Ram Leela: It has been a demanding film, says Deepika Padukone

Ram Leela

Ram Leela: It has been a demanding film, says Deepika Padukone

Mumbai: Deepika Padukone terms 'Ram Leela' a very tough film and says that director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is such a perfectionist that he doesn't settle for anything less than what he has in mind. This is her first film with Bhansali, known for making hits like 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and 'Devdas'. He also went behind the camera for 'Saawariya' and 'Guzaarish', but they failed to appeal to the audiences. Now the director-producer is coming up with 'Ram Leela' with Deepika and Ranveer Singh in the lead roles.

It has not been easy, it has been really mentally, physically, and emotionally demanding film," said the 28-year-old, who spent over a year on the project, in an interview. "The fact that he is a perfectionist, he doesn't let go of anything. He looks at things a certain way and it has to be more or less that way. "He has a vision and everyone works towards that. So, it obviously has been a very tough journey, as exciting and challenging as it was, it has also been quite tough. So to see all of that come together, I did get a little emotional," she added. Set in a rustic region of Gujarat, 'Ram Leela' also stars Richa Chaddha, Gulshan Devaiah and Supriya Pathak. It will hit theatres Nov 29.

The Brother Sister Jodis Of Bollywood Rakhi Special

Abhishek, Shweta

Rakhi Special: The Brother-Sister Jodis Of Bollywood

 Raksha Bandhan is around the corner and on this auspicious occasion of Rakhi, we bring to you the most famous and not so famous siblings of Bollywood stars.

Family plays a very important role in the life of our Bollywood stars. And most of the actors are very close to their siblings. Many star siblings are not as famous as them because they chose to stay away from the limelight and glamour. On the other hand brother sister jodis like Farah Khan-Sajid Khan, Ekta Kapoor-Tusshar Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar-Zoya Akhtar have carved a separate niche for themselves.

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has an elder brother Aditya Rai. Aditya Rai is an engineer in merchant navy. Not many people know that when Aditya became father, Aishwarya specially took a long break from her work to be Aditya's baby.

Superstar Shahrukh Khan's sister Shehnaz Lalarukh is five years elder to him and stays with him in Mannat. Shahrukh is very close to her.

Abhishek Bachchan shares a very close and friendly bond with sister Shweta. For Abhishek, Shweta is his friend, Philosopher and guide.

Salman Khan has two sisters and two brothers. Alvira Khan is his real sister, while Arpita Khan is adopted.

Ranbir Kapoor's sister Riddhima Kapoor is married to Delhi based garment exporter Bharat Sawhney. Riddhima has also done many endorsement in the past.

Click on the slider to view Bollywood stars sibling pictures.

Ameesha Patel luck turn?

Will Ameesha's luck turn?

Ameesha Patel claims that her luck is changing - in her own words - "I think as a person and as an actress everyone goes through a phase. Nothing has remained stagnant in my life. My good time is back. I am happy and excited about it." Why is she in the news now?

Ameesha is turning a producer with 'Desi Magic'. Ameesha's production house is co-owned by her and Kuunal Goomer.

Krrish 3 Trailer Smashes All Records Garners Over 12 Million Views!

Krrish 3' Trailer Smashes All Records, Garners Over 12 Million Views!

There are still months left before its release, but Rakesh Roshan's Krrish 3 is already on a record breaking spree. The makers of the movie recently released the trailer of their superhero flick and it has received an overwhelming response from the audiences.

By garnering more than 12 million views in just ten days, the film's trailer has become the most viewed trailer in Bollywood. The Hrithik Roshan starrer has also broken the records set by Hollywood superhero flicks like The Avengers and Thor.

The third edition of the Krrish franchise also stars Priyanka Chopra, Vivek Oberoi and Kangna Ranaut in the lead roles.

Aamir Khan keen to donate organs, says wife Kiran

Aamir Khan keen to donate organs, says wife Kiran

Wednesday, Aug 14, 2013, 15:32 IST | Agency: IANS

Filmmaker Kiran Rao, who has taken a pledge to donate her organs, reveals that her actor-filmmaker husband Aamir Khan is also keen to follow in her footsteps.

"Aamir is definitely keen to donate his organs as well," Kiran told reporters at an organ donation camp Tuesday. She was present on the occasion along with Ship Of Theseus director Anand Gandhi.

She feels that Ship Of Theseus spreads the message beautifully. Kiran has released the film in the country in collaboration with UTV Motion Pictures.

"If anyone has seen the film, hope they will definitely be convinced that it's the most beautiful and most logical thing to do," she said.

