Book Review: The Age of Shiva

Author: Manil Suri
Pages: 454
Publisher: Bloombury
Price: 399
Published in: 2008

First things first. I think Manil Suri has a tremendous flair for creating drama and an astonishing ability of penetrating into human psyche. Which means, at certain points, The Age of Shiva touches the brilliance of V S Naipaul’s A Home For Mr Biswas in portraying human despair and chaotic family life with all its colourful and despicable characters. The author’s biggest strength lies in creating interesting set pieces and keeping the narrative moving at a frenzied, rapid-fire pace. The language is simple yet wonderfully descriptive. All of this makes the book quite a compelling read.

Ram Gopal Varma on Agyaat

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Let’s clarify about the new installment of ‘Sarkar’, before we let Ramgopal Varma talk of ‘Agyaat’, his new outing. “I don’t think another installment will have the same effect after the peak ‘Sarkar Raj’ reached, especially now that Abhishek is gone [the actor was shot dead in ‘Sarkar Raj’],” RGV states, thus clearly signaling the end of the ‘Sarkar’ series.

Tarun Masukhani on Dostana and the sequel

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Talk about gays and their acceptability problems are no longer hush-hush with ‘Queer Pride’ rallies becoming an annual event in many Indian cities. And one-film old writer-director Tarun Mansukhani takes pride in bringing homosexuality out of the closet in films with his commercial hit “Dostana”. He now plans a sequel to the comedy. “It was an intentional thought to make a light-hearted film on a serious subject. I personally believe that is the way to make people listen. If I were to attempt an Indian version of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ or make an equally serious film, I don’t think I’d get half the response I’ve received,” Mansukhani told IANS in an e-mail interview.

Eros less confident about Shahrukh’s Anubhav Sinha project, going ahead with Farah Khan’s film instead

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In times of recession, Eros International is hedging its bets on a money making director — Farah Khan, rather than bank on Anubhav Sinha. Farah’s successful track record has put the brakes on Anubhav’s Ra 1 temporarily. She will begin shooting her film Happy New Year ahead of schedule, while Ra 1 has been pushed from September to next year.

Dilip Kumar hospitalised, diagnosed with malaria

IBNLIVE

DILIP KUMAR IN HOSPITAL: The 86-year-old actor was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Sunday.

Mumbai: Bollywood veteran Dilip Kumar has been admitted to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai after testing positive for malaria, said hospital sources.

The 86-year-old actor was brought to the hospital on Sunday.

“Yes, he (Dilip Kumar) was brought to Lilavati Hospital. But as of now we don’t have any further updates on his health and we will talk about it once we get all the information from his doctors,” Mohan Rajan, Lilavati Hospital spokesperson, told IANS.

Bachchan 433 & 433 (i)

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“Many of the elements it contains surprisingly touch upon points that have been referred on several of my posts. Many among the EF have impressed upon me the futility of it all and many still do. But a large proportion of the family has sympathized or been in agreement with what I seem to have been observing over the years.”
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“When there is excessive usage of the hand in a sporting activity, there is damage to the elbow and the ailment is called ‘tennis elbow’. What part of the anatomy would aptly describe an ailment that would erupt when there is excessive ‘tennis watching’ ?”

Herzog’s book on the making of Fitzcarraldo

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This is what “a beautiful, fresh, sunny morning” was like for Werner Herzog during the Sisyphean miseries that plagued the shooting of his Amazonian epic “Fitzcarraldo” (1982): one of two newly hatched chicks drowned in a saucer containing only a few millimeters of water. The other lost a leg and a piece of its stomach to a murderous rabbit. And Mr. Herzog realized, for the umpteenth time, that “a sense of desolation was tearing me up inside, like termites in a fallen tree trunk.”

Anurag Basu to make autobiographical film

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LIFE TURNED INTO MOVIE: Director Anurag Basu wants to make a movie based on his life.

Mumbai Nothing that the talented Anurag Basu has directed for screen can equal his turbulent and shocking life story. So he is all set to put it on celluloid.

“I’ve lots to say about my life. So far I’ve been telling stories about other people’s lives. Maybe now it’s my own turn. There’s so much about my life to be told,” said Basu.

After lull, happy days back for Bollywood

After lull, happy days back for Bollywood
29 Jun 2009, 0146 hrs IST, Nikhat Kazmi, TNN

Bollywood breathes a sigh of relief as the box office comes alive once again after a prolonged drought. The weekend saw almost 70-90% occupancy for Yash Raj Productions latest film, ‘New York’.

News is that the crowds are still coming in, with trade pundits already forecasting a healthy run for the film which deals with the serious topic of racial discrimination and terrorism through life of three Indian friends in America.

