Mithya is great news for talented non-chocolate heroes like Ranvir, Vinay, Rajat Kapur

The surprise hit of the season, Mithya has been a encouraging success story for actors not in the good looking mould of Salman, Aamir or Hrithik. Bollywood is fueled by good looking heroes, vanity and glamour. Rarely do ordinary looking heroes and heroines get a chance to show case their talent. Producers prefer taking guys and gals who have way too good looks as they belive it will draw the audiences in. So if a actor is talented and perfect for the role, he might get passed over for the position. Therefore in so many years very few actors with modest looks have succeeded in Bollywood. Like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Seema Biswas, Ajay Devgun. In fact many of them ended up becoming character actors or comedians where at least they got to hold a regular job or got a chance to showcase their histrionics.

Thats why a movie like Mithya which has Ranvir Shorey and last years Bheja Fry which had Vinay Pathak are very important for talented non-chocolate heroes like Ranvir, Vinay, Rajat Kapur. They give a chance for a story to be told without the trapping of glamor, sincerely and in a heartfelt way. Bheja Fry made Vinay a ful fledged star and he started demanding a package of up to 1 crore plus. And why not? He is realy talented and funny. And he has taken the long road to success.

The same for his buddy and Channel V conspirator, Ranvir. Hardly the typical good looking Punjabi munda, he is a sensitive and natural performer. He was also seen in Jism, Traffic Signal, Khosla Ka Ghosla, and Aaja Nach Le.

Rajat was part of both films. A good role in Bheja... and the director in Mithya. So it looks like a nice (and funny) team is forming in Bollywood and it doesn't include SRK, Yash Johar, Yash Chopra and Farah Khan. And yet the result is a hit film. And a well made human drama.

Though the movie hasn't raked in tons of money, the fact that it was made on a small budget of 2.5 crore, allowed it to reach break even faster and now it is making money for its distributors. Bring on the bubbly.

Aishwarya wearing ethnic outfits in Jodhaa Akbar and yet looking hot

I saw some pics of Aishwarya from the hugely anticipated movie Jodhaa Akbar. She is seen wearing ethnic outfits yet looking hot. The costumes are the traditional Ghagra Choli that are still worn in parts of Rajasthan but when you put Ash in them you can imagine how they get sexed up. The outfits show off her belly and yet look dignified.

Lucky for her its a period film and not much skin show was expected as it would give another reason for Abhishek to see red. He was reportedly upset when her much touted smooch with his buddy Hrithik in Dhoom 2. That was also the reason that he was stuck off the wedding invitation lists.




(Image courtesy Rediff)

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.

Who is the main lead in Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6?

Rakeysh Mehra's Delhi 6 is plagued with uncertainty over his male lead actor. Surprising since with a major and acclaimed hit on his hands - "Rang De Basanti", he should have actors queuing up to sign up.

He would have never predicted that the casting of his next film would become such a big problem. So the actors who were considered and/or approached are Hrithik, Akshay, Abhishek and last week's Hollywood actor. Finally a new name has cropped up. That of Aamir Khan's nephew, Imran Khan. This will mean that it will be his second film after Sanjay Gadhvi's Kidnap.

Delhi 6 is reportedly based on Delhi's monkey man menace that shook the Indian capital, a few years back.

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. :-)