Agneepath will be a period film!

Karan Johar attempts to remake his father's flopped film! Should one mess with cult films?

M F Husain paints B-Town black

By: Khalid Mohamed
From his Doha abode, 94-year-old maestro takes shots at Bollywood's biggest stars

Kyani's khaari biscuits, the daily Bombay newspapers, half a pyaali of chai, are habits that still connect him to his home city. As addictively, he must get his weekly fix of Bollywood movies.

Whether the 94-year-old Maqbool Fida Husain is in Dubai, London or Doha, he must catch a film, hot-from-the-Mumbai-studio-oven, first-day-first-show. Not that he sits through 99 per cent of them, skedaddling from the cinemaplex as soon as the intermission card flashes on the screen. "Still there is a strange attraction, aadat se majboor maybe," he laughs, wanting to know rightaway how the movies have been performing at the cash counters.

Bollywood is not on my interview-agenda. There are weightier issues to discuss: the near five-year exile from India where he can't return because of an inestimable number of cases registered against him for alleged obscenity in a clutch of his paintings.

Left with no option, he has accepted Qatar citizenship. He paints prolifically, walks ramrod straight, and flashes sparkful eyes. The only difference is that he has become leaner, far more que sera sera. I meet him in a roomy villa in Doha's prime Lagoon neighbourhood. Willy-nilly, Bollywood springs up in mid-conversation. Excerpts.

You were in constant touch with film personalities in Mumbai. Has any one of them maintained contact?
Only Madhuri Dixit. I speak to her on the phone. But see, she wasn't a typical Bollywood girl even at the height of her popularity. Often, I remember a small scene from Hum Aapke Hain Koun... it is shot by moonlight created in a studio. The way she performs, her total surrender to the camera is what beautiful heroines are about.
(Pause) A few days ago, I saw someone called Barbara Mori from Brazil or Mexico. I was horrified! Why cast her when so many of our girls are far more beautiful and talented? There was another girl in that movie... Kites... she looked ghostly. Who was she?



Kangna Ranaut?
Hanh, Kangna had so much white make-up, she looked as if she had applied chalk all over her face. Kites ke baare mein yahan bhi bahut charcha tha. But the next day, it nose-dived. It's a third-rate movie. It should be banned. Kuch tuk hi nahin tha. What was your friend Hrithik Roshan doing?

He's not my friend, saab. No one is anyone's friend in show business.
Phir bhi. But after seeing Kites, I thought I must start my third film soon. Why am I just painting when I could do so much with the medium? According to my terms and my vision. I'll revive my project -- a comedy -- in July next year. I've had the title registered -- Comedy.com. I wanted to cast Urmila Matondkar, but where is she? She seems to have vanished into thin air. What happened? Is she out of the scene?

For a while, you were quite gung-ho about Amrita Rao.
Sorry, not anymore. I liked her very much in Vivaah. Just one more movie... phir woh bhi khatam ho gayee kya? Maybe she just didn't find a manager who could guide her career properly. Actually, the heroes are performing better than the girls nowadays. Like Ranbir Kapoor... he's so natural. I would say that he's the first real actor in the Kapoor khandaan. Raj, Shammi, Shashi had tremendous screen presence and charm... but Rishi Kapoor's boy acts... really acts. He doesn't make funny faces like the other young actors.
Of the girls, I'm absolutely bowled over by Vidya Balan. She conveys pure Indianness, feminine, sensual, without making an effort. I was captivated by her in Ishqiya which I saw a dozen times just for her. The film was okay, it had a silly, meaningless title. In Paa, also she was wonderful but I didn't care for the film much. Amitabh Bachchan behaving like a schoolboy was supposed to be sweet but I couldn't take it.
(Chuckles) I was concentrating on Vidya anyway. She seems to be intelligent enough not to get spoilt by all the acclaim she's getting. Praise is transitory. If she agrees, I would like to cast her in my film. I have spoken to her, I will tell her all about it when I meet her in Dubai or London, so let's see what happens.

You aren't impressed by the other heroines?
Like who?

Katrina Kaif...
She's zero in acting but she is beautiful, not bad. Phir woh hai... Priyanka Chopra. She's all about imaging. If she gets a good role, she's good. People liked her in Fashion and Kaminey but she's not my type of heroine. And I wonder why people like Kareena Kapoor. Bilkul matchstick hai. She has come to destroy Saif Ali Khan and go away.



