The secret to Vidya Balan's beauty!

Vidya Balan the quintessential southern beauty when quizzed on her Indian style revealed how she loved wearing ethnic kurtis, jhumkas, and kohl lined eyes. If there is one thing that no one can deny its Vidya's talked about gorgeous eyes! And we are the first to tell you its secret - Reveals a source close to the star "Vidya calls for her Kajal all the way from Pakistan. Whichever brand you put in front of her she will never touch any other kajal except that particular one that comes from Pakistan" "Luckily for Vidya now the brand is available in Delhi .She keeps getting gifted expensive eye cosmetics but she refuses to part with her favorite kajal" adds the source. There are some things that money just can't buy and Vidya Balan seems to prove that to us.Now we know how Vidya wowes us time and again with her gorgeous eyes.

Hard Kaur is on a different high

Hard Kaur is on a high ever since a poll declared her to the top position. Though some people feel that the polls are ridiculous and the results rigged, Hard Kaur has not let it affect her. The poll conducted by Easten Eye across the globe and this year's subject was "Hottest thing in Music" and Hard Kaur has reached the topmost position. Other Indian artist who made it to the poll were Pritam, Rahaat Fateh Ali Khan, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan & AR Rehman. But Hard Kaur beat all of them and came out the winner. Says HK," I don't let these things affect me. I just feel that in every game the spectators make the most noise. Im just glad that my talent has been recognized and want to thank people for all their love and support."

Priyanka Kothari gets noticed down south

A Ramgopal Varma find, Priyanka Kothari does only films which are made by RGV. But when it comes to films down south she has been experimenting a lot. She has not been able to make a big impact in Bollywood, but she's happy that her work's being appreciated in south. Besides films, the actress is also keeping herself busy with charitable causes. She does her bit by performing for free for causes that are close to her heart.

Aamir Khan injured during Baddy match!

No, this ain’t another marketing gimmick by ‘Mr Perfectionist’ Aamir Khan but the actor is creating news for real this time round. Aamir, who is known to be a keen badminton player, sprained his ankle recently while playing the game.

It so happened that Aamir being a baddy enthusiast went overboard while playing one of the matches and slipped, which lead to an injury.

According to reports, the actor had taken to the sport all through the shoot of ‘3 Idiots’, some even suggest that playing badminton is his way of keeping fit and looking young. “Aamir woke up students of IIM (Bangalore), which was the location for the ‘3 Idiots’ shoot as early as 3 am in the morning to play with him”, says a source.

Well, here’s wishing Aamir a speedy recovery as the actor has to gear up for a bigger match - the release of his much anticipated flick ‘3 Idiots’.

Aishwarya Rai to play Mumtaz Mahal

After bringing princess Jodha to life in Jodhaa-Akbar with a beautifully restrained performance, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to enter royal territory again by playing Mumtaz Mahal in a film based on the Taj Mahal. The film will have a budget of 30 million US dollars and will get more international coverage than Jodhaa-Akbar as Sir Ben Kingsley will play her co-star, Emperor Shah Jahan.

The film, called Taj is produced by Kingsley’s newly launched SBK Productions. It is an epic and will be shot on location in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.Co-incidentally, Aishwarya’s father-in-law, Amitabh Bachchan has worked with the legendary actor in the upcoming Teen Patti and was blown away by his talent and knowledge of cinema. In fact, he was nervous about shooting with him.

Ben Kinglsey has spoken about the film in the international press. He is thrilled about the project which revolves around the building of the Taj Mahal. He had spoken to Ash about the film when they were shooting The Last Legion. The screenplay is being penned by British actor, playwright and novelist, David Ashton. The multi-million dollar film will also include Shah Jahan’s time spent in isolation. The film will go on the floors next year. Kingsley is really fond of India and its people and this movie will give him a chance to spend time in India and connect with the people and audiences.

Kinglsey is charmed by Ash’s pristine, universally-appealing beauty and couldn’t think of casting anyone else. It obviously helps that Ash is an Indian and the face of Bollywood cinema in the west, which is why it makes for apt casting of her in the role of the legendary beauty.Kingsley’s wife, Brazilian actress Daniela Lavender will play Persian princess Kandahari Begum.

As for those who are skeptical about an Englishman playing the Mughal Emperor, it is time to watch Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi. Not many people know that Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji in the UK. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji was of Indian descent. Kingsley won an Oscar for his splendid, nuanced performance and it was hard to tell him apart from the real Mahatma. He is best remembered for that role.

Bharat Bala Productions have wanted to make a film on the Taj Mahal with Aishwarya Rai since a very long time but the project hasn’t taken off. Earlier, Akbar Khan made the ambitious Taj Mahal with Sonia Jehan and Zulfi Sayed. The film also starred Kabir Bedi, Manisha Koirala, Kim Sharma and Arbaaz Kham, among others. After being stuck in the cans, it released in 2005 and flopped. Let us see how Kingsley’s film turns out.

