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112 Responses to “Jai Gangaajal, Neerja (ongoing), the rest of the box office”
Jai Gangaajal had a poor opening of 10% at most multiplexes across India. The opening was a bit better in the multiplexes in UP and CI. The results were the same in single screens as an Amba in Delhi had hardly any audience but single screens of some smaller cities managed some collections. The film has had the widest release of the year going over 2600 screens but that can only help if the film can find some appreciation and collect.
The film is an attempt to some advantage of the Gangaajal brand which was a film starring ajay Devgn released in 2003 and did decent in some circuits but not well enough to hold any value as a brand.
The other release of the week Zubaan is a dull fare and its initial is like last weeks disaster Aligarh. The growth has to phenomenal over the weekend to get some respectable collections. Success looks an impossible task..
Neerja grossed around 21 crore nett in its second week taking its business to around 56 crore nett. the drop week on week was around 40%. The film is benefiting from a tax free status in Mumbai city, Delhi city and Pune. These places have put up better second week NETT collections than Airlift due to no entertainment tax. This is despite the collections being 30-35% less across India.
The film has now grossed over 20 crore nett in Mumbai and over 15 crore nett in Delhi /UP. The film is basically following the business of Queen though a better starting level will mean higher final total.
The releases of last week are both disasters with Tere Bin Laden – Dead Or Alive grossing around 3.50 crore nett while Aligarh was even worse with 2.25 crore nett.
Assuredly enough, the light-footed protector of all things honorable and lawful conducts herself with steel, smiles and sarcasm.
Priyanka imbues calm charisma and confidence in a formulaic character yet never pedals on gratuitous feminism.
Too bad she’s relegated to playing second fiddle to the film’s director Prakash Jha. Or what could also be known as the biggest problem of Jai GangaaJal.
Now Jha’s knowledge in current affairs is undisputed, providing him regular fodder for a conscious if awfully bombastic effort to pass judgment on large-scale depravity. But in Jai GangaaJal, a follow-up to his 2003 hit, he assumes the role of a protagonist too. It’s not a cameo, a villain or a supporting character but a full-fledged leading part, in which his unconvincing transformation from a tainted cop to gallant knight of the masses forms the crux of the plot.
Kabhi alvida kehna flopped despite her cameo, mnik flopped, we are family flopped. All of these films flopped in india and her recent comeback with her most sought after co-actor srk is a flop. All of these mvies flopped in india, they were called some sort of success based on their overseas performance.
I think they had found a cure for cancer but they want to hide it so that the pharma industry selling expensive cancer drugs may prosper more at the cost of suffering humanity.
@Intolerant Srkian Satyam
You wont create Love Games and Rocky Handsome post with new trailer and come up with petty excuses, but srk’s each new image knocks your heartbeat and doesnt take a minute to update.
Jai Gangaajal grossed around 4.25-4.50 crore nett on its first day. The collections were better in some centres of UP, Bihar and CI but overall it was a poor performance with limited improvement in the evening. The best performance was in Delhi / UP which collected 1 crore nett apprc due mainly due to collections in UP.
The film will find it tough going over the weekend as North India multiplexes have not fared well especially Punjab and Delhi and these sort of films find it hard in Mumbai circuit which forms the other big chunk of the all India business.
The other release of the week Zubaan was a very dull affair with collections set be around 10 lakhs nett. The film has fared even worse than last weeks disaster Aligarh which actually had three times better collections on its first day.
Neerja dropped for the first time in its run as it grossed 1-1.25 crore nett on its third Friday. The film dropped around 60% from last Friday and 20% from its second Thursday despite weekend ticket rates on third Friday. The total of the film is around 57.50 crore nett in eight days which is similar to Kahaani though gross business is lower.. Despite the drop it should get to around 70 crore nett for lifetime business.
The film has got tax exemption in Rajasthan but hardly matters now as collections are practically nothing outside Jaipur and even Jaipur is weak. The tax exemption will not make much difference in Rajasthan as it did with Mumbai city and Delhi city.
The film has taken full advantage of the tax exemptions in crucial cities and got a good clear run with weak competition to finish with a very good lifetime total.
Gangajal’s collections of 4cr from 2600 screens are very poor.
We can give Priyanka Chopra the credit of trying out different roles, but that’s as far as it goes. She was unconvincing in and as Mary Kom and now downright poor in Gangajal. Watched the movie last night and it’s a movie that should never have been re-made.
The first one was a low grosser actually (it barely made 8cr lifetime during a year when the top 3- Koi Mil Gaya, MHN and The Hero were making around 40cr, 30cr and 25cr respectively). Moderate hits like Chalte Chalte, Andaaz and Tere Naam were grossing collecting twice the numbers of Gangajal.
The new Gangajal is a poor movie and while Devgan’s performance saved the first movie, Priyanka’s performance here is completely flat and makes the film unintentionally hilarious.
He should have made Gangaajal 2 with Devgn. It would have been a pleasure to watch Jha pitted against Ajay.
If at all he wanted to take a female lead, he could have gone for Kajol. Husband and wife comparisons in similar roles.
Now dont tell me she screams and screeches!
One current habit that the lyricist feels should be discontinued is the way songs in a film are doled out to different composers and lyricists.”It’s becoming a kind of system now,” he notes. “But this way it is more about songs filling in the blanks. No one takes responsibility for the film and the story as a whole. It also generates a belief that no composer or writer is capable of handling a full film.”
But is not that largely true? “If it is, then they should sign us older generation of music makers and poets!” he smiles. “Yes, there is this fixed mindset that we are old generation and cannot deliver, which is not true at all. Look at Anu Malik and Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which even won an award recently.”
The hit songs that Sameer has written in films as assorted as Rowdy Rathore, F.A.L.T.U,, Khiladi 786 and many more are further proof that the writer keeps in sync with the times. “Still, the myth spreads as ‘Out of sight, out of mind’,” he smiles wryly.
What is his opinion about the current hot lyricists? “There are some writers who I call ‘song-sellers’, who may not be even writing all the songs they peddle,” he says frankly. “Then there are people like Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya who essentially know their jobs. But they have to prove that they can sustain.”
A general tendency that the veteran decries is about writers taking themselves so seriously that they subconsciously want to be someone else. “We may idolize Anand Bakshi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi or even Gulzar, but we must not try to be what they were as writers, because their writing was a part of their personalities and suited only them! From them, it was original, but if we ape them, we cannot really reach anywhere!”
Touche! But what would be his tips to new lyricists? “I want to tell them that the film industry is like a ruthless centre for a tough examination! This isn’t a place that you enter unprepared. And only relentless hard work and grit can keep you here. Bakshi-saab said that he struggle to make it was nothing compared to the struggle after success comes. That’s when you have to sustain, fight back, hold your own and survive all the odds, including the arrival of new people in your field http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/9874
Destiny’s Child
by Soumita Sengupta (March 5, 2016)
Director Ram Madhvani on his recent hit Neerja and on going from strength to strength.
Did you expect Neerja to open so well?
I was recently reading an interview of Alejandro González Iñárritu, the guy who directed The Revenant, and he had said, ‘We knew what we wanted to make, but we never knew what we had made till you told us.’ I connect with that. It has been a great reception of love, and that has been the most shocking part. Obviously, I have a responsibility as a filmmaker and as an associate producer, because people have invested their money and have to recover their investment.
But there is a value system too, that society eventually reacts to, what this girl stood for, whether it was her duty or self-respect or whether she was vulnerable or scared, and how you face that fear. There is also a value system about the mother-daughter relationship. People are reacting to that too. The reaction has exceeded our expectations. There are four kinds of success, one of them being personal success. So when we watched the film internally, I knew that the ‘personal success’ box was ticked off. The film has heart, it has soul and as a filmmaker that is what you want. I was asked during the first cut if I knew, right then and there, whether there was something in the film, and I said, ‘Yes, I knew then.’ Everything else is a matter of craft. As soon as you get the heart right, you’re safe. We knew we had critical success when some of the biggest and senior-most personalities in the business, from Amitabh Bachchan to Aamir Khan to Karan Johar and Javed Akhtar, said so many positive things about the film. On Friday all the reviews were positive. So personal success and critical success were assured.
Then there are the other two ‘successes’. Commercial success relates to how much money the film is making and whether the producers have recovered their investment. As you can see, the film is doing phenomenal business. But, sometimes, you can get commercial success but you may not get popular success because you may recover your money in the first three days but people may not like what you have made. That is the fourth success which we have achieved.
The film has touched the hearts of people and it has also got to their eyes! (Laughs) People are connecting with the emotions in the film, especially with the mother-daughter emotion, which I call the ‘sacred nothingness of life’. My friend’s father from Vizag called and said to me, ‘Your film is life-size’. That is the biggest compliment we have received. It’s beyond 70mm cinema. Kitni badi hai? Zindagi jitni badi hai, babumoshai.
What made you make Neerja a Rajesh Khanna fan in the film?
Obviously, Neerja was a great fan of Rajesh Khanna and also of Amitabh Bachchan. The thing with Rajesh Khanna is that he glorified death. In many of his famous movies, his lines were about living life to the fullest and therefore even when she says, ‘Main marne se pehle marna nahi chahti babumoshai’ to her mother, that becomes her resolve. Rajesh Khanna was someone we all looked up to. The theme of the film was that here is somebody who lived her life to the fullest, even though it was a very short life. That’s why, again, it is about the soul of the film.
The film is an immersive emotional and honest experience. And that’s precisely why we go to a cinema hall. In this film, you forget you are in a theatre, you are transported into the Bhanot home and in the flight scenes, you feel you are one of the passengers, you feel suffocated. You go to a cinema hall to remember yourself and also to forget yourself.
Now I am very keen to see how people will react when they watch it on their mobile phones because a dark hall gives you a sense of catharsis, it allows you purification, and that is why we go to watch movies, so that you can be in a public space and still completely switch off. Mobile phones have changed all that but it is the closest we come to the experience in the theatre, where they make sure you have switched off (from the outside world). Cinema is perhaps the only digital detox we have. That is what Harivansh Rai Bachchan said about the definition of poetry. He said, ‘I have a headache and I write about my headache as a poet and you read that poem and you feel my headache and you get one.’ That is poetry.
About the genre… you said your point of view was the mother-daughter relationship but Saiwyn (Quadras) had the story…
(Cuts in) It was Saiwyn’s idea to make a film on Neerja and he spoke to Atul (Kasbekar). I am indebted to Atul for calling me two and a half years ago, asking if I would like to make a film on Neerja Bhanot. The reason I said ‘yes’ was because she was part of urban folklore at the time and my wife’s closest friend was in school with her, and one of my business partners was shooting an advertisement with her on that day. Her last advertisement was with Ayesha Saini from Shunyata. She shot the ad, went home and then caught her last flight. So I was familiar with Neerja and what she stood for. She would have been the same age as I am right now if she was with us today.
So I said ‘yes’ to Atul and we worked on the script. Saiwyn wrote the script and Sanyuktha (Chawla Shaikh) wrote the dialogue. But the great thing was to know where to go in terms of the story we wanted to tell. And to do that, you have to get the director involved because eventually it is the director’s medium. The director has a vision, which he then passes on. From the time we were talking, I knew it had to be a mother-daughter story because Saiwyn and I had met Ramaji (Bhanot, Neerja’s mother). It was not that the idea came from me; it was a collective thing.
