Pakistani stars Bollywood dreams crash

January 8th, 2009

Mikaal Zulfikaar, the Pakistani-British actor was hoping hard to make it big in Bollywood. But his dreams now have gone for a toss.

And the reason is the unofficial ban on Pakistani entertainers in Maharashtra.

Mikaal has made his debut as Naseeruddin Shah’s nephew in Jagmohan Mundra’s ‘Shoot On Sight’. He was supposed to arrive in Mumbai this month to begin shooting for Mundra’s ‘Roommates’ in February.

After this ban against Pakistani performers, the producers have quietly decided to replace Mikaal.

Says director Jagmohan Mundra, “You can’t blame them. My producers Evolution Films from Chennai, are new to Hindi cinema. They can’t afford to antagonise a section of Mumbai for the sake of the cast. Better that we replace Mikaal, although his mother is a British and he holds a British passport. But it’s not ours to question why.”

He adds, “This is a kind of terrorism beyond the recognised forms of terrorism. How can artistes be segregated according to their religion and nationality? Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or Farida Khannum and Ghulam Ali don’t belong only to Pakistan. They belong to all of us. I was deeply disturbed to know that books by Pakistani authors have been taken off the shelves of Mumbai’s bookstores. Creative arts should be kept above politics.”

Some things in life are unexpected. Better luck next time, Mikaal.

Balaji Telefilms launches two new soaps with NDTV Imagine

January 8th, 2009

As we enter the New Year, it’s time to make way for new experiences! Starting January 19th at 10:00 p.m., there are two more new reasons to tune-in to NDTV Imagine. The creative association of talented individuals that spawned a series of memorable and blockbuster TV shows will now unveil two great tales yet again. As part of its new programming line-up, NDTV Imagine will debut two back-to-back new shows from Balaji Telefilms. This exciting new time-band will kick start with ‘Bandini’ at 10:00 p.m. followed by ‘Kitani Mohabbat Hai’ at 10:30 p.m. and will air Monday-Thursday only on NDTV Imagine. These shows will be filled with uninterrupted moments of engaging entertainment, powerful drama, unpredictable twists and great story lines.

Breaking away from the cult of conventional soaps for the first time ever, Balaji Telefilms presents Bandini, an invigorating tale of a young girl who is forced into a marriage of convenience with an elderly man twice her age. Set in the backdrop of rural India, this narrative vividly traces the journey of Santu and her tryst with destiny. This volatile story of age, class and caste divide will see debutant Aasiya Kazi as the young girl Santu alongside TV’s most popular face Ronit Roy, as destiny binds two strangers together in this stirring saga of greed, pride, deceit and traditions.

Love changes people in the most unbelievable way. How far will love take you? Is it strong enough to take up the challenges? Is it deep enough to survive all conflicts? ‘Kitani Mohabbat Hai’ answers these questions in more than one way for Arohi and

Arjun, the main protagonists of the show. Two completely opposite individuals, who think and behave differently, come together in this powerful and heart-warming love saga. Arohi hails from the picturesque valley of Panchgani and is a vivacious young girl who believes in the power of love, while Arjun is a cool & calm casanova who dislikes women and refuses to believe that ‘someone somewhere is made for you’. Set against the backdrop of music, Kitani Mohabbat Hai is a passionate story of loving, losing and yet, living… for Arohi, Arjun and their families.

Kitani Mohabbat Hai’ will see a mix of some fresh and popular faces. Karan Kundra makes his debut on television as Arjun, while Kritika Kamra essays the character of Arohi who is blessed with a melodious voice. Hiten Tejwani and a cast of talented actors like Virendra Saxena, Neena Gupta, Sudha Shivpuri, Sheeba, Dimple Jhangiani and a host of budding new talent will be seen playing significant roles in this show.

