Sushmita Sen to act with Richard Gere!


Sushmita Sen’s acting career has reached a new high.

Even as her first Hollywood movie is yet to hit the marquee, Sushmita Sen is gearing up to act in her second American film in which she will be seen opposite Richard Gere, according to a newspaper report.




Sushmita already shares the screen space with supermodel Naomi Campbell and Drena De Niro (Robert De Niro’s daughter) in New York-based filmmaker Manish Gupta’s Indo-American movie Karma Confessions and Holy .

And now in another big stride the actress is reported to have clinched a role in the US-based filmmaker Sutapa Ghosh’s ‘The Expat’.

The movie, to be produced by Miramax films, will have Sushmita portraying an Indian immigrant. Gere is Sush’s co-star in the film.

The movie will be shot in Argentina but the shooting schedule is yet to be finalized.

Meanwhile, Sushmita is busy in promoting her upcoming film Zindagi Rocks which stars Shiney Ahuja , Kim Sharma , Mausami Chatterjee and Seema Biswas .

‘Zindagi Rocks’ is directed by Tanuja Chandra .

The film is likely to hit the silver screen on September 29th.

__________________
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If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

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Babul grounded mid-flight
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Ravi Chopra's film delayed once again as crucial scenes to be shot at the airport have been stalled because of security alert


First it was the Salman Khan-John Abraham tussle that delayed the shoot of Ravi Chopra's Babul. Now, it's the high-alert situation at the international airport. Babul has once again come to a standstill as it is awaiting clearance from airport authorities to shoot some crucial climax scenes at the Mumbai international airport.
High-risk zones
The high-alert along with the beefed-up security in the sensitive zone has further delayed Babul. Chopra is awaiting the green signal from the airport authorities to can those important shots. The final schedule of the film was slated to be over by mid-August. But recent security developments and airports being declared high-risk zones have delayed the shoot schedule to a considerable extent.
Says Chopra, "We are still awaiting clearance from the airport authorities. Hopefully, we expect it to come through by month-end. This will be Babul's final schedule. We were all set to shoot when certain developments requiring extreme security precautions occurred."
December release
Babul is yet another socially meaningful film post Baghban. The story takes a look at a young widow and the need to move on in life. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini and Rani Mukerji, besides Salman Khan and John Abraham.
The initial plan was to release Babul in October, to coincide with the Diwali/Eid releases. "Babul will now release on December 8. We had thought of a Diwali release but there is another Salman film coming out at the same time (Sajid Nadiad-wala's Jaan-E-Mann). We did not want to crowd the scene," says Chopra, who is also producing the small screen soap Viraasat on Star Plus.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

Film Dynasty: Menace of the Star Kids
By Deepak Pawar, September 4, 2006 - 09:00 IST

I think our Indian Film Industry should really be called a Film Dynasty. I would like to clarify at the very outset that I am not a budding actor trying to make it big nor am I remotely related to any would be actor who is. This is my attempt to fight the corner for all those talented newcomers who are struggling to make it big as actors in the face of mindless dominance of screen space by some undeserving star kids.

Every generation of selfish actors spawns a new breed of wannabes from its own kith and kin. Illustrious ex-stars shamelessly provide launch pads for every Tom, Dick & Harry, who is even remotely related to them, roping in the best in the business and leaving no stone unturned to ensure that their wards makes it big. Even if their first attempt fails, so what? They keep coming back, again and again, like a plague, imposing themselves on a hapless audience. In such a self-centred situation, can any newcomer or 'struggler,' as he or she is referred to, with no filmy background, achieve lasting success in this big bad world?

Consider the following:

What chance does a newcomer have in getting the first break if he is not proficient in Hindi, just like Saif Ali Khan wasn't, when he first started?


Which new bloke can make it big with the dancing skills of Sunny Deol?


What chance does a newcomer have in making it as a leading man if he is balding, just like Akshaye Khanna is?


What chance does a new girl have in making it big if she is as average looking and bereft of acting skills as Tanisha is?