Kiran, who directed Dhobi Ghat, would now try her best to encourage the members of the film fraternity, friends and family to go in for organ donation.

"Anyone I meet, I will definitely discuss it with them. I am not necessarily going to call up the celebrities, tell them and convince them of this cause.

"I don't know whether it is going to be easy for me to talk to all the celebrities and become the ambassador for this (organ donation). I am happy to try, but certainly I would like to encourage friends in the fraternity, people I know and definitely my family to donate their organs," she added.

Krrish 3 - Official Theatrical Trailer

Krrish 3 release on 1 November 2013

Krrish 3 is an upcoming Bollywood superhero science fiction film. The film will be produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan.[1] The film will continue the story of Rohit Mehra and his superhero son Krrish, after Koi... Mil Gaya and Krrish,[2] this being the third film of the Krrish film series. Both the earlier films have received blockbuster status at the box office.[3] The film will be released during Diwali 2013 along with its 3D format on November 4, 2013

Cast

Hrithik Roshan as Krishna Mehra (Krrish) and Rohit Mehra

Priyanka Chopra as Priya Mehra

Vivek Oberoi as "Kaal" the antagonist 

Kangna Ranaut as Kaya 

Arif Zakaria as Nuclear Scientist

Shaurya Chauhan as the female antagonist

Archana Puran Singh as Priya Mehra's boss

Rekha as Sonia Mehra (special appearance)

Vrajesh Hirjee

Riya Sen

Production

Filming commenced on 1 December 2011 with Oberoi, Ranaut and Chopra. However, Hrithik Roshan did not participate in the first schedule due to a back injury.Actress Shaurya Chauhan met with a freak accident while shooting for the film in Hyderabad, due to which the film has faced some delays. The film was previously expected to release on November 1, 2013 but has now been postponed to a post-Diwali November 4 release

--
Mahendra Gorele

Why is Hrithik hiding Krrish 3 promo from Shahrukh?

Why is Hrithik hiding Krrish 3 promo from Shahrukh?

Shahrukh Khan shares a good professional relationship with Rakesh Roshan and son Hrithik. SRK has worked with papa Roshan in films like Karan Arjun and Koyla. He's also a personal friend to Duggu and they have a common circle of friends, more or less.

So it comes as a surprise when Duggu refused to show his film to buddy SRK. Hrithik plays a super hero in Krrish 3 and SRK played one in Ra.One.

At the trailer launch of Krrish 3 Hrithik made it very clear that he wanted an Indian team to work on the special effects of the film and that's when SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment stepped in to help the Roshans.

While the Roshans are known to be extremely secretive about their films, why did they refuse to show the rushes of the film to Shahrukh who asked the Roshans to show it to them? Are the Roshans superstitious or averse to reactions before the film's release?

Tell us what you think!

--
Mahendra Gorele

Taking the Fast Train to Win a Mob Princess

Taking the Fast Train to Win a Mob Princess

Chennai Express" feels like a sumptuous meal with carefully chosen wine and tasty appetizers but a botched main course. Money and visual care have been lavished on this Bollywood action-comedy-romance and glossy stars engaged (Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone). But the movie chugs along for most of its 2 hours and 20 minutes searching for comedy and characters in a frantically overplotted story.

It's not that no one is trying. Mr. Khan became the King of Bollywood with a boyish mischievousness that melts into puppy-dog sincerity. He's 47 now and working hard in "Chennai Express." He plays Rahul, a callow sweets seller who for unconvincing reasons never married. Though the movie prudently gives his age as 40, the character hardly differs from a standard-issue 20-year-old hero.

Mr. Khan's efforts to invest this boy-man with charm, and the movie with comic pop, mostly fall flat. (The script works against him, too.) His performance comes alive, though, when he's dancing and when, transformed by love, he becomes serious, tear-stained and bloodied in the last 20 minutes. That old puppyish sincerity has become something like mature feeling.

"Chennai Express" wastes a lot of time with its elaborate setup, full of setbacks and voice-over explanations. There are a few funny bits, as when Rahul helps a gang of thugs, each bigger and nastier-looking than the next, onto a moving train, the Chennai Express. (It helps that this sequence is mostly silent.) On the train, Rahul meets Meena (Ms. Padukone), the daughter of a South Indian don. The thugs he so kindly helped have kidnapped her to bring her back to Daddy, and now have made him their prisoner, too.

Toward the end, the movie shifts tone dramatically, if not surprisingly for Bollywood. Rahul lectures the men in Meena's village about respecting women's emotions. He then fights off all comers to win her and earn respect. Powered by love and lifted by violence, he now can lay down the law: Be nice to women. (This hardly seems a workable civic model.)

