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Amrita Arora set to tie the knot?

For Amrita Arora ‘heart is where the home is.’ In matters of the heart, her cricketer-boyfriend, Usman Afzal holds the biggest spot. But nowadays, her heart is completely in her home, yes, the actor has bought a lovely apartment in a posh corner of old Bandra. And she’s putting in all her effort in making it her dream home.

“My house looks very Greek, and very cool. There’s lot of open space, large windows, with cloth on the ceiling. It’s minimalist, classy and cool. I am waiting to move in there, and then start a series of house warming parties,” says Amrita.

Well, a new home, a great boyfriend and a career that is quite promising. Is it a good time to tie the knot too? Like a big fat Greek wedding?

Bollywood Babe Aishwarya Rai praises her makeup man

She’s not only a perfect beauty, Aishwarya Rai is Ms Propah too. So, if you pay her a compliment, she makes sure the right people get credit for it. Recently when we told her that she’s been looking better than ever before, she said, “All thanks to the make-up artist who makes me look so beautiful, Pradeep dada.

He’s been with me from the beginning of my career. We actors lead crazy lives, we work roundthe-clock, and our immediate staff totally stands by us through tough days, like our own family. They travel with us everywhere, and when we’re looking and feeling tired and down they make us feel good.”

Call it modesty or whatever, we think the lady’s being very sweet. Of course, one doesn’t need to try too hard to make Ash look good, right?

Abhishek Bachchan with Old looks in Guru

Amitabh Bachchan played an aging character even when he was very young, and son Abhishek Bachchan is following in his footsteps.

Abhishek is now applying white to his hair and adding many wrinkles to his face for Mani Ratnam’s benefit. The actor informs that make-up artists from India and abroad helped him in the ‘aging process’ for the film Guru.

In fact, a lot of make-up tests were done, even on Sundays, and Mani didn’t hesitate to tweak Abhishek’s look during shoots as well. However, because of the director’s obsession for making things real, he felt using too much make up would disconnect the audience from the character. Whether the look is convincing, we’ll have to wait and watch.

Bappi Lahiri celebrates his birthday

Adeep dark basement, flashy laser lights and shiny disco balls; girls dancing in short clothes to the beats of ‘I am a disco dancer’ and a rather loud (in all senses of the word) birthday boy, and what do you have? The perfect setting to celebrate disco king Bappi Lahiri’s birthday. One certainly couldn’t miss Bappida that night in his shiny white shirt and priced treasure around his neck. The night was a clear entertainer as the dance floor was packed to the hilt: Aman Verma did not leave the floor even for a minute, while Shibani Kashyap showed off some wild moves. Siddharth Kannan and a mystery woman refused to get off the dance floor too…

• RE-MAKE KINGS: The highlight of the night was when Ram Gopal Varma walked in. What was the director doing here? Well, it was here that Bappida proudly revealed that he was composing three tracks for Ram Gopal Varma’s remake of Sholay. “I’ve already recorded two of them,” he said.

• … AND THE QUEEN: Another surprise guest was Jaya Prada. Must say she looked stunning in a black suit and boots.

• ‘SING’ING THEIR PRAISES: It being Bappi’s bash, many from the music industry came. Alka Yagnik, Ila Arun and Sapna Mukherji
had a ball together, with Shaan joining in the fun.

GUARD ON !

Sharon Prabhakar and Rohit
Verma were seen guarded by two security guards throughout the party… even when they were on the dance floor!

Ahana Deol dating rock ‘n’ roll afficianado, VJ Aditya

Twenty one -year-old VJ Aditya Roy Kapur is young, hip and happening. So is his large mop of unruly hair that is his signature trademark. Inspired by Main Hoon Na (where Zayed Khan chops off his locks as a surprise for his mom), this final year sociology student is toying with the idea of making a major life change by chopping it off as a gift for his mom too. But his best kept secret to date is that he is dating Dharmendra and Hema Malini’s younger daughter Ahana Deol. At least, that’s the buzz doing the rounds.

The shy Ahana is in college studying film direction and claims to have no film aspirations whatsoever, unlike elder sister Esha. Neither does the music loving and Doors fan Aditya, who is very protective about his girlfriend.

