Posts Tagged ‘Bollywood’
It’s a love story that’s been brewing for a while now, though both Dev Patel and his Slumdog Millionaire co-star Freida Pinto have carefully avoided either confirming or denying it in public. But after Dev’s mother confirmed that they are seeing each other, another little development seems to underline that the relationship may be headed towards more official territory.
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| Freida Pinto and Dev Patel |
In a hush-hush visit, Frieda came to visit her parents in Mumbai over Christmas — and guess who accompanied her?
“Freida and Dev were in Mumbai last week for a couple of days. Dev visited her home in Malad where Freida introduced him to her parents and family,” reveals a source. “Dev was down here with a couple of his friends from London and they also partied in Mumbai. Freida took them around and in fact, both of them were seen at Hawaiian Shack. But they wanted to keep this visit low profile and made sure that their itinerary was kept under wraps.”
When contacted, actor Mridul Singhvi (who also manages the Bandra nightspot), confirmed, “Yes, Dev and Freida were here with a couple of friends on Wednesday night. We dedicated the song ‘Paper Planes’ from Slumdog Millionaire to them. We all were very excited to see them but they were extremely hesitant about their pictures being clicked. They came in at about 11.30 in the night and were there till the time the club closed at around 1.30am. However they weren’t very social and stuck to a corner on the 3rd floor.”
MARK MANUEL Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; January 5, 2010)
(Mumbai Meri Jaan) untilted action project lined up next. Then there’s Dostana 2 starting in June. Before which he has four months to himself. “To look at life, to introspect, to ask myself questions about things I’ve done and which need to be done, to solve 10,000 problems, my mind is caught in a melee,” carries on the actor, “there’s a lot of nervous energy, there’s tension waiting to be relieved, and the gym is my release. I’m not lifting heavy weights to prove a point. The gym is like my church and working out is like praying…”
WHERE ARE THE ROLES? Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu, Sonam and (above) Vidya Balan
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; January 5, 2010)
Aamir is very powerful man, but finally the truth has to prevail-Chetan Bhagat
Posted on: January 4, 2010
- In: Interviews
- 1 Comment
By Subhash K. Jha, January 4, 2010 – 14:18 IST
Those multitudes who have read Chetan Bhagat’s book novel Five Point Someone would agree there are uncanny resemblances between the novel and Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots. The film apparently set out to adapt Bhagat’s novel and then decided to go its own way, for whatever reason. Chetan Bhagat shouts foul as he finds his name missing from the opening credits of 3 Idiots, instead they are in the rolling credits in the end. On the other hand, the producers of the film claim that it was mentioned in the contract that Chetan had signed. Hurt and amused Chetan reacts.
You must be very upset by the latest proceedings?
You’re a writer. You should know how it feels to have credit taken away from you. And it’s not something only I’m saying. It’s out there. The book is there. The film is there. They’ve tried to take away from my contribution. My name is at the very end of the credit titles after the junior artistes and still photographers. From the time they started making the film, they’ve been stressing that their product is different. It’s like a systematic effort (to underplay my contribution). If you read the book and saw the film, you’ll see the similarities.
 My name is at the very end of the credit titles after the junior artistes and still photographers  |
So would you say 3 Idiots is an adaptation of your novel?
3 Idiots is a total adaptation of my book. Some things are direct lifts, others indirect adaptations.
Aamir thinks you are trying to take away credit from the film’s writer Abhijat Joshi?
I heard his comments. But then he says he hasn’t read the book. There’s no denying Abhijat has done the screenplay. What Abhijat has done with my book can only be known if you’ve read it. If Aamir is so concerned about Abhijat not getting the publicity, he should let Abhijat talk. I very much respect Aamir. He’s the reason I thought the project would have a lot of integrity. I know for a fact he was told not to read my book because they told him it’d affect his understanding of his story. I was told it was a different script.
| Even dialogues about matar-paneer and Maruti 800 cars are from my novel. The novel was set in the 1990s. Aaj Maruti 800 kaun bolega? |
How would Aamir’s perception have been affected if he read the book?
I don’t know. I’m on a firm footing with the facts. See the film, read the book. And judge for yourself. The whole plot-structure narrative, even dialogues about matar-paneer and Maruti 800 cars are from my novel. The novel was set in the 1990s. Aaj Maruti 800 kaun bolega? I mention 42 exams and 16 broken bones in my body. They have kept the same numbers in the film. Kareena’s brother committing suicide on the railway tracks…so many other things in the film; it’s all there in my novel.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Aamir have accused you of trying to make mileage out of their movie?
