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Yeah maggie–after your comment, at he’d bits of the promo(hadn’t seen it earlier myself!)
Not only Naomi watts doesn’t look like diana–she’s isn’t getting the vibe right
Diana was a boyish crush–an attractive ‘older woman’
She had a unique mixture of playfulness, dignity, royalty and michievous allure plus a maternal vibe…liked her a lot
Ps: can’t think of anyone in holly/bolly who can play her-any suggestions,,,
Don’t say katrina lol
I don’t know what you will get from stalking me. You tell me lol. But, I do know a girl from UBC. And by a girl, I literally mean ONE girl that I knew from high school. Otherwise, a few other friends of mine go to UBC as well. WHY??? :O
I think it’s about the same type of humour. Seems like another average movie from Shetty. As for Shahrukh, he seems to have gotten his comic timing down to every grain.
This is so singularly unfunny. I haven’t seen a single Rohit Shetty film after Zameen, in the theater or otherwise. And this one does nothing to change my mind
Sleepless SRK working 18 hours a day !!
The actor has been defying all warnings about his health and working for 18 hours a day.
Two newborn babies can be more than a handful. And Shah Rukh Khan, who is juggling fatherhood and Chennai Express is pushing the envelope, defying his medical team’s warnings.
To start with, he had been advised at least 10 hours of sleep to help his weak shoulder recuperate faster.
But a source told Mumbai Mirror: “Last week, SRK shot a tough song with Deepika for 18 hours a day over two days. Later, he shot an ad for the entire day. Also, he is dubbing for Chennai Express till at least 3 in the morning. He reaches Mannat by 4 am and is up by 8am. Post which he moves on to his important meetings for the day. He hardly sleeps.”
Besides, he had also been advised to avoid crowded public places but he seems unmindful. Adds the source, “He is planning to cover two cities every day on his promotional tour. Also, a video game based on the film is being launched and he plans to perform live stunts to launch the same. His team is worried with his plans and concerned about his health.” But knowing the star’s seemingly boundless energy, why are we not surprised! http://www.mumbaimirror.com/entertainment/bollywood/Sleepless-SRK-worries-docs/articleshow/21292543.cms
Lol this seems to be copy of “Neela Aasman” of silsila..Why is everybody copying Bachchan?Srk in particular is trying everything to become Bachchan but the question is can he?
Good piece. I haven’t really been following any of the responses from TN or elsewhere to the Chennai Express trailers, but the obvious truth is that if folks are specifically wary of this film, it probably has to do with the fact that, unlike other Hindi films that occasionally lean on such stereotypes, this is the first big film that I’m aware of that seems to hinge entirely on that joke. Nevertheless I do agree with Rangan that it really depends on the film with this stuff. I don’t really think a Rohit Shetty film is the place one should go to to seek out ethnographic accuracy.
I agree with this. Masala Hindi cinema for example was always guilty of stereotyping. You had the Tamilian caricature, the Christian bar girl (often incorporating the Anglo-Indian ‘slur’) etc. But one can defend this movie in a few ways even recognizing that it wasn’t ideal. For one you had all these types represented. The canvas of these worlds was much broader because it could include a number of ethnic and class minorities even if by caricature. Compared to this today many of these types aren’t represented at all. So one doesn’t see hired help in the movies anymore. one doesn’t see the ‘driver’. And so on. But it’s not as if these folks have vanished from India. People still employ them. They just don’t show up in films. This is especially noteworthy given that the very same films then constantly depict characters who lead remarkably affluent lives. The very sort who probably employ a battery of ‘servants’. And yet these films have no mention of this class at all. So the caricature while not ideal is better than this alternative. The greater violence comes about when the ‘other’ in this sense is not even acknowledged. The same logic holds elsewhere. Is it preferable to have the Akbar kind of lovable Muslim character or the ‘authentic’, ‘realistic’ Muslim gangsters of RGV’s world and those who followed in his wake? The latter once again does greater damage in the guise of realism than the actual caricature does!
But also the caricatures of old were often fully developed as characters. So Akbar and Anthony are characters even though they employ all the ethnic caricatures. or put differently the character transcends these ethnic ‘tics’. The caricatures are made lovable this way. Similarly so for the Tamilian stereotypes where you had famous comedians playing them who elsewhere did lots of other things too. So even in these bit parts the caricature invited some kind of identification and investment.
And finally (and to partly repeat the older point) the caricatures were often instantly recognizable as such. While these of course fed into certain prejudices most of the audience didn’t take them as seriously as they would serious representations of minority gangsters and terrorists.
Rangan is quite right that Tamil cinema to this day indulges in these caricatures and of course the reason is that masala has never been absent from this industry. So yes there is plenty that is regressive on ethnic and gender grounds and so on but in the larger world that is masala and that is populated by all kinds of high and low characters and plenty of caricatures all round there is a moderating influence. Firstly for the carnivalesque aspects of the narrative. But secondly because the caricatures are often center-stage. So yes you might have a bar girl who’s Malayali and who satisfies all the old Tamilian stereotypes about over-sexed, seductive Keralite girls (!) but who turns out to have a heart of gold or who falls in love with the hero or some such thing. Her character might be individualized in these ways. The caricature might offer the introduction but this isn’t the end of the representation.
All of this doesn’t mean that I’m idealizing caricatures of any sort. But the contemporary alternative in Bollywood and even in most multiplex-friendly Tamil cinema is considerably more problematic. In a contemporary Bollywood multiplex film if you cannot be part of a certain lifestyle you might as well not exist!
It is not about right or wrong.
It is just that these strereotypical caricatures are often just jarring and annoying!
In KHNH, Satish Shah was portrayed as a stereotypical Gujju. Let me tell you even as a Gujju myself, I found that hilarious and not the least bit offensive!
I should confess tho that while I dont mind giving Bollywood or any Indian film industry the liberty to resort to these stereotypes, I would ( and am) up in the arms anytime it is done in a Hollywood film!
But I did mind that KHNH stereotype. Because in Johar’s films no one else is ever caricatured. So why the Gujarati all of a sudden? Even though Satish Shah himself made it inoffensive (the obscene humor evidently didn’t displease the family values crowd).
You’re right it’s not about right or wrong it’s about what’s funny and what simply doesn’t land. What I often find poor or offensive in these decisions aren’t the depictions themselves, but the bad writing and bad acting. It’s the lazy comedy that doesn’t work not the choice to stereotype. Boman Irani played a Punjabi that’s as caricature-ish as it comes in LRM but he was hysterically funny, and had some great writing on his side. This is a rarity, where a strong performer finds strong material and transcends what might otherwise be written off as crude stereotyping.
I certainly agree with Rajen on that score as well. And your LRM point is totally on the money. With the likes of Johar my red flags go up because he does these things very selectively. A much better example perhaps is Farida Jalal’s character in K3G. She was very much old school. Mysteriously Johar never did this sort of thing before or after. But then he probably had masala a bit more on the mind here than anywhere else. Though he tried to do a super-Kabhi Kabhie his film has a very different focus. As opposed to a grand romance, unrequited love (even this bit never persuaded me in Kabhi Kabhie.. a film which I overall consider way too overrated) you have a generational clash, the long lost brothers (or what amounts to the same), the Chandni Chowk lass, the maternal figure in Farida Jalal, the adopted son, the marriage below one’s class etc. All of this has nothing at all to do with Kabhi Kabhie. And the one thing truly absent from K3G is the romance. Those pyramids notwithstanding! On that note it always puzzled me as to why those pyramids were considered a great backdrop to a romantic song. Not sure what the thematic connection is! But then only a moron brings up these questions with Johar!
