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My biggest flaw is that I am sexy: Neha
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 8:49 am Bips to perform at New Year eve bash
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 7:59 am Moore fed up being toyboy poster girl
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 7:48 am Bipasha to perform at New Year eve bashActress Bipasha Basu and singer Sudesh Bhosle will add glitz to the New Year eve celebrations at the Sahara Star Hotel here, says an official.Source: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 7:40 am NGO to sue Lindsay over false claims
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 6:25 am 'Nonachievers can relate to Rocket Singh'
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 4:21 am Kelly Osbourne is bored of Twitter
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:36 am Rumpa Roy is first 'Lux Perfect Bride'
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:13 am Rumpa Roy - Lux Perfect Bride, Real or Fake?The search for the lux perfect bride came to an end late Saturday night, with Rumpa Roy being crowned the winner at the grand finale of the reality show. Many believe that the Lux Perfect Bride was not a real and it was all fixed up.Source: merinews: Entertainment News Articles | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:59 am Paa all set to enter the Guinness Book - Indiainfo.com
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:49 am I can make very good dal-roti now: German supermodelShe may be German, but supermodel-turned-actress Claudia Ciesla can roll out a roti and cook up a dal in a jiffy, thanks to her stint in Indian reality show "Bigg Boss 3" where she was a 'housemate'.Source: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:46 am Indian cinema is made for everyone: French actress HeleneFrench actress Helene de Fougerolles, who was here for the French film festival, says she loves Indian movies as they cater to everyone unlike cinema in France.Source: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:11 am I'm glad 'Paa' has made people experts on progeria: DirectorThe poignant story of Auro in R.Source: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 1:08 am I'm glad 'Paa' has made people experts on progeria: DirectorThe poignant story of Auro in R.Source: Entertainment News | 13 Dec 2009 | 1:08 am Perfect Bride Rumpa weds Hitesh on TV - Times of India
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:59 pm Jennifer Aniston not adopting a baby - Times of India
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:32 pm I can make very good dal-roti now: Claudia Ciesla - IBNLive.com
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:42 pm Fans still want Rajini to enter politics - Express Buzz
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:06 pm Where's Aamir Khan? - Hindustan Times
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:32 pm Miss Gibraltar crowned Miss World 2009!Dazzling beauty Miss Gibraltar, Kaiane Aldorino, was crowned Miss World 2009 at the Gallagher Convention Centre.Source: Zee News : Entertainment | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:12 pm Sharmila opens 'Women in Malayalam Cinema' exhibitionCensor board chief Sharmila Tagore today inaugurated an exhibition titled "Women in Malayalam Cinema" as part of the ongoing 14th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).Source: Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 3:41 pm Lindsay lands in child saviour storm - Calcutta Telegraph
Source: Entertainment - Google News | 12 Dec 2009 | 3:40 pm Miss Gibraltar is Miss World 2009
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 3:39 pm Pooja Chopra makes it to Miss World semi finals
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:53 pm Sachin Tendulkar to promote '3 Idiots'
Source: NDTV Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:48 pm Lux Perfect Bride Winner is RumpaWho will win the Lux Perfect Bride? Who won Lux Perfect Bride? Is it Rumpa or Priyanka? The wait is finally over. India's first Perfect Bride is Rumpa.Source: merinews: Entertainment News Articles | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:10 am Kannada film body resolves actress slapping incidentThe controversy over the slapping incident involving actress Aindrita Ray has been resolved with the intervention of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), an official said today.Source: Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:06 am X Factor: Judges, former contestants arrive for showIn tonight's episode the three would perform along with top music hearthrobs. The X Factor stage would see Joe Mc Elderry singing with George Michael, Olly Murs with Robbie Williams and Stacey Solomon with Michael Buble.Source: merinews: Entertainment News Articles | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:35 am 'Rocket Singh' - a zero to hero journey worth watchingIf cinema to you is just a vehicle to indulge in mindless diversion, then "Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year" is not your cup of tea.Source: Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:36 am Katrina wants to turn an item girl!Though Prakash Jha's Rajneeti is giving Katrina Kaif a chance to prove herself as a serious actress, she wants some mirch masala in her role and is thus convincing Jha to give her an item number.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:28 am The best of the Marrakech Film FestivalAs the ninth edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival here winds up to an end this evening, an over-the-shoulder glance reveals a number of attention-grabbing movies.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:16 am Avatar, 2012 seek effects OscarThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 films vying for best visual effects consideration at the Oscars.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:13 am Jen set to adopt?Actress Jennifer Aniston has fuelled reports that she’s keen on adopting a child after she visited a Mexican orphanage.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:09 am Kat’s the sexiestActress Katrina Kaif has retained the top spot in an annual list of the World’s 50 Sexiest Asian Women unveiled on Friday, holding on to the Eastern Eye crown she won last year.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:06 am Sudhir Mishra to dub Tera Kya Hoga Johnny in EnglishDirector Sudhir Mishra has decided to dub his film on slum life Tera Kya Hoga Johnny in English after it got an overwhelming response at New York's South Asian Film Festival.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 7:02 am "3 Idiots is our comment on what is right or wrong with society" - Rajkumar Hirani
When you are with Raju Hirani, it's easy to forget that he's a very busy man, with his third film 3 Idiots up for release this Christmas and the publicity for the same just picking up. Given his casual and humble demeanor, it's also easy to forget that you are in the company of greatness, that he's the creator of the Munnabhai phenomenon. It's only the second time I am meeting him and after asking me about the public response to the 3 Idiots promos, he says, 'Wait for the next part of the making, its going to be killer'.
