Bollywood News

Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini is set to hit the screens on 25 December 2008. Recently, the theatrical promo of the movie was released and it became popular among the Bollywood fans. Watching Aamir Khan with his bald head with a scar was not something surprising to his fans because all knew that Aamir Khan would continue experiment with his hair style in his upcoming movie Ghajini too.

Ghajini is a Bollywood adaptation of Tamil film Ghajini and is inspired by English language film Memento by Christopher Nolan. Ghajini is the tale of a man who lost his wife and seeks revenge for his wife’s murderer, but the problem is he suffers from a physical problem called “anterograde amnesia,” in which patients suffer from short term memory loss. Once he recovers his memory, he tends to take revenge. Aamir Khan plays the role of the protagonist Sanjay Ramaswamy in the movie, while Asin Thottumkal and Jiah Khan will be seen in the female lead roles. Music by A. R. Rahman and Ravi K. Chandran, the movie seems to be a big hit of the year. Director A. R. Murugadoss is very popular among the Tamil movie fans and Ghajini is his debut film in Bollywood. The cinematography of the movie was done by Ravi K. Chandran.

The duration of the promo is 1 minute and it reflects the core sequences of the movie with Aamir Khan featuring in some sensual romantic songs and in action sequence. The background music gives you the classy touch of A. R. Rahman. I feel, the promo bears a catchy message to the fans about the movie and it is beautifully made.

You can find the theatrical promo in this youtube link:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=OwWwGFSjDDo

Bollywood has recently signed a deal with British Film Industry and under this deal, the Indian producers will need to pay less tax to work in UK, if they work jointly with British producers. UK film minister Barbara Follett sees it beneficial for both Bollywood as well as UK film industry in this period of global economic recession. Barbara Follett thinks that it would be helpful to be more resilient in this global economic crisis if the base of audience is wider. Bollywood director Vipul Shah, who has recently taken permission to shoot at Trafalgar Square in London for his new film London Dreams, was also present at the launch of the deal.

BBC reported:

Barbara Follett said the UK industry offered “an excellent product” and the deal would help “maintain excellence”.

“The wider your base, in an economically difficult time, the more resilient you’ll be,” she added.

It will also help them to obtain funding from sources such as the National Lottery, Ms Follett said, and help to cut down on the bureaucracy involved in making films.

Civil servants from India and the UK have been working on the treaty for the past three years.

Bollywood director Vipul Shah, whose earlier movie “Singh is King” was a block buster hit around the world, also thinks that this deal will lead many Indian producers to step in the UK to make films for Indian markets. Shah made 2005 hit “Namastey London” in London and received huge appreciation for the movie. He thinks working with the local crews will be helpful for the Indian film makers. It is expected that about 10 Bollywood films will be made in UK in the next couple of years because of this deal.

Javed Jaffrey is a good actor but he is even a better dancer. He is mainly famous for his great dancing in TV. He is acting in the upcoming Bollywood movie Ta Ra Rum Pum. Here, he is dancing too.

Glamsham wrote:

As a Manager to Saif Ali Khan, who plays a car racer in the film, Javed plays a man who is sober, suave and sophisticated. Having said that, he has his moments of fun too in the film as he shows his dancing prowess after years in the song ‘Ab To Forever’.

I am eagerly waiting Javed Jaffrey to dance in Ta Ra Rum Pum. What about you?

Bollywood is suffering a severe crisis in 2007. 2006 was a record breaking year for Bollywood’s box office. In 2007, nothing is clicking for Bollywood. I think only Guru had some decent success. Except Guru, Bollywood just witnessed flop after flop movies.

Andhra Café wrote:

Even India’s first-round exit from the cricket World Cup has not helped bring much cheer. Trade analysts say January-March 2007 saw films posting losses to the tune of Rs.600 to 700 million. Mega star cast films opened to a measly 30-40 percent occupancy, with only Mani Ratnam’s ‘Guru’ emerging as universal hit in the first quarter. ‘Namastey London’ brought some relief in April.

Amitabh Bachchan’s much-hyped ‘Eklavya’ and much-talked about ‘Nishabd’ turned out to be huge flops. The biggest disappointment was the drubbing big ticket offering ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ got at the turnstiles.

The list of commercial letdowns from January to mid-April is long: Nikhil Advani’s ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Eklavya’, Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Nishabd’, Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Red’, Amrit Sagar’s ‘1971′, Milan Luthria’s ‘Hattrick’, Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Black Friday’, Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’, Meghna Gulzar’s ‘Just Married’, Suneel Darshan’s ‘Shakalaka Boom Boom’ and the latest Sunny Doel starrer ‘Big Brother’.