@ Satyam –lol @ kjo ‘red flags’…@ Satyam–in my (rare) ‘thinking’ phase incited by ‘a late quartet’ type viewings (above)—caught bits of a book that someone recommended and jas been lying around my desk…
Not sure where to post –found it an interesting read–
An exerpt of a book review
“The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity
by Amartya Sen
Allen Lane £25, pp409
This needs saying at the outset. In itself, it might seem like an unremarkable fact, but it actually is not: Amartya Sen is a citizen of India. While most of his countrymen who have been able to leave India for a long time try their best to become citizens of the country they might have gone to (Britain, America, Canada, Australia), Sen, a man whom Cambridge and Harvard are said to have fought over for the privilege of offering an appointment, resolutely retains his blue Indian passport after half a century of towering intellectual achievement across the world.
Every year, the 1998 winner of the Nobel Prize for economics returns to Santiniketan, the tiny university town 100-odd miles from Calcutta. In Santiniketan, the former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, can be seen on a bicycle, friendly and unassuming, chatting with the locals and working for a trust he has set up with the money from his Nobel Prize. One of the most influential public thinkers of our times is strongly rooted in the country in which he grew up; he is deeply engaged with its concerns.
There can, then, be few people better equipped than this Lamont University Professor at Harvard to write about India and the Indian identity, especially at a time when the stereotype of India as a land of exoticism and mysticism is being supplanted with the stereotype of India as the back office of the world.
In this superb collection of essays, Sen smashes quite a few stereotypes and places the idea of India and Indianness in its rightful, deserved context. Central to his notion of India, as the title suggests, is the long tradition of argument and public debate, of intellectual pluralism and generosity that informs India’s history.
One of the book’s many triumphs is its tone. Sen does not indulge in triumphalism about his country’s past; nor does he spare Western influences (like James Mill’s History of British India) that have oversimplified and distorted the Indian reality.
While talking about Indian democracy, for instance, he cautions: ‘It is important to avoid the twin pitfalls of 1) taking democracy to be just a gift of the Western world that India simply accepted when it became independent, and 2) assuming that there is something unique in Indian history that makes the country singularly suited to democracy.’ The truth is far more complex and somewhere between these two views.
Sen refutes the facile Western description of India as a ‘mainly Hindu country’ with the same rigorous scholarship that he demolishes the isolationist, circumscribed view of Hindutva held dear by the Hindu right that ruled India between 1999 and 2004.”
Yeah it is a good book –got hooked somewhat and then had to literally wean myself away from it (before its too late!)
Ps: has taken me a while to ‘dissociate’ from ‘books’– not again (so soon) lol
Just heard a whiff of a song of chennai express. Mildly good on the first (partial) hearing and the best track of this album so far…
Srk past his prime but still showing few glimpses…..
Nice lyrics –Courtesy google—
Mehebaani Nahi Tumhaaraa pyaar maangaa hai
Tumhein manzoor hai, tabhi toh yaar maanga hai
Gairon ke dar se, tere shehar se
Hai kasam rishta todoon na
Tera rasta main chhodoon na….
Ps: deepika is clearly stealing the show here from a ‘tired’ srk.
And that dark dress(?black sari is it)–hmmmm…. 🙂
Anyhow, perhaps the woman/woman-like will know better..don’t mind the rest of her(!!) but what has deepika done to her eyebrows?? Something strange…
This film chennai express has never enthused me from day one and Was fearing a big let -down as well initially…
After seeing this partial song, feel this flick is probably ‘safe’ atleast box office wise…but how much more?
Any predictions folks, Satyam onwards…
How much is a tired watered down/mellowish srk worth today?
I’ve long thought that every trailer for this film has seemed tired. Now it could be because SRK just cannot suggest any freshness at this point but either way the only trailer I liked was the second or third song video with some of the Southern themes. Found it charming. Otherwise the soundtrack itself is rather poor even by contemporary standards. Of course these days a decent enough film with reasonable stars is nonetheless able to get to 100 crores or whatever. But it doesn’t mean as much when much smaller and somewhat different films can do the same. Specially so when you’re SRK. If you just match the Bol Bachchan gross here or do only as much as Barfi or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag I don’t think that could be considered ‘mission accomplished’! Aamir supposedly disappointed with a 90 crore Talaash. Don’t think there will be anything to cheer about if SRK does slightly better than this in the most commercial of setups! If one just goes by the trailers I think this film could do a lot less than 100 crores. However the film itself could be better than this. SRK should still get enough of an initial. Deepika is going through her best phase after YJHD. I’d still be surprised at anything more than 100 here. It really seems to be the best case scenario to me. But I wouldn’t be surprised at an 85-90 gross here. Then again Rohit Shetty has had a number of successes in a row. Might be able to make up the interest deficit elsewhere with demographics than don’t normally turn up for SRK’s genre films. In the end I’d just compare it with Bol Bachchan’s trailers and I think there’s no comparison in terms of the energy and so forth. Obviously the media will still pretend a 100 crores is a huge thing but SRK is really falling behind really fast and needs a big box office bang. Finally he also has competition here with Akshay’s OUATIM and Satyagraha following soon. However these films do and I’d certainly expect solid business at the very least from the former they are major releases that will attract attention.
Srk is clearly past his prime today and this has been evident/more than obvious from the ra1 days…
In my book, don2 was his last ‘in the zone’ film (as the srk we know).
JTHJ was a nostalgic send off to the iconic raj/Rahul (& yash chopra )
But calling his previous (at his peak) worth ‘zero’ is being dishonest…(& even his haters know that inside)
Ps: here deepika seems to be pressing more buttons
And that dark sari in ‘mera rastaa’ is worth quite a bit on the box office on its own 🙂
Don2 made a 100 or a bit more (unless one believes some of the inflated numbers here) as a sequel to a remake (!) and releasing during the Christmas/New year period. Actually if you look at a number of his big films in a number of years the 100 crore margin is mostly their limit. His last big film in this sense was OSO in 2007. This had a bumper start and truly rang up some big numbers at the time. Still not record-breaking or anything but it was the sort of thing that would have done 140-150 today. But nothing since. RNBJD was very good on trending but didn’t have the explosive start. To get those big numbers you need both. Or at least an fantastic start if like most other films the trending is poor. I actually thought Chennai Express would be way better than his other Yashraj stuff and even Don and so forth. But the trailers have just not been interesting enough even on that guilty pleasure terrain. Having said that the film could be better than the trailers. Still willing to give it that chance.
I think his last film of his that was really ‘liked’ overall after KHNH is RNBDJ. Cant fathom what people saw in this crapfest but the trending and overall numbers suggest it Was ‘liked’. Even the formidable Rocky couldnt resist the charm of this film!
Other ran up big totals mainly powered by the big starts including OSO. Have yest to see anyone whose opinion I would respect who has liked OSO!
Don’t like this new trailer.
As for Shahrukh, I don’t know. Box Office never really meant much to me. I just see that Shahrukh has grown a lot more as an actor, recently. He has tried to do roles which are poles apart. That’s what I respect in an actor, not whether or not his movies do business. OSO did great business, but, I thought it wasn’t such a good movie and Shahrukh himself was strictly decent in that. Same with Ghajini. Same with Bodyguard. Same with Ek Tha Tiger.
Shahrukh’s been willing to give a lot of different movies lately. Even considering the fact that he went back to a romantic film, but, that was after a period of 4 years. I respect the content that Shahrukh at least attempts to put out, over a crap movie doing great business. Now, CE seems like one of those mediocre films. But, again, Shahrukh is in an avatar that I’ve never seen him in.
