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I'd like to direct soon: Kangana Ranaut |
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Wednesday, 06 October 2010 |
Her unconventional looks and frizzy hair landed her atypical roles in Bollywood. Kangana Ranaut now harbours a dream of donning the director's hat and already has a script in mind.
"I'm quite happy with how my career is moving, but in terms of the future, soon, I guess I'd like to direct a movie. I have a script in mind. Let's see where it goes," said Kangana. She revealed her plans, but refrained from divulging details.
The 23-year-old sailed into Bollywood with the crime-based romantic saga, Gangster - A Love Story (2006), where director Anurag Basu presented her as a gangster's girlfriend. The actress won accolades for her portrayal in the critically and commercially acclaimed film.
After that she again chose to play an unconventional role in Woh Lamhe, which was filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's final goodbye to former girlfriend Parveen Babi. In the film, Kangana brilliantly portrayed the late actress' madness and despair.
Again in Life In A... Metro, a film about big city people coping with emotional and psychological trauma, Basu presented her as a call centre executive who is in a relationship with her married boss.
With Bhandarkar's Fashion, a dark tale about the fashion industry, she hit bull's eye. Her stupendous performance where she brings forth the miseries of an ex-ramp queen won her a National Award.
Most of her films have seen her in tragic roles; as a result she is often referred to as a modern day tragedy queen, a title once given to legendary actress Meena Kumari for playing grief-stricken characters.
"It's been quite a journey...I came to the industry when I was just 17 with no real idea of what to expect. I was fortunate that Gangster was a huge hit at the box office. I won a lot of awards and the industry gave me another chance.
"Otherwise, it's an industry that's very unforgiving towards outsiders. This year I'm trying a lot of new genres, different films. It's been a lot of hard work but also lots of fun," revealed the actress, who was last seen romancing Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan in Kites.
At the moment, Kangana's kitty is full of light-hearted films like Double Dhamaal, No Problem, and Tanu Weds Manu. She is also doing Rascals, Game and Tezz.
Her next release is Knock Out where she will share screen space with with Sanjay Dutt and Irrfan Khan. Kangana plays a journalist in the psychological thriller, which is releasing Oct 15.
"Knock Out is a very different film from anything I've done before. The entire film takes place in two hours and was almost shot in one location. It's a fast paced action thriller that I think people will really enjoy," she said.
Directed by Mani Shankar, Knock Out is a Bollywood adaptation of Hollywood film Phone Booth. After playing all kinds of roles, Kangana will be seen as a scribe in the movie.
"I studied the body language of journalists reporting from crime scenes for my role, but there was this one point in the film where I actually got a chance to experience the urgency and intensity journalists experience every day.
"This was a shot where a car was supposed to fly up in the air and land on the ground. Instead of landing like it was supposed to, the car caught fire and came spinning at a very fast speed towards me. I managed to get out of its way in time, but got a real first-hand experience of the dangers journalists face on the job," she said.
The actress has given a makeover to the image of crime journalists by sporting stilettos and off shoulder dresses in the film.
Apart from acting, she is also trying her hand at designing. She has herself created clothes for the movies Rascals and Tezz. She may soon launch her clothing line.
When asked whether she was looking for love, she said: "With so much work on my plate, I'm happily single for now!" |
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Mallika's busy inviting snake charmers |
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Saturday, 02 October 2010 |
All set for her Nagin stint in Hissss, Mallika has decided to have a special screening for all the saperas (snake charmers) across the country. The actress will personally invite them for it. The show is likely to happen at a Mumbai multiplex on October 8.
When contacted, Mallika said, "Yes it's true but it's too early at the moment. We have just planned this thing. Yeh nagin ab dasane ke liye tayaar hai. And who better than the saperas to start with? The folk stories of Nagins and Saperas are age-old. And in front of a Nagin like me, none of these saperas have a chance. I am asking them to come with their beens. Let's see who wins."
Mallika further said, "I am a very bhandku type of Nagin and my victims pray for mercy from me and that's why I wanted the show to start with the saperas. There is a sapera community in India and the creative team is getting in touch with them. I will give all the details once that is finalised." |
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Shah Rukh Khan a symbol of religious unity |
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Wednesday, 29 September 2010 |
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is seen as an icon of religious unity by many the world over and experts will deliberate upon the topic at a three-day conference from Thursday at Vienna University.
