Tees Maar Khan

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna

Director: Farah Khan

Rating: **

Farah Khan tried all the industrial tricks to give a real hit during the Christmas with the hit pair Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in Tees Maar Khan. However, all the hype created around ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’ could not safeguard this latest Farah Khan flick.

Akshaye Khanna plays a superstar Aatish Kapoor, who dreams to win an Academy Award one day. Katrina is a wannabe actress Anya, who also happens to be the girlfriend of Tees Maar Khan (Akshay Kumar).

The conman disguised as a Hollywood filmmaker ‘Tees Maar Khan’ plans a big train robbery of 10, 000 kilograms of antiques and goes for a fake shooting of a film. He even goes on signing Aatish Kapoor as the hero and appoints some villagers for this purpose.

But then, the viewers will scratch their hair to find logic behind Aatish signing for the act. The film does not have the typical flavor of Farah Khan films.

It seems she messed up the things after signing Akshay and Katrina or more concentration went to the much talked item number ‘Sheila Ki Jawani’. The spice factor is missing and tries to go by the slapstick way.

The film is a remake of 1966 movie Caccia Alla Volpe but one change in the Hindi version is that the robbery is shifted to train than the original ship.

However, Farah could play around the interesting train plot and somewhere the magic and charm got lost. It seems Sheila is the only spicy thing in the story with her raunchy choreography.

Why would Shah Rukh do that to me: Ajay Devgn

In one of his most candid interviews, Ajay Devgn talks about everything -- from his favourite toons to his rivalry with Akshay Kumar

Ajay Devgn is a risk-taker. He debuted as an action star but today he's just as popular in the comedy and the drama genres. With four successive hit films in a row, he has never been in a better position.

While most actors are comfortable in their comfort zone, AD has acted in films as diverse as Raajneeti and Golmaal 3 this year.

And his Friday release is a live animation film, which has not been attempted by any A-List actor in India.

I spend an interesting hour with the actor at his Juhu bungalow to chat about his latest film Toonpur Ka Superrhero over cups of coffee. Read on...

Your fav cartoon characters while growing up?
Tom and Jerry were my favorite toons. I found them cute and maybe because I liked action, I liked their attacks on each other. Also the cat-and-mouse games were quite intelligent and interesting.

Do you still watch cartoons?
Yes, with my daughter Nysa, who watches cartoons all the time. She knows I love Tom and Jerry so whenever I walk in, she puts that on and we watch it together.

Your favourite animation film?
There are several but my favourite is The Lion King because it's a complete film. It can be enjoyed by both kids and adults. It has the right kind of emotions, fun moments, good music and a message given without being preachy.

Who's your favorite superhero?
I like Superman because he has actual powers and doesn't need any gimmicks. Also he's a superhero and yet human, and has an emotional connect.

What cartoons does Nysa watch?
She's always watching cartoons on all the different TV channels. I don't even know the names " there are so many new ones now!

Has Nysa seen Toonpur Ka Superrhero? What was her reaction?
Yes, she has seen it with all her friends and they all loved it! She plans to see it again.

How does Toonpur compare with Hollywood animation films?
It is on par with Hollywood animation films. Whatever happens to the film tomorrow, nobody can predict now, but after I saw the film, I told Kireet that this kind of animation has never been seen before in India.

I also told him, 'Whatever happens to the country after watching the film I don't know, but you have gone to Hollywood'. That's for sure! In Hollywood, people recognise talent for what it is and Kireet is extremely talented in the animation field.

Why has this genre never been attempted by an A-List actor?
Kireet narrated the script to me and I liked it. He has a great animation background and has won several National awards but I wasn't still very sure because in our country there's still a hitch that Hollywood cartoons are of a much higher standard. So though I liked the concept, I wasn't sure about how it was going to happen.

