A grand opera or Kati Patang? KITES!

A film like Kites can really be reviewed at two levels. Is it indeed a crossover film that strikes most of the right notes, or is it mushy 3 penny romance masquerading as a grand opera? The film was two years in the making and came to us carrying HUGE expectations. Hrithik was on an all time high, not having had a misstep since 2002 (Mujhse Dosti Karoge). I think one can discount Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) as he also had a mammoth Koi Mil Gaya that year. But the law of averages looks to have finally caught up with him. In an attempt to create a cross-over film, the Roshan combine has created something that is neither chalk nor cheese and is dull and boring into the bargain.

How does one review Kites? Should I talk about the fact that a film that is supposed to be foreign pasta and not desi biriyani, fails to take into account the fact that Las Vegas is a desert and it almost never rains there, that there is no ocean with reefs withing any reasonable radius of the city, the Mexico is FAR FAR away, that it is OK for movies like Singh is KINGG to show Melbourne being run by the Sikh mafia, but a crossover film should not show a family of Indian origin running a city and state in the US in a mafia like hold? I could go on and on, but that would be cruel to a film like Kites. It really does not stand up to such scrutiny. So what is Kites then? Is it a breathless frothy romantic actioner? Is it a desi/bidesi Romancing the Stone or even a slicker Dhoom 2? I really wish that were the case. I wish the film was a fun filled romp that kept me entertained and engaged so I did not have to start analyzing the inane plot and the slow pace.

What are the positives then?

1. Barbara Mori does come out as a surprise, I did not expect acting competence but there is that in decent measure (though her ultra toothy smile got on my nerves after a while).

2. The cinematography was really superb, slick and sophisticated, and world class, We expect that with people like Santosh Sivan and Ravi Chandran, but this was Ayananka Bose, a job well done.

3. Hrithik's FIRE dance sequence starts out very 90s but the spin on his head is gold. Why a Salsa teacher does break dancing in a competition is anyone's guess. He is sincere and tries very hard in the film, so marks for effort.

What does not work at all:

1. The Las Vegas mafia is laughable, and the Reservoir Dogs moment is shoddy. In fact the film lifts many moments from many films, but then you never expect an original product from director Anurag Basu.

2. The chases are interminable and laughable, the one on the big rig is particularly bad, as the cop cars wait for car after car to crash into them, and they never move to the next lane (I am not even going to talk about the oblivious big-rig driver).

3. Hrithik and Barbara chemistry is okayish, but one never warms up to it, as we have no idea why they even fell in love.

4. The villain is laughably bad, and really drags down the film. And I do not mean cult bad in a Mogambo-ish way, but plain bad.

Read more HERE

Kites Boxoffice - opens well, but rapidly heads South

Kites Falls On Saturday But Accumulates Big Weekend
Kites collected a huge 30.50-31 crore nett over its first weekend including paid previews. The film dropped on Saturday but it was mainly single screens showing 40-50% drop while big city multiplexes only dropped around 10-15%. Business on Sunday was good but despite having good weekend numbers there is not much hope for the film as reports are bad and Monday is likely to see very big drops.

The first week should finish around the 40 crore nett range and the film may struggle to cross the 50 crore nett lifetime mark. Kites has been totally rejected by the single screen audience and Monday multiplex business will determine where the film is heading at multiplexes.

LINK

For a film reportedly priced at 127 crores this is disastrous business. The US box-office was very lukewarm and Kites managed about 1 million dollars in the opening weekend. Perhaps the Ratner Remix will fire - we should find out by Friday.

The Men who fascinate Lata Mangeshkar!

Lata Mangeshkar tracks celluloid heroes and tells Subhash K Jha what she loves about them...

Amitabh Bachchan
I don’t know where to start when it comes to Bachchan saab. Jiss qadar woh zor se wapas aaye ... amazing! (I marvel at the way he bounced back after severe setbacks.) When it comes to perfection as an artiste, he’s 110 per cent perfect. Give him any role, and he slips into it effortlessly. I’ve never seen him repeat himself. He made me cry in Baghban. I recently saw Black and can’t get over his performance. Kamaal ke actor hain ... (He’s a fabulous actor). And he sings well too! I’ve listened carefully to Holi khele and Tu kahan main yahan in Baghban. They are in sur. Singing in sur is far more important than maintaining taal. His voice is God’s gift to him. His performances are impeccable.

On a social level, we meet once in a while. He’s charming and always talks with restraint. His pedigree is unquestionable. When I started singing in 1947, I began reading up on Hindi litterateurs including Premchand, Mahadevi Varma, Jaishankar Prasad and, of course, Harivansh Rai Bachchan. I’ve read Madhushala several times over; also his bulky autobiography which is a unique work of self-revelation. I don’t know whether Bachchan saab knows this, but I truly respect him and Jayaji. Mere dil mein unke liye khaas jagah hai. (They hold a special place in my heart.)”

