to maintain the flow and rhythm of the story. “Govinda is known to speak his mind. If he had to make an issue, he would have addressed it to Mani sir. But he seemed pleased.”

According to an industry source, Govinda was overheard telling his friends at the IIFA Weekend in Colombo that he had heard great trade reports of Raavan. “He had said that he was looking forward to seeing it. He even made statements there about his wonderful experience of working with ‘Mani Sir’,” adds our source.

LINK




Rockstar Kapoor

Other than his interview in Filmfare's latest edition, Ranbir Kapoor has been out of news for quite some time. So what has Ranbir been upto these days? The young star has been learning the guitar and preparing for his role in Imtiaz Ali's next venture, Rockstar. Ranbir is working hard at his residence in Bandra to get the basics right. He wants to get the attitude and nuaces of a rockstar in place. With such conviction we're sure he'll pull of the role of a Rockstar without pulling out any guitar strings!

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What's with the Bandana?

Arjun rampal must be enjoying the success of his latest film Raajneeti. In fact he has also recived some rave reviews for the same. But, if you're wondering why he has been sporting a bandana to all the raajneeti promotional events it's because he has gone bald for his new look in Ra.One. He has been asked not to reveal the look and keep it a surprise for the audience.
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News and Gossip for the day




Salman Khan: I'm a difficult Boyfriend

Your fans may not want to see you as a corrupt cop in Dabangg.
He is the hero. If his salary is Rs 6,000 and he has a family of 15 to support, what will he do? You are bound to earn more money through other means. But if something kills your self-respect, then I don’t think you should do it. There is always a line yaar. I can go down to a level. But if you cross the level of your zameer (conscience), which a lot of people do, then it’s disgusting. To make money out of someone’s misery is the most disgusting thing ever. But if it doesn’t make much of a difference to you, then do it. Think of yourself as Robin Hood. He stole, but he stole from the rich and gave to the poor.

Stars often visit religious places before the release of a film. What about you?
Hmm. Na, na. Everyone has different beliefs.

What is your belief? Put in your work and forget about it?
Yeah pretty much. You want your film to do well but when you go to religious places to only pray for the success of your film, it’s selfish. Some people actually believe that when you want something you must go. That’s such a sho-sha (put on), just show. You should go there quietly.

Is that possible? Who does that?
Katrina (Kaif) actually believes in this. When she visits such religious places, she does it quietly. It’s not done just before a release. She goes to these places all the time. She goes because she really believes in them. My sister Arpita visits religious places too. So does my mother. I don’t go because a lot of disturbance is caused. There are people praying and when they see me there is chaos. I don’t like that. If I want to ask God for something, I ask wherever I am. And if I do go I make sure no one is aware about it.

What surprises you the most about life?
People surprise me every single day. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Have you painted while shooting for Dabangg?
No. I have yet to do a self-portrait.

You are a very successful star, which naturally comes with a certain discipline. But your ‘bratty’ image precedes you.
I haven’t struggled, I haven’t worked hard. I have taken it lightly. But I have also gone and given it my best, which is about two or three or four per cent of my capabilities. I have just been fortunate. All the stuff that was written about me was no big deal. It was not like I was one of these terrorists who deserve to go through all that. And somewhere it’s now known that I was not the person responsible for all those things. So without me saying anything people understand that.

Are you a difficult boyfriend?
Yes, I’m a difficult boyfriend but now I am more patient in love.

How do you deal with depression and low moments?
I go down to the gate of my building and take a look at my watchman.

Any plans to write your autobiography or are you going to commission me to write it?
(Sighs) See, I will not be able to write any lies. And I won’t be able to write the truth either. So, a book on me is out of the question.

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Govinda surprise package in Raavan?

After Govinda signed up for Mani Ratnam’s modern-day version of the Ramayana, speculations about what his character in the film would be like have been taking the rounds. The actor is reportedly playing a character, modelled on Hanuman. He will be seen playing a forest officer who helps Vikram’s character Dev to hunt for his wife, Ragini (played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), who has been abducted by Beera (Abhishek Bachchan).