Titled Shah Rukh Khan and Global Bollywood, the meet will not be attended by the superstar himself, but he has said he feels humbled by the endeavour. Some 40 speakers from universities around the world will discuss a wide range of topics revolving around Shah Rukh who is seen as a global cultural phenomenon.
The actor is lauded for playing both Hindu and Muslim characters on screen.
Shah Rukh, who is shooting round the clock for Ra.One, said in an e-mail forwarded by Karuna Badwal, executive assistant at his company Red Chillies Entertainment, that he has prior commitments but sends his very best wishes.
Adelheid Hermann-Pfandt, professor of Religious Studies at Germany's University of Marburg added, "One of the most remarkable features of Indian cinema is its inter -religious character."
Like many other Europeans, Hermann-Pfandt first experienced the inter-religious oneness of god through a Shah Rukh film.
Titled And I Love Hinduism Also, Shah Rukh Khan: A Muslim Voice for Inter-religious Peace in India", Hermann-Pfandt's talk will look at the importance of a public role model like Shah Rukh in the promotion of ideas of unity among human beings within India and abroad.
Jaspreet Gill from Canada's York University finds My Name Is Khan remarkable for its positive portrayal of practising Muslims.
Bollywood is in the habit of portraying Muslims mostly as stock characters and famous for the cinematic othering of muslims either by demonising them, showing them as exotic or marginalised. In My Name Is Khan, Shah Rukh's character speaks refreshingly of the global relevance of tolerance and understanding of the other, points out Gill.
"This positive imaging has led to the film playing to packed theatres in Pakistan which bodes well for an emerging solidarity between India and Pakistan," adds Gill who will elaborate on Shah Rukh's reinvention of the Muslim hero in My Name Is Khan.
Huma Dar from Berkeley's University of California sees the film, which was directed by Karan Johar, as a sincere effort to show the plight of those deemed dispensable, less grievable, more precarious, inherently threatening in an era of both permanent wars and undeclared wars on other people, practices, faiths, traditions and languages.
Just because Muslim artists in Mumbai no longer take on Hindu names, it might be tempting to conclude that the playing field is level. But the kerfuffle around the film My Name Is Khan is ample evidence that the Muslim name carries a bonus as well as an onus and the two are intimately intertwined, Dar declares.
In Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G), Arno Krimmer sees many traits of Lord Rama or the ideal man. This similarity between K3G and the epic Ramayana deserves notice by critics, scholars and audiences alike, argues Krimmer, an Austrian filmmaker who is the first foreign Resident Faculty at Pune's Film and Television Institute of India where he taught screenplay writing.
London-based filmmaker Nasreen Munni Kabir will kick-start the conference with a paper on "The Worlds of Shah Rukh Khan" at the 19th century building of Vienna's Museum of Ethnology, near the imperial palace. Kabir produced the documentary The Inner and the Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan in 2004.
Participants include Rajinder Dudrah, head of the Department of Drama, University of Manchester and author of The Bollywood Reader, and Ashish Rajadhyaksha from Bangalore's Centre for Studies in Culture and Society.
To the question why Shah Rukh, Professor Elke Mader, Dean Cultural and Social Anthropology Institute of Vienna University, said: "In German-speaking countries his films have developed a cult media and a very active fan culture. Khan's capacity to negotiate and to integrate opposites and extremes and to connect with diverse audiences worldwide as well as his art of expressing emotions make him not only a superstar but a very significant figure in times of global mediascapes and cultural flows."
Anna Mandel, a German sculpture and painter, will exhibit from her work titled Sentiment-SRK, an on-going project that includes the painting of 108 faces of the superstar.
Yet another exhibition will display the rich memorabilia collected over time particularly by ardent Shah Rukh fans like Maria-Stella Hinterndorfer.
The conference will include two screenings - Kesariy Balam, Austria's first Bollywood style film directed by Sandeep Kumar and Mr Khan Vienna Loves You, a documentary on hardcore Shah Rukh fans in Vienna by Ali Hasnain, a 24-year-old graduate of Vienna's School for Audio Engineering. |
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Neetu skips Bigg Boss 4 for Tamil film |
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Monday, 27 September 2010 |
Bollywood actress Neetu Chandra has refused to be a part of Bigg Boss 4 after landing herself a plum role down south.
The actress has been roped in by Tamil director Ameer Sultan to play the lead in his next, titled Aadhi Bhagavan. opposite southern superstar Jayam Ravi.
