Posts Tagged ‘raju hirani’
SMITA ROY Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 28, 2009)
While 3 Idiots has already become a box-office hit and its popular song Zoobi Doobi has climbed the music charts at full speed, one person who is as happy as Raju Hirani and the film’s cast is Siraj Furniturewala of Millionaire who dressed up lead actor Aamir Khan for that number. Siraj and his fashion store have been associated with Hirani ever since the filmmaker made Munnabhai MBBS. “Raju is as particular about what he chooses as is Aamir. And I take it as a compliment for Millionaire to have such a long association with him. We provided the clothes for Zoobi Doobi as well as the wedding scenes in 3 Idiots where we dressed up all the lead actors including Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan,” said Siraj. Dressing up Aamir, given the actor’s demand for perfection, was not a problem at all “It took three sittings to decide on the kind of stuff he’d need. My brother Afzal and I, and the whole team of 3 Idiots, worked on this together and Aamir selected the clothes which were apt enough for the situations in the film,” revealed Siraj, adding, “to be appreciated by Aamir in itself adds another feather to the cap of appreciation.” He’s looking at an even longer association with Hirani as well as Vidhu Vinod Chopra. “Both of them, with their inputs on the style and the look, helped us get better in our designs,” he said.
18 till I die!-Aamir Khan
Posted December 22, 2009
on:Aamir Khan, who at 44 plays a 22-year-old collegian, says in his mind he is stuck at 18!
MARK MANUEL Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 22, 2009)
Aamir Khan, as you know, has gone into hiding to promote his new film that releases this Friday. In disguise, to people’s surprise, he has popped up in different parts of the country over the past week: at Varanasi, as a Banarasi babu; outside Sourav Ganguly’s house in Kolkata as a cricket fan; in an Ahmedabad school, defying Narendra Modi’s fatwa; at the Chanderi village in Madhya Pradesh; then a Punjabi wedding in Faridkot; and, yesterday in Chennai. How this is helping the film, I don’t know; but I’m sure Aamir does, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he returns to Mumbai as Santa Claus on Christmas Day. He is hoping the festival will prove as successful for him as it did last year when he released Ghajini, and in 2007 — for Taare Zameen Par. Just before he went underground, Aamir told me over a quiet cup of tea at his Pali Hill home: “Christmas is a coincidence, but I’m hoping it will be third time lucky. I also believe for a film made well, any time is a good time to release it, otherwise no matter how you plan it…”
He has no doubts that this film has been made well. It’s been produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Raju Hirani. And, acting opposite him for the first time in his 20-year-career is Kareena Kapoor. Of his gorgeous co-star, Aamir said enthusiastically, “She’s outstanding, a great and
instinctive actress, extremely committed, a team player, we get along well, and she’s good looking… what more to ask for?” I agreed. The vibe between the two actors is exciting, and they look good together, the age difference between them notwithstanding. In the film, he plays a 22-year-old collegian. “That,” he told me, “was the biggest challenge for me as an actor at 44. I’m asked often if I feel my age. No, I really don’t. All of us are stuck in our heads at a particular age. And that age depends on your personality. I’m stuck at 18. And, I’ll be 18 till I die!”