Cool Kashmira Shah makes Ranbir Nervous

Ranbir Kapoor is quite a charmer in real life but he certainly isn’t comfortable when it comes to romancing in reel life. Ranbir’s nervousness was apparent to onlookers on the sets of Wake Up Sid when he was shooting a sensuous scene with Kashmera Shah.

He kept messing up the scene and director Ayaan Mukerjee, had to call ‘cut’ several times before the young actor got the right expression. A source said, “The scene was passed after many retakes.”

“Ranbir plays an innocent guy and Kashmera plays a neighbour, who is very attracted to him and wants to seduce him. The scene in which Ranbir got very nervous had Kashmera wearing extremely low-waist pants. We don’t know why Ranbir was feeling awkward. Maybe it was because of Kashmera’s sexy siren image,” said a source from the unit.

While Ranbir remained unavailable for comment, Kashmera said, “I am a confident woman and I generally don’t get nervous. But this time I kept giggling like a schoolgirl. Ranbir is quite sexy in his own way. He has a nice boyish charm. He was uncomfortable but I think he was acting.”

Sex bomb Sherlyn Chopra to go to Jail

The inmates of the Arthur Road jail can expect to have a blast when Bollywood sex bomb Sherlyn Chopra visits them on Sunday.

However, unlike her other appearances, Sherlyn won’t shake her butt to any raunchy item song. Rather she will restrict herself to reciting poetry to the inmates and cheer them up with her presence. She will also distribute copies of The Bhagvad Gita to the prisoners.

The day couldn’t have been more apt because Sunday is Gita Jayanti.

Sherlyn hopes her visit would entertain the prisoners.

“I think life in jail must be really dull and stressful, and I hope that my performance not only entertains the prisoners, but also raises their spirits,” she is quoted as saying by a tabloid.

Sherlyn’s shayari became quite popular on ‘Bigg Boss 3’ and she’s looking forward to show her poetic side in Arthur Road Jail as well.

I cant forget Shahrukh's smell: Anushka

It seems like the magnetic personality of Shah Rukh Khan attracts one and all. Ask the chubby-faced Anushka Sharma, who debuted opposite the King Khan in ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’! The girl is still hanging on to the memories of working with the ‘Baadshah’ and cannot stop herself from speaking about him at any given opportunity. Recently, in an interview, the girl said, “One thing I can`t forget about SRK is his smell. He smells superb. He used to smell different each time. I would be like, `Wow man! Shah Rukh, you smell so good`.”
Talking about how baffling, Shah Rukh can be, Anushka said, “If you think you know Shah Rukh Khan, you don`t. That`s the thing about him. He can always keep you guessing.”

“Each day I used to be like ‘Okay, he`s like this, oh no he`s not like that...’ Every day he used to be a new person for me. He`s just so mysterious, yaar. I don`t know if you`ve heard anyone say it.... I can`t fathom him. I just can`t," the she added.

Aamir won't sign films for a year even for Rs 30 crores

By Subhash K Jha

It looks like it will be another year at least after 3 Idiots and his own home productions Dhobi Ghat and Delhi Belly before Aamir Khan will sign another new film.

Since the release of Ghajini in December 2008 Aamir has not signed on the dotted line for any project. In fact Aamir had decided to take one full year off after Ghajini to rejuvenate himself. After the tough physical and emotional preparation for Ghajini, Aamir just wanted to relax and spend time with his wife and children.

That’s precisely what he has done for the last one year. But now Aamir would be taking one more year off. This next one year would be devoted to putting his three home productions in order.

Says a source, “Aamir had earlier decided to take one year off. But now he has decided to extend his sabbatical by one more year.

Filmmakers who have approached him with projects have been told that Aamir intends to take approximately one more year to supervise the post-production and final look of the three films that he has produced in 2009, namely Abhinay Deo’s Delhi Belly, Anushka Rizvi’s The Falling and Aamir’s wife Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghat.”

Aamir feels all three projects need serious fine-tuning and have been delayed because he has been busy finishing and promoting 3 Idiots.

Says the source, “The only way Aamir feels his three productions can be completed and released in 2010 is if he sets aside all his own acting assignments to look into them. So he isn’t signing any films in 2010 either.”

Says the source, “It requires guts to say no to the best roles going in Bollywood and to a reported fee of approximately Rs 30 crores per film. But Aamir suffers no security pangs about not signing films. He told a friend he will work at his own pace, no matter what the temptation or provocation to take on extra work.”

Dad walks out of Salman Khan's Veer screening

Recently, Salman Khan hosted a trial of Veer for his father, Salim Khan. Salman was waiting to see how his father would react to the film but the latter simply left the screening without a word.

Thinking that his father perhaps didn’t like the film, Salman got worried. He was overwhelmed when his father called him at 2am to tell him that the film as well as Salman was outstanding.

The actor then got nostalgic about the way his father had reacted to his debut, ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’. Even then, Salim saab had walked out of the screening wordlessly and gone home and told Sallu that he would get cult status with the film and the only one who could mess it up would be him.

Remembering his father’s advice is essential at this point as Salman is counting on Veer to be a hit and can’t afford to make any mistakes

De Dana Dan : Movie Review by Taran Adarsh

Be forewarned. DE DANA DAN is the most bizarre film from the maharaja of laughathons, Priyadarshan. Not even in your wildest dream you'd think that Priyadarshan would place almost an entire film in a hotel and have its entire cast, comprising of 26 [or is it 27?] characters, most of them weirdos, interacting with each other. Brings back memories of BLAME IT ON THE BELLBOY? May be!

But Priyadarshan needs to be credited for pulling it off. There are times when you laugh hysterically at the most outlandish jokes and situations. There are times when a raised eyebrow or a wide-open jaw makes you break into a guffaw. 

Be cautioned. DE DANA DAN is a loud film, with each and every character screaming on top of his/her voice, with the characters shouting, running, even floating and swimming in the end.  

But what do you expect in a Priyadarshan film that has a title like DE DANA DAN? The promos never promised path-breaking or thought-provoking cinema that would give birth to debates and discussions. So why look for logic in this one?

DE DANA DAN makes no qualms of narrating a story you haven't heard before. Here, the story is non-existent and it's left on Priyadarshan to mix-n-match those two dozen characters and keep the momentum alive for the next 2.45 hours.

DE DANA DAN promises laughter and entertainment and sticks to its promise. This one's not for the hard-nosed types, but for those who worship escapist cinema. Who want to chuckle, giggle and chortle at those mindless jokes. In short, DE DANA DAN is a pure dhamaal entertainer!

Nitin [Akshay Kumar] is a butler, cook, driver, watchman, gardener to a wealthy female industrialist [Archana Puran Singh] in Singapore. Like any young man, Nitin too dreams of a better life. He desperately wants to become rich and marry the love of his life, Anjali [Katrina Kaif], who supports him financially.

Ram [Suniel Shetty], Nitin's best friend, also came to Singapore with the dream of striking it rich, but ended up a courier delivery man. He falls for Manpreet [Sameera Reddy], but her high society parents will never approve of marriage, not unless Ram has lots and lots of money.

In the midst of all this is Harbans [Paresh Rawal], a shrewd businessman, who's looking for ways to multiply his income and avoid his debtors. He decides the best way would be to marry his son [Chunky Pandey] off to a girl whose parents can give him a large dowry. He is introduced to Manpreet's parents at a function and is impressed by their social status. He introduces himself as a well-established businessman, impresses them and they decide to get Manpreet and Harbans' son married.

With several factors working against them, Nitin and Ram soon reach a dead end in their relationships. When both receive ultimatums from their girlfriends, they realize that only a life of vice can help them out of their misery. They come up with an audacious plan to kidnap someone important and demand a ransom.

The kidnapping goes awry and both hide at a local hotel while waiting for the ransom money. But misfortune is never far and the kidnapping spirals out of control.

Meanwhile, Manpreet's wedding reception is being held at the same hotel that Nitin and Ram are hiding in. Soon, they are joined by a motley set of characters including a Chinese Don [Asrani], a hired assassin [Johny Lever], a ACB police inspector [Sharat Saxena], a club dancer [Neha Dhupia], an ambassador [Vikram Gokhale], a young frustrated double crossing wife [Aditi Govitrikar], a letch [Shakti Kapoor], a drunken waiter [Rajpal Yadav] and a dead body nobody wants to check into the hotel.

DE DANA DAN is atypical Priyadarshan film that has the unmistakable stamp all over it. But, at the same time, DE DANA DAN is erratic and uneven - energetic at times, lethargic at places. Also, the culmination to the film is very similar to the director's earlier works, with the entire cast running helter-skelter.

On the flip side, you miss Akshay's presence in the second hour. He disappears [gets locked in a cupboard] for at least 20 minutes and the focus, hence, shifts to the other characters. His fans will miss his presence, for sure. Besides, the film tends to get very lengthy towards the second half and overtly verbose too.

Director Priyadarshan is synonymous with comedies and the ace storyteller promises laughter in abundance. Handling so many characters, plus making a film on mistaken identities could be very tough, but the director gets it right. Pritam's music is alright, while the RDB track, 'Paisa', is the pick of the lot. Salim-Sulaiman's background score is energetic. K. Ahambaram's cinematography is alright.