Saiwyn mentioned that he thought of the story from a thriller point of view but you wanted to make it an emotional tale.
By and large, there are two kinds of directors – a visualist and a humanist. I am a humanist. So when you watch the film, you will notice that it is a very visual film. Even during the closing sequence, after the speech, there is silence when the family leaves and the dog is left behind. Those sequences are very poetic but my ultimate quest is to reflect some truth as a director. I am interested in human truth without it becoming boring. Another director might have presented it differently. And Saiwyn and Sanyuktha share the same world view.
You need to know where you want to go. As they say, if you don’t know where you are going, all roads will take you there. As a director, you are meant to give the film a direction. Atul, Sonam, Saiwyn and I went to meet Ramaji in Chandigarh. We met Neerja’s family and Ramaji was a very inspiring and positive lady. That is why we brought her into the film, in the beginning, saying, ‘Jeete raho, sukhi raho, khush raho, mast raho.’ I am very sad that she couldn’t watch the film; she passed away before the trailer was launched but I knew then that the film had to be inspiring and motivational. Sanyuktha has written some amazing lines like ‘Sharmaji ke yahaan jaa ke chowmein banana seekh le,’ it’s a regular conversation. The speech by Shabanaji at the end was very well written. This is actually dialoguebaazi but we didn’t do it in a dialoguebaazi way.
The film has all the entertaining elements it requires and you have connected old emotions with the new very nicely. How difficult was it to simultaneously create Neerja’s past?
I give all the credit for that to Saiwyn Quadras, who wrote the screenplay because all of these elements are in the script. I am interested in having a signed-off script. So the entire team, Fox Star Studios, Sonam, Shabanaji, everybody… had to buy into the script and that script had to be locked. We spent a lot of time drafting the script. Saiwyn and Sanyuktha have gone above and beyond duty with the kind of detailing they have achieved. When you read the script, you realise it’s all there.
Then, obviously, there’s the editor, Monisha (R Baldawa), with whom I have been working since my ad film days. The objective of the scene is very clear, now you have to make sure you don’t lose the objective in the execution. How do you get to that objective? That is why I take such long shots, that is why I shot 360 degrees, that is why I chose to shoot without lights, that is why I make sure there is ‘life’ before ‘action’ and after ‘cut’.
In most films, there is life between action and cuts. But, here, it feels like the people lived before and after. They existed even before the cameras went off. I did that by doing very long takes, sometimes the minimum length was 45 minutes but our first take was one and a half hours straight because when the terrorists enter, it was 6am, they had not met the passengers before, so I had workshops with the passengers, terrorists and cabin crew separately.
The scene in the script is only five pages long but to get the emotions out of everyone, which I didn’t want to miss, we shot the entire scene for one and a half hours right from the moment the terrorists get in to everyone putting their hands up. I knew the context because it was all written, which made things easier for all of us. So you have a bound script and then you try to arrive at the objective of the bound script in this manner. Otherwise you get handcuffed by the industrial process of filmmaking. I don’t believe in that kind of filmmaking. So everything was there in the script and it made things easy for us to shoot.
What kind of research did all of you do while building the characters of those terrorists from the ‘80s because it’s very different today, with terrorists being aware of technology?
That is what the film also deals with, the ascending chaos of the crisis that happened. In this particular case, the truth was that they really didn’t know where the cockpit was. They were in the plane for 16 hours, the pilots had fled, which is the protocol and the right thing to do. If the pilots had not left, the plane would have taken off and that would have been far more dangerous. Eventually, 20 people lost their lives, which is a lot, but we don’t know what would have happened had the pilots not followed the protocol by running away when Neerja gave the ‘hijack code’. So we haven’t changed anything.
You are also an accomplished ad filmmaker…
(Cuts in) I am very happy doing ads and we are doing another one next week. I will continue making ads. Advertising has taught me everything. I made ads for 14 years, and then I did a documentary for (Amitabh) Bachchan called Everlasting Light, which was screened at the Lincoln Center in New York. I did a song for Taare Zameen Par, and Aamir asked me to direct the theme song for Satyamev Jayate. I was also working on some films that didn’t work out. When they don’t work out, you are obviously disheartened but it’s akin to climbing Mount Everest. On the way up, there will be blizzards, landslides, snowstorms and frostbite. You have to expect this to happen or else you shouldn’t start the climb. A friend of mine was talking about the 14 years I spent before Neerja and sent me a quote this morning which essentially says: Jab jab jo jo hona hai, tab tab so so hota hai.
I believe there is a force, and in hindsight, I can actually see why those earlier films didn’t happen and I why this one did. On many fronts, the film is blessed by Neerja and by Ramaji, all the hurdles fell away on their own.
What’s next for you?
I have scripts ready but I am not going to speak about them because you never know, especially in this business. It is better to talk about them as and when they happen.
Besides its hit music, Teraa Surroor has been in the news for Himesh’s six pack abs. We now hear that the film has already made profits before its release. Made in a budget of Rs. 11 crs only (Cost of production – Rs. 6.5cr + Publicity & Advertising – Rs. 4.5cr). Excited director Shawn Arranha says “The producers have already recovered the film’s cost through sale of music, satellite and other rights. I’m equally confident that the audience will thoroughly enjoy this edge of the seat entertainer right from the word go owing to some great performances the pace of the film. I can proudly say that I’m very happy with the product”.
Aside from the casting coup of Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi and Shekhar Kapur, we hear there is a big twist in this escape drama which will keep the audience guessing about who the real bad guy is. Adds Arranha “Set in the beautiful city of Dublin, there are lethal action sequences in the film which are visually stunning. There is also a very classy love making scene; this hasn’t been shot to catch eyeballs. It is a very integral part of the plot and has been shot very aesthetically.”
Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Naseeruddin Shah, Shekhar Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra and Shernaz Patel and produced by T Series and HR Musik, Teraa Suroor releases on 11th March 2016.
Jai Gangaajal showed limited on Saturday to the tune of 10-15%. The film had to do better due to the poor opening day. The first two day business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Total – 9,50,00,000
The film does not have high costs but the business of the film is around 20-25% less than it should be. The film needed to be around the 20 crore nett mark for the weekend but it has no chance of getting there.
This, naturally, also gave rise to a number of humorous posts related to Leonardo’s win. But one such post that caught everyone’s fancy was about the actor’s hugely acclaimed science-fiction movie ‘Inception’.
In the movie, Leonardo’s character uses a spinning top to make out whether he is awake or dreaming. So, a meme started doing the rounds where Leonardo uses the top to know whether his Oscar win is real or just a dream.
But the meme has triggered some truly unexpected consequences. As per a report in the Independent, the post is responsible for an upsurge in the sales of spinning tops in the Burton town of the United Kingdom. The report has also quoted a designer of tops saying that he is worried that he might run out of stock.
Sonam Kapoor is pretty good, but she still cannot make the heavier scenes work – like the one in which she’s forced to sing in front of the passengers. (Her best performance is still the one as the child-woman of Aisha. I get the feeling that was all her.) The deficiencies are heightened by the presence of a genuine dramatic heavyweight like Shabana Azmi, whose motherliness is magnificent – the character comes across as a giant bosom you want to bury your head in and weep your worries away. I watched her final speech through a thick film of tears. It’s a terrific example of how to deliver a message but not make the audience feel they’re listening to a message. Even as she repeats Imam Saab’s Sholay line about there being no greater pain than that of a child’s loss (but with less melodrama, more understatement), she marvels that this girl had it in her to be so brave. Neerja makes us see what a lovely person Neerja was, beyond the heroine she became. She was genuinely nice, principled, life-loving – and all this is emphasised in the opening stretch where the film keeps cutting between celebrations at Neerja’s housing society and preparations by the terrorists, between crowds and loners, between sunshine and darkness, between a Pomeranian with sunglasses and men with bullets and bombs, between life and death.
The interview is kind of an apology..Even though I didn’t agree with his comment in express event but I don’t want him to give this interview. I also think Rajat Shrama showed his narrow mindedness when asking Sunny leone question. Aamir tweet was never about supporting her previous avatar but about dignity to a weaker person who is trying to survive in a different avatar. Aamir was right in not yielding ground on Sunny’s question.
Completely agree with you Munna that the interview does sound kind of an apology..with NO specifics at all.. just like Trump’s debates .. [and before Aamir’s ‘FANS’ pounce on me, let me reiterate, I am talking of the ‘high-level equivalence’ and not the ‘substantial’ equivalent ‘facts’].
Nobody — at least the sane ones– is expecting a ‘certificate’ of patriotism from Aamir. That would be dishonest and RIDICULOUS because, MOST of the Indians living in India would be frustrated with the day-to-day shenanigans and would expect to migrate elsewhere or find a better solution. That would be pretty hypocritical from non-resident Indians or resident Non-Indians.
The point is, did AAMIR really believe WHAT he said about the 6-8 months period when the buzzword ‘intolerance’ was at Mount Everest high? Or did he jump onto the AWARD-WAAPSI bandwagon?
As a fan of Aamir, I am personally disappointed that AAMIR decided to ‘flow’ with the ‘intellectuals’ tide rather than flow against–or even for it– with his OWN THINKING.
This interview, is again, a pretty sad reminder of the fact that he just didn’t know what he was talking about — coz when faced with specificity as to WHAT happened in those 6-8 months that made him and his wife feel ‘insecure’, he just resorted to text-book shite: ISIS [really?? ISIS!! — so what the HELL does Modi and ‘sanghis’ have to do with that?]
Aamir is a GENUINE person, NO 2 ways about it. But THAT doesn’t mean he is going to be right — sorry, left — ALL THE TIME. The sooner the hardly-dying Aamir fans on this blog and elsewhere realize that, the better for ‘tolerance’ in our society..
Dont you think that Kanhaiya Kumar was much more forthright and clear as he has nothing to lose unlike Aamir?
He is a true blue commie which is no more relevant even in China or even in Russia. He should have rather aligned with Aap, the homegrown variety.
Aamir is tying himself in knots on the otherhand.
Munna i don’t find it to be apologetic on part of Aamir from any angle. He kept on reiterating the point with regard to him being misquoted or misinterpreted and stated what he said in Indian Express interview which was specifically “growing sense of intolerance”, but never did he ”term entire India intolerant” and tried to differentiate between these 2 wholly opposite point of view. He tried to clear the confusion and nowhere did he seem to be apologetic in my view, which might be wrong. And yes An Jo i also didn’t agree with what Aamir stated in Express interview and thought he was wrong in his assessment, yet never doubted his intentions and integrity. The way Aamir was targeted afterwards kind of proved his point in hindsight. Aamir is no God and is prone to committing mistakes, but the way the entire issue was dealt with displayed the ”petty tolerance level” we have as a society.
Great Points AnJo.. If there is one person whose sincerity towards social causes and deshbhakti can not be doubted it is Aamir Khan .
However Kiran Rao is a commie and is influenced by a.holes like slob, and waisey bhee biwi ley infkuence mein toh Dashrath jee bhe aa gaye they….Aamir toh bechara Insaan hai !!lol
Omkarji, don’t talk bad things about Kaiykaee. There was divine design behind that one. Dashrath could have easily ‘forgotten’ the promise he had given in battlefield in front of no witnesses but then we wouldn’t have the Ramayan.