And which newcomer can be cast as a villain-bashing leading man in any movie if he looks like a pre-pubescent schoolboy like Shahid Kapoor does?

Barring a few handful such as Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Konkana Sen, the rest should thank their doting godfathers for sustaining their run this far. The list is endless. Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol, Abhay Deol, Tanisha, Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Tusshar Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan, Uday Chopra, Akshaye Khanna, Ashmit Patel, Shamita Shetty, Pratibha Sinha, Riya Sen, Twinkle Khanna, Vivek Oberoi, Ritesh Deshmukh (no prizes for guessing how he made it!), Karan Sharma, Aryaman, etc, etc. All these people have no business being where they are today.

I know it is commonplace for a child to follow in its parent's footsteps. I have no problem with that, but it is the ready-made fame, fortune and recognition that the star kids get on a golden platter with not a drop of sweat lost, often at the cost of somebody more deserving, which irritates me no end. I do not buy the argument that they have to toil harder than their parents to live up to the expectations. If that were to be the case, they would have accepted their failure and quit trying long back, instead of pulling strings and sneaking back time and again. Nor do I subscribe to Rajesh Khanna's view that they have their parents' acting genes in them, therefore giving them an advantage over others. If that were to be the case, then Mr. Khanna himself and other great actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra, whose parents, as far as I know, were not actors, would have never made it big in the first place! Truly, in politics and filmdom, familiarity, favoritism and influence hold sway like in no other profession, destroying true talent, dedication and honesty. Thank goodness for a Ram Gopal Verma who atleast gives unknowns a whiff of a chance.

Is there no way we can stem this rot? Can't there be a more objective way of selecting those who deserve to get a break, based on looks, talent and skills? Can't the others take a leaf out of Mr. Verma's book and provide the newcomers a forum where they could exhibit their talents in front of those in the know how, instead of having to resort to becoming beauty queens or taking recourse to the dreaded casting couch?

Finally, just to finish off, here's that oft repeated Bollywood one-liner, which aptly sums up this issue: 'Allah meherbaan to gadha pehelwaan!'

(Deepak Pawar is a Bollywood buff and a regular surfer of IndiaFM. The views expressed here are strictly personal and IndiaFM does not necessarily subscribe to them.)

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

Shradh ke side-effects


Bollywood is known for its superstitious beliefs. And when it comes to their films, the producers don’t believe in taking any kind of risks. This is probably the reason why the releases generally reduce during the period of ‘Shradh’. ‘Shradh’ according to the Hindu calendar is a period which is unsuitable for any kind of business and well, movies surely are a business. This year, two movies that released in this period which includes Naksha and Dil Diya Hai, both bombed at the Box Office. These two flops resulted in the loss of minimum of Rs.12 Crores. Besides, if we take a practical view, the films didn’t manage to impress the critics as well, so one can say that they were heading for an ill-fate anyway.

But then, even if we look at the records of past few years, the belief of the producers can’t be completely overlooked. Last year, films like Vivek Agnihotri’s Chocolate and Rohit Jugraj’s James failed at the Box Office, though the expectations from these films were actually high. In fact, many people were expecting RGV to postpone James due to Shradh, but the man decided to flow against the tide. And in spite of the high level of publicity done for these films, for some reason, they never pulled audiences to the cinema halls. Again, if we move back to 2004, Atul Agnihotri’s directorial debut Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha failed at the Box Office though it had big stars like Salman Khan and Preity Zinta. Similar was the fate of Phir Milenge which had stars like Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty.

The ‘Shraadh’ period was considered so dangerous to the film business that till 2004, nearly 90% of the releases used to get postponed to avoid ‘Shraad’. But now, say some experts, the things are changing. With the coming of corporates into the industry, the focus is on business rather than the old beliefs. Interestingly, the period of ‘Shraadh’ and Ramzan when the releases were the least are now being used to release medium budget films. This very year saw nearly 22 films releasing during the 45 day period. Besides, in terms of business, since most producers avoid releases during ‘Shraadh’, this serves as a golden period for smaller films to cash in. Films like Pyar Ke Side Effects, Dor, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Woh Lamhe among others have been released by the producers with the same strategy in mind.

