Salman Khan named best actor, ‘Dabangg’ best film at Apsara Awards

Bollywood star Salman Khan Tuesday triumphed at the 6th edition of the Chevrolet Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards by bagging the best actor prize for hit comedy “Dabangg”, which was declared the best film.

“Dabangg”, released last year, was Arbaaz Khan’s first film as a producer and became the biggest grosser of the year at the box office. Directed by first time director Abhinav Kashyap, the film also introduced Sonakshi Sinha, daughter of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha. It gave 2009’s best item number “Munni Badnam” too.

Karan Johar got the best director award for “My Name Is Khan”. Set in a tumultuous post 9/11 America, the film starred Shah Rukh Khan as a Aspergers syndrome patient who sets out on a journey to prove that every Khan is not a terrorist.

In the best actress category there was a tie between Vidya Balan and Anushka Sharma – while the former was awarded for her stupendous performance in critically acclaimed “Ishqiya”, the latter was honoured for her role in the successful film “Band Baaja Baraat”.

Kangana Ranaut rides a Bullet motorcycle in ‘Tanu weds Manu’

True to her character who defies every perceived trait of a small town girl, National Award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut didn’t shy from riding a heavy Bullet motorcycle in her forthcoming romantic comedy “Tanu Weds Manu”.

“Since Kangana plays a small town wild girl, we wanted her to do all those things that a typical small town girl would not think of doing. So, riding a bike was something that would have helped strengthen Tanu’s character, so we bounced off the idea of Tanu riding a bike to Kangana and she was thrilled to do it,” director Aanand L. Rai said in a statement.

A source said Kangana was nervous to shoot the scene as she was supposed to ride the bike with another actor riding pillion and rush full speed through crowded, narrow streets. This scene had the maximum re-takes.

“Kangana was shocked to know that she has to ride a bike in the narrow lanes of Kanpur as she was alien to the concept of bike riding. The director first asked her to practice on a light bike, which she took weeks to master and then she was given the Bullet,” said the source.

Actor R. Madhavan plays the male lead opposite Kangana in the film.

Turning 30 Review

Movie: Turning 30!!!; Cast: Gul Panag, Rurab Kohli, Siddharth Makkar, Tillotama Shome; Director: Alankrita Shrivastav; Rating: ** – A Mixed Feeling!
Naina (Gul Panang) has her life in full throttle but just a few days before she turns 30, she is facing the wrath of her boss, gets dumped by her boyfriend (Siddharth Makkar), friends tell her about the biological clock and mom wants her to settle down. To top it all the aging also starts showing with the grays. So what happens to Naina and how does she intend to see her life through this barrier?

Alankrita Shrivastava tries to see the life and the society through the gaze of a 30-year old woman and as a debutant director it is quite ambitious project. Turning 30!!! is a chick-flick but it is not the quint-essential Bollywood kind of one, nor is it a mesh of a desi version of Bridget Jones’ Dairy and Sex and the City. But instead it does take into account the life of the cosmopolitan working woman at its crux, a theme that doesn’t find much space in the Bollywood sagas.
However, the film does start with a promise, but a not so hard hitting script and writing with lame development of the characters,the film falls short of what it could have delivered. While the first half is still to a certain extent an entertaining section with the quips and the jokes, the formulaic screenplay in the second half calls the doom for the film.
Nonetheless, those who do want to wallow or kind of is in the mood while turning 30, it would be a good to watch and find a way out of it. But still 30 is a phase in life where things does get into perspective for many, as the young age is full of aspiration and the after 60 is full of regret, so the middle-age is the time to enjoy.

‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ Movie Review – 2nd Review

Film: ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’; Starring: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol,Kulraj Randhawa, Anupam Kher, Nafisa Ali; Directed by: Samir Karnik; Rating: ***
When was the last time you went to see a movie to watch a real-life film family have fun? Was it 40 years ago in ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’ when the Kapoor khandaan, grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, son Raj and grandson Randhir Kapoor got together to show us how the generation gap can smother a free flow of ideas and emotions within a family?
In ‘Yamla Pagla Deewana’ (YPD) where the Deol parivar puts its laughing heads together for a fun fiesta, the problem in the plot is just the opposite of what we saw in ‘Kal Aaj Aur Kal’. The generation gap has disappeared. Son Bobby Deol calls his father Dharmendra ‘Dharam’ in the formal moments and ‘Kamina’ when Bobby-boy is in a particularly affectionate mode of thought.
Both father-son go around conning the whole of Varanasi in the first, decidedly more deft and amusing half of this crazy, zany, irreverent ode to a dysfunctional family. Sunny Deol’s NRI character comes searching from Vancouver for a father and brother who are hardly in the mood to be found. Turban in place.
Cleverly, often wittily, written by Jasvinder Singh Bath, YPD is big broad burlesque-styled homage to the spirit of on-screen and off-screen camaraderie. The Deol brothers are in full form and have been cleverly cast to create a somewhat disembodied study in contrasts. Bobby is deliberately loud and hammy, almost like Salman Khan in ‘Dabangg’ without the humour in uniform.
Sunny Deol in a more controlled avatar than the other two Deols does his larger-than-life heroic act with habitual panache. It’s interesting to see how Sunny balances out the guffaws with the fights. His character and the rest of the plot repeatedly hark back to the dhishum-dhishum bak-bak razmatazz of the 1970s when cinema was all about unabashed villain bashing on sets that were supposed to look like sets.
Director Samir Karnik who showed his sensitive side in the underrated ‘Heroes’, here muffles the mellow moods in a melee of harangue and one-liners.
Interestingly the lines of morality are delightfully blurred here. Dharmendra the ultimate super-hero of the 1970s is here an unapologetic con-man. One never knows when the he-man transforms into the hee-hee man. All that matters is that Dharmendra seems to be having fun in his sons’ company. The mood of mischievous gaiety is contagious even in the second comparatively less engaging half when the entire cast moves to rural Punjab where Bobby woos the comely Kulraj Randhawa and wins over her zanily autocratic father(Anupam Kher, in full farcical form) and his battalion of goofily macho patriarchs.
For better or worse all films about marriage and courtship in a Punjabi milieu always reminds us of Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Jab We Met’.
But hey, did Imtiaz’s film have Dharmendra’s first-born creating a ruckus after drinking whiskey out of a bucket? Nahin na? There are in-house Deol jokes and references to Dharmendra neo-classics ‘Sholay’, ‘Dharam-veer’, ‘Phool Aur Patthar’ and ‘Pratiggya’, all adding up to a rather heartwarming tribute to the Deols.
The spirit of tongue-in-cheek irreverence dominates the proceedings. The film has a rough-at-the-edges feel to it, perhaps deliberately to accentuate the rugged humour.
By the time we come to the crazy climax in the godown in the second-half, someone comments, ‘This looks like a cheap godown set from a tacky Hindi movie.’ And we get the point of this scrambled crazy-as-can-be exercise in subversive laughter.

Director Samir Karnik loves the Deols. The Deols love one another. And we love watching a diehard Deol fan of a director bring Bollywood’s family together in a comedy that keeps us smiling till the last breathless moment of hilarious havoc.
Yes we love this film’s anything-goes mood. There are some delectable cameos. Watch out for Sucheta Dalaal as a spaced-out Canadian-and-sex-starved spinster and Amit Mistry as a not-so-cool Punjabi dude. They get the point.

Characters With Shades – Not A Negative One For Sudesh Berry

January 15, 2011: Sudesh Berry started his career a long time back as an actor, in spite of seeing a moderate success in the film industry he went MIA for some time and appeared in the small screen. There too he received good reviews for the portrayal of Loha Singh in Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo.

But in spite of grabbing the attention of the viewers with his negative act not only as Loha Singh but as Sheel Kumar in Mata Ki Chawki the actor is not happy to play negative roles. He would like to take on roles that have multi-shades and even though people might find Loha Singh a negative character, according to Sudesh there is diversity in Loha’s character. At times he is genuinely good, sometimes mixed and at times with blatant shades of grey.

On quizzed about why the actor is seen less off-screen, Sudesh says that he is too busy working. The actor works on two TV soaps, almost 30 days a month and that takes up almost all his time. So that gives him little or no time to socialize and he prefer that his works speak for him rather than he doing the publicity.

Well, so far in spite of staying away from the publicity bandwagon Sudesh Berry seems to be doing pretty good for himself. Soon he will be seen in the reality show Maa Exchange opposite TV actress Apara Mehta.