On “The point is, did AAMIR really believe WHAT he said about the 6-8 months period when the buzzword ‘intolerance’ was at Mount Everest high? Or did he jump onto the AWARD-WAAPSI bandwagon?” Based on history of Aamir’s antics I would say the latter. Not just this intolerance debate but earlier fracas he got involved in too. Here is my advice to Aamir:
1) keep bedroom conversations to yourself.
2) If you are that big patriot (“look I don’t even have homes abroad like others”) then show it by not creating dangerous, controversial statements on matters that you are pretty clueless about (and look like real-life PK) and knowing that you are a public figure whose each word has lot of power and with great power comes great responsibility. Don’t create statements where fear is generated in public mind. That is terrifying.
3) buy a home abroad (which ever ‘stan’ in more safe for you) and move out next time you feel unsafe for your little one and don’t even give public interview. Rajeev Rai (Sonum’s husband) did just that when underworld came calling. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Rajiv-Rai-relocates-to-Mumbai-after-14-years-of-his-run-in-with-the-mafia/articleshow/38085964.cms
Di, I think by now Aamir has learnt his lesson the hard way.
There is one saying in telugu. Adusu thronnanela, kaalu kadaganela. Why to step on dirt and then wash your legs.
An Jo it is these kinds of ”Polarising hate speeches” which Aamir talked of in his IE interview. And this is involving MOS Ramshankar Katheria and BJP MPs from UP, who spoke of ”retaliation exhorting Hindus to unite against enemies”. And yet it gets justified just because UP assembly elections are due next year! If union ministers indulge in such kind of hate speeches, i do not know what to say! Let our PM Modi set the precedence by removing such hate-mongers who are hell-bent on dividing the Nation along religious lines. And Aamir after getting so much brickbat for his one statement realised the futility of expecting ”the unexpected” from the party in power, so that’s why he is ”holding ISIS sleeper cells and media responsible for his statement” as ”Truth” again will enrage Crores!
3 weeks back when news came Baahubali2 will release on Christmas, Aamir preponed dangal to 15th August.
And excuses given was it is a patriotic film, no release date is better than 15th august for dangal. And now, it is pushed to December again, what a shame, what happened to this patriotic film now? or he is using patriotism as token to intact his star status.
With this, aamir has exposed himself as cheap person.
What a shame. http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/box-office/release-dates
Ofcourse he did in a ceremony recently. And that’s why BH moved release date to 15th august on their calendar. And also taran, komal reported same.
Aamir’s words – “Explaining his point of view, Aamir said that the film is quite high on patriotism and also talks about the empowerment of the daughters of India and as such, Dangal should be ideally released on or around 15 August.”
This was a rumour floating around without any base as nowhere Aamir or anybody involved with Dangal talked of preponing it to 15th August. Infact Aamir had already flown to the US when this gossip began circulating!
Q. If Dangal prepones and releases on Independence Day, don’t you think Sultan or Raees, one of them should move to Christmas?
A. News of Dangal releasing during Independence Day seems to be baseless. We haven’t heard from any reliable source about Dangal getting preponed. It doesn’t make sense either. Why would Aamir Khan want to let go of his most successful release period, which also happens to be the best time of the year to release films? So far, it looks like he will get a solo release too. No logical reason to shift to any other date. The only reason for the confusion is, the director of the film refused to comment when asked if Dangal will be shifted to Independence Day.
This Q&A session is from 6th march by Indicine when BH also rearranged the date in their calendar back to december. Did you check Taran& Komal’s tweet 3 weeks back and following that, how Bollywoodhungama changed release date from 23th dec to 15th Aug. But, as the news of Bahubali postponed was confirmed last week, BH also changed back date from 15th aug to december again.
This is so cheap of aamir, and those were his words as reported by Taran, Komal, Yahoo and TOI. Those words came when news of Bahuballi2 release date was said to be confirmed as christmas. Without his words, no trade insider can dare to change so quickly.
This back tracking and cheap opportunism at the pretext of patriotism has degraded aamir to lowest level.
From my fav one year back(though i was never a fanatic, just an admirer) to worst loud mouth political personality, he came a long way in a year.
I will expose him sequence of misdeeds since 2006 when he protested in gujarat at the behest of congress during election year, i always ignored his dirty deeds. Just dont have time right now, i will wait for right time. But this is enough of his mischief.
This is for Raghav with regard to ”This back tracking and cheap opportunism at the pretext of patriotism has degraded aamir to lowest level” as how he would react to this news report- utter opportunism or unethical or both from Akshay Kumar!
Q. Mohenjodaro announced their release date first.. but now Akshay’s Rustom is releasing on same date and they are trying to scare away competition. Is this ethical? (Neeraj)
A. There are two ways to look at this. One, since there are just 52 weeks in a year and more than 200 film releases, there is no way to escape clashes. Every producer is free to pick the date he believes is right for his film.
On the other hand, there seems to be no unity in the industry. When a big budget film like Mohenjo Daro was announced almost a year ago and Hrithik was returning after nearly two years, the makers of Rustom not only announce the date of their film, but also try to create perception that their film is hot in the trade by releasing posters. Akshay even went to the extent of promoting his film on Zee Cine Awards and ensured that he highlighted the ’12 August 2016′ date in every tweet. For some reason, the intention doesn’t seem to be right. The film has just gone on floors about a month ago, Akshay has Housefull 3 before Rustom (promotional campaign for which hasn’t even started). The message seems to be – not only do we want the Independence Day week, but we will go all out to try to push Mohenjo Daro (since the stakes for the film are way too high) and give Rustom a solo release. Not too sure about the ‘ethical’ part of it, but the tactics that team Rustom is using, isn’t the nicest.
@raghav — with all your venom against Aamir you have nothing to say about the fact that YRF-Salman’s Sultan was announced suddenly with a promo a few months after Dangal preparations started. Few people have bothered to protest even mildly about this matter. Sultan was announced with a teaser even before any work on it was started. Dangal was already being prepped, Aamir preparing for it. And Sultan simply started steamrolling over Dangal through the next few months. Dangal preparations started late in 2014, as per media reports. Sultan suddenly announced early summer 2015. Since the media is full of Salman- SRK Bhakts and the two stars are admittedly more popular, this sort of backstabbing of Aamir was ignored for most part except by a few die hard Aamir supporters. In fact a Sultan promo was released along with an SRK film teaser, same day. This sort of backstabbing does not seem to bother you or any of the regular Bolly fans.
Aamir may have wished to bring Dangal forward to August, but did not do so. He never spoke openly about it. But he has every bloody right to bring his film forward. However he has always said that a section is left to be shot througha month, mid- 2016. And hence, the film will release in December as before. No other reason, I think.
The past few months have seen this extremely unfair hate campaign against Aamir, go on and on. His IE interview was nothing terrible and yet this cooked up campaign against him. Rajat Sharma tried to bully Aamir — but it was Aamir who came out with dignity, replying to all cheap shots perfectly.
Aamir does few films, few endorsements, is rarely around — and yet he gets everybody’s goat? Bloody unfair.
I am probably one of the few people who even bother to speak up for Aamir, completely. Never mind. Some of us do it, because we mean what we say, speak up for a man who has been hounded beyond reason through past few months. I know a couple of supporters who feel the same as I do, but don’t have the energy I display in speaking up for him. Never mind the cynics, sceptics, supposed fans, dissenters whoever — here is my take on the recent Aap ki Adalat interview.
I watched the unedited long version available on the net; am not sure if that is the full version put up above by Aamirsfan.
Well, if anybody has the inclination and patience to go through the whole thing, a few things will be clear. Aamir spoke politely but firmly making his points clearly, in the face of ( in his own words– ‘aap mujhe bahut torture kar rahein hain’) — a total frontal and often unfair( the Sunny Leone issue) attack from BJP wala Rajat Sharma. He was calm, clear, smiling, non- combative, in the face of great provocation. Hats off to him just for that . Plus a whole hour plus of conversation completely in Good Hindi, something neither a Salman nor SRK can manage.
And he spoke a lot of sense as usual, never getting overly dramatic like our deshbhakts SIrani and A Kher. He made specific points, too many to recollect, but completely ignored by cherry – picking media with its own agenda.
He was asked specifically about the uniform civil code, and he replied that he was for its implementation without regard to religion.
He was accused of being angry with social media — as if he doesn’t have good reason for that. He was asked about being photographed with ‘dadhiwaley’ — and Aamir replied that he was with his ammi for hajj and got photographed with bearded folks since many at hajj sport beards. A joke, but also a reminder that sundry photographs don’t define anybody’s patriotism or lack thereof. He even spoke about an interview doing the rounds of social media, where he is supposed to have said that his wives may be Hindu, but his children will be Muslim. He denied having ever given such an interview; I believe him. He does few interviews, specifically speaking to a publication, never to random interviewers.Having followed Aamir for years, one thing I have noticed is that he never but never talks about religion, especially his own. In fact, long back in an interview to Tehelka, he had said that his kids are Muslim- Hindu, so what does he put them down as.
To Raghav who considers Aamir cheap — Aamir was never going to release Dangal anytime other than Christmas. He has talked about doing a bit of shoot through July; how on earth can he release the film in August?
To Sanjana who feels that Aamir is in the doghouse — ah well, charmingly put. But I hope that if there is any sense of fairness in the world Aamir will survive this bad phase. He deserves to . He is more genuine than rabid Rajat Sharmas and their ilk.
The key line by Aamir was- “Meri Bhavna / Neeyat mein khot nahee hai, haan Meri Information galat ho sakti hai ”
BINGO
The information provided by your Commie wife, her Commie friends and by the Commie media was wrong.
Thanks and Bravo Aamir, aapkee neeyat par at least I had NO doubts whatsoever – whether it was PK or it was your Unfortunate statement .!!
Top Bollywood actors like Nana Patekar, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Shefali Shah and Om Puri will lend their voice for the Hindi version of the upcoming adventure-fantasy film The Jungle Book.
Nana Patekar, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Shefali Shah and Om Puri will lend their voice for the Hindi version of The Jungle Book
This film, which is set to hit the screens on 15th April in America and other countries, will release one week before in India i.e. on 8th of April.
Hollywood celebs Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Espositoand and Christopher Walken has done dubbing for the original version.
The Jungle Book is directed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau.
Neerja showed a drop in collections in the third weekend as it grossed around 5.50 crore nett. The drop is around 60% plus but if we factor in the tax free status in most of the country the drop is much higher in terms of gross collections. The film is best in Mumbai circuit. The business of Neerja till date is as follows
Week One – 35,29,00,000
Week Two – 21,52,00,000
Third Weekend – 5,50,00,000 apprx
Total – 62,31,00,000
The business in terms of nett collections is now on par with Queen and Mary Kom and the gross is also higher than the latter but the gross numbers are less than Queen.
Jai Gangaajal has fared poorly over the first weekend with business of a little over 15 crore nett. The film fared a little better in UP, CI and Bihar but that won’t really change the final outcome. The first weekend business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Sunday – 5,75,00,000
Total – 15,25,00,000
The film really had no brand value as the first film was successful at places but not what you would call a popular film which would add value to a second film. Despite the low collections they are still the fifth highest weekend collections of 2016 due to only Airlift taking a fair initial.