Now, what do I wish for? I hope that this movie does NOT do great business. Commercial crap films with big stars do a hell of a lot of business. Bollywood is losing its youth audience and the aforementioned is precisely the reason! Of course, we do finally have some occasional movies like Barfi and BMB that come out as winners at Box Office, but, that’s not even the first stepping stone.
To conclude about this movie, I’m only looking forward to it because of Shahrukh. Simple.
Have to agree with Satyam there on the box office & some good points by arsh above. This simply didnt interest me beyond a point. The problem however isn’t only SRKs own ‘appeal erosion’ but also this ‘alliance’ with rohit shetty.
It’s more than just a box office ‘compulsion’ but the problem is that it transcends a certain ‘class’ divide in the audience profiles and though in general, it’s a welcome thing, shetty isn’t exactly the ‘master’ who can achieve that.
SRK has a certain ‘ESSENCE’ and even at his ‘DOWN’ phase, it simply can’t be PLUGGED into a SHETTY world !!
The above line explains the problems in this collaboration….( reading between the lines)
Having said that, what srk has achieved is breathing time to take stock of what he does next. After ra1 debacle and JTHJ relative underperformance, srk could have tied something totally different (as a reaction) & failed miserably. Instead srk has taken a measured stance of coming out with a reasonable grosser (and maybe more) and take the time to look for his new ‘niche’ (which is difficult to fathom). In a way, things could have been worse for him after ra1, JTHJ, though seems this will only be a relative and temporary respite for srk.
Having said that, I am happy to be surprised by this one (though dont have high hopes). The other problem is that many ‘core’ srk fans like Oldgold have moved on from movie watching to carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine (like the likes of anu) 🙂
I agree with many of your points, but, the “srk could have tied something different (as a reaction) & failed miserably”…that I don’t really agree with.
I think Shahrukh did this movie just for fun. Because, if u see the behind the scenes videos of CE, it looks like Shahrukh’s just having a BLAST shooting this movie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shahrukh enjoy shooting this much lol. JTHJ was a “meh” movie, but, I enjoyed Shahrukh’s performance in that…very restrained.
And I don’t really get the whole “carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine” routine. lol 😛
“I think Shahrukh did this movie just for fun”—arsh–don’t mistake the ‘fun element’ in the promos with the actual vibe.
It must have been more than a climb-down to havin to do a film with rohit shetty after being the phenomenon he has been (whatever his haters may think) & ‘threatening’ the likes of James Cameron and Michael Bay (!!) in Ra1(sic!)!!!!
Reminds me of someone from an immaculate background and legacy having to rely on the role of an effeminate gayish ‘man’ playing second lead to a guy who himself wasn’t a conventional lead material…(in shettys another film called Bol bachchan)
But that’s life …and it’s good to face the demons head on…
“And I don’t really get the whole “carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine” routine. lol “—haha
u don’t get it nor does anybody else reading it ( I doubt anybody does!)
EXCEPT
the ones actually having to repeat the “carrying cups of tea on a tray” routine themselves!! 🙂
Only they know the ‘accuracy’ of my judgement here 😉
“I’m talking about the behind the scenes footage. Shahrukh seems to be having the time of life there “— hmmm haven’t seen the ‘behind the scenes’—do u hav that footage link.
Maggie – lol @ the ‘video game’ bit….
Btw maggie–for milkha, we did just one song spoof –‘slow mo angreza’–even the no-good Farhan could take it near to 100 crore..
Wonder what a full-spoof would have done hahaha
Thanx arsh for that link– saw Only those bits where deepika is allowing herself to be ‘groped’ 🙂
So ‘permissive’ of her…
Btw Wonder where’s my Yjhd costar Amy ? Lol
It’s a joke actually. I asked Rohit (Shetty, director): “Naya kya karaoge?” He said: “Naya kuchh nahin karaoonga; Rahul hai aapka naam.” He was like, ‘I am a fan of the original Shah Rukh Khan when you were just you’. No hair change, no moochhi, no daadi, same T-shirt-jeans, same Aviators. In fact Karan (Johar) was doing the clothes and he wanted to do something more and Rohit was ‘no, I want him as he was’. Initially I started wearing boots kyunki Deepika lambi hai. But then I got back into my sneakers. And I loved that introduction line of mine: “Rahul, naam toh kabhi sunah hi nahin hoga!” It could have been any name actually. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130728/jsp/frontpage/story_17166279.jsp#.UfacF_Ao7Df
Wow, no need to get all offensive lol. This movie is targeted more at south audiences and ofc, it’s based in the southern part of India and in those parts, yes, Rajinikanth is a bigger star than any Bollywood star. :O
That is called opportunistic politics. When you are in bollywood, praise Bachchan. When you are in the south, praise Rajnikant. SRK wants southern audience too to make his film blockbuster. Only thing he has refrained so far is going to Tirupati for obvious reasons. I think even his hindu wife never visited Tirupati. Aamir has turned into a barber to make Ghajini work. He also disappeared for a while for one of his flicks. Salman does Ganpati every year to attract marathi audience.
Ok..Ok..*nobody asked me* SRK is not ‘in a zone’ and might not be until the next DON comes out *which imho will be a whizzbanger with a twist* provided PC reprises her role..or not..lol..he does films because he wants to or can ..i dont know..but I’ll ask him next time I see him ..lol..
I think, now, he’s doing films because he wants to. There was period between around 2000 and 2005 that he was doing all those romantic films, just for the audience. Now, I think he’s finally coming out of that and going for what he wants to do.
“..*nobody asked me* SRK is not ‘in a zone’ “–hahah maggie–thanx for quoting /copying me lol
btw in my reading, Chennai express is in big danger of flopping and needs some help to avoid a total washout…
My spoofs have helped films in the past..maybe a song or two might give CE a kick to reach near 100 cr..
Havent seen “lungi dance” –will check it later…
the only reasonable trakc has been “tera rastaa chhodoon na”–
need someone who can wear a dark sari for that–Maggie can u wear a sari? or think we should take srks biggest fan Oldgold for
0.30 onwards..enjoy….
“No sari..sorry..lol”–no problems at all maggie–will soon find another gr8 track for u. And btw srk fan oldgold has already pounced on my offer, shes in costume at the moment & rehearsing.
As for Kareena in sari -hmmm- maggie—u can say & get away with anything with me lol
Folks, i dont see these films but i present the standout highlight.
In Milkha, it was “slow motion angreza” and
In chennai Express, the only slight saving grace will be Deepika in that dark sari in this track …
While “slow motion angreza’ went to Maggie, deepika in sari deservedly goes to oldgold …… 🙂
what ‘grace’…..
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, August 01, 2013 – 11:24 hrs IST
Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express which is currently in news for its extensive promotions has been facing trouble from the political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The party is miffed with the makers of the film for booking all the time slots in single screens, as this would mean that the regional Marathi movies will take a backseat.
The film which was recently postponed owing to the Eid celebrations, apparently poses as a threat to new Marathi films releasing and also to the ones like Duniyadari which are still running in full houses in non metro cities and small towns. MNS film wing Chief Amey Khopkar recently stated that if the makers are not ready to take action, then his team will soon remove the publicity posters from Maharashtra.
However, in order to resolve the matter, Rohit Shetty, director of Chennai Express, UTV productions team and the team of the Marathi film Duniyadari will meet with the MNS president Raj Thackeray at the latter’s residence at 12.30 pm today.
Chennai Express stars Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead and is set to release on August 9.
Music directors of “Chennai Express” – the Vishal-Shekhar duo, is reportedly upset with Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty for roping in rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh for the “Lungi Dance” song of the film.
