Googler's Picasa: December 2010

'Jai Ho' Rahman at Golden Globe Nominations

Friday, December 31, 2010

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It doesn’t get bigger than this for A.R. Rahman. The double Oscar winning Indian composer has bagged a Golden Globe nomination for Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours”, having already won the trophy once for the director’s mega sweep “Slumdog Millionaire” in 2009.

This is the 44-year-old’s second flick at Hollywood’s second most prestigious annual movie prize after Boyle’s Mumbai-based multiple-Oscar award wining underdog drama “Slumdog Millionaire”. Rahman won two Oscars and a Golden Globe for his number “Jai ho” in the movie.

The Chennai-based composer is competing in the same section as before – Original Score for a motion picture category – with the likes of Alexandre Desplat (”The King’s Speech”), Danny Elfman (”Alice in Wonderland”), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (”The Social Network”), and Hans Zimmer (”Inception”).

Bollywood was on cloud nine with its leading musician’s feat.

“AR Rahman nominated for Golden Globe for ‘127 Hours’ score. Marching to another Oscar?” tweeted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

The soundtrack of “127 Hours” includes the popular song “If I Rise”, a collaboration between Rahman and pop star Dido.

Starring “Spider-Man” star James Franco, the movie is a biopic about mountaineer Aron Ralston, who was trapped in a canyon in Utah for five days by a boulder that fell on his right arm and he freed himself by amputating the limb.

Ralston recently even complimented the composer on his music in the film by sending him a hand-written note.

It read: “For A.R, Thank you for bringing your amazing music to my story – if only I had your soundtrack in the canyon, I could’ve lasted another 127 hours. Best Wishes, A.R. (Aron Ralston).”

Fondly called the Mozart of Madras, Rahman was honoured with a Padma Bhushan this year.

The shy musician also has two gramophones on his shelf that he won at the 52nd Grammy Awards for his music in “Slumdog Millionaire”.

The only defeat he had had was at this year’s Oscars ceremony when his number “Na Na” from his Hollywood debut venture “Couple’s Retreat” failed to win a nomination in the Best Original Song category at the gala.

Expensive Action Sequences to be Shot for ‘Agent Vinod’

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Producer Saif Ali Khan has asked his “Agent Vinod” director Sriram Raghavan to shoot three very expensive action sequences.

“I will have only three action sequences. But I won’t compromise on quality. I’ve spent considerable time writing the action sequences into the script. Now comes their execution,” Sriram said.

The next schedule of “Agent Vinod” is in March 2011.

“There are three big action sequences still to be shot. They require major prepping.I want to plan them out and shoot them on priority. There was no point going into another schedule without the required budget. We now have that in place for March. These sequences are VFX heavy and it’s better to do them first before I do my balance scenes. We’ve shot about an hour of footage already,” he added.

Sriram still hopes to release the film towards the end of next year.

“Both Saif and Kareena would have to be trained before we do the remaining action sequences,” Sriram said.

Making an action film as slick as its counterparts in Hollywood is not easy. Two of the pending action sequences would be shot in the UAE, far away from the country where they are located in the script, to economize on the rapidly spiraling budget.

Sriram admits he has been asked to keep costs down. “I need to keep a quality check while making sure we don’t go over-budget. There are three big action sequences to be shot. And yes, you’ve heard right. Two of them might be shot in the same location. For one of them I need choppers flying in the night. In India we aren’t allowed choppers at night. So we’ll have to shoot in the UAE.”

Sriram, who has already edited 65 minutes of footage for “Agent Vinod”, needs to shoot a very stylish prologue to go with the opening titles, and an epilogue which requires four days of shooting in Britain.

Would the prologue be as as stylish as the ones in the James Bond flicks?

Laughs Sriram: “I wish! But we don’t have that kind of budget.”

Kareena Kapoor has been telling the world that she has no heavyduty action sequences to perform with Saif in “Agent Vinod”.

The fact is, she has not one, but two very stylish and complex action sequences in “Agent Vinod”. For this she needs to undergo some amount of training. Apparently these sequences have been postponed until she finds the time to train, and until the budget permits them to be shot.

If preparedness is all, then “Agent Vinod” is not all there. Not yet.

It’s ‘Tees Maar Khan’ vs ‘Toonpur Ka Superhero’ This Friday-Preview

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Film buffs are in for a treat this Christmas as choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan’s highly anticipated film “Tees Maar Khan”, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, hits the silver screen along with Ajay Devgn’s animation film “Toonpur Ka Superhero” this Friday.

Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya also returns with his new film “Isi Life Mein” with debutants Sandeepa Dhar and Akshay Oberoi.

“Tees Maar Khan”, produced by Twinkle Khanna, Shirish Kunder and Ronnie Screwvala with a budget of Rs.50 crore ($11 million), is a story about Tabrez Mirza Khan (Akshay) who steals, cons and cheats with such an audacity that none even gets the slightest hint about his deeds. His gang members include three others named Dollar, Soda and Burger.

International antique smugglers Johri Brothers (Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman) ask Tabrez once to perform the biggest heist of his life. They ask him to steal antiques worth Rs.500 crore from a heavily guarded moving train.

The film’s music is already a rage, with Katrina making fans groove to her item song “Sheila Ki Jawani”.

