SRK 'waxed' in Paris

It's general knowledge that the English in India and other foreign countries is 'Same-Same but different'. In the sense, in India, we say 'Cat', whereas they say it's 'Kat'. Here we say, 'cheque', they say 'chek', so on and so forth! But there's one name to which not only India, but the whole of the Universe abides by and shall abide till eternity and that's 'Shah Rukh Khan'!

The latest 'victim' of the SRK mania was Paris, a city which experienced a never-before mayhem. The reason? Well, SRK was in France for the unveiling of his wax statue at the Grevin Museum. His wife Gauri Khan and Karan Johar accompanied him.

If you thought that SRK will be a stand-alone in the museum, better think again, coz' he has company from the likes of Marylyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and around 300 odd celebrities. SRK now becomes the third Indian at the museum, the first two being Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi.

Is there anything left for you to accomplish, Mr. Khan? True that 'Impossible Is Nothing'.

Industry shock! Tashan is trashed

In 2008’s biggest yet blow to Bollywood, Tashan has opened to a below average response and a negative word of mouth. It was evident from the trailers that the movie was going to be loaded with style and guns. But how much of it, no one knew. Obviously, no one expected the movie to be so full of these two elements and so low on



the others. The critics for once have no divided opinion: they are unanimous to state that Tashan is one of the poorest products to come out of the Yashraj banner.

Full of mindless gunshots and one-liners, the movie seems to have totally failed to connect to any section of the audience. Saif Ali Khan has been criticized for accepting a role that never offered him much to do. Kareena managed to saved face with her new look physique. Many seem to have forgotten that Anil Kapoor was there, but his accented English has been picked for some special pecking. But, the reliable man of Bollywood, Akshay Kumar has done it again. If anyone has received some positive feedback from Tashan it is Akshay. He has been called the saving grace of the movie. Debutant director Vijay Krishna Acharya has made a very bad start to his directing career. His talent, considering that he has scripted Guru and Dhoom, can never be doubted, but he needs to back it with more solid performances.

Meanwhile, the picture for Tashan could have been much rosier if it had been the normal big release that Yashraj movies usually get. But owing to a dispute between the producers and multiplex owners the movie did not release in many multiplexes across the country. This has undeniably eaten hugely into the potentially tremendous opening that the movie could have got. Now with the opinion about the movie going public, the same kind of response cannot be expected if and when the movie releases in multiplexes. The overseas market looks like the only place Tashan can salvage its investments.

Deepika Poses for FilmFare April’08

Tashan Movie Review From Bollywood Hungama

Hindi movies have undergone a sea-change in terms of content. From crude, been there seen that, done to death kind of movies, to films with substance, the audience tastes have changed over the years. Even though we've have grown up on the staple diet of desi food, we've cultivated a taste for Italian, Chinese, Thai and Mexican cuisine.

The experience with TASHAN is like, you enter a posh restaurant, waiting for a sumptuous meal to be served, but what's served on your plate is vada-pau. TASHAN takes you back to the 1970s Bollywood, when illogical situations, blood and gore, for no rhyme of reason, were the main ingredients that made the junta break into taalis. Sorry, the formula doesn't work anymore!

Write your own movie review of Tashan
Seriously, what was debutante director Vijay Krishna Acharya thinking when he wrote this apology of a script? It's perfectly okay to revisit the classics and pay homage to the masala films of yore, but the new interpretation has to be contemporary, you need to change with the times.

The one thing that you realize after watching TASHAN is, no amount of gloss, glam and top notch stars can ever substitute for a riveting script. Great stars, great styling, great songs and great visuals work as long as the script is great.

So what's the verdict then? If you genuinely miss the 'Kamine, main tera khoon pee jaaonga' and 'Bhagwan ke liye mujhe maaf kardo' kind of movies that dominated the 1970s, pick up a DVD of those hits instead. TASHAN is regressive cinema with a capital R.

