Posts Tagged ‘women’
Time will tell for Abhishek
Posted on: December 30, 2009
REAGAN GAVIN RASQUINHA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; December 30, 2009)
When you talk about Omega watches, you know you’re talking big league. This is a brand that many aspire to own for its remarkable craftsmanship and stellar legacy. And thus the association with Abhishek Bachchan as its brand ambassador. The watch slips perfectly onto Abhishek Bachchan’s wrist as he says, “It’s a matter of great pride to be a brand ambassador as the brand represents the highest quality in time keeping and style. The latest Constellation range is a very exciting new design. I admire the values of Omega. In fact, I strive to live up to these standards in my personal life as well.” Omega President Stephen Urquhart couldn’t agree more. “It is always a challenge to change a very successful product at the height of its product cycle which is the case of the Omega Constellation. Its design dates from the early 80s. Over 15 years later, we felt that the time was right to make a change. Four months after its launch, we can firmly state that this upgraded design has been well received by existing and new customers, both men and women.” Now, that’s what is called re-designing of an icon.
reagan.gavin@timesgroup.com
Sallu has low-key all-boys bday party after his ‘break-up with Katrina’!
Posted on: December 28, 2009
Salman Khan is well-known in Bollywood circles for his wild parties. If the party happens to be his birthday bash and that too at his farmhouse at Panvel, it promises to be double the fun. However, yesterday night, Salman had a low-key celebration for his 45th birthday. He had a stag party.
A source says, “Bhai is known to have fun during his parties at Panvel. His parties are much awaited and talked about by his guests. Salman’s large-heartedness ensures that all of them have a blast. However, this year, Salman is not in one of his merry moods. After his break-up with Katrina Kaif, he is not in the mood to go all out and celebrate. So, on his special day, he did not send invitations to any female. He did not feel the need to have a girlfriend by his side or even bask in the glory of any other female company. Incidentally, Katrina is in London to celebrate Christmas and New Year with her family. Salman has invited only his close male friends. Also, unlike every year, the celebration this time is not on a lavish scale. Yesterday’s party was held only for his close friends music composers Sajid Wajid, hairstylist Aalim Hakim, his bodyguard Shera, his close associate Nadeem, his filmmaker friends Vijay Galani and Sajid Nadiadwala among others. Salman has already celebrated his birthday with his family on Saturday night.”
Let’s hope that by next year, the tide turns and the large-hearted Khan gets back to hosting lavish parties.
MEENA IYER (BOMBAY TIMES; December 15, 2009)
The film has an obese Shabana Azmi (yeah, she piled on 20 pounds for the lead character); with other popular names like Sendhil Ramamurthy (from the popular television series Lost), Sally Hawkins (Golden Globe winner), Chris Wilson and Jimi Mistry. The film itself is scheduled for a summer 2010 release, but the internationally feted filmmaker was in Mumbai with her twins, on a whirlwind trip to bond with some of Bollywood’s best.
Says Gurinder, “I’m a bit more sensitive to Mumbai after the 26/11 terror attacks.” She says her son Ronak loves it here and every time he smells the ‘stench’ in the air around the sea, he keeps saying, “Mommy someone is frying fish.”
For Gurinder however, even making a trip to the five-star hotels that were under siege, was a onerous task because “it will break my heart to go in there and pretend all is well.’’ About her completing a ‘trilogy’ of sorts with It’s a Wonderful After Life, she says, “It’s a funny film with a heart. It talks of what would happen if women ruled the world.’’
About Shabana who is the protagonist, Gurinder says, “Shabana who had to pile on pounds for the film had a field day eating parathas and cake.’’ She guffaws as she adds, “She also wore the cheapest cardigans and flowery salwar-kurtas with kothis (jackets) to look the part. And she perfected her Brit-Punjabi accent by attending a baby shower of one of my relatives.’’ Gurinder adds, “Shabana is a legend in India and working with her was indeed a pleasure.’’
And guess what, thedrawn-to-India-forever-film-maker will return to Kerala for her next film that revolves around two children. “I’m in talks with Santosh Sivan,’’ she
says.
Mumbai Mirror explains the reasons behind the supposed ‘break-up’ of Ranbir and Deepika!
