Kiran Amir Khan Makes Entry To Bollywood

Don't miss Aamir's upcoming movie 'Taare Zameen Par,' if you want to see Aamir & his wife Kiran acting together.
According to the sources Kiran Rao, Aamir's second wife, has a blink and miss appearance in the film. Kiran will be seen in a song with Aamir.
The sources also said, "It wasn't planned, but it happened impromptu. It's a song that takes place at an annual function at school. Kiran will be seen with other parents, attending the annual function with their children."
Also, Aamir and Kiran have been credited as 'singers' in TZP.
The film's creative director Amol Gupte didn't confirm the news.
TZP is the first film directed by Aamir. Kiran Rao was an assistant director to Ashutosh Govarikar before her marriage to Aamir.

Big fuss, but no big deal at the cinemas this week


DIWALI DISAPPOINTMENTS: Bollywood fails to provide a fitting spark to the festivities with both "Om Shanti Om" and "Saawariya" lacking in lasting value.



DIWALI DISAPPOINTMENTS: Bollywood fails to provide a fitting spark to the festivities with both "Om Shanti Om" and "Saawariya" lacking in lasting value.

OM SHANTI OM

(At Shiela and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

Farah Khan continues with her irreverent ways. She cloaks nostalgia with a dash of humour and manages to take little digs at the cinema many of us grew up with: the 1970s' films that conveyed much joy, shared little angst. Her "Om Shanti Om" here now is a retro with a modern look, a film that throbs with vitality, pulsating at the edges.

Inspired by Subhash Ghai's "Karz", from whose song it even derives its title, Farah this time goes a bridge too far. There is a fine line between being irreverent and disrespectful. The way the movie shapes up, it leaves one wondering if she is taking the viewers for a ride. In trying to be light and jovial – the film has a feather touch treatment all through – she at times veers too close to being trivial, even mocking at the sensibilities of the viewers.

Yet for a large part the film works. It works tremendously well in patches. That is when the director relies on the sheer charisma, the untamed energy of Shah Rukh Khan to carry it through. He is the life, blood and soul of the film. He towers above all the frames. And he gets good support from newcomer Deepika Padukone. The girl has grace and poise to go with those tantalising looks that tell you that in years to come people would still be flocking to see her films. As they say, she has the looks to get the looks.

But hey, the lead pair alone does not make a film. It is the director who must lead the way. And that is where "Om Shanti Om" falls short. It is based on the reincarnation theme: we have Shah Rukh as a junior artist in love with a top heroine, played by Deepika, but fate snatches them away from this life, only for both to come back, and this time the guy is a top star! Too much for the modern educated audiences to buy? Well, maybe. But where Farah errs is in spending too much time on nostalgia.

The first half with all the reference points to yesterday provides occasional laughter. But that's about all. The story does not move. The second half suffers similarly: Farah's husband-in-real-life Shirish Kunder is off form as the editor. And barring a nice song sequence with anybody who is somebody in Bollywood showing up, there is little to keep the viewers hooked on.

No, not even the music. And by the time, the mystery of who killed the girl in the first birth is solved, too many reels are wasted.

The film could have been trimmed easily without affecting its nostalgia quotient or the retro look.

Yet for all its faults, if you are a die-hard Shah Rukh fan – and they are there in thousands – "Om Shanti Om" can be visited once. Just to see Shah Rukh do his bare chest act, his role reversal from being a top star to a junior artist. And his ability to momentarily forget that he is Shah Rukh. Of course, Deepika does not hurt the eyes, and pleases where it matters.

Want a film with a breezy momentum? With a thread of credibility or logic? Stay away. This one is only for those living off yesterday, longing for the times that were.

SAAWARIYA

(At Delite and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

Sad songs don't make for a sweet life. Or a successful film. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's much talked about "Saawariya" is so steeped in sorrow, so full of darkness that you wish there was dawn too. There is so much of the moon and its gentle glow that you wish there was bountiful sunshine as well. "Sawaariya" is nothing but a self-indulgent poet's vain exercise, beautiful to look at for a while, but bereft of the soul. It's like a shallow showcase. All to see, not much to carry to the memory bank.