According to reports, Vishal and Shekhar were not happy with Singh lending his voice for a song, and as a result they have refrained from promoting “Lungi Dance”, which has already become a sensation.
Rumours of the clash between Shah Rukh and Vishal-Shekhar came soon after a section of the media had reported that the actor was not happy with several tracks of “Chennai Express”. But the music composers brushed off the rumours saying, “When a film comes, all kind of news comes out, people talk things you don’t know. Rohit Shetty and Shah Rukh Khan are happy with it.”
This rumours were soon followed by reports that Shah Rukh had roped in rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh for a promotional track of “Chennai Express”. This was denied by Vishal Dadlani who claimed that Singh was not rendering any song for the film and was trying ride on Shah Rukh Khan’s fame.
“It’s hilarious and pathetic, how desperately this tacky rap-rapper is trying to ride on the fame of @iamsrk and #ChennaiExpress. Poor guy,” Vishal Dadlani had tweeted.
Lol MNS seems to be the only hope for some well wishrrs here othereise CE is likely to give them tough time in comming days.Advance bookings have started in some places and public response is never seen before.
Asked how he is in real life, Shah Rukh said: “I am a little like all of them. There are parts and portions of me that you see in my characters also. If I play a father, I do it the way I would do it with my kids. If I play a lover, I behave the same way I am in real life. I would say I am a funny person but also gentle and kind.”
All SRK movies after RNBDJ have underperformed…I don’t think all his movies were that bad in comparison (don’t think most of the other blockbusters were good barring few)..slowly and slowly his fan base seems to have been shrinking. If this ain’t good at entertainment it could be another Himmatwala
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/i-kiss-shah-rukh-khan-everyday-says-deepika-padukone/411901-8-66.html
I kiss srk daily !!: deepika
I kiss Shah Rukh Khan every day: Giving gifts might be a daunting task for many, but Shah Rukh Khan is an exception to the rule. He uses them as a part of human interface, to define bonds and cement the relationship he shares with his co-stars. So when the star presented a soft toy to Deepika during the promotional activity of ‘Chennai Express’, we weren’t surprised. And to ensure King Khan’s affection for his co-star didn’t go unrequited, the actress was also asked to give the star a return gift. Even before Deepika could think of an interesting option, a fan suggested, “Give him a kiss, na.” Startled Deepika instantly replied, “That I give him every day. When you’ll watch my film, you’ll see me gifting him my bakwas dictionary. But that happens in reel life. In reality, I think, he has everything. So all that I can give him is just love and happiness.”
Seems deepika may take srk to safety on the box office safety here…n chennai express…
Seems the ‘checque’ from SRK is speaking lol
Jokes apart–as pointed earlier, srk is using this film as ‘damage control’ mode to avoid/delay the slide to get tme to reconfigure his strategy or ‘reinvent’ …
Would be surprised if it reaches near Yjhd but seems srk has shown some ‘grit’ & ‘survival instincts’ here.
As for Deepika, she is currently on a high ( ever since cocktail as predicted!)
Ps: just checked–my current local multiplex shows no Bollywood.
The last Bollywood film it showed was Bra-1, the current one will be chennai express & the next one will be krish3 !!!!
U ask the manager–she says–with an srk film, u don’t ask questions–he still is a draw….
The other thing with srk releases if that srk fans suddenly pop up from nowhere to support his films on release( like arsh did just now lol)–already I have takers to view CE…
May catch it tomorrow/day after….
Only for deepikas black sari in ‘tera rastaa’ 🙂
I think Shahrukh’s doing this film for his fun. Just saying. 😛
RA.One, I’ll say it was a crap movie, but, I’d watch it again for the VFX.
I never went anywhere to pop up from lol. I’m just less active about other superstars. Might as well speak well of the superstar I know the most about than speak anything of the superstars I really don’t know much about lol. 😛
SATYAMSHOT 
July 11, 2013 at 7:39 PM
After the ‘nerdy look’ in Yjhd, deepika seems to be bringin the ‘lungi’ look–she’s looking good
OTT–
Diana -Naomi watts
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July 11, 2013 at 10:34 PM
First of all..Naomi Watts doesnt look anything like Diana…and SRK has legs???..I nearly fainted…but I keep expecting to see Kajol
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July 12, 2013 at 5:53 PM
Yeah maggie–after your comment, at he’d bits of the promo(hadn’t seen it earlier myself!)
Not only Naomi watts doesn’t look like diana–she’s isn’t getting the vibe right
Diana was a boyish crush–an attractive ‘older woman’
She had a unique mixture of playfulness, dignity, royalty and michievous allure plus a maternal vibe…liked her a lot
Ps: can’t think of anyone in holly/bolly who can play her-any suggestions,,,
Don’t say katrina lol
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August 7, 2013 at 4:53 PM
The newer trailer is slightly better…
Ps: still feel Naomi watts isn’t bringing the exact vibe…of diana
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July 12, 2013 at 3:30 AM
Nice one! This reminds me of Amitabh and Rekha of Mr.Natwarlal..But that one being iconic and this CE song can never match that.
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July 22, 2013 at 11:47 PM
Why does anything and everything remind you of Bachchan? Hope you dont think Brando copied Bachchan’s Agneepath 20 years earlier.
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July 23, 2013 at 11:23 PM
tonymontana, I think you know little about Bachchan..First know Bachchan fully then we will discuss otherwise it is useless to argue with you.
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July 22, 2013 at 2:10 PM
Like the Chipku and the Common Man promos … not the other one.
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July 22, 2013 at 6:35 PM
@ Arsh–r u from UBC vanc…….?
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July 22, 2013 at 6:54 PM
SFU in Vancouver…why??? and how you know??? Awweeee, do I have an official stalker??? :PP
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July 22, 2013 at 6:58 PM
Hahaha what will I gain from stalking and that too stalking you!! 🙂
Btw do u know the UBC crowd well,,,, ( i meant sum gals,,) shhhh
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July 22, 2013 at 7:26 PM
My ‘nick carraway’–Y did u suddenly become so quiet ?
Is your own girlfriend in UBC? 🙂
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July 22, 2013 at 8:43 PM
I don’t know what you will get from stalking me. You tell me lol. But, I do know a girl from UBC. And by a girl, I literally mean ONE girl that I knew from high school. Otherwise, a few other friends of mine go to UBC as well. WHY??? :O
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July 23, 2013 at 10:17 AM
Haaha that’s beyond ‘public blog consumption’-will check wid u maybe later…Btw like vanc (& the people) quite a bit…
” and how you know??? Awweeee”
Check out this track 😉
(perhaps the last film with srk in his element)
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July 22, 2013 at 11:43 PM
Srk seems to be a poor caricature of his own self. The humor appears to be more puerile than any of the previous Rohit Shetty films.
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July 23, 2013 at 12:50 AM
I think it’s about the same type of humour. Seems like another average movie from Shetty. As for Shahrukh, he seems to have gotten his comic timing down to every grain.
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July 23, 2013 at 8:06 AM
Joy Mukerji Waheeda Rehman starrer
unreleased Love In Bombay to release after 40 years via PVRDirectorsRare
New Poster of Love In Bombay : https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BP2yvyoCYAAxNAI.jpg
Joy Mukerji-Waheeda Rehman starrer Love in Bombay to release after 40 years
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Joy-Mukerji-Waheeda-Rehman-starrer-Love-in-Bombay-to-release-after-40-years/Article1-1097026.aspx
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July 23, 2013 at 2:52 PM
It is like going back to the past. They took almost half a century.
