Trailers, Promos and Friends

I wish I had an excuse for my hiatus from blogging, but I don't. I let winter break get the best of me and I went into 100% lazy mode. So I apologize.

Here are some overdue trailers and stills:


Here's the first song promo, Sajda, from MY NAME IS KHAN:


The song is so divine. I can't wait to hear it in its entirety. I'm also pleased to see the Shajol (as the duo's been christened) magic is alive and evident. I was afraid it wouldn't meet up to it's insanely high expectations thanks to the hype.

Next up is RGV (Ram Gopal Verma)'s upcoming film, RANN. It features Riteish Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sudeep, Neetu Chandra, Mohnish Behl, Paresh Rawal and Gul Panag. I'm happy/surprised Riteish was casted, even if RGV films haven't been up to par as of late. Hopefully it will reveal a shade of Riteish's acting skills we haven't seen before. Paresh, it appears, will be taking on the role of a villain. Something we haven't seen a while and something he is pretty freakin' good at.

The film's plot centers around the corruption of the media. An appropriate topic to approach because, evidently, there has been a lot of resentment toward the media in India as of late. According to the celebs, anyway but do they ever like the media?? Anyhow check out this trailer of RANN:


After the success of his two critically acclaimed films (Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! )Dibakar Banerjee is ready to drop his latest directorial venture, LOVE, SEX, AUR DHOKA also known as LSD. The film is about voyeurism and was inspired by an incident that occurred in Delhi. Apparently, a girl was getting intimate with her boy toy while he recorded her on his phone and later sent a mass text with the footage and soon it went viral all over Delhi. Sound familiar? Anurag Kashyap featured a similar scene in Dev D. The Delhi incident isn't the only instance and these scandals have caused quite some drama. Director Banerjee says,

The film is not just about the MMS scandal but shows what happens before it. It is about love in our real life and love in Bollywood. It is about what media makes of spy camera investigations

. he also goes on to say it's about "the digital eyes that surround us everywhere." It's a bold film and I'm excited to see what he does with it. The film's produced by the queen of telly, Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures. I love how the topic of her soaps are so insanely unrealistic (I'm guilty of watching some, though) and this movie touches upon a very real subject. See for yourself, check out this trailer:



Lastly, here is the movie poster for KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK. Deepika looks freaksihly like Priyanka Chopra... again. Last time I thought that was in Om Shanti Om.



Oh and if for some freakish reason you haven't caught the My Name Is Khan trailer check it out! We've seen the Bollywood touch on the terrorist drama multiple times before (most recent being Kurbaan) but because of the big names involved this one seems like it may come out a winner, plus the whole autism twist helps. Which, that angle too, isn't all that original. Taare Zameen Par, Koi Milgaya, Main Aisa Hi Hoon all feature a character with a type of disability. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Here's the trailer:



Lots more to blog about. Hopefully I'll have it up by tomorrow night!

Promos, Trailers and Friends

Stills of KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK (KCK) have finally slipped out! Quick sidenote: does the title 'Karthik Calling Karthik' remind you of "Kramer VS Kramer"? Me too. Anyway check the stills out!





I really like the close-up shot. Something very chilling in the way Deepika's looking at the camera.

Next fillum. I'm so so so ashamed, I didn't know about this film earlier. I came across it while doing some Vidya Balan stalking. It's titled ISHQIYA, slated to release January 29th, directed by Abhishek Chaubhey (writer for Omkara), produced by Shemaroo Ent. & Vishal Bhardwaj and stars Naseerudding Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan. I accidentally read a plot of the story, but I think it may have revealed too much so I'll spare you the info. Watch the trailer and enjoy! Um... since the film IS associated with Vishal Bhardwaj don't be surprised by the vulgar language. Just warnin' ya!



at 0:46 I'm reminded of 'City of God', you? This looks like it could work... for a select crowd. Omkara, obviously, had a lot of the same flavor as this movie but it also had a lot of big names that brought in a crowd who, otherwise, wouldn't enjoy such films. Just a guess, anyway. It will probably receive a lot of critical acclaim. What do you think?

