Juhi Chawla gives birth to a girl
Mumbai - Leading cine star Juhi Chawla gave birth to a
bonny girl on Wednesday evening at the Breach Candy
Hospital in south Mumbai.
Both mother and daughter were said to be in good health.
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Hrithik will not play Hamlet in Hollywood film, says Rakesh Roshan
Mumbai : The superstar, Hrithik Roshan's father, Rakesh Roshan, denied
any plans to play Hamlet in Hollywood film. Earlier, a media report
quoting Los Angeles-based producer James Killough as saying that
Hrithik will be playing the lead in an Indian adaptation of Hamlet.
Reports said that Hrithik would star in a version of Hamlet set in
Rajasthan, which will be directed by Indian American filmmaker Tarsem
Singh of "The Cell" fame. Rakesh Roshan said : "Right now Hrithik's
priority is Hindi films, not Hollywood. The information that my son is
doing Hamlet is completely baseless". Hrithik, who has just won
Filmfare awards for best actor and best male debut, is scheduled to
perform in Delhi this weekend. His debut film Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai
walked away with a staggering nine Filmfare awards - the second
highest number.
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An unlikely hit
The story behind the making and release of Mor Chhainha Bhuinya, which
has celebrated a 100 day run in Chhattisgarh, is such dramatic fare
that it could easily pass off as a good subject for a hit film!
Satish Jain, its writer-producer-director, is not new to the Hindi
film world.
Even though he has written films like Panaah, Dulaara, Pardesi Babu,
Rajaji and the story of Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Satish saw his future going
nowhere in Bollywood.
The worst came when Govinda and director Manoj Agarwal found his Hadh
Kar Di Aapne screenplay unsuitable and replaced him, keeping only his
story.
Dejected, Satish returned to his hometown, Raipur in Chhattisgarh,
with the subject for a Chhattisgarhi film in his mind, a little money
in his pocket and a lot of tension.
Making a Chhattisgarhi film was not easy, especially because until
then, only two films had been produced in that dialect.
Besides, there was no finance available for the film.
Recalls Satish, "We sold our family land at Rana Pratappur, near
Bastar. My brother-in-law also mortgaged his land, while my brother
borrowed money from his friends. But we still ran short of money. So
my father literally begged for funds, knocking door-to-door in our
village. My entire family supported me in my time of need.
Satish's brother Tiku was fond of singing and, to save money, he was
'made' a playback singer for the film! A harmonium player from Bombay,
Pradeep Pandit, was asked to double up as another playback singer.
Once the film's shooting was completed, Satish thought his woes were over.
But it had only just begun. No distributor was ready to touch the
film. Depressed, but not daunted, Satish and his brother decided to
distribute the film themselves.
Without any knowledge of distribution, this was only the beginning of
a further harrowing experience for the Jain brothers.
Exhibitors were anything but co-operative. Some of those scoffed at
the idea of screening a Chhattisgarhi film. But Satish and his brother
used all their persuasive powers and released the film in Raipur, Durg
and Bilaspur on Diwali (October 27).
The rest, as they say, is history...
The film, which opened with 3 prints, has 12 prints engaged today, 100
days later.
The film completed a hundred day run on February 3 in Raipur, Durg and
Bilaspur. Of these, cinemas in Raipur and Bilaspur had five shows
daily -- an unprecedented record! In Durg too, the film was screened
five shows daily for several weeks before it was brought down to four
shows.
The blockbuster, which cost less than Rs 15 lakhs to make, is expected
to do a business of over Rs 2 crores. It is now heading for a hundred
day run at Bhilai, Rajnandgaon, Korba, Dhamtari, Ambikapur and Shakti.
State transport buses are doing such brisk business, carrying loads of
people to and fro the cinemas screening the hit that new bus-stops
have sprung up outside such cinemas at Rajim and other smaller
centres.
In fact, people not only come in busloads, but in bullock carts and
tractors too! So cinemas halls now display sign boards indicating
parking space for the tractors and carts!
In Bhilai, a British lady, running an institute where she teaches
students to make video and documentary films, saw the film 70 times!
She was so impressed by the film's message that the education system
is not suitable for preparing the youth for jobs, that she even
telephoned Satish to congratulate him.
The film is about a family returning to their village after facing
tough times in the impersonal city where they had gone with hope and
dreams.
Satish now plans to add a song to the film. This song, which already
appears on the film's audio cassette, has the names of all the railway
stations in Chhattisgarh and may well lure audiences all over again!