A call centre executive Jimmy [Saif Ali Khan] is entrusted the responsibility of teaching English to a gangster, Bhaiyyaji [Anil Kapoor]. But Bhaiyyaji's key help Pooja [Kareena Kapoor] uses Jimmy to swindle Bhaiyyaji of Rs. 25 crores. Obviously, Bhaiyajji wants his money back and also Jimmy and Pooja's heads.

He settles for Bachchan Pande [Akshay Kumar] to carry out the job of tracing Pooja, once Jimmy surrenders himself to Bhaiyyaji. What happens next?

Actually, TASHAN starts off very well and the first hour unwinds at a feverish pace. Besides, there're interesting twists and turns in this hour that make you jump with joy. Akshay's entry in the movie is the turning point and the actor only takes the film to a new level.

Alas, the joy is short-lived. The writer-director goes completely off the mark and loses focus. Instead of coming to the point right away, what the writer does is makes you run in circles and circles. It's like boarding a direct flight to London, but the pilot suddenly decides on having stopovers in Ahmedabad, Dubai, Budapest, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, before landing at London. You're exasperated!

What ails the film? Various factors. The film goes on and on and on. Unwanted scenes, the outdated love angle, the lenggggggthy fight sequences [people showering Akshay and Saif with bullets, but, well, nothing happens], the confrontation between good and evil in the climax… you actually pinch yourself, were you watching the same movie in the first hour? Or did the reels get changed?

Another minus factor is Vishal-Shekhar's music. Seems like the composers have run out of tunes and what they offer is best suited for the music systems in their cars only. With such impressive names on and off screen, the music directors should've ensured that they come up with tunes that remain etched in your memory… in this case, at least that could've been a redeeming aspect. But the music is awful. The picturisation of some songs is, however, quite eye-filling.

Debutante director Vijay Krishna Acharya seems to have taken the audience for granted. Cinematography is excellent. The locales are a visual treat. Dialogues are good at places.

TASHAN belongs to Akshay Kumar completely. No two opinions on that. Take Akshay out of this film and the movie is a big zero. He's the lifeline of this project and his performance will be loved by elite and masses, both. Kareena Kapoor is fantastic. She looks gorgeous, acts very well [her role is similar to the one she essayed in FIDA] and yes, she carries off the bikini with élan.

Saif Ali Khan is relegated to the backseat. What did Saif see in this role? He's hardly there in the second hour. Anil Kapoor entertains at the start, but after a point, the Hindi-English bhasha gets on your nerves. Also, it's very difficult to decipher what he's speaking most of the time.

On the whole, TASHAN is one of the weakest films to come out of the Yash Raj banner. This film has gloss aplenty, but no soul. At the box-office, the film will join the ranks of JHOOM BARABAR JHOOM, LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG and AAJA NACHLE sooner or later… Business in Overseas will also be weak despite a popular cast.

Soha Ali Khan attends the opening of Roseana

Disaster strikes the Roshans !!!

The worst has struck Roshans. Music composer Ram Sampath, who moved court asking for Rs 2 crore as damages from the Krazzy 4 producers for copying his tune to compose four tracks, has won the legal battle today.

Giving its verdict on an appeal filed by 32-year-old ad jingle music composer, the Mumbai High Court has ordered the Roshans to remove the title track ‘Krazzy 4’, before it hits cinema theatres tomorrow.

Sampath, had stated in his appeal that the Roshans copied his 60-second music titled ‘The Thump’. The young composer had created the title for a mobile phone television advertisement last year and the Roshans had used the same tone in the title track of their upcoming flick ‘Krazzy 4’ without his consent.

Apparantly Roshans know that the stakes are too hish and their desperation was evident in court. Within hours of offering Rs 2 lakh per month to Sampath as ad-interim relief, the offer was raised to Rs 25 lakh and then “any amount that the court thinks appropriate”.

In the meanwhile the court instructed the Roshans to delete two songs if they want to release the film tomorrow.

"To my untrained ear, the music appeared to be similar", Justice Karnik, who listened to both Sampath's work for a Sony Ericsson cellphone advertisement, and the two songs composed by Rajesh Roshan for the film, said.

This means that Hrithik and SRK's Break Free item numbers will have to be removed from the film, which seems like a daunting task as the film prints have already been dispatchedfor the overseas release, as well as territories outside Mumbai.