The film also stars Akshaye Khanna, Raghu Ram, Rajiv Laxman, Arya Babbar and Aman Verma. It also has special appearences by Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt.

“Toonpur Ka Superhero”, featuring Ajay Devgn and Kajol, would be India’s first live action-animation film. It is produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Krishika Lulla and distributed by Eros International.

Directed by Kireet Khurana, the film tells the story of film star Aditya (Ajay) who has all the success he ever dreamt of. He is married to Priya (Kajol) and has two kids Kabeer and Raima. He might be a superstar but his children want him to be hero in real life rather than in reel.

Aditya gets one such opportunity when he finds himself in Toonpur, the land of his children’s favourite cartoons, where he has to fight Toonasurs (demon toons) to save Devtoons (good toons).

The film also stars Tanuja, Mukesh Tiwari, Sanjay Mishra and Delnaaz Paul. Khurana has won five National Awards for short animation films and has directed almost 400 commercials and “Toonpur Ka Superhero” is his first feature film.

While Ajay and Kajol team up for this film after two years, it also reunited the mother-daughter duo of Kajol and Tanuja 18 years after “Bekhudi”, which was the launch vehicle for Kajol in the film industry.

After his last film “Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi”, Sooraj Barjatya is returning with his new production venture “Isi Life Mein” with two newcomers Sandeepa and Akshay, who is actor Vivek Oberoi’s cousin.

Produced under Rajshri Productions and directed by Vidhi Kasliwal, Barjatya’s niece, the story of the film revolves around the journey of a small town girl Rajnandini, who is not allowed to dream and lead a life according to her own wishes.

Somehow she takes admission to a Mumbai college and meets Vivaan and his gang of friends, who make her believe that she has the right and the capability to accomplish her dreams. It’s then that things start changing for her.

Whether Christmas will set cash registers ringing for all three of these films is yet to be seen.

Hrithik Completes a Decade of Married Life

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Superstar Hrithik Roshan, who marked the 10th anniversary of his marriage with Sussanne Khan Monday, has thanked his friends and fans for their love.

“Been reading all tweets…thank you so much for all your wonderful wishes! Sending our love to all out there,” Hrithik posted on Twitter.

Actress Mallika Sherawat was among many who wished the couple.

“Happy anniversary to Hrithik and Sussanne…A loveliest of couples! Many more happy years to you both,” she posted.

Hrithik and Sussanne have two children – Hrehaan, four, and Hridhaan, two.

'Tees Maar Khan' Claims New Victim – in Nepal

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“Tees Maar Khan”, the “great” Indian criminal, the likes of whom are born only once in a blue moon, and who “steals, cheats and cons with amazing audacity” has struck again – this time in Nepal.

When Nepali film director Dev Kumar Shrestha announced his new film, the first supernatural thriller in Nepal, would be released on Christmas eve, he was not deterred by the thought of theatre-goers being diverted by festivities or new Nepali films releasing simultaneously with star-studded casts, or for that matter, “Tees Maar Khan”.

However, the 38-year-old was forced to call a press conference Monday to concede that “Ek din, ek raat” would now be shown a week later, from Dec 31.

“Tees Maar Khan”, Bollywood’s much-hyped new action comedy directed by Farah Khan and starring Akshay Kumar as the super rogue and Katrina Kaif as his leading lady, is being released internationally Dec 24 and Shrestha decided not to take any chances.

“Nepalis are avid watchers of Hindi films,” Shrestha said. “Besides being preceded by a lot of hype, ‘Tees Maar Khan’ is a big-budget film made under a big banner and with big stars.”

By contrast “Ek din, ek raat”, despite receiving considerable pre-release publicity in Nepal, was made on a budget of NRS 8 million – Rs.5 million in Indian currency – which would be considered peanuts in India’s mega-billion-rupee spinning film industry.

It also deliberately avoided signing up big names, instead opting for theatre artistes with a solid reputation for acting skills.

Unlike most Nepali films, “Ek din, ek raat” would be screened in Jai Nepal, one of the best theatres in Kathmandu that shows only exceptional Nepali films. So with the multiplex also releasing “Tees Maar Khan” Friday, Shrestha thought it prudent not to take the big Bollywood rival head-on.

In Nepal, it is not Nepali directors but Bollywood that still remains the film industry’s biggest competitor.

When Manisha Koirala’s comeback film in Nepali after two decades in Bollywood was released earlier this month, director Dipendra K. Khanal decided to change the title to “Dharmaa”.

The original title was “Rajniti” but Khanal feared it would seem a copy of Bollywood director Prakash Jha’s political drama by the same name that was released in Nepal as well and lauded, even by top Maoist leaders who had once advocated banning Hindi films in Nepal.

Veteran Nepali film maker Yubaraj Lama decided to shelve making a film on the Buddha after the news broke that Bollywood director Ashutosh Gowarikar was also making a film on the same subject.

However, despite Shrestha’s retreat, “Tees Maar Khan” may not have an entirely triumphant reign in Nepal.

It is bound to be regarded critically, especially as Akshay Kumar’s earlier film, “Chandni Chowk to China”, was banned in Nepal last year after director Nikhil Advani’s kungfu comedy triggered public protests due to the script, which erroneously said the Buddha was born in India.

The founder of Buddhism was born in southern Nepal and the wrong note led to the then Maoist government ban the film in Nepal.