Posts Tagged ‘rab ne bana di jodi’
Yashji jumps onto TV bandwagon
Posted on: December 28, 2009
ROSHNI K OLIVERA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 28, 2009)
His busy schedule may not permit him the time to watch TVserials, but his wife Pammi gets her daily dose of entertainment from the small screen. “There are some serials that she likes and ardently watches every day,” he says. The Chopras had been planning to get into television for the past couple of years. “It was my son Aditya’s idea. After the release of his film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, he started concentrating on TV. This whole year he has been focussing on this; he has put in a lot of effort,” reveals Chopra Sr.
Talking about their television foray, he says, “YRF TV is an initiative to engage and entertain the entire family through content which combines high-quality production values with contemporary story-telling. The characters, language and environment in our shows are the kind that today’s Indian families can relate to. We are happy that Sony has shown the commitment to back our content.”
This collaboration marks another milestone in the long standing relationship between the two companies, says NP Singh, COO of Sony Entertainment Television. “Yash Raj Films has been making feature films for almost four decades. Television is the biggest mass medium in India and this collaboration will bring the very best in TV entertainment,” adds Singh.
The shows, scheduled over the weekends, promise to be distinct in their look with fresh, contemporary and engaging storylines that reflect the dreams, aspirations and passion of today’s young India. This brand new line-up of five shows, one non-fiction and four fiction, will air every Friday to Sunday between 8 and 10 pm. Here’s a little brief on each of the shows…
YRF purposefully not focusing on Uday’s nerdy acts in Pyaar Impossible?
Posted on: December 18, 2009
The Pyaar Impossible promos will focus on Priyanka Chopra’s campus bomb avatar rather than Uday Chopra’s nerdy act, after the box-office failure of Rocket Singh…
The failure of Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year is making producers YRF rethink the strategy of their next release, Pyaar Impossible. With Ranbir Kapoor’s nerd act in Rocket Singh… not going down well with the audience, there is a huge question mark regarding the success of Pyaar Impossible.
The film has Yash Raj scion Uday Chopra playing the consummate geek who adores the campus beauty, Priyanka Chopra from far.
With the release just a few weeks away (January 8), there’s an air of panic at the production house. One of their regular actors says, “Pyaar Impossible was designed as a vehicle for Uday. However, with nerdy heroes not doing well, everyone feels that the timid act needs to be toned down, but now it’s too late.”
Yash Raj, who had earlier thought of weaving the promos around Uday’s nerd act, has decided that it is safer to play up Priyanka’s sexy avatar instead. They are now deflecting the marketing attention from his nerd act to focus on Priyanka’s campus bomb act. Even then there’s a problem because What’s Your Raashee? proved Priyanka can’t carry a film on her shoulders.”
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| Pyaar Impossible |
Incidentally, last year, Yash Raj’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, where Shah Rukh Khan played a nerd was a huge box-office success. Aditya Chopra was so inspired by the film’s success that the brief he gave at Yash Raj for 2009 was to go full-throttle with the saga of the underdog.
A source adds, “Pyaar Impossible is a litmus test for YRF. It was designed as a comeback vehicle for Uday. But then Rani Mukerji’s nerdy act in men’s clothes in Dil Bole Hadippa bombed. However, it was the box-office outcome of Rocket Singh where Ranbir plays the nerd with relish that has stunned YRF the most.”
When questioned about the non-viability of the underdog, Pyaar Impossible director Jugal Hansraj says that he is sure that the failure of nerdy heroes in 2009 will not adversely affect his film. “We have approached the character of the nerd in Pyaar Impossible realistically. Uday’s character has been depicted as a brilliant student at University who is socially challenged and has no friends. He plays a nerd in a subtle manner even though this is a light-hearted romantic film.”
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 78
Posted on: December 10, 2009
ROCKET SINGH GOES THE ‘THE HANGOVER’ WAY!
I always believe that promotion is of utmost importance for a film to succeed. It helps to create hype and arouse curiosity which in turn helps the film get a good opening. But some producers don’t stress too much on promotion, presumably for two reasons:
-> The producer doesn’t have enough money to publicize his product. Or maybe, the budget of the film went so high that the producer couldn’t afford to spend additional 2-3 crores on promotion
-> The producer is supremely confident of his product. He is confident that he has come up with a winner and come what may, it will attract audiences and do a great job commercially.