"Though the Bigg Boss offer was lucrative and tempting, Neetu won’t be able to participate as she has to leave for Ameer Sultan’s shoot in Pattaya (Thailand) this week," her publicist Dale Bhagwagar said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Neetu has been taking lessons in Tamil language for the film. |
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Guzaarish changed my life: Hrithik |
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Saturday, 25 September 2010 |
The first look of Guzaarish was unveiled in Mumbai on Thursday and Hrithik Roshan, who reportedly plays a magician suffering from paraplegia, says working in director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film was like a life-changing experience for him.
The first look of Guzaarish was unveiled in Mumbai on Thursday and Hrithik Roshan, who reportedly plays a magician suffering from paraplegia, says working in director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film was like a life-changing experience for him.
"It's true that I have not done anything that has been life-altering. This film has changed my perspective towards work, changed my life. It's so beautiful that 30 years or 40 years from now, I will look back and will smile that I had the opportunity to make this film," Hrithik told reporters at Cinemax, where the first look of Guzaarish was unveiled.
"It feels that some films are made for just to be watched and this is one of that kind, so I just jumped at it," added the star whose last outing Kites couldn't excite the box office.
He has teamed up with Aishwarya Rai in the movie. And this is his third film with the actress after Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar. |
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Ranbir does the towel dance! |
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Thursday, 23 September 2010 |
The charmer that Priyanka is, she performed for the kids on a few of her songs.
However, Ranbir who is a bit shy was just cheering the kids and Priyanka. Finally, the Chhote Ustaad kids got together and demanded that Ranbir come on stage and perform his famous towel act from Saawariya. Ranbir, being a sport, obliged the kids' request and even got hosts, Omi and Abhaas along with the kids to shake a leg with him. So fascinated was Priyanka with Ranbir's act that she immediately updated his snap on twitter!
A source from the set says, it was a sight to watch all of them clad in towels and doing the towel act with Ranbir while he was teaching them the steps. So excited were the kids that they couldn't stop dancing, infact one of the kids, Moon's towel fell down and he was still dancing!" |
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Stepmom appeals to Shahid! |
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Thursday, 16 September 2010 |
A source informs, "Supriya is very thrilled about Khichdi and can't wait to show it to her director-actor husband Pankaj Kapoor and son Shahid.
She has requested the producer JD Majethia to organise a special screening of the film for both of them."
JD Majethia confirms, "Yes, we are arranging a special screening of Khichdi for Pankajji and Shahid. |
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I'm glad I'm not offered bikini roles: Raima Sen |
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Wednesday, 15 September 2010 |
Actress Raima Sen, who has made a name for herself in the Bengali film industry as well as Bollywood with her offbeat roles, says she is ready to sport a bikini on screen if she finds the script exceptionally good. Given a choice, though, she would go for period films.
"I don't like to wear a bikini on screen. I thank god that till date I haven't got such roles where I need to wear a bikini because I don't think wearing one will add glamour to the role," said Raima, 30.
"But if a script comes to me and if it's really a very, very good script and the role demands, then it's okay wearing a bikini," said the star of such films as Chokher Bali and Parineeta. |
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Salman is foolish: Ujjwal |
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Monday, 13 September 2010 |
This is about Salman, the Bollywood brat, who seems to have got into another royal foot-in-the-mouth situation.
He's said on a Pakistani news channel that the 26/11 Mumbai attacks happened in posh hotels housing the elite, and therefore there was all the brouhaha surrounding them. Bomb blasts, killings, keep happening, but no note is taken because those are poor people, Salman told the channel. |
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Priyanka Chopra enjoys racing car ride |
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Thursday, 09 September 2010 |
Actress Priyanka Chopra had a ride on the fast lane she won't easily forget while hosting Colors' adventure reality show Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi, courtesy a Formula 2 racer.
Formula 2 racer Arman Ibrahim, one of the contestants on the show, had an edge over others to impress the former Miss World during a stunt shot on a race course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 21-year-old decided to show off his skills behind the wheel and took daredevil Priyanka for a drive on the racing track. |
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Bipasha pleasantly surprised by John's nerdy look |
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Monday, 06 September 2010 |
Actress Bipasha Basu says she is pleasantly surprised by her beau, actor John Abraham's unique and bespectacled look in Abbas Tyrewala's Jhootha Hi Sahi.
"People know him as a stud and in this film, he looks like an adorable simpleton! It's also so different from the real John who I know. Such is the magic of cinema," Bipasha posted on her Twitter page.
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