He got into this film straight from Ghajini. Which meant, he had to shed that eight-pack streetfighter’s body painstakingly built up over 13 months for one raw scene of action. “It was heartbreaking,” Aamir revealed. “I didn’t want to lose it. But I had to look boyish. I had to stop training, get onto a careful and strict diet, and I began playing badminton… for three-four hours. Catch a 44-year-old doing that!” But he did it, because this is the same Aamir Khan who has always used his body as a tool in his films. “The way I look is important,” he admitted, “but for any character, it begins with how you feel in your head. What makes the character tick? You get into the mind of the character. From that flows how the body will look. My character in the new film is a free-spirited kind of guy, unusual in his thinking, and with a childlike curiosity about life and things around him.” He really didn’t want to play this role. “Get someone who’s 22,” Aamir advised Raju Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra when they approached him. They told Aamir, “In real life, you are the character of this film, you don’t follow the path, you’re non-conformist, you do what your heart tells you. As for looking young – if you could build yourself up to look huge in Ghajini, now work on becoming small. Go for it.” And Aamir did. He said of Raju, “His big strength is that his films are not only entertaining, but also enriching. Like Munnabhai! You go home taking something valuable from the film.” And as for Vinod, who is rumoured in Bollywood to be arrogant and bold, Aamir said, “He is how he is, but he understands his director and creative team and supports them, and he has a passion for cinema. Being a director himself, Vinod is creative and he gives his films a great release. I look for that quality in a producer… whether he is able to give the film a good platform after I’ve worked so hard on it.” That Aamir Khan always does, whether he’s making the film for himself or some other producer. And he enjoys making one film at a time, which he will release on Christmas Day! “I could do more, in my lifetime I could do 500 films, but when I’m doing a film all my energies are into it. At that point, I don’t enjoy taking on anything else. I enjoy the space I am in. I’m not a factory or a huge production system. I’m… kya bolta hai… a handloom product. A one-machine-one person-one shirt kind of actor. I’m not a largescale outfit producing a million shirts. Numbers don’t excite me and are not my strength. I enjoy marketing a film. But towards the audience. My connect is with the audience. I enjoy dealing with the audience, not with exhibitors, distributors.” And that is what he is probably doing somewhere in the country right now, maybe in disguise! (Contributed by Meena Iyer, Aakansha Naval Shete)
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Mahendra Singh Rathore |
Here is another idiot er…. crazy fan of Aamir Khan. 42-year-old Mahendra Singh Rathore wants to be the first person to be issued the 3 Idiots ticket. If that happens, he will gift Rs 11,000 to Aamir Khan or Vidhu Vinod Chopra, whoever helps him fulfill his wish.
The man is travelling by train all the way from Jodhpur to reach Mumbai today. A TV producer will guide him to Aamir or Vidhu’s office. Rathore will meet Aamir with the request to arrange for the very first ticket to be issued to him only.
During his train journey yesterday, Rathore informed us, “I will stay in Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai till 3 Idiots releases (December 25). I hope I don’t go back disappointed.”
But what triggered the need to offer the odd amount of Rs 11,000 to Aamir or Vidhu? Rathore explains, “Aamir or Vidhu certainly don’t need that amount but I will offer it to them as shagun, nothing else.
That’s my way of expressing joy. I want to be the first man to get the 3 Idiots ticket, that’s all. I love Aamir.
This man is just amazing. He never seems to fail. Saal mein ek film karta hai aur woh hamesha hit hoti hai. I have seen all his movies.”
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3 Idiots |
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Aamir Khan, Raju Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra |
‘Khan’ decide who to Choose!
Posted November 9, 2009
on:
MEENA IYER Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; November 9, 2009)
After Kambakkht Ishq and Main Aur Mrs Khanna this year, both of which didn’t do anything for her, Kareena’s performances in Kurbaan and 3 Idiots are generating a deafening buzz already… and Bollywood’s most powerful actress is literally running between real life beau Saif Ali Khan (Kurbaan) and good friend Aamir (3 Idiots) between November 9-15 … because that’s how her dates have been allotted for promotions.
Says Bebo, “Both Saif and Aamir are very dear to me. I think I’ve created magic with both co-stars and it is impossible for me to choose one over the other.” She recently shot a supererotic, romantic number with Aamir in artificial rain. Insiders say that though the focal point in 3 Idiots is not the Aamir-Kareena romance, it is still a very endearing part of it. While Saif maintains that there is a tremendous curiosity about his pairing with Kareena because they are a real life couple too, Aamir says, “Kareena is one of the most beautiful actresses that we have today. She is also a very good friend and we have both worked very hard on this rain song. I hope people like it.” He’s done wet songs before with Sonali Bendre in Sarfarosh and in Fanaa with Kajol, in which his chemistry with both actresses was highly appreciated… but with Kareena, well, Aamir feels the chemistry is combustible. Any wonder Bebo is smiling like a Cheshire cat that has got the cream.
By Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; October 30, 2009)
Tied up with the post-production of 3 Idiots, Rajkumar Hirani is juggling several tasks in his quest to make that perfect film with lots of help from the cast. It is the Munnabhai series director’s third project and he is aware that comparisons are inevitable. He remains unfazed as he believes that any film he makes should satisfy himself and the audience should love it. As Hirani prepares to unveil a new set of promos of 3 Idiots we ask him… There are some unique buttock chairs for the 3 Idiots in the new promos? Why have you stuck to the same production house (Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions) for all your projects? How easy or difficult was it to make 3 Idiots compared to Munnabhai? On dealing with Aamir the Mr Perfectionist and Mr Interfering. You have Aamir Khan as a college student?
You made Kareena gain weight for the film? Was Kajol initially to feature in the film? So finally, is 3 Idiots Five Point Someone or not at all? |