What would you say about Bollywood's increasing cultural impact?
Bollywood cinema has become empty of ideas and sincerity. 3 Idiots was not great but it was well made and touched on the issue of education. I admired Aamir Khan for Taare Zameen Par but wondered if it was a fluke when I saw Ghajini. Horrible! Aamir should have been pulled up for all the violence, the film should have been banned.

Are you surprised that no one from Bollywood has expressed concern about your situation?
But I never had genuine friends in Bollywood. So where's the question of any of them expressing concern for me? Not one. They have blanked me out. Amitabh is from such a decent family but he is full of contradictions. Can he ever live down the fact that he did that vulgar number Tere angne mein?
...Yash Chopra, the less said about him the better. I was supposed to do a series of paintings on Indian cinema that would be put up in his studio. Then I realised it was no point. He didn't treat me like an artist who was doing something for him out of friendship, he treated me as if was one of his employees.
(Mellowing) Phir bhi, I'll always be grateful to Yash for making Gaja Gamini possible. Despite all sorts of problems created by Madhuri's secretary Rikoo, he ensured that she would do the film. It had become such a problem that at one point, Yash had said, "Forget about Madhuri, I'll get Kajol to do your film." But you know me, it had to be Madhuri or no one else. (Laughs) I nearly died while making the film. There were so many pressures. So when I'm alone now, I count my blessings. I'm alive at least.

LINK

Some of the comments were priceless!!!!

Arshad to direct Priyanka

Believes Vidya is not suitable for the action thriller

After turning producer with Hum Tum Aur Ghost, Arshad is all set to turn director next year. His film is titled Akadd and will be a quirky action comedy. He intends to make it as realistic as possible, with all his characters behaving like people we meet in real life. However, Arshad is yet to finalise the actress for the very important female lead role. Priyanka Chopra is leading his shortlist, while his Ishqiya co-star Vidya Balan is not in the running, as he believes she is not suited for the role.

LINK

Ishqiya - A fun watch

Like other Vishal Bhardwaj films, Ishqiya too is a very bold film. No surprise, as it is directed by Abhishek Chaubey who used to assist Vishal Bhardwaj in his earlier films. Set in the rural areas of UP, near the border of UP- Nepal, it hardly shows any good thing about UP. Instead UP is shown as a state where most of the criminal and terrorist activities take place like manufacturing guns and selling them.

The narrative of the film is based on multiple story lines coming together in the end. We see two thieves played by Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi trying to escape their boss after stealing money. They take asylum in Vidya Balan’s home, she is a widow after her husband died in a fire explosion in their house. Both Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi fall in love with Vidya Balan. But their boss finds them and to add to their problems, the money too is stolen. Vidya Balan then proposes a plan where they can steal money from a rich person by kidnapping him. And both of them are left with no option but to accept the plan because of their problem and love for Vidya Balan. Once they agree to the plan, the entire thing showed prior to it becomes a MacGuffin. What is a MacGuffin? –

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is “a plot element that catches the viewers’ attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction.”
Sometimes, the specific nature of the MacGuffin is not important to the plot such that anything that serves as a motivation serves its purpose. The MacGuffin can sometimes be ambiguous, completely undefined, generic or left open to interpretation.
The MacGuffin is common in films, especially thrillers. Commonly, though not always, the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act, and later declines in importance as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. Sometimes the MacGuffin is even forgotten by the end of the film.

It is very much similar to Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock where a girl steals money and tries to run away from the boss, but that is hardly something to do with the basic plot of the film. Similarly in Ishqiya, the two thieves running with the money has hardly anything to do with basic plot.

The problem in Ishqiya is that the plot of the film was very paper thin and is based on one word – ‘TWIST’. The entire film is constructed around that very word. Of course, I can’t reveal the twist here as it would spoil the film for those who haven’t seen it yet. Although a few smart things, like the old woman with a fire torch and every room having a cylinder, that are very significant in the end were added in the film, but overall the plot wasn’t very well handled and I felt the director should have made more effort in developing the plot if twist was the word Abhishek Chaubey had in his mind.

Set in a rural background like Omkara, Ishqiya is yet another very bold film from Vishal Bharadwaj’s camp. Though it isn’t directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, Abhishek Chaubey ensures that just like Vishal Bharadwaj, even Ishqiya doesn’t make any compromise in the language or the scenes to make it a family watch commercial film. However, this time unlike Omkara, the cusswords are added to the film for the purpose of comedy rather than them actually suiting the film and the situations. In Omkara, the abusive words sounded apt according to the situations, but here in Ishqiya, we see them just to add the shock value to the film. It was slightly disappointing to see that happen. But the film had some genuinely good funny moments apart from the abusive humor which they relied on a lot.