The second reason seems applicable as to why Rocket Singh-Salesman Of The Year, releasing tomorrow, isn’t promoted much. Obviously, YRF aren’t short on funds so first reason can be ruled out. And going by Ranbir Kapoor’s confident declaration that Rocket Singh is his best film till date, it seems that the film will turn out to be a great entertainer. In his words, “I can proudly say that Rocket Singh… is not just my greatest film till date but also one of the greatest films made in the recent times. Believe me, it belongs to a different world altogether”.
Maybe, Ranbir did this as a personal publicity campaign on his part; after all, actors always do this, isn’t it? But it’s a fact that whenever the Chopras adopt a negligible promotional strategy for their film, then that film works wonders. ‘Chak De! India’ was also badly promoted and many trade pundits had predicted that it’ll fail. It even took an average opening. But the response was extremely positive and from the 2nd day, the film began attracting audiences in large numbers. It later turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of that year, 2007. Similarly, last year, Chopras went slow in promoting Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi which was very successful at the BO.
Another classic example is the case of The Hangover. How many of were aware of this film or had planned to see it when it released? The film had no famous stars and it also wasn’t promoted well across the world. In India, it released with a Hindi biggie, New York and Hollywood biggie, Terminator Salvation. The first day collections were pathetic. But the critics’ positive response and equally satisfying response of junta compelled moviegoers to catch this flick. In big cities, it ran for as many as 6-7 weeks (a rarity for Hollywood films) and was running with 70%+ occupancy even in weekdays!
So the point is-promotion is most vital but when your product is top-class and you are confident about its success, it’s okay to not promote the product much. Even ‘A Wednesday!’ and Mumbai Meri Jaan weren’t marketed well but later turned out to be two of the most loved films of 2008.
Coming back to Rocket Singh, the other reason why its promotion is low is because of Ranbir Kapoor’s presence in the film. He has received immense appreciation from his last 2 films, Wake Up Sid and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and is already on his way to become superstar. So maybe, YRF is of the opinion that Ranbir’s presence is now enough to get people to theatres. Also the title of the film, title song and the fact that it’s directed by Shimit Amin (director of Chak De and Ab Tak Chappan) has created some curiosity. If the film really turns out to be exciting as Ranbir has said, then he would be immediately crowned as the superstar for sure! Let’s hope for the best!
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CELINA’S AWARD WINNING FLICK NOT RELEASING IN INDIA
Many moviegoers and even those in industry were shocked to hear that Celina Jaitly got the Best Female Actor award for her New Zealand flick Love Has No Language at the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF)! A popular Bollywood screenwriter’s status on Facebook read, “Celina has won the Best Actor Award at CIFF. I’m trying to find out whether Stevie Wonder, Ravindra Jain and Nasser Khan (of Shadow fame) were the judges”! Such reactions were expected as Celina was never considered as an ‘actor’ anytime by majority. So this news came as 440 volt ka jakta!
Talking about the film, it has released in several countries but it still hasn’t got a release here in India and now Celina has confessed that the film won’t see a theatrical release here-it would come directly on DVDs. It pains to see inferior treatment being meted out to India so many times. The lead actress in the film is from India, she has even bagged a prestigious award and yet the film won’t release here-doesn’t sound fair, does it? Even Slumdog Millionaire got a very late release in India and it didn’t do a great job as people had already seen the film by downloading from the internet. Somewhere, this should stop!
CHECK OUT THE PROMO OF LOVE HAS NO LANGUAGE HERE
(Ranbir and Celina’s quotes taken from Bollywood Hungama.com)
This post first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/diary/chidprllp/Fenils-Bollywood-Talk78
Anushka Sharma, who made her Bollywood splash in YRF’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite Shah Rukh Khan last year, has bought a three-bedroom apartment at Yari Road in Andheri.
Although she bought the flat a month ago and has already shifted there, she was hardly at home, owing to her extensive travels for film shootings.