Hrithik Roshan
“Hrithik has the fluidity and rhythm to move effortlessly through songs. I think he got this sense of rhythm from his grandparents. His grandfather was a great composer and his grandmother a very good singer. His uncle Rajesh Roshan is a well-known composer and even Hrithik’s father Rakesh has a very good music sense. His musical heritage comes alive in his dance moves. Hrithik’s a brilliant actor too. Woh itna sundar acting karta hai ki main hairaan ho jaati hoon. (I am stunned by his acting.) I think his greatest gift from God is that he looks very innocent. His eyes are so deep and transparent ... ”

Rishi Kapoor
“Everyone in Raj Kapoor’s family has a sense of music and rhythm. Rishi Kapoor carried the tradition of the dancing hero to a new height. He brought in a new style. He’s one of my all-time favourite heroes. Even today he looks so handsome. Is he my favourite Kapoor? Haan kahungi, kyun nahin? (I’d say yes, why not?) Now there’s Rishi’s son Ranbir Kapoor. I believe he’s wonderful. But I haven’t seen much of his work.”

Shah Rukh Khan
“I first saw Shah Rukh in a serial called Fauji. There was something special about him. Then I saw his film Chamatkar and later Deewana and Baazigar, in which he played a negative character. It was quite evident that Shah Rukh could play any kind of role. I remember him saying somewhere that he had no sense of rhythm and dance. But I saw him in Ruk ja o dil deewane in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Chaiyyan chaiyyan in Dil Se. Ussmein itna sahi dance kiya tha unhone. (He danced so well in these songs.)”

More at LINK

Kites Box Office thread

Kites has taken a mind boggling opening all over India this morning. The film has opened to full houses at most centres across India. Both multiplexes and single screens show a huge turnout.



But the initial reports coming in are not too encouraging especially from outside metroes. Kites has a lot of English of Spanish dialogue and this is not going down well. The distributors have supplied Hindi subtitles for prints going to Hindi speaking dominated centres but it is not the same as having actual dialogues in Hindi.




The collections on Friday will be awesome and it will be remained to be seen where the film goes from here. Saturday will tell how the reports are affecting collections but it may be possible that due to heavy advance Saturday could be strong. Monday is likely to be tough for the film especially outside metroes. On the other hand if the film sustains over the weekend it will mean bumper collections and lifetime Indian theatrical business will be good on strength of opening. It will be an interesting week at the box office with Kites.

LINK

Please post all the BO pieces in this thread.

Friday 20th May 2010 11.00 IST

Boxofficeindia.Com Trade Network

Bollywood goes west in Kites, but now let's swap

Brett Ratner has 'remixed' Bollywood melodrama Kites, an idea which could spice up any number of dull movies about India
n the 1990s, Harvey Weinstein rightly took a lot of flak for buying up award-winning foreign movies and recutting them savagely, then releasing them in America as if they were still the same moves. To me this was far more corrupt and dishonest than those cynical old exploitation producers of the 50s who would take a murky Japanese monster movie, add a cheap American actor in newly shot scenes; dub the dialogue into badly synched, poorly written English; cut footage; change the title to Octopus-Robot From Outer Space; and release it in an imaginary, all-new format like "Awesome-Scope!" These guys knew they were trash-merchants, but Weinstein called what he did "art".

1. Kites: The Remix
2. Production year: 2010
3. Country: India
4. Runtime: 80min mins
5. Directors: Anurag Basu, Brett Ratner
6. Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Kabir Bedi, Steven Michael Quezada
7. More on this film

Nowadays, the process has been tarted up, made vaguely respectable and is called a "remix". And oddly, I couldn't be happier. Brett Ratner, taking a leaf from the old exploitation playbook, has taken Bollywood director Anurag Basu's melodrama Kites and, for its American release and with Basu's co-operation, has excised 30 minutes, re-edited it, and overdubbed ridiculously overripe and self-satirising dialogue, plus explanatory voiceovers and added a topless scene – not the ordinary course of business in Mumbai, to be sure. It's as if Ratner were half-Roger Corman, half-RZA.

This is an approach that might improve any number of boring and humourless movies made by westerners about India. So, why don't we remix a few of them and grant them a new lease on life?