In a freewheeling chat with Bollywood Hungama, Raju Hirani talks about his inspiration behind 3 Idiots, about how he's redefining the meaning of the word 'idiot' and why he plans to travel to the nook and crannies of the country in search of his next film. And in the spirit of the film, he also lists the three most idiotic things he's ever done, giving us a peek the ace director's life before Munnabhai - his dreams, disillusionment, struggle and humble resolve.
3 Idiots is a fun film but it addresses the issue of tussle between parents and children.
Yes. It's in a way our comment on what we feel is right or wrong with society around us. But it's a very funnily treated, sugar coated messages.
3 Idiots is our comment on is right or wrong with society
In an interview after Lage Raho Munnabhai, you said that your filmmaking 'output is proportional to the input'. So what were your inputs for 3 Idiots?
This film is based on college life, life in a hostel. And I have lived in the FTII hostel for three years. I have lots of stories, lots of anecdotes about life in a hostel. So, I've used a lot of my experiences in the film.
In fact, now I feel that we need to now in the future step out, input and enrich our lives. Kaafi input karenge to output karne ko milega. Kyunki ab college se bahut khuch utha le liya, apni purani life se bahut khuch le liya. Actually, after this I want to get away from all this for six months and travel, meet people and completely live a normal life. Because the more you meet and chat with people, the more we enrich our lives.
How long have you been with the film?
Since right after Lage Raho Munnabhai released in 2006, so three years. One, because I write it myself with Abhijit Joshi. It's not that we get a ready script so to write takes a year-and-a-half and to make takes another year at least. If I get scripts I probably won't need to write but I've not been getting good scripts.
In a previous interview you talked about the 'idiots' in your film as actually being non-conformists. Now in college life, this could also mean a lot of drugs, sex and violence.
No, by non-conformists I don't mean to that that route. What I mean is being defiant to very perceived norms which are considered sane. Ek zamane mein bola gaya hai ki yaar the earth is flat. Baad main jab bola kisine ki the earth is round to log bole ki paagalhain ye, jail main daal diya usko. Baad main pata laga, nahi round hain yaar.
So we have preset notions about everything because since we are unknowingly conditioned to think in a particular way since childhood. Lots of it is superstition, like the fact that people do not start anything new if they happen to sneeze or if a cat crosses their path. Have we ever questioned the rationale behind all of this? Somebody who defies all this convention and tries to create his own way is often called an 'idiot'. With the film, I am trying to show that that guy is not an idiot but the most intelligent man. We are trying to redefine the meaning of idiot by saying that they were the people who took the less trodden path.
It occurs to me that you perching up idiots in your previous films too!
Yes. Who would have thought that non-violence would win a country its freedom? Pehle to bada stupid thought samjha gaya. Look at the history of the world - all independence has come from armed revolution. Now one dhoti-clad guy comes down from South Africa and says that I will win you freedom using non-violence, and it seems like a pretty stupid thought. Pehle to log bolenge ki, idiot hain. Par jab who khuch kar jata hain to bolte hain, nahi yaar samajhdaar hain.
The same thing happens in college life. There are individuals who want to live their own dreams, and not do engineering or medicine.
How did you zero in on Aamir Khan?
After the script was ready we considered many other actors before Aamir, we also tried casting new faces, but finally after lots of back and forth decided to go ahead with Aamir only.