A source says, “Anushka has been on a house hunting spree for a while now. Last month, she finally bought a three-bedroom apartment at Yari Road in Mumbai. Anushka shifted base to Mumbai a couple of years ago from Bangalore. Earlier, she stayed at the army colony in Malad. This is the first time that the actress has bought a house on her own and is very excited about it.”
Confirming the news, Anushka says, “I feel good about being able to buy a house at the age of 21. However, I am dying to be at home as I have had no time to actually enjoy it. First, I was away in the US for 40 days and now I am in Bangkok for a month.”
Bharati Dubey | TNN (THE TIMES OF INDIA; November 30, 2009)The actor apologised to Shah Rukh and his family on a talk show on Saturday night. When he was told that Shah Rukh’s children, who were his fans, were upset with him because of his blog, Aamir said, “I really respect Shah Rukh, especially because he is a family man. He takes care of his family. If I have hurt their sentiments, I offer my unconditional apology to Shah Rukh and his family.’’
Aamir denied that he called Shah Rukh the number 2 star. “I had said I consider Sachin Tendulkar as the numero uno, but he does not say that himself.’’
On the remark about calling his dog SRK, Aamir said it was said as a joke. He no longer calls the dog Shah Rukh, but calls him Shaaki.
-By Taran Adarsh, November 10, 2009 – 08:47 IST
AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHANI has emerged one of the biggest openers of all times. According to industry sources, the Ranbir-Katrina starrer has moved into the Top 5 slot, after its magnificent debut. The top openers are as follows:-
GHAJINI: 3-day weekend Rs. 30 cr.; 4-day weekend Rs. 40 cr.
LOVE AAJ KAL: 3-day weekend Rs. 27 cr.
SINGH IS KINNG: 3-day weekend incl. previews Rs. 26 cr.
AJAB PREM KI GHAZAB KAHANI: 3-day weekend incl. previews Rs. 24.5 cr.
RAB NE BANA DI JODI: 3-day weekend Rs. 24 cr.
Of course, the number of shows and the ticket rates may vary for all films.
BOLLYWOOD HUNGAMA.COM
Fenil’s Bollywood Talk # 73
Posted on: November 5, 2009
TWO DIVERSE FILMS THIS WEEKEND!
8 Fridays left before the year 2009 comes to an end. Out of these 8, 7 Fridays are marked with the release of some very big and significant films. Tomorrow, Fri Nov 6, will see the release of two extremely diverse films-Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (APKGK) and Jail. While the former is an adorable romantic comedy, the latter is an intense realistic film.
Without doubt, APKGK has an edge over Jail. The Ranbir-Katrina starrer will surely open huge thanks to its lead pair, songs, wonderful promotion and its director (Rajkumar Santoshi) who is back to comic genre after Andaz Apna Apna. Also I feel even the title of the film is damn impressive. What makes it unique is that it’s a long one! Nowadays, we hardly have film titles consisting of 5 words. We mostly find one or two word titles. The very few recent long titled films which I can recollect is Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam, Money Hai To Honey Hai, Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na etc. Coming back to the film, it also seems like a clean entertainer and thus, a perfect family film as well. However, again, the big names associated with the film and wonderful promos don’t guarantee that the film would rock (recently, there have been many such films). So, I am gonna watch this film but like everytime, with less expectations!
Jail, on the other hand, have more chances of being impressive than APKGK. Director Madhur Bhandarkar has always projected realism wonderfully and Jail also looks like another winner from his side. The true picture inside prisons that the film is going to place before the audience is a major reason for watching this film. Neil Mukesh, like everytime, has gone into the skin of his character and is expected to deliver a smashing performance. The film should grow big time with a positive word-of-mouth.
In the end, it will be the content and the audience verdict that will matter. So which film are you planning to watch? Do let me know!
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PAA’S FIRST CUT IS OUT!
