Once Upon A Time In Mumbai : Ajay Devagan to Play Haji Mastan

January 30th, 2009

Ajay Devgan is gearing up to play a character based on smuggler-turned-film producer Haji Mastan in movie 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbai' to be directed by Milan Luthria .

For Ajay last year was good as the actor was happy with his directorial debut U Me Aur Hum (despite its failure at box-office) and his only successful film Golmaal Returns .

Now, he is set for the serious role of a smuggler who turned producer in Bollywood with his movie 'Mere Garib Nawaz' in the year 1973 and later became a very successful distributor. Haji Mastan ventured into politics during his last years. He also shared a good relation with veteran actor Dilip Kumar.

In fact Yash Chopra 's 1975 super hit film 'Deewar' was inspired by Haji's life. Amitabh Bachchan played that character which is till now considered among Big B's best performances ever. It's reported that Ajay might seek the guidance of Amitabh for playing this complex character.

Ajay played a gangster in Ram Gopal Varma 's Company a few years back, but to essay Haji Mastan's character is a bit different according to this fine actor, who has come a long way in Bollywood and has proved his mettle in movies like Gangaajal , Apaharan , Omkara and bagged National Award for portraying the character of Bhagat Singh in movie The Legend of Bhagat Singh .

The movie 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbai' will also try to show another aspect of Mastan's life and that is the smuggler's love relationship with starlet Sona.

This year is going to be eventful for Ajay as he is busy with production of two-three films. Then he has Prakash Jha 's Rajniti and also is planning to direct another film.

Hrithik first patient at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital; talk about celeb launches!

January 30th, 2009

Hrithik is first patient at newly inaugurated K D Ambani Hospital

Hrithik Roshan's accident on the sets of Kites made news but the bigger news is how the actor skipped going to the 'celebrity' hospital in Bandra to avoid registering a police complaint.

The actor has cuts on his wrist normally associated with attempted suicide cases. The Roshans wanted to avoid unnecessary paperwork.

So papa Roshan called Tina Ambani, and requested her to admit his son to the family-owned and recently-opened Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital at Four Bungalows, Andheri. Ambani made the necessary arrangements for Hrithik's medical care at the hospital.

A source close to Hrithik's family says, "Duggu (Hrithik's pet name) was the first patient at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. He hurt himself on the sets of Anurag Basu's Kites at Filmistan Studios on Wednesday night.

He was shooting for an action scene in which he had to smash a windowpane with a rod and enter the room. The shot didn't work well two times; the third time Hrithik hit the glass so hard that glass shards flew everywhere. One sliced through his wrist and blood gushed everywhere. The cut was so deep that Hrithik could see his bone."

Though Papa Roshan wasn't present on the sets executive producer and Hrithik's sister Sunaina was. She took charge. "Initially, Sunaina didn't realise how serious Hrithik's wound was but when he cried out to her asking for help and to stop the blood gushing out, she realised he needed to be taken to a hospital for stitches."

The source adds that Sunaina decided to take him to Lilavati Hospital in Bandra but they were advised that it might become a police case. She spoke to her dad, who in turn called Tina Ambani in Delhi who made the necessary arrangements for Hrithik's admission."

Roshan Sr confirms, "The deep cut required 12 stitches. He won't be shooting for the next three days till the doctor sees his wound."

In the vicinity

Roshan Sr also adds, "We took Hrithik to the Ambani Hospital as it was close to Filmistan Studios in Goregaon. I wanted him to reach the hospital as soon as possible. I spoke to Tina. She spoke to the doctors and made all the required arrangements. Fortunately they had opened the hospital just a day before and Hrithik was their first patient. It's a fantastic hospital like a 7-star hotel very well thought out with 700 beds. The doctors are very efficient."

With regard to the police case he says, "The police came for a routine enquiry and I showed them Hrithik's report it was an accident on the sets. They were fine with that.

Pawan Kalyan and Renu Desai Got Married - At Last!

January 30th, 2009

On Wednesday, Pawan Kalyan the younger brother of Praja Rajyam Party Chief Chiranjeevi and his long-time companion Renu Desa made it official in front of their closest friends and family at his residence.

Pawan got officially married to Renu at his Jubilee hills house at 9.50 AM on Jan 28 at simple ceremony as per Arya Samaj rituals.

Renu Desai was the heroine in two of Kalyan’s films namely Badri and Johnny.

Kalyan and Renu Desai had been staying together for about 7 years now and have a 2 year old son Akira. Pawan Kalyan was earlier married to Nandini from whom he got a divorce in 2008. Kalyan heading the Praja Rajyam’s youth wing Yuva Rajyam.

Chiranjeevi, his elder brother Nagendra Babu, Allu Arvind, Puri Jagannath and other members of the family along with few close friends had attended the ceremony.

Victory Review

January 30th, 2009

Movie Review: Victory; Star cast: Hurman Baweja, Amrita Rao, Anupam Kher and Gulshan Grover; Director: Ajitpal Mangat; Rating: **; Is a huge let down.

Vijay Shekhawat (Hurman) a Jaisalmer boy after a lot of struggle manages to fulfill his father’s (Anupam Kher) dream of making it to the Indian cricket team. With a great debut he wins not just fans but a lot of endorsement deals and lucrative contracts. Success begins to spoil and distancing him from his lady love (Amrita Rao) back home. Blinded by success and the taste of the high society life he losses both focus and form. He is then understandably dumped by the selectors. Following which, his father gets a heart attack. Vijay then decides to mend his mistakes and fight his way back to the team. In final match, despite a severe head injury he manages to get India a near impossible win.

A sports film is always crippled with a same storyline that of a underdog, his rise then fall and subsequent rise back to gain the impossible victory. This film is no different. But one expects atleast some sense of creativity wherein the interest is kept alive throughout. Twenty minutes into the film and one somehow senses whats in store. So full of cliches and melodrama is the film that sometimes you begin to wonder did the makers intend to take the viewers for a ride. If the melodrama was intended to bring in that emotional connect with the audience then the writer-director have clearly failed as throughout the film the emotional impact is clearly missing. Also nowhere does the lead character’s passion for the game comes across. Also one fails to understand the need of Hurman’s character using swear words for his opponents. Wear is your sporting spirit dude is what we wish to ask him! His character therefore fails to evoke any sympathy from the audience. The biggest high point of sports films are games shown in the film. But here they are biggest drawbacks. Not only there are just a very few games but also what are shown are simply thanda! There is total lack of edge of the seat excitement which was very much needed. Also homework by the makers is clearly lacking if they intended to show the ‘real’ behind the scenes happenings of the cricket match for example the dressing room interactions etc. Just putting in famous national-international cricketing names don’t necessarily give the film authenticity.

One feels really sad for Hurman Baweja whose tremendous hard work is noticeable in every single scene but is mightily let down by a pathetic script and listless direction by debutante Ajitpal Mangat. Amrita Rao reprises her typical simple small town girl act for the nth time. She looks very pretty though. Anupam Kher after a point of time starts grating on your nerves with his screeching over melodramatic act. Gulshan Grover is just about okay.

The music doesn’t really register any impact as there are no full songs as well. The Balla Utha number mostly keeps playing in the background during the match sequences. But thankfully the songs are less.

The film is a complete let down in many departments and instead of wasting time on this film it is a better option to watch a re-run of any Indian cricket team match on TV or best spend your time watching the current India v/s Sri Lanka one day series.