It relates the time-tested tale of an innocent boy who has nothing but his charm and song to keep him going, and a girl, untouched by a man, innocent to love. Throw in newcomers Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor as the lead pair and you know Bhansali has got a fist of unadulterated clay to carve out an arresting sculpture. And full credit to him, he presents his lover couple in a manner that is both uplifting and exhilarating. Some of the moments in the exchanges between them linger a while after the camera has moved on.

They live in a fantasy land, populated by women of the sleaze street – mercifully they don't always speak the language of the gutter – and others who exist only in Bhansali's mind's landscape. But the youngsters find their bearings soon enough in the film inspired by "White Night". Sonam as a Muslim girl Sakeena, who lives with her grandma – good old Begum Para – is blessed with a face that invites attention. Her eyes are soaked in sadness, her face defies sorrow, presenting an arresting mixture. Ranbir, who lives with the timeless Zohra Segal, is all boyish charm, likeable, malleable. And he comes through a translucent towel number with confidence. Incidentally, the song, thrown in for obvious reasons, is handled with a rare dexterity by the director, who otherwise is on his own ego trip.

Throughout the film we get lots of blues, black and slanting rays of the moon. There is hardly any daytime in the film. And the actors all live around a little lake with its interplay of light and shadow, against the crests and troughs of its ripples.

Similarly, the Id moon is seen by an army of men, all clad in white and standing at an arm's length from each other. Only the hero is allowed black. And the heroine looks at him through an intricate jaali work, allowing the camera to capture her face, half hidden, half revealed. In a cruel concession to the box office, Bhansali's conservative girl covers her face and head with a dupatta but wears backless blouses or cholis, giving the viewers a full view where a mere glimpse would have sufficed.

Yes, Bhansali's film is a beautiful if egoistic exercise. That's all. The story does not have depth or multiple shades. The momentum in narration is missing. And the songs, cheery and hummable, are lost in a sea of sadness. There is an overdose of technique over flair. And all the good work of Rani Mukerji -- she plays a woman of easy virtue who brings all the virtues of a seasoned artiste to her work -- and the lead pair is of little avail.

Sorry Mr. Bhansali, this film will only please the poet in you, but the paying public deserves better. One man's joy can be a million's sorrow.

Duelling epics get four thumbs up

Bollywood cage fight hits GTA as fans flock to multiplexes, torn between a well-hyped musical and a sombre love story
 
 
A heavyweight battle between two Bollywood films has made the trip from India to Toronto.

In one corner, it's superstar director/actor Shah Rukh Khan's Om Shanti Om. In the other, it's newcomers in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya, for the first time backed by the might of a big Hollywood studio.

It's a battle of song, dance and celluloid that has kept Bollywood fans waiting for months. The worldwide release of the two films last night comes after months of hype, publicity and hot soundtracks.

The stakes have been raised by Sony Pictures throwing its marketing weight behind Saawariya, shaking up the insular Indian movie world by screening it in 85 theatres in 42 cities around the world, including several multiplexes in the GTA, in a competition – unprecedented here – with Om Shanti Om.

The two will go head-to-head in Bollywood hotspots like the Albion Cinemas in Etobicoke, Woodside Cinemas in Scarborough and AMC theatres across the city.

Here's the match-up for two of Bollywood's biggest films of the year.


Om Shanti Om

Plot: The movie starts off in the 1970s with aspiring actor Omprakash Makhija (played by Shah Rukh Khan) struggling to break into the film industry. The young Om is also secretly in love with Shantipriya (Deepika Padukone), the top actress of the period. Despite the friendship that grows between the two, Om eventually learns that Shanti is married to her producer, Mukesh Mehra (Arjun Rampal). In a scuffle with Mukesh, Om is killed – and we are led to believe that this may be the end of our favourite hero. But in pure Bollywood fantastical fashion, Om is given a second chance 30 years later, when he is reincarnated as Bollywood's "it-man." And, as fate would have it, he once again meets a woman who reminds him of his first love, Shanti, and sets out to remind her of the sparks that flew between the two in their past life.

