Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
My Name is Khan's collections drop drastically
Shahrukh Khan's My Name is Khan witnessed a wonderful opening, thanks to the publicity given by the Shiv Sena. It earned Rs.90.2 crore in the opening week but its collections have dropped drastically this week.Amit Awasthi, Manager of Spice Cinemas, said that the ticket sales of My Name is Khan has fallen from 30 percent on Wednesday to 20 percent on Thursday. He added that lack of entertainment elements must be the cause of the fall in its demand.
A source from PVR cinemas said that the occupancy has fallen from 90 percent to 50 percent on Monday. Delhi-based distributor Joginder Mahajan also said that there has been a drastic fall in the ticket sales of MNIK after Monday due to lack of entertainment elements and mass appeal, which today's youngsters want. He added that it is a repeat of Kurbaan.
However, Yogesh Raizada, corporate head of Wave Cinemas, thinks that the film is doing decent business and would pick up again in the weekend.
My Name is Khan got rave reviews from the critics. It is a love story set against the backdrop of racial discrimination post 9/11. Karan Johar brings the incredible reel coup.
My Name Is Khan Review
If you were looking for something in the league of ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ (love story), ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ (family drama) or even ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’ (another love story, but with a twist), ‘My Name Is Khan’ is sure to bring across a surprise for you. Though you would find a love angle herein as well, it does not form the focus of the story. Rather, the flick grapples with one of the main issues that are facing the human society today - the typecasting of all Muslims as terrorists and the humiliation and ridicule that the innocent of them have to face, because of being classified thus.With the backdrop of 9/11, ‘My Name Is Khan’ tries to bring forth the plight of the Muslim community as a whole. It seeks to send across a message that “most of the global terrorists may be Muslims, but all the Muslims in the world are certainly not terrorists’. And the person who tries to communicate all this is Rizwan Khan (played by none other than Shahrukh), a devoted believer who suffers from Aperger’s Syndrome. How he manages to do this is what forms the crust of ‘My Name Is Khan’. And the best thing about the movie is ‘Rizwan’, in the other words, Shahrukh Khan.
‘My Name Is Khan’ is one of the few movies where you get to see King Khan as a character, not a brand! He completely loses himself in the role and gives a splendid performance. Though he does not exactly manage a ‘Forrest Gump’, he is not far behind either. Another aspect that works in the favor of the flick is the excellent screenplay, compelling enough to make you sit back and take notice. The cinematography is simple superb and even the editing is crisp. However, ‘My Name Is Khan’ is not without its fair share of loopholes. For instance, the love track between Shahrukh and Kajol is too mushy.
The creative liberties taken in the second half are a tad difficult to digest. In fact, the second half seems to have packed in too much, with too little time at hand. So, the effect is a somewhat chaotic. Coming down to performances, as already mentioned, Shahrukh Khan takes the center stage. He is restrained, endearing and touches your heart. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Kajol, mainly due to her thin, sketchy character. One more name that is worth mentioning is Zarina Wahab, who plays Rizwan’s mother and gives a lovely performance. All in all, ‘My Name Is Khan’ is not exceptional, but not easy to dismiss either.
Genre: Drama, Romance, Social
Director: Karan Johar
Producer: Gauri Khan, Hiroo Johar
Banner: Dharma Productions
Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonsa
Lyricist: Niranjan Iyengar
Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Jimmy Shergill, Zarina Wahab, Parveen Dabbas, Arif Zakaria, Navneet Nishan, Sheetal Menon, Tanay Cheda, Arjun Mathur, Sonya Jehan
Release Date: February 12, 2010
Movie Rating: 4.5/5
Director: Karan Johar
Producer: Gauri Khan, Hiroo Johar
Banner: Dharma Productions
Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Loy Mendonsa
Lyricist: Niranjan Iyengar
Star Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Jimmy Shergill, Zarina Wahab, Parveen Dabbas, Arif Zakaria, Navneet Nishan, Sheetal Menon, Tanay Cheda, Arjun Mathur, Sonya Jehan
Release Date: February 12, 2010
Movie Rating: 4.5/5
My Name Is Khan Pre-release Review
Directed by Karan Johar, ‘My Name is Khan’ finally breaks the ‘K’ series unlike his previous hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Kal Ho Na Ho and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. The most awaited movie of recent days, this movie has been co-produced by Johar (Dharma Productions) and Shah Rukh Khan (Red Chillies Entertainment) and is being distributed by Fox Star Studios. The movie focuses on the relationship between the Western world and Islam and how it has changed over the past few years. The movie is set to release on 12 February 2010.Rizwan Khan (Tanay Cheda) is a Muslim child who lives with his mother (Zarina Wahab) in the Borivali section of Mumbai. He suffers from Asperger syndrome, a form of high functioning autism complicating socialization. On growing up, he (Shah Rukh Khan) moves on to San Francisco to live with his brother and sister-in-law. He meets a Hindu single mother, Mandira (Kajol), falls in love with her. They get married despite protests from his family and start a small business. Happily settled, September 11, 2001 strikes their relationship where Muslims undergo a sea-change. Rizwan and Mandira face a number of difficulties following which they split. Rizwan is upset about his love leaving him and embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America.
