Suspense and Supernatural thriller hovers over March with BIG Pictures two films ‘Sikandar’ and ‘13B’

January 29th, 2009

BIG Pictures, the motion pictures brand from Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd, brings two enthralling films back to back this March 2009. The suspense thriller ‘Sikandar’ starring Parzaan Dastur (of ‘Parzania’ fame) and Ayesha Kapoor (of ‘Black’ fame) and the supernatural thriller ‘13B’ starring R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra, the first look of which would be unveiled with ‘Luck By Chance’, the directorial debut of Zoya Akhtar asserted to be released worldwide on 30th January, 2009. BIG Pictures has a slate of 18 films for 2009 of which the three films above are planned for release in the first quarter.

Ecstatic about this New Year’s slate Rajesh Sawhney, President, Reliance Big Entertainment assured –”This year BIG is bringing a variety of cinematic flavours on to celluloid. Beginning with ‘Luck By Chance’ based about slice of life from Bollywood, followed by ‘Sikandar’ and ‘13B’ to hit the theatres this March which will take suspense and thrillers to a whole new level. We have tried to bring in diverse directors, new actors and interesting mix of genres to entice all kinds of audiences in our slate.”

‘13B’, a supernatural thriller is about a middle class youth Manohar and his family living on the 13th floor. The new television show is dissonantly similar to their family and as the show progresses all the happenings in the show takes place in the family too. The film is directed by National Award winning director Vikram K. Kumar. The film has R. Madhavan and Neetu Chandra in the lead roles and Sachin Khedekar, Murali Sharma and Poonam Dhillon as the supporting star cast.

Directed by Piyush Jha ‘Sikandar’ on the other hand is a suspense thriller. The story of a 14 year old schoolboy Sikander living in Kashmir with his uncle and aunt. One day, on his way home from a school football match, Sikandar finds a gun lying on the path which changes his life forever. ‘Sikandar’ is a story about friendship, power, loyalty and triumph. Parzaan Dastur takes on the role of Sikandar after his heart wrenching performance in ‘Parzania’ and IIFA award winner for her exceptional performance in the film ‘Black’, Ayesha Kapoor plays his conscience keeper. Also has R. Madhavan and Sanjay Suri playing pivotal characters in the film.

After the tremendous response for Ghajini and Rock ON in 2008, this year BIG has 18 films stocked up in seven different languages catering to all sorts of audiences, national and international. BIG Pictures is working with a mix bag of directorial talent range from mavericks like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, David Dhawan, Shyam Bengal, Sudhir Mishra and Madhur Bhandarkar to visionaries like Farhan Akhtar and Abhinay Deo along with a fresh pool of budding talent like Zoya Aktar, Piyush Jha, Vikram.

Shruti Hassan to make her ad film debut replacing Amrita Rao

January 29th, 2009

Kamal Hassan and Sarika’s eldest daughter, Shruti Hassan will be making her debut with a TV commercial before the big screen one. Shruti has recently shot for an ice cream commercial for the brand Walls. Her first ever ad campaign features along with her young musician cum actor Raghav Sachar who is known for giving music to films like Kabul Express and One Two Three. However, it is learnt that Shruti has replaced Amrita Rao in the ad campaign.

Our source informs, “This particular TV commercial was earlier supposed to feature Amrita Rao with Pakistani band Jal singer Farhan Saeed. But with the diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan having turned sour post the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and there being a ban called upon by local political parties on Pakistani artists, the makers thought it would be best to replace the whole concept and rope two totally fresh faces. Shruti was therefore chosen without any audition and since her background too is music, the makers thought a musical personality would suit her perfectly. Musician Raghav who is actually the music director of this very commercial was roped in at the last minute. It is learnt that the post production for the ad is presently on and it shall be on air in a few days time.”

Shruti is presently shooting for Soham Shah’s Luck opposite Imran Khan and also for Leena Yadav’s Teen Patti starring Amitabh Bachchan and R. Madhavan. Raghav who had given music to films like Yash Raj’s Kabul Express and One Two Three is also planning to make a career in acting and has been taking acting classes. He was supposed to star in the Manzar song in Sunday but was replaced by Tusshar Kapoor.

