Sanjay's 'blue' mood affects shooting

February 8th, 2009

Sanjay Dutt is feeling shooting 'blues' these days. The actor is allegedly unhappy over the fact that Akshay Kumar has overshadowed him in the film Blue.

Sanjay Dutt is feeling so low because of this that he has started reporting at 2 pm on the shoots while the shift starts at 9. This has resulted in stretching of the schedule from 80 days to 150 days.

According to a source, initially everything was going well and Sanju and Akki were getting along well before Sanjay started to feel that Akshay is being given more importance because of his commerical viability.

"The entire unit including Akshay Kumar and Lara Dutta were kept waiting every day on the sets while Sanjay Dutt reported late. As this is director Anthony D'souza's first film, he has no say in front of a senior actor like Sanjay," added the source.

But according to reports, Sanjay and Akshay have now agreed to wrap up the final portions of the film by February.

All's well that ends well.

Bipasha and Ajay Devgan come together

February 8th, 2009

Mumbai: After considering many actresses like Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Vidya Balan, finally Bipasha Basu has been finalized for Rohit Shetty’s next project which stars Ajay Devgan in the male lead. This yet untitled venture from Rohit is supposed to be a comedy and will be produced under Ajay’s home production company, Devgan Entertainment Limited.

Shetty’s film is based on a play named ‘Uncle Samjha Karo’, which is a kind of comedy of errors, written and directed by Paritosh Painter and Balwinder Singh Suri. The film also has Sanjay Dutt and Fardeen Khan in important roles.

Bipasha and Ajay have worked together in four films till now but this will be their first comedy together. They were also there in Rohit Shetty’s debut film ‘Zameen’.

Kareena is the 'Czarina style icon'

February 8th, 2009

The french government has honored Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor as the 'Czarina style icon of Bollywood'.

While we don't entirely agree with the style icon bit, the Kapoor gal joins ranks with SRK and many global filmstars post this honor.

"It's great that bollywood is being recognised globally," Kareena said at a function in New Delhi.

While Kareena parroted the beauty pageant winning speech perfectly, her charecteristic cheekyness showed up when the conversation moved to saif.

"Saif is my tall dark and handsome; and he is an important part of my life...the world knows now."

As the size zero debate continues, she maintained the denial for her size zero image.

"Well I am definitely not size zero... I am well rounded," chipped in the Bollywood actor.

With three big releases with three superstars lined up, and with a few of non-bollywood awards in her kitty, Kareena has marketed her stardom pretty well.

Get smart and win a decoder

February 8th

DSTV’S SaffronTV is set to air the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? — hosted by Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan — this week.

The first episode of Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain? will be screened on Friday at 7.30pm. The show features contestants vying for a whopping R10-million in prize money.

New episodes will be broadcast on Wednesday and Friday evenings on channel 456 at 7.30pm.

Other shows that will feature in the new-look schedule include The Rise and Rise of Shahrukh Khan — on Sundays at 6.30pm, Main Miss India on Tuesday at 7.30pm, Italia Khana on Thursdays at 6pm and Maximum Style , Monday to Friday at 6.30pm.

The Sunday Times Extra and SaffronTV are giving away a DStv decoder each to two lucky readers. The prizes include installation vouchers but winners will have to pay monthly subscriptions. Readers will have to answer two questions, the first of which appears this week.

Today’s question is: who is the host of the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

E-mail both your answers — this week and next week’s — with the subject line “SaffronTV” to kznextra@sundaytimes.co.za by no later than 12pm on Tuesday February 17. Only one e-mail entry per person will be allowed. Look out for the second question in next week’s edition.

Amisha Patel is Kohl’s cover girl this month!

February 7th, 2009

Amisha Patel is on a cover spree! After polishing the covers of style magazines such as Verve and Man’s World, Patel features on the cover of UAE's first and only women's lifestyle magazine, Kohl this month! Her transformation from the girl-next-door to the glamorous diva has brought her a lot of appreciation.

As she speaks with the magazine, Amisha says that throughout the past eight years in the industry she learnt not to take success or failure too seriously and not let it to affect her life. “Believe in yourself and follow the path of honesty because there are no shortcuts in life,” she says. Clicked by Avinash Gowarikar’s camera lens, the actress revealed that her grandmother Sushila Gokhale Patel is her idol, “Her values and stories are something I want to pass on to my children.”

