Punit Malhotra wanted to be an actor

Before directing I Hate Luv Storys, Punit Malhotra always wanted to be an actor. The reason why he's taken efforts to build a body that's worth showing off.

In the August issue of Men's Health, Dharma Production's new blue-eyed boy shows off his torso and abs.

During the making of I Hate Luv Storys, Malhotra would take off his shirt each time he was happy with a shot.

And though he has lost muscle before the release of the film, the IHLS director plans to get back to the gym and pack on some serious pounds.

Manish Malhotra's nephew definitely knows how to enjoy himself behind and in front of the camera.

Source http://www.santabanta.com/cinema.asp?pid=38574

Lamhaa review: The statistics move you more than the film

You're wondering how seriously you should take this film, when bang in the middle of talks of murder plots and violence, Sanjay Dutt says to Bipasha Basu: Ek aur baat, aap behad khoobsoorat hain.

They are no longer the characters they set out to play, but a Hindi film hero and heroine. Sanjay Dutt's intro is full-on drama; he is often photographed in slow-mo with dark sunglasses. What's going on?

Dutt plays an Indian Intelligence Officer posing as a journalist in Kashmir. The idea is to unearth a conspiracy, a violence aiming to transcend the one in '89.

We meet Haji (Anupam Kher), a fanatical political leader who is grooming Aziza (Basu) to follow in his footsteps. She leads a female fidayeen outfit.

What we see over the next two hours is a hollow plot playing itself out self-seriously.

We see the village of half-widows, where the women whose husbands were picked up for random questioning never returned. We see slimy politicians on both sides, we learn that the Indian government is pumping in hundreds of crores into Kashmir year after year.

Everyone wants a piece of the pie; it benefits too many to keep Kashmir burning. But the severely complex Kashmir issue cannot be articulated with a flaky plot and skimming-over-the-surface representations.

All you have is shock value: make-shift hospitals in garages where bombs are planted in children, women yearning for their sons unsure whether they're dead or alive, a young recruit shot dead for trying to run away, the Indian army shooting innocent civilians.

Rahul Dholakia's (Parznia) treatment of the film is inconsistent. For the beginning,he uses the oldest trick in the book - using an AV presentation with photos of the baddies.

Then on we see a history lesson, told too quickly and packing in too much information within a few minutes.

In the middle, it turns into a Bollywood thriller, and at times it turns into a film yearning for the cause of Kashmir.

Honestly, a dry, 'Kashmir is the most dangerous place on Earth, and the most beautiful' isn't exactly putting forth a novel point. Also politicians going on carping, 'elections sar par hai', is so '80s.

Another dialogue says dramatically, 'Jahanum aur jannat ka faasla hai sirf ek goli'.

Too many songs (even though melodious) take away from the credibility of the narrative. The background score (Sanjay Chowdhury) is sorely disappointing. Cinematography is interesting, capturing Kashmir's atmospherics in a subtle manner.

Sanjay Dutt is unconvincing as the Intelligence officer, unable to drop his real persona for the character. His dialogue delivery appears strangely laboured, and the performance lackluster.

Bipasha Basu lights up the screen with her earnest performance. Kunal Kapoor is an interesting casting choice for the subversive leader, and the actor delivers.

Not wanting to take away anything from the commendable making of this picture that you witness as the credits roll (the crew has actually shot in Kashmir), it is difficult to recommend the film when the statistics at the end move you more than the film.

Source http://sify.com/movies/bollywood/review.php?id=14949777&ctid=5&cid=2425

Films, music can bridge Indo-Pak gap: Ali Zafar

Pakistani singer-actor Ali Zafar, who is making his Bollywood debut with Tere Bin Laden, feels films and music can bridge the gap between the two hostile countries, India and Pakistan.

"I think films and music are one of the greatest tools of bringing in peace and harmony between India and Pakistan. As both countries share a common passion -- films and music this can bridge the difference between the two," said Zafar.

Produced by Aarti Shetty and Pooja Shetty Deora, the film is directed by Abhishek Sharma. The music of the film is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Tere Bin Laden is a tongue-in-cheek comedy, set for a worldwide release on July 16.

"Differences between the two countries will surely be resolved one day as people from the film fraternity are doing their best to bring both the countries together on board. As an actor and singer, I would try my best to work in this direction," Zafar said.

The 30-year old actor plays the role of a news reporter from Pakistan, who is desperate to migrate to the US in pursuit of his dream.

"The hero fails to get there because of visa problems so he decides to produce a fake video of Osama Bin Laden to attract attention but lands in trouble," he said.

Zafar, who is known as the 'Prince of Pop' in Pakistan, said, "Pop music, both in India and Pakistan, has been put into some corner. As many companies have shut down after recession what's the point of making music, if no one is going to hear it."

"One needs to be inspired to write music and with the turmoil in the country there wasn't any inspiration around so we do not see much of pop music now," he said.

The actor further said, "In the last four-five years, there has been no breakthrough star from our music industry. There are hardly any album sales. So many news channels have emerged that music has taken a backseat. It's been a fiasco."

Zafar, who idolises Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi, said, "Earlier only a voice was strong enough to carry the song and create that magic...you did not need to use too many instruments. Today this is not the case but I still believe strongly in melody."

However, the film has not been cleared for release by the Pakistani censor board over fears of terrorist attacks as it has Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden as a central character.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100146659&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood&cp

The Last Airbender

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Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements.Aang teams up with Katara (Nicole Peltz) a Waterbender and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) to restore balance to their war-torn world.

Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) is on the hunt for the Avatar, to prove to his father, Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis) that he is not the pathetic loser his father takes him to be. But Commander Zhao (Aasif Mandvi), an ambitious sort, also wants to bring the Avatar in to Ozai.Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, this live-action feature film is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive.

