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.

India’s Filmfare Award ceremony in Mumbai on Feb 28

February 7th, 2009

MUMBAI: The 54th ceremony of India’s Filmfare Awards will be held in Mumbai on February 28, Tarun Rai, CEO of Worldwide Media Pvt Ltd, the publishers of Filmfare magazine, announced last night.

Talking on the ocassion, Filmfare Magazine Editor Jitesh Pillai said the nominations for the awards would be announced in a week in all the 35 categories.

Actress Deepika Padukone, who was also present on this occasion, said that she had won two Filmfare awards last year and also performed at the show.

She said she would love to perform this time if asked otherwise she would be happy to attend the ceremony.

Regarding her forthcoming movie “Love Aaj Kal”, Deepika said that this film looked at the theme of love in a modern context.

Nayantara out of trouble

February 7th, 2009

Nayantara is now in the safe zone as the Tamil Film Producers Council and the South India Film Actors Association has issued the green card today on 7th February. She was earlier condemned with a red card by the associations for not returning the advance amount paid to her for 'Paiya'.

Following several controversies, the actress finally returned the amount today to one of the director of Thriupati Bros Film Media Ltd, Subash Chandrabose. After a joint meet, the issue was settled in am amicable manner. The associations held a brief talk and issued a green card for Nayantara withdrawing the ban, letting her act in Tamil movies once again.

For now, Nayantara is completely out of trouble. Rather than going head over heels, it will be advisable if the actress concentrates more on her job than the remunerations.

Bipasha turns singer

February 7th, 2009

Mumbai: Bipasha Basu has been cajoled into singing for her next film Aa Dekhein Zara.

The sultry actress is going to record a song with co-star Neil Nitin Mukesh. Bips had earlier refused to sing point-blank when she was approached by the film’s producers, but later gave into Neil’s request. Bipasha couldn’t say no when the young, handsome Johnny Gaddar turned on his charms.

Noted environmentalist Erin Brokovich felicitates Kareena Kapoor

February 7th, 2009

Mumbai : Renowned environmental activist Erin Brokovich presented Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor with an award for her contribution to art and cinema.

She said that it was indeed an honour to receive the award from none other than Erin Brokovich, an American legal clerk, who was well portrayed by Hollywood's Julia Roberts in the film 'Erin'.

Speaking to the media, the candid young lady sent a message out to the youth that one should have faith in oneself to achieve new heights.

"I think this is a great honour that they have chosen me for this award, but it definitely gives me a lot of strength and confidence to continue to do what I have always done which is believe in my heart and believe in myself and of course my dreams. I tell the entire youth of this country that follow your heart and follow your dreams because that makes you achieve what you actually want to," said Kapoor.

Interestingly, Kapoor seems to be happy with the fact that women in India are now making it to the top.

Congress Party Chief Sonia Gandhi has been listed as one of the most powerful women of the world, has found a new admirer in Kapoor.

With time she has proved her mettle and earned accolades for her character role in films like 'Chameli'. She won the first Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in 'Jab We Met'.