Features

CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA has underperformed and the way it is progressing after a not-so-heartening weekend, the picture is certainly not rosy for this Akshay Kumar starrer. The wheels of fortunes have turned, and how! In case of this Rohan Sippy produced film, the very idea of having paid previews have gone wrong.

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".

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.

Comedy is certainly the flavour of the season in Bollywood with every other comic caper making a killing at the turnstiles and dime-a-dozen dream merchants scrambling over one another to board the bandwagon. Among the recent to hit the box office is "Dhamaal". No sooner was David Dhawan's pop-up comedy flick, "Partner", declared a hit, another veteran of the genre, Indra Kumar, seems poised to hit a homerun with his latest offering "Dhamaal", which released Friday.

From "Piya tu ab to aaja" to "Dum maro dum" and "Kambakht ishq", singing diva Asha Bhosle has been enthralling listeners with her vivacious and versatile numbers for more than six decades. And the singing legend, who turned 74 Saturday, is still going strong. From Madhubala to Helen in the older films to newer actresses Urmila Matondkar and Kareena Kapoor, these screen scorchers are all bound by a common thread - the evergreen voice of Asha.

Two remakes of two huge hits - both coincidentally from the 1970s - are released in one week to great expectations... but sink without a trace. So, the question arises - do we really need remakes? The most memorable remake fiasco was by none other than mighty Ram Gopal Varma. His "Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag", made with an obscenely high budget and big stars, is a re-styled and re-modelled version of Ramesh Sippy's 1975 cult film "Sholay". But it sank at the box office without a trace.

Be it the softly romantic "Pyar hua iqraar hua" from "Sri 420" or the frankly sensual "Aaj rapat jayen" from "Namak Halaal", rain songs have been a constant in Bollywood films down the ages. Here, stars and directors list their favourites: Saif Ali Khan: My favourite rain song will have to be "Tip tip barsa pani" from the film "Mohra". I like the lyrics and the ambience created by the tune.