Director:
Farah Khan, who has seen previous success with her work in Main Hoon Na, has made a name for herself in Hindi Masala cinema, which successfully mixes the glory of Bollywood past and today's pop culture. She has a special affiliation with '70s cinema and makes it clear in both films.

Stars: Where to begin? The King of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, is paired with newcomer Deepika Padukone in this star-studded film. Heart throb Arjun Rampal also takes a small lead role as the hard-to-hate villain. As if that weren't enough, the film also has more than 30 cameos by Bollywood who's who.

Buzz:
Farah Khan wanted singer Shakira to make a special appearance in this film. Khan befriended her at the 2006 MTV Music Video awards, after choreographing Shakira's performance.

Shah Rukh Khan spent months preparing for the song "Dard-e-Disco," in which the 39-year-old tantalizes fans young and old by revealing a six-pack throughout the song. He apparently took tips from other built actors in the industry on how to get the washboard stomach and stayed on a strict diet days before shooting to ensure that his abs would look more pronounced.


Sawaariya

Plot: In a classic love story about the passion of young lovers and the pain of unrequited love, Ranbir Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) plays a young musician in a bohemian city who falls in madly in love with the mysterious Sakina (Sonam Kapoor). He first sees her standing on a bridge, where she appears to be sad, lonely and anticipating someone's return. Meszmerized by her beauty and demeanor, Raj attempts to befriend Sakina and eventually falls madly in love with her. We are led to believe that the couple may be on the way to eternal happiness when Sakina reveals to him that she has been waiting for the return of her lover (Salman Khan), who promised to come back to her after a year's time. Raj is shattered by the confession and struggles to come to terms with the possibility of losing his first love.

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose previous work in Devdas, Black and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam have garnered him respect and notoriety in India and abroad.

Stars: Newcomers Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor play the lead roles in Saawariya, but get considerable support from the small roles of Rani Mukherjee and Salman Khan. Ranbir and Sonam come from a long line of actors past and present, Anil Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor.

Buzz: Ranbir Kapoor's female fans are in for a disappointment. The much anticipated "dropping of the towel scene" in the song "Jab se tere naina" will stay in place. The Indian censor board deleted the shot of the towel dropping – unless director Bhansali agreed to add an adult rating to the film.

Predictions: Early numbers for the films have pegged Om Shanti Om as the early winner in box-office sales. But cinemas and production companies weren't the only ones getting in on the action. According to the Times of India, for the first time, bookies were taking bets on two films, with Om Shanti Om a favourite at 75/100.

Bollywood guest at Hindu wedding

Shilpa Shetty
Shetty has been invited to the wedding's midnight ceremony
Bollywood film star and Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty is tipped to make an appearance at a three-day Hindu wedding in Cardiff.

The Bollywood star's musical, Miss Bollywood, at St David's Hall was cancelled on Friday night because she was ill but should resume on Saturday.

Shetty has been invited to the wedding of Rakesh Aggarwal and his fiancee, Caroline Scrivens, after her show.

City centre roads will be shut for the groom to ride a ceremonial white mare.

He will be accompanied on the procession to City Hall on Saturday evening by tradiitional Indian dancers and an Indian brass band

It is hoped Ms Shetty will attend ahead of the midnight ceremony, conducted mainly in Sanskrit.

On Friday evening, Mr Aggarwal, 31, held a "night of song and dance" at his parents' home in Llandaff.

Rakesh Aggarwal and Caroline Scrivens (Picture: Rajendra Pisavadia)
Rakesh Aggarwal and Caroline Scrivens during the celebrations

The internet entrepreneur said the three-day wedding programme, including 45 chefs who have been brought in from London to cater for an expected 1,000 guests over the three days, was organised in six weeks.

He said the couple had met "a few times over the years" as their parents were friends, and had begun courting four years ago.

"We used to play squash with each other. I used to gracefully lose," he said.

The wedding coincides with the celebrations for the Hindu holy festival of Diwali.