Ok, I admit I a bit behind in my Bollywood blogging, but a bunch of new movies are coming down the pipeline so I'm Back.

Ram Gopal Varma's Aag is out playing here in NY at the Imaginasian this week. I'm still debating on seeing it. So far I'm hearing it's a flop. Sorry, but why try to remake Sholay? Not possible!

I think I'll go see Vanaja instead :P






SOURCE

reason 239837349 why I think Salman Khan is gross. Just check out this trailer for Parner. I assure you, I won't be seeing this one!!!

I'm not sure if any of you have been to the movies recently, but be prepared....the 5 minute trailer for  Shimit Amin's forthcoming movie Chak De India is excruciatingly painful. SRK has a nice look for this film - that's about the only nice thing I can say.

I will only torture you with the 30 second trailer....

Ok, so despite my aversion to Bobby Deol, I went to see Apne tonight. The theatre was actually pretty full which is something I don't normally see. I haven't seen it that packed on a weeknight since Don released. I suspect they were all Dharmendra fans, cos I know that's why I went ;)

Dharmendra was great as usual. I also was so excited because I love Kirron Kher, but I wish she had been given more of a role. Also, Anil Sharma could have cut out about 50 minutes of filler. The movie was so violent, so if you're squeamish don't go. It doesn't help that they kept re-playing the really gruesome, violent parts. Ugh boxing is so gross.

There were a few continuity issues - the bad guy's last name is repeatedly said and captioned as Gracia - then for about 25 minutes it switches to Garcia, then back to Gracia. Also, were they supposed to be in the US for the last part? I was confused because all I saw were Australian flags and extras speaking with aussie accents.

Overall, it was a good time pass. If you like Dharmendra, definitely go. You have to give it to Dharmendra - alleged hair implants and all - he looks great. In the entertainment industry, the once swoony-heartthrob male actors tend to get old and flabby, but the women always stay young and thin. So It's nice to see a male actor age gracefully, actually look good, and pick tasteful, age appropriate roles.

I flipped a coin and chose to see Awarapan tonight instead of Apne. Ok, that's a lie. I just can't face watching 2+ hours of Bobby Deol, so I went straight away to the theatre to see Awarapan and I'm so happy I did! This has to be the best movie I've seen this Summer. Ok, I've only seen flops this Summer, so maybe that's why this movie seemed like a relief.

Mohit Suri has come a long way since Kalyug, that's for sure. Emraan Hashmi did an excellent job - it was really his film. I like that he's not all heart-throbby because that gets to be annoying in films that have darker themes. The story was a bit unconventional too. Within the first 10 minutes of the film I thought "Oh I know how this will turn out" and the plot took a U-turn and went elsewhere, which was a pleasant surprise. I don't want to say much else in case I give too much of the plot away.

Anyhoo, go out and see this one! It's playing at the Regal on 42nd street, but I don't know for how much longer it's there for. It will probably be out on DVD in about a week anyway, but it's worth seeing on the big screen if you can.

One warning though, Mrinalini has an awful, awful song sequence in the beginning.

Ah yes, more movies. I will probably see this and Apne because I need my movie fix. I'm just coming off a vacation and staring at big pictures in a dark room will ease the transition. From the trailer, it doesn't look too extraordinary. Allegedly the film is based on a Korean movie. Let's see how gangsta Emraan Hashmi can get.

Check it out...

Ok, yeaaaah I really do not like Bobby Deol. He basically reminds me of Dale Chihuly sans eyepatch. However, I probably will end up seeing this one. I like Dharmendra a lot. No snarky comments about Sunny. Also, Shilpa Shetty's in this one and she actually (somewhat) made an impression on me in ..Metro. Katrina Kaif I can do without .

To be honest, the trailer looks pretty boring, but it's cool. I'm sure it will be a tear jerker and I'm always up for a good cry.

This Deol "threesome" (ok that was tasteless) premieres in NYC on June 29 at the Imaginasian.

Check it...

Tee-hee Ok. So this is a few months old, but it's new to me. My friend sent it to me the other day. Sorry, I'm a nerd and I'm easily amused. It's a deadly combination!

Holy crap. This movie was reallllllly bad.Really. Bad. Don't get me wrong,  I actually do enjoy a bad movie now and then. However, only if it's bad in a funny kind of way way. However, JBJ was just bad in an embarrassing, crappy way. I'm always up for an entertaining time pass, but this wasn't even a good time pass movie. 30 minutes in and nothing had happened except a lot of "blah blah blahing" and no chemistry between Preity and Abhishek.

At least five people walked out of the film after the first hour. That's a lot of people for the ImaginAsian which is a tiny theatre. I'm glad I had some cinema going companions so we could crack jokes, cos it was just so painful.

