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The gorgeous courtesan Chandramukhi in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali version of Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s Devdas is poised for another brush with Bengal. Only this time, the bond promises to be stronger.
Madhuri Dixit Nene will try and speak chaste Bengali for the yet-untitled film of Buddhadeb Dasgupta. Come October-November, some lucky pedestrians might even catch a glimpse of the actress walking down a north Calcutta street, with Dasgupta’s camera trailing behind.
The lines between real and reel life will be blurred somewhat for the superstar-cum-supermom when she gets under the skin of a talented but dissatisfied actress, in search of a role that would help realise her full potential.
“Madhuri makes you feel sad when she talks about her secret yearning to stretch herself to the fullest, the disquiet within to surpass herself,” says Dasgupta, who has penned the script. “She is a born actress. I just need to provide her with a spark; she will do the rest.”
The story idea germinated about a decade ago when Dasgupta was directing Mithun Chakraborty in the national award-winning Tahader Katha. “Here was this Bollywood star who had catapulted himself to the peak, but still had a craving for more. Mithun said he wanted his sons to remember him for something worthwhile, and not just for prancing around. It was then that I thought of developing the idea and exploring the unspoken inner quest in an actor,” reveals the film-maker.
For this tale of two sisters, Dasgupta has one tough ask — hunting for someone who bears a resemblance to Madhuri and is talented, too. To be produced by Jhamu Sugandh, and dubbed in Hindi as well, the film has Prosenjit in the male lead and a cameo from Tapas Pal (Madhuri’s first ‘hero’ in Abodh). Some recognisable faces from Bollywood will also feature in the project.
And as Madhuri will be required to mouth her lines in Bengali, learning more than a smattering of the language is the first round of homework Dasgupta has assigned her. “I have advised her to practise by chatting with Bengali-speaking acquaintances in her US home,” he adds.
After winding up the outdoor shoot in Calcutta, the film-maker and his crew will head for Mumbai for the indoor sequences as “it will be more convenient for Madhuri who has a baby to look after”.
For now, Dasgupta is absorbed in Swapner Din, the film he had a tough time shooting in Bolpur for “the heat and the crowd”. Post-production will start soon to meet the May-end release target. “I will go for a short hibernation; I need to recharge myself before plunging into another creative work,” says Dasgupta.
— Reshmi Sengupta
If Sourav Ganguly and his men in blue took cricket diplomacy across the border, a theatre troupe from the city, too, did its bit to build a friendship bridge with our north-western neighbours.
Led by Usha Ganguli, Rangakarmee enacted Antaryatra to a packed auditorium at the weeklong women’s theatre festival Zanani, hosted by Pakistan-based group Ajoka between March 7 and 13, at Lahore. Rangakarmee was one of the five troupes from India, with the other four being from Punjab.
The crowd that had trooped in for the “first-of-its-kind” Indo-Pak theatre fare lapped up the golden moments of craft and camaraderie that performing arts camps from both sides brought to the stage.
“The winds of change are sweeping across Pakistan. The women are very courageous and so many of them had come to see our play. The people on the streets of Lahore are also very warm; they really want to revive the bond with us,” says Ganguli, who shared the dais with veteran stage actors Zohra Sehgal and her sister Uzra Butt.
“I also had a chance to meet the daughters of Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto, on whom we are basing our next production. They have also given me valuable material on him,” adds Ganguli. Scripted as a collage of three productions, Rangakarmee will retrace the extraordinary life and works of Manto.
In another attempt to bring the two neighbours closer, an exhibition titled “Along the X axis: video art from India and Pakistan”, will be held at the Apeejay Media Gallery in New Delhi, on March 28 and 29. This will be the first brush for eight Pakistani new media artists with five of their Indian counterparts.
The faces to catch this April: Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Jean Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Douglas…
All the big stars are on the small screen in Hollywood Heroes, a new series hosted by Ashok Amritraj, brother of Vijay and Anand. Every Saturday and Sunday, at 10 pm on The History Channel, an hour will be devoted to the rise to stardom of one of these “historic” names.
The 26-part series may be only the first instalment of the star-struck theme. “This one has just the men, but series two should be about women,” Amritraj told Metro from his Los Angeles home, though “nothing is planned so far” by way of his involvement.
The producer behind films such as the recent hit Bringing Down the House, Bandits and Original Sin agreed to anchor the series for as many personal reasons as professional. “Many of the guys are very good friends. They come over to play tennis or have a meal. Or they are people I have worked with,” he explains.
Amritraj has a few more big releases coming up soon, like the Walt Disney films Raising Helen, directed by Garry Marshall (of Pretty Woman fame) which will open Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Film Festival, and Shopgirl with Steve Martin and Claire Danes. But though the man who made Jeans doesn’t have any desi films up his
sleeve, he does have plans to go the Gurinder Chaddha Bride and Prejudice way.
“I am working on a film that will be shot one-third in India and two-thirds in San Francisco and New York,” he reveals. The script is currently being developed, but this much seems sure: Amritraj is keen to cast a Bollywood belle and a Hollywood hunk.
Cassettes are in slow-motion mode; the compact disc (CD) is where the action is. A recent survey by MusicWorld revealed that the Park Street outlet sold more CDs than cassettes during the financial year 2003-04. The outlet — which retained the title of the highest selling music store in the MusicWorld chain for the third year running — began a weeklong celebration on Thursday to mark its fourth anniversary.
By March 31 (end of this financial year), the Park Street outlet expects to touch a turnover peak of Rs 10 crore. The annual sales is expected to cross Rs 60 crore, a rise of 10 per cent.
MusicWorld currently has 200 outlets in 31 cities, including 14 major showrooms, 35 ‘destination’ stores in the form of MusicWorld Express, and 152 shop-in-shops in the form of MusicWorld Unplugged. A full-fledged destination store is also slated for launch in Mumbai by May 2004.
The highest selling Bengali audio title at the Park Street outlet was Srikanta Acharya’s Rabindrasangeet album Pather Sathi. The most popular Hindi album was Kal Ho Naa Ho, and topping the international charts was The Dance Steps.
Video compact disc (VCD) sales also showed a significant increase — from 9,500 titles the previous year to 37,000. Satyajit Ray was the most popular, with Sonar Kella topping the charts.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, singer Suchitra Mitra would be present at the store on March 30.