Read more from HERE

Ishqiya Movie Review (Taran Adarsh) 4/5

Get ready for tangy, pungent, sizzling and spicy stuff. Be forewarned, ISHQIYA isn't the fluffy, candyfloss, saccharine sweet story of lovers breaking into songs in mustard fields. In ISHQIYA, you just don't know what turn the story may take next. Not just the story, even the characters here are so impulsive and unpredictable.

You need to have a strong stomach to absorb ISHQIYA. It's high on drama, it's wild, it's real. But it's not dark, it's not sleazy, it's not crass. Frankly, you don't expect debutante director Abhishek Chaubey to make a stereotypical fare thanks to the tutelage by his guru Vishal Bhardwaj, who loves to swim against the tide and undertake risks in film after film.

You could call ISHQIYA a distant cousin of OMKARA. Set in Gorakhpur in North India, the film has a rustic feel, depicts characters that may make you uncomfortable and is laced with saucy lingo. Yet, it's different than OMKARA.

Final word? You can't help but fall in ishq with ISHQIYA. Tired of sherbat? Try this spicy jaljeera for a change!

Two thieves, Khalujaan [Naseeruddin Shah] and Babban [Arshad Warsi], are on the run from their boss, Mushtaq. They seek refuge at a friend's house, but instead meet his widow, Krishna [Vidya Balan]. The time spent together draws the duo to her, Khalu with his tinted vision of old-fashioned love and Babban with his lustful eye. But the past catches up with all three!

There's no denying that the promos had prepared me of the journey ahead, yet it took me a good 15-odd minutes to get into the world of Khalujaan, Babban and Krishna. But once you get sucked into their world, the blurred images start getting clearer and clearer and you become an active participant in their journey.

The first hour passes in a jiffy, but the story actually gets dramatic and volatile in its second hour. It's at this stage that things start getting more and more unpredictable. The story does a somersault every 10 minutes and by the time it reaches its finale, you're curious to know how the debutante director would conclude this saga. The end, of course, will have its share of advocates and adversaries, but the fact remains that it's offbeat.

Abhishek Chaubey is a welcome addition to the ranks of avid storytellers. His choice of the subject and also handling of the material is what makes this film so eminently watchable. Not once do you feel that ISHQIYA has been helmed by a first-timer. Note the change of events in the song 'Dil To Bachcha Hain Ji' or the kidnap drama and the heated argument that follows thereafter. Even the passionate lovemaking sequence between Arshad and Vidya has been dexterously canned.

Read more from HERE

'Ishqiya' gets 'A' certificate with no cuts

Ishqiya' with all its colourful expletives and sexually charged visuals was passed without any cuts with an 'A' certificate.

Says the film's director Abhishek Choubey: "Frankly, I expected I'd be asked for some kind of an explanation for the language and content and why they were necessary. I had gone prepared with dossiers on every graphic word and shot. To my surprise I wasn't asked for any explanation. I was given an 'Adults' certificate with no cuts at all. I guess it's a sign of how far censorship has come in our country."

The censor board apparently balked at some of the expletives. But finally saw reason. The film was passed by the board Wednesday.

Says the film's director: "I never claimed the film was for children. The content is adult. So I've no problem with the 'A' certificate. I feel the profile of the audience is changing swiftly."

Abhishek also hastens to add that the language is not as strong as people seem to think. "It's not about creating shock value. It's the way these people in the small North Indian towns live their life."

The film, produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj, stars Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah in the lead roles.

SOURCE - MID-DAY

Vishal Bharadwaj's reply to Censor Board

Vishal Bharadwaj was upset with the Censor Board of India for having problems with the word 'Sex' in the line 'Tumhara Ishq Ishq and Hamara Ishq Sex' and the Ishqiya team had to replace the word 'Sex' with a beep sound for the promos that were shown on television.

He/They reply back to them by making a contest on that very line. The contest is called "Hamara Ishq Ishq Aur Aap ka Ishq KYA ?" Good one VB.

