Salman admit Hello hasn’t done well….. hello?????

My last blog post was about how Bollywood was exaggerating the success of its movies and presenting them as hits. As Bollywood has been going thru a disastrous phase recently this is their plan B.

So we hear and read the papers and find the stars/directors/producers thanking the fans and congratulating their co-stars for the success of their just released film. And that too within two days of a film being released – which I feel is really jumping the gun.

So we officially have so far – Hello, Kidnap, Karzzz and now Heroes becoming a hit. But if this was so, how come I read an interview of Salman recently and he was asked about the failure of Hello. He very candidly said its ok, some movies work and some don’t. That’s is from the horse’s mouth na? After all not only did he star in the movie and has a stake in it, it is also produced by his brother Sohail Khan (I think) and is directed by his beloved brother in law – Atul Agnihotri. So one could hardly expect him to downgrade a film and agree to it being a flop.

Will this trend continue and be used for all movies in future- just to ensure that it get a little more money and most importantly it doesn’t scare of the corporate investors. We have Yuvvraaj and “Ek Vivaah…..” coming up besides Chal Chala Chal and Biloo Barber, “Chandi Chowk…”. Will the charade last till then or will the Hindi Film Industry get wiser?

Does Bollywood really have hits this season?

It's weird. Bollywood is goi9ng hoarse proclaiming hits and an article in Rediff claims otherwise. In the last two weeks we have been flooded with HIT!!! HIT !!!HIT!!! signs all over the press. Hello is a hit, Karzzz is a hit, and now Heroes film is a super hit. Heheh heheh . Only one question to these people- do the distributors agree – or is this some embarrassing cover operation by Bollywood. Make even an ordinary movie into a hit and eventually crowds will flow in to watch in anticipation of some entertainment.

The Hindi film industry is hit by a series of high profile flops – Love Story 2050, Drona, Tashan and more. Suddenly all dreams of conquering the world and dominating Hollywood looked hollow and exaggerated. It showed Bollywood in its true light – egoistic, unorganized and dumb. So now when the next big movie flops. It would mean an exodus of the corporate companies who actually believed in the corporatization of Bollywood. So to counter such a disastrous scenario Bollywood decided to play the bogey game. Any movie with a semblance of a chance of becoming a hit was pushed as a ‘big’ movie and later after it got a bit of the audiences it was declared a super hit. Kidnap which was described as an ordinary movie was one such movie – it also has ads proclaiming it made 40 crores so far – so what if the costs of the movie were close to the same figure or more – after all it had Sanjay Dutt in it and had the new stud in town – Imran Khan. So it couldn’t have been a cheap movie to make.

Now they have continued with the other movies, Hello had been declared a hit in spite of bad reviews, and even Heroes which was described as ordinary has ‘reportedly’ a big success. And even Karzz is a big hit – we have Himesss-bhai thanking one and all for the extraordinary success of the movie. And on the other side, Rediff a source I rely on a lot has published list of movies released recently – and has classified al l the so called hits mentioned above as flops. Only Welcome to Sajjanpur has been classified as a hit in that list.
Lets see if this trend continues for Bollywood. Will they continue to ‘convert’ lukewarm movies into hits, get a false sense of bravado and continue churning our average fare for the viewers. That will be a sorry day for Bollywood.

Sallu as a sardar in Hero's

Check out the usually suave and hunky Salman as a burly hairt Sardarji in the film Heroes. What do you say? Should he do more such roles. Do earthy roles suit him or should he stick to the westernised look?

Hero's stars Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakraborty, Preity Zinta, Vatsal Sheth, Dino Morea, Sohail Khan, Riya Sen.

Will Tarzan Boy Vatsal break into the big league?

The debutant of Tarzan – the wonder car, Vatsal Seth, has grown up and become a man. In his debut movie he was a reed like structure and was slotted as a college kid. But in his new film he has worked out (with Sallu bhaiyya’s inputs it seems) and has done a strip tease for an item number called “Badmash laundey”. The song involved Sohail and Vatsal crashing into a girl’s only party where they are having a great time and in their enthusiasm they get the two hunks to strip.

The boys join in the fun and put on a strip tease show for them. The song is racy and has Riya Sen looking sensational and has a bevy of foreign models dancing in the background. Sohail too has a great body though he is not sculpted as well as some of the others in the industry. He has bulk – and has great wings- and looks the part of a disc bouncer. Not very much of a film making school.
The film Heroes is a great chance for Vatsal to get into the big league of Bollywood. He has a great charming smile and acts decently. If this movie does well as it looks like it will, it will really bolster his career.