Announcing the two new shows, Shailja Kejriwal, EVP content, NDTV Imagine said, “Bandini & Kitani Mohabbat Hai are shows that capture every emotion, from love to hate and from joy to sadness and from aspirations to blind ambition. The backdrop and settings are distinct from each other and unique in their own right. The cast is fresh and the story is very entertaining. Put this together with the creative and production excellence of Balaji and NDTV Imagine and you have all the ingredients that will make these shows a staple diet with viewers for one hour, night after night”

Adds Ekta Kapoor, Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms Ltd,“I’m very pleased with the line-up of our shows we have created for NDTV Imagine. I am equally excited to be back with a 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. time-band, giving viewers a chance to experience once again, one hour of pure entertainment from Balaji Telefilms on prime-time. I am delighted to begin my innings with NDTV Imagine with Bandini and Kitani Mohabbat Hai. The shows are an entertaining, engaging mix of storylines, settings and characters.”

Refreshingly different and endearingly realistic, the shows are sure to strike a chord with viewers. So be sure to tune into ‘Bandini’ and ‘Kitani Mohabbat Hai’ only on NDTV Imagine — as it promises to be dynamic, different, and most importantly, entertaining.

Abhay Deol promotes Dev D through tattoos

January 8th, 2009

Our modern day Devdas Abhay Deol is extremely talented and full of ideas. It is known that the idea of making a modern day version of the classic Devdas was suggested by Abhay Deol. And now, he came up with a unique idea to promote Dev D. Anurag Kashyap and Abhay Deol gathered at the famous tattoo maker Al’s tattoo salon in suburban Mumbai to launch an all new range of tattoos to promote Dev D.

According to Abhay these tattoos are inspired from the film. Abhay who himself is fond of tattoos doesn’t have any as yet on his body but he got a temporary one done on his right arm from Al’s just to get the feel of it. Al’s made a unique tattoo on Abhay’s arm.

Abhay said, “Though I am not sporting any tattoo in the film, I think this is the modern way of expressing your emotions. Tattoo emits hues and shades of emotions relevant to the youth today. Thus I thought this would be the right way to promote Dev D.”

Sanjay Dutt chale Parliament

January 8th, 2009

Today in New Delhi, Samajwadi Party general secretary told reporters that actor Sanjay Dutt will be their party’s candidate to contest the next Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow. This announcement finally led to rest all doubts about whether or not Dutt would join politics like his late father, actor Sunil Dutt and sister, Priya Dutt, both Members of Parliament under Congress. The Lucknow constituency is presently representated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

When asked if Dutt would be disallowed from contesting the elections because of the criminal cases against him, Amar Singh said, the party would move the Election Commission or the Supreme Court. He further added that Dutt held him like an elder brother and would do anything for him, despite not being a political person himself.

The constituency is currently represented by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Bollywood insiders are claiming it is Sanju’s jail yatra that has been instrumental in him considering becoming a politician. “He is a very changed man since the time he has come back from Yerawada prison. He has become more spiritual and is not talking movies at all.” says a close pal of the actor.

Sanjay’s sister Priya Dutt is already a Member of Parliament and represents North Mumbai constituency for Congress. She had won the same seat, earlier represented by Sanju’s dad, Sunil Dutt. Earlier it had been reported that, two years back the controversial star had a tiff with sister, Priya over standing for the by-election on their father’s seat. He was even interested that time to contest elections.

When we tried speaking Dutt’s film industry friends, they openly avoided commenting about whether he would make a good politician or would he be taken advantage off for his naivety in the dirty world of politics.

With Barbara Mori in town, Hrithik goes on his toes

January 8th, 2009

Barbara Mori is finally in town with her mom and sister to finish the final bit of shooting left for the film Kites, where she plays an important role opposite Hrithik Roshan. The film, which is directed by Anurag Basu has Kangana Ranaut in it and is due for release in May 2009. Hrithik has been doing his duty of taking care of his guests very religiously.

According to the sources, she is said to be the special guest of the Roshan family and hence Hrithik is taking special care of his guest. Barbara does not eat the regular food served on the sets as it is supposed to be very oily. She happened to once taste the food that Hritik was eating and liked it since then even her dabba comes from Hritik’s home.

Her mom and sis had also visited the sets to see her shooting which goes on till 10 in the night everyday.