If I didn’t take up the issue properly, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. If someone else goes and collects the award for best story at the awards functions how will I feel? Only once I met Aamir. When I landed at Bangalore where they were shooting 3 Idiots they said, ‘Don’t come we’ve too many visitors.’ They prevented me from going on the set. The book has been selling for six years. There’re lakhs of fans of the book. It’s not about Chetan being naraaz and Aamir being naraaz. My issue is not with Aamir. When the other film Hello based on my novel One Night At The Call Centre came, did I say one word against the characterizations or treatment? I was credited properly for that. I haven’t been credited for 3 Idiots.
| When I landed at Bangalore where they were shooting 3 Idiots they said, ‘Don’t come we’ve too many visitors.’ They prevented me from going on the set. |
Have you become embittered towards Bollywood?
You could make up any kind of contract. But is there any contract that stops people from being petty? My last novel Three Mistakes Of My Life is being directed by Abhishek Kapoor. I am co-scripting it. There’s a lot of interest in adapting my latest novel 2 States: The Story Of My Life. I don’t think there would be any problem with future project. With 3 Idiots, I know I’m in the right. I’m just telling people to see the film and read my book. I know Aamir is a very powerful person. But finally the truth has to prevail, no? I’m no great artiste. But there has to be fair play. I’m being accused of trying to get mileage.10 lakh copies of the book have been sold. The book has been read by 1 crore readers. Wouldn’t they know the truth?
What do you intend to do?
The makers of 3 Idiots are busy with their victory tours all over the country. They’re naturally being asked about the similarities between my book and the film. Sorry I spoilt their celebrations. The truth had to be told. I’ve been told by them, ‘You’re just a writer. You don’t realize how big we are.’ Maybe I don’t realize how big they are. Main kya karoon? But the truth is above everything. Aisa nahin ke pura Bollywood kharaab hai.
Do you think you’ll be ostracized by Bollywood after this incident?
I’m not dependent on Bollywood for my livelihood. I’m a big Krishna bhakt. I’ll follow the right path. If I’m wrong I’ll leave writing and join ISKCON. What does a writer want? That his words should make a change in society. Maybe by taking up this issue I hope to bring about a change in the way writers are treated. Vidhu Vinod Chopra assured me that he would treat me like a king. Kahan ka raja?
| Vidhu Vinod Chopra assured me that he would treat me like a king. Kahan ka raja? |
What do you hope to achieve?
When they go to pick up the story award I want people to know whose story it is. When they make eye contact with their children they should know they’re lying. We’ve to show that truth comes before everything else. I don’t write for money or glamour. I just need paper and pen. Lord Krishna takes care of the rest.
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
’3 Idiots’ makers may sue Bhagat
Posted on: January 4, 2010
’3 Idiots’ director Rajkumar Hirani accuses novelist Chetan Bhagat of slander
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Director Rajkumar Hirani is flabbergasted by author Chetan Bhagat’s allegation that 3 Idiots was majorly copied from his bestseller Five Point Someone without giving him due credit. Terming it a “clear case of defamation”, Hirani says they may take legal action against Bhagat for flouting their contract.
“It’s a clear case of defamation because contractually what he (Bhagat) was bound, he was given. Now why is he slandering us? We are consulting our lawyers. But that’s a call Mr. Vinod Chopra has to take. He is the producer of the film,” Hirani told IANS.
“I am sure it’s defamation because lots of people I know are wondering about the issue (due to Bhagat’s allegation) In lots of Twitter and Facebook sites we have been abused saying, ‘we won’t watch Hirani’s film or Abhijat’s film’. This kind of muck is flying all over the place. I think Vinod Chopra is looking into it, I guess he will follow the legal path,” he added.
Hirani clarified that once Bhagat had given the rights to make a film on his book, there shouldn’t be any “percentage issue”.
Hirani maintained that the basic plot of the film is completely different from the book.
“In the book, there is no bet between the two friends, the journey to find their friend is not there, the child delivery scene, the ‘Balatkar’ scene, the two weddings where they crashed these key scenes are not in the book. There are certain similarities, which I am not denying, but we had bought the rights for that.
“We can use 100 per cent of it. What does he (Bhagat) mean by 70 per cent? Are we supposed to pay more money for using 70 per cent? Are we supposed to give different credit for 70 percent? I do not understand this percentage controversy,” said Hirani.
Baghat has reportedly posted a blog saying he should have got a prominent place in the rolling credits. He also said that he was not shown the final script.
