Articles

Third Salon du Cinema was held in Paris, 16th - 18th January, 2009. The event presented a unique Exhibition and Fair that was specially held to honor the World Cinema. A special newsperson from the Luxemag magazine attended the Salon at the opening day to report. The Indian Cinema was the focus of attention of the French Cinema Public this time.

For quite some time now Bollywood has been the biggest movie industry in the world. But only recently did Hollywood turn its attention here. And by the look of the Hollywood transactions so far, it's certain that the partnership is going to flourish. The Hollywood celebrity couple of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones recently announced that they are working on a script which will be filmed in India. Zeta-Jones didn't hesitate to say that she would pack her whole family and set base in India for the shoot. This follows another A-list celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who brought their family to Pune for the filming of "A Mighty Heart".

Film: "Om Shanti Om"; Music Director: Vishal-Shekhar; Singers: Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, K.K., Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Richa Sharma, Sunidhi Chauhan, Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder, Caralisa, Marianne D'Cruz, Nisha Mascarenhas, Rahul Saxena, Abhijeet; Ratings: *** Farah Khan's second directorial venture is ready to hit the theatres. While the movie is a much-anticipated one, the music is getting mixed reviews from all over. Composed by the contemporary duo Vishal-Shekhar, the soundtrack of "Om Shanti Om" is an amalgamation of songs that belong to an earlier age.

Film: "Laaga Chunari Mein Daag"; Music Director: Shantanu Moitra; Singers; Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, K.K., Sonu Nigam, Babul Supriyo, Swanand Kirkire, Pranab Biswas, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Mita Vashisht, Rekha Bharadwaj; Rating: *** Shantanu Moitra returns after his classic "Parineeta" to compose a soundtrack for the multi-starrer "Laaga Chunari Mein Daag". While fans of Moitra's genre will be delighted with the album, others wouldn't be disappointed either as he creates a soundtrack that is different, encompasses melody and doesn't miss out on the Indian classical touch.

Film: "Bhool Bhulaiya"; Music Director: Pritam; Singers: K.K., Neeraj Sridhar, Tulsi Kumar, Shaan, M.G. Sreekumar, DJ Amyth, DJ Kiran, DJ G & Earl; Rating: *** The music album of "Bhool Bhulaiya" is an absolute listener's delight. Composed by Pritam and with lyrics by Sameer, the soundtrack is a pleasure to listen to and would definitely rope in huge profits.

Kids never had it so good. After decades of neglect, the genre of children's cinema is increasingly finding favour with the dream merchants of Hindi filmdom. "Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii", "My Friend Ganesha", "The Blue Umbrella" and now "Nanhe Jaisalmer" have all hit the marquees within a span of two months. Never before have so many films for children competed simultaneously with big-budget potboilers for the attention of producers, distributors, exhibitors and cine goers.

The two most awaited films of the year, "Saawariya" and "Om Shanti Om", are likely to rewrite the rules of film marketing in India. Both the films are releasing Nov 9 and the distributors have waged an aggressive publicity campaign. Shah Rukh Khan's 6-pack abs in "Om Shanti Om" are being used to lure the audience. In "Saawariya", Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor, the scions of two illustrious Bollywood families, are touted as the film's high points.

Book clubs are popular in Australia, but Bollywood Clubs? Yes, they too exist, with more and more Australians cued on to Hindi films. Curator Rebecca Bower, whose bedside table doesn't have books but a laptop and Hindi film DVDs, has formed a Bollywood Club where a group of women watch and discuss Indian films.

Time was when you watched a film and exclaimed that it had captured so much of real life. Today the trend has reversed: we compare a real life situation to a certain turn of the script in some film. "Just like in that movie," we say wonderingly. That sense of wonder has nothing to do with real life; it has everything to do with reel life. In fact, the image has become more real than the real thing.

Film: "Aggar"; Music Director: Mithoon; Singers: Qurram, Rup, Roop Kumar Rathod, Tulsi Kumar, Sharmishtha, Mithoon, Hamza, Shilpa Rao, Kshitij; Rating: **1/2 Composer Mithoon provides variety in the album, but one thing is common to all tracks - romance and passion.

Film: Nanhe Jaisalmer; Music Director: Himesh Reshammia; Singers: Himesh Reshammiya, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Vineet, Jayesh Gandhi; Ratings: *1/2 Though the pairing of music director Himesh Reshammiya with lyricist Sameer has produced major hits in the past, they fail to make heads turn with "Nanhe Jaisalmer". The soundtrack comprises a couple of tracks with some folk in it and also has classic Reshammiya numbers that hardly create a stir.