He later meets Radha (Sheetal Menon), a therapist who helps him in dealing with his situation and his affliction. On his journey to clear his name, he meets President Barack Obama (Christopher B. Duncan). ‘My Name is Khan’ describes the journey of a family and how it changes post 9/11. Will the unconventional hero overcome the obstacles to regain the love of his life? Will Shah Rukh and Kajol be able to deliver yet another hit as they did in the past? Wait till 12 February, 2010 for the answers.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Bodyguard Review
Dileep and Nayantara have done their roles quite well but their combination doesn't give any screen presence. There are good counters every then that increases the mood. Siddique is not up to his mark as he used to be. Script lacks something in total. Ouseppachan has scored good music for the film and also visuals by S Kumar is excellent.The songs of bodyguard are very good. But the choreography made by Prabhudeva is not thet much good. He didn't kept his level in this movie. There are rumors that Prabhudeva came to work in this film because of Nayans.
The movie is a family entertainer but Siddique should have done more to keep his name. The climax lights to one in Kuch kuch Hota Hai. Thyagarajan, Mithra Kurian, Janardhanan Harisree Ashokan and others are in the cast. Not an extra ordinary one but is worth watchable just once.
Movie: Bodyguard
Genre: Action - Thriller
Language: Malayalam
Release Date: 23 Jan 2010
Cast: Dileep, Nayantara, Thyagarajan, Mitra Kurien
Director: Siddique
Music: Ouseppachan
Certification: U
Movie Rating: 2.5/5
Genre: Action - Thriller
Language: Malayalam
Release Date: 23 Jan 2010
Cast: Dileep, Nayantara, Thyagarajan, Mitra Kurien
Director: Siddique
Music: Ouseppachan
Certification: U
Movie Rating: 2.5/5
The story of Bodyguard
The movie Bodyguard, directed by Siddique is an entertaining one. The movie had a good start and hopes a good move. This is the ninth flick by director Siddique and is a good one with a humorous background.Dileep( Jayakrishnan) is very much fond of goondas right from his childhood. He loved to take risks and to be brave always. After college days he starts learning to become a brave goonda by becoming a bodyguard for famous anti socials. Sometime later, he decides to become the bodyguard of a wealthy and powerful man named Ashokan (Thyagarajan). He achieves his luck after saving Ashokan from a danger.
Jayakrishnan thus becomes the bodyguard of Ashokan's only daughter Ammu(Nayantara). Jayakrishnan follows Ammu to her college asd her Bodyguard. Ammu and her friend Sethulakshmi (Mithra Kurien) gets irritated with him following them all day.
The two girls started making fake calls to Jayakrishnan;s number, trying to get rid off him. Ammu is the girl who calls him telling she is very much in love with him and all those stuffs. At first things goes smooth but later on it gets into serious issues. What happens next deals with the climax.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Talented Cochin Haneefa died on Feb 2nd
Salim Ahmed Ghoush better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa (1951-2010) is an Indian film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970's as a villaincomedians of Malayalam film industry. He has done more than 300 films in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films. As a filmmaker he is known for the melodrama Valtsalyam (1993).Cochin Haneefa passed away
Top comedian and character actor, writer, director Cochin Haneefa (59) died today afternoon at Sri Ramachandra Medical College in Chennai. Haneefa was suffering from kidney and liver related ailments for the last couple of months. Finally he succumbed to multiple organ failure.
Saleem Ahmed Ghoush became Cochin Haneefa after his stage name. He started his career in the late 70's as a villain and turned to be one of the popular comedians of Malayalam film industry.
He has done more than 300 films in Malayalam and nearly 80 Tamil and a few Hindi films. Haneefa has also directed seven films in Malayalam and six in Tamil. He was also known for his brilliant scripts.
In Malayalam his last release was Siddique’s Bodyguard and in Tamil it was Vijay’s Vettaikaran. He has also done Madrasapattinam which will be his last release in Tamil.
The body will be kept at his Saligramam residence in Chennai till tomorrow afternoon. He will be buried at his home town in Cochin on Wednesday.
‘Avatar’ has a racist message?
Near the end of the film Avatar, the villain snarls at the hero, “How does it feel to betray your own race?” Both men are white — although the hero is portrayed as a blue-skinned, 9-foot tall, long-tailed alien.Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, Avatar is being criticised by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — of a white hero once again saving primitive natives.
Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have made claims such as that the film is “a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people” and reinforces “the white Messiah fable.”
The film’s writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others’ differences.
In the film (Warning: spoilers ahead) a white, paralysed Marine, Jake Sully, is mentally linked to an alien’s body and set loose on the planet Pandora. His mission: persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na’vis to make way for humans to mine their land for unobtanium — a mineral worth $20 million per kilo back home.
Like Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves and Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai or as far back as Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 Western Broken Arrow, the hero (Sully) switches sides. He falls in love with the Na’vi princess and leads the bird-riding, bow-and-arrow-shooting aliens to victory over the white men’s spaceships and mega-robots.