Gulzar set to direct a film in 2010

Noted lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar’s last offering as a director was Hu Tu Tu (1999), starring Tabu and Sunil Shetty. Since then, friends and family, especially his daughter Meghna have been urging him to return to direction. However, no idea seemed to inspire him enough to make that effort. That is until now. Gulzar is set to direct a film in 2010. The film’s subject will be women-centric like his earlier films and will star Vidya Balan.
Without divulging details, Gulzar says, “My next film will star Vidya for sure. I saw portions of Ishqiya and she is truly an outstanding actress.

The fact that Gulzar’s daughter Meghna and Vidya are close friends only enhances the director’s fondness for the actress. “I have known Vidya from the time she used to drop in with Pradeep Sarkar during Parineeta. She is a lovely girl. Do you know, when an Oscar was announced for Jai Ho, Vidya came home and gave me a trophy? Yes, an actual trophy! I am happy to see her friendship with my daughter. In Vidya, my daughter has found a soul mate. It’s very rare to see two people in the film industry reaching out to one another without ulterior motives. Vidya visits Meghna more than me. In fact, my daughter’s next also stars her. So both father and daughter are working with her,” adds the filmmaker. Apparently, Meghna’s next is a hard-hitting, marital drama.

Read more from HERE

Gulzar makes Ishqiya unforgettable - Raja Sen

Isn't it great to wake up to fantastic music? The last year was a lackluster one for Hindi cinema on the whole, but the last week of December ended with the promos of Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji from Abhishek Chaubey's Ishqiya, and hope was rekindled.

Once again Gulzar [ Images ] and Vishal Bhardwaj [ Images ] have conspired to give us a soundtrack to marvel at, that one intoxicatingly warm song leading the way.

It kicks off the album, it does. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan [ Images ] nails soulful words better than most, and the singer imparts a yearning quality to the phenomenal words. Gulzar's in top form here, speaking of how the heart never ages and masochistically carries on, incorrigible and invulnerable.

'Dil sa koi kameena nahin / koi to roke, koi to toke / Iss umar mein ab khaoge dhokhe' (There isn't a scoundrel like the heart, someone stop him, interrupt him, how can you bear pain at your age.') Magnificent.

Next up is Ibn-E-Batuta, a glorious roadtrippy take on history as the lyrics take on the Moroccan traveller and chronicler before heading into cheerfully morbid territory. Sukhwinder Singh [ Images ] and Mika get a smashing vibe going, and put their heart and soul into the churrrr and phurrrr the song demands, the hook of the song that'll really catch on. A firecracker, this one.

'In the village of the eye, at night dreams come and visit.' Sublime words are turned into goosebumps as Rekha Bhardwaj takes them on in Ab Mujhe Koi, imparting just the right measures of languor and elegy. It's a slow song, one that spirals around the listener, making for a dreamy cocoon. A song, in short, to be listened to on loop.

Read more from HERE

Censors, you're here because of sex: Vishal

Vishal Bhardwaj is upset that the promo of his forthcoming film Ishqiya has not been passed by the censor board. The promo was to go on air from December 20. Only if Vishal agrees to beep the word ‘sex’ from a dialogue, will he be allowed to air it. The dialogue is spoken by Arshad Warsi and addressed to Naseeruddin Shah.

Now Vishal has no option but to beep the apparently offensive word from the promo.

Vinayak Azad, Regional Manager, Censor Board says, “We had initially passed the promo with an ‘A’ certificate for a theatrical release. Now they want a U/A certificate as they wanted it to air on television, which we allowed. Since the impact of the promos is higher on television because it is shown repeatedly, we asked for the word ‘sex’ to be beeped out. I believe they are not happy about it and want to approach the revising committee.”

Read more from HERE

Rani has not retired!!

THE AWESOME TWOSOME

Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan to star in a movie on the Jessica Lall murder case

Aamir director Rajkumar Gupta, who won accolades for his unconventional maiden film featuring television's blue-eyed boy Rajeev Khandelwal, is gearing up for his next film with UTV. This one is tentatively called No One Killed Jessica.
And there is some exciting news on his second film's front. A source reveals that two major actresses -- Bong beauty Rani Mukherjee and Paa actress Vidya Balan -- are all set to play the lead roles in the film.

The two heroines were earlier supposed to team up in Pradeep Sarkar's Laaga Chunri Mein Daag.
Unfortunately, things didn't work out with Vidya then. However, this time the actresses stand a good chance of being reteamed.

Apparently, Kareena Kapoor was Gupta's first choice for one of the roles but it didn't work out. The source informs, "Creatively, the cast is finalised, but UTV is still negotiating with the actresses on the money factor.
Both the actresses have quoted a very high price. Vidya is to play someone closely affected by the crime, while Rani plays a fiery journalist."

