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Indian
Films rock Germany and all set to shine at Toronto Fest
ival!
The
recently concluded In dian Film Festival held at Stuttgart
in Germany was an eye-opener of sorts before the Indians.
No one had expected the kind of euphoria that was
witnessed among the Germans in response to Indian movies.
Members of an Indian delegation led by Minister of State
for Defense M. Pallam Raju, who visited the program - held
by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to promote bilateral
ties between India and Germany, were surprised to see the
heavy crowd that gathered to see Indian films and found
the Germans dancing to the lively dance tunes of Bollywood
music. It was also noted that local TV channels in south
Germany showed Hindi movies with German subtitles every
week. During the six-day festival from July 12, at least
20 movies, including Tamil and Malayalam films, were
shown.
In the
proposed Toronto Festival to be held in September, there
would be another heavy palate of Indian films. Fans of
Bollywood at Canada will see the much-in-news Karan
Johar's "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (KANK), along
with four other titles that will have their world premiere
at the festival. Apart from the highly anticipated KANK
starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek
Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta; other entries
will include "Kabul Express" by Kabir Khan
starring John Abraham and Arshad Waarsi; "Maati Maay"
(A Grave Keeper's Tale) by Chitra Palekar with Nandita Das
as the main protagonist; a Telugu film "Vanaja"
by director Rajnesh Domalpalli; and lastly "A Cry In
the Dark" by Haobam Paban Kumar - a documentary film
about Manipur becoming part of India in 1949.
 The
Khans of Bollywood !
After the
unprecedented success of "Rang De Basanti" and
"Fanaa", Aamir Khan is again in the news for
getting associated with Director Mani Ratnam to do his
forthcoming film - "Lajjo", to be produced by
Bobby Bedi. The film is supposed to be a love story based
in Rajasthan and the music will be done by A R Rahman.
Salman Khan
returns to the marquee after a long gap with K.S.
Adhiyaman's "Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar" that
will be released very soon. This film, also starring
Shilpa Shetty, has been delayed for a pretty long time and
as such Salman himself is very sceptic about the success
of the movie.
King Khan -
Shahrukh, in the meanwhile, is all geared up for his Karan
Johar release "Kabhi Alvida na Kehna". Following
"Kabhie Alvida" is another highly awaited film -
Farhan Akhtar's remake of 1970s blockbuster
"Don", where Shahrukh plays the role of Amitabh
Bachchan.
Present
Trend of Bollywood - "Infidelity",
"Sequels" and "multi-starrers" !!
The present
crop of movies churning out of Bollywood Studios are
showing a distinct trend in their content. They are either
based on subjects of infidelity or mistrust or they are
sequels and if not one of the two, then they are
invariably multi-starrers.
Films like
the to-be-released "Omkara" by Vishal Bharadwaj,
based on Shakespeare's classic tale of betrayal and
disloyalty may be the recent in the lot; but the trend
began quite early like "Jism", "Hawas"
or "Murder" - all of which broke the convention
of a settled marriage and drew the protagonist into an
illicit affair. Sex-comedies like "Masti",
"No Entry" were some films that treaded the same
path. Even the forthcoming production from Karan Johar -
"Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" is believed to be based
on extra-marital relationships.
The other
variety found to be dominating the box office is the
sequels. Phir Hera Pheri followed Hera Feri ; Krrish came
after "Koi Mil gaya" and now, its "Lagey
Raho Munnabhai" coming as the part-II of the highly
acclaimed and megahit "Munnabhai MBBS". Very
soon the sequel to "Dhoom" - "Dhoom-2"
will hit the screens. Moreover, it is even being heard
that "Krissh" will be going to have a third
sequel very soon !
There were
never any dearth of multi-starrers in Bollywood and the
trend continues unabated. "Omkara" is the first
one to be released and it will have an amazing star cast
of Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Viveik Oberoi, Bipasha
Basu, Konkona SenSharma, Naseeruddin Shah and Saif Ali
Khan. Coming on its heels are "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"
(Amitabh, Shah Rukh, Rani, Preity, Abhishek, Arjun Rampal);
"Umrao Jaan" (Aishwarya, Abhishek, Shabana,
Suniel Shetty); "Salaam-e-Ishq" (Salman,
Priyanka, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Juhi, John, Vidya Balan)
and "Dhoom 2" (Abhishek, Bipasha, Aishwarya,
Hrithik).
 Two
Abhi-Ash films jostle for release at same time.
Apart from
having both Abhishek Bachchcan and Aishwarya Rai in the
leads roles , J.P. Dutta's "Umrao Jaan" and Yash
Raj Films' costly caper "Dhoom 2" has something
else more in common. Both are schediuled for a Diwali-Eid
release in October, and are sure to vie for the numero uno
position at the Box Office. Though the films are of
separate genre, "Dhoom 2" being a contemporary
film about the thief and the cop; "Umrao Jan" is
a period drama - a re-enactment of the film immortalized
by Rekha in the 80s, yet the industry is abuzz with the
prospect of a clash between the films.
Actors
don the singers' role
Both
Akshaye Khanna and Shahrukh Khan have lend their voices
for their forthcoming films. Shahrukh. has just sung a
portion of the popular track in Farhan Akhtar's
"Don" - originally done by Amitabh Bachchan.
This is the second time Shahrukh sings after the song
"'Apun Bola' in "Josh" some years back.
Akshaye, on the other hand, has vocaled a few Nazms for
his upcoming film "Aap Ki Khatir", apparently
reminiscent of the yesteryear romantic hit song "Kabhi
kabhi" by Amitabh Bachchan. The couplet has been
specially composed by Himesh Reshammiya and penned by
lyricist Sameer. |
