Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Har Pal not an art film: Preity Zinta
Preity Zinta has rubbished reports that her next film Har Pal with multiple National Award wining director Jahnu Barua is an art film.
"Everyone thinks it's an art film but it's not. It's a beautiful story with an amazing music. Har Pal is super commercial," Preity said.
Slated for a summer release, the film also stars Shiney Ahuja, Dharmendra and Eesha Koppikhar.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Preity surprises in Heaven on Earth
When the first slap comes, it hits us, the audience hard across the face.Spousal abuse as a theme is not new to cinema. What sets Deepa Mehta’s Heaven On Earth apart from other films on the theme including Jagmohan Mundhra’s Provoked is the fusion of unspoken unexpressed terror with mythological elements all packed with sardine-like compactness into a small apartment in Ontario where Chand newly-packed into a flight that takes her to her wedding in Canada, arrives fearful and hopeful.
What she brings with her is her mother’s tales and homilies, songs and mythology that follow the bride into her chamber of horrors.
What follows in Chand’s new life is a Kafkaesque nightmare that could claim the life of any Indian bride transported into a foreign country after marriage . Absolute authenticity is the hallmark of Deepa Mehta’s vision. Her permanent cinematographer Giles Nuttgens enters Chand’s adopted Canadian home with her and remains by her side, living her pain, experiencing her humiliation and agony, as within no time Chand becomes that nightmarish entity whom we all read about in crime sections of the papers.
The abused wife
The film’s greatest triumph is its economy of expression. The tightly-wound tale of the tormented wife is never allowed to have loose moments. Ironically, outwardly, we see a warm home filled with a Sikh family, half of whom seem to have absolutely nothing to do. Within their abject nullity lies the secret to the violence that claims possesses and tries to smother Chand’s domestic dreams.
We know from the start that she’ll escape the nightmare of a brutal marriage. That she lives to tell her tale is self-evident. The magic of her existence in the trap of an arranged marriage lies in the illusion of normalcy and compassion that she creates within the ambience of abject terror by inventing a double for her husband... a doppelganger, a spirit in human form, if you will, who applies balm to all of Chand’s wounds and gives her the courage to survive when the very breath of her existence is being choked out.
The snake-god from Chand’s backyard in human form assuming the physical traits of her violent husband is a metaphor that illuminates the darkest recesses of Chand’s godforsaken life. Every time she hides in her bedroom for a dialogue with her phantom-soul mate, Preity Zinta’s face lights up with thousands of unexpressed yearnings trapped in a heart that aches for release. Zinta lights up the darkest corners of her tortured and frightened character’s heart.
Thoroughly deglamorized and devastated by destiny’s cruel blows, Preity plays Chand with a dignity and depth that take us by surprise.
She and director Deepa Mehta keep the hysteria completely in check. The drama is generated completely from the normal domesticated sounds and sights.
The film creates the growing claustrophobia of Chand’s marital domesticity with acute austerity. The spurts of on-screen violence are all the more shocking for the way they erupt within the workaday milieu.
The one big sequence of violence erupts in the kitchen when Chand’s somewhat confused and altogether out-of-control husband Rocky thrashes his wife... for his outwardly-stoic mother’s sake, of course.
There are no villains in Heaven On Earth—not even the husband Rocky (played with understanding by newcomer Vansh Bhardwaj) who hits out at wounds that are never allowed to heal.
There are only victims in Deepa’s scheme of presentation. Silently-screaming puppets on a string being manoeuvred into a life of domesticated dereliction by forces that we could designate as fate or just cruel blows of workaday drudgery.
The mythic intervention that creeps into the plot with the appearance of the naag in Chand’s backyard, slithers into the scenario with surreptitious grace, creating for the theme a residue of myth and dream that nourishes the wife’s bereft kingdom.
The borderline between illusion and reality, between Chand’s violent reality and the world of harmony and love she creates in the womb of her heart, is so superbly seamless we never know when Chand’s smothered scream transforms into a silent whoop of triumph.
Heaven On Earth is not a film that offers easily digestible solutions to the complex problem of domestic violence. It neither takes sides nor allows the bride to turn into a pitiable victim. Preity Zinta standing supremely dignified at the centre of the conflict firnishes the theme with amazing grace. She’s the only known face in the crowded Punjabi home of patriarchs, matriarchs, victims and perpetrators of bitter violence. But Preity never lets it known she’s a star.
She merges into the terrifying domesticity of Deepa’s household. The character steps out occasionally into the workaday world of a migrant job (the friendship with the feisty Jamaican woman at her workplace rings a little hollow when compared with the reality that envelopes the rest of the plot) and returns to her horrific home space where she creates a mythical merger between illusion and reality.
