RGV's Next Film is a Terror Film - Agyaat

Ramu's next film entitled Agyaat would be something he has never a done before. It is a film about an invisible predator creating havoc among a group of people in an isolated spot. An old Hollywood formula but never done properly in Hindi cinema. Something similar to “The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno”.

The film written by two Varma discoveries Punet Varma and Hari will be shot by a debutant cinematographer Surjo. It will be shot in Sri Lanka from next month. Ramu says “I recently went hunting for location in Sri Lanka. It was a stunning stretch of wilderness. I've never seen anything so frightening in my life. All the principal photography will be done in Sigria in 35 days. Then the special effects will be done in Mumbai. Agyaat will be a first of its kind in terms of effects.”

The film is about a film crew that loses its way in the jungles. And something out there starts killing them one by one. There's a narcissistic star, a subservient spotboy, cameraman, a frustrated action director, an assistant director, a self obsessed actor, a producer and a director. All of them have their own mindscape in the given hierarchy. But the moment they're caught in terror situation their inherent humanism comes to the surface.

Ramu wants to tailor the plot like a reality show. He is casting largely newcomers. He is supremely kicked by his new project. The challenging part in Agyaat is to create an evil force that's not visible, definable or even comprehensible. Agyaat is expected to have some of the best special effects seen in Indian cinema.

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Aishwarya to act Benazir Bhutto

According to reports in the media, Aishwarya Rai would play the role of former late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The movie would be produced by UTV and the officials at the production house are busy negotiating with the Pakistani officials and Mrs. Bhutto’s family.

Is this the correct time to mke a movie of such topic where the assisanation of Benazir Bhutto is yet not solved? Is Aishwarya possess the skill and tanacity to play Benazir? These uestions remains unanswered.......

Music of Chamku Disappoints...

After the huge success of 'Saawariya', expectations were high from composer Monty Sharma's next work. But sadly, the music of 'Chamku' disappoints. The album has six tracks but none of them can be termed brilliant.

'Aaja milke' starts the album on a sweet note. A romantic number, it has been perfectly rendered by Shreya Ghoshal. Known for giving her best shot to romantic tracks, Shreya does a splendid job. The lyrics are impressive and go well with the music.

Richa Sharma croons the next track titled 'Kithe Jawa'. Her voice is suitable for folk songs, but Monty Sharma makes her sing the number that is interspersed with Western influences. The song is just an average piece.

'Gola gola' continues with the rustic theme and is sung by Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Vaishali Samant. It isn't a very interesting number.

Next is 'Trance'. This track comes out of the blue and strikes you with its Western touch. Lyrics are nice and the music is quite heady and unheard of in Bollywood. But how popular this song by Soumya Raoh, Anaida and Saleem Shahzada will become is yet to be seen.

'Dukh ke badri' is another average song rendered by Parthiv Gohil, Shail and Kalpana. The lyrics have been penned by Sameer. This slow, sentimental track is quite avoidable.

On the whole, the 'Chamku' album is unimpressive. Of all the songs, 'Aaja Milke' can be termed the best, but otherwise, the album is really not recommended.

Shiney Ahuja Flying High

A lot is being said about Shiney Ahuja. For starters, people claim that success (what success, we ask?) has gone to his head. Anyway, for some goss on his side...Shiney is upbeat about Hijack , a film in which he does loads of action – from hanging 100 feet above the ground from a helicopter to jumping from a chopper onto an airplane's wing. The talk is that the movie has many mid-air sequences that have never been seen before. Now, is that the reason Shiney is flying high these days, too? Someone ought to get his feet grounded and him 'down to earth'? Anyone?

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The Hottest Duo come together again in Singh is King

Akshay 'Khiladi' Kumar's last release Tashan may have failed to continue his dream run at the B.O. However the superstar has put the failure of Tashan behind him and is looking forward to his other releases this year. One of his most awaited films includes the Anees Bazmee directed action-comedy, Singh is Kinng where he is paired opposite the gorgeous Katrina Kaif.

Akshay & Katrina were recently seen shooting a song in the picturesque locales of Egypt. Kumar is seen dressed in a typical Sardar get up with pagdi et al while Katrina is at her glowing best in a pink dress.

The duo was joined by some local dancers as they shot at some exotic locales in Cairo. What's more the Bollywood stars even seemed to have some fans in Egypt whom they happily obliged with autographs and pictures. The Akki- Kat duo delivered two big hits last year with Welcome and Namastey London. Will they be able to recreate the magic this time around? One will have to wait and watch

Sixty Crore for Modern Interpration of an Epic.