Nothing is clicking the box office of Bollywood in 2007. Now, Bollywood merchants are hopeful that there will be a turn around in their fortune and the turn around may just be led by Ta Ra Rum Pum. Ta Ra Rum Pum has Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji both of which have the record to shine in the box office. On the other hand, Siddharth Anand has history of making a big hit movie Salaam Namaste. So, we will have to wait just a few days to see if Ta Ra Rum Pum can ignite the passion of Indian audience.

Aishwarya Rai’s recently released English movie Provoked is now being screening in the theaters. The movie is based on domestic violence and Aishwarya Rai plays the protagonist role in the movie. Aishwarya Rai’s role is of a battered housewife who is a victim of her abusive husband. The movie is based on a true story of a Punjabi housewife named Kiranjit Ahluwalia. Kirajit came to England with her violated husband Deepak Ahluwalia and for 10 years of her married life, she used to be tortured by her husband both physically and mentally. Then in one night Kiranjit set her husband in fire and killed him. Charged of killing, Kiranjit was sent to jail and was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the situation became more complex while her cellmate Veronica Scott insisted her brother Edward Foster to make plead to the court and after a long battle Kiranjit freed from Jail and came back to her simple life. News 24 reported:

The autobiography – Circle of Light – details how Ahluwalia was once threatened with a hot iron, which sparked the killing.

“This role is meant for Aishwarya. She looks coy and vulnerable and evokes empathy. I would say this is the best role of her career,” said Bollywood expert Indu Mirani, editor of film website thirtymm.com.

Critics have often panned the former Miss World for her acting skills.

But this time, Rai, 33, has garnered praise for her realistic portrayal – a far cry from the trademark glitz of Bollywood films.

“Definitely, she has shown the pain of my life on her face,” Ahluwalia told the Hindu newspaper. “She has done a very good job.”

Ahluwalia was charged with murder in 1989 and sentenced to life, but the punishment was reduced after pressure from activists which put the spotlight on domestic abuse.

The movie is a special one for Aishwarya Rai as this is the first time she appears in glamour-less character and in an exploited role. I think the world would see an actress Aishwarya Rai rather than a beautiful Aishwarya Rai.

Aishwarya Rai and her would be husband Abhishek Bachchan are seen together in the different places. In the premiere of the movie Provoked, where Aishwarya Rai played the role of the central character of the movie, both Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan were present.

Aishwarya Rai earlier acted in two English movies where her acting was not that much impressive. However, her new movie Provoked where she will appear in a real life character for the first time. Moreover, Aishwarya will cast the character of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a victim of her abusive husband. So, you can easily understand that Aishwarya Rai will be seen in a role where glamour does not exist. India Enews reported:

They attended the Zee awards ceremony in Malaysia Sunday. On the very next day Abhishek accompanied his bride-to-be to London for the international premiere Tuesday of her much-awaited film on domestic violence titled ‘Provoked’.

Producer Murli Manohar told IANS: ‘Although Abhishek is not directly related to the film in any way, he kindly consented to accompany Aishwarya to London for the premiere at the prestigious Empire theatre at Leicester Square.’

‘I didn’t try to look like Kiranjit. There’s no physical resemblance between us. But I did connect with her in less apparent ways, met up with her a number of times,’ Aishwarya had said in an earlier interview.

‘Domestic violence or violence of any kind between a man and a woman is a horrific state to be in. This has been one of my most challenging roles to date,’ the actress added

I think the movie can be a landmark in AIshwarya Rai’s English movie career. The main objective of the movie is to spread out the message of domestic violence in every corner of India and other countries where women are tolerating atrocities of their husband and in-laws.

No, Aishwarya Rai is not the director of the movie Provoked. Still, she is playing the central role and the movie is based around her. She is the star attraction of the movie and her performance has caught the attention of the critics. Provoked has already been released and we can see a number of reviews about Provoked.

Andhra Café wrote:

It’s amazing how the true-life Kiranjit found freedom by setting her abusive husband on fire. In one of the film’s most sensitively delineated dialogues, Kiranjit says to her rather overly benign prison-mates, ‘I’ve never felt freer in my life.’

What sort of trauma would it take for a woman to feel free in prison?

‘Provoked’ answers the complicated question of domestic disharmony with a deft and direct approach to the question of a woman’s place in the man’s ’scream’ of things.