Posted on: November 3, 2009
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Though rumours of a break-up have been brewing for a while, it’s now clear that Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone have ended their relationship. Though various theories have been floating about the cause of their break-up, here’s the real reason why the two have parted ways. Immediate speculation will point to Ranbir’s chemistry with Katrina Kaif. It’s hasty to pin the blame on Katrina though, as Deepika had seemed insecure before the pretty actress came into the picture. And it’s not Ma Kapoor that put the spanner in the works either. Ranbir, after all, is a hot-blooded Kapoor. He is a natural charmer as far as women go and sooner or later, Deepika would have heard about his flirtations. Apparently, Ranbir isn’t too modest about it either. Discretion about his less-than-innocent encounters would’ve been highly advisable, but he hasn’t exactly been a posterboy for it so far. Common friends carried the news to Deepika, perhaps adding a bit of tadka for flavour. This is when Deepika decided to call it off. Apparently, she told Ranbir to mend his ways since she had given a lot to this relationship. She had cut off ties with all her ‘good friends’ like Nihar Pandya and Yuvraaj Singh. So, she wanted Ranbir to give 100 per cent to the relationship as well. She kept hearing about his ‘friendship’ with Nandita Mahtani and other girls. At this point of time, Ranbir started feeling suffocated in his relationship with Deepika. He asked for his space and Deepika justifiably wanted to know ‘What space? Aren’t we a couple?’ The final straw was hearing about his ‘crackling chemistry’ with Katrina. The next thing she did was to land up on the sets of Rajneeti in Bhopal, where Ranbir was shooting with Katrina. She stayed there for nearly two weeks. After she came back from Bhopal, her relationship with Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s son was almost over. The crack first became evident at Shabina Khan’s birthday party two weeks ago where the two sat in different corners of the room. And what about Neetu Singh? Mamma Neetu, who is said to have a very cold relationship with Deepika, did not play catalyst. A source says, “Neetu wants Ranbir to be happy. She will never go against his choice. Ranbir always treated Deepika as a girlfriend and not as someone special, basically there was no passion in their relationship.” |
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After Rang De Basanti, Aamir Khan and Rakeysh Mehra have teamed up again, this time for a short film for the Ministry of Tourism to encourage foreign tourists to see India as the haven that it used to be before the spate of sexual crimes against women tourists came to light. Rakeysh shot with Aamir two weeks ago in Mumbai. Last year too, Aamir and Rakeysh had done a short film, to propagate tourism which was well-received. And that, Aamir thought, was the end of it till the tourism industry recently expressed the need to have powerful faces, names and images to counter the drubbing that the image of India as a paradise for tourists has taken. When Rakeysh was approached again by the tourism ministry, he again approached Aamir, who agreed to do it. Rakeysh says, “Aamir has become a brand ambassador for tourism in our country. He saw the importance of his face and voice to call tourists back with the entire Atithee Devo Bhava (guest is God) campaign. We needed Aamir to give strength to our image as a hospitable country.” This time, Rakeysh will be shooting two more short films for the tourism department. “Promoting tourism is in a way, also promoting our film industry because any cultural exchange helps cinema. All of us love taking care of guests and Aamir’s face and personality are very inviting for tourists,” he adds. |
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Let’s talk about Sex baby!
Posted on: September 30, 2009
BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL: (From top) Stills from Luck By Chance, Kaminey, Love Aaj Kal
DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network (BOMBAY TIMES; September 29, 2009)
Did you cringe with discomfort when a seemingly innocent child woman Isha Sherwani seduced Farhan Akhtar into bed in Luck By Chance? Or, more recently, when a salwar kameez-clad Priyanka Chopra managed to convince a reluctant Shahid Kapoor to have sex with her in Kaminey, by telling him that she knows ‘homescience’ and that it’s ‘safe to do it’? More likely than not, you smiled at their boldness and prepared for more to come. Seduction was a game played by vamps in Bollywood in the 70s and 80s. Much later, lead actresses like Bipasha Basu and Priyanka Chopra were sexually charged in Jism and Aitraaz respectively. But even then, they were the ‘bad girls’. Well, times have changed — even the ‘good’ girls are taking a turn for the ‘bad’ and the audiences are lapping it up!