So we shot a scene and then he did all the animations and came back to me. Kireet told me that this was the quality of the film that we would shoot but I still wanted to see the final quality. We saw it on print at the theatre and it was fabulous. That's when I said yes. I felt we had an opportunity to make something never done before in India, and we should do it.

Did you also do this for Nysa?
I won't say exactly that I did it for my daughter but yes, she was in my mind. I did it because the concept was nice and very different.

There has been a buzz that Shah Rukh Khan's Ra.One and Toonpur Ka Superrhero are the same especially about the part about the child wanting his dad to become a Superrhero. Comment.
Honestly speaking, I don't know where this came from because I don't know Shah Rukh's story, nor does he know the story of Toonpur. So how can we decide whether it's similar or not? Also, Toonpur was shot almost two years ago.

Any comments about the Guppy vs Bappi Lahiri controversy?
He's filed a case without seeing the film. It's not a wise decision. See the film first and then take a call. I can understand Bappida's point of view because 'Bappi' and 'Guppy' sounds alike. But the clothes and jewellery worn by the character and his style may just as well be Elvis Presley's.

Did you plan Toonpur's release along with Tees Maar Khan tomorrow because of your rivalry with Akshay Kumar?
Why would I want to harm my own film for so-called rivalry? I would be the happiest if my film was a solo release. TTMK is a big film.

Why would I want to clash with a film and eat into each other's business? It would be foolish of me to do something like that, which I am not. The only reason we had to come out on December 24 is because Toonpur is a film that needsa long weekend. I needed a week which continued from Sunday to the next week and that's Christmas week because it's a time when children want to go out and have fun.

We had no choice. We were almost ready six months ago but didn't release it then as we wanted a Diwali or Christmas release.

Don't you consider Akshay your rival or competitor?
Not really. I know we always have had releases on the same day for the last year or so, including this Diwali but that's a coincidence. Nobody plans this. Like the Golmaal 3 release date was decided when we started shooting for the film.

A tabloid reported that Shah Rukh allegedly urged Eros to release Toonpur with Tees Maar Khan to spite Farah Khan...
Rubbish! Why would Shah Rukh do that and why would any producer listen, do it and harm his own film? When you make a film, the most important thing is THE FILM. You want the film to work, that's why you make the film and that's how you decide the release date, the marketing, promotion and publicity of the film.

If you had to cast any other actor in your role in Toonpur, you'd pick...
Nobody can be as good as I am in the film! (Starts laughing) I know it sounds pompous but it's a very difficult film to do because here I am acting with nobody around me. I am doing action sequences and emotiing with nobody around. It's a very difficult performance.

Courtesy: Mid-Day.com

Kareena Kapoor Shops Endlessly In Bad Mood! Kareena Kapoor

Kareena Kapoor is overall a very satisfied personality, but her fans know little about her on and off mood or mood swings. She is very moody and at times, when she is irritated, she goes on an endless shopping, without beau Saif.

 

Bebo doesn’t take Saif along with her, as she very well knows the fact that no man in the world has enough patience to accompany his girl in her endless shopping. She rather prefers to go alone and take her own sweet time, without interference.

 

Now-a-days, Bebo is having mood blues and she has even told Saif that she is very irritated and wants to be just left alone. To overcome her unpredictable mood, she goes on long shopping sprees.

 

Sources suggest further, “Kareena and Saif usually have small skirmishes since Saif finds it really tough to accompany Bebo on her shopping expeditions. Such is the level of incompatibility here that Saif has decided to let Bebo be on her own. Even Kareena prefers the same since she wants to take her own sweet time while shopping, something which Saif can hardly stand."

 

So popularly called ‘Saifeena’ in Bollywood, the couple is expected to get married by the year 2012.

Big B, John joins to save tigers

Bhopal: Bollyood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has taken time out of his busy schedule to visit Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh to participate in the Save Our Tigers campaign. He feels the cause is more important than his films.