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July 23, 2013 at 2:44 PM
This is so singularly unfunny. I haven’t seen a single Rohit Shetty film after Zameen, in the theater or otherwise. And this one does nothing to change my mind
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July 24, 2013 at 6:21 PM
Sleepless SRK working 18 hours a day !!
The actor has been defying all warnings about his health and working for 18 hours a day.
Two newborn babies can be more than a handful. And Shah Rukh Khan, who is juggling fatherhood and Chennai Express is pushing the envelope, defying his medical team’s warnings.
To start with, he had been advised at least 10 hours of sleep to help his weak shoulder recuperate faster.
But a source told Mumbai Mirror: “Last week, SRK shot a tough song with Deepika for 18 hours a day over two days. Later, he shot an ad for the entire day. Also, he is dubbing for Chennai Express till at least 3 in the morning. He reaches Mannat by 4 am and is up by 8am. Post which he moves on to his important meetings for the day. He hardly sleeps.”
Besides, he had also been advised to avoid crowded public places but he seems unmindful. Adds the source, “He is planning to cover two cities every day on his promotional tour. Also, a video game based on the film is being launched and he plans to perform live stunts to launch the same. His team is worried with his plans and concerned about his health.” But knowing the star’s seemingly boundless energy, why are we not surprised!
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/entertainment/bollywood/Sleepless-SRK-worries-docs/articleshow/21292543.cms
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July 25, 2013 at 9:26 AM
Lol this seems to be copy of “Neela Aasman” of silsila..Why is everybody copying Bachchan?Srk in particular is trying everything to become Bachchan but the question is can he?
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July 25, 2013 at 11:12 AM
no he cannot become bachan,absolutelt not Dharan.
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July 25, 2013 at 9:45 AM
I dont know whether this link to an article by rangan was posted before here. Quite hilarious about stereotyping.
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July 25, 2013 at 10:37 AM
Good piece. I haven’t really been following any of the responses from TN or elsewhere to the Chennai Express trailers, but the obvious truth is that if folks are specifically wary of this film, it probably has to do with the fact that, unlike other Hindi films that occasionally lean on such stereotypes, this is the first big film that I’m aware of that seems to hinge entirely on that joke. Nevertheless I do agree with Rangan that it really depends on the film with this stuff. I don’t really think a Rohit Shetty film is the place one should go to to seek out ethnographic accuracy.
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July 25, 2013 at 11:50 AM
I agree with this. Masala Hindi cinema for example was always guilty of stereotyping. You had the Tamilian caricature, the Christian bar girl (often incorporating the Anglo-Indian ‘slur’) etc. But one can defend this movie in a few ways even recognizing that it wasn’t ideal. For one you had all these types represented. The canvas of these worlds was much broader because it could include a number of ethnic and class minorities even if by caricature. Compared to this today many of these types aren’t represented at all. So one doesn’t see hired help in the movies anymore. one doesn’t see the ‘driver’. And so on. But it’s not as if these folks have vanished from India. People still employ them. They just don’t show up in films. This is especially noteworthy given that the very same films then constantly depict characters who lead remarkably affluent lives. The very sort who probably employ a battery of ‘servants’. And yet these films have no mention of this class at all. So the caricature while not ideal is better than this alternative. The greater violence comes about when the ‘other’ in this sense is not even acknowledged. The same logic holds elsewhere. Is it preferable to have the Akbar kind of lovable Muslim character or the ‘authentic’, ‘realistic’ Muslim gangsters of RGV’s world and those who followed in his wake? The latter once again does greater damage in the guise of realism than the actual caricature does!
But also the caricatures of old were often fully developed as characters. So Akbar and Anthony are characters even though they employ all the ethnic caricatures. or put differently the character transcends these ethnic ‘tics’. The caricatures are made lovable this way. Similarly so for the Tamilian stereotypes where you had famous comedians playing them who elsewhere did lots of other things too. So even in these bit parts the caricature invited some kind of identification and investment.
And finally (and to partly repeat the older point) the caricatures were often instantly recognizable as such. While these of course fed into certain prejudices most of the audience didn’t take them as seriously as they would serious representations of minority gangsters and terrorists.
Rangan is quite right that Tamil cinema to this day indulges in these caricatures and of course the reason is that masala has never been absent from this industry. So yes there is plenty that is regressive on ethnic and gender grounds and so on but in the larger world that is masala and that is populated by all kinds of high and low characters and plenty of caricatures all round there is a moderating influence. Firstly for the carnivalesque aspects of the narrative. But secondly because the caricatures are often center-stage. So yes you might have a bar girl who’s Malayali and who satisfies all the old Tamilian stereotypes about over-sexed, seductive Keralite girls (!) but who turns out to have a heart of gold or who falls in love with the hero or some such thing. Her character might be individualized in these ways. The caricature might offer the introduction but this isn’t the end of the representation.
All of this doesn’t mean that I’m idealizing caricatures of any sort. But the contemporary alternative in Bollywood and even in most multiplex-friendly Tamil cinema is considerably more problematic. In a contemporary Bollywood multiplex film if you cannot be part of a certain lifestyle you might as well not exist!
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July 25, 2013 at 11:51 AM
It is not about right or wrong.
It is just that these strereotypical caricatures are often just jarring and annoying!
In KHNH, Satish Shah was portrayed as a stereotypical Gujju. Let me tell you even as a Gujju myself, I found that hilarious and not the least bit offensive!
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July 25, 2013 at 11:53 AM
I should confess tho that while I dont mind giving Bollywood or any Indian film industry the liberty to resort to these stereotypes, I would ( and am) up in the arms anytime it is done in a Hollywood film!
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July 25, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Ha!
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July 25, 2013 at 12:02 PM
But I did mind that KHNH stereotype. Because in Johar’s films no one else is ever caricatured. So why the Gujarati all of a sudden? Even though Satish Shah himself made it inoffensive (the obscene humor evidently didn’t displease the family values crowd).
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July 25, 2013 at 12:17 PM
You’re right it’s not about right or wrong it’s about what’s funny and what simply doesn’t land. What I often find poor or offensive in these decisions aren’t the depictions themselves, but the bad writing and bad acting. It’s the lazy comedy that doesn’t work not the choice to stereotype. Boman Irani played a Punjabi that’s as caricature-ish as it comes in LRM but he was hysterically funny, and had some great writing on his side. This is a rarity, where a strong performer finds strong material and transcends what might otherwise be written off as crude stereotyping.
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July 25, 2013 at 1:33 PM
I certainly agree with Rajen on that score as well. And your LRM point is totally on the money. With the likes of Johar my red flags go up because he does these things very selectively. A much better example perhaps is Farida Jalal’s character in K3G. She was very much old school. Mysteriously Johar never did this sort of thing before or after. But then he probably had masala a bit more on the mind here than anywhere else. Though he tried to do a super-Kabhi Kabhie his film has a very different focus. As opposed to a grand romance, unrequited love (even this bit never persuaded me in Kabhi Kabhie.. a film which I overall consider way too overrated) you have a generational clash, the long lost brothers (or what amounts to the same), the Chandni Chowk lass, the maternal figure in Farida Jalal, the adopted son, the marriage below one’s class etc. All of this has nothing at all to do with Kabhi Kabhie. And the one thing truly absent from K3G is the romance. Those pyramids notwithstanding! On that note it always puzzled me as to why those pyramids were considered a great backdrop to a romantic song. Not sure what the thematic connection is! But then only a moron brings up these questions with Johar!