Reacting to his allegations, Hirani said: “We have officially bought the rights for the film. We drew a contract with him and it clearly mentions about the position of his credit. With open eyes he had seen the contract, consulted his lawyer and signed the agreement.
“In the contract, we have said that the title would be given in the rolling credits. We haven’t changed the font size. We haven’t increased the speed of the title. It’s exactly there where it was agreed to be,” said Hirani.
The director, who has a hattrick of hits – Aamir Khan starrer 3 Idiots, Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, says after signing the contract with Bhagat, they were not obliged to show the script to the author.
“I was not obligated to narrate the script to him. I have bought the script from him and I am supposed to use it the way I want to use it. I had changed the script drastically, so out of good gesture I wanted him to know it has changed so much and if he feels he doesn’t want to be associated with the film, he can tell me.
“He heard the script for four hours and readily agreed to stay associated, saying ‘I want to stay associated with the film, it’s a fine script’ which he has said in your (IANS) interview too. He signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Now he writes in his blog ‘I wanted to see the final script and it was not shown to me’. It is a blatant lie, he is telling,” Hirani added.
Asked if Bhagat could have a vested interest in kicking up the controversy, he said: “I guess there is a motivation to create the controversy so that people read the book and see the film.”
Hirani says that they never relied on controversies to publicise their creative work.
“Our film is doing exceedingly well. It’s beyond my dignity to create a controversy for a film. We have never sold our soul for our cinema. I’m not stooping to that level to sell my cinema or make extra money.
“When you talk of that percentage thing, it creates a curiosity to read that book and judge the film.”
Would he again adapt Bhagat’s book?
“This came as a shock to me that suddenly he is trying to hog the limelight; suddenly he is trying to take away the credit from the screenwriters who slogged for three years to modify the script. He doesn’t understand the difference between book writing and writing for a film. If he continues doing these things, I would rather not associate with him.”
Currently Hirani is working on two scripts with Abhijat Joshi. One among them is Munna Bhai Chale America, while the other one is a completely different plot. He will start shooting either of them by the end of 2010.
Nana learns Kannada
Posted on: January 4, 2010
Nana Patekar, the 58-year-old actor, who is currently shooting for the Kannada film Yaksha, has learnt the language to dub his lines.
However, learning a South Indian language for the Marathi-Hindi speaking actor is not a cakewalk. Nana says, “It is a challenge to learn a new language. But what is life if you don’t create new challenges for yourself? I have always done what I wanted to do in life. When I agreed to do my first South Indian film, I decided I will speak my own lines. Why should I allow some other person to speak for me? I have been working hard, getting the accent right. It’s a complicated process. However, one is never too old or too young to learn something new.”
Although Nana is tight-lipped about his role in the film, according to sources, Nana plays a messiah of the down-trodden, the kind of character that he played in Mehul Kumar’s Krantiveer (1994).
Rani in Deepa Mehta’s next?
Posted on: January 4, 2010
Last month, Rani Mukerji had a secret, productive and extremely encouraging meeting with author Salman Rushdie and director Deepa Mehta in Toronto. Rushdie and Mehta are coming together for a screen adaptation of the former’s celebrated Booker-winning novel Midnight’s Children. According to reliable sources, Rani met the author and the filmmaker for a good two hours and is now part of the screen adaptation. The buzz is Rushdie took a great fancy to her.
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| Rani Mukerji |
Deepa is evasive about confirming Rani’s presence in Midnight’s Children. She says, “Yes, Salman Rushdie and I met her informally in Toronto, but nothing has been finalised.”
However, reliable sources insist Rani is part of the coveted project which already has Shabana Azmi, Seema Biswas and Nandita Das in its cast.
Hinting at the possibility of working with Rani, Deepa says, “I don’t know about Rani’s current box-office status but I have always wanted to work with her. I saw her work in Hey Ram, Black, Bunty Aur Babli and Veer-Zaara and loved it. She is among the best talent in India today. Whether it is Preity Zinta (Heaven On Earth), Shabana Azmi (Fire) or Seema Biswas (Water), I have always enjoyed working with strong, female actors.”
Rani too is on the lookout for a challenge that will take her beyond the roles she has done in Hindi cinema so far. Interestingly, she has never worked with a female director in her entire career. She came close to working with Mira Nair in The Namesake. She lost the prized role to Tabu because she didn’t want to play Abhishek Bachchan’s mother. Later, Abhishek too opted out of the project.
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| Deepa Mehta | Salman Rushdie |
Amitabh Bachchan had a near-fatal accident while shooting for Manmohan Desai’s Coolie which released in 1983. The director paused the scene which then made headlines to pay a tribute to Amitabh. 25 years later, in another accident on the sets of Muddasar Aziz’s directorial debut Dulha Mil Gaya, Shah Rukh Khan badly injured his shoulder due to which he had to undergo a major surgery.
The makers of Dulha Mil Gaya have paused the exact scene in which SRK was injured.
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| Shah Rukh Khan |
Our source tells us, “It was an afterthought. When the film was being edited, they realised that they should do something like this. The scene is in the second half of the film and like in Coolie, here also the scene will be paused so that the viewers know when the accident happened. The makers do not wish to reveal it as they do not want to aggravate SRK.”
Producer Viveck Vaswani clarified, “SRK was injured during the shooting of our film but we are not planning to do anything special to mark the scene. It would look like cashing in on the sequence. SRK got hurt but he did not tell anyone about it during the shoot.
He finished his work with dignity and quietly left. When I came to know about it the next day, I sent him a text. He said it’s all right as it was not my fault and he would be doing these stunts for the next 20 years.”
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| Muddasar Aziz | Viveck Vaswani |
Even the director of the film Muddasar Aziz, denied the news saying, “There is no such gimmick planned.”
Katrina is friendly with her ‘boyfriend’ Ranbir’s mom Neetu; she too likes Katz
Posted on: January 4, 2010
Ranbir Kapoor’s mom Neetu is fond of Katrina Kaif, whom her son is reportedly dating
A lot has been said and written about the reason behind Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor’s split. From Ranbir’s ‘friendship’ with Katrina Kaif, to Ranbir’s charming ways with women, to Deepika’s possessive nature. One more reason which often made headlines is Ranbir’s mother, Neetu Kapoor’s so-called dislike of Deepika.
Deepika and Ranbir were in a serious relationship for nearly two years but during that time, she could never come close to Ranbir’s mom. No prizes for guessing that she must have tried several ways to win her over but failed in all her attempts.
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| Neetu Kapoor |
While talking about Deepika, Neetu had said that right then Deepika was just Ranbir’s girlfriend, no more.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Ranbir and Katrina Kaif, his Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Raajneeti co-star have got closer.
However, the latest development in the Kapoor household is a very interesting one and bound to raise eyebrows. Neetu has developed a huge liking for Ranbir’s current squeeze, Katrina. The two ladies get along like a house on fire and think similarly on a host of subjects.
A source says, “Neetu and Katrina share a very warm relationship. Katrina respects Neetu a lot. On the other hand, Neetu feels that Katrina is a very well-mannered girl.”
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| Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif |
Neetu too confirmed her liking for Katrina. She says, “Yeah. Katrina is a very nice girl. I am very fond of her.” However, when we asked her to say more about her fondness for Katrina, she clammed up.
Katrina, on the other hand, chose not to comment on her relationship with Neetu Singh.
Are you reading this, Deepika?
Aamir Khan’s dog, Shah Rukh, who had created such a furore in both the Khans’ lives, no longer lives at Aamir’s Panchgani home
Shah Rukh Khan can heave a sigh of relief. Remember the dog in Aamir Khan’s life, Shah Rukh, who made headlines last year? Well, that dog is not a part of Aamir’s life anymore.
Recently, the dog Shah Rukh moved out of Aamir’s Panchgani bungalow because his master, Aamir’s caretaker, moved out, taking his dog with him.
A source says, “Since the old caretaker is out, there was no point keeping the dog Shah Rukh. The dog had to go with the caretaker.”
The dog Shah Rukh had played a big role in widening the rift between the two Khans. After Aamir had written on his blog, “Shah Rukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then. What more can I ask for?” and “Shah Rukh is smelling too much, I think he needs a bath,” the already hot competition between the two had been further fuelled.
While both were battling it out for supremacy at the box-office this sort of banter had only made them more competitive.
Evidently, after a while Aamir & Co had changed the dog’s name. After calling him Shah Rukh for sometime, they had started calling him Shahki.
There is an explanation for the dog’s name too. Said the source, “The old caretaker is a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan. Since Shah Rukh was shooting in Panchgani when the dog was born, he had named him Shah Rukh. Later, he himself started calling him Shahki and the others, in and around Aamir’s Panchgani property, followed suit.”
Anyway, things seem to be a lot better between the two Khans now. In April 2009, they came together on the same platform to support the producers in their fight against the multiplex owners. Recently, Shah Rukh attended the premiere of 3 Idiots. Who knows, with the exit of the dog, Shah Rukh, from Aamir’s life, their interpersonal equation may greatly improve too.