I was all excited to see what Shaad Ali would come up with next - especially after 2005's quirky & energetic Bunty Aur Babli. But this was just...ugh horrible.

Can someone please tell me what was up with Amitabh's character? I didn't get it. Ugh. 60+ year old men should not wear long wigs, dress like pirate pimps, wear high heels, or wear distressed jeans. So. Wrong.

There were only a few humorous parts in the second half - like two. Also, wooooooo we all got the blazingly obvious Sholay reference with the sidecars. Next!

Ok, so I swore I wasn't gonna post anything on this movie, but I think I've been brainwashed by watching this trailer 8 hundred bazillion times since they started showing it last year. I'm already sick of the new Munnabhai...trailer and that movie isn't coming out for years...

Anyhoo, he's the trailer for JBJ which opens June 15. I'm not a huge Preity fan, and Bobby Deol is gross, but I like Lara Dutt and I can only imagine the heinous fug that Abhishek gets to wear in this one. Woo hoo! Go Yash Raj films! They totally win the fug awards. But yess, I will reluctantly go see it.

Check it out...

Now that Abhishek is Mrs. Aishwarya Rai the ladies have decided that Saif Ali Khan is the most eligible bachelor. In second place was Akshaye Khanna.

I just watched Arzoo last weekend. You may remember his totally 90s floppy hair. I couldn't find a still from Arzoo, but I think this picture does it justice. Wind machine, anyone?

In lieu of a picture of Madhuri, please enjoy this public domain image of a wooly rhino.

This film was actally quite good. Rani looked gorgeous! Although I must say, Saif needs a better makeup artist. He needs to always work with whoever did his makeup for Salaam Namaste. He was looking a little haggard in parts where he shouldn't look so haggard. It also doesn't help that they dressed him like an 18 year old in the first half of the flick which made him look ridiculous.

It's always fun to watch Bollywood movies that take place in NY with a NY audience.

Some funny NY bits...

1) They live in a huge sprawling mansion in "Manhattan"
2) R.V's (Saif Ali Khan) arch nemesis is a race driver named RUSTY FINKLESTEIN. uhh????
3) They're supposed to live in Jackson Heights, but it's really Orchard Street
4) Even though they live what appears to be "Jackson Heights" they go to Washington Square park to "bathe" in the fountain there (EW I hope they cleaned that thing!!!! There was a collective "EWW WTF!" when they started romping in the fountain.)
5) What is going on with the Charmin Bears??!!??!?

I bought the soundtrack a few weeks ago and it's really great. All of the picturizations were fantastic with the exception of the Animated (Charmin) Bears. I seriously was waiting for one of them to offer Saif some TP at any moment!

Anyway, go see this on the big screen if you can! It's playing a limited run at the ImaginAsian in NYC.

Here's the Hey Shona trailer from the film - it releases this Friday. It's another one that has lots of shots from here in NYC. The weird thing is though - that one day where they shot on Orchard Street and transformed the street so it looked like it was India.

Warning, there is a lot of spinning around in Times Square in this one!

Ok, I admit...the last few months of new releases have been pretty ho-hum.  Eklavya, Salaam-E-Ishq, Hattrick, & Shakalaka Boom Boom were dissapointing at the box office.

Coming up we have Ta Ra Rum Pum which is releasing this Friday. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (6/15) & Aaja Nachle (11/30), also Yash Raj films will be releasing before the end of the year. Can't wait to see Madhuri Dixit back on screen!!!

 Also, I was unaware of this, but Karan Johar is releasing an animation version of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. That's going to be realllly weird.

Amitabh Bachchan issued an apology today after reports that many journalists were beaten by guards for trying to take pictures of the bride and groom. One journalist landed in the hospital where he was treated for his injuries. Big B stated that the guards who were beating the journalists weren't part of his security team, but rather belonged to one of his guest's security teams.

Yeah....I guess when your guests have to bring their own security that could cause some conflicts. I know I hate when my friends bring their security guards to my place & act the fool.

I still think Karan Johar should issue an apology for making Amitabh wear this contraption.

...and so does the media frenzy!
Saturday marks the bidaai ceremony for the couple. This ceremony marks the departure of the bride from her maternal family's home. It's for family only. Sounds like they'll be having a huge reception in June for industry type people.

Someone's leaked some murky pics of the couple together in their car onto the interwebs. Uhm, they don't look very happy.

In other news, a woman who clamed to be the jilted lover of Abhishek Bachchan slit her wrists in front of his home on the 19th. OY VEY! Her name is Jahnvi Kapoor and she had a small part in Dus. She was arrested for the suicide attempt. Sad.