The director, Rohit Shetty, has a playful visual sense, evident from the first shot: the camera views Mr. Khan from below, as if he were standing on a glass sheet, before swooping up. These flourishes, though, often seem divorced from the material. Not so the South Indian scenery, made glorious by Mr. Shetty's saturated palette and showman's ability to transform nature into an eye-popping stage set.

Chennai Express

Opens on Friday.

Directed by Rohit Shetty; written by Yunus Sajawal; director of photography, Dudley; edited by Steven Bernard; music by Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani; production design by Narendra Rahurikar; produced by Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur; released by UTV Motion Pictures. In Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Shah Rukh Khan (Rahul) and Deepika Padukone (Meena)

Chennai Express Movie review

 Movie review: Chennai ExpressShubhra Gupta : 

Fri Aug 09 2013, 12:23 hrs

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sathyaraj, Nikitin Dheer

Director: Rohit Shetty

The Indian Express rating: **1/2

Wannakum, wannago? I went into Chennai Express dreading I would be doused, doused I tell you, with a staggering number of stereotypes, and that I would spend the film flinching and grimacing and counting the minutes.

But as Chennai Express began chugging along, I found myself guffawing in a place. Or two. The laughs came intermittently through the first half, and I was still sitting in my seat at the interval. And then it turned into the same old story : the plot, which was thinner than a self-respecting wafer to start with, just gives up and dies, and the lead pair, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone stop talking to each other (even as Padukone's thickly-accented "main aati, aur thum jaati" out-Mehmoods Mehmood at his most outre) and begin posturing. They have no competition from anything else : the trademark Shetty bang bang – car chases, jeeps blowing up, large groups of people charging at each other — is by now more eye glaze than ever.

In Pics: Shah Rukh Khan meets fans as Chennai Express hits theatres

This could have been a good caper, in which madcap characters race around the countryside with other madcap characters in hot pursuit. Especially when Shah Rukh Khan is so willingly sending himself up as only he can, with such a knowing nudge-and-wink that you smile despite yourself. "Rahul", he introduces himself to Meenamaa (Padukone): "naam toh nahin suna hoga". You know you are being set up, and yet you can't help being amused. The amusement lasts only momentarily, and you are left feeling sorry at the waste.

Rahul wants to head to Goa to party with his pals, but he gets on to the Chennal Express instead, to fulfil his late dadaji's dying wish. On that train hops the beauteous Meenakshi aka Meenamma, on the run from her appa (Sathyaraj) who is some kind of a don in a Tamil Nadu village, and who wants to marry her off. One thing leads to another, and the two reach said village. Towering hulk who is also would-be-groom (Dheer) arrives to growl and snarl. A phalanx of dark-complexioned fierce fellows shake sickles at Rahul, who is left to face a barrage of rapid-fire Tamilian yakkity yak, and a Meenamma who dimples prettily whenever she is given a chance, and a film that rapidly heads, ha ha, south.

Amitabh Bachchan watches Chennai Express with grandson Agastya

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan is a busy man today as he is entertaining his three grandchildren including Agstya, Navya Naveli and Aaradhya at his residence on Eid.

Amitabh Bachchan's daughter, Shweta who lives in New Delhi with her family, is visiting her father's home in Mumbai with her children Navya-Naveli and Agastya.

And the doting grand dad took his grandson to watch Shah Rukh Khan's Chennai Express, a day before its official release.

Navya-Naveli is back from London where she studies in Sevenoaks School, the same school as Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan.

Big B also said that he is super busy this weekend with all the kids around.

Big B, who will be shooting for Mehrunissa in Lucknow is busy celebrating Eid with family.

He also wished his fans Eid Mubarak: "May the true relevance of all festivities penetrate, percolate within us all..may we acknowledge the spirit of togetherness in them."

--
Mahendra Gorele

Aiyo Ji Satyagraha Movie Video Song Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor

Aiyo Ji Satyagraha Movie Video Song Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor

Chennai Express will be released in ten languages

Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s next, Chennai Express (CE), looks all set for a bumper release even outside India. 

The film, directed by Rohit Shetty, is being released internationally in nine languages apart from Hindi. 

"Fans across the globe will be able to see CE in 

English, French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Hebrew, Dutch, Turkish and Malay. The film will have subtitles in all the languages, and even promotional material and posters have been localised,” says a source close to the production house, adding, “SRK has mass appeal. Fans went ballistic during his recent promotional appearances in London and Dubai, which are his core markets. Now, with CE getting a global release, it adds more value to the project. It will show SRK in a manner never seen before."