But the screenplay by Shyamalan is cluttered with so much gobbledygook exposition and confusing action that it's impossible to grasp what's supposed to be going on for more than 15 seconds at a stretch.So the bigger problem is that you don't care about any of these people, whose motivations and personalities are impossible to discern. Also bizarre is the manner in which the warring parties fight. A fire bender, say, will toss a fireball at an earth bender, who will throw up a wall of dirt and block it. Meanwhile the fire bender will stand there and wait while the earth bender hits him with a rock or something.

It's using elements as rock-paper-scissors, but done by way of a sort of advanced form of martial arts. Why wait for your enemy? Why not just hit him in the head with a shovel while he's standing there?And then there’s also the issue of the 3D conversion. Like ‘Clash of the Titans’ before it, ‘The Last Airbender’ was converted to 3D in post-production, leaving it a fuzzy, dark, eye-straining affair. Much of the film doesn’t even register in three dimensions, allowing the viewer to remove their glasses for much-needed breaks.As for the acting, it is dreadful.

Most of the performers are so bland that you forget them while you’re watching them. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ fame Dev Patel, saddled with a character with conflicting motives, fares slightly better. The film ends with a set-up for a sequel, which those unfortunate enough to endure this torturous mess can only hope never occurs.

Source http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/reviews/the-last-airbender/189449.html

‘Krrish 2’ to rescue Hrithik

The Roshans have taken the failure of ‘Kites very seriously and hence are planning to hit back with a sequel of 2006 hit film ‘Krrish’ starring Hrithik Roshan in the lead. The father son duo has given three films together until now, which includes Hrithik’s debut movie ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ and ‘Krrish’. All of them have turned out to be blockbuster hits at the box office. Rakesh had been planning this sequel for a while, but it didn’t materialize. The debacle of ‘Kites’ however has made him work on it very seriously. Sources say that after making three big hits with his son, Rakesh wanted to take a break from direction and start producing films and Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra was supposed to direct ‘Krrish 2’. Now, the plan stands changed

Source http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/news/%E2%80%98krrish-2%E2%80%99-to-rescue-hrithik/189440.html

I hate this term six-pack: Emraan Hashmi

Emraan Hashmi says upcoming film Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, in which he plays an underworld don, is a "turning point" in his career and he has worked hard on his physique for the film.

He also says that working with Ajay Devgn in the film was a good experience.

"Working with Ajay was a treat because he is such a great actor. To be in one frame and act with him is intimidating, but you get to learn lots of things," Emraan said. The film is by Milan Luthria.

Emraan has played characters with negative shades earlier but says Once Upon A Time... would be a turning point for him and maintains that it's unlike other dark underworld films.

"It's a turning point of my career. I have played mostly romantic and intense roles. On-screen criminals and underworld dons are mostly one-dimensional but here we have tried to give them an edge, to bring an emotional context... good songs, so that the film becomes more colourful and not dark," the actor said.

Set primarily in the 1970s Mumbai, the film will trace the changing face of the underworld through the eyes of a police officer. The story follows the rise of Sultan (Ajay), and his eventual fall when his protege Shoaib (Emraan) challenges his supremacy and usurps power to rule the underworld in the city.

The film also features Kangana Ranaut and Prachi Desai.

Asked if there were any particular actor's films he saw to mould his character set in the 1970s, the 31-year-old said: "I think the films I saw were mostly Mr. (Amitabh) Bachchan's and Shashi Kapoor's. I can't name any film in particular."

Emraan has really worked on his body for this film, but says he detests the term "six-pack abs".

"I hate this term six-pack. When Milan narrated the script he made sure that the character demands an overall muscular physique. Because of the action sequences, the toughness in the look was required," he said.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100146257&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood

“He’s back”

It’s a tried and tested formula and Sony Entertainment Television is hoping that it will work magic for the channel, as it has in the past for its competitor, Star Plus. The Hindi general entertainment channel from Multi Screen Media Ltd (MSML) announced the launch of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), at a press conference on Wednesday in Mumbai. This is the fourth season of the show on Indian television and will be hosted by actor Amitabh Bachchan.

Though there was speculation early this year that actor Aamir Khan been approached to host the fourth season of the popular game show, the channel heads maintained that they had always been in talks with Bachchan. The show, which is expected to take off sometime later this year, is based on the international game show format, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Produced by Big Synergy, the Siddharth Basu led production house, the show was hosted in India by Bachchan in 2000. This is the third season of KBC that Bachchan will host. He played host for KBC 1 and 2 on Star Plus which gained a lot of popularity at the time and catapulted the channel to it’s number one position. Season 3 of KBC, also on Star Plus was hosted by actor Shahrukh Khan and was tweaked to suit his style, which was more informal. However, KBC 3 failed to make a cut with audiences and delivered poor television ratings.

Channel officials remained tight-lipped about any changes in the prize money or show format. But maintained that the prize money would definitely be “more than a crore, considering the show was called Kaun Banega Crorepati,” said NP Singh, chief operating officer, SET. KBC 3 which was hosted by Shahrukh Khan had a prize of Rs 2 crore.

The production house, Big Synergy is currently assessing all the changes and innovations in the format globally and is likely to put together a fresher, reworked format to appeal to audiences and overcome any viewer fatigue for the show. “The show perfectly fits with our vision of driving the power of entertainment as a force of good in the society. Kaun Banega Crorepati gives equal opportunities to all – irrespective of all their social and economic standing – to use their knowledge to change their lives forever,”said Ajit Thakur, executive vice president and business head, SET.

Source http://www.livemint.com/2010/07/09102041/8220He8217s-back8221.html?h=B