How was the experience of shooting at the Bangalore IIM?
It was fun. We all stayed at the college campus for 30 days of shoot. It felt like we were all back to our college days, Aamir hung around the hostel a lot, played chess with the students between takes, we had badminton and table tennis games. We also did some filmmaking workshops with the students. The students had the freedom to walk in and out of the shoot. All of this helped the film as our three actors also started feeling like students.
You have been doing 'focus group' screenings for all your films. The one for 3 Idiots has been quite elaborate.
I have done focus group screenings for both my previous films too, but not as elaborately as the one for 3 Idiots. Aamir does it in a very organized fashion for all his films; he will call people from different strata and takes their reaction. He checks if there is something in every screening that's being attacked, that needs attention.
So because of Aamir's presence we thought it was a good idea to do focus groups. I guess almost over a thousand people have already seen the film and the reactions have been very, very good.
You didn't have to tweak anything?
We did take a few very minor edit calls, but we didn't have to shoot anything because the reactions were pretty extraordinary.
The mamu song in Munnabhai MBBS was added after the focus groups.
Yes. That was added later on. We had it in the background first but after the focus groups we felt the need to have a song there. Kya baat hain yaar, bahut research ki, main khud hi bhool gaya tha...
Before we close the interview, tell me what are the three most idiotic things that you have done in your life? 'Idiotic' in the sense of the film.
I think the first idiotic thing I did was going to the film institute. I came from a small town and there going to a film institute to study was perceived as totally idiotic. Everybody thought that one would study to be doctor, engineer or a CA, professions deemed to be 'safe'. I still remember that when I told someone in Nagpur that I am joining FTII, they laughed at me. He said, 'Nagpur mein sirf santre (oranges) paidahote hain, directors nahi.' I have never forgotten this line. I actually got disillusioned and thought that probably I did not have the capability to make it. That was one of my most idiotic decisions, also one that has changed my life completely.
I think the first idiotic thing I did was going to the film institute
The second most idiotic decision?
After I graduated from FTII, I found out that making films is no piece of cake. I spent many years working on films. Bad experiences forced me to shift to advertising. One fine day, I asked myself the reason why I had come down Bombay from Nagpur, to make ad films? Mujhey chand log theek nahi mile isliye main ad films banana laga, par aaya to main film banana hi hoon. And I was making these ad films (and I was doing pretty well). Whatever time I found, I used to devote to my script.
Then I decided that I will not take up any work for one whole year. I said to myself, 'I don't care about the money, but I will focus only on one thing which I want to do in my life. Making a film was the dream I had come with and I will work on it for a year.' Many people warned me that my career will start floundering, my father asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that, ad scripts started piling up at the office but I refused all of them. This was that second idiotic decision that turned out to be very good, because this was the time when I wrote Munnabhai MBBS. If I wouldn't have taken the break, I wouldn't have completed the film.
And the third?
This is interesting. When I started making MBBS, I started shooting it in a very simplistic manner. I said I don't want sets which are larger than life, I don't want costumes which are unreal. Because the cinema of those days was what I call very unreal, with huge bungalows and their sprawling lawns, ultra- colourful clothes that one would never adorn in real life, and so on and so forth. I decided to stick to realism. It was considered that if it's a love song, it HAS to be shot outdoors in a beautiful location, which means step put of this country.
So I battled against all this common wisdom. My filmmaker friends questioned me, but I let the dhobhi ghat look like one - dirty, the character of Circuit had only one black kurta to wear. They should look like normal people in normal setting and speak like normal people. We did not shoot the song in Switzerland but in Borivali National Park, Bombay.
See, there are certain set formulae in our industry, that you have to do n number of action scenes, 'X' number of songs, etc, and then you have yourself a package. I defied that package and people thought I was being very stupid. But I think, in the final analysis it turned out to be pretty good. I still do that. Real life main koi aisa nahi rahte... hahaha.
How do you compare 3 Idiots to Munnabhai series?
3 Idiots is different in terms of the characters, story and the environment. But both films fall in the same genre, all three films are heartwarming stories with lovable characters, they make you feel good. If you liked Munnabhai, you will definitely like 3 Idiots because the film will make you laugh and cry, yet leave a message.
But when can we expect a thriller from Raju Hirani?
There is cinema of all sorts; just one type of cinema will make it boring. But I think filmmakers have their own tastes. Somebody might want to depict hardcore reality through her/his films. My belief is that people go to the theatres to get entertained and not to be preached. That means that even if there's a message to be put across, I have to say it in a way that entertains the audience too. Entertain kar ke hasi mazak se bol do.
