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.

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.

Yuvvraaj sold to Ashtavinayak

The big news hitting the blosphere and buring up the wires is that Eros the producers of Salman's upcoming Yuvvraaj have sold all the rights to Ashtavinayak - except the overseas and electronic rights (mobile, online , etc). What does this signify in todays jittery Bollywood?

Is it that the producers were unsure of public reaction? Or is it a reflection of Salman's dipping success rate at the BO? Or like I suspect lack of faith in Subhash Ghai's hit making formula? After all it has been some time since Subhash Ghai has deliverd a hit.

Or it could be another reason - that the movie has not turned out well and thats why the producers are happier to parcel it to some one else. I was just reading that Aashayein of Nagesh Kukoonoor too has no takers as it has turned out to be a ordinary product. This has been the first time I have heard a movie come out with bad reviews. Otherwise the hype factory is always telling us how great this movie is, how big a hit it will be and a million other stories about the goings on on the sets. But now we had a low key build up to Drona and now Aashayein is getting bad press and now Yuvraj.

Is it a Media versus Bolyywood war or have the journalists stopped sucking up to the hIndi film Industry. I am curious to see how the film heroes is received as it is again a big multi-starrer and has the irrepresible Salman Khan in it. he will avoid publicising his own movie if he doesn't like the producer/director - thats how reckless he can get. So lets see how Hero's fares at the BO.

Gorgeous Preity – Classy

Saw a pic of Preity on rediff and I had to share it. She went for the premiere of Heaven on Earth. Man. She looks like an elegant lady. Beautiful, radiant and confident – Ness is a lucky guy. That’s what her boyfriends name is na?

She also says in the same interview that when she look back at her career she should be able to see that she also did some films that she was truly proud of.

According to her she felt Veer Zaara was a movie she could be proud of. Her next movie Heaven on Earth which will be her first cross over movie is the next one. It has a similar story like Aishwatya’s Provoked – but she still wanted every man to watch as much this film as she wanted women to do the same. The message she wanted to send out was that - a slap, a push, could not just bodily hurt a lady but also hurt her spirit very intensely.

She also said even though we might be a nation that has a lot of things to be proud of, but we certainly don't have any cause to be proud of the way we care for our women.
She also mentioned that whenever they finished shooting for Heroes film on shoot in Punjab, she would distribute chocolates to village kids. But the shocker was that there would be a ratio of 40 boys and eight girls. It shocked her immensely! That meant that the locals just killed all the girls. It was gender bias at its worst.

That’s why she wants the aam junta to watch my films, and drive home the point that if you would just let these daughters grow up, so much could be altered in this great land of ours.

Where is Bhumika Chawla?

Looks like we have lost the very cute Bhumika Chawla to the South Industry. Bacause she made her mark in Bollywood with Tere Naam and got into the big league and then disappeared. Imean she also has got married in the mean time but she is still acting in South movies. So why not Bollywood?

So if you want any good images, news or posters of Bhumika one needs to go to Southie sites. I found this one image of hers in a South site and she looks delectable.

(Picture courtesy - Yupptv.com)
She had also acted in a movie called Run. The movie flopped but the songs still get a lot of air play in the channels. She looks adorable in the songs and forms a very good couple with Abhi in the movie. The movie on the whole is very cute.

She also had a small role in a movie with Akshay Kumar. I found a couple of sequences really cute. Akshay as her husband asks her for a fish kiss. And she squeezes her lips in a vertical manner and gives him a (flaying) kiss. The scene was cute and yet not cheap.
She does look lovely, has beautiful lips and a beautiful persona. Look at the image and tell me if you disagree.

Will Hello scrape home?

Hello which had opened to average reviews has apparently done well in the first three days. The collections dropped after it released last week but then had a good show on Sunday. Even its director Atul Agnihotri said themovie has done well and also perfomed well in the Gulf. Hehh heheh hehe Our current directors usually give figures of the two big western countries to show how the film has received abroad - but Atul has come up with another country/region now - the Gulf. Soon we will have Subhash Ghai claming 100% collections in Vietnam, Ghana and Colombia. Guys gives us a break. We know one has to look pleased and happy - but u don't have to lie.

Anyway, here is the Rediff link in case u are interested. http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/oct/13box.htm

One movie I am glad about in that list is Welcome to Sajjanpur - thiough I do not agree with the line saying "Its too preachy". Crap - it was a well made movie with no sermonizing - in fact the message was put across quite well.

