Sanjay Gupta is done with actress Sameera Reddy
June 30, 2007
“Every time they write about Sameera Reddy why is my name mentioned?” Sanjay Gupta is not amused any longer. “Ab bas ho gaya. Please stop dragging my name in each time Sameera is mentioned.” Sanjay Gupta admits he had a relationship with Sameera. “Yes, I was seeing her. But that’s a thing of the past. It’d be ridiculous to deny a two-year old relationship. But it’s over and done with. I’ve moved on. Even when I was shooting Musafir with Sameera, I never stopped loving my wife. Even at that time when I had a motorcycle accident in Goa she was there by my bedside. I’ve realised my wife Anu is the only woman for me. As for the rest of the women, just as I’ve left my days of adapting foreign DVDs behind, I’ve also left the Reddys behind.”
On a more serious note, Gupta says, “Today I’m trying to build my production company as one of the bigger players in the Indian entertainment industry. It feels ridiculous to be linked with every actress I work with. There’s more to me than being associated with various women. It takes away from the process of corporatisation that I’ve undertaken.”
It’s also not helping the cause of bringing him back together with his wife. “For my wife Anu to constantly read about another woman isn’t nice. And I’m embarrassed to explain it to her.”
A month ago Sameera was on the same flight to Goa as Sanjay Gupta. “I don’t deny she was on the same flight. But so were so many other people from Bollywood. Sameera was shooting in Goa, and so was I. Look, Sameera is completely out of my life. My days of flings are over. I’m very serious about my work and about mending the harm that I’ve done to my marriage,” he says.
Bollywood Actress Raima Sen gives chance to Navdeep Singh
June 30, 2007
We needn’t say much about Raima Sen’s talent, whether it’s mainstream cinema, or one of those arty types — she manages to find a perfect fit everywhere.
In fact, one often wonders why a gifted actress like Ms Sen is so underutilised in Bollywood. And after having worked with the likes of Pradeep Sarkar, Rituparno Ghosh and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the girl goes ahead and signs up films with newcomers, too.
Currently she’s doing a film called Manorama — 6 Feet Under, by debutant director Navdeep Singh, which has been apparently shot in two-months. “I feel as confident working with a newcomer, and Navneet is known to me. I’ve shot some adfilms with him. If we actors don’t give new people a chance in the industry, how will we ever know how good or bad they are? This one will be a very stylishly made film, watch out,” exclaims Raima.
Hema Malini and daughters don’t show up at Apne’s premiere
June 30, 2007
Cinegoers and people invited to the premiere of the Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby Deol-starrer Apne at Cinemax, Versova suburban multiplex on Friday night, were disappointed to find the women of the family missing from the glam event. There was no Hema Malini, and neither were Dharam and Hema’s lovely daughters Esha and Aahana present to cheer the Deol patriarch and his puttars in their first film together.
Dharmendra wistfully admitted to us yesterday before leaving for the UK, “I would have been happy if Hema and the girls were there last night. I truly missed them. I had asked Hema to come for the premiere. And she was prepared to do so. But she fell unwell. Anyway, we love each other too much to be upset by such incidents.”
As a matter of fact, the Dharam-Hema jodi has over the years carefully kept itself out of the public eye. So it was not surprising that the couple maintained their privacy on this occasion too. Admitting that they are reluctant to display affection in public, Hema said, “Aahana and I saw the film a few days ago. After a long time I liked Dharamji’s performance. Aahana thought her dad was very good in the film. And, my God, he looks so good even at this age!”
The former Dream Girl said of her garam Dharam, “Yes, he wanted me to be with him at the premiere. It’s my fault that I couldn’t make it. Honestly, I didn’t go because I was feeling a little under the weather. Besides, the Dharam-Hema enigma will lose its appeal if we start making appearances together. Let the mystery remain.”
Hrithik Roshan meets with an accident
June 29, 2007
Recently Hrithik Roshan’s car met with an accident on the outskirts of Mumbai. But not many know that it was a drunk driver who banged into his car. And when Hrithik stepped out of the car to inspect the damage on his car, he came face-to-face with the driver who was dead drunk.
“The guy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Hrithik, but fortunately, Hrithik didn’t shout or raise his voice,” says a friend of the star. No wonder Hrithik is so popular among his fans.
Tusshar Kapoor finds a fan at London
June 29, 2007
Talking about popularity, our desi stars are fast becoming icons around the globe.
After their home-ground, the other place they’re hugely popular is the UK. Superstars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and newly embraced darlin’ Shilpa Shetty has made the break-through, and now the rest can reap the rewards.