Amrita Pandey, executive director — International Distribution Studios, Disney UTV, says, “CE is a commercial entertainer and has an obvious and enormous demand overseas with Deepika and SRK’s fan base. We are happy to provide Indian movie lovers an opportunity to enjoy the film in a language known to them and are excited to release it globally in 10 languages."

Chennai Express Theatrical Trailer SRK OFFICIAL TRAILER

B.A. Pass Movie Review

 B.A. Pass

Cast: Shilpa Shukla, Shadab Kamal, Rajesh Sharma, Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Direction: Ajay Bahl

Rating: 4 Star Rating: Recommended4 Star Rating: Recommended 4 Star Rating: Recommended  

Vinayak Chakravorty  Mumbai, August 2, 2013

There is sex. There is sleaze. Then there is that state of confusion in between where most Bollywood films trying to peddle the S-trick dangle. BA Pass is far from sleaze and manages to avoid any confusion. As the reels roll, you witness a rare Bollywood flick that gives the subject a noir edge, though you wish the film was less tedious with its scenes of sex.

Debutant director-producer-cinematographer Ajay Bahl's film is based on Mohan Sikka's short story The Railway Aunty that featured in the 2009 anthology Delhi Noir. Sex played a deeply important part to push forward the plot of Sikka's original tale.

A story of less than 7,000 words, however, is not enough to run the full length of a feature film. So Ritesh Shah's screenplay incorporates a few improvisations beyond what Sikka wrote. These work for the film in parts and stretch the narrative on occasions.

This is the story of Mukesh (Shadab Kamal), an orphan who stays with his aunt in Paharganj and is about to finish college. The sultry neighbourhood aunty Sarika (Shilpa Shukla) sets out to seduce him and Mukesh falls for her charm. Too late, he realises she has trapped him into a sordid life he cannot escape.

Debutant director Bahl does a fair job in tracing Mukesh's moral corruption and his eventual doom. Bahl is bang-on while imagining Sarika too, as a middle class housewife with a dual life. But these, you could argue, were readymade advantages he drew from Sikka's material.

The tough deal for Bahl - as it mostly is for any filmmaker adapting a written work for the screen - was to depict the psychological subtext of The Railway Aunty. The sexual undertone about Mukesh often unfolds through his thought process in Sikka's story. Bahl avoids the aspect, and mostly rests his taut film on action defining the protagonist's plight.

BA Pass is essentially a coming-of-age saga using sex as a tool to carry the plot forward. There have been plenty of unforgettable films within that genre in world cinema - Alfonso Cuaron's Y Tu Mama Tambien and Louis Malle's Murmur Of The Heart come to mind. For Bollywood, this is a first attempt of sorts, which makes BA Pass an unusual film.

If Bahl throws challenging roles at his lead cast, the actors reciprocate admirably. Shilpa Shukla, still struggling in Bollywood despite Khamosh Pani and Chak De! India, is brilliant as the scheming seductress. She brims with screen presence. Newcomer Shadab Kamal understands his complex role well. Shilpa and Shadab share a bristling chemistry as dominant and sex slave. It gives the film a strange USP. It's not quite popcorn & cola stuff but if you are forever hungering for cinema of a different taste, check this one out.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag Movie Maston Ka Jhund Full Song Video...

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag official trailer Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag enters Rs. 100 crore club

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's biopic on athlete Milkha Singh - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark. The film has earned around Rs. 104 crore. 

The Farhan Akhtar-starrer movie, which continues to run in theatres collected Rs. 1.3 crore on Friday (Aug 2), its 4th weekend. 

The film averaged Rs. 2.6 crore and Rs. 3 crore on the following Saturday and Sunday, respectively.  

Interestingly, several states across India have declared Bhaag Milkha Bhaag tax free. The film is running tax-free in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana and Goa.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is now the second highest grosser of 2013, after Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (released on may 31, 2013; starring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur and Kalki Koechlin), that has earned around Rs. 188 crore. 

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag races ahead of new releases

Filmmakers tried to woo movie buffs with subjects as diverse as revenge comedy, erotic thriller, tragic love story and candyfloss campus romance this Friday, but audiences are still flocking to the halls to catch Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. Movies that hit the theatres Friday include Bajatey Raho, Nasha, Issaq, Love U Soniyo and Hollywood film The Wolverine. 

