Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Delhi CM unveils the music of Satish Kaushik's Teree Sang


By Joginder Tuteja, July 15, 2009 - 17:58 IST

Teree Sang
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It was a proud moment for director Satish Kaushik as political bigwigs came together yesterday to support his film on teen pregnancy - Teree Sang. Most prominent personality to grace the occasion was Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit who unveiled the film's music at Constitution Club, New Delhi.

Says Satish Kaushik who has worked with Ruslaan Mumtaz and debutant heroine Sheena Shahabadi in Teree Sang, "We were quite tensed if she would be able to come for the event because of the 'Metro' tragedy in the capital. Still, she did fulfill her promise in spite of the fact that she was hard-pressed for time."

The music launch, which also saw good attendance from media, showcased promos and songs from the film. "Sheilaji loved the fact that the film deals with the issue of teen pregnancy", informs Satish Kaushik, "She had good words to speak about Teree Sang since we are bringing to fore a sensitive subject. She saw the promos and admitted that the kids were looking very good together. Since she herself is a film buff, she has promised to go and watch the film once it releases."

As per the filmmaker, the CM personally went to Ruslaan and Sheena and blessed both of them. "It was quite nice on her part as she wished them all the success. She is a great leader and I hold her in very high esteem. The people of Delhi love her and it is phenomenal to see the way she holds her dignity in front of lakhs of people", says Kaushik.

He also goes on to share an interesting anecdote. "Sheilaji was particularly impressed by the fact that our production house is called 'Karol Bagh Film and Entertainment'. Karol Bagh holds a special place in the heart of Delhites. I come from Delhi and my partner Anupam Kher too has spent so many years in the city when he used to have 'ghar-ka-khaana' at my place. It was just apt that we shoot our film in Delhi as well."

Satish Kaushik was accompanied by the lead pair of the film while his co-producer from Delhi, Manoj Mittal, joined him too. Other prominent names present at the event were High Court lawyer Sunil Mittal, Dhawal Gada from PEN, MP Rajeev Shukla and Girish Agarwal, a prominent name in the Delhi society circles, amongst others.

Bollywood Celebrities Wallpaper

Also starring Satish Kaushik himself along with Sushmita Mukherjee, Rajat Kapoor, Neena Gupta and Anupam Kher in a special appearance, Teree Sang, which is produced by Bharat Shah, has music by new finds Sachin & Jigar and is all set for a 7th August release.

Mallika Sherawat 'tweets' at Twitter's Head Quarters at San Francisco

Mallika Sherawat

What will you do if someone tells you that the temperature and glamour quotient at our office has gone way up in the office because of your presence? Well, we know that you will surely be floored and must be rolling on the ground!

But, if you are Mallika Sherawat and the compliment came in from none other than Evan Williams, the CEO of Twitter, you will simply flash your smile at the compliment, as you know that your million dollar smile carries more worth than all the stocks in the NASDAQ put together! Mallika arrived at Twitter Head Quarters in San Francisco in a stretch limousine with fans and media channels waiting outside for her. The actress was mobbed for an hour by fans and press, signing autographs and doing interviews.

Evan Williams, Mallika Sherawat

Not just an excited Mallika gushed saying, "I'm honored to be the first Asian star to be invited to Twitter. Jai Ho!" but also posed for pictures outside Twitter's headquarters and then gave some inspirational remarks to Twitter employees during the lunch break. If that wasn't enough, at the request of a Twitter executive, Mallika even showed the employees a few Bollywood dance moves, and then the whole company joined in for the jhatka-matkas, prompting a spontaneous company dance party!

Following the Indian tradition, a coconut was broken in true desi style, by her producers in front of the Twitter office. Even the superhot promo of Mallika's forthcoming film Hissss was also shown to the Twitter employees during their lunch break, which received a tumultuous applause. Twitter staff members informed Mallika's producers that "Since Mallika joined the Twitter service, membership in India has skyrocketed." Can anyone 'dare' to argue on that! Jai Ho, Madame Mallika!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Kambakkht Ishq glitters with Prime Focus' VFX

Kambakkht Ishq Riding high on its box office success, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor starrer Kambakkht Ishq (KI), one of the biggest openers in the history of Indian cinema, has much more to it than Bollywood masala and a star studded cast including Hollywood stars like Denise Richards, Sylvester Stallone, Holly Valance and others.

KI is an example of the ever-growing trend of Bollywood films embracing visual effects (vfx) with some incredible (invisible) visual effects by post-production house Prime Focus.

Ask director Sabbir Khan about the film's success and he says, "I feel euphoric. Nearly 150 films release every year and yet only a handful can earn the tag of being a 'super hit'. So, yes, it makes me feel very special that I could do that, and that too with my first film."