Recently, while holidaying in London, Tusshar Kapoor went to watch an English film. On seeing him there, one of the ushers in the theatre started rapping dialogues from Shootout at Lokhandwala. The actor couldn’t stop blushing; we guess, like all of us even Tusshar assumed people were only reeling under Maya’s (aka Vivek Oberoi) effect. Surprise, surprise!
Shekhar Suman’s son Adhyayan ready to rock Bollywood
June 29, 2007
While Shekhar Suman has just gone through a change of image and has expressed a desire to return to films, his son Adhyayan is all set to make his debut in Anil Devgan’s film Haaley Dil.
According to sources close to the actor, “Adhyayan has already begun shooting for the film, but the producers don’t want to reveal his name before the film’s release. Amita, producer Kumar Mangat’s daughter too has stopped making public appearances after the film was announced.
The other actor Nakul was chosen from the 500-odd boys who were auditioned by a team of actors like Ajay Devgan and director Anurag Kashyap.” Adhyayan is said to be a promising newcomer.
“His father may not have been successful as a filmstar, but he is certainly one of the biggest stars on television,” adds an industry source. Incidentally, even Pakistani actor Javed Shaikh’s son was also considered for the second lead for the film. “It somehow did not work out. Adhyayan is a good choice considering he is Suman’s son,” says the source. Haaley Dil is a 10-crore love story which will be shot in Manali and various locations abroad.
Superstitious Bollywood
June 29, 2007
Iknow only one person who’s married to a tree, and it isn’t Aishwarya Rai. Of course some of her co-stars resemble chunks of unprocessed wood. But she never married any of them.
The only person I know who’s married a tree is Shabana Azmi. And no, it wasn’t the one that recurred in Indra Kumar’s cinema. Wonder what happened to Induji’s ‘lucky’ tree, did it stop being lucky with the flops?
Shabana did marry a tree, though. No, I’m not calling Javed saab a tree. The only tree that she married was in Aparna Sen’s film Sati, recreating the ancient practice of marrying manglik mademoiselles to trees to get rid of their inauspicious aura. Does anyone really believe the progressive Bachchans to be guilty of such practice? Did the family patriarch really need to tell the world that his bahu was never married to a tree?
For the record, both Abhishek and Aishwarya are manglik. As far as I know this confluence of two challenging horoscopes automatically cancels out whatever harmful conspiracies destiny may have planned for the couple. And by the way, one of the most successful marriages in the film industry bonds two mangliks — Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
Yup the Bachchans are a family of mangliks. Has it made them any less successful, collectively or individually?
Of course the film industry has lately discovered in big way the comfort of astrology and numerology. But I don’t think our film folks allow the stars above to govern their lives beyond a point.
For years Shah Rukh Khan has been advised by friends and well-wishers to move out of his bungalow Mannat. It’s supposed to have brought SRK ill luck.
What ill luck? All I see is good things happening to Shah Rukh’s career and life. And instead of moving out of Mannat he’s adding wings to his dream place.
As for those of my friends in the entertainment business who subscribe to superstitions, let me say in their defence that no one in this cut-throat world of give-and-fake….er, phek…is going to invest crores in a project just because his favourite astrologer says so.
Ekta Kapoor does seem to outwardly manifest and exude the most intense religiosity. And I respect her for her beliefs. But I don’t think she for a minute believes that success happened to her because she prayed hard or that she became religious to attain success.
Personal beliefs are personal, and that’s the way they should remain. Ekta, Karan Johar and Rakesh Roshan favour the letter ‘k’ as long as it works for them. The original ‘K’ specialist was Arjun Hingorani who believed in film titles with 3 Ks…. Kab Kyun Aaur Kahan, Kahani Kismat Ki. But he also made thundering ‘K’ flops like Khel Khiladi Ka and Kaun Kare Kurbani.
When Subhash Ghai decides to put himself in one frame of all his films, when Sanjay Dutt wears a particular shirt to court or when Kangana Ranaut insists on looking at her sister’s face before cutting any deal, I don’t think they are being aggressively superstitious. It’s just a homage to their comfort zone.
I recently saw one of my closest friends in the film industry suddenly wearing an astrological ring. “I wore it because someone persuaded me to. I don’t think it will change my life dramatically, or make me a calmer person. But what’s the harm?” she reasoned. Harm aur tum? No way! In the fiercely competitive world of entertainment, more and more people would resort to tikkas on foreheads, rings, beads and amulets. If nothing else, they do look cool on a lot of Bollywood’s folks.