“The tiger`s cause is more important than my films. Kids should start tiger clubs and create awareness,” Big B, 68, who is busy with a telethon for the Save Our Tigers campaign, told told a TV channel.

Big B and Bollywood hunk John Abraham, who often associates himself with social causes, arrived Saturday evening and will stay in Pench till Dec 13.

Pench Deputy Director O.P. Tiwari said the two will take part in the programmes related to Save Our Tiger projects.

Spread over 758 square kilometers, Pench is among the six tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh and is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling`s most famous work, “The Jungle Book”.

Talking about his participation, Amitabh said in a message on his blog: “Tomorrow (Sunday) starts the Telethon for the Save the Tiger campaign. There is a desire and hope to collect as much money as one can for the benefit of those that manage and look after these regal animals and prevent them from being poached and destroyed.”

Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Jee

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emran Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shruti Hasan, Shazahn Padamese, Shraddha Das

Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Jee is a movie, which as the title suggests, is about the essence of a human heart which almost always retains its child like quality. The heart is where life's entire essence is.

Thus to prove this point, director Madhur Bhandarkar has significantly dealt with the subject of love in a very humorous way.

The movie stars Ajay Devgn portraying the character of Naren, a middle aged manager of a multinational Bank. There he falls head over heels in love with a young girl barely out of her teens called June Pinto, played by Shazahn Padamese.

Omi Vaidya as Milind Kelkar is the typical idealistic poet living in his own transient world has a deep crush for a girl called Gungun Sarkar played by Shraddha Das. Gungun who is a very ambitious and career minded gal has a thing for the playboy Abhay played by Emran Hashmi.

Abhay or Emran is strongly attracted to a young and vibrant gal called Nikki, played by Shruti Hassan who is an out and out loud mouth. Nikki does not hesitate to call a spade a spade, a trait which is simply loved by the Casanova Abhay.

This entire gamut of affairs and secret liaisons creates a total chaos and as each event gets entangled with the other the movie becomes one big platform of drama and melodrama.

Madhur Bhandarkar, who is known for making realistic cinema, has put in the flavor of realism in this movie too, with the characters all very believable and something which a common man can relate to. The music has been scored by Pritam. The movie releases on the 28th of January 2011 so watch out for this one!

Yeh Saali Zindagi

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Chitrangda Singh, Arunoday Singh, Aditi Rao, Saurabh Shukla, Vipin Sharma, Yashpal Sharma, Sushant Singh, Prashant Narayanan

Music: Nishat Khan

Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire

Dialogues: Manu Rishi & Sudhir Mishra

Story, Screenplay, Direction: Sudhir Mishra

Yeh Saali Zindagi Its a quirky love story in the guise of a thriller. Its an obtuse take on how far they both the heroes go to get the women they love and how sometimes one screw-up can set everything right!

Arun (Irrfan Khan) has to save Priti (Chitrangda Singh) the woman he loves, but for that he first has to save the man Priti loves- Shyam, the future son in law of a powerful Minister.

Meanwhile, time is running out for Kuldeep (Arunoday Singh), the young gangster who is on his last job as his wife is threatening to walk out on him completely, and he begins to suspect she is leaving him to go into the arms of another man.

The job has gone haywire for it is still unknown to Kuldeep that the Ministers daughters engagement with Shyam is off and now she doesn’t care whether Shyam lives or dies and more importantly neither does the Minister who Kuldeep hoped would pay the ransom!

Priti finds herself inextractably caught in this mess and Arun has to save her life. But for that he has to risk everything, and put his own life at stake, he wonders why he should do it at all, if she still loves another.

He’s torn, but love knows no reason. Meanwhile Shyam is trying to make deals in captivity, and his goodness only seems superficial and as Kuldeep tries desperately to save his situation, there are dons coming from Bangkok, who have their own plans.

The film rides a roller-coaster towards a shattering climax, where all the players have to fend for their lives and loves. Who gets the girl, and who gets the money, and who escapes by the skin of his teeth, is now anybody’s guess. But hold on, there are still jokers in the pack, and aces up some sleeves.