Gupta, who is filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's protégé, has revealed in an earlier interview that, No One Killed Jessica is set in Delhi. "Unlike Aamir, this film will have two-three strong female characters. It is inspired by the real life murder of Jessica Lal but it's not entirely based on that," he then said.

On being quizzed about Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee being the two leading ladies in the film, Gupta revealed reluctantly, "I am in the process of finalising my cast but I won't comment on it now. The film is going on the floors soon and will be produced by UTV. We are going to make a formal announcement very soon."

Source - http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/9083/15122009102006.jpg

Exclusive Paa Review - Simple and Beautiful!!

Cast – Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal, Arundhati Nag

Direction – R. Balki

Paa is a light hearted film with elements of comedy and seriousness in it. Tackling tough issues like the single mother, premarital relationships, , a life threatening and deforming disease (Progeria) that Auro is suffering from, and corruption that our country is suffering from, in a light way. The film concentrates on the basic plot due to which it is is high on emotions.

Paa’s brilliance lies in its simplicity. The film is shot in a simple way, the acting never looks over the top, the scenes are simple, music is very simple, and everything looks beautiful!!! The dialogs of the film are good too, apart from a few which could have been avoided and were added for unnecessary laughs.

While the promos suggested that the film would focus on the chemistry between BigB and JuniorB, and Vidya Balan would just be a third character in the film, the film actually gives every actor the required screen time and the film had more scenes between Vidya Balan-Amitabh Bachchan than Abhishek-Amitabh. In fact the affection shown between BigB and Arundhati Nag was also very good.

Amitabh Bachchan, once again proves his brilliance in acting. Believe me, if you don’t know the look of Amitabh Bachchan in the film before watching the film, you will keep searching for him in the entire film. Auro hardly looks like Amitabh Bachchan. I would give 10/10 to the makeup artist for doing the makeup of Auro. Whether Amitabh Bachchan will spoil Shahid’s chances of winning the best actor trophy remains to be seen. Abhishek Bachchan, playing the role of a young politician who wants to remove corruption from the country and wants to remove the dirtiness from the word politics, does a very fine job playing the father of his real father. His character had shades of Rahul Gandhi in him. But for me Vidya Balan stole the show when it comes to acting. Playing the role of a single mother and a gynecologist, she excels!! She always has looked good in simple characters like Parineeta. For me she is the new Juhi Chawla who too used to excel in simple roles. I thought Vidya Balan was a bit unlucky to have faced Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met) in 2007. She was excellent as Majulika in Bhool Bhulaiya. Yet again in 2009 she faces Kareena Kapoor (Kurbaan) with Priyanka Chopra too in Kaminey. It was great to see Arundhati Nag (Dil Se..) back in the film. She too did her job very well.

Read more from HERE

Reellusions Prediction League: RPL

Idea is to make a prediction league of sorts for the month of December. What all people need to do is predict, and earn points, which might be redeemed into real money, depending upon the financial constraints :P

So, here is the thing you have to predict the answers to following question, and the answer which comes the closest, will get one point, and just in case you are a dummy, one with the highest points will win. One victory will be 1 point, and at the end of the month, we will see who won the prediction league, okay? I don't think its tough, may be a little dorky, geeky, whatever, but simple as well :P

Here are the question:
1) What will be the opening weekend of "Paa"?
2) What will be the opening week of "Paa" ?
3) What will be the lifetime gross of "Paa"?

All figures will be taken from BOI.

I was apprehensive about abusive lingo in 'Ishqiya': Vidya Balan

Mouthing expletives for her role in "Ishqiya" embarrassed Vidya Balan as she says she never uses foul language in real life.

"Oh! I was very apprehensive while using those slangs. I have never used them in my real life but I had to because the script demanded. When you will see this movie, you will understand that it is justified. The movie belongs to a certain terrain where slangs are part of their lingo," Vidya told IANS in an interview.

The actress also revealed that she never rehearsed on the sets because of the heavy dose of slangs in the dialogue.

"I never rehearsed on the sets as I used to feel awkward. So I used to come prepared on the sets and once the director used to say action, I used to forget everything and everyone.

"All my inhibitions used to go away and I used to deliver my dialogues perfectly. This is what happens to me when the camera starts rolling," said Vidya, who was in the capital for the launch of designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee's first store here.

Read more from HERE