When asked if he had a girlfriend, he said, “Yes, I do and she’s beautiful.” So is it Ahana? we ask. He looks shocked and keeps quiet. And guess what? He’s met Hema Malini, and thinks she’s very sweet. But no, he hasn’t met Dharmendra yet!

Lara Dutta not sure of getting married to Kelly Dorjee

Back in Mumbai on Tuesday evening after a long outdoor shoot for Shaad Ali’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, actor Lara Dutta was first hit with news of her Zinda co-star, Sanjay Dutt’s court verdict . “I guess everyone has their own karma to sort out. Sanjay’s gone through so much, now he deserves peace of mind. He should remember nothing is constant in life. This phase too will pass soon,” she says, adding, “By far he is the most reticent and shy gentleman I have come across.”

Speaking of gentlemen brings Lara to the subject of longtime livein boyfriend Kelly Dorji. “Our love has grown deeper than before. To maintain a relationship for long requires high levels of maturity and a lot of give and take. It’s not easy at all,” she says. Lara met Kelly much before she became Miss Universe. As she got more successful , Kelly silently stood strongly supporting her every move.

They’ve been together for seven years now. What about the seven-year-itch? “Oh, the seven-year-itch phase came and passed as quickly too,” she laughs, “We went through our share of ups and downs, sailed through terrible and joyful times. And we survived. I don’t think every couple has a seven-year policy written into their relationship!”

Is the couple tying the knot soon? “Honestly no. Even Kelly doesn’t want it now. He is in a new phase in his career, and is brimming with ideas. At this point we are both gung-ho about life. That’s it.”

Is there parental pressure? “The other day I excitedly called up dad to give him some news. And his immediate reaction was, ‘Please don’t say you are getting married?’ Can you believe how cool my dad is?” Lara smiles. “My parents adore Kelly. They treat him like their son. But they are giving us time. They have been extremely supportive of whatever we do. Maybe because I am the youngest,” she explains.
Is she sure Kelly is the man she’s going to marry? “How can I know that? But the fact that I am with him makes me believe he is the man for me. But again, who knows the future?”

Life at this point, she says is ‘first-class’. In her three years in Bollywood, Lara has found her place among top industry banners and actors. “This year has been a year of growth, of choice, but most importantly, I have found the power to say ‘no’” she says. “In short, I am at peace with myself.”

Do tall female actors in Bollywood have a problem finding a co-star? “Thank God, today there are guys like Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham !” she laughs. And any close female friends in the industry? “It’s difficult. Intentions may be pure, but over a period, there are bound to be issues, because the goal, and the journey is the same,” she says candidly. Lara signs off hoping she won’t ever feel the need to compromise talent for exposure, “I understand packaging is important, but let’s not ignore talent.”

Vivah

Starring Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher, Alok Nath, Seema Biswas, Samir Soni
Written and Directed by Sooraj Barjatya
Rating: ***

He made history with his first and second film. The third and fourth were badly received.

Now Barjatya rectifies all the mistakes in his first two historical hits Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Koun. The sweet, cloying coyness and almost-unbearable bonhomie of those two films and also Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain is here replaced by a far more fluent and fertile imaginative impulse which irrigates nourishes and nurtures Barjatya’s idealistic, almost Utopian view of a joint family.

Gone is the amateurish home-video feel to Barjatya’s earlier familial epics. Yes, there’s plenty of singing (and not of a very high caliber, I’m afraid) but blessedly little dancing in the long but fulfilling and fluent drama of domesticated courtship.

The simple charm of the boy-meets-girl story is laced with untold moments of absolute enchantment.

In his typical fashion Sooraj Barjatya weaves together moments between the couple as they move in and out of the domestic flock. Blessedly the joint family is kept at a far more manageable level here than in Barjatya’s other films.

No irksome broods of Mamajis and Buas to fill up the space in the fringes, so that the couple in love gets ample breathing-space to let their mutual feelings grow in leisurely grace.

The old-world charm of a yarn that weaves in and out of amorous arrangements within an arranged marriage, is tremendously aggrandized by the lead pair who go through the mellow motions of falling in love, in a spirit of artless adventure in an unexplored journey.