Band Baaja Baaraat

By Subhash K Jha

Starring Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh

Directed by Maneesh Sharma

Rating: ***

Have you ever wondered what they mean when they talk about the chemistry between a screen pair? Watch this delightful ode to the Great Indian Wedding.It solves the mystery of chemistry for keeps.

The super-accomplished Anushka Sharma and debutant, quite easily the discovery of the year, Ranveer Singh (is this really his first film?) whip up a wondrous camaraderie in scenes written with such skill and craft you really don't see the labour that has gone into building this love- shove during the time of weddings-sheddings in the heart of Nayee Dilli.

Capital pleasure, anyone?

Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB) is an utterly joyous and enjoyable look-see at the world of Punjabi weddings in Delhi as seen through the eyes of two wedding planners, partners in business Shruti and Bittu who have sworn from Day 1 never to get involved with one another.

'Pyar' (love) and 'Vyapaar' (business) just don't jell. The couple keeps telling one another this.But are the Gods listening? The skilfully-written superbly crafted rom-com takes the no-holds-barred pair's relationship through a lavish labyrinth of shaadi shindings replete with Bhangra tracks (Salim-Suleiman) that provoke your heart and feet to jump up and dance.

Outwardly the film looks like Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding put into a maze of wedding festivities that seem to meander from one joyous jig to another until we come to a point where we ask in unison…now what?

With a smoothness of touch that shows the hand of a writer who knows his job thoroughly (full marks to the dialogue and screenwriter Habib Faizal) BBB changes the profile of Shruti-Buttu's relationship midway.

What remains unchanged is that sense of joie de vivre which comes to a film on that rare occasion when the writer and director know where they're going and how to take the characters there without giving away the signposts to the audience.

Delhi, that city of bustling streets, speeding autorickshaws, restive bus stops, bottom pinchers and money filchers has never been more vibrant and alive in any other recent film. Aseem Mishra's camera penetrates the heart of the Capital and the souls of its two unforgettable protagonists.

Unlike Yashraj Films' Bunty and Babli some years ago, Bittu and Shruti are fooling no one except themselves.

“Tujhe saanp-seedhi ka khel bahut pasand hai na?” Bittu challenges Shruti towards the end.

Oh, the games people in love play with one another to ward off the inevitable embrace! This vibrant voluptuous ride through the kaleidoscope of weddings as the two wedding planners forget that there is a planner far more powerful than they to plan their destiny, is as engaging as it is caliber-defining for the rom-com in Hindi cinema.

What does one say about the two principal performers without tripping over with the excitement of being in the midst of remarkable talent?! With just three films Anushka Sharma has grown into one of the most watchable and eloquent contemporary actresses.

To the role of the spirited Shruti Anushka adds the kind of spice that one associates with Kajol and Rani Mukherjee.In two key sequences with Ranveer Singh (where she conceals her true feelings and much later lets them all out in a tumble of smirking hurt) Anushka blows the screen apart.

As for the film's hero debutant Ranveer Singh sinks his teeth into Bittu's part with a self-confidence that comes to actors after at least ten full-fledged films. And that too if they are gifted. Here's new talent in a film industry dominated by jaded superstars.

Ranveer's spirited screen presence and quicks-silver comic timing makes the older stars look…well old, if not outdated. In the climax where he calls himself an ass for denying his feelings, Ranveer is a revelation.Go for this newcomer, producers. He will soon be booked for the next three years.

The supporting players are largely unexposed artistes. They add to that sense of feisty freshness that runs across the film.

Bravo, Yashraj for bringing such exceptional new talent to our cinema. Bravo, debutant director Maneesh Sharma for taking us through the organized chaos of traditional weddings in movements of pure pleasure and enjoyment that communicate themselves to the audience.

Hours after watching the film I've still not stopped smiling.