Beyond Ram and Ravana: Random Blather on Awara’s Ramayana connection

On recently revisiting several of Raj Kapoor’s works I was struck by the opening moment tagged to the front of a number of RK Films’ productions. The grand patriarch, Prithviraj Kapoor, prays to a Shiva Lingam with the “Om Namashivaiaa” chant vibrating over the image.

Bachchan 739 & 740 (a friend writes and Bachchan’s response) & 741 & 742 & 743 & 744 & 745 & 746 & 747

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“Nothingness is, in all reality, a most fascinating state to be in. Having a digital luminous time keeper in the bedroom is the virtual precursor to a nothingness that will follow as a result of it. The alarms may be set, on the clock, on the mobile, on the wrist watch, yet it is the call of nothingness that keeps requesting you to push that pillow back a bit, come out from under the summer duvet and check with ‘digital’, on whether it is time to be up or not.”
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“Yes Ali, I do remember you and the cricket with Ashok and Sudhir and that wonderful day on the school pitch when you and fellow classmate Subhash Bose made centuries. Ashok and Sudhir remained with me in Delhi too, in University and then in Kolkata, where we were all together hunting for jobs. We ‘chummeried’ together.”

Jonah Hex trailer

Western superhero? I’m in!

Why Metropolis will be this year’s real summer blockbuster (Guardian)

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So the sun is out, and already a long summer at the multiplex is yawning ahead, bringing with it the promise of all manner of last-legs franchises, cod-ironic homages to 80s TV and late-stage-career Tom Cruise vehicles. For me, however, the real treat will come as the last weeks of the season ebb into autumn, at which point the most spectacular ride of the lot is due in cinemas, a movie with more visual wonder and dazzlement in its first five minutes than a weekend’s worth of 3D extravaganzas. That film is Metropolis, now scheduled for a September British re-release.

Housefull; the rest of the non-box office!

last week’s thread

Sachin Tendulkar on Time’s most influential 100 list

thanks to Cooldude..
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COMPLETE LIST
In the history of cricket, only one man has scored a double century — 200 runs — in a One Day International match, and his name is Sachin Tendulkar. To millions of Indians and countless fans around the world, this act, which caps a career of record-breaking feats, arouses a sense of awe.

Deepika on the latest Vogue

more images here

magazine cover…

Iron Man 2: the first superhero film of the Obama era? (Guardian)

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The rise of the superhero movie as a tentpole genre staple and studio cash cow more or less overlapped with the war on terror. Broadly speaking, superhero titles of the 90s used costumed crimefighting to explore identity: the Batman movies, Spawn, Unbreakable and especially the X-Men cycle that began as the decade ended were concerned with how superpowers set their bearers apart from society. Following the Batman franchise’s descent into bloated farce, the genre was reanimated and propelled to a whole new level of success by Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man reboot, over which the shadow of 9/11 obliquely fell when its trailer, prominently featuring the World Trade Centre, had to be withdrawn. Undoubtedly alert to the social hassles of superheroics, Raimi’s Spider-Man also set the template for the genre under George W Bush: the superhero movie as a fantasy arena for exploring the uses of power. This time, it ain’t personal.

Dharmendra, Bachchan, Rekha, Jaya on Youth Times (Jan 10, 1975)

Lots in a movie name

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[Junglee]
We’ve said it above, but it’s worth repeating — Love Sex aur Dhokha is the first Bollywood film to have the word ‘sex’ in its title. Take a bow, Dibakar Banerjee, Ekta Kapoor and the Indian Censor Board. Because you have taken history and given it a new twist that will go a long way in changing how we view Bollywood.

Bangladesh retains Bollywood ban after protests

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Bangladesh’s near-four-decade-old ban on movies from Bollywood has been reinstated after the commerce ministry’s decision on Saturday to lift the injunction, in an effort to boost the country’s struggling cinemas, was greeted with furious protests by local actors and directors.

Akshay Kumar interview

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Akshay Kumar has stopped being diplomatic. After the onslaught that he faced with the release of Chandni Chowk To China, he decided to call ‘enough is enough’ and took a front foot during the promotion of Blue. He was quite vociferous about the current trend in Bollywood where negative reviews start floating through SMSes on Thursday night itself. He kept his head high up during De Dana Dan as well and is maintaining the same mood for Housefull as well, which many tout as being all set to fetch the biggest ever opening of Akshay’s career.

Zoya Akhtar’s ‘Running with the Bulls’ re-titled ‘Zindagi Milegi Na Dubara’ (earlier post updated)

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Katrina Kaif will be seen romancing Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik Roshan for the first time in Zoya Akhtar’s film Zindagi Milegi Na Dubara. The actress, who has given several hits with superstar Akshay Kumar and has shared screen space with top Bollywood actors including Salman Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, says she is excited to work with Roshan.

Namaste London, Krrish & Shootout… at Lucknow’s Sahu cinema

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Lingusamy to launch Mammootty’s son

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Tamil hit director Lingusamy is all set to launch Malayalam megastar Mammootty’s son Dulkar Salman as hero in a Malayalam film! The film will be a musical entertainer, with Mammootty himself doing a cameo in the film.

Says Lingusamy: “ Mammootty is like my big brother. We go back a long way. My first film as director Anandam in Tamil had Mammooka in a pivotal role and the film was a super hit. So when he asked me to launch his son Dulkar Salman in Malayalam, I readily agreed.”

The other details of this proposed film and when it will be launched will be known only after Mammootty comes back from his US holiday, sometime in May. Meanwhile Lingusamy himself has started work on his new Tamil film with Silambarasan, which will start in June.

Housefull trailers (updated)

Images from Raavan & Raavanan (updated)

Ranbir-Katrina to play Kishore-Madhubala (earlier post updated)

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After playing a quasi-biographical character in Raajneeti, Katrina Kaif is set to play a real-life character – Madhubala. Katrina will reprise the legendary actress’ role in the Kishore Kumar biopic to be directed by Anurag Basu. Katrina was finalised for the project after she opted out of Basu’s other film, Silence, in which she was to co-star with Priyanka Chopra and Ranbir Kapoor.

Archie comics introduces a gay character

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Archie Comics PublicationsJust days after we learned Archie and his pals would be GTL-ing it in Riverdale Shore, a new comic inspired by the Jersey Shore, Archie Comics announced they would be shaking up their series in another, far more progressive way: They will introduce the series’ first openly gay character, a hunky dude named Kevin Keller, this September.

Chennai win IPL 3!