Here's the biggest news of the week! The realistic film-maker has just announced a massive project, which, according to reports, is the modern-day interpretation of an epic. He has also roped in several big names for the film in question. The latest is, two corporate houses have made separate offers for the global distribution rights of this film. While the first has offered Rs. 55 crores, the second has offered Rs. 60 crores. Interesting, isn't it?

Reliance goes big to finance 62 Movies in next 2 Years

Reliance BIG Entertainment has finalized a slate of 69 feature films in 9 languages for production and distribution over the next two years. These films include those in collaboration with India's leading production houses and Reliance's own in-house films. Some of the prominent deals include:

• 2 film deal with Vinod Chopra Films (Vinod Chopra), including a mainstream English language film Broken Horses.


• 6 film deal with Excel Entertainment (Ritesh Sidhwani & Farhan Akhtar), including the Shah Rukh Khan starrer DON II.


• 2 film deal with director Shyam Benegal.


• 4 film deal with director Madhur Bhandarkar.


• 3 film deal with director Vivek Agnihotri.


• 2 film deal with director Sudhir Mishra.

Love Story 2050 -The Countdown has Started

After battling all the production hassles while filming India's biggest every sci-fi flick LOVE STORY 2050, producer-director Harry Baweja has finally embarked on the big-bang promotional campaign for his son Harman Baweja's launch-pad. Though the promo of the film has been made available on internet for quite some time, the television publicity has begun only in the weekend gone by and as expected has resulted in a jaw dropping response.

Well, if the first look of LOVE STORY 2050 is any indication, Papa Harry Baweja certainly seems to be on just the right path to give his son one rocking kick start in his career. The film's promo leaves you truly awed as you gasp for breath and look forward to catching it multiple times over you satiate your appetite. Simply put, 'Love Story' is just different and makes viewer witness something on the big screen which has never been made before in Indian cinema.

In fact Harry Baweja doesn't hide the fact that the film has its germ lying in 'Time Machine', a classic sci-fi novel by H G Wells. The novel was about a scientist who built a time machine which could take a human being into distant future. Here too, Boman Irani is the scientist who has supposedly given 15 years of his life to invent this dream machine. The opening shots of the promo takes audience through a brilliantly designed sci-fi lab where Boman is shown jubilating with his successful invention.

Though Mumbai appears like never before, the shots which follow result in your mouth being left wide open in disbelief. An array of, what appears to be robots, fill the frame while the sets which appear carry a surreal appeal. And if this wasn't enough there is more to come in the form of the best shots from the film. Cars flying in the air in the middle of swanky buildings which could not be lesser than 100 floors tall manage to give an altogether different dimension to LOVE STORY 2050. Add to that a night effect and you are sure that even Hollywood would find some comparison building up when it comes to futuristic fantasy flicks coming from India.

With an array of romantic/high voltage shots which follow, a grand finale comes in the form of unveiling of Harman Baweja. The handsome young man stares confidently at screen with the entire team of LOVE STORY 2050 making sure that his 'first look' turns out to be a worthwhile affair.

Sarkar V/S Sarkar Raj?

One of the most awaited films of this year Sarkar Raj will be releasing on 6th June. It is the much awaited sequel to the acclaimed hit film Sarkar by Ram Gopal Varma. Wondering what will be different this time in Sarkar Raj ? We have all the details.

Sarkar was inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather , but the sequel will be completely original. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for the first time in a film post Aishwarya and Abhishek's marriage.

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23 years later, Kanishka tragedy re-enacted

Twenty-three years after 329 people perished when Air India Kaniskha Flight 182 was bombed off the Irish coast, Canadian filmmaker Sturla Gunnarsson has re-enacted the tragedy in his documentary 'Air India 182'.

Driven by a mind-numbing narrative, chilling footage, re-enactments and interviews with the loved ones of those who perished, 'Air India 182' gives this so-called 'Indian tragedy' a Canadian perspective.

Perhaps the initial Canadian reaction of not owning this aviation disaster till 9/11 was not lost on
Gunnarsson who grew up in Vancouver, where Babbar Khalsa plotted the bombing.

It enraged him that despite the fact that most victimswere Canadian citizens, the then Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroneysent his condolences to his Indian counterpart Rajiv Gandhi.

'Thenbombing of Air India had little impact on the Canadian psyche. There was no outrage. There was no debate in parliament. There was a totalsense of denial by Canadians,' Gunnarsson told at the Canadian International Documentary Festival here where his work premiered last week.

