Posts Tagged ‘bengali’
TIMES NEWS NETWORK (BOMBAY TIMES; December 26, 2009)
This time over, his father waited for the right moment to make an announcement. “Dad just felt it would be appropriate to announce my second film on my birthday,’’ says Jackky. He explains that Remo and he had actually zeroed down on this project even as KKD was being made. Jackky truly believes that one must let leave past mistakes behind and move on. “Today I know more about acting that I did when I made by debut,’’ he says. “I’m sure my second film will be a more fulfilling experience in that sense.’’
Remo, who is Jackky’s friend, steps in to add, “I had this subject worked out and when Vashuji heard it, he immediately volunteered to make this film under his banner.’’ Remo feels he is fortunate that a producer of Vashu’s stature agreed to fund his film. “Now my film will be mounted on the scale that I originally visualised it as,’’ he says.
He has also directed a film in Bengali and he is happy that his Bollywood debut has Jackky in it. He feels the boy has the ‘fire’ in him and given the right platform he will deliver. Both the actor and the director are now on a hunt for a female lead, and the appropriate title for this film that will be shot in quick, continuous schedules starting January. This could well be Jackky’s coming of age moment.
Bipasha Groped?
Posted September 28, 2009
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When Bipasha Basu, a true-blue Bengali decided to take part in the on-going Durga Puja festivities with boyfriend John Abraham, the last thing she expected was to be sexually groped by a sick minded stranger. The actress had a horrifying time when she was at The North Bombay Sarvojonin Durga Puja at Santacruz on Saturday evening. Not one to take things lying down, Bipasha was furious when John took her away from the scene. Incidentally, this Durga Puja pandal is now being managed by Rani Mukerji’s family. Commenting on what exactly happened, a source present at the event said, “Bipasha and John came together for the Durga Puja in the evening and Bipasha was very excited as has always been part of Durga Pujas in Mumbai over the years. Just after the darshan, she was near the stage when someone pervert groped her breasts. Bipasha, of course, was taken aback and flew into a fit of rage. People around her tried to calm her down. John too was present there and he whisked her away to calm her down. She even wanted to lodge a police complaint. However, she had second thoughts. As for the sick man, he quietly and promptly ran away, taking advantage of the commotion.” Despite repeated attempts, John and Bipasha remained unavailable for comment. |
Bipasha Basu may have made her displeasure known when Rituparno Ghosh, who directed her first Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik, had got someone else to dub her voice that too without informing her. However, all differences were magically dissolved on Tuesday afternoon when the Bengali spitfire saw the film with her younger sister, Vijayeta and mother. “Not all my grievances,” Bipasha quickly amends that. “But yes, most of my misgivings went out of the window when I saw the film. I still feel the voice speaking for me, is not mine. But luckily, the performance hasn’t suffered.” Of course, for the first 15 minutes, Bipasha and her sister were in splits. “My sister couldn’t stop giggling because the voice was not mine. Bengali women have a particular way of speaking, it’s very musical. Sharmila Tagore, Aparna Sen and even Konkona Sensharma have it, but I don’t. My voice isn’t melodious. It’s husky and very easy to identify. Moreover, my character speaks in both Bengali and English, lots of English. My sister said, ‘That’s not how you speak English at all’. Of course, everyone will know it’s not my voice. My mother too was concerned,” says Bipasha. But thankfully for Bipasha (or even Rituparno) the performance takes over. “It’s the best role of my life. The woman is so unlike me. To start with, she’s a lot older than me, her clothes (saris), mannerisms, body language and speech, everything is different. I play this woman whose husband is a poet and no wage-earner. So she has to reluctantly look after the whole family. It’s basically about the ideological gap between the couple, he being an idealist and she being the practical one. There are no outbursts. All the conflicts are muffled. I forgot how much hurt Ritu had caused me by dubbing my voice without informing me,” says Bipasha.
After seeing the film, Bipasha immediately messaged Rituparno. She has also decided to dub for one print to be eligible for the National Award. “Earlier when the producers (Reliance Big Pictures) asked me, I had refused because of what had been done. I am very clear about what I want but I’m not obstinate. I’ll now dub for the National Award print. Also, the voice that had been used for me initially was that of an older woman,” she adds. |
Kareena is more than a wife: Saif
Posted August 1, 2009
on:Sarita Tanwar (MID-DAY; July 31, 2009)
Saif Ali Khan walks in 10 minutes late. He’s looking fresh and surprisingly fit. He gives me a typical filmy hug and announces, “I haven’t had a bath yet.” I tell him that information would’ve been appreciated a few seconds earlier. Even though he is in his gym clothes, he’s not carrying his workout on him.