So, I randomly caught this on TV the other day and remember reading about it a while ago. It completely slipped my mind to post it here until I saw it on TV. The film is titled RAAT GAYI BAAT GAYI (RGBG), starring Neha Dhupia, Vinay Pathak & Rajat Kapoor, directed by Saurabh Shukla, and produced by Rangita Pritish Nandy & Rajat Kapoor. It's slated to release on New Years Eve... hm ironic (once you watch the trailer, you'll understand). Anyway, Vinay and Rajat are both fine actors and I've always said that I'm probably the only Neha Dhupia fan out there (alllright, so from the looks of it, I'm a lot of celebs' fans. I guess it's why I love the movie industry!). It has already won a lot of acclaim at many film festivals, which doesn't surprise me. So check out this lovely trailer:



Yes, yes, yes I realize it seems heavily inspired by The Hangover and most people are probably under that impression which is why Director Saurabh had a statement ready to deny it. He says,

"It's untrue; both these films are nothing alike. Let me clarify that I started Raat Gayi Baat Gayi much before The Hangover was made. I thought of Raat Gayi Baat Gayi when I attended a certain house party a while back. I was feeling terribly bored and kept staring at people aimlessly. The next morning, I narrated the episode to Rajat, who suggested that I write a story revolving around a party. That's how the story of Raat Gayi Baat Gayi took shape."

Since I want to believe it, I'm going to. It is a pretty simple storyline.

Next up. I've held back from showing you every single Rocket Singh promo there's been, cause there are a lot. But this one I had to... it has Gauhar Khan (the chick at 0:13). :)



Not sure why I'm still dropping promos of the films seeing as how it just released today. An insider of Filmfare who just got done watching the film and I mean JUST got done (technology, how I love thee) says,

"Rocket Singh, definitely one of the best movies this year!. Ranbir as a sardar is awesome, so is supporting cast"

I'm also reading from others that...

"[it] orbits sales world charmingly. Adorable, drama-free, super-witty, superbly paced-story & dialogues. Plot flows smoothly."

and

"Jerry Maguiresque sincerity rooted in Indian middle class values and the degenerate crprt culture of the last decade"

Woohoo! Hope all this is true.

That's all for now, folks!

[Photo Source: Miday Masala]

Forthcoming Films

There's quite a few films lined up so I'll try to stick with those that are worth mentioning.

First, we have Rajneeti expected to release sometime in 2010. The film has quite a list of talented actors. We have Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Manoj Bajpai and Katrina Kaif. Whilst reading that list did that record halting noise (you know, the one that indicates a negative surprise) play in your head too when you came across Katrina's name? Get this, she plays Sonia Gandhi. Director, Prakash Jha is a talented man who only casts best of the best so maybe he sees potential or maybe he just likes the idea that he can actually cast a half-Indian half-Caucasian actress. I have faith. I want to like Katrina, which don't get me wrong, I don't hate the girl but she is definitely overrated. Maybe this will be her breakout role. Let's cross our fingers. Also, it's nice to see Ranbir (who plays an NRI) branching out and not sticking to one genre or one camp. I guess that's what happens when you're part of the Kapoor lineage (I think they're my favorite Bollywood family). Oh, fun fact for the post: Ranbir, Bebo and Lolo are the first generation in the Kapoor Khandaan to have all been successful. Woohoo, glad that happened in my lifetime.

Next up we have Delhi Belly. Produced by Amir Khan, directed by Abhinay Deol and starring Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapoor, Vir Das, Poorna Jagannathan, Shenaz Treasurywala, Kim Bodnia, Vijay Raaz, Ravi Khaanwilkar, Monica Dogre. I'm going to shamelessly admit the only people I've heard of are Imran Khan (obvs), Vir Das and Shenaz Treasurywala. I'll research these other folks soon and get back to you. I don't know much about the movie except that the phrase "Delhi Belly" means you have an upset stomach... usually us NRI/foreigners get it. Gross. No idea if the film touches upon that metaphorically or what. It's also supposed to be a sex-comedy. We also know that Imran had to sport a jungli-disheveled look for the film. Have a looksies (be sure to look at his promotional shirt):
Lastly, Ranbir Kapoor and Chitrangada Singh were to have originally been casted. She opted out due to little acting scope but we're not sure about Ranbir. Maybe it was a 'dates issue', isn't it always?

There's Karthik Calling Karthik (which I'm pretty excited about) starring Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, Ram Kapoor and Shefali Chaya. What a lovely cast, I absolutely adore all four of them. It's directed by Vijay Lalwani and produced by Farhan A. and Ritesh Sidhwani and the music was composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The film is about a man who recieves a call from himself. It's supposed to be a psychological-thriller sprinkled with some humor and a bit of romance on the side. It's slated to release February 26th and since it's so far, much information isn't out. All I know is that Deepika plays an unconventional role and I'm excited to see that.

There are more upcoming films that should be mentioned but I'll save it for another post.