The other release of the week Zubaan was a total washout collecting just 25 lakhs apprx over its first weekend.
A very fine interview with jurist and advocate Fali S. Nariman, in which he spares no political party nor media while praising AB Vajpayee as a leader and a PM to be emulated by the current politicians! A very mild-mannered man with an affable personality :-
Jai Gangaajal was pretty steady on Monday as it dropped around 35% from its first day but it was a holiday for Mahashivratri which helped the collections in various parts of the country. The first four day business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Sunday – 5,75,00,000
Monday – 3,00,00,000
Total – 18,25,00,000
The four day collections of 18.25 crore nett are still low and the first week business will depend on the Tuesday numbber which will give an idea to how much the film was boosted by the holiday for Mahashivratri.
Neerja benefited from the holiday for Mahashivratri in many parts of the country on its third Monday. The collections were almost similar to its third Friday. The four day third week business of Neerja is as follows
Friday – 1,00,00,000
Saturday – 2,00,00,000
Sunday – 2,50,00,000
Monday – 90,00,000
Total – 6,40,00,000
The total for the film so far is 63 crore nett plus. The third week business will be around 8.25 crore nett.
Anupam Kher is a real life villain: Yogi Adityanath
JP MP Mahant Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday declared Bollywood actor Anupam Kher a “real life villain” for his reported statement that Yogi and another BJP functionary, Sadhvi Prachi, “speak nonsense” and “should be thrown out of the BJP”.
“Everyone knows about the character of a villain. Kher is not only a reel life villain, but also in real life. I don’t want to say anything more on his statement made in Kolkata,” Yogi said.
Another Sanghi guy..I guess he forgot the same “Hindu taliban” which he is referring, was after his head when he made fun of Draupadi and Krishna in a stand-up act.
There is nothing Sanghi about what he is saying. The whole Hindu taliban vs Muslim taliban comparison is a gross exaggeration. Sure there are elements on the hindu right that need to be reined in, but to compare them to the brutal regimes of the Taliban and ISIS is ridiculous
Your reviews are mostly apolitical — that is, they talk about a film but mainly stay within the ambit of cinema (concentrating more on its aesthetic, less on the actual politics). Have you ever thought about being more political in your reviews — especially in films that demand introspection of that kind?
The first and foremost obligation of a film should be to fulfill what it set out to do. So if somebody wants to make a film about the reservation system, but if he wants to make it in a slightly fanciful way, that is perfectly okay because the aesthetic of a film is tied to what it sets out to do. So when you are talking about a political review, I look at it this way: There are people who come from a political or a gender studies background, and they are very good at looking at a film from a particular political position, because they have been trained to study cultural information that way. But I am not; so the value that I bring to this is, by looking at cinema as cinema and as a cultural document that provides some kind of a narrative.
But even when a movie is done in a particular mainstream fashion, you can’t really haul it up by saying that it didn’t do this, it didn’t do that. Because people are bashing Airlift (2016) today for not being true to the real events; but if you look at hundreds of films made around the world on real-life heroes, they are all fiction. Airlift’s obligation is not to tell a Kuwaiti story. Airlift’s obligation is to tell the story of Ranjit Katyal [the film’s hero] in the most convincing manner possible. There’s a big difference between the two.
But, at the same time, I am not blaming those who are saying that Airlift is ridiculous or fictional. I am just saying that that’s how I look at it. For me, the success and failure of Airlift depend on whether the story of Ranjit Katyal is told convincingly, and not whether the story of Kuwaiti evacuation is told convincingly. So the way I look at it, inevitably, I am not going to do a polemical or a political deconstruction, simply because for me the content and form of the film are pretty much within the narrative framework. Which is why I end up mostly talking about the writing and the craft rather than the context in which the film is set, unless there’s something egregious about it that is hugely insensitive. But then, one thing that most people don’t understand is that most films are stories of people behaving in a particular way. It’s only when you extrapolate it and say that people in films should behave like how you imagine people should behave – that’s when you get into all these problems.
What it’d look like: Bronte’s wild novel is perfect for the sort of magnificent, infuriating melodramas Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes. (The director has successfully adapted Romeo and Juliet and the historical novel Rau into Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani respectively, and took inspiration from the Bengali novel Na Hanyate for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.) Bhansali does a good job of setting his films outside the metro-centric Punjabi world that one sees in most Bollywood films, and this one would give him the opportunity to go up into the mountains for some gorgeous location shooting. He could also build his giant, detailed sets for the desi version of Wuthering Heights (the manor) and Thrushcross Grange.
Bhansali was at his most political in Bajirao Mastani, and would perhaps be able to dramatize in interesting ways the conflicts of class (and, in an Indian setting, perhaps caste) that were rife in Wuthering Heights. I’d advise him to focus on the Heathcliff-Cathy love story and truncate the stuff with their children.
SATYAMSHOT 
March 4, 2016 at 12:16 AM
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March 4, 2016 at 12:16 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Abhishek-Bachchan-creates-Dhoom-in-Banaras/articleshow/51243842.cms
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March 4, 2016 at 3:09 AM
Jai Gangaajal had a poor opening of 10% at most multiplexes across India. The opening was a bit better in the multiplexes in UP and CI. The results were the same in single screens as an Amba in Delhi had hardly any audience but single screens of some smaller cities managed some collections. The film has had the widest release of the year going over 2600 screens but that can only help if the film can find some appreciation and collect.
The film is an attempt to some advantage of the Gangaajal brand which was a film starring ajay Devgn released in 2003 and did decent in some circuits but not well enough to hold any value as a brand.
The other release of the week Zubaan is a dull fare and its initial is like last weeks disaster Aligarh. The growth has to phenomenal over the weekend to get some respectable collections. Success looks an impossible task..
Boxofficeindia.
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March 4, 2016 at 3:10 AM
Neerja grossed around 21 crore nett in its second week taking its business to around 56 crore nett. the drop week on week was around 40%. The film is benefiting from a tax free status in Mumbai city, Delhi city and Pune. These places have put up better second week NETT collections than Airlift due to no entertainment tax. This is despite the collections being 30-35% less across India.
The film has now grossed over 20 crore nett in Mumbai and over 15 crore nett in Delhi /UP. The film is basically following the business of Queen though a better starting level will mean higher final total.
The releases of last week are both disasters with Tere Bin Laden – Dead Or Alive grossing around 3.50 crore nett while Aligarh was even worse with 2.25 crore nett.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 4, 2016 at 3:44 AM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Indias-celluloid-man-PK-Nair-passes-away/articleshow/51252776.cms
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March 4, 2016 at 4:29 AM
http://www.koimoi.com/reviews/jai-gangaajal-review/
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March 4, 2016 at 7:12 AM
http://www.india-forums.com/bollywood/film-reviews/62218-movie-review-jai-gangaajal.htm
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March 4, 2016 at 7:14 AM
Manoj Kumar to get Dadasaheb Phalke award.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/manoj-kumar-to-get-dadasaheb-phalke-award/20160304.htm
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March 4, 2016 at 7:16 AM
Assuredly enough, the light-footed protector of all things honorable and lawful conducts herself with steel, smiles and sarcasm.
Priyanka imbues calm charisma and confidence in a formulaic character yet never pedals on gratuitous feminism.
Too bad she’s relegated to playing second fiddle to the film’s director Prakash Jha. Or what could also be known as the biggest problem of Jai GangaaJal.
Now Jha’s knowledge in current affairs is undisputed, providing him regular fodder for a conscious if awfully bombastic effort to pass judgment on large-scale depravity. But in Jai GangaaJal, a follow-up to his 2003 hit, he assumes the role of a protagonist too. It’s not a cameo, a villain or a supporting character but a full-fledged leading part, in which his unconvincing transformation from a tainted cop to gallant knight of the masses forms the crux of the plot.
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/jai-gangaajal-not-enough-pc-power/20160304.htm
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March 4, 2016 at 7:29 AM
Kajol to play a cameo in Karan Johar’s ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ – See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/kajol-to-play-a-cameo-in-karan-johars-ae-dil-hai-mushkil/17010168#sthash.McGXZEuo.dpuf
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March 4, 2016 at 8:32 AM
Why is Kajol playing cameo in this flick? Why not lead actor?
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March 4, 2016 at 8:47 AM
I think hers will be powerful cameo and she may overshadow the leads.
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March 4, 2016 at 11:14 AM
Kajol has that much ability.
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March 4, 2016 at 3:10 PM
Yup, screech and scream her way to overshadowing…
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March 4, 2016 at 9:42 AM
Isnt Kajol , the lucky mascot for Karan Johar, hence always in every one of his movies ?
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March 4, 2016 at 11:16 AM
What Karan Johar is today is because of Kajol.
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March 4, 2016 at 1:32 PM
Kabhi alvida kehna flopped despite her cameo, mnik flopped, we are family flopped. All of these films flopped in india and her recent comeback with her most sought after co-actor srk is a flop. All of these mvies flopped in india, they were called some sort of success based on their overseas performance.
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March 4, 2016 at 1:01 PM
How ? MNIK flopped despite Kajol presence ..
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March 4, 2016 at 1:18 PM
MNIK Flop? Good joke!
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March 4, 2016 at 2:15 PM
if MNIK is flop than what’s the status of all bachhan films past 25 years?
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March 4, 2016 at 4:17 PM
Bachchan has been delivering flops/ disasters consistently since past 30 years.
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March 4, 2016 at 4:29 PM
Sonam kapoor’s solo film collecting more than Bachchan’s film seems to be the reason behind your present state of mind.
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March 4, 2016 at 4:25 PM
Bachchan fanatics showing their charecterisitic features I.e just praise any male or female actor, they’ll jump at you.Frustrated souls they are.
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March 4, 2016 at 5:00 PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/What-would-a-world-without-cancer-really-look-like/articleshow/51262081.cms.
I think they had found a cure for cancer but they want to hide it so that the pharma industry selling expensive cancer drugs may prosper more at the cost of suffering humanity.
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March 4, 2016 at 6:30 PM
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March 4, 2016 at 7:57 PM
@Intolerant Srkian Satyam
You wont create Love Games and Rocky Handsome post with new trailer and come up with petty excuses, but srk’s each new image knocks your heartbeat and doesnt take a minute to update.
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March 4, 2016 at 8:00 PM
Democracy is only for wild discussion, but only law prevails here is sharia, throttling every voice other than your srk and srkians.
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March 5, 2016 at 1:48 AM
U really need to chill! The words Srkian and Satyam are antonymous.. shabdavali mein ye judtey nahi hain bhai!
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March 5, 2016 at 2:53 PM
LOL!
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March 5, 2016 at 1:28 AM
Jai Gangaajal grossed around 4.25-4.50 crore nett on its first day. The collections were better in some centres of UP, Bihar and CI but overall it was a poor performance with limited improvement in the evening. The best performance was in Delhi / UP which collected 1 crore nett apprc due mainly due to collections in UP.
The film will find it tough going over the weekend as North India multiplexes have not fared well especially Punjab and Delhi and these sort of films find it hard in Mumbai circuit which forms the other big chunk of the all India business.
The other release of the week Zubaan was a very dull affair with collections set be around 10 lakhs nett. The film has fared even worse than last weeks disaster Aligarh which actually had three times better collections on its first day.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 5, 2016 at 1:30 AM
Neerja dropped for the first time in its run as it grossed 1-1.25 crore nett on its third Friday. The film dropped around 60% from last Friday and 20% from its second Thursday despite weekend ticket rates on third Friday. The total of the film is around 57.50 crore nett in eight days which is similar to Kahaani though gross business is lower.. Despite the drop it should get to around 70 crore nett for lifetime business.
The film has got tax exemption in Rajasthan but hardly matters now as collections are practically nothing outside Jaipur and even Jaipur is weak. The tax exemption will not make much difference in Rajasthan as it did with Mumbai city and Delhi city.
The film has taken full advantage of the tax exemptions in crucial cities and got a good clear run with weak competition to finish with a very good lifetime total.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 5, 2016 at 2:07 AM
Gangajal’s collections of 4cr from 2600 screens are very poor.
We can give Priyanka Chopra the credit of trying out different roles, but that’s as far as it goes. She was unconvincing in and as Mary Kom and now downright poor in Gangajal. Watched the movie last night and it’s a movie that should never have been re-made.
The first one was a low grosser actually (it barely made 8cr lifetime during a year when the top 3- Koi Mil Gaya, MHN and The Hero were making around 40cr, 30cr and 25cr respectively). Moderate hits like Chalte Chalte, Andaaz and Tere Naam were grossing collecting twice the numbers of Gangajal.
The new Gangajal is a poor movie and while Devgan’s performance saved the first movie, Priyanka’s performance here is completely flat and makes the film unintentionally hilarious.
Jha’s career as a director is practically over.
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March 5, 2016 at 2:25 AM
Jha the actor was much better. The movie showed some sparks in between but overall poor movie.
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March 5, 2016 at 2:53 AM
Agreed. Jha’s performance is the only good thing about the movie. Priyanka is the major let-down.
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March 5, 2016 at 3:30 AM
He should have made Gangaajal 2 with Devgn. It would have been a pleasure to watch Jha pitted against Ajay.
If at all he wanted to take a female lead, he could have gone for Kajol. Husband and wife comparisons in similar roles.
Now dont tell me she screams and screeches!
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March 5, 2016 at 3:48 AM
There is a scene where she run towards a semi dead body and I laughed. I though editor forgot to give a proper cut.
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March 5, 2016 at 10:25 PM
Absouletely right Sanjana.Kajol would been best choice for this kind of role.
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March 5, 2016 at 9:32 AM
Neerja Makes 175% Profit At The Box Office.
http://www.koimoi.com/box-office/neerja-makes-175-profit-at-the-box-office/
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March 5, 2016 at 9:37 AM
http://www.rediff.com/movies/column/why-we-should-be-glad-mad-max-didnt-win-the-oscar-for-best-picture/20160304.htm
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March 5, 2016 at 2:00 PM
One current habit that the lyricist feels should be discontinued is the way songs in a film are doled out to different composers and lyricists.”It’s becoming a kind of system now,” he notes. “But this way it is more about songs filling in the blanks. No one takes responsibility for the film and the story as a whole. It also generates a belief that no composer or writer is capable of handling a full film.”
But is not that largely true? “If it is, then they should sign us older generation of music makers and poets!” he smiles. “Yes, there is this fixed mindset that we are old generation and cannot deliver, which is not true at all. Look at Anu Malik and Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which even won an award recently.”
The hit songs that Sameer has written in films as assorted as Rowdy Rathore, F.A.L.T.U,, Khiladi 786 and many more are further proof that the writer keeps in sync with the times. “Still, the myth spreads as ‘Out of sight, out of mind’,” he smiles wryly.
What is his opinion about the current hot lyricists? “There are some writers who I call ‘song-sellers’, who may not be even writing all the songs they peddle,” he says frankly. “Then there are people like Irshad Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya who essentially know their jobs. But they have to prove that they can sustain.”
A general tendency that the veteran decries is about writers taking themselves so seriously that they subconsciously want to be someone else. “We may idolize Anand Bakshi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi or even Gulzar, but we must not try to be what they were as writers, because their writing was a part of their personalities and suited only them! From them, it was original, but if we ape them, we cannot really reach anywhere!”
Touche! But what would be his tips to new lyricists? “I want to tell them that the film industry is like a ruthless centre for a tough examination! This isn’t a place that you enter unprepared. And only relentless hard work and grit can keep you here. Bakshi-saab said that he struggle to make it was nothing compared to the struggle after success comes. That’s when you have to sustain, fight back, hold your own and survive all the odds, including the arrival of new people in your field
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/9874
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March 6, 2016 at 9:31 AM
Lol, Sameer is a really mediocre lyricist, but seems to suffer from a milder variant of Anu Malik’s delusions of grandiosity.
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March 7, 2016 at 9:54 AM
Agree..but he did pen majority of the hits of 90s. including my favt.- Sajan !!
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March 5, 2016 at 2:08 PM
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March 5, 2016 at 3:31 PM
Day 2893 Blog by Bachchan has some great pictures from the past and some great stories about the shoot of BTG.
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March 5, 2016 at 3:59 PM
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March 5, 2016 at 4:11 PM
[edited]
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March 5, 2016 at 4:11 PM
[edited]
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March 5, 2016 at 4:12 PM
[edited]
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March 5, 2016 at 4:12 PM
[edited]
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March 5, 2016 at 4:13 PM
[edited]
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March 5, 2016 at 4:35 PM
Destiny’s Child
by Soumita Sengupta (March 5, 2016)
Director Ram Madhvani on his recent hit Neerja and on going from strength to strength.
Did you expect Neerja to open so well?
I was recently reading an interview of Alejandro González Iñárritu, the guy who directed The Revenant, and he had said, ‘We knew what we wanted to make, but we never knew what we had made till you told us.’ I connect with that. It has been a great reception of love, and that has been the most shocking part. Obviously, I have a responsibility as a filmmaker and as an associate producer, because people have invested their money and have to recover their investment.
But there is a value system too, that society eventually reacts to, what this girl stood for, whether it was her duty or self-respect or whether she was vulnerable or scared, and how you face that fear. There is also a value system about the mother-daughter relationship. People are reacting to that too. The reaction has exceeded our expectations. There are four kinds of success, one of them being personal success. So when we watched the film internally, I knew that the ‘personal success’ box was ticked off. The film has heart, it has soul and as a filmmaker that is what you want. I was asked during the first cut if I knew, right then and there, whether there was something in the film, and I said, ‘Yes, I knew then.’ Everything else is a matter of craft. As soon as you get the heart right, you’re safe. We knew we had critical success when some of the biggest and senior-most personalities in the business, from Amitabh Bachchan to Aamir Khan to Karan Johar and Javed Akhtar, said so many positive things about the film. On Friday all the reviews were positive. So personal success and critical success were assured.
Then there are the other two ‘successes’. Commercial success relates to how much money the film is making and whether the producers have recovered their investment. As you can see, the film is doing phenomenal business. But, sometimes, you can get commercial success but you may not get popular success because you may recover your money in the first three days but people may not like what you have made. That is the fourth success which we have achieved.
The film has touched the hearts of people and it has also got to their eyes! (Laughs) People are connecting with the emotions in the film, especially with the mother-daughter emotion, which I call the ‘sacred nothingness of life’. My friend’s father from Vizag called and said to me, ‘Your film is life-size’. That is the biggest compliment we have received. It’s beyond 70mm cinema. Kitni badi hai? Zindagi jitni badi hai, babumoshai.
What made you make Neerja a Rajesh Khanna fan in the film?
Obviously, Neerja was a great fan of Rajesh Khanna and also of Amitabh Bachchan. The thing with Rajesh Khanna is that he glorified death. In many of his famous movies, his lines were about living life to the fullest and therefore even when she says, ‘Main marne se pehle marna nahi chahti babumoshai’ to her mother, that becomes her resolve. Rajesh Khanna was someone we all looked up to. The theme of the film was that here is somebody who lived her life to the fullest, even though it was a very short life. That’s why, again, it is about the soul of the film.
The film is an immersive emotional and honest experience. And that’s precisely why we go to a cinema hall. In this film, you forget you are in a theatre, you are transported into the Bhanot home and in the flight scenes, you feel you are one of the passengers, you feel suffocated. You go to a cinema hall to remember yourself and also to forget yourself.
Now I am very keen to see how people will react when they watch it on their mobile phones because a dark hall gives you a sense of catharsis, it allows you purification, and that is why we go to watch movies, so that you can be in a public space and still completely switch off. Mobile phones have changed all that but it is the closest we come to the experience in the theatre, where they make sure you have switched off (from the outside world). Cinema is perhaps the only digital detox we have. That is what Harivansh Rai Bachchan said about the definition of poetry. He said, ‘I have a headache and I write about my headache as a poet and you read that poem and you feel my headache and you get one.’ That is poetry.
About the genre… you said your point of view was the mother-daughter relationship but Saiwyn (Quadras) had the story…
(Cuts in) It was Saiwyn’s idea to make a film on Neerja and he spoke to Atul (Kasbekar). I am indebted to Atul for calling me two and a half years ago, asking if I would like to make a film on Neerja Bhanot. The reason I said ‘yes’ was because she was part of urban folklore at the time and my wife’s closest friend was in school with her, and one of my business partners was shooting an advertisement with her on that day. Her last advertisement was with Ayesha Saini from Shunyata. She shot the ad, went home and then caught her last flight. So I was familiar with Neerja and what she stood for. She would have been the same age as I am right now if she was with us today.
So I said ‘yes’ to Atul and we worked on the script. Saiwyn wrote the script and Sanyuktha (Chawla Shaikh) wrote the dialogue. But the great thing was to know where to go in terms of the story we wanted to tell. And to do that, you have to get the director involved because eventually it is the director’s medium. The director has a vision, which he then passes on. From the time we were talking, I knew it had to be a mother-daughter story because Saiwyn and I had met Ramaji (Bhanot, Neerja’s mother). It was not that the idea came from me; it was a collective thing.
Saiwyn mentioned that he thought of the story from a thriller point of view but you wanted to make it an emotional tale.
By and large, there are two kinds of directors – a visualist and a humanist. I am a humanist. So when you watch the film, you will notice that it is a very visual film. Even during the closing sequence, after the speech, there is silence when the family leaves and the dog is left behind. Those sequences are very poetic but my ultimate quest is to reflect some truth as a director. I am interested in human truth without it becoming boring. Another director might have presented it differently. And Saiwyn and Sanyuktha share the same world view.
You need to know where you want to go. As they say, if you don’t know where you are going, all roads will take you there. As a director, you are meant to give the film a direction. Atul, Sonam, Saiwyn and I went to meet Ramaji in Chandigarh. We met Neerja’s family and Ramaji was a very inspiring and positive lady. That is why we brought her into the film, in the beginning, saying, ‘Jeete raho, sukhi raho, khush raho, mast raho.’ I am very sad that she couldn’t watch the film; she passed away before the trailer was launched but I knew then that the film had to be inspiring and motivational. Sanyuktha has written some amazing lines like ‘Sharmaji ke yahaan jaa ke chowmein banana seekh le,’ it’s a regular conversation. The speech by Shabanaji at the end was very well written. This is actually dialoguebaazi but we didn’t do it in a dialoguebaazi way.
The film has all the entertaining elements it requires and you have connected old emotions with the new very nicely. How difficult was it to simultaneously create Neerja’s past?
I give all the credit for that to Saiwyn Quadras, who wrote the screenplay because all of these elements are in the script. I am interested in having a signed-off script. So the entire team, Fox Star Studios, Sonam, Shabanaji, everybody… had to buy into the script and that script had to be locked. We spent a lot of time drafting the script. Saiwyn and Sanyuktha have gone above and beyond duty with the kind of detailing they have achieved. When you read the script, you realise it’s all there.
Then, obviously, there’s the editor, Monisha (R Baldawa), with whom I have been working since my ad film days. The objective of the scene is very clear, now you have to make sure you don’t lose the objective in the execution. How do you get to that objective? That is why I take such long shots, that is why I shot 360 degrees, that is why I chose to shoot without lights, that is why I make sure there is ‘life’ before ‘action’ and after ‘cut’.
In most films, there is life between action and cuts. But, here, it feels like the people lived before and after. They existed even before the cameras went off. I did that by doing very long takes, sometimes the minimum length was 45 minutes but our first take was one and a half hours straight because when the terrorists enter, it was 6am, they had not met the passengers before, so I had workshops with the passengers, terrorists and cabin crew separately.
The scene in the script is only five pages long but to get the emotions out of everyone, which I didn’t want to miss, we shot the entire scene for one and a half hours right from the moment the terrorists get in to everyone putting their hands up. I knew the context because it was all written, which made things easier for all of us. So you have a bound script and then you try to arrive at the objective of the bound script in this manner. Otherwise you get handcuffed by the industrial process of filmmaking. I don’t believe in that kind of filmmaking. So everything was there in the script and it made things easy for us to shoot.
What kind of research did all of you do while building the characters of those terrorists from the ‘80s because it’s very different today, with terrorists being aware of technology?
That is what the film also deals with, the ascending chaos of the crisis that happened. In this particular case, the truth was that they really didn’t know where the cockpit was. They were in the plane for 16 hours, the pilots had fled, which is the protocol and the right thing to do. If the pilots had not left, the plane would have taken off and that would have been far more dangerous. Eventually, 20 people lost their lives, which is a lot, but we don’t know what would have happened had the pilots not followed the protocol by running away when Neerja gave the ‘hijack code’. So we haven’t changed anything.
You are also an accomplished ad filmmaker…
(Cuts in) I am very happy doing ads and we are doing another one next week. I will continue making ads. Advertising has taught me everything. I made ads for 14 years, and then I did a documentary for (Amitabh) Bachchan called Everlasting Light, which was screened at the Lincoln Center in New York. I did a song for Taare Zameen Par, and Aamir asked me to direct the theme song for Satyamev Jayate. I was also working on some films that didn’t work out. When they don’t work out, you are obviously disheartened but it’s akin to climbing Mount Everest. On the way up, there will be blizzards, landslides, snowstorms and frostbite. You have to expect this to happen or else you shouldn’t start the climb. A friend of mine was talking about the 14 years I spent before Neerja and sent me a quote this morning which essentially says: Jab jab jo jo hona hai, tab tab so so hota hai.
I believe there is a force, and in hindsight, I can actually see why those earlier films didn’t happen and I why this one did. On many fronts, the film is blessed by Neerja and by Ramaji, all the hurdles fell away on their own.
What’s next for you?
I have scripts ready but I am not going to speak about them because you never know, especially in this business. It is better to talk about them as and when they happen.
http://www.boxofficeindia.co.in/destiny%E2%80%99s-child/
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March 6, 2016 at 12:28 AM
“Teraa Surroor is in profits before release”
Besides its hit music, Teraa Surroor has been in the news for Himesh’s six pack abs. We now hear that the film has already made profits before its release. Made in a budget of Rs. 11 crs only (Cost of production – Rs. 6.5cr + Publicity & Advertising – Rs. 4.5cr). Excited director Shawn Arranha says “The producers have already recovered the film’s cost through sale of music, satellite and other rights. I’m equally confident that the audience will thoroughly enjoy this edge of the seat entertainer right from the word go owing to some great performances the pace of the film. I can proudly say that I’m very happy with the product”.
Aside from the casting coup of Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi and Shekhar Kapur, we hear there is a big twist in this escape drama which will keep the audience guessing about who the real bad guy is. Adds Arranha “Set in the beautiful city of Dublin, there are lethal action sequences in the film which are visually stunning. There is also a very classy love making scene; this hasn’t been shot to catch eyeballs. It is a very integral part of the plot and has been shot very aesthetically.”
Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Naseeruddin Shah, Shekhar Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra and Shernaz Patel and produced by T Series and HR Musik, Teraa Suroor releases on 11th March 2016.
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/news/17596069/%22Teraa-Surroor-is-in-profits-before-release%22—Shawn-Arranha
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March 6, 2016 at 12:38 AM
Jai Gangaajal showed limited on Saturday to the tune of 10-15%. The film had to do better due to the poor opening day. The first two day business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Total – 9,50,00,000
The film does not have high costs but the business of the film is around 20-25% less than it should be. The film needed to be around the 20 crore nett mark for the weekend but it has no chance of getting there.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 6, 2016 at 6:05 AM
This, naturally, also gave rise to a number of humorous posts related to Leonardo’s win. But one such post that caught everyone’s fancy was about the actor’s hugely acclaimed science-fiction movie ‘Inception’.
In the movie, Leonardo’s character uses a spinning top to make out whether he is awake or dreaming. So, a meme started doing the rounds where Leonardo uses the top to know whether his Oscar win is real or just a dream.
But the meme has triggered some truly unexpected consequences. As per a report in the Independent, the post is responsible for an upsurge in the sales of spinning tops in the Burton town of the United Kingdom. The report has also quoted a designer of tops saying that he is worried that he might run out of stock.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/Why-Leonardos-Oscar-win-has-triggered-a-surge-in-sales-of-spinning-tops/articleshow/51276996.cms
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March 6, 2016 at 12:36 PM
Sonam Kapoor is pretty good, but she still cannot make the heavier scenes work – like the one in which she’s forced to sing in front of the passengers. (Her best performance is still the one as the child-woman of Aisha. I get the feeling that was all her.) The deficiencies are heightened by the presence of a genuine dramatic heavyweight like Shabana Azmi, whose motherliness is magnificent – the character comes across as a giant bosom you want to bury your head in and weep your worries away. I watched her final speech through a thick film of tears. It’s a terrific example of how to deliver a message but not make the audience feel they’re listening to a message. Even as she repeats Imam Saab’s Sholay line about there being no greater pain than that of a child’s loss (but with less melodrama, more understatement), she marvels that this girl had it in her to be so brave. Neerja makes us see what a lovely person Neerja was, beyond the heroine she became. She was genuinely nice, principled, life-loving – and all this is emphasised in the opening stretch where the film keeps cutting between celebrations at Neerja’s housing society and preparations by the terrorists, between crowds and loners, between sunshine and darkness, between a Pomeranian with sunglasses and men with bullets and bombs, between life and death.
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March 6, 2016 at 2:12 PM
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/voters-for-trump-ad/2997381
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March 6, 2016 at 4:50 PM
Satyam please delete the videos of Aamir Khan in Aap Ki Adalat posted above as here i’m putting the entire video from India TV:-
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March 6, 2016 at 4:59 PM
Done.
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March 6, 2016 at 6:08 PM
Thanks.
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March 6, 2016 at 10:36 PM
The interview is kind of an apology..Even though I didn’t agree with his comment in express event but I don’t want him to give this interview. I also think Rajat Shrama showed his narrow mindedness when asking Sunny leone question. Aamir tweet was never about supporting her previous avatar but about dignity to a weaker person who is trying to survive in a different avatar. Aamir was right in not yielding ground on Sunny’s question.
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March 7, 2016 at 12:30 AM
Completely agree with you Munna that the interview does sound kind of an apology..with NO specifics at all.. just like Trump’s debates .. [and before Aamir’s ‘FANS’ pounce on me, let me reiterate, I am talking of the ‘high-level equivalence’ and not the ‘substantial’ equivalent ‘facts’].
Nobody — at least the sane ones– is expecting a ‘certificate’ of patriotism from Aamir. That would be dishonest and RIDICULOUS because, MOST of the Indians living in India would be frustrated with the day-to-day shenanigans and would expect to migrate elsewhere or find a better solution. That would be pretty hypocritical from non-resident Indians or resident Non-Indians.
The point is, did AAMIR really believe WHAT he said about the 6-8 months period when the buzzword ‘intolerance’ was at Mount Everest high? Or did he jump onto the AWARD-WAAPSI bandwagon?
As a fan of Aamir, I am personally disappointed that AAMIR decided to ‘flow’ with the ‘intellectuals’ tide rather than flow against–or even for it– with his OWN THINKING.
This interview, is again, a pretty sad reminder of the fact that he just didn’t know what he was talking about — coz when faced with specificity as to WHAT happened in those 6-8 months that made him and his wife feel ‘insecure’, he just resorted to text-book shite: ISIS [really?? ISIS!! — so what the HELL does Modi and ‘sanghis’ have to do with that?]
Aamir is a GENUINE person, NO 2 ways about it. But THAT doesn’t mean he is going to be right — sorry, left — ALL THE TIME. The sooner the hardly-dying Aamir fans on this blog and elsewhere realize that, the better for ‘tolerance’ in our society..
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March 7, 2016 at 12:49 AM
Dont you think that Kanhaiya Kumar was much more forthright and clear as he has nothing to lose unlike Aamir?
He is a true blue commie which is no more relevant even in China or even in Russia. He should have rather aligned with Aap, the homegrown variety.
Aamir is tying himself in knots on the otherhand.
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March 7, 2016 at 8:53 AM
Munna i don’t find it to be apologetic on part of Aamir from any angle. He kept on reiterating the point with regard to him being misquoted or misinterpreted and stated what he said in Indian Express interview which was specifically “growing sense of intolerance”, but never did he ”term entire India intolerant” and tried to differentiate between these 2 wholly opposite point of view. He tried to clear the confusion and nowhere did he seem to be apologetic in my view, which might be wrong. And yes An Jo i also didn’t agree with what Aamir stated in Express interview and thought he was wrong in his assessment, yet never doubted his intentions and integrity. The way Aamir was targeted afterwards kind of proved his point in hindsight. Aamir is no God and is prone to committing mistakes, but the way the entire issue was dealt with displayed the ”petty tolerance level” we have as a society.
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March 7, 2016 at 9:52 AM
Great Points AnJo.. If there is one person whose sincerity towards social causes and deshbhakti can not be doubted it is Aamir Khan .
However Kiran Rao is a commie and is influenced by a.holes like slob, and waisey bhee biwi ley infkuence mein toh Dashrath jee bhe aa gaye they….Aamir toh bechara Insaan hai !!lol
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March 7, 2016 at 3:28 PM
Omkarji, don’t talk bad things about Kaiykaee. There was divine design behind that one. Dashrath could have easily ‘forgotten’ the promise he had given in battlefield in front of no witnesses but then we wouldn’t have the Ramayan.
On “The point is, did AAMIR really believe WHAT he said about the 6-8 months period when the buzzword ‘intolerance’ was at Mount Everest high? Or did he jump onto the AWARD-WAAPSI bandwagon?” Based on history of Aamir’s antics I would say the latter. Not just this intolerance debate but earlier fracas he got involved in too. Here is my advice to Aamir:
1) keep bedroom conversations to yourself.
2) If you are that big patriot (“look I don’t even have homes abroad like others”) then show it by not creating dangerous, controversial statements on matters that you are pretty clueless about (and look like real-life PK) and knowing that you are a public figure whose each word has lot of power and with great power comes great responsibility. Don’t create statements where fear is generated in public mind. That is terrifying.
3) buy a home abroad (which ever ‘stan’ in more safe for you) and move out next time you feel unsafe for your little one and don’t even give public interview. Rajeev Rai (Sonum’s husband) did just that when underworld came calling.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Rajiv-Rai-relocates-to-Mumbai-after-14-years-of-his-run-in-with-the-mafia/articleshow/38085964.cms
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March 7, 2016 at 3:29 PM
Thanks Omrocky for your kind words for aamir khan.
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March 7, 2016 at 3:52 PM
Di, I think by now Aamir has learnt his lesson the hard way.
There is one saying in telugu. Adusu thronnanela, kaalu kadaganela. Why to step on dirt and then wash your legs.
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March 7, 2016 at 3:57 PM
Throkkanela
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March 9, 2016 at 12:07 AM
An Jo it is these kinds of ”Polarising hate speeches” which Aamir talked of in his IE interview. And this is involving MOS Ramshankar Katheria and BJP MPs from UP, who spoke of ”retaliation exhorting Hindus to unite against enemies”. And yet it gets justified just because UP assembly elections are due next year! If union ministers indulge in such kind of hate speeches, i do not know what to say! Let our PM Modi set the precedence by removing such hate-mongers who are hell-bent on dividing the Nation along religious lines. And Aamir after getting so much brickbat for his one statement realised the futility of expecting ”the unexpected” from the party in power, so that’s why he is ”holding ISIS sleeper cells and media responsible for his statement” as ”Truth” again will enrage Crores!
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March 6, 2016 at 6:01 PM
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March 6, 2016 at 6:15 PM
3 weeks back when news came Baahubali2 will release on Christmas, Aamir preponed dangal to 15th August.
And excuses given was it is a patriotic film, no release date is better than 15th august for dangal. And now, it is pushed to December again, what a shame, what happened to this patriotic film now? or he is using patriotism as token to intact his star status.
With this, aamir has exposed himself as cheap person.
What a shame.
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/box-office/release-dates
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March 6, 2016 at 6:39 PM
Did Aamir or Maker of Dangal say that they were going to release it on Aug 15th?
I’m no fan of Aamir so would not want to defend him but 99% of your post are pretty childish and cheap so not sure if this is true.
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March 6, 2016 at 7:02 PM
Ofcourse he did in a ceremony recently. And that’s why BH moved release date to 15th august on their calendar. And also taran, komal reported same.
Aamir’s words – “Explaining his point of view, Aamir said that the film is quite high on patriotism and also talks about the empowerment of the daughters of India and as such, Dangal should be ideally released on or around 15 August.”
https://in.movies.yahoo.com/aamir-khan-wants-dangal-release-independence-day-weekend-183000933.html
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March 6, 2016 at 7:41 PM
He said should be, not will be. Baahubali was not afraid of Salman’s BB. Now with Aamir in the doghouse, Baahubali can easily trounce Dangal.
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March 6, 2016 at 10:31 PM
Now even Salman wouldn’t dare to release Bhajrangi with Baahubali…
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March 7, 2016 at 7:29 PM
This was a rumour floating around without any base as nowhere Aamir or anybody involved with Dangal talked of preponing it to 15th August. Infact Aamir had already flown to the US when this gossip began circulating!
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March 7, 2016 at 7:33 PM
Q. If Dangal prepones and releases on Independence Day, don’t you think Sultan or Raees, one of them should move to Christmas?
A. News of Dangal releasing during Independence Day seems to be baseless. We haven’t heard from any reliable source about Dangal getting preponed. It doesn’t make sense either. Why would Aamir Khan want to let go of his most successful release period, which also happens to be the best time of the year to release films? So far, it looks like he will get a solo release too. No logical reason to shift to any other date. The only reason for the confusion is, the director of the film refused to comment when asked if Dangal will be shifted to Independence Day.
http://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/askindicine-live-qna-at-3pm-on-6th-march/
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March 7, 2016 at 8:31 PM
This Q&A session is from 6th march by Indicine when BH also rearranged the date in their calendar back to december. Did you check Taran& Komal’s tweet 3 weeks back and following that, how Bollywoodhungama changed release date from 23th dec to 15th Aug. But, as the news of Bahubali postponed was confirmed last week, BH also changed back date from 15th aug to december again.
This is so cheap of aamir, and those were his words as reported by Taran, Komal, Yahoo and TOI. Those words came when news of Bahuballi2 release date was said to be confirmed as christmas. Without his words, no trade insider can dare to change so quickly.
This back tracking and cheap opportunism at the pretext of patriotism has degraded aamir to lowest level.
From my fav one year back(though i was never a fanatic, just an admirer) to worst loud mouth political personality, he came a long way in a year.
I will expose him sequence of misdeeds since 2006 when he protested in gujarat at the behest of congress during election year, i always ignored his dirty deeds. Just dont have time right now, i will wait for right time. But this is enough of his mischief.
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March 7, 2016 at 10:52 PM
This is for Raghav with regard to ”This back tracking and cheap opportunism at the pretext of patriotism has degraded aamir to lowest level” as how he would react to this news report- utter opportunism or unethical or both from Akshay Kumar!
Q. Mohenjodaro announced their release date first.. but now Akshay’s Rustom is releasing on same date and they are trying to scare away competition. Is this ethical? (Neeraj)
A. There are two ways to look at this. One, since there are just 52 weeks in a year and more than 200 film releases, there is no way to escape clashes. Every producer is free to pick the date he believes is right for his film.
On the other hand, there seems to be no unity in the industry. When a big budget film like Mohenjo Daro was announced almost a year ago and Hrithik was returning after nearly two years, the makers of Rustom not only announce the date of their film, but also try to create perception that their film is hot in the trade by releasing posters. Akshay even went to the extent of promoting his film on Zee Cine Awards and ensured that he highlighted the ’12 August 2016′ date in every tweet. For some reason, the intention doesn’t seem to be right. The film has just gone on floors about a month ago, Akshay has Housefull 3 before Rustom (promotional campaign for which hasn’t even started). The message seems to be – not only do we want the Independence Day week, but we will go all out to try to push Mohenjo Daro (since the stakes for the film are way too high) and give Rustom a solo release. Not too sure about the ‘ethical’ part of it, but the tactics that team Rustom is using, isn’t the nicest.
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March 7, 2016 at 10:18 PM
@raghav — with all your venom against Aamir you have nothing to say about the fact that YRF-Salman’s Sultan was announced suddenly with a promo a few months after Dangal preparations started. Few people have bothered to protest even mildly about this matter. Sultan was announced with a teaser even before any work on it was started. Dangal was already being prepped, Aamir preparing for it. And Sultan simply started steamrolling over Dangal through the next few months. Dangal preparations started late in 2014, as per media reports. Sultan suddenly announced early summer 2015. Since the media is full of Salman- SRK Bhakts and the two stars are admittedly more popular, this sort of backstabbing of Aamir was ignored for most part except by a few die hard Aamir supporters. In fact a Sultan promo was released along with an SRK film teaser, same day. This sort of backstabbing does not seem to bother you or any of the regular Bolly fans.
Aamir may have wished to bring Dangal forward to August, but did not do so. He never spoke openly about it. But he has every bloody right to bring his film forward. However he has always said that a section is left to be shot througha month, mid- 2016. And hence, the film will release in December as before. No other reason, I think.
The past few months have seen this extremely unfair hate campaign against Aamir, go on and on. His IE interview was nothing terrible and yet this cooked up campaign against him. Rajat Sharma tried to bully Aamir — but it was Aamir who came out with dignity, replying to all cheap shots perfectly.
Aamir does few films, few endorsements, is rarely around — and yet he gets everybody’s goat? Bloody unfair.
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March 7, 2016 at 12:02 AM
Thanks to you MyselfAamir for posting Anupam’s talk: the video has been removed — I am posting it back here —
What a fantastic, text-book ridden talk from Kher, from the heart; a fine masala slap to those multi-plex-intoxicated ‘intellectuals’:
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March 7, 2016 at 11:01 PM
Barkha Dutt at the same event:-
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March 7, 2016 at 1:08 AM
New York: Internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson, who is credited with the invention of e-mail, has died at the age of 74, media reports said.
According to reports, Tomlinson died of an apparent heart attack late on Saturday.
The US computer programmer came up with the idea of electronic messages that could be sent from one network to another in 1971, BBC reported.
His invention included the ground-breaking use of the “@” symbol in e-mail addresses, which is now standard.
He sent what is now regarded as the first e-mail while working in Boston as an engineer for research company Bolt, Beranek and Newman.
The firm played a big role in developing an early version of the internet, known as Arpanet.
However, Tomlinson later said he could not remember what was in that first test message, describing it as “completely forgettable”.
A BBC report said his work was recognised by his peers in 2012, when he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame.
– See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/e-mail-inventor-ray-tomlinson-dies-at-74/17018158#sthash.sLwXrEci.dpuf
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March 7, 2016 at 2:08 AM
I am probably one of the few people who even bother to speak up for Aamir, completely. Never mind. Some of us do it, because we mean what we say, speak up for a man who has been hounded beyond reason through past few months. I know a couple of supporters who feel the same as I do, but don’t have the energy I display in speaking up for him. Never mind the cynics, sceptics, supposed fans, dissenters whoever — here is my take on the recent Aap ki Adalat interview.
I watched the unedited long version available on the net; am not sure if that is the full version put up above by Aamirsfan.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gUzUuJKf3fA
Well, if anybody has the inclination and patience to go through the whole thing, a few things will be clear. Aamir spoke politely but firmly making his points clearly, in the face of ( in his own words– ‘aap mujhe bahut torture kar rahein hain’) — a total frontal and often unfair( the Sunny Leone issue) attack from BJP wala Rajat Sharma. He was calm, clear, smiling, non- combative, in the face of great provocation. Hats off to him just for that . Plus a whole hour plus of conversation completely in Good Hindi, something neither a Salman nor SRK can manage.
And he spoke a lot of sense as usual, never getting overly dramatic like our deshbhakts SIrani and A Kher. He made specific points, too many to recollect, but completely ignored by cherry – picking media with its own agenda.
He was asked specifically about the uniform civil code, and he replied that he was for its implementation without regard to religion.
He was accused of being angry with social media — as if he doesn’t have good reason for that. He was asked about being photographed with ‘dadhiwaley’ — and Aamir replied that he was with his ammi for hajj and got photographed with bearded folks since many at hajj sport beards. A joke, but also a reminder that sundry photographs don’t define anybody’s patriotism or lack thereof. He even spoke about an interview doing the rounds of social media, where he is supposed to have said that his wives may be Hindu, but his children will be Muslim. He denied having ever given such an interview; I believe him. He does few interviews, specifically speaking to a publication, never to random interviewers.Having followed Aamir for years, one thing I have noticed is that he never but never talks about religion, especially his own. In fact, long back in an interview to Tehelka, he had said that his kids are Muslim- Hindu, so what does he put them down as.
To Raghav who considers Aamir cheap — Aamir was never going to release Dangal anytime other than Christmas. He has talked about doing a bit of shoot through July; how on earth can he release the film in August?
To Sanjana who feels that Aamir is in the doghouse — ah well, charmingly put. But I hope that if there is any sense of fairness in the world Aamir will survive this bad phase. He deserves to . He is more genuine than rabid Rajat Sharmas and their ilk.
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March 7, 2016 at 2:22 AM
Recent controversies have taken away some heat from Aamir.
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March 9, 2016 at 10:07 AM
The key line by Aamir was- “Meri Bhavna / Neeyat mein khot nahee hai, haan Meri Information galat ho sakti hai ”
BINGO
The information provided by your Commie wife, her Commie friends and by the Commie media was wrong.
Thanks and Bravo Aamir, aapkee neeyat par at least I had NO doubts whatsoever – whether it was PK or it was your Unfortunate statement .!!
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March 7, 2016 at 2:09 AM
Top Bollywood actors like Nana Patekar, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Shefali Shah and Om Puri will lend their voice for the Hindi version of the upcoming adventure-fantasy film The Jungle Book.
Nana Patekar, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Shefali Shah and Om Puri will lend their voice for the Hindi version of The Jungle Book
This film, which is set to hit the screens on 15th April in America and other countries, will release one week before in India i.e. on 8th of April.
Hollywood celebs Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Espositoand and Christopher Walken has done dubbing for the original version.
The Jungle Book is directed by Iron Man director Jon Favreau.
http://www.koimoi.com/bollywood-news/bollywood-celebs-to-lend-voice-for-the-jungle-book-in-hindi/
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March 7, 2016 at 3:15 AM
Neerja showed a drop in collections in the third weekend as it grossed around 5.50 crore nett. The drop is around 60% plus but if we factor in the tax free status in most of the country the drop is much higher in terms of gross collections. The film is best in Mumbai circuit. The business of Neerja till date is as follows
Week One – 35,29,00,000
Week Two – 21,52,00,000
Third Weekend – 5,50,00,000 apprx
Total – 62,31,00,000
The business in terms of nett collections is now on par with Queen and Mary Kom and the gross is also higher than the latter but the gross numbers are less than Queen.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 7, 2016 at 3:16 AM
Jai Gangaajal has fared poorly over the first weekend with business of a little over 15 crore nett. The film fared a little better in UP, CI and Bihar but that won’t really change the final outcome. The first weekend business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Sunday – 5,75,00,000
Total – 15,25,00,000
The film really had no brand value as the first film was successful at places but not what you would call a popular film which would add value to a second film. Despite the low collections they are still the fifth highest weekend collections of 2016 due to only Airlift taking a fair initial.
The other release of the week Zubaan was a total washout collecting just 25 lakhs apprx over its first weekend.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 7, 2016 at 9:10 AM
Suresh Raina’s support for Kanhaiya Kumar leaves his ‘fans’ divided – See more at: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/suresh-rainas-support-for-kanhaiya-kumar-leaves-his-fans-divided/17019171#sthash.yMBZ6Hcs.dpuf
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March 7, 2016 at 4:43 PM
PRDP is now available on netflix.
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March 7, 2016 at 5:52 PM
This should have been MS DHONI’s comment…
BTW, Chittagong is available on NETFLIX now – not the Abhishek one – Bajpai one..
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March 7, 2016 at 6:12 PM
we should wait for your review 🙂
Finished season 4 of House of cards. This one I must say, I enjoyed and,is very much like what is happening in US presidential elections.
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March 7, 2016 at 8:40 PM
A very fine interview with jurist and advocate Fali S. Nariman, in which he spares no political party nor media while praising AB Vajpayee as a leader and a PM to be emulated by the current politicians! A very mild-mannered man with an affable personality :-
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/walk-the-talk/walk-the-talk-with-top-jurist-fali-nariman/406493
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March 7, 2016 at 10:15 PM
Srk finds some solace by meeting his fans, some of the Gauravs.
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/features/type/view/id/9883
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March 8, 2016 at 12:00 PM
This comment is offensive… you can make fun of SRK without making fun of transgender people.
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March 8, 2016 at 12:45 PM
You’re expecting raghav to grow up?
lol, that’s asking for little bit too much.
SRK has screwed up raghav life pretty bad so you can’t blame raghav for behaving like this.
raghav, please keep up the cheap, childish, raciest, dumb comments. I’m here to defend you, don’t you worry.
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March 8, 2016 at 11:29 PM
lol fair
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March 7, 2016 at 11:07 PM
Katrina Kaif speaking Hindi while being interviewed, funny and charming video:-
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March 8, 2016 at 3:29 AM
Jai Gangaajal was pretty steady on Monday as it dropped around 35% from its first day but it was a holiday for Mahashivratri which helped the collections in various parts of the country. The first four day business of Jai Gangaajal is as follows
Friday – 4,50,00,000
Saturday – 5,00,00,000
Sunday – 5,75,00,000
Monday – 3,00,00,000
Total – 18,25,00,000
The four day collections of 18.25 crore nett are still low and the first week business will depend on the Tuesday numbber which will give an idea to how much the film was boosted by the holiday for Mahashivratri.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 8, 2016 at 3:30 AM
Neerja benefited from the holiday for Mahashivratri in many parts of the country on its third Monday. The collections were almost similar to its third Friday. The four day third week business of Neerja is as follows
Friday – 1,00,00,000
Saturday – 2,00,00,000
Sunday – 2,50,00,000
Monday – 90,00,000
Total – 6,40,00,000
The total for the film so far is 63 crore nett plus. The third week business will be around 8.25 crore nett.
Boxofficeindia.
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March 8, 2016 at 4:32 AM
http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/ex-wife-padma-lakshmi-slams-rushdie-in-memoir-calls-him-sexually-needy/story-NYzDn0XwmwVsPLwedKtgML.html
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March 9, 2016 at 1:09 AM
Anupam Kher is a real life villain: Yogi Adityanath
JP MP Mahant Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday declared Bollywood actor Anupam Kher a “real life villain” for his reported statement that Yogi and another BJP functionary, Sadhvi Prachi, “speak nonsense” and “should be thrown out of the BJP”.
“Everyone knows about the character of a villain. Kher is not only a reel life villain, but also in real life. I don’t want to say anything more on his statement made in Kolkata,” Yogi said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anupam-Kher-is-a-real-life-villain-Yogi-Adityanath/articleshow/51319086.cms
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March 9, 2016 at 1:16 AM
Free Speech : JNU Vs Kamlesh Tiwari
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March 9, 2016 at 2:06 AM
Another Sanghi guy..I guess he forgot the same “Hindu taliban” which he is referring, was after his head when he made fun of Draupadi and Krishna in a stand-up act.
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March 9, 2016 at 3:46 PM
There is nothing Sanghi about what he is saying. The whole Hindu taliban vs Muslim taliban comparison is a gross exaggeration. Sure there are elements on the hindu right that need to be reined in, but to compare them to the brutal regimes of the Taliban and ISIS is ridiculous
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March 9, 2016 at 2:15 AM
Baaghi 1st poster-
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/images/id/2923803/type/view/imageid/17598731/category/firstlook
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March 9, 2016 at 11:37 AM
Your reviews are mostly apolitical — that is, they talk about a film but mainly stay within the ambit of cinema (concentrating more on its aesthetic, less on the actual politics). Have you ever thought about being more political in your reviews — especially in films that demand introspection of that kind?
The first and foremost obligation of a film should be to fulfill what it set out to do. So if somebody wants to make a film about the reservation system, but if he wants to make it in a slightly fanciful way, that is perfectly okay because the aesthetic of a film is tied to what it sets out to do. So when you are talking about a political review, I look at it this way: There are people who come from a political or a gender studies background, and they are very good at looking at a film from a particular political position, because they have been trained to study cultural information that way. But I am not; so the value that I bring to this is, by looking at cinema as cinema and as a cultural document that provides some kind of a narrative.
But even when a movie is done in a particular mainstream fashion, you can’t really haul it up by saying that it didn’t do this, it didn’t do that. Because people are bashing Airlift (2016) today for not being true to the real events; but if you look at hundreds of films made around the world on real-life heroes, they are all fiction. Airlift’s obligation is not to tell a Kuwaiti story. Airlift’s obligation is to tell the story of Ranjit Katyal [the film’s hero] in the most convincing manner possible. There’s a big difference between the two.
But, at the same time, I am not blaming those who are saying that Airlift is ridiculous or fictional. I am just saying that that’s how I look at it. For me, the success and failure of Airlift depend on whether the story of Ranjit Katyal is told convincingly, and not whether the story of Kuwaiti evacuation is told convincingly. So the way I look at it, inevitably, I am not going to do a polemical or a political deconstruction, simply because for me the content and form of the film are pretty much within the narrative framework. Which is why I end up mostly talking about the writing and the craft rather than the context in which the film is set, unless there’s something egregious about it that is hugely insensitive. But then, one thing that most people don’t understand is that most films are stories of people behaving in a particular way. It’s only when you extrapolate it and say that people in films should behave like how you imagine people should behave – that’s when you get into all these problems.
http://indiaindependentfilms.com/conversations-with-baradwaj-rangan/
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March 9, 2016 at 2:49 PM
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March 10, 2016 at 11:18 AM
What it’d look like: Bronte’s wild novel is perfect for the sort of magnificent, infuriating melodramas Sanjay Leela Bhansali makes. (The director has successfully adapted Romeo and Juliet and the historical novel Rau into Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela and Bajirao Mastani respectively, and took inspiration from the Bengali novel Na Hanyate for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.) Bhansali does a good job of setting his films outside the metro-centric Punjabi world that one sees in most Bollywood films, and this one would give him the opportunity to go up into the mountains for some gorgeous location shooting. He could also build his giant, detailed sets for the desi version of Wuthering Heights (the manor) and Thrushcross Grange.
Bhansali was at his most political in Bajirao Mastani, and would perhaps be able to dramatize in interesting ways the conflicts of class (and, in an Indian setting, perhaps caste) that were rife in Wuthering Heights. I’d advise him to focus on the Heathcliff-Cathy love story and truncate the stuff with their children.
Read more at http://www.bollybrit.com/features/beloved-works-of-fiction-as-bollywood-adaptations#MqUiII2T9eeAXeVR.99
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March 10, 2016 at 2:55 PM
This goes with Deepika’s episode :
http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/sensuality-should-be-self-regulated-in-films-shabana-azmi/
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March 10, 2016 at 8:22 PM
Nationalisation of Banks led to banks being looted by industrialists. Governments treating banks like their purse to dip in.
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