Sivaji- The Chaos

While making fun of my South Indian maid in office, I recalled a mail my friend sent me when Rajnikanth's Sivaji released. The frenzy for the south superstar is amazing as we all know but how many of us cosmos are actually privileged to witness such craze... Check out the pics... Yennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnjooooooooooiiiiiiiiii!!

Film on N Indian's struggle in Mumbai canned in Maharashtra

13 Nov 2008, 1031 hrs IST, Yogesh Naik & Bharati Dubey, TNN

MUMBAI: The state government on Wednesday banned the Hindi film `Deshdrohi', saying it would create a divide between north Indians and Marathis.

The low-budget movie by Bhojpuri film-maker Kamal Khan, who also plays the lead, is about a north Indian migrant's struggle in Mumbai. It was banned under Section 6 of the Bombay Cinema Regulation Act, 1963, which empowers the state or police to suspend screening - even if the film is cleared by the censor board - if they think it can create a law-and-order problem.

Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor said, "We had found certain scenes in `Deshdrohi' objectionable and had informed the government about it.'' He confirmed on Wednesday night that he had received the ban order from the state government.

After the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the ban should not be viewed as "moral policing''. The initial idea was to ask the producer-director to remove the controversial scenes, but finally, the cabinet decided to ban the film, he said.

Additional chief secretary (home) Chitkala Zutshi told TOI that the film dwelt on issues which had created trouble between communities in the recent past. "The government felt it would inflame passions and emotions further, hence we decided to ban the film for 60 days.''

Last week, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had asked for a ban on the film after watching its promos on TV but after Akhilesh Chaubey, MNS leader Raj Thackeray's lawyer, watched the film at a special screening, he said there was "nothing objectionable'' in it. "The promos are misleading.''

Soon after the government's announcement that it would ban the film, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parkar demanded legal action against Kamal Khan, the producer-director of `Deshdrohi'.

"The exhibition of this film should be stayed for some time. It should not be screened as long as the campaign to spread hatred between communities and Marathis and North Indians does not stop,'' Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Sanjay Nirupam said.

Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh said such films spreading hatred must be banned. In fact, they should not be made. He said that Marathi plays spreading hatred should also be banned. One such play is `Bhaiyya Haath Paay Pasari', which shows how a poor north Indian migrant comes to Mumbai and ends up buying the entire building in which he had rented a room.

Producer Kamal Khan said on Wednesday that he would challenge the ban in the high court. "It's a story about an unemployed youth who is used by politicians and eventually becomes a criminal. Maybe that's what some politicians didn't like in my film.''

However, someone who has seen the film told this paper, "There are some derogatory remarks against north Indian and Maharashtrians which may create problems. Had the film not got so much publicity, it would've gone unnoticed.''

It was not easy for Khan to get censor clearance. The executive committee of the Mumbai board had given ten cuts and an `A' certificate to the film. But the producer got his film cleared from the appellate tribunal in Delhi with five cuts and a UA certificate.

Vinayak Azad, regional officer of the Censor Board in Mumbai said, "We have certified the film for public exhibition but law and order is a state subject and the state can stop the exhibition of the film if it thinks it will create a law and order problem.''

Mahesh Bhatt said, "It's a shame that those who claim to be the crusaders of freedom have violated the rights of freedom of speech of the film-maker. They are no different from any repressive regime. You can't use the pretext of law and order to ban a film.''

Spotting Prem Qaidi Harish

I was at Yokos in Malad in the middle of a delicious cheese roll when my Bollywood bride girlfriend suddenly spotted a yesteryear gem… none other than HARISH!! Immediately, I forgot my date and S.P. Balasubramanium’s voice started ringing in my head- I live for Yeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww, I die for Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww, I live for yewewwwwwwww I die fohor yeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…

I wasn’t so happy since the time I spotted Avinash Wadhwan at the music launch of Souten- the other woman.

I have seen some of Harish’s best movies- Army (alongside the likes of Ronit Roy, Sudesh Berry and Ravi Kissen), a soul-touching cameo in Hero No. 1, Aunty No. 1, Coolie No. 1 (All with Govinda), Aadmi and Shapath (alongside Mithunda yaaaayyyyy) and probably the best Aashiq Mastane (alongside Rock On director Abhishek Kapoor).

