Archives for April 2008

In a bid to boost tourism and business connections between the two countries, Thailand will host the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in June, media reports said Wednesday.

The Bollywood in Bangkok event will kick off on June 6 with the premier of the new Indian movie Sakar Raj at Bangkok's posh Siam Paragon theatre, and end with the presentation of IIFA awards on the night of June 8, said the Bangkok Post newspaper.

The so-called "IIFA Weekend Bangkok" will be co-sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Dusit Thani Hotel group, Siam Niramit Company, Indorama Group and the Bangkok Post.

The event is expected to draw Bollywood movie fans to Bangkok from around the region and hopefully generate more bilateral business between the two countries which have already signed a Foreign Trade Agreement

For decades, the world'''s largest movie industry by volumes has rolled out stereotypical scripts on boy-meets-girl romances, dramas and comedies. But in recent years, there has been a noticeable move towards bolder, more mature themes aimed at audiences interested in a good story, not just glitzy song-and-dance routines.

"Taare Zameen Par" - about a boy suffering from the learning disability dyslexia - achieved both commercial and critical success last year.

But Bollywood producers are not giving up on regular films just yet.

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It's 7 o'clock on a Saturday evening. In a new dance studio in Dubai, a technolike beat begins playing, accelerating as a high-pitched female voice sings in Hindi: "You are my world. Such is my love."

On the wooden floor, accountants, publicists, and other businesspeople dance with abandon. They shuffle their feet, twist and wriggle their hips, and flail their arms, taking cues for the Bollywood-style number from their dance teacher, Rinku, who until recently was working in Mumbai.

It's common knowledge that the Indian film industry is big business the 800 or so movies released in more than 25 Indian languages each year bring in $1.5 billion in revenue. Bollywood technically Mumbai's Hindi-language-films business accounts for a third of releases and is the most visible and popular segment of the Indian movie industry. And as its worldwide audience, now estimated at 3.6 billion, grows, so does the energetic dance style which mixes folk, classical, and pop influences it made popular.

Bollywood dance studios, which started popping up in India in the mid-1990s, are now spreading across the globe, to cater to some of the 22 million people of Indian origin living abroad. The lessons have been in demand among high-school and college students for years; now, adults are getting in on the craze.

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The buzz about the multi-crore deal that Hrithik had struck with Adlabs last year is that it's off! Hrithik wants to return the full amount to Adlabs. But the company is not willing to take a no for an answer.

According to a source, "Hrithik has given the cheque back. But they aren't accepting it. In fact they've asked him to keep the money and they'll make just one film instead of three films for that whole amount with him at a date convenient to him."

Hrithik won't comment on the status of his deal with Adlabs. All he'll say about star prices is, "The corporate companies are looking at the movie market expanding in the next 3-4 years. I agree many recent films haven't done well.

But Om Shanti Om and Jodhaa-Akbar reaffirmed the industry's faith in big films. Jodhaa-Akbar was a period film and above three hours long with no commercial trappings.

Theatres across India could've just four shows daily. And it's done 150 crore-rupee business worldwide. For me that's what matters, not the controversies that happened initially. It's my biggest hit ever overseas."

Cheerleaders being wrapped cricketer being slapped, Is cricket turning into a Tamasha? Bollywood reacts...

Celina Jaitley: "No I don't think cricket has become a tamasha. I think everything that's happening at the IPL is being turned into a tamasha. Sreesanth being slapped is very unfortunate. I feel that the spirit of sportsmanship which makes every sport noble is now going out of cricket. Sad.

Hema Malini: "Yes, cricket has become a big tamasha. The dignity of the game is completely lost. Cricket by itself is so engrossing. Why does it suddenly need women to cheer on the players and the public?

There's absolutely no need for such distractions. The Indian public had no clue about such entertainment (cheerleaders) before this. And now there's slapping during the game! I am shocked.

Urmila Matondkar: "I don't think cricket is turning into tamasha at all. It's just that cricket has turned more glamorous exciting and bigger. As for the cheerleaders I don't think they serve any purpose at all. We don't need to copy the West blindly."

Naseeruddin Shah: "It's been heading towards that direction for a while. But hasn't everything becoming a tamasha? Look at the daily news."

Mahesh Bhatt: "The triumph of entertainment and the death of cricket. In the desperate effort to entertain our entire existence has become grotesque.

Sonu Sood: "No I don't think so. People in this country have a tendency to overeact. Cheerleaders add glamour to the sport. So why not treat it that way?

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If the men are doing it so are the women. From opening restaurants to starting hotels, actresses are also blurring the lines between the worlds of Bollywood and business.

While actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Shah Rukh Khan and Suniel Shetty are thriving in the business world, their counterparts Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Preity Zinta are also giving them tough competition.