The external detailing of a small dusty town near Delhi is exquisitely canny. ….the crowded gullies, the urchins running after Shahid’s posh car when he visits his in-laws-to-be, the halvai ki dukaan and the night-time bustle compounded by distant sounds of old Hindi film songs….Sanjay Dhabade’s art work is among the best I’ve seen in recent times.

The director’s sincerity of purpose shines through in every shot of the crowded dingy but genial mohallah and every warm smile that the perennial Babuji Alok Nath throws towards his surrogate-daughter Poonam (Amrita Rao ) as the sullen lady of the house (Seema Biswas, bang-on doing the balancing act between shrewish step-mom and practical mother) shuns the orphan girl.

The enchanting axis among the above characters, with a chirpy little sister (newcomer Amrita Prakash ) thrown in for sisterly solidarity, echoes in shrill delight, the delicate balance between beti and parayi beti in Bimal Roy’s Sujata.

But there’s more here. Much more. Sooraj takes hold of all the strands of bustling emotions from his characteristic vision nad harnesses it into a narrative that is polished and absorbing.

Considering that a majority of screen space is occupied in watching the rich boy from Delhi woo the middle-class girl from the small town, there was every chance of the storytelling careening over with the weight of its insubstantiality.

Every component in Sooraj’s delicate vision holds together with remarkable fluency. The dialogues (Aash Karan Atal) talk in fluent but accessible Hindi about values that seem to have been lost in the melee of ruthless ambitions that drive families out of small towns.

Here’s a film that takes us back to that almost-lost feeling of unadorned pleasures in a shaded crowded small town.. the bride and bridegroom’s families sleeping on the floor together sharing games, banter and mutual respect as though dowry deaths were demons invented on another planet….the small town girl refusing to wear her fiance’s expensive necklace as it would look out of place in her home….

Ironically an unholy fire precipitates a crisis in the last half-hour. That’s when Sooraj Barjatya shows effectually how much he has matured and mellowed as a creative artise. The sequences where Prem marries Poonam as she struggles between life and death in her hospital bed are among the purest form of romance seen in our recent films. The drama at the end is handled with tremendous care.

Finally Vivah is about the sanctity of marriage and the importance of commitment between two individuals. Yes, the central romance is naively visualized.

But the sneaked tender moments between the engaged couple on the terrace and their stubborn resistance to ‘modern’ courtship games (no physical intimacy beyond a touch, no email or mobile connectivity) just makes you crave for an idealism that we’ve forfeited in the pursuit of concrete dreams.

Not ice-cream, but kulfi, not I-pods but transistors…. Vivah works as a parable of artless values, and also as a delicately structured romance between a couple that decides to fall in love after their marriage is decided by their parents.

The supporting cast led by Anupam Kher and Alok Nath as heartwarmingly amicable fathers-in-law eggs on the central romance….or maybe ‘eggs’ is not on here, considering this filmmaker adheres to a palatable vegeterianism of vision from the dining table to the editing table.

Vivah predictably concludes with the couple’s wedding and suhaag raat where the bridegroom tells his burnt wife, “Come let me do your dressing.”

Undressing is not what this film is about. Not even on the suhaag raat.

Apna Sapna Money Money

Starring: Riteish Deshmukh, Koena Mitra, Shreyas Talpade, Riya Sen, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav
Directed by Sangeeth Sivan
Rating: *

Looking at the bright side, this comedy, ha ha, is decidedly less vulgar and suggestive than director Sangeeth Sivan’s Kya Kool Hain Hum. That, if one may say so, was the pits.

Mercifully there are no cat-humping jokes to boost the chuckle quotient in Apna Sapna…. What the plot lacks in innovativeness is made up for by a certain breathless momentum and crass candour that’s meant to drive audiences into over-the-top gear. And never mind the finer sensitivities. At least the cats are left alone this time.

The story about the run for precious diamonds gives Riteish Deshmukh a fine, if somewhat dull, actor a chance to try out numerous get-ups including a drag act which is dead-on. Deshmukh sinks his teeth inti the job at hand with more than passing interest.