Indeed, 'Air India 182' is a very disturbing sequence of events spread over 16 hours before the bombing and the recovery operations: how two bomb-carrying suitcases were checked in at Vancouver airport by an M. Singh, how they were transferred undetected onto Air India flight 182 and another Canadian flight to Tokyo (where it was to put on an Air India flight to India), and how Flight 182 went off radar screens as it approached Ireland.

In the 16-hour timeline of the documentary, Gunnarsson squeezes in all re-enacted important events - such as the testing of bombs by plot mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar and Inderjit Singh Reyat, wiretapping of plot conversations and their mindless erasing by the Canadian spy agency, and baggage screening machines conking out at Toronto airport that day.

But the most moving part relates to the soon-to-be victims saying a lingering last goodbye to their loved ones and their last happy moments on the plane.

The most disturbing part is the footage of recovery operations and identification of bodies in Ireland: how twisted and taut bodies were fished out of the waters by Irish rescuers who were overwhelmed and driven to tears by the magnitude of the tragedy, how one woman identified her sister by the way she wore her eyeliner, and how a woman found only one of her two young boys.

The frequent comments by Jack Hooper, retired deputy director of the Canadian spy agency (called Canadian Security Intelligence Service or CSIS), show how Canadian agencies underestimated threats by Sikh radicals despite repeated warnings by India.

And one cannot be left untouched by the remorse of check-in assistant at Vancouver airport who let an M. Singh prevail upon her to check in the bomb-carrying suits despite non-availability of a connecting flight from Tokyo.

As the filmmaker sums up, 'Air India 182' is a story of 'what could go wrong, went wrong' that fateful day.

A Mindblowing Spectacle: Tashan

A blood red Mercedes convertible racily advances through Ladakh's dusty terrain, the car radio nervously shuffles between AC/DC's Highway to Hell and Mukesh's rendition of Kabhi Kabhie.

That, my readers, is a pretty solid indication of what's in store in the following 17 reels -- a crazy fusion of everything desi and phoren -- style, soul and lingo. Welcome to debutant director Vijay Krishna Acharya's land of the English-challenged fashionably quirky, where Tashan is your passport to every conceivable absurdity and You-got-to-be-kidding brand of illogical twists step on your toes at every opportunity.

Then again, both the soundtrack and its promos, never really made any bones to hide that. Like, who expects meaningful cinema from a movie which parades its leading actors in outrageous blonde wigs, flashy attires; and on top of it, makes them do a power-packed jig, in the middle of nowhere, along with hundred other colourful extras?

And so Tashan is exactly what it looks like -- a silly spectacle which goes all out to entertain. Right from its sleek black & white graphic novel-inspired opening credits to fire-breathing gun-pipes charged at the villain or cycle-rickshaw chases in the dingy lanes of Kanpur, everything is ostensibly over-the-top.
Acharya's love for the implausible, previously demonstrated in scripts like Dhoom, Dhoom 2 might not appeal to the stubbornly sensible, but those looking for a harmless VFM outing, this is, what the heck, f-u-n!

Here's a sneak peek: a call-centre employee cum English-accent trainer, Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan) is a lusty loverboy with three broken relationships to his credit. Enter fourth, namely Pooja (Kareena Kapoor ). One look at the vision-in-emerald, drenched from head to toe, is enough to send Jimmy's fantasy-driven hormones in a tizzy.

Jimmy-Pooja aside, yes, Saif and Kareena do share that extra-something in their chemistry. Frankly, it was evident in LoC-Kargil too. Only people were too busy counting the number of stars in its cast to notice. Thankfully, their off-screen togetherness doesn't overwhelm any of Tashan's proceedings.

Pooja works for Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor), a wannabe yuppie gangster, flanked by two roly-poly sidekicks (Manoj Pahwa, Sanjay Mishra) who hires Jimmy or 'Gaarge Bhoos' to teach him English. What follows is a Bhaiyyaji's 'hingliarious' version of Amitabh Bachchan's iconic 'Khush toh bahut honge aaj' scene in Deewar.

The over familiarity of this gimmick begins to seep in. And the mind begins to wander -- a complete no-no for any masala potboiler. Forty minutes in the film and still no sign of Akshay Kumar, I mumble, somewhat impatiently, while taking a long glance at my watch. Take the name of the daredevil, and there he arrives, as Bachchan Pandey in all his 10-headed glory, dressed as Ravana, vroooming in an Enfield, making an entry worthy of the film's title. Bottom-line, no soon has the paisa vasool factor come in, the cribbing takes a backseat.