The first cut of the most unique film of the year, Paa, is out! The USP of the film as we all know by now is Amitabh Bachchan portraying a 12 year old child suffering from Progeria with Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan as its parents. The film is directed by Cheeni Kum director R Balki. On the eve of the promo release, I was mightily excited with so many questions running in my mind! Will Amitabh Bachchan look convincing as the child? How has he altered his voice, posture, mannerisms etc in order to suit his character? Will Abhishek Bachchan look convincing as Amitabh’s dad? And what about Vidya Balan? Will she be sidelined in this film or does she have an important role as Big B’s mom? So many questions but not all got a satisfying reply. The first teaser exposes Big B’s looks but doesn’t project his dialogue-delivery. But I am sure it’ll manage to create hype with each passing day!
Ideally, the promotional campaign of the film should have kick-started last month on Oct 11 i.e. on Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday. It would have been the best day for the launch. But instead, the makers just gave a full page ad of the film in newspapers with no pic of its lead actors and just a write-up ‘Amitabh turns 13 today’! Now, the film is just a month away (it’s releasing on Dec 4) and the maker may not get much time to publicize now.
TO WATCH THE PROMO OF PAA CLICK HERE
This post first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/diary/cacdloqto/Fenils-Bollywood-Talk73
SUBHASH K JHA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; October 20, 2009)
The couple from the trendsetting Bobby were subsequently seen in Sagar and more recently in Pyar Mein Twist.
After the failure of the pricey Akshay comedy Chandni Chowk To China, Nikhil is ready to shoot Patiala House which casts Rishi and Dimple as man and wife. Akshay will play their ideologically-opposed son. Says the director, “People may see the casting as gimmicky. But, after Chandni Chowk… I felt I had to be true to myself. In that film I was trying a language that wasn’t mine. In Patiala House ,I return to my native tongue.”
Though Akshay plays a second-generation Sikh in London, he won’t be wearing a turban in this film. His father, played by Rishi, will be in a turban once again after Love Aaj Kal. The film will also star the spirited Anushka Sharma in her first film outside the Yashraj banner. Apparently Akshay, who loved Anushka’s performance in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, personally requested her to step into Patiala House. Nikhil sees Akshay and Anushka sharing a great chemistry on screen. “They’re both so warm and so Punjabi in their demeanour,” he says. Adi’s next with Ranbir?
Posted on: October 20, 2009
 Ranbir Kapoor is the new favourite at Yash Raj Films. Afterstarring in YRF’s Bachna Ae Haseeno and the forthcoming Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year, Ranbir will now star in a film to be directed by Aditya Chopra. The film will go on the floors early next year. Ranbir was best choice for the forthcoming film as Aditya is ready with his new film’s script and his favourite actor and closest friend Shah Rukh Khan has no available dates for the next two years
Shah Rukh Khan had starred in all the three films directed by Aditya, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. A source said, “Aditya was keen to direct Dhoom 3 however they didn’t finalise a script that Aditya was keen enough to direct. Even Yashji was scheduled to direct a film after Veer-Zaara but that too did not work out. When Aditya realised that Dhoom 3 is not working out as expected and Shah Rukh is already busy with Don 2 and Farah Khan’s film Happy New Year, he wrote this fresh young love story, which will star Ranbir.”
“There has been a considerable gap between his three films. Aditya made Mohabbatein five years after Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge while Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was made eight years after Mohabbatein. However, he was very sure that after Rab Ne… he wanted to start his next film soon.” Aditya consciously wrote a young love story for his forthcoming film, just like DDLJ. He was very clear that he wanted his next to be a bubbly love story. Ranbir fits the bill perfectly and the two are good friends. The rest of the details are yet to be finalised. We sent text messages to Ranbir Kapoor and YRF but they did not reply. |
Post-Lagaan, there has been multitude of films on cricket out of which only two succeeded-Jannat and Iqbal. The rest of the badly executed cricket films failed. ‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ falls in between the two categories. The film in interesting and has its share of wonderful moments. But the film lacked depth and the director and screenwriter could have worked wonders with the kind of script they had in their hand. Thus, ‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ is just a one-time watch.