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July 25, 2013 at 6:18 PM
@ Satyam –lol @ kjo ‘red flags’…@ Satyam–in my (rare) ‘thinking’ phase incited by ‘a late quartet’ type viewings (above)—caught bits of a book that someone recommended and jas been lying around my desk…
Not sure where to post –found it an interesting read–
An exerpt of a book review
“The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity
by Amartya Sen
Allen Lane £25, pp409
This needs saying at the outset. In itself, it might seem like an unremarkable fact, but it actually is not: Amartya Sen is a citizen of India. While most of his countrymen who have been able to leave India for a long time try their best to become citizens of the country they might have gone to (Britain, America, Canada, Australia), Sen, a man whom Cambridge and Harvard are said to have fought over for the privilege of offering an appointment, resolutely retains his blue Indian passport after half a century of towering intellectual achievement across the world.
Every year, the 1998 winner of the Nobel Prize for economics returns to Santiniketan, the tiny university town 100-odd miles from Calcutta. In Santiniketan, the former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, can be seen on a bicycle, friendly and unassuming, chatting with the locals and working for a trust he has set up with the money from his Nobel Prize. One of the most influential public thinkers of our times is strongly rooted in the country in which he grew up; he is deeply engaged with its concerns.
There can, then, be few people better equipped than this Lamont University Professor at Harvard to write about India and the Indian identity, especially at a time when the stereotype of India as a land of exoticism and mysticism is being supplanted with the stereotype of India as the back office of the world.
In this superb collection of essays, Sen smashes quite a few stereotypes and places the idea of India and Indianness in its rightful, deserved context. Central to his notion of India, as the title suggests, is the long tradition of argument and public debate, of intellectual pluralism and generosity that informs India’s history.
One of the book’s many triumphs is its tone. Sen does not indulge in triumphalism about his country’s past; nor does he spare Western influences (like James Mill’s History of British India) that have oversimplified and distorted the Indian reality.
While talking about Indian democracy, for instance, he cautions: ‘It is important to avoid the twin pitfalls of 1) taking democracy to be just a gift of the Western world that India simply accepted when it became independent, and 2) assuming that there is something unique in Indian history that makes the country singularly suited to democracy.’ The truth is far more complex and somewhere between these two views.
Sen refutes the facile Western description of India as a ‘mainly Hindu country’ with the same rigorous scholarship that he demolishes the isolationist, circumscribed view of Hindutva held dear by the Hindu right that ruled India between 1999 and 2004.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jul/03/historybooks.features
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July 25, 2013 at 6:35 PM
This is an excellent, lucidly written book. Sen also wears his learning lightly.
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July 26, 2013 at 3:38 PM
Yeah it is a good book –got hooked somewhat and then had to literally wean myself away from it (before its too late!)
Ps: has taken me a while to ‘dissociate’ from ‘books’– not again (so soon) lol
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July 25, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Tera Rastaa…
Just heard a whiff of a song of chennai express. Mildly good on the first (partial) hearing and the best track of this album so far…
Srk past his prime but still showing few glimpses…..
Nice lyrics –Courtesy google—
Mehebaani Nahi Tumhaaraa pyaar maangaa hai
Tumhein manzoor hai, tabhi toh yaar maanga hai
Gairon ke dar se, tere shehar se
Hai kasam rishta todoon na
Tera rasta main chhodoon na….
Ps: deepika is clearly stealing the show here from a ‘tired’ srk.
And that dark dress(?black sari is it)–hmmmm…. 🙂
Anyhow, perhaps the woman/woman-like will know better..don’t mind the rest of her(!!) but what has deepika done to her eyebrows?? Something strange…
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July 25, 2013 at 11:45 AM
This film chennai express has never enthused me from day one and Was fearing a big let -down as well initially…
After seeing this partial song, feel this flick is probably ‘safe’ atleast box office wise…but how much more?
Any predictions folks, Satyam onwards…
How much is a tired watered down/mellowish srk worth today?
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July 25, 2013 at 12:00 PM
I’ve long thought that every trailer for this film has seemed tired. Now it could be because SRK just cannot suggest any freshness at this point but either way the only trailer I liked was the second or third song video with some of the Southern themes. Found it charming. Otherwise the soundtrack itself is rather poor even by contemporary standards. Of course these days a decent enough film with reasonable stars is nonetheless able to get to 100 crores or whatever. But it doesn’t mean as much when much smaller and somewhat different films can do the same. Specially so when you’re SRK. If you just match the Bol Bachchan gross here or do only as much as Barfi or Bhaag Milkha Bhaag I don’t think that could be considered ‘mission accomplished’! Aamir supposedly disappointed with a 90 crore Talaash. Don’t think there will be anything to cheer about if SRK does slightly better than this in the most commercial of setups! If one just goes by the trailers I think this film could do a lot less than 100 crores. However the film itself could be better than this. SRK should still get enough of an initial. Deepika is going through her best phase after YJHD. I’d still be surprised at anything more than 100 here. It really seems to be the best case scenario to me. But I wouldn’t be surprised at an 85-90 gross here. Then again Rohit Shetty has had a number of successes in a row. Might be able to make up the interest deficit elsewhere with demographics than don’t normally turn up for SRK’s genre films. In the end I’d just compare it with Bol Bachchan’s trailers and I think there’s no comparison in terms of the energy and so forth. Obviously the media will still pretend a 100 crores is a huge thing but SRK is really falling behind really fast and needs a big box office bang. Finally he also has competition here with Akshay’s OUATIM and Satyagraha following soon. However these films do and I’d certainly expect solid business at the very least from the former they are major releases that will attract attention.
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July 25, 2013 at 11:47 AM
Re: How much is a tired watered down/mellowish srk worth today?
A couple of cents less than what he was worth in his heyday.
That would make it -2 cents!
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July 25, 2013 at 11:56 AM
Srk is clearly past his prime today and this has been evident/more than obvious from the ra1 days…
In my book, don2 was his last ‘in the zone’ film (as the srk we know).
JTHJ was a nostalgic send off to the iconic raj/Rahul (& yash chopra )
But calling his previous (at his peak) worth ‘zero’ is being dishonest…(& even his haters know that inside)
Ps: here deepika seems to be pressing more buttons
And that dark sari in ‘mera rastaa’ is worth quite a bit on the box office on its own 🙂
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July 25, 2013 at 12:07 PM
Don2 made a 100 or a bit more (unless one believes some of the inflated numbers here) as a sequel to a remake (!) and releasing during the Christmas/New year period. Actually if you look at a number of his big films in a number of years the 100 crore margin is mostly their limit. His last big film in this sense was OSO in 2007. This had a bumper start and truly rang up some big numbers at the time. Still not record-breaking or anything but it was the sort of thing that would have done 140-150 today. But nothing since. RNBJD was very good on trending but didn’t have the explosive start. To get those big numbers you need both. Or at least an fantastic start if like most other films the trending is poor. I actually thought Chennai Express would be way better than his other Yashraj stuff and even Don and so forth. But the trailers have just not been interesting enough even on that guilty pleasure terrain. Having said that the film could be better than the trailers. Still willing to give it that chance.
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July 25, 2013 at 12:11 PM
I think his last film of his that was really ‘liked’ overall after KHNH is RNBDJ. Cant fathom what people saw in this crapfest but the trending and overall numbers suggest it Was ‘liked’. Even the formidable Rocky couldnt resist the charm of this film!
Other ran up big totals mainly powered by the big starts including OSO. Have yest to see anyone whose opinion I would respect who has liked OSO!
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July 25, 2013 at 1:24 PM
agreed on all counts.. on Rocky.. LOL!
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July 25, 2013 at 2:21 PM
Don’t like this new trailer.
