Aishwarya to star in Taj Mahal movie
US-based Indian technology tycoons have come together to fund an Imax
movie on the Taj Mahal, in which former Miss World Aishwarya Rai will
play the queen who inspired the marble monument.
The large-screen movie to be shown in special theatres will involve a
budget of up to $10 million and a host of big Bollywood names,
director Ganapathy Bharat told Reuters on Monday.
"It is not just for India ... it is going to be released all over the
world," Bharat said, adding he expected the project to be the biggest
international movie venture out of India since "Gandhi".
Richard Attenborough's epic based on the life of Indian independence
leader Mahatma Gandhi won several Oscars nearly two decades ago.
Imax Corp, creates the illusion of depth and movement through its
large-format film and theatres fitted with huge, curved screens.
India's first Imax movie theatre opened in Mumbai last week.
Aishwarya Rai, after winning the Miss World pageant, ventured
successfully as an actress in Bollywood cinema. With pale eyes, a
shapely figure and graceful manners, Rai is considered to be hottest
talent in India.
Bharat said she was an obvious choice because she would carry the idea
of an Indian beauty with a global appeal in a movie on the 17th
century marble mausoleum inspired by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's love
for his favourite wife, Mumtaz.
The movie is expected to be released in July next year.
"This is an intense, passionate story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz," said
Bharat, who has written the story for the movie with his wife, Kanika.
The male lead to play Shah Jahan is still a secret, and the name is
expected to be revealed later this month.
Bharat said they include K.B. Chandrasekhar and B.V. Jagadeesh,
co-founders of Internet infrastructure firm Exodus Communications Inc,
Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, chairman of optical networking firm Sycamore
Networks, and Kanwal Rekhi, former chief technology officer of Novell
Inc.
These and other technology millionaires from the Silicon Valley have
joined to form a company called India Lotus Inc to fund the movie.
"Pre-production work is in full swing," Bharat said, referring to
casting, set design and research ahead of shooting.
Bharat, popularly called Bala, has won acclaim in India for combining
with his long-time friend, composer A.R. Rahman, to make novel video
versions of patriotic songs, including the Indian national anthem
"Jana Gana Mana."
Rahman, who uses world music themes and digital technologies to create
innovative sounds that appeal to youngsters, is also collaborating
with British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber on a new musical.
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An Indian epic excites a foreign filmmaker
Scott Swofford and G Bharat met about a year ago in California. Now, they
are together making India's first IMAX film -- on the life of Shah Jehan in
which Aishwarya Rai plays Mumtaz Mahal. Film producer Swofford -- who has
produced a string of IMAX films such as the ground breaking Mysteries of
Egypt and the Academy Award nominated Amazon -- wanted to see Bharat's work
when he spoke of his idea of making an epic. So, they showed him
Bharatbala's music video of AR Rahman's Vande Mataram.
Swofford relates a tale about his trip to Agra, ``The story unfolded in
front of my eyes. Shah Jehan is invincible. His omnipresence is evident from
the harem, the room in which he lived. And when I looked out from the Fort,
the mist entangled itself with the love story. It was incredible.''
With Bharat, he now wants to recreate the mystery behind the Taj Mahal.
``The setting in India is exotic but no one has made a film weaving elements
of opulence. From the costumes to the sets, the one-hour film will breathe
of royalty,'' says Bharat lamenting that no one in India had dreamt of
making a film like Shakespeare in Love or Gladiator. In fact, Swofford has
raised the level of the to-be-made film. ``I can place it on the same
platform as the Pyramids of Egypt. The Taj Mahal is not just one of the
eight wonders of the world. It has history and a love story,'' he says.
``In fact, the goal of IMAX is to take the viewer to a place he/she would
ordinarily never go to. The average IMAX film is tapered with documentaries,
travel features but this is outstandingly different,'' Swofford exults. By
his second visit to Mumbai, Swofford's has partaken of Indian cinema
including Devdas, Zubeidaa and earlier Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala.
``I have observed the rich, scenic art department that the industry can
boast of, but it isn't the language of international cinema. So, we've taken
the international format of story-telling for this timeless film,'' he says
of the joint venture that is budgeted at $6 million though it might scale up
to $10 million.