The intermittent flashbacks showing Kiranjit’s spousal nightmare, cut deep and hard into the narrative. Full credit to Aishwarya Rai for plunging deep into a part that she plays from her heart.

True, at times she looks too pretty to be ravaged. But the vulnerable, fragile, little-girl-lost quality in her personality works to great advantage in portraying the spouse-burning victim as a woman scorned beyond endurance.

There’re moments in the narrative where Aishwarya melts your heart like an ice-cream cone left out in the sun for too long.

Actually, Provoked is not like other movies. It is a different one and based on real life. Aishwarya Rai is mostly portrayed as a sex symbol and beautiful commercial actress. Her beauty is often the main attraction not her acting. However, Provoked is surely an exception in this matter.

SouthAsiabiz wrote:

Provoked, the movie deals with a very serious issue and portraying the character of Kiranjit Ahluwalia needs great skill. No doubt, it was a challenging job for Aishwarya Rai but as an actress, she never confined herself in commercial movies. Along with typical Hindi commercial movies, she has done other kinds of movies like Raincoat and Chokher Bali.

For this movie, the main problem was that she is one of the most beautiful actresses of Indian cinema. Her cuteness does not suit the role of a battered wife. Still, she showed great interest after director Jagmohan Mundhra described her the character. She even cleared her former commitments by May 2005.

Times of India has done a glowing review of Provoked. It has praised the performance of Aishwarya Rai and stated that the fans should visit the movie halls for Aishwarya Rai.

Times of India wrote:

A simple Punjabi girl leaves her village to end up as the wife of a Brit boy (Naveen Andrews), who not only likes a bit on the side but also fails to tame the beast within.

So much so, the beast rises ever so often and throws his pregnant wife down the stairs, holds the hot iron against her face and covers her body with black and blue bruises, whenever she dares to question his wild ways.

And when she is sufficiently provoked, she simply lights up his bed and ends up in the unfriendly prison environs.

Ironically, it is here that the simpleton finds her first true friends, her voice, her identity and her freedom. The story is powerful, yes, but the passion and the pain finds articulation through Aishwarya’s sensitive rendition of the protagonist.

She is ably assisted by her videshi co-stars and finds a sisterhood in Nandita Das and her gang of Asian activists. What holds the story back is the narrative style, which depends too heavily on flashbacks and a slightly lethargic pace.

Not everyone is so convinced. Take the case of Aparajita Ghosh. You can read her full review at Apunkachoice.com. Aparajita Ghosh thinks that Provoked had a nice story but could not make the best use of a touching story.

Aparajita Ghosh wrote:

With such a hard-hitting subject, ‘Provoked’ should have turned out to be a powerful film. Sadly, the movie doesn’t curdle your blood. It as much stirs you a bit and leaves you feeling empathetic and sympathetic to the story’s protagonist.

Instead of going into the minds of its characters, the movie skims the story’s surface and merely recounts instances of abuse from the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, whose story ‘Provoked’ tells.

……………………………………………

On paper, the story of ‘Provoked’ is deeply disturbing and it ends on a hopeful note. Alas, the impact doesn’t really come through in the film because of its somewhat amateurish screenplay by Paul Austin and Rahila Gupta. And director Jagmohan Mundhra seems more concerned with chronicling the tale of Kiranjit rather than going into the mindsets of the story’s characters. Also, the movie sort of tries to justify Kiranjit’s extreme action (killing her husband) rather than suggesting that it is better to walk out of such failed marriages.

Aishwarya Rai rises above the poorly conceived screenplay and infuses life into the movie with her very convincing portrayal of Kiranjit. Ash’s eyes are highly expressive in many scenes and her dialogue delivery in Punjabi is absolutely credible.

So, you see that even Aparajita Ghosh cannot ignore the powerful acting of Aishwarya Rai in the movie Provoked.

India target has done a nice review of Provoked.

India target wrote:

The film has an impressive supporting cast comprising Jag Mundhra’s old favourite Nandita Das (who plays a social activist), Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane and Steve McFadden.

Slated for April 6th 2007 release, this hard-hitting film will be completing for audience eyeballs with the Bobby Deol – Upen Patel rock star flick ‘Shaka Laka Boom Boom’.

So, you can find mostly positive reviews for Provoked. Have you seen the movie? If so then write a review of your own in the comment section. If you have done a review of Provoked in your blog then leave the link here and I will post the link of your review.