This issue of Kohl offers a very interesting view on how Amisha, the person, is like, her interaction with the finest minds such as Indira Gandhi, being the head girl at school and later an economic analyst!

Dev D Review

February 7th, 2009

New Delhi: Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin, Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Back when love was a compendium of silences and sighs, Devdas was an icon. These days, when it's more a matter of working off those pesky hormones as quickly as possible, the legendary lover is regarded as a champion loser.

In ‘Dev D’, Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Deol dust him off and resurrect him, making of him just another guy who goes at romance with all the arrogance and prickliness and insecurities of a young man. Recognise yourself in him? Dev's (Abhay) childhood sweetheart Paro (Mahi Gill) has all of these qualities, tempered by the essential female-ness of her. When, in a fit of jealous pique, he throws her off, she doesn't beg or grovel: she turns her back on him, too. Recognise yourself in her?

The film invites you to come along on a stunning multi-layered journey---the psychedelic contours of the overloaded-on-substance, on-the-verge-of-losing-it mind, the physical degradation of the body, the slow dissolution of the spirit. With Anurag and Abhay, (whose idea it was in the first place), ‘Dev D’ becomes one of those rare films which is all of a piece: every single frame is where it should be. As Dev and Paro part ways, Chanda aka Chandramukhi (Kalki) enters the equation, and the film steadies into its triangular groove, rocking to an inverted, just-right climax.

In this virtuoso re-working of the Devdas story, there's none of the obfuscatory self-indulgence that marred Kashyap's last outing, ‘No Smoking'. The cast is perfect for their parts. Debutante Mahi Gill is no Bollywoodized phoolkari-dupatta-wearing ingénue: she dresses, moves and behaves like a feisty girl who's been born and brought up in sugarcane country in rural Punjab. The other first-timer, Kalki, is astonishingly apt too: her journey from a traumatized schoolgirl (based on the MMS scandal emanating from one of Delhi's top schools a few years ago) to a role-playing, phone sex-worker Chanda, is riveting. The first is raw and sensuous, the other raises the lust-meter as high as any red-blooded male can handle, but both are heart-stoppingly, blatantly alive, needy, looking-for-love-with-sex-as-a-by-product real girl-women.

But it is Abhay who makes this thing sing. His Devdas is both eerily similar to the others who've played the part (Kashyap cheekily references posters and scenes from SRK's `Devdas' in a couple of scenes), as well as completely his own. Spoilt rich brat, king-of-the-castle, center-of-the-universe, the kind of male who is always so sorry for himself, that he can't see anyone else as clearly. Right from the attire—jeans, Tees, strap-across-the-chest-bag--- to the attitude—love me, love me, love me-- this joint-rolling, alcohol-swilling ( Coke, vodka ‘ke saath’, is his line in seedy bars) Devdas wears his victimhood with panache, blaming others for the `emosional atyachaar' (one of the eighteen sparkling songs Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya have created for the film: sometimes the film seems too stuffed with the background music, but that's a very minor quibble) being wrecked upon him, but reserving the right to a chuckle in the middle of it all.

Chal Chala Chal Review

February 7th, 2009

Chal Chala Chal sees Govinda doing what he does best. In the film, Govinda plays Deepak, who changes jobs after every six months as he refuses to indulge in any kind of corruption. At the same time, he is helping his father Omkarnath (Om Puri) in a legal matter. Omkarnath, an ex-principal, is fighting a case against his school to get his pension and provident fund.

Omkarnath wins the case, but the school lacks funds. As a compensation, he is handed over the school bus. Omkarnath gives it to Deepak, whose family members wish to sell the bus. However, Deepak follows Omkarnath's advice and starts a transport company Chal Chala Chal with financial help from his friend Sundar (Rajpal Yadav). Deepak faces crazy problems in his new journey and, once again, relies on his father's principles to fight the hurdles.

The fact that the audience has lost faith in Govinda's typical run-of-the-mill entertainers can be seen from the dismal opening the film took on the first day, attracting just a handful of viewers. Die-hard Govinda fans, however, did not mind watching him do the same thing, those looking out for some different were surely disappointed. Rajpal Yadav was praised for his supporting role. Overall, the poor opening indicates director Rajiv Kumar's debut film has no chance at the box-office.