Finally, when Chand says goodbye to a life of married trauma we see on Preity’s face a mixture of distant triumph and immediate self-realization.
Chand has finally come home.
Freida Pinto may be the next bond girl
We just read Danny Boyle denying his involvement with a slew of upcoming film projects. And 
now, file his “Slumdog Millionaire” star, Freida Pinto, into the rumor mill as the next Bond girl.
From across the pond, Britain’s The Sun is reporting that Pinto has been invited to a screen test for the next James Bond movie, tentatively titled “Bond 23.” Their source reports, “Freida came to the attention of the Bond team when they were casting ‘Quantum of Solace.’ She was too young at the time to have a part as a love interest for a secret agent.”
But apparently, in just two years, the star has grown up enough and just happened to star in one of the biggest films of the year. Oh, it won Best Picture, too. It comes as no surprise that Bond producers want Pinto in their next spy thriller. Ok, I’m biting.
However, the article continues to run with an already debunked rumor of Danny Boyle helming the next spy thriller. The source continues, “Danny Boyle is favourite to take the helm of the next movie, which would increase Freida’s chances of a starring role.”
You don’t have to tell this Bond fan how cool it would be to have Freida Pinto firing at jumpsuit-wearing cronies in a volcanic, underground lair. And if she’s been of interest to producers for the past two years, then I would say she’s the high contender. But at this point, when it’s as likely as Boyle being the next director, we might want to chalk this up as crazy rumor.
What do you think Bond-philes? Would you like to see Freida Pinto sipping martinis with our favorite spy? Or can we put this dossier away? Share your thoughts below!
Genelia D’souza On Cover of ‘Seventeen’
Genelia Dsouza was all over the place a few months back, when Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, witnessed a smash hit. She paired opposite the brand newteenage sensation Imran Khan in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.
The latest edition of Seventeen brings the ever smiling beauty Genelia onthe cover. In this edition of Seventeen, she makes some true cofessions.
She also speaks about the wildest thing that she has done. Besides all these, one can also get a glimpse of the “real Genelia” in this issue.
She was all over the place a few months and weeks ago, courtesy the smash hit Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na, in which she was paired opposite the brand newteenage sensation Imran Khan! We are indeed talking about the one and onlyGenelia D’Souza, whose smiling away to glory on the cover of the fashion mag Seventeen. The cover itself is effervescent enough for the reader to judge what one can find inside the mag.
You can find the quotes (read ‘confessions’) like “They called me Mowgli in college for the longest time ever!!!”, “The one thing that I have learnt from a race or a match is that you have only one take to make it” etc… She also speaks about the wildest thing that she has done and the meaning of her name (which many still do not know, we bet). Besides all these, you can also get a glimpse of the ‘real-life Genelia’ in this issue.
Get your hands on this issue if you are a Genelia fan. Even if you are not, then, this issue will surely make you one!
Vidya Balan goes Hot: Does intimate scenes
Vidya Balan has
given some really intimate scenes in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Ishkiyan. All her hot scenes in the film are with Arshad Warsi. Vidya play’s a slightly grey character in the film who fools the uncle-nephew jodi of Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi.
A unit source reveals, “She indeed has quiet a few hot love making sequences in the film but the scenes have been aesthetically shot.
Vishal Bharadwaj is simply too glad with the way the actress has performed her act in the film without any inhibitions.
But this is not the first time that the actress has done such scenes. She had been sensuous in her debut venture Parineeta earlier as well and in Heyy Babyy too with Akshay Kumar.”
In Ishkiyan Vidya is playing a very complex character and will be seen speaking the U.P dialect which is very akin to Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies. She also has a very different look in the film. She will certainly take away accolades after the release reveal unit sources.
Vidya’s career too seems to be on an all new high now. It has been heard that the actress has also been signed for Nikhil Advani’s Chandbhai opposite Akshay Kumar.
The film is a tough love story set in a juvenile detention facility. She will also be seen working with two legendary actors - Naseeruddin Shah in Ishqiyan and Amitabh Bachchan in Balki’s Pa and Sanjay Leela’s Chenab Gandhi.
Aishwarya Rai upset on Priyanka Chopra
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a bit upset with fellow actor Priyanka Chopra, when she in her winning speech regarded Ash as beautiful but did not mention anything about her acting talent.
Priyanka, who won the Filmfare Best Actress award for Fashion said that she was very happy to be nominated (Fashion, Dostana) among the likes of beautiful Aishwarya Rai (Jodhaa Akbar) and the talented Kajol (U, Me Aur Hum).
Reports suggest that Priyanka’s statement did not go well with Ash, who is a winner of many national and international awards.
Priyanka is currenlty riding high on the success of Fashion and Dostana. The actress will soon be seen in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminay opposite Shahid Kapur.