Though Roshans’ lawyer Arif Bookwala pleaded the court not to stay the release of the film on Friday, Sampath’s lawyer Virendra Tulzapurkar said that mere monetary compensation would not suffice. “The SMS-s sent by Hrithik establish that they knew the music was not created by them. They have done this knowingly and deliberately.”

He added that his client was a “small time artiste” and needed to be protected when his work was plagiarised by such “big people”.

He also presented the opinion of Shiv Mathur, an independent expert, who confirmed Sampath’s allegation of plagiarism. Tulzapurkar added that the defendants were earning Rs 7 crore per month simply from ringtone downloads and Rs 2.5 crore per month from the sale of the music.

But Roshans' woes don't end here. We hear that their Krazzy 4 is a straight copy of the Hollywood film The Dream Team.

The posters of the two movies are similar and both the films are about four mentally unstable men and how they get out of a mental asylum to figure out that the outer world is as crazy as them.

In his defense, director of the film Jaideep Sen said that the similarity in the films is “sheer coincidence.”

Big B speaks in Marathi to calm people

In an apparent attempt to take the wind out of his detractors' sails, superstar Amitabh Bachchan Monday expressed gratitude to Maharashtra, saying the state has "given me so much in the last 40 years - my wife, my children and so much love.....Jai Maharashtra".

Speaking in chaste Marathi on the newly launched IBN-Lokmat Marathi news channel, Bachchan said he owes a lot to Maharashtra in whose capital his film career has blossomed.

Switching to Hindi after winding up his Marathi salutation with "Jai Maharashtra", the Bollywood icon said his father Harivanshrai Bachchan had many friends in the Marathi literary circles and was very happy to see the Marathi translation of 'Madhushala' - his celebrated poetic work in Hindi.

Bachchan also recalled his own association with several distinguished Maharashtrians in different walks of life including Shiv Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray and his participation in Marathi literary meets.

In the eye of a storm following the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena questioning his commitment to Maharashtra, the superstar had said that the constitution has given every Indian the right to live and work anywhere in the country.

In the panel discussion that the channel conducted on the controversial issue, its editor Nikhil Wagle drew viewers' attention to Bachchan's little known gestures for Marathi individuals like ailing Dalit poet Namdeo Dhasal and films like the Oscar-nominated "Shwaas".

I don't want to be called hot: Katrina

Katrina Kaif's sizzling number 'Sexy Lady' in Race, followed by the announcement of an item song in the sporty film Blue, has given the lady a va-va-voom image.

She's surprisingly uncomfortable with her sensuous image. "I want to retain the image of the girl nextdoor. I don't want the hot image. Even in 'Sexy Lady' I'm fully clothed.I'm still the girl nextdoor. It's not the conventionally sexy kind of song. "

Race where she's pitched for the sensuous sweepstakes against Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy has Katrina pulling out all the stops to erase the homely wholesome image.

The lady demurs. "I don't think so. Everything in Race looks larger-than-life very fulsome urgent and exaggerated. The actors are styled accordingly. I haven't done anything like it. Everyone's talking about it. I guess that's a good sign."

Katrina is equally reluctant to accept she's doing the most expensive item song ever in Tony's Blue.

"I wouldn't know about how expensive it is. But I'm doing a special appearance in Blue and the song-dance is part of it.Yeah I'm part of the film in a unique way.

Akshay Kumar got me into it. As for the expenses,nowadays so many numbers are thrown into the public's face. I don't think it's right for actors to talk about the financial side of a film."

Next, ask her about the status of her relationship with Salman Khan and she clams up. "I'd like to keep that personal."

Is it right to presume she's still with Mr Khan? "You can presume whatever you like. You can presume I'm an alien from outerspace, if you like. Right now I'm in a very happy place.

Even rumours of us actresses fighting for space in Race is way off the mark. I've my own place in Race. My confidence-level has grown in recent times, and yes, it's partly because of the hits that I've had."

After a number of films where her voice was dubbed Katrina finally used her own voice in Namaste London. And now she says she has dubbed for Race.