Bollywood follows the KISS formula
June 29, 2007
From the time when movie buffs nicknamed films with long titles (HAHK, DDLJ, RHTDM) to the time producers themselves started promoting their film using abbreviated versions (K3G, KANK, MP3, etc…) names have come a long way. However, all this may soon be a thing of past and there is much reason to rejoice for the junta.
An increasing number of filmmakers in Bollywood are now waking up to the idea of the KISS rule. And we do not mean the kisses that have made the likes of Mallika Sherawat famous. KISS is: Keep It Short and Sweet. And for movie buffs and non-filmi types who found memorising the names of Bollywood films or their abbreviated versions more challenging than remembering chemistry equations — it’s certainly a welcome relief!
So, there are names right from Apne to Naqaab to Awarapan. Then there’s also Dhol, Tashan, Kaafila, Lajjo and Agar. What’s equally interesting is the use of English words as titles. Like
Goal, Cash, Speed, Race, Partner, Hey Baby, Marigold, Gandhi My Father, No Smoking, The Bong Connection, Kidnap, Victoria No 203, LoveStory 2050, Jimmy, Johnny Walker, Fear, Welcome, Woodstock Villa, Darling, Fashion, and Alibaug. And if that’s not all, there are also the days of the week, Wednesday and Sunday.
The only English word that has been over-used in Bollywood is love. But now with the lyrics also having a high content of English words, Hinglish is in, feel trade pundits. Says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, “Post Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (HAHK) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), there was a rush of these long titles and even if the name of the film was short, there was an added strap to support the title like Daag — The Fire. But most filmmakers have realised the futility of the length considering the title has never been the deciding factor at the box office. Also filmmakers are realising that with so many films and serials being churned out every day, the audience would prefer short names that are quick go recollect.”
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta, who’s always believed in keeping titles short (barring Shootout At Lokhandwala) — right from Aatish to Zinda to Alibaug — says, “I believe that the name of the film should be straightforward and be able to reflect the nature of the film.”
Filmmaker Vivek Agnighotri who’s film Goal is creating a buzz already, agrees and says, “The purpose of the name should be to attract the audience and at the same time let them know what to expect. It should not be used to show your poetic skills. A title should remain a title and not sound like poetry or a statement!”
And the filmmakers seem to have finally realised this as well. Well, with names becoming short and crisp, cine-goers are certainly not complaining! After all, what can work better than a kiss?
Apne
June 26, 2007
Cast: Sunny Deol, Dharmendra, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Kirron Kher, Victor Banerjee, Aryan Vaid
Director: Anil Sharma
Baldev Choudhary (Dharmendra) is an ex-boxer who has never achieved his dream of becoming a champion during his boxing career. This was mainly due to lack of financial support. So now he wants to fulfil his ambitions through his son, Angad’s (Sunny Deol) success.
Though Angad pulled through fine, Baldev never forgot who ruined his chance of becoming a winner. Soon, an opportunity arrives for Baldev in the form of a television show.
He is supposed to train a local lad to get into this media hyped boxing show. But he is ditched for a better coach at the last minute.
Baldev’s younger son Karan (Bobby Deol) has just launched his first music album. Seeing his father in trouble, he gives up his musical career and decide to take up boxing.
Karan works very hard and wins all the competitions to international levels.
But during his boxing match with the current world heavyweight champion, Karangets hurt.
He ends up paralyzed in a hospital bed. Baldev, who once wanted to achieve his life long ambition, is now about to loose his son.
He feels like killing himself. Angad steps in to turn the game upside down and bring his father the happiness of a lifetime in this touching drama.
Apne sees the all three Deols on the screen for the very first time.
Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii
June 26, 2007
Starring: Rahul Bose and Zain Khan
Directed By: Kituu Salooja
Rating: **
Central character Karan believes in this film that there is some magic in his cricket bat.
Similarly there is definitely some magic in treatment by debutant director Kituu Salooja that retains your interest till the end of the movie, which is no small thing in a non-starcast, non-romantic, modest budget film. It qualifies to be a light hearted, fun filled film that promises to break the barrier between the kiddie flick and the adult flick.
Though the background is Cricket, but the film works more for the amazing chemistry, between 13-yr old debutant Zain Khan and Rahul Bose.
Another plus point in film is it is devoid of any genre, so no overdose of melodrama, preachings (for kids) or dramatic moments. It is slick and crisp, plain, simple, fast paced, a 96-minute roller-coaster ride.
On flipside though, there is scope in development of Climax. The track involving Rahul’s strained relations with his father is also under developed. But that can be ignored, as it is a treat for whole family at the end of summer time. – Sandhir Flora
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