Wow! So there's all these pictures of the police keeping the fans at bay ( with swinging batons) outside of the Bachchan residence. I haven't been able to find any pictures of Aishwarya, but IBN has  a good slideshow here. It looks like it was a real media frenzy. The party will be continuing throughout the night.

Unfortunately, it looks like Abhishek kept the stache.

Yes! Today is Thursday. Today was the day that Aishwarya had her mehendi ceremony. It took place at her residence in Bandra called La Mer. The entire building was decked out with lights It was a private ceremony with only close friends in attendance.

Tomorrow's the BIG DAY, people!  IBNLive has a great slideshow with some pictures from the past day. It's pathetic, but you can't help with watch! I really hope Abhishek shaves that stache off.

See you then!

Ahh yes! Just like Hritik and Aishwarya, Richard Gere & Shilpa Shetty are facing obscenity charges for Gere's little outburst earlier this week. 3 separate lawyers have filed charges.
Sounds like 3 different people want to jump on the gravy train! I don't think anything ever came of the charges filed against Aish & Hritik. This will probably slide as well.

I feel bad for Shilpa though, it was all Richard's doing. Homeboy needs to make an apology, seriously. His idiocy is having a negative impact on AIDS awareness. Fool!

WooOoo! Cos you don't read enough of it in the tabs...Wednesday marks the first celebration in the Abhishwarya nuptuals.

Wednesday's "sangeet" celebration at the Bachchan's Mumbai residence is under tight security - over 500 police guards are standing by. All guests are under strict orders to not talk about what goes on behind closed doors. It's like Vegas!

I wonder what sorts of songs and skits the family will be doing. It seems sort of strange seeing as this family has been in so many movies - is it too ironic if they reference songs that they already acted in? I guess that leaves out most numbers from KKKG. I'm sure there will be a tear in Karan's beer over that one.

So in case you haven't seen it all over the news yet...

Gere and Shilpa were at a public appearance for AIDS prevention. Looks like Gere got a little too excited and swooped in to give Shilpa a kiss on the cheek. Allegedly, angry fans are burning pictures of Gere in the street in protest.

Gere has since apologized to Shetty over the phone. She stated publicly, "I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner. I understand people’s sentiments, but I don’t want a foreigner to take bad memories from here."

Aww shucks. Seems like Shilpa can't stay out of the news. I think she handled it well. I do think Gere should publicly apologize for his actions, he should know better.

You can watch the smooch here on YouTube.

Abhishwarya finally picked April 20 as their big wedding day. I can't wait to see what the gossip mongers come up with for this one. Sounds like it should be a small, private event.

Apparently, Ireland's tourist board has invited the couple to have their honeymoon there since they haven't decided on that yet. Erin go braugh!

What?!? The man we all know for chewing off his opponents ear will be appearing in Firoze A. Nadiawala's Fool And Final. The flick about boxing stars Sunny Deol, Shahid Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, & Ayesha Takia. The video is supposed to be just for promotional purposes, but may also appear in the movie. Wow, I sure hope Mike behaves himself while shooting in Mumbai!

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge is set to enter its 600th week of playing in Mumbai. Who would have imagined that  the film would go on for so long? I sort of feel bad for the projectionist - can you imagine that job?

Apparently, Rani Mukherjee, Aamir Khan & Amitabh Bachchan are slated to star in a love story surrounding the 2004 tsunami that rocked the Indian Ocean. The flick will be directed by Ujjal Chatterjee (Escape from Taliban). Seems a little tasteless to me. I guess I will just have to wait and see!

Ram Gopal Varma's take on Nabokov's Lolita hasn't been accepted so well at the box office so far despite advance bookings for the weekend and Holi.

The movie pits veteran Amitabh Bachchan  against newcomer Jiah Khan who is less than one third his age. RGV claims his flick has nothing to do with Lolita, but there are glaring similarities. I passed on this one, I just couldn't see Amitabh paired with an 18 year old. It just creeps me out.

Priyanka Chopra has filed a case against her former personal assistant known only as Jaju. Apparently he sent threatening SMS messages to Priyanka which prompted the complaint. Jaju is allegedly linked with Chhota Shakeel ( an infamous gang). Scary!

I am whipped so I'll make it short...but I just got back from seeing Eklavya.

hRrRrrrM. It was rather short, I must say. Great Scenery, Great costumes and some really stunning imagery. Amitabh gave a powerful performance, but it was lacking and I think it was the script's fault. I think the story could have been given more depth and maybe the movie could have had about 30 more minutes. Something just seemed to be missing. Saif tried, but wasn't very convincing. I really do blame the script, or the director. Also, I wish Vidya had more of a role!!