If you give the same story to four directors, you will get four different films.
So after 3 Idiots, Raju Hirani's recipe is not going to change?
I don't think so. I enjoy doing this and I will hopefully continue doing the same. I don't want to do something that I am not convinced about. You have to believe in what you do. I don't want to reach a stage ki kehne ko hi khuch nahi hain par films banaye ja rahe ho. Then you should go and do farming, I'd love to do farming.
You have farms?
(Laughs) No. But I love nature so I would love to getaway to do that. Seriously, actually.Source: BollywoodHungama.com Features | 12 Dec 2009 | 6:45 am Getting back to normalShooting resumes at CST, which was attacked during 26/11 terror attacks. Filmmaker Kumar Mangat’s Atithi Tum Kab Jaaoge is the first big film to be shot at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai after the terror attacks.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 6:41 am Vipul Shah defends AshBuzz is that Aishwarya Rai has been delaying Vipul Shah's movie, Action Replay, but the director denies it completely. Hiren Kotwani tells more.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:23 am Young and restlessUK’s Mercury Prize nominee Laura Marling talks about her India tourSource: | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:19 am Where’s Aamir Khan?3 Idiots team unveils a third song and a new game… without Aamir Khan. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and director Rajkumar Hirani explain his ‘disappearing act’ to the aggrieved media.Source: | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:16 am My dream is to play a prostitute: Apara MehtaSeasoned theatre and TV actress Apara Mehta, who became a household name with the hit serial "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", has been around in the industry for three decades, but she still yearns to play the full-fledged role of a prostitute.Source: Entertainment News | 12 Dec 2009 | 3:32 am Subhash K Jha speaks about Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year
It is very important to understand what cinema means to you. Is it just a vehicle to indulge in mindless diversion? In that case, Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year is not your cup of tee-hee.
If cinema as a popular and predominant work of art is meant to make viewers reconsider the quality of their lives, then stop right here, take a deep breath and plunge into the mundane world of the Punjabi munda Harpreet Singh. Like Sid a month ago, Ranbir Kapoor plays a somewhat aimless guy, who's just out of college wondering what to do next. That's the moment when we jump into the lives of Sid and Harpreet, so similar in their soporific world-view and yet so diametrically different in their journey from premature jadedness to premature wisdom.
Shimit Amin's earlier inspirational work Chak De was far more aggressive rabble-rousing and flag-waving in its aspirations. Rocket Singh... is a far more gentle tender and non-cynical work. Its opinion on contemporary corruption is tinged with warmth humour and a subtle regard for office politics seldom seen in our films.
A section of viewers may just perceive Rocket Singh... as a stubbornly niche film on the politics of computer hardware. This is as shallow a reading of Shimit's cinema as looking at Chak De as a 'hockey film' or Paa as a paean to progeria.
Some viewers habituated to being spoon-fed large helpings of elemental emotions by filmmakers who think masala is what makes entertainment palatable, may find Shimit Amin's approach to the protagonist Harpreet Singh's tale almost arrogant in its self regard and disdain for the qualities that make socially-purposeful cinema engaging to the man in the backseat..
Outwardly, Amin and his brilliant writer Jaideep Sahni (whose words move effortlessly from stinging social comment to conversational candor) don't seem to care whether the audience joins them in their scathing often frustrating sometimes humorous and mildly touching search for a centre to Rocket Singh's life.
But make no mistake. This film really cares about the environment of indolent debauchery that has crept into the working-class lifestyle. The office details are so dead-on in recreating the deceptively dynamism of an office-going entourage, you wonder if Ranbir and his writer and director spent quality time in a slothful hierarchy-motivated office.
Ranbir's journey from professional disgrace to personal and public redemption echoes Shah Rukh Khan's voyage from the damned to the extolled in Chak De. Except that, Ranbir's playing field for pitched battle of the conscience is more in his mind and soul than a topographical reality.
As the protagonist gathers together his dignity to pursue a path of, ha ha, honesty integrity and idealism in his business transactions, we witness what can be termed the intimate portrait of a detoxicated working-class hero. Ranbir brings to his part a whole lot of earnestness and heart. His natural and utterly contagious exuberance so much on display in his last two films Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is effortlessly curbed here. What we see on screen is a Sardarji not quite like any our movies have shown so far.