As for Shahrukh, I don’t know. Box Office never really meant much to me. I just see that Shahrukh has grown a lot more as an actor, recently. He has tried to do roles which are poles apart. That’s what I respect in an actor, not whether or not his movies do business. OSO did great business, but, I thought it wasn’t such a good movie and Shahrukh himself was strictly decent in that. Same with Ghajini. Same with Bodyguard. Same with Ek Tha Tiger.
Shahrukh’s been willing to give a lot of different movies lately. Even considering the fact that he went back to a romantic film, but, that was after a period of 4 years. I respect the content that Shahrukh at least attempts to put out, over a crap movie doing great business. Now, CE seems like one of those mediocre films. But, again, Shahrukh is in an avatar that I’ve never seen him in.
Now, what do I wish for? I hope that this movie does NOT do great business. Commercial crap films with big stars do a hell of a lot of business. Bollywood is losing its youth audience and the aforementioned is precisely the reason! Of course, we do finally have some occasional movies like Barfi and BMB that come out as winners at Box Office, but, that’s not even the first stepping stone.
To conclude about this movie, I’m only looking forward to it because of Shahrukh. Simple.
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July 25, 2013 at 2:50 PM
SRK & the Chennai Express Paradigm
Have to agree with Satyam there on the box office & some good points by arsh above. This simply didnt interest me beyond a point. The problem however isn’t only SRKs own ‘appeal erosion’ but also this ‘alliance’ with rohit shetty.
It’s more than just a box office ‘compulsion’ but the problem is that it transcends a certain ‘class’ divide in the audience profiles and though in general, it’s a welcome thing, shetty isn’t exactly the ‘master’ who can achieve that.
SRK has a certain ‘ESSENCE’ and even at his ‘DOWN’ phase, it simply can’t be PLUGGED into a SHETTY world !!
The above line explains the problems in this collaboration….( reading between the lines)
Having said that, what srk has achieved is breathing time to take stock of what he does next. After ra1 debacle and JTHJ relative underperformance, srk could have tied something totally different (as a reaction) & failed miserably. Instead srk has taken a measured stance of coming out with a reasonable grosser (and maybe more) and take the time to look for his new ‘niche’ (which is difficult to fathom). In a way, things could have been worse for him after ra1, JTHJ, though seems this will only be a relative and temporary respite for srk.
Having said that, I am happy to be surprised by this one (though dont have high hopes). The other problem is that many ‘core’ srk fans like Oldgold have moved on from movie watching to carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine (like the likes of anu) 🙂
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July 25, 2013 at 3:43 PM
I agree with many of your points, but, the “srk could have tied something different (as a reaction) & failed miserably”…that I don’t really agree with.
I think Shahrukh did this movie just for fun. Because, if u see the behind the scenes videos of CE, it looks like Shahrukh’s just having a BLAST shooting this movie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shahrukh enjoy shooting this much lol. JTHJ was a “meh” movie, but, I enjoyed Shahrukh’s performance in that…very restrained.
And I don’t really get the whole “carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine” routine. lol 😛
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July 25, 2013 at 4:02 PM
“I think Shahrukh did this movie just for fun”—arsh–don’t mistake the ‘fun element’ in the promos with the actual vibe.
It must have been more than a climb-down to havin to do a film with rohit shetty after being the phenomenon he has been (whatever his haters may think) & ‘threatening’ the likes of James Cameron and Michael Bay (!!) in Ra1(sic!)!!!!
Reminds me of someone from an immaculate background and legacy having to rely on the role of an effeminate gayish ‘man’ playing second lead to a guy who himself wasn’t a conventional lead material…(in shettys another film called Bol bachchan)
But that’s life …and it’s good to face the demons head on…
“And I don’t really get the whole “carrying ‘cups of tea on a tray’ routine” routine. lol “—haha
u don’t get it nor does anybody else reading it ( I doubt anybody does!)
EXCEPT
the ones actually having to repeat the “carrying cups of tea on a tray” routine themselves!! 🙂
Only they know the ‘accuracy’ of my judgement here 😉
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July 25, 2013 at 4:43 PM
not the promos … I’m talking about the behind the scenes footage. Shahrukh seems to be having the time of life there 😉
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July 25, 2013 at 5:43 PM
“I’m talking about the behind the scenes footage. Shahrukh seems to be having the time of life there “— hmmm haven’t seen the ‘behind the scenes’—do u hav that footage link.
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July 25, 2013 at 7:11 PM
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July 25, 2013 at 8:40 PM
I think they did it just for the video game..lol
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July 26, 2013 at 3:42 PM
Maggie – lol @ the ‘video game’ bit….
Btw maggie–for milkha, we did just one song spoof –‘slow mo angreza’–even the no-good Farhan could take it near to 100 crore..
Wonder what a full-spoof would have done hahaha
Thanx arsh for that link– saw Only those bits where deepika is allowing herself to be ‘groped’ 🙂
So ‘permissive’ of her…
Btw Wonder where’s my Yjhd costar Amy ? Lol
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July 29, 2013 at 12:37 PM
Lungi Dance…..
[added to post]
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July 29, 2013 at 12:46 PM
And you are back to being Rahul here…
It’s a joke actually. I asked Rohit (Shetty, director): “Naya kya karaoge?” He said: “Naya kuchh nahin karaoonga; Rahul hai aapka naam.” He was like, ‘I am a fan of the original Shah Rukh Khan when you were just you’. No hair change, no moochhi, no daadi, same T-shirt-jeans, same Aviators. In fact Karan (Johar) was doing the clothes and he wanted to do something more and Rohit was ‘no, I want him as he was’. Initially I started wearing boots kyunki Deepika lambi hai. But then I got back into my sneakers. And I loved that introduction line of mine: “Rahul, naam toh kabhi sunah hi nahin hoga!” It could have been any name actually.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130728/jsp/frontpage/story_17166279.jsp#.UfacF_Ao7Df
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July 29, 2013 at 8:07 PM
[edited]this tribute should have been for Bachchan.Is Rajni bigger than Bachchan?May be in their dreams..
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July 29, 2013 at 8:13 PM
Wow, no need to get all offensive lol. This movie is targeted more at south audiences and ofc, it’s based in the southern part of India and in those parts, yes, Rajinikanth is a bigger star than any Bollywood star. :O
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July 29, 2013 at 10:01 PM
That is called opportunistic politics. When you are in bollywood, praise Bachchan. When you are in the south, praise Rajnikant. SRK wants southern audience too to make his film blockbuster. Only thing he has refrained so far is going to Tirupati for obvious reasons. I think even his hindu wife never visited Tirupati. Aamir has turned into a barber to make Ghajini work. He also disappeared for a while for one of his flicks. Salman does Ganpati every year to attract marathi audience.
Kya kya karna padta hain, hit status ke liye!
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July 29, 2013 at 10:01 PM
Ok..Ok..*nobody asked me* SRK is not ‘in a zone’ and might not be until the next DON comes out *which imho will be a whizzbanger with a twist* provided PC reprises her role..or not..lol..he does films because he wants to or can ..i dont know..but I’ll ask him next time I see him ..lol..
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July 29, 2013 at 10:47 PM
I think, now, he’s doing films because he wants to. There was period between around 2000 and 2005 that he was doing all those romantic films, just for the audience. Now, I think he’s finally coming out of that and going for what he wants to do.
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July 30, 2013 at 9:25 AM
Help ‘Chennai Express’ Campaign…from flopping….!