Forget Angelina Jolie, Preity Zinta adopts 34 girls
Preity Zinta has gone for the conditional adoption of 34 orphans from the Mother Miracle 
school in Rishikesh.
Reluctant to speak Preity Zinta says, “It’s true. I’ve adopted these 34 girls. I’ll be looking after their entire upbringing from education to food, clothes, etc. You’ve no idea how wonderful it feels to hear the excited chatter of all those girls together as they welcome you into their lives. Believe you me, it’s the best birthday song I’ve ever heard.”
Preity doesn’t intend to be a sleeper parent for the girls at the Mother Miracle. “No way! Those are my children now, my responsibility. I’ll be constantly connected with them and I’ll visit them in Rishikesh twice a year.”
Far from finishing off her responsibility after financing these girl children, Preity plans to progressively enhance her social responsibilities.
“For a while now I’ve been thnking of what to do to help the less privileged classes specially the girl child. The horrors of foeticide and rampant child abuse are not just screaming news headlines for me. They’re voices that scream from inside me.
And I had to listen to them. These 34 girls are just a beginning. I plan to adopt a couple more every year during my birthday. I can’t think of a better gift to myself.”
Meet the glamarous Deepika Padukone
Bollywood Actress
Deepika Padukone has had a dream-run in Bollywood with just three releases, but the model-turned-actress says her dream is to play the elegant Audrey Hepburn, her style icon.
“I would like to play Audrey Hepburn, my style icon, in movies like ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ or ‘Roman Holiday’, ” Deepika told on the sidelines of the Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) Saturday, where she walked the ramp for Ranna Gill and Rina Dhaka’s collections sponsored by luxury brand Fiama Di Wills.
After debuting opposite Shah Rukh Khan in 2007 hit “Om Shanti Om” and doing “Chandni Chowk To China” with Akshay Kumar, Deepika’s next is “Love Aaj Kal” alongside Bollywood Actor Saif Ali Khan. And she is all praise for filmmaker Imtiaz Ali of “Jab We Met” fame.
“I enjoyed working with Imtiaz Ali in his movie ‘Love Aaj Kal’, where he cast me opposite Saif. It was a dream working for a sensitive director like him. Imtiaz just seemed to know the kind of person we were and brought out the best in us. He guided all through the movie, ” said the leggy beauty who was dressed in a simple black halter-neck.
Deepika is now looking forward to begin work for newcomer Vijay Lalwani’s “Kartik Calling Kartik”, which also stars actor-director Farhan Akhtar and Boman Irani. “It is an offbeat movie, a psychological thriller. But I am not going to talk much about it, ” she said.
The actress admits she has a soft corner for action movies, though all genres appeal to her.
“An action movie is something I have always wanted to do, but I cannot specify any real genre that appeals to me. Cinema today is changing. And as an actor, I will never throw my hands up… will never be happy saying this is the best character I have portrayed. I am critical of myself, rarely happy, ” said Deepika.
As Indian cinema changes to adapt new formats and contents, Deepika Padukone feels the role of women in cinema is also changing.
“It is becoming more challenging. Even in the past, there were movies where women did not have to run around trees. An actress could opt to show off her talent.”
People, she explained, have this strange notion that if a woman wears make-up, she cannot be taken seriously.
“Take off your make-up and only then you can do serious cinema. But glamorous roles and a glamorous screen presence do not make one a non-actor. The content of cinema is also changing, evolving… it is no longer the regular boy meets girl, ” the actress said.
Deepika Padukone usually decides on the projects she takes up after reading the scripts.
“The movies are my call though I run my parents through what I am doing. But they are new to movies, hence unfamiliar. But after ‘Om Shanti Om’ and ‘Bachna Aai Haseeno’, I have matured, ” she said.
The actress confesses that she is not much of a bookworm. “But I am reading the ‘Kite Runner’ now and it might turn out to be the best book I have ever read. I have grown up listening to all kinds of music - from Kishore da to Mohammed Rafi, ” she said.
Deepika Padukone, who is former badminton player Prakash Padukone’s daughter, says she was good in other sports besides badminton as well.
“Apart from badminton, I played state-level basketball, baseball and was an athlete, ” she said.
I didn’t kick Shah Rukh off his pedestal says Aamir
Bollywood Actor Aamir Khan, joined CNN’s special edition of ‘TALK ASIA’ filmed in front of a live studio audience in Mumbai, where he shared with host Anjali Rao his opinion on leading Bollywood actors, his sentiments on the Mumbai terror attacks and more.
CNN ’TALK ASIA’ with Aamir Khan will be aired first on Wednesday, March 25 at 1800hrs IST and repeat telecast on Saturday, March 28 at 1000hrs and 2000hrs IST.