The story of the movie: Veera (Rani Mukherjee) is a charming and bubbly girl who lives in a small town in Punjab. She is a great cricketer and is passionate about the sport. Every year, Aman Cup is held between India and Pakistan during the independence day of these countries and Indian team had lost the match 8 times in a row. Frustrated, the owner of the Indian team, Vikram Kapoor (Anupam Kher) calls his son Rohan (Shahid Kapoor), an accomplished county player to be the captain of his team. Rohan gets rid of the existing team which he felt wasn’t upto the mark and holds a selection. Veera wishes to be a part of the team but knowing that women won’t be allowed in the team, she disguises herself as a Sikh guy and goes for the selection. She tells her name as Veer Pratap Singh and gets selected in the team. To find out what happens next, watch the film.
The beginning of ‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ is fabulous and sets the mood of the film. However, the film gets into the flawed mode with the entry of Anupam Kher and Dalip Tahil. Both of them are shown as childhood buddies who got separated after the Partition. But both of them looked too young to be born 10 years before the Partition!
Notwithstanding such goofs, the film maintains its pace and doesn’t get slow or dragging or melodramatic at a single point. There is lots of things happening throughout the film and although the film gets predictable, it stills manages to engross. If the screenwriters and the directors were more careful, the film could have been flawless product. The biggest glitch of the film is Veera turns into Veer and succeeds in looking like a guy but doesn’t alter her feminine voice, thus giving a clear giveaway that Veer is a girl in disguise. Still, no one gets a slightest hint about it and this is slightly hard to digest. This may result in a comparison with Shahrukh Khan’s double act in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. However, in RNBDJ, SRK had not guised himself as a member of the opposite sex and had wonderfully changed the tone of his voice, appearance, mannerisms etc in such a way that when Anushka Sharma failed to recognize him, it looked believable to a great extent.
Coming back to ‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’, the romantic track between Shahid and Rani was refreshing. The final cricket match was nail-biting although we all knew what will be its outcome. Rani’s dialogue in the climax was well executed and the film ends with a good message.
‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ belongs completely to Rani Mukherjee. The film rests on her shoulders and she does a stupendous job. Even as Veer, she was mind-blowing, notwithstanding her voice. It was funny to see Shahid making Veer do the exercises. Watch out for the scene where Veer is daydreaming on the cricket ground! In short, it was just incredible on the part of Rani. Let’s hope she gets more meaningful roles. She deserves to stay in Bollywood.
Shahid Kapoor, as usual, was perfect as the tough captain. And he has an important role to play in the film and doesn’t have lesser screen presence, as mentioned in many reviews. He shines in the scene where he tells Veer about his feelings for Veera. In fact, both Shahid and Rani were at their best in this particular scene.
Anupam Kher and Dalip Tahil were consistent. Sherlyn Chopra is a good actor and will be taken seriously, provided she stops exposing. Rakhi Sawant, Poonam Dhillon, Vrajesh Hirjee and Vallabh Vyas didn’t have much to do in the film. Shonali Nagrani looked charming.
Pritam’s music wasn’t in complete form but nevertheless, gives couple of good songs. Hadippa, its remix version and Ishq Hi Hai Rab were the best songs. Julius Packiam’s background score was fantastic! Several scenes turned exciting, thanks to the energetic background score. Same goes for the brilliant cinematography by acclaimed cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee.
Jaya-Aparajita wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues. The screenplay was perfect in some scenes but could have been better. Dialogues were excellent.
Anurag Singh, the director of the film, overall did a good job but he failed to treat some scenes exceptionally which was really needed. Overall, it was a great directorial debut. There’s another director by the same name who had made Raqeeb, starring Rahul Khanna, Tanushree Dutta, Sharman Joshi and Jimmy Shergill. Coincidentally, it also starred Sherlyn Chopra!
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. The first scene
2. The Aman Cup held in India
3. Rohan and Veera’s first meeting
4. Veera denied entry for the selection
5. Veer and Rohan meeting for the ‘first time’
6. The intermission point
7. Rohan asking Veer about Veera
8. Rohan and Veera’s date
9. The final 30 minutes
On the whole, ‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ is a good film with a message. The film could have been outstanding if the writers had taken care of the flaws. Rani performs wonderfully and it’s a must watch for all her fans!
My rating-*** out of 5!
This review first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Dil_Bole_Hadippa-176045-1.html
Fenil and Bollywood 