Sushmita was probably the first to turn entrepreneur when she set up her company Sensazione in 2006. Through her company, she plans to open a chain of hotels, lounges and spas. Besides, she has acquired 12,000 sq ft of space in Kolkata for a 'lifestyle zone', which apart from a huge open space will house a nightclub, a restaurant and a cigar lounge.

She says frankly that she was tired of being an actor and business had always been a second career option.

"Had I not been an actor, I would have been an entrepreneur. The lounge bar in Kolkata and my dream project, the spa, are all part of my effort to touch people's lives," the actress has been quoted as saying.

Sushmita has other plans too.
Under the banner of her production house Tantra Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the ex-Miss Universe also wants to make meaningful films. Her first venture is "Rani Lakshmi Bai - The Warrior Queen". The actress, who is directing as well as acting in the film, is currently busy with the pre-production work of the historical epic.

Indian film megastar Amitabh Bachchan has reached out to fans in cyberspace, launching a blog about his life which has triggered a flood of responses from around the world.

"The Big B," as he is known to legions of film-lovers in movie-mad India, uses the site, blogs.bigadda.com, to share his thoughts, discuss upcoming movies and answer questions from fans.

"Adda" in Hindi means a big get-together of friends.

"The advantage of this blog is that I can express my view freely and there is no restriction to it," the 65-year-old movie legend told AFP.

Bachchan, who launched the blog in mid-April, is following in the footsteps of other Bollywood stars such as Aamir Khan who also use the Internet to share their thoughts.

The star -- whose latest film "Bhootnath," or "Devil Uncle" -- is slated for release next month, said he was not particularly Net-savvy but that friends had persuaded him to start writing.

"It gives me a chance to interact with my fans on a personal basis," said the star, who has made more than 100 movies.

It allows "me to express myself, share and reflect my emotions, thoughts, opinions and listen to what people have to say to me."

He also said the blog would help him rebut gossip "that keeps doing the rounds."

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Bollywood celebrities are known to have a strong fan following. They are considered as role models by thousands of people.

When it comes to a healthy food choice, the big screen heartthrobs are setting an example by turning to a vegetarian diet. We have made our own list of the best vegetarians in Bollywood. Check them out and you will come to know why most celebrities are simply crazy about the colour green.

John Abraham

Bollywood hunk John Abraham is a staunch vegetarian. He had even campaigned for the cause wearing nothing but spring onions and a garland of peas. John gave up meat after seeing new chicken farms outside Mumbai. Being a vegetarian makes him feel better that ever. Being a fitness freak, he values the muscle-building and fitness advantages of a vegetarian diet.

The boom time for the Mumbai film industry is not translating into windfalls for top Bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF), with its first offering of 2008, "Tashan", failing to live up to the hype.

While in 2007, YRF's tally of flops outweighed that of hits, their first release this year has failed to charm critics and the audience response to "Tashan" has not been too heartening.

Though heavy on formula and style, the film starring the reigning star of the box-office, Akshay Kumar, and media's favourite star couple, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, has no story to tell. Seems that writer-director Vijay Krishna Acharya was so busy packaging egos that he forgot what he wanted to say in "Tashan".

The fact that "Tashan" did not release in several multiplexes due to a long-standing tiff with cinema hall owners over sharing of revenues has been a major dampener. The country's top production house has been trying to get multiplex owners to agree on a new revenue sharing formula.

Their offer of keeping 55 percent of the box-office collections in the first week was rejected by exhibitors.

According to news reports, the first day's collection of "Tashan", which opened only in single-screen theatres on Friday, stood at 70 percent to 80 percent in Mumbai. Given that the film has not met expectations of both critics as well as audiences, the collections are likely to dip in the days ahead.

Its releasing in single-screen theatres is economically less profitable as fewer number of shows can be screened each day and the cost of tickets is much lower than in multiplexes.

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One look at Emraan Hashmi's filmography and you know that the young man loves to do films which aren't too crowded for comfort.

With Vivek Agnihotri's 'Chocolate' as an exception which had Anil Kapoor, Suneil Shetty, Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan for his company, Emraan has mainly done two/single hero projects.

While 'Murder' (Ashmit Patel), 'Gangster' (Shiney Ahuja), 'Good Boy Bad Boy' (Tusshar Kapoor) and 'Aksar' (Dino Morea) did have another male lead sharing screen space, Emraan still managed to tower above his contemporaries in most of the projects.

Now his upcoming 'Jannat' is a solo hero project, just as 'Awarapan' and 'The Train' were last year. Is it a conscious move?

"More than being termed as a conscious move, I would term it is a well thought move", says Emraan after a brief pause, "For me the film should work for me and I should be able to work for the film. It has to be mutual."

Please elaborate. "I don't want to be a part of a multi starrer for the heck of it. I mean it shouldn't be the way that 'if Emraan Hashmi is in the film, it becomes bigger, so let's add him on.' There should be substance and a reason behind my inclusion", adds Emraan Hashmi.

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