Must be the blue blood. He settles down on the other end of the couch and dons his serious glasses, “This is the Bengali in me finally coming out. Very Basu Bhattacharya.” Point noted and it’s time for some serious business. He orders coffee and me conversation. And then, we talk about his love, aaj and kal. Excerpts…. The last time you did a light romantic film (Hum Tum), you won a National Award. What are you expecting with Love Aaj Kal (LAK)? That’s it? A man with stories! Can I steal him? Drat! Okay, hoping LAK does well for you as a producer, or as an actor? Sounds like you. Most actors and filmmakers take trips to Shirdi, Vaishnodevi or Tirupati before their release. Have you done any of that? Like numerology? Did you check if you title was ‘balanced’ for success? Karzzzz? For a brief while, Kareena was Kariena… So you will never be Saaif, with an extra A? Deepika is the youngest actress you’ve worked with and Kareena is the youngest girl you’ve been involved with. That’s new! And? When you are with these 20-plus women, do you feel older, wiser and smarter or there is some connect? You’ve never promoted a film like this before. Do you find it cumbersome? …or a journalist? Like a text message. Ok, coming back to promotions…. But you’ve never really worried about competition. That’s the lazy Leo in you. You’ve not shown the film to your colleagues as well as the media. Why? Won’t your colleagues be upset that you didn’t show them the film? How do you react when people feel that you are still not established as a solo hero? No, that is the perception. But you still did Race, with Anil and Akshaye. Yeah, and even though Race did good business, it was never counted among the big hits. Why? Also, you didn’t get due credit for its success. Looking back, do you feel it was a wrong decision to do so many two-hero projects? But you’ve even played second fiddle to Madhavan in Rehna Hain Terre Dil Mein. You recently said you and Kareena didn’t plan to stay engaged forever. Does that mean you’re already engaged? Your mom said in a recent interview that you both have the family’s blessings. Is it tough to manage being together with your tough schedules? Oh, you are aware of people laughing? What if Bebo says she wants marriage? She has been flaunting her ring for a long time. What’s going on between you and Shahid? He was quoted saying that you and Bebo were using his name to get publicity. There were reports that you were offered Kaminey? All actors say they don’t watch other actors’ films. What about you? Ever considered direction? Many would say that about an actor’s job too. |
Mind your language Vishal bhai…
Posted July 28, 2009
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Vishal Bharadwaj has an instinct for picking up the gritty nuances of our culture. He played with the quirks of the language brilliantly in Omkara, and is now set to do the same with Kaminey. So is the milieu of the film Maharashtrian? Vishal says, “Kaminey actually has a lot of languages. We will soon be releasing promos which will have all the languages except Hindi. There are lots of cultures in the film. There are scenes of three minutes where people are talking in Bengali. You don’t understand what they are saying but you definitely get what they want to express through their gestures.Then there is some lengthy dialogue in Marathi. But I haven’t gone around explaining the dialogue either through other characters or voice-overs.” It’s a refreshing take when the director refuses to dumb down the film to cater to the ‘masses’, even if it means going out on a limb. Vishal agrees, “I have taken a huge risk in this film. There are only two ways I can deal with such situations. Either I take for granted that my audience is dumb and I should come down to their level. Or I can tell my audience that they are intelligent and they need to rise above and show it. Today, 95 percent of films spoon-feed the audience. I want to shake them. I need a lot of attention from my audience as I am challenging them to use their intelligence. They can decode it themselves easily. I think people will be intrigued by this movie as part of it will be easily understood and the other part they will have to decode. But in the end they will understand everything.” So keeping in mind the different milieus in the film, how difficult was it to do the music? Vishal thinks that composing the pub song was the real challenge. He elaborates, “I am very uncomfortable making this kind of music. Dhan te nan is not my basic nature. My basic nature is the title song of Kaminey or Pani Pani re. But to compete in the market and to remain in competition, these songs are very important. I want to make films my way but with budget constraints, so many things are not possible. For the Dhan te nan song I had to access my hidden quirkiness. “The most interesting song in Kaminey is the title song because it justifies all the characters in the film. They are all mean; each one has his own agenda except one. He is very noble but the others are mean which I think all of us are. None of us is a saint. That’s what makes us human. So I have tried to underline the mean side of us but in a very naughty way.” In Bollywood, the music matters a lot. This compels a director like Vishal to push himself out of his comfort zone and attempt what may not come naturally to him. He says, “Unfortunately, with me in films like Omkara and Kaminey, you need an item number. If you want to sell Pani pani re then you need a Chappa chappa and if you want Naina thag lenge to sell, you need a Beedi jalaile. So if you want a song like Thoday bheegey or Kaminey to reach the audiences, then you definitely need a Dhan te nan. At one level, it really hurts and irritates me that we need to do this but then, at another level when the song is buzzing everywhere, on the streets, in the disco, it gives me a lot of pleasure too as I am a music composer.”
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