When I told my brother about it, he said Prem Qaidi was a drag movie coz Harish looked like the heroine and Karishma the leading man. “Hum Hain Prem Qaidi, Hum Hain Prem Qaidi” Pardon my excitement folks.

And Tapan Mehhta was in splits on the mere mention of his name. He told me that Harish played the role of young Rajnikanth (Haha) in Andha Kanoon (Hehe) who sees his sister getting raped and father murdered (Hoho). Incidentally, he was Rajnikanth’s son (I think) in Bulandi (which was also directed by the same director).

I so wanted to get a pic with him but since Yokos was full, he didn’t get a place to sit and left. Sniff sniff… I tried to salvage that moment and get it etched in my memory forever.

Deshdrohi comments...

Hi all,I've been wondering why I haven't put up something on Deshdrohi... I'm sure its going to be the most unintentionally funny film of the year... but I have to point out that the promotions of Deshdrohi are bigger than movies like Roadside Romeo, Heroes and maybe even Karzzzzzzzzz...

So some of us started a chain mail and I wanted to put up some comments from there on the movie... the promos are just killing us and there is Deshdrohi fever all over.

"For the uninitiated Deshdrohi marks the grand launch of Bhojpuri producer Kamal Rashid Khan (KRK - the next thing after SRK)... what's more u even have Ravi Kishen and Manoj Tiwari with an item no by Saif's ex Rosa Catalano... Bhaiya KRK is going to be a bigger sensation than Gujju Himesh... those who have seen the trailers vouch for it. The multi-starrer comprises of an irresistable cast of Nirmal Pandey, Aroon Bakshi, Shiva, Aman Varma, BIG BOSS fame Zulfi Syed, Avtar Gill, Rana Jung Bahadur yesteryear gems like Kadar Khan, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Raza Murad and Ranjeet. What? did u ask of the girls? there's Lagaan fame Gracy Singh and Mohabbatien fame Kim Sharma"

"Arrey KRK... interests me! and I saw the trailers... the guy looks a dude.. can give the likes of John a run for their money! M on! "

"today those who go for deshdrohi will definitely get bashed by MNS. malani seems to hv made full plans to get bashed. those who want to get their bones broken can happily join him... i'll send u flowers tomo :P"

"count me in for deshdrohi ! ... sure looks hilarious... ! KRK has some amazing high fundoo dialouges and a mouse like squeeky voice to match it up to... !! LOL...

I think this movie would kill all classic coemdy movies that hindi cinema has witnessed till date... ! Cant wait to fall off my chair.."

"I am in too.... i dont even knw tht 'deshdrohi's' name but boooyyyy he looks cool!
wt dialogue delivery... wat style... he is india's answer to daniel craig!!"

"KRK..?? is he that lanky bhaiyya?"

"With a heavyheart, I regret to inform all of you that Deshdrohi has been postponed from Nov 7 to Nov 14. In this time of sorrrow, I urge all of you to be strong and await the delay bravely so that we may be able to take Kamal Rashid Khan to the level of super stardom... "

"What a big-hearted KRK is... he just wanted to give fair chance to Daniel Craig whose James Bond flick is releasing on Nov 7... opposite Deshdrohi, Quantam of Solace had no chance... now Kamal Rashid Rashid plans to compete with Dostana... "

"who on earth can hate him? in fact i think after watching this movie raj thakeray will withdraw all his goons and peace will once again prevail in mumbai... all thanks to KRK"

"raj thackeray will kick his well deserving ass but you guys shud hav seen his interview on live india yesday..(another shitty hindi channel ran by silly bhaiyyas)... the man showed off his confidence in style and ws ready to take on the politicians! KRK is a true hero"

Don't you just love it... All right guys... Deshdrohi releases this Friday... Go for it... i definitely am... BTW, for more comments you can also check out the deshdrohi fan page on facebook... cya!!

Nach Baliye 4 and Bigg Boss

My former classmate Megha Gupta is on Nach Baliye 4. I saw her dance just once before on the first episode and I didn't think she was all that good.

However, my mom being a fan of such dance and singing competitions made me watch another episode. Yesterday, Megha and beau Naman were just fabulous dancing to my new favourite song Desi Girl from Dostana... Megha was brimming with energy and there was so much fun in their dance.

The judges gave them a total of 24 points and Farah even called them the 'most beautiful looking couple' on the show. Kudos and hope they win.