Jesse Eisenberg And Nicki Minaj To Come Into Sight On ‘Saturday Night Live’

January 15, 2011: ‘Saturday Night Live’ (SNL), a popular variety program in America, has roped in Jesse Eisenberg to host its ultimate episode in January. Eisenberg is the well-liked star of the broadly lauded film, ‘The Social Network’. Eisenberg would be accompanied by Nicki Minaj, the prominent Trinidadian-American rapper, who will also execute her debut emergence in SNL. Minaj’s debut album, ‘Pink Friday’ (PF), is undergoing victoriousness on the Billboard Hot 200 by debuting at the second position. She is in the throes of advertising the third single, ‘Moment 4 Life’, in which she has pooled resources with the vocalist, Drake.

Journeying to February, SNL is destined to greet back cast member, Dana Carvey, as well as the musical guest, Linkin Park. Carvey is likely to operate the fourth time as host and he is renowned and respected for his comedic imitations of the earlier American President, George Bush, and the luminary, Ross Perot.

This would be the second time for Linkin Park, with their newest album, ‘A Thousand Suns’, being discharged in 2010 and attaining the primary spot in the Hot 200. The second single of this album titled ‘Waiting For The End’ is, presently, at the primary position in the alternative radio charts.

Nicki Minaj has the distinction of becoming the initial artist ever to possess seven songs in the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. PF procured platinum certification in America a month subsequent to its discharge. Minaj is recognized for combining forces with other songsters and rendering guest raps on numerous well-liked singles.

Eisenberg obtained copious critical applause for his enactment of the character of Facebook’s originator, Mark Zuckerberg, in the movie, ‘The Social Network’. His imminent films are ’30 Minutes or Less’ and ‘Zombieland 2’, which are in the production and pre-production phases respectively.

Dark humour, thrillers on Abhay Deol’s mind

Mumbai, Jan 16 – He loves ‘dark humour’ and likes to keep people guessing what his next film will be. Maverick actor Abhay Deol has now signed on for political thriller ‘Shanghai’ and he says he plays ‘not a very nice man’.

‘I look for stuff that perhaps is not seen before in our industry, (if) there is some form of reality in it… I love dark humour; so it’ll be nice if there is some form of undercurrent humour. Also I like variety to be thrown in so that people keep guessing what my next one will be like. I try to do that,’ Abhay told IANS in an interview.

But the main reason he’s doing ‘Shanghai’ is director Dibakar Banerjee, with whom Abhay has worked earlier in critically and commercially acclaimed ‘Oye Luck! Luck Oye’.

‘I’ve worked with Dibakar before and we have always discussed working together again. He had kind of mentioned this film long ago and the case was that whenever he is ready he should tell me so that I can see my dates and everything. I didn’t even read the script to say yes,’ Abhay said candidly.

And the actor, who is yesteryears hero Dharmendra’s nephew, can’t stop praising the filmmaker.

‘I love the kind of work that Dibakar does. He is a genius and a smart guy. In his films, he defines the culture for its finer aspects as opposed to whatever is obvious. He has his own way and that’s what I like,’ Abhay said.

‘Shanghai’ is an official Hindi adaptation of political thriller ‘Z’ written by Greek novelist Vassilis Vassilikos on the assassination of a politician. It has been adapted by Banerjee, who has made it relevant for Indian audiences.

The film will also star Emraan Hashmi and goes on the floor in April.

Talking about his role, Abhay said: ‘I don’t know much about my role. I know that he is not a very nice man and this character gives Emraan’s character a tough time.’

‘It’s a political thriller essentially. I have an idea of what I’m going to do with the character, but it’s not something that I have defined yet because we will start shooting in April.

‘In the next few months I’m going to get a better definition of this character and Dibakar will also have a say in how he wants me to play this character,’ the 34-year-old added.

So will he be reading the book on which the film is based?

‘I don’t think it’s important to read the book because I have read the script. The book was written in the 1950s and Dibakar has taken the politics of the day and made it relevant to our country.

‘What’s more important is to know what is happening in our country today and how businesses are being set up… How economies are being used or abused. With that understanding I’ll be able to play my character better,’ Abhay said.

The female lead of the film hasn’t been decided yet and the film is being made on a budget of approximately Rs.30 crore (Rs. 300 million).

Abhay, who entered Bollywood with the low-key ‘Socha Na Tha’ in 2005, has endeared himself to audiences with offbeat films like ‘Dev D’, ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’, ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd’, and ‘Aisha’.