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| Debasree: New chapter |
After Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai, it can just be Mallika pe sab ko gussa kyon aata Hai? Yes, almost every known name in Bollywood is mad at the Murder madam. And it?s all the more shocking because the brickbats are being hurled from the Murder camp.
Co-actor Emraan Hashmi told Metro: ?She was a very sweet girl and a great supporting actor. We had decided to keep her in the forefront during the film promotions. But she started believing that the success of Murder was only because of her. I ignored her in the beginning but when she made the same claim publicly at a party, I was really hurt and totally pissed off.?
Well, it might have been that the young actor couldn?t take the fact that her co-star was stealing the show and the media thunder. But the director himself, Anurag Basu, was equally vocal about Mallika?s verbal volleys.
?Her statements disturbed the rest of my cast. It was a very conscious decision to promote the film through Mallika but it was ultimately the team effort which worked and not just the flesh factor.?
With Basu and Emraan being such integral parts of the Bhatt camp, it?s evident that Mallika can no longer work with the most prolific film production company in Bollywood.
But perhaps, she doesn?t need the Bhatts anymore. She has already created a splash by playing Jackie Chan?s lady love in The Myth and is now romancing garam Dharam in Kis Kiski Kismat. And the film?s in troubled waters even before it?s hit the theatres.
The censor board?s reportedly scrutinising her work very closely and has already given it an A certificate despite it being billed as a ?family entertainment film?. Well, with Mallika around, can any family feel safe?
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| Mallika Sherawat: Under fire |
Fifteen days of indoor shoot in Calcutta starting October 2, a week?s work in Kalimpong from November 2, post-production deadline is December 25 and commercial release in February, 2005 ...
Project management principles are seeping into movie-making in Tollywood. After taking a shot at Marxists with productions like Winkle Twinkle and Virus M, Bratya Basu, taking a leaf from Writers? Buildings consultants McKinsey, is busy chanting management mantra and drawing up an activity calendar for his second celluloid venture, Teesta.
?A project management team is working on the schedules and on everything from shoot dates and spots to the unit?s parking place while in Kalimpong,? said Basu stressing the significance of the schedule script.
Woven around the life of a woman (Debasree Roy donning the role of an attractive schoolteacher, a divorcee), who falls in love with a much younger man, the film is a depiction of the relationship between a woman and nature. The cast also includes Chandrayee Ghosh, Sreela Majumder, Pijush Ganguly and Badshah Maitra.
Budget constraint and the need to optimise costs are the reasons behind the elaborate planning, said Basu while declining to quote a figure ? ?anywhere between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 45 lakh?.
?In this competitive market, one can?t afford cost or time overruns and I think a deadline and target cost-driven approach to film-making is very important,? he explained.
But he was quick to add that the film will be more cerebral than commercial despite the so-called masala elements ? three songs and a number of steamy scenes. ?Sorry, no prancing around the trees and no lip-service to the songs in my film. There will be a fair amount of sex, but that?s to do justice to the story,? summed up Basu promising ?masala with a difference?.
In case you haven?t noticed, Zee MGM the movie channel is no longer in our midst. Tiff at the top has seen Zee and MGM part ways. As a result, the old wine in an older bottle has undergone only a label change, turning Zee MGM into Zee Movie Zone (ZMZ).
What?s new about the channel which quietly transformed on the night of September 30? We?re wondering, too.
The shabby silver logo offers stiff aesthetic challenge to the logo of Taaza TV or the old Bambino logos seen on ancient video cassettes. The soaps and movies, too, continue to remain as fresh as day before yesterday.
Sample: All this month, rerun kings Silence of the Lambs, Cable Guy, Look Who Is Talking (each screened at least 10 times on the channel) and rather forgettable ones like So I Married An Axe Murderer and Savior will keep us entertained.
Innovation comes in the form of the movies being grouped into ?zones? ? Oscar Zone, Hotshot Zone, Action Zone? you get the drift.
There?s only a little respite in the evergreen James Bond series and a few good ones like The Hours, Frida and Amelie. After the cosmetics, maybe ZMZ should start thinking about content changes, too.
We are waiting...
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| Aamna Shariff: Ready to wed |
Jewel Hunt
So finally your small-screen faves Sujal and Kashish are getting married. Well, you too can celebrate this long-awaited wedding with the Kahiin To Hoga stars. Arguably Indian television?s most popular jodi, Sujal (Rajeev Khandelwal) and Kashish (Aamna Shariff) will engage in nuptial negotiations after having gone through an entire gamut of emotions.
They had met in the first few episodes, fell in love and parted ways, and even became bitter enemies before biting into the shaadi ka laddoo.
In the serial, the most watched late-night show on telly, Sujal cannot contain his happiness and wants to give something very special to his would-be-bride Kashish. And that is a dazzling set of diamond jewellery worth over Rs 20 lakh.
And to make this marriage bigger, you can take home the same kind of jewellery given by Sujal to Kashish!
For the first time on Indian television, there is a reverse auction happening through SMS 7827. The bidding amount for the Rs 20 lakh jewellery can be Rs 100, Rs 3.33 and even Re 1.
All you have to do is type BID and then your bidding amount and SMS this to 7827. However, it will not be the highest or the lowest bidder who will win, but the lowest unique bidder who gets the jewellery.
As for who gets his hands on Kashish?s jewellery, well, kahiin to hoga...