"I've been working very hard on my diction. I try to speak in Hindi in my daily dealings."

After being with Salman who patented the name Prem in a series of films, Katrina seems stuck with another Prem, Ranbir Kapoor, who's her co-star in Raj Kumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

"I guess they're worth being stuck with." She replies tongue-in-cheek. "I just love the script, my character and Ranbir's role. He's so much into his work. I'm also getting there. For me acting is no longer a hobby."

Mumbai girl crowned Miss India Universe

By Press Trust of India

Simran Kaur Mundi of Mumbai was crowned Miss India Universe 2008 at a glittering function held at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Parvathy Omanakuttam of Kerala won the Miss India World crown while Harshita Saxena of Goa was declared Miss India Earth.

All the three winners will represent the country at the international beauty paegants during the year.

They were selected from among 28 finalists in the presence of prominent personalities from the field of fashion and Bollywood.

The beauty paegant brought international fame to Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza among others in recent years.

The elimination rounds were interspersed with scintillating performances by Bollywood divas Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy. The performances were choreographed by ace dancer Shiamak Davar.

Bipasa Basu Pics From FHM cover

Ranbir-Katrina ki Prem Kahani

If Ranbir Kapoor is being seen as the true inheritor of the Kapoor legacy it is with reason.

In his debut film Saawariya a major part of Ranbir's personality was patterned on Raj Kapoor.

And now Raj Kumar Santoshi who sees a special spark in the Saawariya star is getting ready to take Ranbir's acting ancestry to another level.

In Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani Ranbir plays the melancholy lover-boy hopelessly in love with the idea of being in love.

The character was immortalized by Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker and before him, Chaplin in City Lights.

Ranbir in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani plays Prem a true inheritor of the two imperishable heroes from the past.

Says Santoshi, "I decided Ranbir was the right actor for my film from the time I saw Saawariya. He plays Prem an innocent guy with a heart of gold.

Yes there will be distinct elements of Charlie Chaplin and Raj Kapoor, though not too much of it. Raj Saab has already done it all in Sri 420 and it would look repetitive.

Also, that level of political and sexual innocence would look odd in present times. Let's say Ranbir plays the Charlie Chaplin and Raj Kapoor of our times."

Santoshi fondly recalls the experience of working with Ranbir's father.

"In my Damini Rishi Kapoor played a really difficult role….of a man caught between his duties towards his family and society. Though Rishi didn't have an author-backed role in Damini what a beautiful job of he did."

Ranbir on the other hand not only has the title role in Ajab Prem… his character also gets to go through a series of life-changing experiences.

Says Santoshi, "Ranbir takes interest in every aspect of the film. He's a keen student if cinema. His enthusiasm for cinema goes much beyond his role. I know I'll enjoy my shooting with him. But beyond that I'm right now enjoying interacting with him."

In the next two months Santoshi will be doing a first-look photosession between Ranbir and Katrina Kaif. "We'll also be sitting on the costumes because the clothes are a very important part of the story.

We start shooting the film only when Ranbir returns from his long foreign schedule of the Yashraj Film." Informs Santoshi.

Being a full-on love story Pritam is doing the music score of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. "I've been watching Pritam's growth as a musician. And I can't think of anyone else for this project," says Santoshi who has earlier worked with the likes of A R Rahman.

I'm not wearing any Bikini: Bebo

Though Kareena Kapoor is looking scorching hot in Tashan, you won't able to catch her her in bikini as reported earlier by many tabloids.

Says a souce from Yash Raj, "No doubt Kareena will look hot in shorts too. The running promos have already proved that Kareena in her new make over is looking stunning."

In her recent interview, Kareena too remarked on her bikini scene that she is not wearing any sexy attire in 'Tashan' and it is just a rumor. Though she agreed that her role is extremely glamorous as it was a requirement of her character.

She also added that her look will be a new trend for onscreen glam divas. So was that hyped scene another Yashraj promotional strategy?

It seems so as Tashan is cashing big time on Kareena’s bikini scene which may or may not be there in the film.

Tashaan Movie Stills