Provoked, the movie based on a real life story, has been released recently. In the first show Kiranjit Ahluwalia, the women whom this movie is based on, was present and she looked very emotional while watching the movie. Aishwarya Rai, who plays the role of Kiranjit in the movie, was also present. Aishwarya Rai is also very happy with the expression she got from the real life character Kiranjit Ahluwalia.

The viewers said that the movie is of average one. The movie is expected to be released in six or seven languages including Hindi, Tamil and Punjabi. The Daily India reported:

“It is the first time that I got to play a real life character and like I said the incredible responsibility of her (Kiranjit Ahluwalia) being my first audience. And the most relieving, gratifying and rewarding moment was when she reacted so amazingly, wonderfully,” Aishwarya said.

Ahluwalia, who now work as a sorting officer for the Royal Mail in United Kingdom was full of praise for Aishwarya after watching the movie, and said watching her life story on the big screen had been an emotional experience.

“Actually, I did cry a lot, from the beginning. As soon as the film started, you know, I was in tears, There were times I missed so many things in the scenes because it was me, it brought my past back, I could see it, Aishwarya Rai becoming Kiranjit Ahluwalia on the screen, one Kiranjit sitting here and the other Kiranjit over there, facing all the domestic violence,” Kiranjit said.

Through “Provoked”, Director Jag Mundhra tried to bring up the issue of domestic violence from under the wraps and “show mirror to society”.

I think the movie has a lot to impress you. The most important thing is that the movie carries a message of domestic violence which can make people concerned about the issue. What do you think about the movie?

Aishwarya Rai starrer Provoked has been released recently in England and will be released in India later on. The movie depicts the true life story of a Punjabi housewife, Kiranjit Ahluwalia who after being abused for 10 years by her husband, one night set her husband on fire causing her husband to death.

The batted woman is the central character of the movie provoked which Aishwarya Rai plays in the movie. Aishwarya Rai is famous for her beautiful out look since she won the Miss World title. However, in the movie she comes to the screen with an unconventional way having no glamour. Times Now TV reported:

Aishwarya Rai has no physical resemblance to the real life Kiranjeet, and it is obvious that director Mundhra roped her in for star value. To her credit, Rai does come up with a good performance as the hunted, fragile victim driven round the bend. If you want to quibble about how we never really get into the head of a battered woman, you’ll need to blame the director and not Rai!

The film is told efficiently and is a tight two hour watch. The supporting cast be it Nandita Das or Miranda Richardson (Rai’s confidante in prison) is uniformly earnest. There are parts which border on the amateur, but there is not much to cringe about.

Naveen Andrews plays the abusive husband effectively. He doesn’t go beyond being a stereotype, but that may be the point of the exercise. After all if you don’t mind him being burnt alive, you can’t exactly like him, can you? Best to keep him at a no empathy level!

Well, the Ash fans will have a chance to view their star in a new look. No matters, if they enjoy it or not, but it is true that the role of Kiranjit in the movie is a land mark role in her career.

Aishwarya Rai’s work in the movie provoked has got much appreciation after the release of the movie in England. In the movie Aishwarya Rai plays the central character of the movie. Aishwarya is also very happy with her acting and stated that the message of domestic violence the movie carries should be spread out among the large number of people. The director of the movie, Jagmohan Mundhra, said that Provoked tells the story of many women. The Hindu reported:

“I cried seeing the film as I re-lived every moment of it.. I am impressed with Aishwarya’s acting of the role of Kiranjit and I am satisfied with the film,” said 51-year-old Kiranjit, while sharing the platform with Aishwarya Rai, the director of the film Jag Mundhra and actress Nandita Das, at the Court House Kempenski here last night.

Asked what prompted her to take up the role of Kiranjit, Aishwarya Rai said “This was the story needed to be told to larger audience. As Kiranjit Ahluwalia herself said it was extremely emotional journey to re-live her life. This is also the reason why the film is being dubbed in several Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil.”

Jag Mundhra, the director of the film, said “Women from all walks of life, all colour, all races and backgrounds can relate to the story. Some have already come up to me saying they watched their own life. Without doubt this will resonate beyond Asian women to women in general.”

KIranjit Ahluwalia, the women whom the movie is based on, was given a cheque of 5000 ponds and 1 percent of the earning of the movie will also be given to Kiranjit Ahluwalia and the Southall Black Sisters. I think this is a good initiative taken by the producers of the movie. The movie will probably to make a huge return in both England and India.