On the 10th of this month, Hrithik is supposed to be celebrating his birthday by having a small get together at home. Barbara is also invited to this private party. Along with this, even the entire crew of Kites is planning to celebrate his birthday on the sets, informs the source.

Barbara Mori and her family are staying at Oakwood Premier, a service apartment in Juhu ever since she arrived in Mumbai at the start of the month.

The way Mohit has handled ‘Raaz - TMC’ is superb: Emraan Hashmi

January 8th, 2009

Emraan Hashmi has great hopes from ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’. Not just the film brings him back with Mohit Suri after ‘Awarapan’, ‘Kalyug’ and ‘Woh Lamhe’, it also sees him in yet another Bhatt film where music always plays in integral part of the narrative.

After a hardcore drama ‘Jannat’, which proved to be a superhit at the box office and was also a huge musical success, Emraan Hashmi promises that his next ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’ will raise the bar for horror flicks. Not just would it give Indian audience something to see on the big screen that has never been witnessed before for a Bollywood flick, it would also scare the living daylights of all in the auditorium.

“Mohit Suri is someone who believes in making realistic and dramatic films. For the first time he has gone all out in making an out and out commercial horror film. This is one genre that he hasn’t been exposed before and this is why he has worked extra hard on the subject”, replies Emraan when questioned around Mohit’s progression from ‘Zeher’ to ‘Kalyug’ to ‘Woh Lamhe’ to ‘Awarapan’ and now ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’.

How exactly has Mohit moved on?

“Well, the sheer manner in which he has handled the subtext of ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’ is superb. He has only got better and better! The film has allowed him a lot of dramatic space and to add to that, due to his exposure to some classics from horror genre, he has played around with visuals and sound”, justifies Emraan.

Demonstrating his fondness for Mohit both as a friend and a professional, Emraan says, “The pace and the look of the film is extraordinary and he has grown over the past couple of years. I can say this because I have seen this right in front of my eyes since the days of ‘Zeher’.”

While Emraan is indeed excited about working in his first ever horror flick, he also mentions that the music of the film is better than the first in the series - ‘Raaz’! Whenever the name ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’, comparisons with ‘Raaz’ (that had some fantabulous score by Nadeem Shravan), are inevitable.

“That’s bound to happen and we were quite tense as well since the original music was so popular”, Emraan gets candid here, “Nadeem Sharvan had made history with ‘Raaz’ so we had to be on par with it at least, if not better than that.”

He has another point of view as well, “Moreover, the competition was not just with ‘Raaz’ but also number of my own films as well as Vishesh Films that have always boasted of great music. It’s a pretty decent list in fact and we all are very proud of it. Thankfully, each of the composers for ‘Raaz - The Mystery Continues’ has done a fabulous job with the film’s music.”

Tell him that songs like ‘Mahi Ve’ and ‘O Jaana’ are already shooting up the charts and Emraan says with a smile, “We waited for a long time to get the best tracks and their current popularity has proven once again that the score will live on for years!”

Wanna have a look at Farhan Akhtar’s Karate chops?

January 7th, 2009

Trust Farhan Akhtar to be continuing to wear different hats in each assignment of his. In the upcoming episode of ‘Oye It’s Friday’, he demonstrated his skills behind Karate chops. How exactly did this happen? Well, read on.

Apparently, it was his guest for the show, Deepika Padukone, who made him get into the act. As is known by one and all by now, for her upcoming film ‘Chandni Chowk to China’, Deepika Padukone underwent rigorous training in martial arts. Not someone to just believe in hearsay (in lighter vein of course), Farhan put her training to the test by asking her to break a 3 layered brick.

Well, not to be taken for a ride by someone, the young lady had some tricks up her sleeve as well as she deftly convinced Farhan to do the deed instead. How did Farhan respond to the challenge? Well, he took it up quite sportingly and added another title - ‘The Karate Specialist’ - to his long list that ranges from director, producer, actor, singer and host.

To watch if Farhan manages to break the brick or break his hand, tune in to Oye It’s Friday this weekend for all the action.