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Dhak-dhak girl turns to haute couture
From one of Bollywood's worst dressed actresses to one whom every leading
fashion designer wants to drape in his fabrics, Madhuri Dixit has come a
long way. The actress, who was often criticised for her dressing style even
at the peak of her career, is now the muse of such leading designers as Abu
Jani-Sandeep Khosla and Ritu Beri who have created outfits for her in Devdas
and Yeh Raaste Hai Pyaar Ke respectively.
Recently, Abu-Sandeep were hired by producer-director Sanjay Leela Bhansali
to replicate old Calcutta wear for his Devdas, in which Dixit plays
Chandramukhi, a
courtesean. The duo is designing outfits for Shah Rukh Khan, Jackie Shroff
as well who have prominent roles in the film. ''Madhuri's wardrobe in the
film comprises mostly embroidered sarees and drapes, also brocades, all rich
antique-like costumes,'' says a designer who works for Abu-Sandeep.
With Delhi-based designer Ritu Beri, Dixit has had a longer relationship.
She has not only worn Beri's outfits off-screen but also launched Beri's
book, 101 Ways To
Look Good last year. Earlier this week, Dixit attended the designer's
fashion show in the Capital. For film-maker Deepak Shivdasani's Yeh Raaste
Hain Pyaar Ke, in which the actress plays a married woman who is later
widowed, Beri has designed outfits in vibrant colours. ''It's a very modern,
fashionable look, not those typical filmi costumes,'' says Neha Vij, a
designer-merchandiser at Beri's Delhi outfit. ''We have given her stylish
blouses, also very different fabrics and embroidery,'' Vij explains.
Interestingly, a leading jewellery store in Delhi has specially designed
ornaments to go with Beri's outfits in the film.
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Ash-Hrithik not to do KBC special!
A rumour that became news! Some days back the press was agog with the buzz that Kaun Banega Crorepati was going to wrap up the season with a bang: they had reportedly bagged Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan to feature in the show! The news that was taken up by all most of the press didn't feature in one dotcom! Ours! We did a lil checking up on our own and found out that the rumoured coup was just that -- a rumour! Nothing has happened and probably never will for neither of the two has even been approached by Star. Both the stars were "astonished" at the news and they denied it outright! Now you know folks... if you want real news about reel stars check us out... And to all the newsies, you can pick up the right news from here, first!
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Malayalam film bags prize at Berlin festival
Berlin - Jayaraaj's Malayalam film "Karunam" bagged the
Don Quixote Prize at the 51st International Berlin Film
Festival.
The special prize, instituted by the International
Federation of Film Societies, went to "Karunam" at the
Berlinale which ended Sunday night. Jayaraaj said it was
a recognition of contributions made by regional cinema.
The four-member international jury cited the 77-minute
film shot with English sub-titles for showing a "simple
tale with a great emotional power and deep imagery that
it could be understood universally".
The film, last among the 300 films shown at the theatres
at the 12-day long Berlinale, features Vavachan and
Eliyamma portraying the role of an old couple waiting for
the arrival of their son from the US in their hamlet.
But, as fate wills, the couple are forced to go to an old
people's home after their house is sold by the NRI son.
"Karunam" had three screening like the other two films
shown in the forum section -- Mani Rathnam's Alai
Payuthey and M F Hussain's Gaja Gamini. There was no
Indian entry for the panorama and the competition
sections.
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Smita Patil's retrospective draws crowds at Moscow
MOSCOW: Indian cinema may be synonymous with Raj Kapoor, Amitabh
Bachchan and Mithun Chakravarty in Russia, but a retrospective of
actress Smita Patil's films did draw large crowds of cinemagoers eager
to lap up films from the country.
"It is a welcome sign that so many young people came to watch Smita's
films in spite of the fact that little was done to advertise about the
festival," said Yuri Korchagov, Russia's best-known critic of Indian
films.
"Russians are fed up of Western movies full of crime, sex, violence
and the cheap Latin American serials on television. This is the time
for Indian cinema to come to Russia in a big way," Yuri Korchagov Russia's
best-known critic of Indian films said, adding the Russian Cinematographers
Association was planning to bring more Indian films to the Russian screen,
and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) should extend
assistance
to make this effort successful.
Inaugurating Smita's retrospective in the prestigious House of Film,
eminent Russian filmmaker Gennady Paloka said, "Indian films were
always an integral part of our cultural life and degradation of our
culture during the past decade took place as Indian films disappeared
from the Russian silver screen."
"Now when we mobilize ourselves to save our culture from the West,
first of all American sub-cultural values, Indian films can once again
play a significant role in it," Paloka added.
The ICCR organized the retrospective in collaboration with the Central
House of Russian Cinematographers and State Committee for Cultural
Ties under the Russian government. The festival held at Zaryad cinema
hall screened Smita's popular films like "Ardh Satya," "Bhumika,"
"Tarang," "Chakra" and "Akaler Sandhane."