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag inspires without getting too complex

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Rebecca Breeds, Prakash Raj, Pavan Malhotra, Divya Dutta, Dalip Tahil

Direction: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Rating: 4 Star Rating: Recommended 4 Star Rating: Recommended4 Star Rating: Recommended

The bulging sinewy biceps and six-pack abs were never quite a part of the real deal but if you discount that bit of cinematic licence Farhan Akhtar's reimagination of Milkha Singh is impressive enough.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, as the promos promised, essentially explores the man behind the phenomenon, considered one of the greatest Indian sportsmen ever. If Milkha is a living legend, his life brims with drama more audacious than any run-of-the-mill film script. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra creates fascinating fiction out of facts, although he could have kept it shorter. At 187 minutes, the film includes too many subplots to remain cohesive all through.

Three-film-old Mehra's career so far has swung to and fro extremes. His first, Aks, defined confusion as did his last, Delhi-6. In between the two there was Rang De Basanti, a film that inspired a whole nation.

The law of averages seems to work in Mehra's favour this time. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, aimed at inspiring through its story of an icon, shouldn't have much trouble impressing Bollywood buffs.

The film draws its title from the last words Milkha as a boy heard from his father, in the wake of Partition riots. The communal violence of the era forms the fulcrum in laying out Milkha's formative phase. It hints at what went into creating the resilience of the man we would come to know as the Flying Sikh in the years to come.

Milkha's story divides itself roughly into two halves. There is the restless, angered youth, coming to terms with Partition that cost him his family, and taking to crime as a refugee for sustenance. Then there is the spirited youth who gets into the Army, where his talent as a sprinter is first spotted.

Prasoon Joshi's script moves in time cycles between past and present to set up the story of these two Milkhas. The salad days in the barracks provide an engaging watch. Joshi is vivid in imagination of Milkha's time in the Army. The element of camaraderie inherent in this early phase of his life leaves scope for random humour and emotions alike.

The film could have done away with the imposed mush quota. Sonam Kapoor's 20-minute appearance as Milkha's 'romantic heroine' cuts down pace, as do his subsequent dalliances with an Australian girl (Rebecca Breeds, she gets an almost equal footage too). For a biopic mounted on a lavish 30-crore scale, those though are expected frills.

Farhan has always scored as a natural, though mostly exuding urban cool in films such as Rock On!!, Luck By Chance and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Playing Milkha lets him break the mould. He underplays every emotion to impress. Among the prop cast, Pavan Malhotra (as Milkha's first coach) and Divya Dutta (as his elder sister) steal the show despite small roles.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag tries to inspire without getting too complex about it and succeeds. Just for that, it is worth a watch.

Poonam Pandey Nasha Movie Review

Nasha

Cast:  Poonam Pandey, Shivam, Ranbir Chakma

Direction: Amit Saxena

Rating: Minus Zero

Saurabh Dwivedi  New Delhi, July 26, 2013 

After reading this review you must recommend me for a bravery award. Poonam Pandey's Nasha is a cheap and forgettable film, despite all the loud claims she made on Twitter. The storyline is weak and the acting is pathetic. Nasha is such a bad film that it needs to be ranked 'Minus Zero'. This is because some see a wee bit of positivity in a zero too. Therefore to dispel any such remote notions, it's a  Minus Zero.

It is the story of a school in Panchgani where the students are loud, shameless and boisterous. They do not mind sharing cheap jokes and making adult comments. Poonam Pandey's entry in this school as a theatre teacher is all that was needed! A boy called Sahil falls for her and then comes her boyfriend Samuel who, much to the chagrin of Poonam, begins to trouble Sahil.

Samuel is actually the story's villain who breaks Poonam's heart as she discovers his other affair and his bad habits (he is caught in a rave party!) Sahil comes to support his heart-broken Ma'am. But this moralistic teacher says she must go away as this relationship is immoral - but not before she has a steamy sex session with her student!

Poonam Pandey is a disaster in the name of acting. Her husky voice sounds terrible on screen. Her acting in the film is so pathetic that when she was shouting, people in the cinema hall were laughing!

This 'upright' teacher teaches the most immoral lesson of love - "Love is like summer vacations, it gives different type of pleasure every year," says Poonam and the crowd hails it with a loud applause! The screenplay is cliched and the songs are mediocre. Amit Saxena has failed miserably as a director. His Jism was classy because it had the Bhatt camp background, but Nasha is nothing but P-grade (Poonam Grade).

Sahil is average, his Ma'am is horrible and Samuel is good. Camera work is average and editing is quite poor. 

Those who want to go to theatres in hope of watching bold scenes will be in for disappointment because everything bold has been shown in the promos.

This film has exposed the 'acting' skills of Poonam Pandey and I am sure any sensible film maker will think twice before signing her. It is a cheap and dangerous Nasha that should be avoided at all costs!