Nandana Sen’s bonding with Amrita Arora

January 29th, 2009

Till now one had only heard about cat fights between two actors especially when it came to the lesser species. But there’s some maha female bonding happening between Nandana Sen and Amrita Arora on the sets of Seasons Greetings. In fact Amrita reminded Nandana of Goldie Hawn. “Amrita’s oomph brought Goldie Hawn’s earlier roles to my mind. Amu is a totally chilled out and fun to work with–and not at all like the imperious diva she plays in the film! As for me I play this simple girl next door whose nose is sunk in a book, But she has an open heart and uncontrollably wild side,” said Nandana Sen.

Pranav MohanLal - One More son Rises in Movies

January 29th, 2009

Lead hero’s heir becoming heroes or heroines at a later date are almost a tradition in Indian film industry.

Malayalam film industry will remember Pranav Mohanlal, who has won the Kerala State award as a child artiste for his performance in the film Punarjani.

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal son Pranav Mohanlal is making his first appearance as an actor opposite his dad in the Mega movie Sagar alias Jackie- Reloaded.

Pranav , who is in 12th standard in a Ooty HEBRON Boarding School is likely to debut as a hero shortly.The scenes of the real life father and son have been shot on the streets of Dubai recently for the movie Sagar alias Jackie- Reloaded.

Mohanlal who was awarded the Padmashree by the Indian Government in 2001 has two children, Pranav Mohanlal and Vismaya Mohanlal.

Jiah's Heart Green For Asin

January 29th, 2009

As of now it’s a common news that Bollywood hottie ‘jiah Khan’ and gorgeous actress Asin not being able to get along during the making of ‘Ghajini’. Rumor has it that Jiah was peeved because Asin had more footage than her and also she was not happy with the promotion of the film because Ghajini was promoting Asin more than her.

Jiah clears the rumors by saying that people know me a little here and Asin needs to get a lot of publicity as it is her Bollywood debut and I don’t have any problem with her. Jiah will be seen next opposite to Shahid Kapoor and the buzz is that she will also work with the king of Bollywood Akshay Kumar.

Well! We hope after the huge success of Ghajini Jiah’s Jiya is not green now for Asin.

Kat, Bebo to rock at Miss India pageant

January 29th, 2009

Miss India Worldwide pageant 2009 is going to be a combination of glitz, glamour and talent. More glamour will be added to the show by serene beauty Katrina Kaif and ravishing Kareena Kapoor and they will be joined by sultry Yana Gupta. They will set the stage on fire by their dynamic performance.

Bollywood actor Deepak Tijori whose company is hosting the show with Kaleidovision, said at a press conference: "There will be a mix of beauty, talent and glamour at the finale of the pageant, with Bollywood beauties shaking a leg with the participants. It will be an evening to remember."

Before the finale, the 20 finalists will go through a 10 days question and answer session. Mehar Bhasin, who will look after the grooming of the contestants has been quoted as saying: "Training is not going to be a cakewalk for them. They will have to go through a tough and hectic regime of around 14 hours a day, which means they cannot take it easy."

Beauty expert Blossom and Samantha Kochhar will take care of the beauty and hair of the contestants while designer duo Rahul and Rohit Gandhi of the label Cue will design their outfits.

January 29th, 2009

The leading lady of Bollywood today, Priyanka Chopra seems to be building a fine working rapport with Rajasthan.

She has shot for her film Drona here, and then she came back in July last year to shoot for a commercial near Jaipur’s Jal Mahal, and now she’s back in Jodhpur again in just six months time to shoot for yet another commercial, this time for a beauty soap brand. Priyanka landed at the Jodhpur airport on Tuesday afternoon amidst heavy security. Our source present at the airport said, “Priyanka landed here around 1 pm. Though a large number of her fans had turned up to greet her and catch a glimpse of their star, she preferred to quickly push through the surging crowd and head for her hotel.” The actress will be in Jodhpur till today. On her earlier visit to Jaipur, Priyanka who was unavailable for comment on Tuesday, had told JT, “I just love the state and the fact that its people are still connected to their cultural roots. I want to go around the place, but my hectic schedule doesn’t allow me to do so.