This obviously gives a chance for the medium-budget films to avoid the biggies which make their grand entry during the festive season Diwali and Id. This year, films like Farhan Akthar’s Don, Sajid Nadiadwala’s Jaan-E-Mann and J.P. Dutta’s Umrao Jaan are all among the big films that are going to takeover the market during Diwali-Eid. Many film makers whose films are less on glamour and star value avoid this period. Says Madhur Bhandarkar that he would better let this phase pass-by and then give a proper release to his next film Traffic Signal. As sometimes, even the most sensible of movies have chances of going unnoticed when the big bannered multistarrer’s hit the screens.

Whichever way it might, one thing is sure that this year has proven to be extremely lucky for Bollywood with movies doing big business. And if the producers continue to plan and play it strategically, it’ll benefit the industry in turn as all the films – big or medium budgeted – will have a chance to score with the audiences.

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'Rang De Basanti' is India's entry for Oscars
26th Sept 2006 09.08 IST
By Agencies

The Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti will be India's entry to the Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category.

The decision to send Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra 's take on modern day patriotism and one of Bollywood's biggest blockbusters of the year to the Oscars was announced in Mumbai by the Film Federation of India on Monday.




"This year, there were eight films in contention, including Lage Raho Munnabhai , Krrish and Omkara , but the jury chose ‘Rang De Basanti’," Film Federation of India member Suparn Sen said.

"This year, it was a tough call because there were so many quality films in the running, ‘Rang De Basanti’ stood out for its cinematic quality, its script. It is a very contemporary film and overall we thought it would be a good choice. Now let us see what they (the Academy) think," chairman of the jury and noted filmmaker Basu Chatterjee said.

Starring Aamir, Atul Kulkarni , Soha Ali Khan , Kunal Kapoor and Anupam Kher , ‘Rang De Basanti’ chronicles one incident in the lives of seven youngsters as they go from being carefree college students to revolt against the government system.

The film, whose songs proved big hits, won critical acclaim as well as box office success.

The film has also been screened for consideration for nomination at Golden Globe Awards and producer Ronnie Screwala is confident that ‘Rang De Basanti’ stands a "strong chance" at the Oscars.

"I'm delighted that ‘Rang De Basanti’ has been chosen as India's official entry to the Academy Awards. Such movies come along only once in a generation and we shall make every effort to ensure it is seen by as wide an audience as possible internationally too," Screwala said in Mumbai.

He said UTV was already planning a mainline release in the US in association with two major studios.

‘Rang De Basanti’ is the second Aamir film to be chosen as India's entry to the Oscars. His earlier film Lagaan was sent as India's entry in the Foreign Film category some years ago.

Filmmaker of Indian origin Deepa Mehta 's Water starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray has been chosen as Canada's entry in the same category.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.

nice infor

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Akshay Kumar's laughter is a national rage


Jaan-E-Mann has left its audiences spellbound. Not only are the audiences loving the movie, but are watching it over and over again. Everything about the movie seems perfect, be it Salman’s emotional act or Preity’s fashion sense or Anupam Kher’s comic timing. But it is Akshay’s laughter that is catching the eye of one and all.

Akshay’s laughter is creating ripples all over India as people love the way he laughs in the film. Akshay has played the nerd to the T. His portrayal is perfect as it has succeeded in drawing crowds to full houses in cinema halls. Salman too is revelation in the film. Probably one of Salman’s best roles of his career! Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar compliment each other in two contrasting roles so perfectly, that you just sit and enjoy the movie in the awe of the two stars.

Well, with the kind of response and audience feedback the movie is getting, it is now right to say that Jaan-E-Mann is one of the better made films of the year. And if in case you have not seen the movie, we recommend you to watch this one NOW.

__________________
I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.

Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets.