IBLOG SPACE

This team of intelligent cinema-savvy actors and technicians has been making urbane comedies for many years now. Some have worked at the box-office. Most have not. But there's no denying the suave smooth-sailing charm of the narration as we glide through one more metro-centric saga of warmth during times of loneliness. Rightaway, director Saurabh Shukla, who also plays with relish an obscenely over-the-top film producer, introduces us to the film's protagonist, a struggling bald writer Shubendu (Rajat Kapoor) and his struggling-actor flatmate Gagan (Ranvir Sheroy). A portrait in contrasts , physically intellectually and morally, Shubendu and Gagan are played with such innate conviction and charm by the two actors that we barely notice how much these characters owe to the Hollywood tradition of contrasting men sharing roof and lives in a hostile city where desolation is not an option, it's a given. Deal with it, or perish.  The girls, the very charming Neha Dhupia and the su

Imagine if Shah Rukh Khan left his posh job at NASA in Swades  and returned to a village filled with escapees from a lunatic asylum... and you have the basic plot structure of Shirish Kunder's  Joker , a film as crazy in intent as its characters make the proceedings appear to be.  The film is fun to watch when it isn't trying to be too clever for words, or when it isn't tripping over with its tongue-in-cheek smart-ass humour. The characters are uniformly self-deprecating. Some of the material connected to an outsider helping set a scrambled village in order through mirthful masquerade echoes Farah Khan's  Tees Maar Khan , though this time Akshay Kumar plays a far more 'serious' character.  Dammit, he doesn't even have a romantic duet with his co-star Sonakshi!  I wonder why Akshay Kumar chose to distance himself from this film! He has done much worse comedies in his career. Crass, loud, inane, repetitive and unfunny ones…. Joker  is none of these. The humo

Aamir Khan has once again proved that they don't call him a Perfectionist for nothing! This time round, Aamir Khan gets featured on the cover of the prestigious Time magazine, for taking up social issues on his television show 'Satyamev Jayate'. With this, Aamir became the third Indian actor to be featured on the Time magazine cover, the first two being Parveen Babi (July 1976) and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (2003). Aptly titled as, 'Khan's Quest: "He's breaking the Bollywood mold by tackling India's social ills. Can an actor change a nation?", the magazine tries to decode the phenomenon called 'Aamir Khan' who has succeeded immensely in bringing in a revolution of sorts with this show. Thanks to the show, the Rajasthan government promised to set up fast track courts to resolve pending female foeticide cases in the state. Not just that, Aamir was also invited to Parliament to discuss the issue of FDI in pharmaceuticals. If that wasn't en

This respected writer of Indian cinema knows the weight of last words, and his last words to me, as we finish a fifteen minute chat on what's supposedly going to be the biggest series on Indian Television, are: "I again say that it's time for concept television and 24 will work in India". But the man responsible for the above words and the one who is going to put new words in Indian Jack Bauer's mouth is Rensil D'Silva - a man of few words but words with finesse. You don't have to look far to get a grasp of who Ren (we love to address him with that name) is. From advertising to television to movies and now back to television, Rensil's ride to success is formidable. The man who has penned down  Aks, Rang De Basanti  and  Kurbaan , why I am I not surprised that I am in for yet another fast-paced, gritty, witty and a strong ensemble cast show on television. As of now, like his central character Jack (from the original 24), D'Silva is having sleepless

In spite of its flaws, of which there are many,  Jalpari The Desert Mermaid  wins your heart with its simple fluid storytelling and characters who seem to have taken birth in the deserted village in Haryana, long before the camera was switched on. There is a fascinating play of light and shade in Deepak Venkateshan's screenplay. It manfully tries to incorporate several genres and perhaps ends up being neither here nor there. But the heart, oh that wondrous creation, is constantly in the right place. Director Nila Madhab Panda takes two city-bred children Shreya (Lehar Khan) and Sam (Krishang Trivedi) to their ancestral village with their father (Pravin Dabas) and grandmother (Suhasini Mulay), a dry godforsaken land of non-productivity suspiciously bereft of girl children. From there, the film follows a scattered craggy path culminating in a finale which doesn't quite hold up, but nonetheless offers us a heartwarming insight into the harsh reality of life in many parts of rural

Tamannaah Bhatia, who plays Sridevi's role in the new-age version  Himmatwala , is extremely keen to meet the original 'Himmatwali' before beginning shooting for  Himmatwala  in Hyderabad this week. Unfortunately, neither the new nor the original  Himmatwala heroine could find the time to accommodate one another. While Tamannaah is in Hyderabad shooting for Puri Jagannath's new Telugu film, from where she straightaway joins the  Himmatwala  team, Sridevi is busy with the promotions of her comeback venture  English Vinglish .  Disappointed, but still hopeful of meeting her idol, Tamannaah gushes, "I grew up dancing to Sridevi's ' Ta Thaiya Ta Thaiya ' and ' Mere Haathon Mein Nau Nau Churiyan Hai ' in front of the mirror. I think every Indian girl idolizes Sridevi. I'd spend hours learning and imitating her steps. And today, to be playing her role from  Himmatwala …it's a dream come true!! I am still pinching myself in disbelief." 

The Baadshah of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan is shooting in the valleys of Kashmir for his next film with YRF. We came across these pictures of SRK in Kashmir on the sets of his upcoming film. SRK is seen in a bearded look and the buzz is that he is shooting the climax of the film along with co-stars Katrina and Anushka. Needless to say there was tremendous security cover during the shoot. King Khan seems to be having a blast shooting in Kashmir. The actor tweeted, “How beautiful is Kashmir...how lovely the ppl & silences that can only be Nature's voice. Feel blessed to be here in the land of sufis. My father’s one unfulfilled wish was to bring me to Kashmir cos his mom was from here. Now i am here, it feels i am in his big strong arms.†The untitled Yash Chopra directed film is scheduled to release this Diwali (Nov 13).

Last month, when Priyanka Chopra returned from US, she was seen sporting a new tattoo on her fore-arm that read, 'Daddy's lil girl...' PC has always been known to be extremely close to her dad and hence she got herself inked with that message. Noticing Priyanka's tattoo, Ranbir too decided to have some fun, all in good spirit of course. While promoting their film Barfi in London a couple of days ago, Ranbir took a pen and wrote 'Mommys Big Boy…' on his fore-arm a message similar to PC's tattoo. The duo then even happily showed off their respective tattooed fore-arms much to the shutterbugs delight.  Looks like this duo certainly shares a real friendly camaraderie off-screen as well.