The review would be incomplete if one ignored the dialogue writer's [Jay Master] contribution to the film. The lines are laced with wit and soaked in humour and bring the house down on several occasions.

DE DANA DAN has so many characters that it gets difficult to pinpoint or single out any one actor. Akshay is at his best in a Priyadarshan film and DE DANA DAN proves it. Suniel is natural to the core. Paresh is incredible; he pitches in a superb act. Katrina and Sameera don't have much to do. Amongst the plethora of actors, Johny Lever, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Vikram Gokhale and Archana Puransingh deserve special mention.

On the whole, DE DANA DAN is targeted at the masses and it delivers laughter in abundance. Leave your brains behind to enjoy this madcap entertainer!

  

Why Kurbaan flopped?

Kurbaan, a film that had- Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor as the lead pair, Dharma Productions (read Karan Johar) at the helm of production and seasoned ad filmmaker like Rensil D’Silva, as the director could have well been a profit making film. It had all the “essentials” to make a blockbuster.

However, forget being a blockbuster, it failed to garner even a decent opening. If trade figures are to be believed, it took an abysmal 20-30 percent opening, with no signs of reviving and this is in spite of good reviews from almost all the critics.

Why didn’t the audience were ‘Kurbaan’ on Kurbaan? What put the audience off Kurbaan was it the content?

It can’t be because if the content was bad then it should’ve at least opened well and then nose- dived, which wasn’t the case with this film as even the opening was so weak that one wondered why? Why did the audience didn’t even give this film a fair chance or a fair share of their eyeballs?

I feel wrong marketing and messaging of the film killed the enthusiasm of the audience even before it released.

It was clearly a case of how wrong can one go in gauging the pulse of the audience and how one wants to be “different” for the sake of being different.

Sure, Kareena’s bare back against Saif’s bare torso makes for a cool and hatke picture from the publicity stills point of view, but is it adding value to your product? Was it the right messaging? I doubt it.

The stark imagery, the spine-chilling shots, Saif Ali Khan’s shot where he is poking a knife in his chest…in the name of publicity, gave an extremely grim appearance to the film.

While the makers and the actors of the film were repeating it in every media interaction that Kurbaan was an edgy, racy thriller…set against the backdrop of a love story, the imagery certainly didn’t portray that!

One can recall watching “Date with Kurbaan” where Kareena and Saif waxed eloquent about the film. The soft demeanor in which the leading actors spoke of the film hardly went in tandem with the promos on print and channels. A racy thriller doesn’t need to be grim and morose!

While one should laud Dharma for the variety of stories that it’s trying to tell, by telling a story looking at the global terrorism with a realistic frame, especially in these times when comedies are clearly ruling the roost.

In these times when films like All the best, which are run of the mills comedies are opening to packed houses, Dharma and UTV should’ve paid a little more attention to the “messaging” that went out for Kurbaan.

Let’s face it, in today’s uncertain times where one doesn’t know whether a morning walk would turn into a ride to the hospital, the audiences are in no mood to see dark films, which portray grim, sad and stark realities of life.

“Aaj kal ki zindagi mein kya problems kam hain jo hum aisee picturein dekhen, ” was the blunt observation of an office colleague. Like it or not, this is the reality of the junta who pays for tickets. No one and I repeat no one wants to see grimness and sadness.

Another wrong move, which I feel hampered the prospects of the film were the number of prints with which it was released.

I am not sure if it was because UTV had acquired the film under such a hefty price that it was compelled to release it with as many prints as it did or was it as plain and simple as reaching out to as many people as possible. If was the latter then clearly the things weren’t thought through completely.

With more than 1400 prints, you cannot possibly release a “thriller” which is publicized as (for the lack of a better word) a “serious” watch. Even if it was a thriller- Indian audience, by any standards, don’t watch thrillers half as much as they enjoy a romance or a comedy.

Another factor that should’ve been taken into consideration is the timing of the release. As we inch closer towards the first anniversary of 26/11, people of India are witnessing enough “reality” on various mediums to again be reminded of the terror in today’s times via a film.

We have all the channels, newspapers, radio and every other perceivable medium shouting from rooftops reminding us of what happened a year back, we don’t need to pay and watch another reminder.

To sum it up– wrong messaging via all mediums, flooding the market with prints and wrong timing of release did the film in.

The least a film of this stature could’ve done is garnered a decent opening but it didn’t and the results are for everyone to see. It only goes to show how messaging and packaging a film can make or break it.

Forget word-of-mouth, you won’t even be able to get a decent number of people to see the film in the first place, even if two superstars and a superstar production house helm it. Nobody is bigger than the audience perception.

Ref : http://www.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=32898