Harpreet who later becomes Rocket Singh in his entrepreneurship (why? because his colleagues throw paper rockets at him!!!) doesn't become a larger-than-life turbaned figure of aggressive sales-pitch. Gentle to the point of being non-conspicuous Ranbir plays the loser who turns the zero on his life's calling-card to his own advantage with the kind of unspoken wisdom that actors acquire after decades of experience, if at all.
Rocket Singh depends on Ranbir's vast reserves of credible charm and his native skills to play a man without moving out of character to even visit the loo.
The supporting cast of Mukesh Bhatt as the office peon, P Santoshi as the lazy porn-addicted colleague, Gauhar Khan as the commodified office receptionist and Naveen Kushik as the crucial link in Harpreet's work place, boost Ranbir's central presence with their ingrained sense of belonging to the world Shimit and Sahni have created.
Rocket Singh works on many levels beyond Ranbir's astonishing performance. It is a momentous piece of cinema for its writing and its supreme indifference to the dynamics of conventional storytelling
"Like what we say? Please be our guest," is this astounding film's underlying context. Jaideep Sahni's words are often so laconic they make their point without our being conscious of their importance to the given context of working-class inertia.
While urging the sexy office receptionist to join him in his audacious entrepreneurship Harpreet warns Gauhar Khan, "Otherwise, I'll remain the joker Sardarji and you the item girl."
Get it?
The film's main conflict is finally between Harpreet Singh and his unscrupulous boss played by the aptly over-the-top Manish Choudhary. The film's two finest sequences are written as muted acidic confrontations between Ranbir and Choudhary. The final encounter in a supermarket where the boss surrenders unconditionally to Harpreet's integrity is the trickiest part of the narration. It could easily have lumbered into the land of the maudlin.
Rocket Singh like its uncompromising protagonist stands tall despite its flaws. For one, on the surface it has a uni-focussed sameness to its narration, as though the story was being told in one breath without the raconteur getting breathless, and never mind if the audience is restless. The lack of drama in a situation simmering with emotional dips and curves gets the audience fidgety and uncomfortable. But soon, we realize the absence of expendable energy is the narrative's primary virtue.
You can't miss the writer and director's concern for a growing middleclass that worships wealth and success at the cost of more valuable assets. You can't miss the gentle persuasion applied to the theme. Most of all you can't miss Ranbir Kapoor as the understated Sardarji riding his cherry-red scooter gifted by his Dadajee (Prem Chopra in a sterling change of image) cringing at the red-light when a swanky mo'bike rides up alongside.
Usski vehicle meri vehicle se badi zaroor hai. But by God, Ranbir's zero-value loser's rise from shame to name is a journey that we'd any day undertake even on a cherry-red scooter.Source: BollywoodHungama.com Features | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:37 am Paa all set to enter the Guinness Book
It's soon going to be officially celebrated as the only film in the world featuring the father-son duo reversing their real-life roles for the screen.
Real-life father and son Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan are all set to enter the Guinness Book Of World Records for being the only father-son acting duo to have played reversed roles on screen in Paa. It's also the only instance of a 67-year old actor playing a 12-year old child and a 31-year old actress playing mother to a 67 -year old actor.
Director Balki admits Paa is pretty much a hotbed of unprecedented occurrences. "You know, while casting and all through the shooting, I never sat back to consider the uniqueness of the casting. It was only the people all around me who seemed to be constantly conscious of the casting oddity. To me Amitji, Abhishek and Vidya were playing the roles I had in mind for them from the start. But now, I do see that the casting is exceptional. It hasn't been done in any part of the world. So yes, plans are afoot to enter Paa into the Guinness book in various categories."
The necessary moves have already been made and Balki would make sure that Paa gets noticed in the right categories as soon as release of the film is out of the way.
After Paa, he plans to take a bit of a vacation and let his wife Gauri Shinde direct a film for his production house.
"Gauri has been a part of my creative processes for many years now. We got married two years back. The film she wants to make is very different from what I do. Her script has a flavour that's totally removed from mine."
None of the Bachchans are likely to figure in Balki's wife's directorial debut. But Balki intends to make his third film with the Bachchans, this time making sure that Mrs Jaya Bachchan too has a part.Source: BollywoodHungama.com News | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:31 am X Factor final: Final two will be chosen todayBritain is guessing who would win the crown on X Factor, as Olly Murrs, Joe McElderry and Stacey Solomon, will sing once more to decide the final two in the most watched reality show buildup. They would then fight for the top spot on Sunday.Source: merinews: Entertainment News Articles | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:16 am
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