Watch newcomer Mahie Gill throwing herself in full abandon at Abhay Deol in a mustard field in Dev. D and you’ll know what we’re talking about. Trade analyst Komal Nahta says he isn’t surprised at this change. “Films, after all, are a reflection of today. Girls are proposing to guys, they are using seduction as a tool even in real life. The major composition of the audience comprises youth, so they have to show what the young generation identifies with,” he says. So Kareena Kapoor playfully hands Akshay Kumar her bra in Tashan and Konkona SenSharma suggests a quick bout of love-making to Rahul Bose in Dil Kabaddi before they turn in for the night and Deepika Padukone has no qualms with Saif Ali Khan kissing her full on the mouth in the car in Love Aaj Kal. Agrees Mahie, “Reel life follows real life. Women today are more vocal about their sexual desires than what they were about a decade back. The audience today wants to see characters they can identify with. That’s why the boldness depicted by the newer lot of actresses has been accepted.”
According to film director Onir, a growing section of audiences in urban centres are accepting this change. “Independent working women watch these films with their male friends and colleagues who treat them as equals and therefore, accept their portrayal on screen as well,” he says. Also, the younger generation of filmmakers who have grown up seeing women as friends and colleagues, are showing female characters as they are, says Onir.
deepali.dhingra@timesgroup.com
Multi National Award winner Prakash Raj is in town to celebrate his Best Actor award. For the Mumbaikar who has just got familiar with him via his villain act in Wanted, Sudipta Basu profiles the prolific and multilingual actor
The first is always special, but you can never really get used to winning a National Award,” says Prakash Raj, who won his fourth National Award; this year being in the best actor category for Priyadarshan’s Tamil film Kanchivaram. He had earlier won the National Award for best supporting actor in Iruvar. In Kanchivaram Raj enacts the role of a silk weaver named Vengadan; the film depicts the lives of silk weavers in pre-Independence India.
Raj is one of the best loved villains in the South, although the role that has fetched him the award is distinct from the roles that have fetched him the fans. Was there a special preparation for the role? “I pretty much go empty handed when I walk into a film. I may be enacting the role of a Communist in a certain generation, with no idea about the constraints in the country at the time. Just as in Iruvar I had to understand the Dravidian culture to go into the depths of the personality of the protagonist. You need to unlearn much when you break away from a particular genre. And your reward is what you take away as the residue, which feeds your work in commercial cinema only to make it more nuanced,” says the actor. Through his run as the mainstream villain he was exposed to a school of acting that emphasised on loudness – pitched decibel levels, protruding eyes, all the trappings of a villain down south. But an opportunity to play certain off-beat roles freed him from the familiar trappings. “It is a human task to come out of it, and eventually your reflexes become used to it.” It also has ramifications on the personal front. “My house in Bangalore is 35 kilometers from the airport, and whenever I’ve had to catch a flight in the past, I have sped through at over 150; now I feel driving at a 100 is also fine. So your life acquires a balance as well,” he says. “The comfort of the so-called intense actor falls by the wayside very easily eventually. And surely, it expresses in your own life too. It wasn’t hard therefore to move from the robustness of villain to an understated performance, as in Kanchivaram.” Mumbaikars’ newest exposure to Prakash Raj’s brand of villainy has been in the film Wanted. “My approach to any role is touched with wit. It is almost as if I acquire my own identity that way. And indeed, I stand out because of this approach, as was evident in Wanted,” he says. “Apart from this, Prabhu Deva’s direction takes you up by a few notches; he choreographs his films.”
The actor has now donned the mantle of a director in a Kannada film, yet untitled, based on the relationship of a father and a daughter. “I found myself thinking once that ten years down the line if my daughter, who is 13 now, calls me from Miami to say that she is set to marry someone from a completely unfamiliar race, would I be able to accept it? It’s a film about the fact that daughters grow up but fathers don’t,” he says. “When music leaves a flute does the flute have any hold over the music? Give them wings and let them fly. In the film, the protagonist’s daughter falls in love with a young Sikh, which leads to conflict given the contrasts of the north and south cultures. “My daughter already knows that it is ‘our’ film and when I speak to her casually about it, she has valuable inputs to offer.” Back in the day the actor used to be known as a confirmed family man, but since his divorce from wife Lalitha Kumari recently, he has been branded quite the ladies man. “It’s nice to be a wonderful guy,” he laughs out aloud. “I am nice to women and they call me a womaniser.” |
Fenil and Bollywood 