I am somehow hooked onto Bigg Boss... I'm surprised because I hated the first season and must have forcefully seen about 4 episodes... I think Rakhi Sawant turned me off.

This year is pretty interesting. Not that, the creative team is doing anything but the people inside are pretty bitchy which I guess is interesting. It's kinda reminding me of Johnny Gaddaar... the audience knows everything but the inmates dont.

I hate Raja Choudhary. He has no respect for anyone especially women... I can very well imagine why his hot wife left him. His ego and pride is larger than his acting career. I'm vouching for Ashutosh and Zulfi to win but Rahul Mahajan seems to be the favourite. Diana Hayden got out. I liked her and thought she was a genuine person unlike Raja and Rahul.

That being said I'm not an Indian television fan by any means. The second season of HEROES (not the Salman movie) begins on 16 with two back to back episodes... whoopieeeeeeeeeeee!!

My film not selected for IFFI

Sadly, my film didn't get selected for IFFI. I'm not really disappointed. No expectation, no disappointments I guess... but it would have been good if it got selected.

Anyways, a new day- a new script- a new film awaits to be made.

Director's Notepad (software)

My dearest frand Chelc purchased this software for me from Canada. I worked on the trial version for a while, liked it and blackmailed Chelc into buying it for me.

Is it a good software? - No, it isn't.
Is it user-friendly?- No, it isn't.
Does it get the job done?- Yes, it does.

It took me about 3 days to break an entire feature film script down and it was worth the pain.

Features-
You can add story-boards, voice-notes, regular notes, camera set-ups, cast, location, D/N, I/E, extras, etc.

The best part about it is the print out styles. You can print it out set up style as well as 3X5 cards.

It also has a presentation mode where it looks supercool on a laptop or a projector.

Cons
Doesn't have actor breakdown.

I showed writer Rajat Aroraa about it and he partially liked it. He demonstrated a freeware called Celtix. Will work on it soon and see how it is.

Director's notepad is pretty reasonable. Costs only $29.

You can download the trial version on the following link-
http://www.directorsnotebook.com/

Roadside Romeo- Cool Cool

The best animated film I've seen come out of India. This one makes Hanuman and Hanuman Returns look juvenile. I dont want to even compare it to movies like Bal Ganesh (blasphemy) and others mainly because this is one is just too way ahead of them.

Fuck the dumb critics who say otherwise, this is a rocking movie in terms of entertainment and technical advances.

One critic says, "ROADSIDE ROMEO borrows from the masala films of 1980s. There's a hero, a heroine, the mandatory villain, plus love, problems, misunderstandings and conflict, but all's well that ends well. The story is predictable and worse, you don't feel for any of those characters you watch on screen."

I agree with the first part... but then again the same critic gave Om Shanti Om a 4 star rating. This is what he said about OSO- "there's a dash of KARZ, a bit of KARAN ARJUN, a sprinkling of KUDRAT, but beyond that it's a film that makes you nostalgic about 1970s Bollywood." So two contradictory statements in these reviews. Just wanted to point it out our hypocritical critics.

As for the characters, I thought including the leading cast, this film has the most loveable side characters a film could ever have. I agree Laila (Kareena) was wasted but over all even the villains non-speaking side-kicks (Charlie's Angels) were fun.

Javed Jafferi and Sanjay Mishra steal the show. Javed as the heavy-mouthed Charlie Anna and Sanjay as the Bhojpuri speaking scruffy mutt are both hilarious. I thought Saif Ali Khan was just all-right... It's only star power here coz I really thought a talented VO artist could have done a much better job.

But the new entrant who gets doggie points (pun intended) is debutant director and writer Jugal Hansraj. He tells a simple predictable story in a very very interesting way. The screenplay is hilarious and not once do you get tired. If Jugal continues this then he will be a director to look out for.

My favourite part of the film is when Charlie Anna goes on a date with a fake Laila (Tanaaz Irani) and the song playing in the background is the title song of Ek Duje Ke Liye. I think this was the first time I heard S.P. Balasubramanium's voice on the big screen. "I dont know what you say, i dont know dont know what you say." I must have heard that song after a decade. Sniff sniff... nostalgia... and luckily I had someone to wipe my tears. I jumped from my seat with glee and the couple making out next to me thought I was a weirdo.

Overall a pleasure to watch... Don't remember the last time I laughed and smiled at the movies so much.