This will be a good omen for Salman who has had an ordinary year so far and is supposed to have a big budget release soon - the Heroes film which is directed by Samir Karnik. It also stars Preity Zinta, Vatsal Sheth, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakraborty, Dino Morea, Sohail Khan and Riya Sen. The patriotic genre has worked for earlier movies like Rang De Basanti. Lets see if it works for this se tof very desperate actors.

Kidnap / Drona / Welcome to Sajjanpur??

Of all the movies listed on top, I would definitely recommend "Welcome to .....". I watched it last week and found it to be an entertaining film. Based in a small town, yet it showcases all the dreams and aspiration of people living in villages, towns and bigger cities. The craving for steady jobs, money, lust, love and most importantly power. It is a simple yet deeply intricate tale and scores heavily over the other hyped up Drona and Kidnap films in the marquee.

Though I haven't seen Kidnap the reviews are consistent enough to suggest that it is a rehash of the usual mish-mash in Bollywood. It has nothing new to offer. Though Minnisha Lamba does look inviting. All critics unanimously say that Imran Khan is star material and the fact that his last movie was alove story and yet he has convinced audiences with a portrayal of a kidnapper means he is substance and not only style.

Drona has almost disappared from theatres after the bad reviews it has received and most importantly the bad word of mouth - that is always the clinching factor. Any amount of lies, putting out blatant ads claming a hit do not work; it is eventually the audience that will decide if a movie will run ot not.

Next on the anvil is the Heroes film. It would have released today as I write this blog, but I am not sure of the reviews so far. Lets see if Bollywood will continue the trend of having big banner flops and small banner hits (Welcome to Sajjanpur, A Wednesday)

Govinda's next will decide his fate....

Govinda is leading a precarious life. He isn't active in politics and his voters are complaining. He is unsuccesful in films and his producers are compalining. Inspite of having a hit to boost his flagging career he followed it up with a embarassing "Money Hai Toh.....". And now and then he finds himself in some slapping incident or the other. Doesn't look good for an MP and a leading Bollywood star- in fact a senior artiste of the Industry.

His next movie is Chal Chala chal and he better get a better result from it as he has been given a second lease of life with Partner. Before Partner nobody was giving him a second look and he had become an outcaste. But post Partner he has been flooded with offers and also hiked him price in the vicinity of crores - which is scary for the Hindi film Industry to pay to Govinda...hehe hehehe heh.

He is also looking fat, and badly out of shape, hardly like heroes are supposed to look; so inspite of his obvious talent he wasn't getting any offers. At one time he was one of my favorite actors and I really enjoyed his roles as he was a complete actor though he gained more success with comedy. Anyway this will be his last fling with politics especially if he does well in the next few movies. Lets see how he does.

Will Bobby be a hero again.....?

Bobby Deol the ladla of the Deol pariwar (yes yesy i know there is Abhay to stake a claim to that title...but...) will be seen soon in Heroes film which is expected to release in October end. So far he has been having a torrid time in Bollywood in the last few years. There was a time after a tepid start he got a few decent hits - good popular hits. Gupt, Soldier and a few semi-hits or B-grade like Bichoo, Humraaz, etc. With the good will of teh Deol family behind him, he looked for a steady career in Bollywood, till he did a few too many B-grade movies.

This proved to be his ondoing as the flops piled up, his other solo (sort of) films crashed at the BO, especially Shaka laka Boom Boom. He got a little bit of appreciation for Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (though I found his mama's boy act exasperating....) but that movie tanked. Add an embarassing Nanhe Jaisalmer and a dismal home production Chamku (where did they get the title from?????????) it completes the sad resume.

He has been following Sunny Bhaiya's policy - if you get a hit - replicate the formula. That won't get you far in a creative field where one has to keep doing varied roles as audiences will tire of you and start rejecting you. Even some one as limited an actor as Akki Kumar (well he was to start off with) did tons of action films, before dabbling in romance and finally did a string of comedies that got him to the top. He has is again going for an all our action movie - Chandni Chowk to China. The smart thing is he is mixing up and dishing out a mixed fare to his fans. And it is successful. Bobby has to emulate him and cut down on projects and roll out a more complete film product.

Bollywood junior artists and workers on strike

A strike has been called by Bollywood's junior artists and workers on Wednesday morning. They are better wages and settlement of dues. Apparently salaries are delayed up tp the extent of 90 days and some time 120 days (thats 4 months), at least in the case of TV serial actors.