Reportedly, Ratnam, miffed with Govinda’s tardiness, altered his scenes, and the actor was aghast to learn that his part had been abruptly chopped. The actor’s absence at the music launch in May, compounded the speculation that there was something awry between the actor and the director.
Ratnam denies trimming the actor’s role: “Govinda’s role has shaped up amazingly in context of the storyline.”

When asked why he cast the actor in the forest officer’s role, Ratnam explains, “Sometimes we cast faces against the image. When you’re putting the cast together, you realise that for a certain role with limited screen time, a star will be essential because he or she can add meat to the character. Govinda easily blended into his character.”

Ratnam points out that one has to see the film to understand his perspective behind his casting. “Govinda put in an extra effort and made the role interesting despite its screen duration. He makes a considerable impact with his performance,” the filmmaker adds.

A source close to the film says that since Raavan was shot approximately in 200 days and every actor’s role was reduced a little to maintain the flow and rhythm of the story. “Govinda is known to speak his mind. If he had to make an issue, he would have addressed it to Mani sir. But he seemed pleased.”

According to an industry source, Govinda was overheard telling his friends at the IIFA Weekend in Colombo that he had heard great trade reports of Raavan. “He had said that he was looking forward to seeing it. He even made statements there about his wonderful experience of working with ‘Mani Sir’,” adds our source.

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Rockstar Kapoor

Other than his interview in Filmfare's latest edition, Ranbir Kapoor has been out of news for quite some time. So what has Ranbir been upto these days? The young star has been learning the guitar and preparing for his role in Imtiaz Ali's next venture, Rockstar. Ranbir is working hard at his residence in Bandra to get the basics right. He wants to get the attitude and nuaces of a rockstar in place. With such conviction we're sure he'll pull of the role of a Rockstar without pulling out any guitar strings!

LINK




What's with the Bandana?

Arjun rampal must be enjoying the success of his latest film Raajneeti. In fact he has also recived some rave reviews for the same. But, if you're wondering why he has been sporting a bandana to all the raajneeti promotional events it's because he has gone bald for his new look in Ra.One. He has been asked not to reveal the look and keep it a surprise for the audience.
LINK

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sarah Thompson moving to Bollywood

Sarah Thompson




After Barbara Mori in Kites another foreign beauty is all set to try her luck in Bollywood. Sarah Thompson who plays Ranbir Kapoor's American girlfriend in Raajneeti is brushing up her Hindi skills ahead of moving to Mumbai.
"When I started working on Raajneeti I knew no Hindi. That was okay. I had to play a girl who doesn't know any Hindi and all I had to do was mutter a smattering of bad Hindi."
But now Sarah has got herself a Hindi teacher. "I want to make a career in Bollywood. For that I need to know the language. So I got myself a teacher. Ab mujhe Hindi bolne aati hai."
She gushes, "I love India and love Indian films. Mumbai reminds me of New York. The same energy and bustle and now I want to be part of it."
This is Sarah's third visit to India. "I came the first time to India to shoot in Bhopal for Raajneeti and then I came to dub for the film. Now I'm back for the release, and I'm nervous and anxious, yeah! I want to do more Bollywood films, and yes I am shifting to Mumbai."
This time Sarah has come laden with a wish-list of Bollywood directors she wants to work with. "I want to meet Vishal Bhardwaj and Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra. In fact I am meeting Rakeysh Mehra shortly. I saw Rang De Basanti'and I said to myself, 'Why couldn't I have played the British girl in the film?' I've seen Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminey twice. He's another Bollywood director I really want to work with."
Sarah admits she had not heard of Prakash Jha when he offered her the role in Raajneeti.
"But when I met him and he narrated the role of Ranbir Kapoor's American girlfriend to me I knew I had to do it. He gave me his Gangaajal and Apaharan to watch. And that's how I was introduced to a totally new facet of Bollywood," she said.
"Before watching Prakashji's films I thought Bollywood meant singing and dancing. Here was a gritty realistic cinema that I certainly wanted to be part of," she added.

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