Remembering Yash Chopra

Yesterday/two days ago was Yash Chopra's B-day so in honor of it, I wrote a little tribute post

Yash Chopra, the master.

Here's a stunning montage of his heroines set to a monologue by him about the beauty of women.

The man was a craftsman. He was so skilled in creating a well balanced formula that yielded gorgeous, classic Bollywood cinema. Nobody did/does it like him.

Here's an example of what I, personally, believe to be Bollywood perfection. Spot on music, the melodious Lata crooning Sahir Ludhianvi's (what a master of words) beautiful lyrics poetically blended with great cinematography on the enchanting Rakhee subtly emoting. He encapsulated the beauty of Desi culture effortlessly. Perfection. Watch.

A while ago Yash Raj Films teamed up with Karol Bagh Saree House and created the label Diva'ni. In honor of the late showman's birthday, the label held a show where nine of his leading ladies walked the ramp with Shahrukh Khan as host. 

(source: Missmalini.com)

More pics and quotes from the event after the jump:

Am I Nuts? Sisters From Another Mister

Mmm... maybe not "sisters from another mister" in this case but more like long-lost-daughter or something like that.

A couple of days ago Chaudvin Ka Chand was on TV, and as a devout Waheeda fan (and even Guru Dutt and that entire camp) it was only appropriate I watch it again. So I did. As I'm watching something strikes me that never has before...

Doesn't Sonam Kapoor look like Waheeda Rehman? Not a carbon copy or anything, but there are definitely "jhalaks" er factors that strongly remind me of her. Both of them have large expressive eyes and semi-pouty lips on their beautifully petite faces. Here's a picture of the two. You decide:



Now, I don't know if I'm really delayed in making this comparison and if it's a commonly said thing or... I am completely nuts. I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's not a commonly said thing because remember when Cine Blitz launched their book? The cover was an homage to Pyaasa in which they had Katrina Kaif pose as Waheeda. Still scratching my head on that one... it should have OBVS been Sonam! Again, I could be really off because I go through phases where I make really outrageous comparisons. When I went through my Shilpa Shetty phase, I thought Jennifer Aniston looked like her. When I went through my Dimple Kapadia phase, I thought Sandra Bullock looked like her (I still agree with that one).

Anyway, holla at a sista and let me know what you thank!

p.s. I'm not sure why this thought didn't dawn on me when they starred together in Delhi 6 together. Odd.

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]

Promos, Trailers and Friends

I don't have a promo for "My Name is Khan" but I had to share this news with you, 'cause I'm pretty excited about this and you should be too. The theatrical trailer for MNIK is going to be released globally with James Cameron's AVATAR on December 18th. Oh Em Jee. Let it sink it, let it sink in. I do remember hearing K-Jo say somewhere how he felt it was about time Bollywood was put on the global map and rightfully so. Exciting ish, no? I think so. Well, I just hope it's actually a good movie. I mean, KJO, SRK, Kajol... it's such a beautiful formula it's scary. Oh and Tanay Chheda (think Slumdog Millionaire, Taare Zameen Par, and Don) is in the film too. I guess this post should have fallen under 'Forthcoming' huh? Well anyway, I couldn't contain myself. Onto an actual promo...

Salman Khan's anticipated VEER. Alright, before I say anything, remember back when "Lucky - No Time for Love" came out and it starred Sneha Ullal better known as "that chick who looked exactly like Aishwarya Rai" and everyone said Salman Khan picked her 'cause she looked like his ex. Well, there have been murmurs that his heroine for Veer, Zarine Khan, looks very much like Ms. Kaif. Now that we've seen the promo, I hereby declare those rumors to be true. It's actually kind of sick and weird because he's still with Katrina... awk. In his defense, after the disaster that was Yuvraaj he vowed never to work with his lady-love again... although I'm sure the casting for Veer was done before the release of Yuvraaj. Just sayin'. ANYWAY check out the promo, the movie is set to release in January 22nd.



Here's what my thought process was like upon viewing this:
"Ooh period film, yes! Aggressive gory Salman Khan, gross. His fans will eat this up though. Oh wait, this looks kind of powerful and promising. Love story?? Beautiful music? Score. Katrinaaaa?! Oops. Meh."

How do you feel about it?

Oh p.s. this has nothing to do with anything but I don't think it could be a post of its own. I was just on a website where they have actress' ratings every week and the top three are the usual Kareena, Katrina, Priyanka, etc. but today it was 1) Kareena Kapoor 2) KASHMIRA SHAH 3) Katrina Kaif. Urgh? Did I miss some controversy? Throw some theories my way, how do you think that happened. (btw, if my all caps wasn't enough of a hint, I'm referring to how Kashmira Shah is rated second)

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.