I was watching a new report about the same and saw their leader, a guy called Tiwari who was being interviewed by the TV studio. I completely agreed with one point he said about foreign artistes (especialy women and that that too white) being brought in for almost all the dance numbers nowadays. I mean I understand for some songs if foreigh women are used - like a movie shor totally abroad, like say Heyy Babyy, where the principal characters are in Australia. But hard core movies based in India should stick to Indian workers/artistes. Could the film Heroes have a bunch of blonder women jiving along with Salman Khan? It would look weird wouldn't it? He said our producers and directors prefer gori chamdi to our Indian performers and we are not sure if they have valid work permits. They get much much higher salaries and also hotel accomodtion and other perks. In a way this is racism by our own people, isn't it?

And all this in a time when star salaries are at a peak. Akshay, SRK and company are demanding and getting salaries like 40 crores, 60 crores and more and getting it. But if the industry is doing well then why isn't the moolah being distributed among the lower work force without who the cameras would never roll? All greed and hyped up stars behind this mess I say.

Abhishek’s a saviour!

Abhishek Bachchan will have many unforgettable moments to remember from his world tour. But the moment he’s probably going to remember the most is when he played saviour in real life. When the Bachchan’s arrived along with the other stars in Toronto, there was a huge stampede and chaos, so much so that a small child was caught in the middle of it all. Abhishek immediately rushed to the rescue of the tiny tot, who was separated from her parents. He picked her child’s parents.

The entire incident delayed the show, but helping the child get to where she belonged was of utmost priority to Abhishek. “This makes him a real-life Drona,” says director Goldie Behl. “Dro-na mean ‘the saviour’. On hearing of the incident, I felt as though the character from my film actually came to life!” And the teary-eyed parents of the child insisted that they were eternally grateful to him.

Subhash Ghai is all excited about his next movie - Black & White

Though Subhash Ghai has a large body (you thought I was referring to his girth didn't you?) of work, he is till excited and nervous as a young school boy about his next movie - Black & White. The one obvious reason is that it is the first movie in a couple of years that he has directed. Seems to be a good decision too, if you see his last masterpiece (of course I am sarcastic), Kisna. That movie singularly pulled Vivek Oberoi from the star orbit to struggling actor ground level. Ghai had done a Kisna of Hrithik Roshan too with Yaadeein. Though one must say Hrithik had the backing of his father Rakesh Roshan, who helped with recover with Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. ANd of course he later had Dhoom 2. Unfortunately Vivek had no sugar to bail him out.

Media reports are supposedly carrying good reports about Black & White, and even the man Ghai is talking about it favorably. The visuals are good and it seems to have a good topic. Of course one has to eventually see if the movie is deep and meaningful and has a soul or not, or Ghai has randomly picked up a plot and stretched it to make a full length feature film. He is notorius for not giving importance to a strong story line. So lets see if his optimism this time is misplaced or worth the price of a movie ticket.

"Mithya" movie review

Well I finally caught Mithya. And just in time too. Finally because I have been reading good reviews about it on the internet and only last week a friend told me that he saw it and loved it. he also said Mithya is your kind of movie and you will love it. Just in time because even though it is a great movie, it is fast disappearing from the theaters.

So much for the intelligent movie goer in India or for that matter in urbane Mumbai. Here comes a great movie and even after great reviews, positive feedback and great word of mouth it really isn't pulling in crowds like it should. My feeling is that it didn't have item numbers (sad situation na?), not major undressing of the heroine(s) or the hero (as is the norm nowadays), and perhaps lack of front line stars. Anyway the movie has received critical acclaim, earned decent movie and given recognition to people like Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, and even hot bod Neha Dhupia.

Now about the movie - a short review of Mithya.

The movie is awesome! The way the character of Ranvir Shorey is developed is great. The finer points, the nuances, the pettiness of the thugs, their take on their gruesome lives. All very well researched and thought out. Ranvir Shorey is obviously the star of the movie. Within minutes you feel for him and start sympathizing and empathizing with him. He is gullible, funny and a coward. Yet at times he is brave, street smart and brutal. Confusing? Mixed up? Isn't that how all of us are. At times fearful, at times brave.

Neha Dhupia has got a nice meaty role and she does competently. It does help that she is extremely easy on the eyes. She dresses like a wannabe actress and looks good in the role. She also is a gangsters moll and plays it well with style and bitterness well balanced in her performance. Naseer has a small role but is adequate. Vinay and his side-kick play their thug roles with aplomb. We also get to see former telly actress Irawati Harshe after a long time. And she looks delectable. She is attractive and charming as the don Raje's cute and understanding wife.

All in all engaging cinema and a great successful venture for Rajat Kapoor as a director. May he make many more films like this in the future. Also expected to do well in the coming week are films from Subhash Ghai, Black & White and a comic caper/gangster slapstick One Two Three which should be out in theaters soon.