“..*nobody asked me* SRK is not ‘in a zone’ “–hahah maggie–thanx for quoting /copying me lol
btw in my reading, Chennai express is in big danger of flopping and needs some help to avoid a total washout…
My spoofs have helped films in the past..maybe a song or two might give CE a kick to reach near 100 cr..
Havent seen “lungi dance” –will check it later…
the only reasonable trakc has been “tera rastaa chhodoon na”–
need someone who can wear a dark sari for that–Maggie can u wear a sari? or think we should take srks biggest fan Oldgold for
0.30 onwards..enjoy….
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July 30, 2013 at 1:42 PM
No sari..sorry..lol
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July 30, 2013 at 1:44 PM
Not since Kareena Kapoor in Ashoka does anyone look hot in black
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July 30, 2013 at 2:16 PM
“No sari..sorry..lol”–no problems at all maggie–will soon find another gr8 track for u. And btw srk fan oldgold has already pounced on my offer, shes in costume at the moment & rehearsing.
As for Kareena in sari -hmmm- maggie—u can say & get away with anything with me lol
Folks, i dont see these films but i present the standout highlight.
In Milkha, it was “slow motion angreza” and
In chennai Express, the only slight saving grace will be Deepika in that dark sari in this track …
While “slow motion angreza’ went to Maggie, deepika in sari deservedly goes to oldgold …… 🙂
what ‘grace’…..
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August 1, 2013 at 4:16 PM
Hey maggie–I’ve got a brilliant idea—u and Oldgold can share this same sari—I will manage somehow (& also manage the camera)
How flexible of me 😉
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August 1, 2013 at 8:09 AM
MNS threatens Chennai Express
By Bollywood Hungama News Network, August 01, 2013 – 11:24 hrs IST
Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express which is currently in news for its extensive promotions has been facing trouble from the political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). The party is miffed with the makers of the film for booking all the time slots in single screens, as this would mean that the regional Marathi movies will take a backseat.
The film which was recently postponed owing to the Eid celebrations, apparently poses as a threat to new Marathi films releasing and also to the ones like Duniyadari which are still running in full houses in non metro cities and small towns. MNS film wing Chief Amey Khopkar recently stated that if the makers are not ready to take action, then his team will soon remove the publicity posters from Maharashtra.
However, in order to resolve the matter, Rohit Shetty, director of Chennai Express, UTV productions team and the team of the Marathi film Duniyadari will meet with the MNS president Raj Thackeray at the latter’s residence at 12.30 pm today.
Chennai Express stars Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in the lead and is set to release on August 9.
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August 1, 2013 at 9:13 AM
‘Chennai Express’: Vishal-Shekhar upset with SRK over ‘Lungi dance’….
http://ibnlive.in.com/cnnibnvideos/top-in/411119.html
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August 1, 2013 at 1:20 PM
Music directors of “Chennai Express” – the Vishal-Shekhar duo, is reportedly upset with Shah Rukh Khan and Rohit Shetty for roping in rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh for the “Lungi Dance” song of the film.
According to reports, Vishal and Shekhar were not happy with Singh lending his voice for a song, and as a result they have refrained from promoting “Lungi Dance”, which has already become a sensation.
Rumours of the clash between Shah Rukh and Vishal-Shekhar came soon after a section of the media had reported that the actor was not happy with several tracks of “Chennai Express”. But the music composers brushed off the rumours saying, “When a film comes, all kind of news comes out, people talk things you don’t know. Rohit Shetty and Shah Rukh Khan are happy with it.”
This rumours were soon followed by reports that Shah Rukh had roped in rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh for a promotional track of “Chennai Express”. This was denied by Vishal Dadlani who claimed that Singh was not rendering any song for the film and was trying ride on Shah Rukh Khan’s fame.
“It’s hilarious and pathetic, how desperately this tacky rap-rapper is trying to ride on the fame of @iamsrk and #ChennaiExpress. Poor guy,” Vishal Dadlani had tweeted.
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August 1, 2013 at 6:40 PM
Lol MNS seems to be the only hope for some well wishrrs here othereise CE is likely to give them tough time in comming days.Advance bookings have started in some places and public response is never seen before.
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August 6, 2013 at 8:08 AM
Asked how he is in real life, Shah Rukh said: “I am a little like all of them. There are parts and portions of me that you see in my characters also. If I play a father, I do it the way I would do it with my kids. If I play a lover, I behave the same way I am in real life. I would say I am a funny person but also gentle and kind.”
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/hot-n-happening/35815-my-hollywood-role-should-make-indians-proud-shah-rukh-khan.htm
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August 7, 2013 at 4:28 AM
All SRK movies after RNBDJ have underperformed…I don’t think all his movies were that bad in comparison (don’t think most of the other blockbusters were good barring few)..slowly and slowly his fan base seems to have been shrinking. If this ain’t good at entertainment it could be another Himmatwala
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August 7, 2013 at 5:08 PM
NONONO … please not a Himmatwala. I really hope not 😥
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August 7, 2013 at 6:24 AM
srk will hit the jackpot with this film,eid celebration will have huge impact,140-150cr predicted
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August 7, 2013 at 4:50 PM
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/i-kiss-shah-rukh-khan-everyday-says-deepika-padukone/411901-8-66.html
I kiss srk daily !!: deepika
I kiss Shah Rukh Khan every day: Giving gifts might be a daunting task for many, but Shah Rukh Khan is an exception to the rule. He uses them as a part of human interface, to define bonds and cement the relationship he shares with his co-stars. So when the star presented a soft toy to Deepika during the promotional activity of ‘Chennai Express’, we weren’t surprised. And to ensure King Khan’s affection for his co-star didn’t go unrequited, the actress was also asked to give the star a return gift. Even before Deepika could think of an interesting option, a fan suggested, “Give him a kiss, na.” Startled Deepika instantly replied, “That I give him every day. When you’ll watch my film, you’ll see me gifting him my bakwas dictionary. But that happens in reel life. In reality, I think, he has everything. So all that I can give him is just love and happiness.”
Seems deepika may take srk to safety on the box office safety here…n chennai express…
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August 7, 2013 at 5:07 PM
http://www.boxofficecapsule.com/review-specific.aspx?review_id=135
First review of Chennai Express in :OOOO
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August 7, 2013 at 5:17 PM
Seems the ‘checque’ from SRK is speaking lol
Jokes apart–as pointed earlier, srk is using this film as ‘damage control’ mode to avoid/delay the slide to get tme to reconfigure his strategy or ‘reinvent’ …
Would be surprised if it reaches near Yjhd but seems srk has shown some ‘grit’ & ‘survival instincts’ here.
As for Deepika, she is currently on a high ( ever since cocktail as predicted!)
Ps: just checked–my current local multiplex shows no Bollywood.
The last Bollywood film it showed was Bra-1, the current one will be chennai express & the next one will be krish3 !!!!
U ask the manager–she says–with an srk film, u don’t ask questions–he still is a draw….
The other thing with srk releases if that srk fans suddenly pop up from nowhere to support his films on release( like arsh did just now lol)–already I have takers to view CE…
May catch it tomorrow/day after….
Only for deepikas black sari in ‘tera rastaa’ 🙂
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August 7, 2013 at 6:06 PM
I think Shahrukh’s doing this film for his fun. Just saying. 😛
RA.One, I’ll say it was a crap movie, but, I’d watch it again for the VFX.
I never went anywhere to pop up from lol. I’m just less active about other superstars. Might as well speak well of the superstar I know the most about than speak anything of the superstars I really don’t know much about lol. 😛
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August 7, 2013 at 6:22 PM
Not sure if this is true or not (pro’lly not), but, I read somewhere on twitter that Salman Khan has a special cameo in Chennai Express. :OOOO
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