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Merzin Tavaria, Creative Director of Prime Focus and VFX Supervisor of KI shares, "Actually, if we look at KI, there is not much vfx in the movie but more of design elements and the effects which are required in the narrative of the film. These vfx shots helped us to manage the production and also to save the time of international starts while shooting,"

Bollywood Movies Review

In this exclusive case study by Bollywood Hungama, we bring you some of the exciting shots executed by Prime Focus, courtesy Merzin Tavaria, Sabbir Khan and the producer, Sajid Nadiadwala.

Click on the thumbnails below to check out the shot breakdown:

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam

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Ratring: **

Sanjay Chhel has penned a number of comic fares. Obviously, when Chhel takes charge and decides to helm a project himself, you expect his film to be one wacky ride. Indeed, Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam is wild in parts, thoroughly enjoyable at times, but you don't exclaim 'maan gaye' in the end.

Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam prompts you to break into guffaws. Even the one-liners -- Chhel's a pro at it -- are dipped in wit-n-humour. Plus, the camaraderie between Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat is superb.

Lekin kahani mein problem hain… Chhel tries to pack sooooo much in one film. Love triangle, patriotism, terrorism, songs, the theatre group's woes… the outcome is clearly erratic and inconsistent. The comedy works, not the terrorism angle.

Chhel seems inspired by JAANE BHI DO YAARO, but this inspiration could've done with a gripping screenplay. Another sore point is the absence of good music.

To sum up, Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam is, at best, an average fare. Watch it for the humour and also bravura performances by its lead actors.

Circa 1993: St. Louise, near Goa, is on a high alert due to illegal activities like RDX and arms landing at the coastal area.

Set up in the same town is Kalakar Theatre Company, a theatre group of self indulgent dreamy actors who are always left with no choice but to perform the same age-old period play 'Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam' every time.

One fine day, they get to know that an underworld don is planning a bomb blast in the country. The drama company gets into the act to save the entire city from this blast.

Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam takes time to come into form. But when it does, the humour is unstoppable. Sure, you may find the theatre group's drama (Akbar, Salim, Anarkali) amateurish, but it works big time.

In fact, the audi will reverberate with wild laughter at several places. But the writing lacks meat and that takes away the sheen. The pace picks up, drops, picks up again, drops yet again unfailingly.

Humour is the highpoint of Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam and Chhel hits a boundary there. Ditto for his dialogues. Anu Malik's music is lifeless. Barring the title track, the remaining numbers are simply add-ons. Madhu Ambat's cinematography is fair.

Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam belongs to Paresh, Rahul and Mallika. Paresh has mastered the art of making people laugh, but when you watch him in this film, you realize the tremendous potential this terrific actor possesses. Watch his take on Akbar or step in as Kay Kay's double; he's in top form.

Mallika stands on her feet despite a giant called Paresh Rawal. Scrutinize her as Anarkali at the outset and later, as an aspiring actress; she's fantastic.

Rahul Bose is known for serious and intense roles, but he breaks the shackles with Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam. His timing is perfect. Surprisingly, Kay Kay isn't in form this time. Pawan Malhotra does very well. Zakir Hussain doesn't get scope. Ditto for Tanaaz. Manoj Joshi is wasted.

On the whole, Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam is an ordinary fare, laced with great humour at places.

Chamku Movie Preview



Where does one point a finger when one isn't quite enthralled to listen to the soundtrack of an album, let aside commenting later on whether it is good or bad?

Is it due to 'thanda' vibes that the cast of the film gives (Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra)? Is it due to the title, which makes one wonder which genre does the film belong to? Is it the promotion, which gives a strong sense of 'deja vu' with routine mushy song and dance numbers?

This is why even as Monty Sharma arrives with his second soundtrack after Saawariya and Sameer joins him as a lyricist, there aren't any expectations with Chamku when one plays on the music.

However, there is a surprise at the very beginning of the album with 'Aaja Milke' indeed making you hear the number more closely.

Starting with Shreya Ghosal, this song about togetherness of the two lovers is aided not just by some good singing but also Indian arrangements, which is the hallmark of Monty Sharma.

Reminding of the kind of work that Sharma has done on the songs for Sanjay Leela Bhansali films; 'Aaja Milke' turns out to be a decent composition even though Shail's limited presence is on a duller side.

Richa Sharma is heard next in a kind of number with which she is associated most - a sad painful number with a classic Indian touch to it.

A situational track meant for the background score, it doesn't quite seem that 'Kithe Jawa' would be placed for it's entire 5.5 minutes duration in the film.