However, casting for Shah Jehan has not been done. ``Right now, we are in
the research stage. We plan to shoot all over North India -- panning
Kashmir, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Deccan,'' explains Bharat. Part of
the shooting will be against the backdrop of strategic forts and palaces.
``In every film that I've produced, there's been an aspect of drama but this
is the first time that we're really trying to tell a story,'' Swofford says.
So what is it that drew the two to this subject? ``What does the world know
of India'' they ask, ``There's only Gandhi and the Taj that India is
associated with. This is our attempt to capture the symbol of human
commitment. It is equivalent to the story of Romeo and Juliet.''
The film, while being made, will travel. It will be processed in Los Angeles
as India does not have a processing lab. It will then return here for
editing. The release is roughly 14 months away.
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Anil, Raveena: 'Controversy is unfortunate!'
Bollywood personalities, including the 48th National Films Award winners for
Best Actor, Anil Kapoor, and Best Actress, Raveena Tandon, termed the
controversy over the alleged rigging of the awards as "unfortunate".
Kapoor and Tandon expressed dismay over the controversy, saying it was
confined only to best actor and actress categories. "How come only these
awards were allegedly rigged? Why was there no rigging for best film and
best director awards?" asked Kapoor. "If the jury was biased towards these
two awards, they would have given awards to Pukar or Daman," he said.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt told newsmen here that the Minister for Information &
Broadcasting Sushma Swaraj had already clarified that the awards were not
rigged. There was no reason to disbelieve the minister, he said.
Bhatt wondered why only integrity of awards given to commercial cinema were
being questioned and not that of art films. If some members of the jury had
decided to step down and question these awards, why were they doing it in
the light of the media, he asked.
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Desperately seeking Bhagyashree
Bhagyashree even drove the normally non-controversial and staid Rajshri
Productions up the wall until they were begging for respite.
Recently, the makers of a music video were at the receiving end. Having shot
the video in Ooty, the team was unable to complete the work during the
outdoor schedule due to her tantrums.
The unit returned to Bombay where the remaining shoot had to be completed.
With barely half an hour's work left, the producers requested Bhagyashree to
extend her work schedule, but the lady refused to cooperate.
The result being that a full day's shoot was called for just to complete
that half an hour of work - no wonder Madhuri and Juhi are inundated with
work, post-marriage, while Bhagyashree is desperately scouting around for
roles.
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Upcoming releases in April - Rediff
Action, romance, comedy & drama -- you get the works this month.
Little Rahul's fate hangs like a yoyo between his incompatible parents.
Love blooms between Govinda and Aishwarya in Albela.
Move over Darr! Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya projects Urmila in a new, wicked avtaar.
Moon Moon Sen's daughters, Raima and Riya, offer Daman and Love You Hamesha
respectively.
Deadly Dutt and jolly Govinda team once again declaring they are Jodi No 1.
Good enough, you think?
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Anil Kumble to act?
Considering how popular the sport is, one would think movie makers would
have seized on its mass appeal before. Then again, the 'better late than
never' theory applies here, as in other walks of life.
The news is that cricket-related films are in the air -- or more
appropriately, on the floors.
For one, Rajiv 'Kandukondain Kandukondain' Menon is busy with preproduction
work on a film that tells the tale of the relationship between a cricketer
and a handicapped child.
And though the film, at this point, is still in the scripting stage -- Menon
was observed, during the recent cricket camp in Chennai prior to the
India-Australia series, spending quality time at the MA Chidambaram Stadium,
making notes -- the buzz is that good friend Anil Kumble will play a key
role in the film.
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Husain now trains his eyes on Sushmita
GAJAGAMINI DIDN'T go very far in the box office. Nor did it go down well with critics who thought the celluloid ode to Madhuri Dixit was vague and boring. So this time, MF Husain is treading cautiously with his new film, Do Qadam Chalke Dekho.
The biggest surprise is DQCD will star Sushmita Sen, and not Madhuri, for whom Husain continues to have abiding admiration. "Why, only yesterday, I spent hours watching her shoot in Gurgaon," he said.
Sushmita will pair with Rahul Khanna in DQCD for which AR Rehman will compose the music. Trust Husain to be different. Most films are shot first and then music and songs are fitted in. For DQCD, Husain will first tape the songs and background score and shoot the film next.