Anjali Rao: It’s a real pleasure to have you with us today so thanks so much for making yourself available again. Your most recent film Ghajini is now the biggest Bollywood success ever. Did you have any idea that it would be quite as huge as it is?
Aamir Khan: You can hope that, you can hope that for all of your films. But you can never really tell until you see the film with the audience, how it’s going to play with the audience in the theatre.
So I think in Ghajini what we set out to make we were in fact able to achieve that. I realised that I’m making a hardcore mainstream film after really long, which is fine. I guess I’m happy to do that.
Anjali Rao: After this movie made it so big, people said that you were the real ‘King Khan’.
And that you’d kicked off Shah Rukh off his perch because he appeals to the masses but you’ve managed to do this thing that loads of actors would love to do.
In that you’ve had both critical and commercial success in spades. How do you do that? How do you stop from being pigeon-holed in one box or another?
Aamir Khan: Well, you know, I just do work which excites me and which I enjoy doing. I just do work which makes me happy. And I have absolutely no intentions of kicking Shah Rukh off his pedestal. Though I have to say I don’t think he ever was on it.
But in my opinion, the actor who I really look up to is Mr Amitabh Bachchan. He is someone who’s work I really like and he’s a fantastic actor and the kind of stardom that Mr Bachchan has seen none of us can ever hope to see. So for me, he’s the guy.
Anjali Rao: You’re not only a major actor but you also had your directorial debut in Taare Zameen Par. What was it like for you switching to the other side of the camera, at the same time obviously and starring in it?
Aamir Khan: It was tough, mainly because I wasn’t meant to direct the film to begin with. So I kind of jumped in a week into the shoot. I just went with my gut. Actually, I didn’t even have time to think, quite honestly.
And now when I look back, I realise that I had reached a point in my career where I had been wanting to direct a film for really long, and the pressure kept keeping me away from it. The fact that it happened this way didn’t give me a chance to think and decide, you know.
I just jumped into it because I had to, and I ended up making the film, you know, to the best of my abilities. So I didn’t really, you know maybe if I hadn’t done that I wouldn’t be directing for the next 10 years more, I don’t know.
So I guess I’m glad it happened finally because I’m happy with the way the film turned out and I’m happy with the way the kind of impact it had on people.
Anjali Rao: Slumdog Millionaire was a huge eye opener, I think, but you know for all the accolades that it got around the world, there were plenty here in India who slammed it. What did you think of it?
Aamir Khan: It didn’t touch me personally. Emotionally, it didn’t do anything for me. And I suspect it is because I am not used to watching Indians speak English. So you know, all these slum kids talking in English, and the cop…I find it very strange. It didn’t work for me because of that problem.
Anjali Rao: You were extremely vocal in your blog about what was happening (when Mumbai was struck by terror). Just take us through what was going on with you personally during that time.
Aamir Khan: Well, it was really devastating. I mean it was like a nightmare, I couldn’t believe it was happening. And it was also very shocking to see, you know, the audacity with which these attacks were carried out.
All the lives that were lost and so many thoughts going through my head at that time.
And it was really sad that I mean we live in a day and age today where there all over the world there are people, certain number of people at least, who feel that this is how they want to make a point, or want to be heard, or want to hit back, by killing innocent people.
Anjali Rao: Certainly you were speaking to the government in part in your blogs as well, by you know, saying not to negotiate with terrorists. But you also seemed quite critical of what the leadership was doing at the time. Is that how you felt?
Aamir Khan: No, I wasn’t actually. I wasn’t critical of the leadership at that time. Because I think at that time they were doing the best that they could.
But I am critical about how a number of the leaders have been using religion and cast in our politics for decades now. And that only, you know, polarizes people. It spreads a lot of poison and negativity in society.
Anjali Rao: What kind of a childhood did you have?
Aamir Khan: Well, fairly standard actually. I think my parents looked after us very well. We had a fairly sheltered life. I mean my parents were really against me getting into films. I come from a film family.
My father and uncle were both filmmakers. And I faced hell at home. It was like there’s no way you’re getting into films. But I don’t usually listen to people.
I just do what I feel like. And then when they realised… actually it was more because they were concerned for me, you know. Every parent is concerned for their children.
And they had been through this line and this profession is so uncertain. You know one day you’re up there, the next day you’re nobody and… it’s a really harsh profession.
Anjali Rao: When you look back at the 1980s and 1990s, do you go you know what I’m really proud of that or do you go oh god I just want to die?
Aamir Khan: No, I just want to die. I get totally embarrassed. Usually you know when I finish a film within six months I feel eh, this is not good enough. This is where we’ve messed up, and we could’ve done this, and I’ve grown so much as an actor and I can do this much better now. I don’t like my work usually after some time. I don’t like it anymore.
Friday, March 27, 2009
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