Of course, Richa is good as she always is but the song by itself is hardly the kind, which would have listeners, excited enough to give it a hearing beyond the movie. Surprisingly the number is heard twice with 'Bin Daseyaa' being the title for the 'remix version'.

Has Monty Sharma tried to create a 'Dola Dola' [Ismail Darbar] here with 'Gola Gola'?

It seems to be the case as he gets a similar mood and style for 'Gola Gola' which is basically a 'Holi' number revolving around 'bhang' and the works! Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Vaishali Samant come together for this yet another 'desi' number in Chamku but here too, there isn't much that one ends up looking forward to.

However, there are some hopes of the song getting a few eyeballs if supported by eye catchy choreography and picturisation.

Longest track in the album comes next which lasts close to six and half minutes. Titled 'Trance', this one completely changes the mood and flavor of the album and takes the listener to hardcore Western arrangements.

Saleem Shahzada, Soumya Raoh and Anaida come together for this fast paced number which is set truly as a 'trance' number and comes with a possibility of being played in nightclubs with the round of drinks and flashy lights in full force.

A number which has lyrics in languages other than Hindi as well, 'Trance' again comes with a core situational appeal though one wonders where exactly could this be fitted in except for some dramatic action sequence!

In the same slow mannered pace as 'Kithe Jawa' comes 'Dukh Ke Badri', which appears to be set in a village in the cow belt from where the film's lead protagonist comes.

A number with a rustic feel to it, 'Dukh Ke Badri' is about looking positively in life and expecting better things to arrive. Sung by Kalpana, Parthiv Goel and Shail, it won't quite make a listener to put it on a repeat mode and in fact also forget 'Aaja Milke' which incidentally turns out to be the best of the lot.

In nutshell, Chamku is a forgettable album which is clearly one of the weakest from the house of Vijayta Films.

The songs by themselves may not to be a terrible hear but for a commercial film like Chamku, they just don't create any excitement.

There is absolutely nothing that one takes back home after listening to Chamku and one wonders if it may just have been a better outing if only it was a song less affair.

Kidnap Movie Preview

From Sanjay Gadhvi, the master-director of mega blockbusters like Dhoom and Dhoom: 2, Kidnap is a high-octane edge-of-the-seat drama about a power tussle between a young boy and the father of the girl he kidnaps.

Sonia (Minissha Lamba – Bachna Ae Haseeno) lives with her mother, Mallika (Vidya Malvade – Chak Dey India) and grandmother because her parents divorced when she was ten. A week before her eighteenth birthday celebration, she gets kidnapped.

The abductor, Kabir (Imran Khan – Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na) is interested in speaking only to her father, Vikrant Raina (Sanjay Dutt), an affluent New York-based Indian businessman, with whom he has an old score to settle.

Vikrant returns to India to retrieve his daughter from Kabir’s clutches but has to carry out a series of daunting tasks set out by Kabir as a condition to rescue her. At the end of each task is a clue that helps Vikrant in coming closer to Sonia.

Is his mission as easy as it seems? How far will a father go to save his daughter? What redemption is there for Kabir at the end?

Sanjay Dutt’s first release of 2008, co-starring the latest teen sensation, Imran Khan, Kidnap makes for compelling viewing as the big festival release on Eid. It features music by Pritam.

Aashayein Movie Preview



Cast: John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal, Girish Karnad, Farida Jalal
Directed by: Nagesh Kukunoor

Aashayein is the story of an angry, confused, compulsive gambler who discovers new meanings of fortune and life through a dramatic turn of events.

At a party celebrating his big gambling win, Rahul proposes to his girlfriend Nafisa. But within minutes of announcing his engagement to her, Rahul collapses on the floor. Aashayein

After a medical diagnosis, Rahul discovers that he has only a few months left to live. The movie is a moving tale of Rahul's journey from darkness to light. It is a journey about love, hate, life, death and hope.

Sonal Sehgal plays Nafisa, a doting and loving girlfriend who wishes and hopes that love will conquer all her troubles. Other characters touching Rahul's life include Sister Grace (Prateeksha Lonkar), who dedicates her life to the happiness of her patients in the hospice.

There is also Parthasarthy (Girish Karnad), a fun-loving but stubborn character wishing to be reunited with his family, while the intelligent, virtuous and loving Madhu (Farida Jalal) wants to lead a normal life and not be ostracised while in the hospice.

Also present is 10-year-old comic book lover Govinda (Ashwin Chitale), who dreams of everyone's life being just like a comic book.

How Rahul gets influenced by these characters in the hospice and how he makes the most of his limited time is what Aashayein is about. This moving saga is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor of Iqbal (2005) and Bombay to Bangkok (2008) fame.