Trailers, Promos and Friends

I'm so glad this movie hasn't been TOOO hyped up, so the trailer provides some what of a surprise element. I hope they dont' go overboard with the PR work like they do for every other movie. It's such an overkill and then there's no excitement left in actually watching the movie. Like 3 idiots, for example, they ran about two promos, both of which were very short and didn't reveal too much about the movie and look how successful that film was. Just a rant I've been wanting to go on... back to the film: We Are Family. Ugh, lame title... good stills and promo though, Look! (Oh and if you're wondering what the hell We Are Family is... jog your memory here)






How chilling is Kareena's expression? Chilling.

Here be the trailer:



Typical Dharma Productions. Can they PLEASE deviate from this NRI obsession they have going on. It's fun and all, but so sick of it. Do something Indian damn it. Whatever, the film looks fun and I think the casting is pretty brilliant. Well with the female leads anyway and I dont' think Rampal will disappoint. We'll just have to wait until Sept. 10 to reach a verdict.

Next in queue (queue?) is Lafangey Parindey. A Neil Nitin Mukesh and Deepika Padukone starrer, directed by Pradeep Sarkar (of Parineeta and Laga Chunari Mein Daag fame). The trailer pretty much explains the plot so have a looksie:



I mean... it's like, you want to laugh but you can't deny that you're curious, you know? Well, that's how I feel anyway. A blind roller skater named Pinky... have we trangressed back to the early '90s where something like that would be acceptable? Oh well, I like the director, like Deepika, and Neil's a promising kind of guy so I won't write it off.

Lastly, there's Aamir Khan's latest production venture: Peepli [live]. Yup. It's directed by newcomer Anusha Rizvi and stars a handful of really talented stage artists. According to our good ol' friend Wiki,

"It's a satire on the farmers' suicides and subsequent media and political response"

Seems kind of similar to Well Done Abba, which was also a satirical take on real-life situations that occurred in rural India. Just saying. If this film's successful, I feel like it will only be with a select crowd. Watch and judge for yourself.



...until next time! By the way, this is probably the first time in life I've actually blogged when people on my side of the world are awake.

Awards Season: Filmfare

Guess what???

YOU can have a hand in voting for the Filmfare Awards. It doesn't specify, but my guess is that it's for the "popular" category, but who cares? You get to vote for Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actor Female.

Click Here to Vote!

My list as follows:

1) 3 idiots
2) Anurag Kashyap for Dev D
3) Amir Khan
4) ... haven't decided yet. Too torn. I haven't even narrowed it down from this lengthy list:
Konkona Sen Sharma (for Wake Up Sid)
Priyanka Chopra (for Kaminey),
Kareena Kapoor (for Kurbaan),
Vidya Balan (for Paa)
or Mahi Gill (for Dev D).

In all honesty I think my heart strings are tugging at Priyanka Chopra or Mahi Gill... maybe Kareena? I don't want to turn away from the other performances though. Like I said, I'm torn.

All Izzn't Well

... but MOST izz well with 3 IDIOTS.

Let's start with the plus points. To begin with, this movie was easily one of the most anticipated movies of the year so obviously it had a huge opening weekend. Number two, not only did it open huge it totally met up to ALL the hype that was built up before the release. This film is breaking records and here are some stats to prove it. According to India's Business Standard Newspaper, 3 Idiots has made 51 million dollars (2.4 billion rupees) from the global market taking the title of the biggest Bollywood blockbuster, moving Ghajini down a spot which had made 2.25 billion rupees.

Truth be told, I was really nervous about this movie for two reasons. Firstly, Amir Khan (AK) was to be playing a college student, how on earth was that going to be pulled off? But it somehow did. I caught myself trying to disassociate myself from the charm, while watching the movie, to see if he did look too old for the part but I couldn't see it so AK succeeded. Who's surprised though? Secondly, how many directors manage a hat trick? Let alone a newbie director? Rajkumar Hirani met awesome success with his directorial debut, Munnabhai M.B.B.S.. He then went on to create a sequel, Lage Raho Munnabhai and proved the skeptics wrong and the nation was swept with Gandhigiri. Could he really have a third superhit? Welp, he did... who thinks he can go for a fourth with Munnabhai Chale Amerika?

Now for the negative... er 'negative.' Those who keep up with the Bollywood world know that 3 Idiots was inspired by Chetan Bhagat's Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT. Now those of you who really really keep up with the Bollywood world/live in India know that there is/was a feud between Bhagat and The 3 idiots team. So here's what I've gathered: Chetan, like any blogger, expressed how he felt on his blog. He felt cheated. Upon reading the script, he was under the impression that the film was only going to be 5% of his book. After watching the film, he claims there were countless similarities and that he he wasn't recognized properly. Which, irrespective of how much was borrowed, I do think the film makers should have given recognition at the beginning instead of the ending during the credits. At the same time, however, Bhagat should've paid attention while signing the contract. So, in my opinion, it goes both ways. Also, during a press conference with the 3 Idiots teams one duffer of a journalist inquired/accused the team about the Bhagat controversy without having read the book. So Mr. Chopra doesn't have any of it and speaks without thinking and the journalists, in turn, are outraged and demand an apology. I'm reminded of a scene out of some sort of Madhur Bandharkar film. Watch the video:

To my knowledge, no solution was really reached just a lot of drama but the dispute's finally ended.

Bollywood Books

Cine Blitz (the magazine) launched Cine Blitz Gold, a coffee table book commemorating 35 years of the magazine's existence. The cover is a picture of Amir Khan and Katrina Kaif paying homage to Guru Dutt & Waheeda Rehman in Pyaasa (but I'm confused, because that movie came out way more than 35 years ago? Details shmetails, I'll take it.) The book launch was titled "Love & Longing in Hindi Cinema." Interesting. I'm still trying to figure out what this book is about, but I think it just touches upon Bollywood and its history? It includes guest writers such as Javed Akhtar, Karan Johar, Amir Khan, Vikram Bhatt and the works. I WANT THIS BOOK. So, even though my birthday is no where near and Eid has gone by... my half birthday IS coming up. Wink wink, nudge nudge. Okay, fail. I'll order it myself.

To launch the book we saw Amir Khan, Katrina Kaif, Karan Johar, and Vijay Mallya (aka the head honcho behind the operation):



[Photo Source: Hamara Photo]