Also, I must say, Sanjay Dutt is growing on me in a weird way. His role as the cop gave some much needed humor, but it sort of was distracting and extraneous.

Wow, this wasn't a very inspiring review. Basically, I enjoyed the movie, but it wasn't much of a favorite. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone new to Hindi films, only people who want to see what their favorite actors are up to.

I was, however, a little tickled by the preview for Munnabhai Chale Amerika
The rumor mill has it that this is releasing in 2008.  Oy vey!

Some Highlights:

Best Actor: Sanjay Dutt, Lage Raho Munnabhai
Best Actress: Aishwarya Rai, Dhoom:2
Best Supporting Actor: Abhishek Bachchan, KANK
Best Supporting Actress: Ayesha Takia, Dor
Lifetime Acheivement Award: Mithun Chakraborty

Was happy to see that Zubeen Garg won best "New Musical Sensation" for Gangster's Ya Ali.
I was a little confused as to why Atif Aslam was missing for  Bas Ek Pal's Tere Bin. Oh Well.
You can't have it all!













See who was nominated

Saif was rushed to the hospital this evening (Sunday) during a dress rehearsal for the Star Dust Awards. He's been given an angiography and is expected to stay at the hospital for two more days. He had reported an irregular heartbeat and chest pains. Hope you feel better son, Saif!

Saif is starring in Eklavya which opened in NYC on Friday. I was too sick to go :/

I love this guy! I'm so excited to see what he comes up with even though his movie will be starring Salman Khan.  It begins filming in June of this year.

Prabhu is big in "Kollywood" aka the Tamil-language film industry and has choreographed many films. This man has the hottest dance moves. They call him the Michael Jackson of India, but I think that's not accurate.

Here's some of his slick moves in a dance sequence from 1995's Kadhalan.

Wooo! My three favorite actors will be on the premiere episode of season 2 of Koffee With Karan. To be honest, Karan Johar is a little annoying to me, but I hope someone uploads this on YouTube so I can watch!!

In a preview of the interview Karan asked SRK if the 3 were in an airplane crash & there were only two parachutes who would he choose to take with him?

Rani beat him to the chase with " I would probably stay behind and give the two parachutes because, really, people want to see them together!"

:O

Abhishek Bachchan turned 31 today (2/6). His dad gave him a white Bentley as a gift. Better than a sweater, eh?

A lawyer is filing a suit against Aishwarya for allegedly marrying trees on two occasions. In Benaras it was a a peepal tree & a banana tree at a Bangalore. The ritual was allegedly done because of Ash's inauscpicious horoscope. Traditionally, by marrying trees and an idol it's supposed to undo some of the negative consequences her Mars-bearing horoscope would bring to her impending marriage to Abhishek.

The lawyer is filing suit because she thinks these rituals are in violation of the constitution and violate people's rights ( and perhaps, peepal's rights as well). This tradition is associated with promoting 'untouchability' which is illegal. The lawyer is demanding a public apology from the Bachchan family.

Can this woman not catch a break? She gets made fun of because she's marrying so late in life, because she's older than Abhishek, and also because of her ill fated star sign. What will they come up with next?

Didn't these people watch Lage Raho Munnabhai? Abhishek' married a Manglik girl in that flick. Pay attention to your films, tabloid writers!

Abhishwarya & the Peepal tree have refused to comment.

This story's making the rounds. Apparently during the making of Eklavya he was hit in the head by a camel. Luckily, his Rajasthani turban prevented any major damage. Oww, that still has to hurt. I was once kicked by a horse and that was really horrible.

Eklavya premieres in NYC on Feb 16.

Big Brother Celebrity winner Shilpa Shetty will soon be meeting the Queen of England! She's going to stay on awhile longer in England. She's also set to meet with Prime Minister Tony Blair at the House of Commons.

I'd like to know who's knocking on her door for work now. It's sort of like this big build up. I wonder if she'll be able to keep up under all the pressure.

Hopefully she won't wear her tiger outfit when she meets the Queen Mum.
This is from an Ad campaign she did for PETA

Nayyar was a composed for almosy 6 decades. One of his most popular favorites was "Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo" from Howrah Bridge. He did a lot of work with Geetta Dutt & Mohd. rafi. He had a relationship with playback singer Asha Bhosle which was filled with scandalized by the press. After that ended, he had some difficulties because neither Asha nor Lata would sing for him.

The song from Howrah Bridge was recently remixed in Hollywood/Bollywood.

of course, it's Shilpa Shetty! She won Big Brother by beating out Jermaine Jackson with 63 percent of the vote. After finding out she won, she exclaimed,  "I can't believe it."