A multi-crore betrayal throws Bachchan, Jimmy and Pooja together in a scenario involving extensive traveling throughout the country, even as Bhaiyyaji keeps track of their trail. I won't reveal anymore. The story, even though it makes little sense, is better enjoyed than told.

What I will tell you is that Tashan moodily swings from the dark alleys of Bhaiyya's savaging and often double-meaning humour to crass exchanges between Bachchan and Pooja to characteristically 'Saif' moments every time he candidly talks to the camera.

While this inconsistency could be avoided, Tashan, still, enjoys a smooth first half. Post-interval, as is the story of many so-far-so-good capers, the momentum slacks considerably. Thanks to Bachchan's unnecessary and lengthy childhood flashback episode and two elaborate Vishal-Shekhar songs -- Falak and Dance marein, which the film could easily do without.

What it couldn't do without is the cast. It's bang on. Kareena looks every bit of a deceiving goddess, whether she walks out of the Greek waters in a lime green bikini (oh yes, it's not just buzz) or gazes seductively into Saif/Akshay's eyes. She plays the temptress with an elegant, subdued air, which makes everything she says (lingerie talk) or wears (strictly skimpy) appear tasteful.

Saif Ali Khan plays Jimmy with tremendous generosity allowing the more gregarious section of the cast take centrestage while he ably lends support. Apart from the double-barrel moustache and frumpy pants, there's nothing outlandish about his character, he's just a cool guy in an uncool situation. And Saif invented cool.

Any other actor in Anil Kapoor's place would have hammed like mad in a role that spells g-a-u-d-y. Kapoor, however, conveys the English-obsessed temperament of his character with such utter seriousness, you really don't want to argue. Also, the man plays evil with equal relish.

Saving best for the last, Akshay steals the show. It's not like he excels only in scenes centred around his earthy cockiness or charm. Even when he's just excitedly showing off his pearlies to acknowledge Bhaiyyaji or cuddling up to a sheep in the back of a truck or turning red in an attempt to profess love to his childhood sweetheart, Akshay shines. Now, if he only weren't made to scratch his you-know-what in every reel.

The Three Musketeers of this flamboyant enterprise are definitely its cinematography, action and background score. Ayananka Bose's imaginative combination of great lighting, perfect compositions, adventurous angles and penchant for flawless close-ups is truly commendable. Under Peter Hein's deft action, Akshay transforms into a charged gorilla, leaping from one wall to another in a matter of seconds. The fast-paced stunts involving all the stars, even when a bit ludicrous --like uniformly clad martial art fighters popping out from nowhere, are likely to excite any action buff. Ranjit Barot brings out the attitude of Tashan through zingy, high-voltage beats, even find a slot to merge a high-pitched Chandi mantra during the climax, true blue Bollywood style.

Ultimately, it's a lavishly-told fairy tale of three con-men, which emphasises on swagger not purpose and settles for style over substance. But if you aren't looking for the latter, Tashan is all-revelry.

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Shiney Ahuja's Stunts to Rock Hijack

Actor Shiney Ahuja, known for his intense looks and powerful emoting, will enthrall audiences with his power-packed performance in the action thriller 'Hijack'.

The film, which is ad filmmaker Kunal Shivdasani's debut, is filled with action sequences and thrilling visual as well as sound effects.

The first action promo of 'Hijack', expected to hit theatres in June, features Shiney performing mid-air stunts as he leaps on to a flying helicopter and an aircraft in a convincing way.

The movie's promo focuses on how a well-planned plane hijack is foiled.Shiney fights back six people who have hijacked the flight with 198 passengers on board. The film also stars Esha Deol.

Britannia Mascot in Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors

Even before you let your imaginations fly and let loose, let us tell you, Hari Puttar is definitely not the Hindi version of Harry Potter. Nor does the story have anything to do with Wizards and Wizardry.

Hari Puttar - A Comedy Of Terrors, is a film about children and their adventures in London. The two animated characters of 'Hari Puttar' (the real character in the film is played by Zain Khan) and 'Funtoon' (Britannia's mascot). Tata Elxsi, the premium Animation and FX Company in India, has been engaged to create the two animated characters, Hari Puttar and Funtoon. These animated characters are to play the narrators in the film thus taking the storyline ahead. Just like in Kunal Kohli's Hum Tum.