Alas, the material provided to sustain his skills at role-changing is so slim, you wonder which came first: the farce or the flair that Deshmukh dares to air.

Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav provide a comic consistency to the proceedings that tend to get cock-eyed. Yadav’s take-off on Mr Bachchan from Sarkar would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so put-on.

To their credit, all the actors male and female have themselves a whale of a time. So much so that after a while you begin to feel guilty for casting a cynical eye on what’s finally meant to be nothing but an innocuous farce-fest. To that extent, Money Money gives you your money’s worth.

Specially rib-tickling are the scenes where Deshmukh (constantly poker-faced and solemn in his satirical stabs) is wooed by Anupam Kher. The two-some aren’t quite Kamal Haasan-Amrish Puri in Chachi 420.

But does anyone really expect this farce to live up to any other standards than those set by Masti, Malaamal Weekly and Phir Hera Pheri?

Just one word of advice for those who expect some laughs. Your belly won’t ache. Though going by the level of noise pollution, your ears sure will.

As for the stretched-out comic season that started with Indra Kumar’s Masti two years ago…. Enough!

Dhoom 2

Bollywood has scored a hat trick this year with the success of three sequels – “Phir Hera Pheri”, “Krrish” and “Lage Raho Munna Bhai”. Will “Dhoom 2″, the latest to join the bandwagon, be equally lucky?

“Dhoom-2″, a sequel to the hugely successful movie “Dhoom”, is all set to woo the audiences in November. The original had Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra, John Abraham, Esha Deol and Rimi Sen.

The sequel has Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai playing thieves. Hrithik replaces John from the earlier flick. Aishwarya and Bipasha Basu pitch in for Esha Deol and Rimi Sen.

The story of the movie goes like this:

Ali’s (Uday Chopra) dream of becoming a police officer finally turns into reality. He is Assistant Commissioner of Police Jai Dixit’s (Abhishek Bachchan) right hand man. They try to keep a tight leash on crime together, but fate has something else in store for them.

Aryan (Hrithik Roshan), a hi-tech international thief, after pulling off a series of near-impossible heists all over the world, decides to move to Mumbai. That’s when Ali and Jai’s lives turn upside down.

Aryan succeeds in dodging Jai and Ali, who are working on his case round the clock. Then comes Shonali Bose, Jai’s college mate, now a police officer.

She helps put pieces of the puzzle together as she has been closely tracking these thefts and is now considered an expert on Aryan, whom no one has seen – not even Shonali.

Aryan finds his match in Sunehri (Aishwarya Rai), a petty yet clever thief. They decide to work together and thus the game begins.

Does ACP Jai Dixit manage to nab Aryan? Or does Aryan give him the slip?

From the desert of Namibia to the backwaters of Goa, the mean streets of Mumbai and the ancient forts of Rajasthan, and finally to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – the film promises to take the audiences on a ride through some of the most exotic locations in the world.

Apart from that, director Sanjay Gadhavi has laced it with the best of technology to turn it into a hi-tech thriller.

The music score of “Dhoom” played an important part in its success, but the music of part two is not as appealing as the original.

The promos, however, have aroused a good amount of curiosity among movie buffs and in the trade circle.

Umrao Jaan

Starring: Shabana Azmi, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan, Puru Raj Kumar, Suniel Shetty
Edited & Directed by J.P. Dutta
Rating: *** ½

Ummmm….Rai Jaan!

In one of the countless visuals of stunning resonance, Aishwarya playing the doomed and poetic tawaif Umrao Jaan Adaa, passes through a burning field of crops. “The crops have been reaped, Now the fields are being burnt for good luck next year,” explains a helpful co-passenger.

That one gloriously revealing moment captures that strange and sublime ethos of pathos that coloured the life and times of the 19th century Lucknowi poetess who in her words is a badnasibi ki misaal (the classic example of misfortune).

We’ve seen Lucknow and the rest of Uttar Pradesh in several Hindi films ranging from Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan to Chandan Arora’s Main Meri Patni Aur Woh. The city and its surrounding topography has never looked more vivid in its evocation of a crisis of cultural poignancy.