Lohithadas is no more…

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This is really, really sobering, sad news. For those who may not know him, one can safely say that A.K. Lohithadas was a kind of one-man Salim-Javed for the Malayalam film industry, but, in my view, a far more poignant and, perhaps, singular voice. He was the scriptwriter for a great many classics/hits of the industry during its golden era (and beyond) including Thaniyavarthanam, Kireedam, His Highness Abdullah, Chenkol, Bharatham, Kamaladalam, Mukhti, Amaram, Aadharam and many, many others.

Cary Grant-Sophia Loren in Houseboat breed Aamir-Juhi in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke

Bachchan — 432

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“And the communication with the outside world ? The call to Abhishek. Did you see how the referee disallowed the Brazilian goal. Damn he must be blind, ok bye getting back to the game…. and.. GOAL..!! Call Abhishek… unbelievable man !! The Brazilians, I tell you, they are something else.. its like poetry..”

First Honorary Doctorate for Shahrukh

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KING KHAN: Shah Rukh Khan will receive his first doctorate on July 10.

New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been nominated to receive an honorary doctorate in arts and culture from Britain’s University of Bedfordshire.

Shah Rukh, the first foreign actor to be conferred the Malaysian title of Datuk – akin to a British knighthood – in 2008, will receive his first doctorate on July 10.

JayShah’s Saturday Box Office Column – Paying Guests poor opening week…

Note all numbers are from Trade Guide

Reporting Methodology

1) New films most of the time where possible will be benchmarked against other films ‘in the same range’. The gross used for the older films will be one’s I have computed in the past
2) Films currently playing – I will always do some trending analysis. This is always against the ‘week before’
3) To compute subsequent week grosses I will always benchmark against ‘the first week’. Before it was always the preceding week, but Week 1 is always the best base because it gives maximum centres to use
4) Going forward I will show ONE example in FULL and show the results of the remaining scenarios

New Releases

Paying Guests

The comedy film Paying Guests starring Shreyas Talpade, Javed Jaffrey, Celina Jaitley & Neha Duphia got a significantly wide release but the opening week collections reflect a poor story. The opening in terms of occupancies suffered with low turn out and with the weekend proving to be decent at best, the necessary kick required during the weekdays failed to occur.

Mumbai and Delhi collected 87Lakhs and 66Lakhs respectively – with the All-India first week collections a fairly disappointing 6.0-6.5Cr. The film is not a complete flop yet, but the likelihood is high seeing as its competition this week – New York, has taken one of the better starts at the box office in 2009 [comparisons were run against 13B, Dhoondte Reh Jaoge & Kal Kissne Dekha for first week estimate] If Paying Guests can remain steady in week two it can pull through as a non flop film.

U2′s Spiderman Musical

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Evan Rachel Wood appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon yesterday and chatted about her upcoming role as Mary Jane Watson in Bono and the Edge’s Spider-Man musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. “It’s unlike any Spider-Man you’ve ever seen,” she said. “Bono and the Edge are doing the music. It was hysterical, I got to do the workshop, sit down with them playing guitars going over the music, and I was making jokes going, watch by the end of this, I’ll be telling them what to do. And by the end I was! I was like, Bono, I know you want to save the world and everything, but in this song you’re talking about poverty and world hunger and it’s Broadway, can we lighten this up a bit, can I just not sing this? And he was like, [in Irish accent] ‘You’re right, I know, we have to try, we have to try.’ ”

Bachchan — 431

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“I am perplexed in thought. A thought which I have hypothetically built to illustrate an inconceivable example. There is no cause for it. There is no burning problem. And neither is any one in anguish or pain. Just… a thought..”

British era theatre re-opened in Shimla

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The British era Gaiety theatre — the only theatre in Victorian Gothic style in Asia — was formally dedicated to the people by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal after its renovation in Shimla today. Considered a photocopy of London’s famous Royal Albert Hall, the 122-year-old theatre was thrown open to the public after completion of its restoration work which took over five years.

Mohanlal and Priyan to float Kerala IPL team, fans demand Asin as ambassador!

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The filmi duniya and IPL have become two faces of the same coin. After Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, now Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and filmmaker Priyadarshan are all set to float a brand new Kerala IPL team.

SRK Interview from San Francisco

A R Rahman & other Bollywood figures mourn Michael Jackson’s death

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A.R. Rahman: “I am shocked at the untimely passing away of Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musicians of our times. MJ, for most of our generation was an icon who made uncompromising music. He pushed the milestone of Pop music to unbelievable levels through the 80s and 90s. I am yet to find an artist with that energy, perfection and vision. I met him personally after the Oscars in Los Angeles and we vibed very well. He said that he loved India and the Indian people. He said he heard good things about me and he was praising the chord progression of Jai Ho’s chorus.