Why do successful women fall for bad boys?

It's happened way too often and it will keep happening. Attractive, successful women gravitating to men who are less that perfect, abusive towards women and even physically violent. The latest in this sad line of stories is Sonal Chauhan, the lead actress from Bollywoods latest hit, Jannat. She was seeing Sahil Jajoo (is the name right?) earlier and the relationship started tapering off (after she became successful???) and she tried moving away from him. He had a angry showdown with her at a airport in Mumbai and apparently snatched her phone and pushed her around. She has filed a complaint and the case is under investigation.

This Sahil is the same guy who reportedly supplied drugs to the fatal Rahul Mahajan/Moitra party in which Moitra ended up dead. He is also allegedly a dealer in Shahtoosh shawls (illegal btw). And a few other acts of law breaking apparently.

My point is didn't this girl know what she was getting into? A guy into drugs, illegal shawls/merchandise dealings? Why do girls get attracted towards such guys?? Or is it a case of use and throw?

Ambitious women using rich and brash women on their way up and dumping them when they get there? The list contains Aishwarya Rai, one of the most prominent people whose story we are all aware of. She was successful at her own level but needed to step up. Thats when Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam happened and she got her first A-list hit!! Later months/years later she spoke about him being abusive, physically violent (or did she leave that out) and his cheating on her regularly. Why not when he did all this, and dump him right away? I'm no fan of Salman Khan, another bad guy of the worst order, but it does look like that he was used to an extent in our male-dominated industry. Women do use men in their climb to the top. And men oblige. When its a two way understanding, we have the Urmila-Ramu affairs, Nisha-Ramu affairs and so on....and Ramu is still going strong.

Well besides these affairs, Bollywood is also releasing movies, Haal-E-Dil being the most prominent one.

Verdict on Jodhaa Akbar is out - its a landmark movie

I was just going through rediff and read a review of Jodhaa Akbar on it. And I was pleased with what I read. The reviewer must have caught a premiere show of Jodhaa Akbar and has sent in a review. Like I expected (and desperately wanted it to be true) the movie is supposed to be brilliant. Apparently if the director had a tighter script and better editing was done this movie would have been a master piece. But if and buts can change the fate of the movie now.

The words used to describe the two principal characters Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are "brings his muscular presence and charismatic personality to make the role his own" and "Some of her dramatic scenes are weakly performed but she whips up excellent chemistry with Hrithik" respectively.

A later review in the Times Of India isn't all that generous. It says the movie is a bit long, and the sub-plots weak. It does acknowledge that the main characters have done a great job, the character actors are sincere and the sets and battle scenes are good.

I hope this movie does well as it will be one the the best movies in the careers of both the main leads - Hrithik (Dhoom:2, Krrish, Lakshya, Koi Mil Gaya, ) and Aishwarya (Provoked, Guru, Guru, Umrao Jaan, Bunty Aur Babli, Shabd, Raincoat, Kuch Naa Kaho, Devdas, Albela, Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Aa Ab Laut Chalen).

Want to check out the review?
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/feb/14jodhaa.htm

I think all this suggests it is much more worth than a movie ticket. If that isn't convincing then the fact that the director is a certain Ashutosh Gowariker should be reason enough.

Will the Jodhaa Akbar Rajput/relation controversy affect the film?

The furore about whether Jodhaa Bai was Emperor Akbar's wife or daughter-in-law hasn't died down like I thought it might. The group making noises are a small fringe group and so lack the political muscle or social base. And add to that it is almost impossible to confirm or deny who Akbar married or didn't. He had 34 wives according to reports in the media! So how is one to know if any of these these women are not Jodhaa Bai and if the Muslim women listed in history are Hindu women with their Muslim names after conversion.

Rediff has a well written article about the story. Click on the link below for more details.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/feb/06jodha.htm

It also could be a well orchestrated campaign to rustle up some crucial media coverage of a film which is of epic proportions. Such a big budget will need to draw in people in large numbers to ensure it does earn money for its producers. And Indians are notorius for ignoring good historical movies. Must be the lack of appreciation of our own culture and traditions. The Mughal rule impacted the polity and landscape of India in a major way and hence educated Indians would be more than interested in such a story straddling that era of history.

But we all know this doesn't hold true, as the masses look at cinema for escapist fantasies. I hope and pray Jodhaa Akbar is made well and interestingly so that it succeeds and a talented director like Ashutosh Gowariker is suitably rewarded for making good cinema.

It will also be a landmark film for Hrithik and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as they need to true blue movie like this in their portfolio to justify the confidence of the industry in their talents. Though Hrithik has Koi Mil Gaya, Lakshya and Mission Kashmir in his bag he needs to get the big roles right. Same for Aishwarya who has mostly dominated the media for non-filmy reasons than those related to great roles. She does have Iruvar, The Raincoat, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Provoked and Guru but she is also remembered for Kajra Re and Kambakth Ishq. So they both need to movie like Jodhaa Akbar on their resume.

Remember the time? Does Chandrachur Singh ring a bell?

Well if you can't place this name, let me refresh your memory. Chandrachur Singh was a promising actor from the Hindi heartland and I quite liked him. He seemed promising as I liked his diction, his dialogue delivery and his confidence. He was okay looking but seemed good enough to play the lead role thanks to his presentable looks. But it was his good acting and screen prescence that indicated he was here for a long haul.

Let me list his movies. He started with Tere Mere Sapne which was a ABCL presentation. If that isn't enough, Arshad Warsi was his co-star and the movie had a couple of fine numbers and a decent plot and good performances by all the lead actors. It was a hit and he on his way. He later did Maachis, Daag-The Fire (Sanjay Dutt), Kya Kehna and Josh (opposite Aishwarya Rai). So he wasn't a one hit wonder. yet his later roles were awful and he got sucked up in the quagmire of Bollywood and was not heard of later. Nice to know he is around and is keen on a longer innings.

He will star in a movie called Maruti Mera Dost to be produced by his brother Abhimanyu Singh who runs Contiloe Films. The film is a children's film and also stars child artiste from Cheeni Kum - Swini Khara.

Ashutosh's labor of love...Jodhaa Akbar

I was reading about the making of Jodhaa Akbar and I feel vindicated about the vision and meticulousness of Ashutosh Gowariker. Apparently the writer Haidar Ali had researched about the life and times of Akbar quite thoroughly with a Rajasthani historian. In spite of this Ashutosh later had the story checked for factual accuracy and authenticity. So we can be rest assured of seeing a beautiful and accurate movie without extra embellishments to juice up the era.

He is according to me one of the finest directors in our Industry. Not only because of Lagaan but because of Swades. I found Swades (Shahrukh Khan)so much more topical, contemporary and meaningful, if not a wee bit idealistic. But that movie made me a Gowariker fan for life. I am looking forward to Jodhaa Akbar and I will see it, even if the reviews are not too good; because I feel it will be a thoughtful bit of cinema. Bring it on Hrithik and Aishwarya Rai. :-)