Perched between a world of the kotha amd the outer world of growing deceit and betrayal the story of little Ameeran’s journey from her quaint and happy family life to the lonely pride of the Kotha, is mapped in lucid vivid sometimes-flamboyant sometimes-muted colours of utter enchantment.

J.P. Dutta’s locational luminosity and visual vitality have never been questionable. Along with cinematographer Aynanka Bose he takes us on a pilgrimage through Umrao’s inner and outer landscape creating perfect visuals to exteriorize her poignant yet poetic predicament as a Fallen Woman forever rising above her destiny.

What lifts this Umrao Jaan far above the other 1978 version is its sense of imminent historicity. Whereas the old Umrao stopped short in its tracks just after the doomed woman returns to the comforting and yet ironically damning life-defining space of the kotha, J.P Dutta’s narrative moves bravely forward, carving a socio-historical perspective for his memorable protagonist in a Lucknow going through a bloodied turmoil, as its cultural legitimacy is questioned and mocked the British rage…sorry, raj.

The film’s most memorable sequence occurs after the kotha’s avaricious practical and yet emotional Madame packs off her endangered girls and stays on in the brothel, a solitary figure standing over the looming architecture in imposing isolation as an emblem of unaccompanied bravery.

In many ways Shabana at that moment, reminded me of J.P. Dutta himself—battling a cynical contemporary cinematic world that has no patience with old-world cultures.

Umrao Jaan must not be allowed to be a victim of cynical readings Its statement on the woman’s heart as a railway station where any man can stop to while away time, has a resonance way beyond the time-zones Dutta creates within his lengthy but finally greatly satisfying work of restrospective art.

The kotha ambience is superbly re-created (art director Bijon Dasgupta proves his worth). Shabana’s Madame-Mother Hen act is an awe-inspiring piece of overt histrionics eminently comparable with her mother Shaukat’s performance in the same role in Muzaffar Ali’s film.

But Vaibhavi Merchant’s choreography (a mainstay in the Mujra-motivated mellow-drama) lets down the tawaif’s tale. It fails to evoke the sensuous grace that Rai is capable of. Too much of Javed Akhtar’r evocative lyrics are expressed in hand movements. It’s like using just the toes for a swimming competition where the contestant knows every move of the game.

There’s a great deal of warmth in the crosscross of relationships that the screenplay creates…I specially loved Umrao’s rapport with her surrogate-father in the brothel (played by Dutta’s lucky mascot, that chameleon-like actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda).

Aishwarya imbues a sense of lived-in luminosity into Umrao’s all-giving no-receiving nature. As Umrao she’s remarkably vulnerable and gentle, like a wounded deer running through a forest of dangerous species, somehow safeguarding her interests emotionally rather than instinctively.

Her two key romantic sequences with Abhishek Bachchan convey a feeling of bridled anxiety but are felled by their inordinate length. The two sequences, filmed as one long shot, needed to be curtailed and streamlined…..The same applies to the plethora of Mujras, all capably and gracefully performed by the resplendent Rai, but monotonous for their frequency and genre-specificity.

Though Anu Malik and Alka Yagnik are no Ghulam Mohamed and Lata Mangeshkar (Pakeeezah ) their compositions and singing go a long way in evoking the poetic tragedy of a woman who craves to break free of her destiny.

Umrao Jaan is remarkable for recreating the rhythms of a charming though lost culture through the pacy movements of the tawaif’s feet. Lamentably the choreography restricts the swan-like agility of Rai….

The gallery of performances topped by Shabana’s regal Madame’s act, also gives space to lesser-known actors like Puru Raj Kumar who’s splendid as Umrao’s roguish in-house suitor at the kotha, and Divya Dutta melting your heart in that one important sequence that the script allows her.

Abhishek Bachchan as the tormented torn and yet restrained Nawab is a portrait of bridled intensity. That little smirk in the corner of his mouth or that almost-invisible twinkle in his eye….these nuances show how far this young Bachchan has evolved.

For creating an Umrao who stays in our hearts and for giving Aishwarya Rai her fifth memorable role (after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Chokher Bali and Provoked ) J.P. Dutta must take a bow.

This is a film that does the Movie Moghul and Hindi cinema proud.

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