The brawny studs from Hero's

The two main characters from Heroes film look brawny and will appeal to a lot of women who will relish the fleshy show. yes, it is not the original stripper, Salman Khan but his kid brother Sohail and another young pretender - Vatsal Seth.

Waiting for Dasvidaniyaan

I am eager to see how Dasvidaniyaan fares at the BO. The Vinay Pathak starrer (would Vinay have believed a couple of years ago that he would top line a project in Bollywood) brings together the talented team of Rajat Kapur, Vinay and others from the Bheja Fry movie. It also has part of the team from Mithya. These movies were well received in the multiplexes (so called multiplex movies) and this gave rise to a new and bold cinema.

I initially thought that the title was some sanskrit but apparently it is a russian word meaning good bye. The trailer looks confusing - involving some phirang girl and mother and Gaurav Gehi. Vinay looks and acts like his Bheja Fry character. I am sure it will be a fun film and will turn out well- I will be outside the theater when it releases beating down the doors.

Check out cute Preity Zinta pics.....

Check out these great snaps of Preity Zinta from the film heroes. She is looking like a plump Punjabi aunt - cute and yet sexy.

India trounce the Ozzie beast

Yeah....yeah I know. This is a bollywood blog but this is big news!!! By beast I mean that the Aussies are an invincible machine - thats why they are like a strong beast - unyielding and unforgiving. Thats why it was surprising to see them succumb to a spirited Indian team.

The Indian team did almost everything right - batting, bowling and welll....decent fielding. The bowling was the ppick I would say as we without getting patriotic - were better than the Aussies for the first time ever. I mean when ever we have done well the bowling had to succeed to an extent right. But this time we were far superior to the Aussie bowlers. We pictched it up, let it swing, and teh spinners gave it flight and let it rip.

The batting was the icing on the cream with our very aggresive and talented openers gettign that big stand that we desperately wanted. In fact they got a good strt in teh first inniongs too. Ahhhh... a victory over the Australians - and that too a thumping one.

For mre details - read Yahoo article - http://in.yahoo.com/s/86800

Red hot Sohail Khan?

Sohail Khan suddenly finds himself in the spotlight after years of being used to seeing bade bhaiyya hog the limelight. His last movie where it can be safely said he has a leading role (unlike God Tussi great Ho and other crappy movies where he plays a side kick to Sallu bhaiyya). The movie Hello based on a best selling novel by Chetan Bhagat received a pleasant Hi from audiences thoughthe reviews were less charitable.

But if your movie does well inspite of the critics then you should be happy - though of course the ideal scenario would be if critics loved your movie and people poured in to watch it and made it a super duper hit. Anyway, Sohail has got a hit and now he is starring in this weeks film Heroes which has a large star cast besides the tried and tested formula of patriotism.

The movie is looking good and the buzz is good. So does that mean Sohail will end up with another hit on his hands. And if that happens we have another star in the Bollywood marquee. A late in the day to become a star but better late than never. Since Salman was already a star the pressure was always less and he was into producing and directing movies so the pressure of getting success was never there on him like others who have no financial backing and support.

Gorgeous Priyanka Chopra

Saw a picture of Priyanka Chopra from the stills of the about to release fashion- and my god she is looking heavenly. I mean she is reeling off flops in the manner that Akshay Kumar is reeling of hits and yet she is looking radiant, beautiful and happy. Maybe inside she is hurting. God Tussi..., Drona, Love Story 2050. its difficult to pin down which was the worst flop of her career.

Anyway, shehas Fashion to perhaps bring her back in the reckoning and I also think Dostana (or is it Dosti?) will get her back at the top - where she belongs. I think she is a good actress witha lot of pizazz and very young too. When she made her debut, people called her air-headed and there were tons of jokes about her answering questions in teh Miss India rounds that I thought she must be very dumb. Or she made some major boo-boo on the big stage. But she struggled manfully on and started getting some major hits. Her box office appeal was manifested when she was selected for big projects like Don (SRK one) and Krissh.

Then she hit a trough with the above mentioned three flops - and colossal they were. Now she only has Fashion and Dostana to redeem her staus in Bollywood. The shots of Dostana also look amazing – she has a fantastic body, all worked out and toned and she has worn a lot of skimpy clothing in it. There is an item song/disco number in which she is dressed in a saree. Man…she has a chocolate body. The saree has a bikini blouse and her tummy looks hot. She dances inhibitedly with Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham. Boy would I love to be in their shoes dancing away to glory. Sigh….