The other actors in the film are Sarika, Jackie Shroff, Saurabh Shukla, and Vijay Raaz. Tata Elxsi have in past worked on some prestigious projects like Taare Zameen Par, Jodhaa Akbar, Dhoom 2, Rang De Basanti… and now for Hari Puttar- A Comedy of Terrors.

The Team of Hera Pheri to Make People Laugh Again

Any producer would give his left arm to sign a winning combination. And if the combination happens to be Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal and director Priyadarshan, the HERA PHERI combo, its paancho ungliyaan ghee mein. And the Jains of Venus have achieved it!

“We had signed Akshay and Priyadarshan some time back. Later, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty were also cast for pivotal roles. Yes, it’s a comedy, but let me clarify, it’s not HERA PHERI. Or even remotely similar to it,” producer Ratan Jain enlightens me. The makers haven’t titled the film yet. The film will be shot in one schedule, from September to December.

Too many twists spoil the plot in “Race”

Akshaye Khanna and Katrina Kaif die, and Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu split the cash with Anil Kapoor , after giving him a death threat. That is the climax of the latest Abbas-Mustan film, Race.

Abbasbhai and Mustanbhai are veteran practitioners of the fatafat produced thriller, but this their biggest budget effort by far tries to be slick and stylish while actually trying to cling on to a plot. There's nothing wrong with unpredictability, but it needs to be thought through. A-M bhailog, these many twists suit jalebiwallahs better than filmmakers.

Our film opens with horse races, but aside from having a few whinnying stallions in the background every now and then largely to frame a shirtless Saif -- there's really not much about that world in this film save for a couple of races, fixed with painful, amateurish obviousness. This is Durban and top horse owners are archrivals Saif and Dalip Tahil, the latter again forced into an inconsequential, villain-caricature role.

Anyway, Saif plays a gruff and stubbly millionaire not given to much emotional expression, hiding most of them behind his big sunglasses. He does, however, intensely love his stepbrother Akshaye, a good-for-nothing drunk with a hipflask surgically attached to his palm.

Saif's sexy secretary Katrina is in love with him that is informed by Anil Kapoor's voice in the sort of inconsistent know-it-all narrative that smells fishy, rather like scarlet herrings. Kapoor also tells that Saif is quite hot and heavy with Bipasha, who models Provogue garments for South Africa.

And now begins the carnival of twists, with each character stripped bare to show money-lust where some shred of morality would usually lie. Here, it is only the characters that lie, throughout the film.

And while it's perfectly acceptable for a thriller to be dark and cynical and let the characters chart their own sordid course, it is vital to either have somebody in the whole film that actually has a code of ethics or create characters compelling enough to root for, despite their hardcore darkness.

Here, the directors take another route the one that presumably stands for the all-important word 'commercial.' This is a simple route: it asks to focus on the stunts and the skirts, and let the twists lie there just for impact. Unfortunately, unlike the Dhoom 2 that this film is desperately craving to be, Race can't go all the way into the insubstantial and gets caught up in actually trying to tell a story and it's a helluva loopy tale. And it's nowhere near as slick as it needs to be.

Saif Ali Khan is completely wasted in the film, his apparent preparation for the character being not to shave for a while, and to perhaps trim a few kilos so that the immense suspension of disbelief doesn't seem as abrupt. Not that it helps. He grunts mannequin-like through the motions, mostly looking like he wandered on the sets from another film.

Akshaye Khanna has the film's main role, and while his smirk and his shrug manage a couple of lines alright, this really isn't a performance to talk about. Never convincing, the otherwise competent Khanna too seems to be phoning in this role, more at ease grimacing behind the wheel than actually delivering his constant, overwritten punchlines.

The girls? Bipasha Basu looks visibly uncomfortable in the part, squirming from one inappropriate costume to another, and really needs to work on her 'casual' English. Katrina Kaif looks significantly hot dressed in raunchy secretary gear, but the more she's kept away from the dialogues the better. Sameera Reddy plays Kapoor's bimbette assistant, and perpetually wears the disbelieving grin of a girl who can't believe she's getting to share screen space with Saif and Anil.Kapoor, despite being armed with nothing but fruits and groan-provoking lines, emerges as the only character to like in this vague mess. Not only does the actor carry off a horseshoe moustache like it's nobody's business, but his post-interval entry into the film injects some life into the random 'thrills.'

All in all, it's a rank amateur effort. The actors do their bit, but they too are mostly detachedly going through the motions hoping the camera and the cool moments would carry them through. They don't. This is a boringly shot, shabbily edited film, and it's hard to imagine anyone watching it and actually feeling the twists without laughing at them.

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