Like Gajagamini, DQCD too will be a three-in-one film. But it will have a proper storyline that threads through Jaisalmer and Hyderabad and then hop across to Prague.
In the Jaisalmer part, the story is woven around the perennial water shortage there. The Hyderabad lap focuses on the growing urban chaos. In Prague, DQCD visits the international arms racket. How on earth the three are connected is something Husain won't say now.
But before the movie is shot, he will come out with a 40-minute digital version of it. "This abridged version will be like my first film, Through the Eyes of Winter."
Gajagamini's box office failure hasn't dented his passion for the film one bit. "I am taking the movie to university and college campuses where there will be discussions on popular cinema. Next stop will be villages where the Indian woman has evolved over the years."
Whatever trade journals say, Husain is happy with the response Gajagamini got. "It was not a film made to run for weeks. Yet it ran for four weeks in Mumbai, and five weeks in Delhi. The response in Kolkata was overwhelming."
Apparently, the response was good also in Berlin and London, where Husain was lately. Gaja-gamini was screened four times in the Berlin film festival. In London, it ran to packed houses.
But the honour he cherishes the most is London University's decision to include Gajagamini in the next semester's curriculum for the study of cinema.
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Raveena in a negative role!
Raveena is doing well for herself! After an award winning performance in Daman, she is readying herself for a negative role in Manoj Agarwal's Humko To Bas Aap Chahiye. Her role is said to be similar to Shah Rukh's in Darr. The film also stars Manoj's favourite Govinda and Sonali Bendre.
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Salman, Sohail and Aishwarya to come together
This writer was the first to break the news that actor Atul Agnihotri had turned director and brother-in-law Salman Khan would star in the film. But not many are aware that Atul had great difficulty in finalising the second hero for the project.
>From Shah Rukh to Hrithik, everyone Atul approached, he got the same reply, no dates. But Atul has finally selected the second hero for the project it's none other than Sohail Khan.
Yes folks, brothers Salman and Sohail will come face to face in jija Atul's debut vehicle, titled DIL NE JISE APNA KAHA. An excited Atul tells me that he has already completed the script of the film and is now taking the necessary permissions from the army to shoot within the army premises.
"DIL NE JISE APNA KAHA tells the story of two friends who fall in love with the same girl. One is an orphan (Salman), while the other is an army officer's son (Sohail). The film moves on two tracks simultaneously their friendship and the love interest," Atul sums up the plot of the film.
Atul has more surprises up his sleeve. He has signed Aishwarya Rai to play the leading lady, while A.R. Rahman will compose the music. The supporting cast includes Om Puri and Atul's cousin Rati Agnihotri.
To be produced by G.S. Entertainments (Bunty Walia, Sohail Khan), DIL NE JISE APNA KAHA will go before the camera in November/December this year.
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Karisma on a walkout spree!
Yes Karisma is not doing Karz - The Burden Of Truth anymore," confirmed by director Harry Baweja that Karisma had walked out of his Sunil Shetty-Sunny Deol starrer. He elaborated, "Karisma could not dole out 50 days dates at a stretch. So the decision to part was mutual. It is not that she walked out of the film the way certain section of the press is making it out to be. Shilpa Shetty has been signed in her place."
This is the third or should we say fourth film Karisma has opted out - lack of dates being her pertinent excuse all the time. The films include Sunny's London (He scrapped the project and later made Yeh Dillagi with brother Bobby and Urmila Matondkar), Deepak Shivdasani's Yeh Raaste Hai Pyar Ke, Satish Kaushik's Badhai Ho Badhai and now Harry Baweja's Karz. After having essayed title roles in Fiza and Zubeidaa, Karisma Kapoor, it seems, has adopted a strategy of doing only those films that would have her as the central figure. So at the moment she has just a few select films in her kitty which include Suneel Darshan's Ek Rishta- A bond of love, releasing in April, Suneel Darshan's next with Akshay kumar, Dharmesh Darshan's Haan Maine Pyar Kiya with Abhishek and Akshay Kumar, and Boney Kapoor's remake of Not Without My Daughter with Nana Patekar.
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