"Smita's films are so different from regular Indian cinema and you
learn so much about India from them," said Alexandra Belyayeva, a
university student who is writing her thesis on Indian culture.
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Nandita Das wins best actress award
Nandita Das recently won the best actress award at the
Santa Monica Film Festival, USA, for her performance in
Dr Jagmohan Mundhra's Bavandar (Sandstorm).
Dr Mundhra and Nandita were invited to the awards
function held at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa
Monica. The film had been shortlisted for the Moxie
awards at the fete.
In Bavandar, Nandita Das plays Sanwari, a rural low caste
woman who works for the Rajasthan government's
development programme for women called Saathin. She is
gangraped by upper-caste men in her village when she
speaks up against the prevalent custom of child
marriages.
While Bavandar is being screened at international film
festivals, it is still to be cleared for release in
India. The censors ordered five cuts which were not
acceptable to Dr Mundhra, who has appealed to the Film
Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT).
Strangely enough, the FCAT has not viewed the film
several months after the appeal
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I'm Mad About Movies!" --Anil Kapoor
There aren't many who have been around as long as him. Neither will there be any who are likely to remain as long as he plans to…
Creating history, Kapoor style…
When you look back at your career, how do you feel? Satisfied or frustrated?
Neither! Actually, I really feel the same way I did when I started doing films. At the risk of sounding crazy there is that desperation to learn and achieve more. I'm always fighting against the odds and striving to do better work. That gives me the power to go and on…
You've been around for about 20 years, right?
I struggled for around 3 years and then I went through 17 years of stardom. And I intend doing this till I close my eyes…
Memories from the beginning…
As an adult, the first film I did was shelved. It was called Prerna and the heroine was Gayatri, who later went on to become Anant Nag's wife. I then used to hang around the Rajshri Production office in the hope of either meeting Mr. Tarachand or Mr. Raj Kumar Barjatya…Or both! It was a number of months later, I managed to get on audience with the office manager, who signed me up as a hero for a sum of .
Rs. 2000/-. When I get a small role in Rajashri's Ek Baar Kaho, I was paid Rs. 1500 which was quite a sum for me.
Any humiliating experiences during your struggling days?
Many! There was this one that I was playing one of the many sides in Ek Baar Kaho. The shot required me to run and jump from one bogey of a train to another. But Shabana and the director Lekh Tandon where very impressed with my enthusiasm. I was convinced I'd become a star. I took my wife to see the rushes of the scene and I wanted to die. There was so much mist and smoke in the scene, that all you could see were my legs. Later, when I asked the cinematographer, he apologised saying he had to concentrate on the lead players. It was embarrassing. .
Did you ever want to be an actor?
I knew I never want to become a producer like my father. And anyway, no one expected me to become anything else. Then my dad fell ill and was hospitalised. That's when Boney and I panicked. We lived a hand to mouth life for a while and the one person who helped us out was Geeta Bali, who'd acted in dad's Jabse Tumhe Dekha Hai. She supported us, which is why all the films made by our banner, are dedicated to her.
Shashi Kapoor was the first to encourage me as an actor. He made me approach acting seriously and recommended my name to Shabana and N.N. Sippy.
Then came Chameli Ki Shaadi and your stint as a star began?
suppose it did. And it'll continue .
Fine, but what you do a ridiculous guest appearance in Mann?
I did it for my friend Inder Kumar and Asok Thakeria, who were the producers of the film. I didn't want to read the script. I went to it with a blind faith and I'm glad I did. People liked me in the film.
What about Taal?
The role in Taal excited me right from the moment I heard it. Even though my character appears just before the interval, the length didn't have me feeling left out in anyway. It was a full-fledged role and one which I consider one of my best performance to date.
What about your role in Biwi No. 1?
Kamal Hasan had played my role in the original Tamil version. When I saw that version, I felt it was the only role which got my heart thumping. I wanted to do it and so I did.
Wouldn't you have liked to been in Hum Saath Saath Hain, especially since you began your career with the Rajashri's?
Everyone who has seen the film told me that they'd wished I was in it. But I think Manish (Behl) has done a good job.
How come don't you rate Pukar as a best for you?
>From the 60 films I've done so far, I would rate Pukar among my favourite performances. But that's it. Among my best I'd rate Woh Saat Din, Mashaal, Eeshwar, Tezaab, Mr. India, Lamhe, Beta, Virasat and Taal…
What's your game plan now?
I want to work with the best directors who have the best scripts in hand. As always I intend to do 4 films a year. Acting is the only way I can relax! Being at work, means a holiday for me. And so I'll continue tot do so, till I drop. They'll have to carry me off a set if they want me out!
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