First up: Gandhi, what else? This epic snoozer seems indemnified against aggressive criticism because of its hero's saintliness and his non-violent teachings. Well, I call bullshit on that. It's not Gandhi I hate, it's Richard Attenborough's direction, and the Ratner approach, or even outright Bollywood-isation would really set this movie up on its feet. Lots of songs, people doing that hands-together-praying type of dance, NO KISSING AT ALL, EVER, and everything saturated in eye-popping, fluorescent highlighter-pen colours. Add some of that and you'll forget you're watching some skinny old geezer in a toga-diaper.

Next up: David Lean's sclerotic and embarrassing A Passage To India, the last British movie I can remember to feature an actor in blackface (Alec Guinness, come on down!) and one that could really use a gigantic Bollywood enema. Dame Peggy Ashcroft could do an animated dance with a digitally inserted Apu from The Simpsons, just like Gene Kelly did with Tom and Jerry, and God knows what the super-chaste Bollywood aesthetic would come up with for the rape in the Marabar Caves. Some shadowy dance number with a strategically positioned spitting cobra, probably.

If you are not seething by now and want more or want to send brickbats go to this link

Hrithik Roshan - Filmfare interview excerpts!

Hrithik Roshan: Live like a Kite

Coming to terms with his knee surgery, living fearlessly and clarifying the rumours about Barbara Mori... Hrithik Roshan discusses his darkest demons and more with Filmfare

Excerpts from a freewheeling convo...


You think you’ve come into your own as an actor after doing movies like Kites and Guzaarish?
If I haven’t come into my own, then I certainly am just around the corner. I can see the difference in my approach to my work today. Jodhaa Akbar was my first step from a small pond into the ocean. I learnt to let go from there on. Ashutosh Gowariker’s instructions rattled me initially. Despite my pleas he didn’t allow me check the shot on the monitor. I didn’t get to see even one frame of the film. Deep inside, I knew what he was doing would definitely bring out something new in me. He understood that having done movies like Krrish and Dhoom, I am aware of how the camera looks at me and I know how to look back at it. That’s not necessarily a good thing for an actor. The true test of an actor is playing it by the heart and not giving a damn about your hair, your clothes, how you’re walking or how the camera is looking at you. All those are just decorations. Like every newcomer I was insecure. So I made those decorations my main concern. But it was time to let go. Post Jodhaa Akbar, Kites and Guzaarish I think I’m almost there. I’m enjoying not caring.


Rumours about Barbara Mori and you refuse to die down…
You said it… they are rumours…

Surely they’re not just rumours.
You believe them?
I can only react to what I read and what people in the industry are talking about…
I’m not even going to waste my breath on stuff like that. I don’t want to dignify the section of the media that has gone on and on writing about this. When they started writing about this, I was on the verge of getting into Guzaarish where I had to cut off from the world. I used this as an impetus. Because I’ve lived with paraplegics and I’ve seen the world through their eyes, it’s made a huge impact on me. You realise that all this doesn’t matter. It’s just a blink in the history of my life. It’s something that doesn’t matter. I used those rumours to cut off from the world. I wanted them to write more bad stuff about me because that would help me go deeper into my hole. But those were the happiest days of my life. Because I was doing something I believed in. I had no reason to fear. Neither did Sussanne. There were talks that she walked out of the house. She walked out of the house, I walked out of my father’s house. There’s no end to it. It’s ridiculous. Barbara is going to be down here once again. And it’s going to start once again.


But weren’t you promoting her big time to your directors?
Which directors?

Zoya Akhtar?
I did tell Zoya about Barbara. She was looking for a Spanish girl and the only one I know is Barbara. Isn’t it obvious I’d mention her?

So there’s nothing between you?
The truth will come out. I’m not even wasting my breath on this crap.

Okay, there is also talk that you don’t see eye-to-eye with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of Guzaarish.
When you’re working on something together, there’s always going to be a point when you see things differently. You have to question the creation. All those discussions and arguments filter out the crap and you get more subtext into the truth of the film. It’s teamwork and without discussions and arguments there’s no way you can make anything out of teamwork. I don’t understand why I’m asked these questions. There’s nothing personal. I don’t allow anything to get personal. My director can tell me that I’m the worst actor in the world and it will only motivate me. Criticism is your only access point to growth. And people just let it affect their ego and they get hurt. I’d rather be with people who tell me how bad I am because that’s my access point to growth. I may not believe everything they say. But I will definitely learn something.

Do you regret not doing 3 Idiots?
It’s the biggest hit in the history of Indian cinema. Why should I regret it?

It could have been your movie, no?
But then it might not have been such a big hit. Whatever happened with 3 Idiots happened absolutely correctly and that’s what made it such a big hit. I’m glad I played my part in nudging it in the right direction.

Okay, why didn’t you do the film?
Because as I told Raju, in my head I didn’t see myself as the best actor to play that part.