IBLOG SPACE

In a career spanning more than two decades, film maker Jyotin Goel has directed only three films - Inam Dus Hazar (1987), Zahreelay (1990) and Safari (1999). Incidentally, each of the three films has featured Sanjay Dutt in the lead. However, Jyotin Goel has now moved on and for his next film, he has chosen animation characters instead of opting for 'real' actors. The film is titled Bird Idol (an obvious inspiration from hugely popular 'Indian Idol') and tells the story of a bird which enters a namesake competition. Says Jyotin Goel, "We are aiming at the family audience as a whole for Bird Idol because animation films have a wide spectrum worldwide. I am sure this movie will not just be loved by children but also their family members. It is a heart warming beautiful story which will melt their hearts." Made in 3D animation, Bird Idol is presented by Warner Bros. The First Look of the film was unveiled over the weekend gone by with the

Producer Sajid Nadiadwala is spending sweaty sleepless nights. The entire unit of his film Anjaana Anjaani came back from the US. But the negative stock of his shot footage is still in the US, awaited a flight. This startling eventuality because there was no direct flight from San Francisco to Mumbai before Monday. Anything can happen in transit. Agrees Sajid, "It is risky especially for an Indian film and that too for a producer with a name belonging to a particular community. But I had no choice but to wait till Monday for the shot footage to be sent from San Francisco to Mumbai .That's when there's a direct flight from San Francisco to Mumbai." According to Sajid, connecting flights are too risky. "If the footage had to change flights the risk of misplacement would be far greater. So I'd rather brave a delay and let my film come on a direct flight." In the meanwhile, as Monday creeps up on Sajid, he contemplates in his head the possi

It's really hard to get back out when you've got under the skin of the character. But on meeting Arshad Warsi you'd not expect that. He leaves his character inside his vanity van when he talks about it. Outside, he is a much relaxed and a calm guy, someone who doesn't take his work seriously. On the flip side, you wouldn't even know how serious he is. "Would you like some biryani or sandwich?" Arshad asks me kindly. Biryani with Warsi? You betcha. I watch him eat silently for a few moments, one occasionally offering each other appreciative smiles from our respective seats. It's 3pm at the actors new and an almost furnished Andheri office. His next film Hum Tum Aur Ghost has him playing the lead man who can see dead people. What's more, he has also turned producer with this film. It's a film that only a man with a spring in his step, hope in his heart and some biryani on his plate could carry off. Arshad Warsi has all of those

In her rather eventful but now almost extinct film career, Mallika Sherawat has indulged in quite a few on-screen acts that have resulted in raised eyebrows. One such act was in Ugly Aur Pagli where she had worn a two piece lingerie. So what was really shocking about this? After all she had done this in quite a few of her earlier movies as well. Well, the difference here was she had worn the lingerie 'over' and not 'under' her clothing! A rather funny (though short) scene, it wasn't much talked about since Ugly Aur Pagli tanked at the box office. Circa 2010 and one can be rest assured that a similar act would be much talked about in weeks to come. Reason being that now it's the turn of Jacqueline Fernandez a.k.a Jackie, an entirely different personality as far as on-screen image is concerned, to be doing something similar for a film of hers. She has done that for Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai and rest assured, the results are out and out funny withou

Dibakar Banerjee was in Kolkata on Wednesday. Groups of people who saw him disembark at the airport mistook him for actor Rajit Kapoor (of Shyam Benegal's Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda and Mammo fame). The identity-crisis continued all over the city throughout the day even when he introduced himself as a director, people wanted to know if had switched from acting to direction. Says Dibakar, "All my life I've been mistaken for Rajit. Even our voices are the same. So I'm not surprised. Many years ago when Rajit Kapoor was doing the serial Bhyomkesh Bakshi on Doordarshan, I was often mobbed by fans who thought that was me. " Dibakar was in Kolkata to promote Love Sex Aur Dhokha . And everywhere Dibakar had to explain he wasn't Rajit Kapoor. Another question being asked of the director was, who was the star on whom a sting operation was performed in the third story in Love Sex Aur Dhokha . There are three stories in Love Sex Aur Dhokha all ripping the

There are good spirits and bad spirits waltzing all over the place. All we have to do is reach into the past and pull out the relevant ghoul and voila, we are into the realm of the spooky-cool. Vikram Bhatt's Shaapit has a certain coherence and clarity generally denied to the horror genre. Bhatt, a past-master at creating the shiver givers treats the material on hand with affection and respect. Shaapit is one of those rare horror thrillers which are not designed simply to scare the yell out of viewers. The research on spirits and ghosts that underlines the story of a boy in love and his effort to liberate his object of adoration from a 300-year old family curse includes scholarly interpretations of witchcraft, sorcery and other spiritual know-how. While this knowledge-ability is an advantage it also dampens of the spirit. While on the one hand you appreciate the trouble taken to transport the horror genre beyond pedestrian scares, the effort to entrust an acade