Adding to the racial dynamic is that the main Na’vi characters are played by actors of color, led by a Dominican, Zoe Saldana, as the princess. The film also is an obvious metaphor for how European settlers in America wiped out the Indians.
Robinne Lee, an actress in such recent films as Seven Pounds and Hotel for Dogs, said that Avatar was “beautiful” and that she understood the economic logic of casting a white lead if most of the audience is white.
But she said the film, which remained No. 1 at the box office domestically for the fourth straight weekend with $48.5 million and is second among all-time top-grossing films worldwide, still reminded her of Hollywood’s “Pocahontas” story — “the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the savior.”
“It’s really upsetting in many ways,” said Lee, who is black with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry. “It would be nice if we could save ourselves.”
Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of the sci-fi Website io9.com, likened Avatar to the recent film District 9, in which a white man accidentally becomes an alien and then helps save the aliens, and Dune (1984) in which a white man becomes an alien Messiah.
“Main white characters realise that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, aka people of color ... (then) go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed,” wrote Newitz, who is white. “When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?”
Black film professor and author Donald Bogle said he can understand why people would be troubled by Avatar although he praised it as a “stunning” work.
“A segment of the audience is carrying in the back of its head some sense of movie history,” said Bogle, author of Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films.
Bogle stopped short, however, of calling the movie racist.
‘We should respect other races — humans or otherwise’
Writer/director Cameron, who is white, said in an email to The Associated Press that his film “asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message.”
There are many ways to interpret the art that is Avatar.
What does it mean that in the final, sequel-begging scene, Sully abandons his human body and transforms into one of the Na’vi? Is Saldana’s Na’vi character the real heroine because she, not Sully, kills the arch-villain? Does it matter that many conservatives are riled by what they call liberal, environmental and antimilitary messages?
Is Cameron actually exposing the historical evils of white colonisers? Does the existence of an alien species expose the reality that all humans are actually one race?
Although the Avatar debate springs from Hollywood’s historical difficulties with race, Will Smith recently saved the planet in I Am Legend and Denzel Washington appears ready to do the same in the forthcoming Book of Eli.
Bogle, the film historian, said that he was glad Cameron made the film and that it made people think about race.
“Maybe there is something he does want to say and put across” about race, Bogle said. “Maybe if he had a black hero in there, that point would have been even stronger.”
Salman and I had differences over 'Veer': Director
Director Anil Sharma admits he had creative differences with Salman Khan over the making of “Veer”, penned by the actor himself, but everything was finally sorted out.Anil Sharma, who earlier made “Gadar : Ek Prem Katha”, told IANS: “Salman was not just the main actor in ‘Veer’, he was also the writer. We had a lot of differences of opinion. The way he narrated the story and the way I perceived it as a director were different.
“Moreover I brought in other writers Shailesh Verma, Shaktimaan (who wrote my ‘Gadar’) and Krishna Raghav. Raghav did all the research. So Salman’s story has been interpreted in the way I thought right.”
He said Salman insisted that Anil watch his source of inspiration, the Yul Brynner-Tony Curtis 1962 film “Taras Bulba”. “But we couldn’t get a single print of the film. So I had to make do with the images that I had in my mind from childhood.
“They made the film in Russia last year. I saw that version. ‘Taras Bulba’ was the story of the father Yul Brynner, played by Mithun Chakraborty in my film. ‘Veer’ is not the father’s story. It’s the son Salman’s story. And we had to relocate the entire story from 16th century Russia to colonial India,” Anil said.
While Salman Khan has become the face of “Veer”, the director has taken a backseat so far.
Speaking up finally he says, “For three years now all kinds of things have been said and written about ‘Veer’ and my relationship with the project and actors. The truth is we were making a very difficult film. And there were bound to be creative differences. But we sorted them out.”
Anil admits he never wanted Salman’s favourite composers Sajid-Wajid to do the music of “Veer”. “I had heard their tunes in his earlier films and I was sure Sajid-Wajid weren’t the right ones for a period drama like ‘Veer’ I met them reluctantly and was surprised by their understanding of Hindustani music. We worked really well together. And the fact that I could convince Gulzar saab to work with Sajid-Wajid was a stroke of luck.”
He also brushes off talk of “Veer” being an epic like “Gadar”.
“Please don’t expect ‘Gadar’ in ‘Veer’ ‘Gadar’ was far more dramatic and emotional. ‘Veer’ is targeted more at today’s younger audiences,” he said.
Talk is that Salman Khan had apparently first gone to his friend Sanjay Leela Bhansali to direct “Veer”. When Bhansali declined, Salman vowed to make the same story with another director. Anil Sharma was chosen because of “Gadar”.
Avatar highest grossing film
James Cameron’s 3D epic Avatar has become the second highest grossing film of all time by raking in USD 1.14 billion at the global box office.Cameron’s next challenge is to beat the records set by his previous film, 1997 disaster romance ‘Titanic’, which continues to rule the No 1 spot with USD 1.8 billion.
Avatar’s domestic earning was USD 374.4 million through Wednesday and the foreign haul collected USD 760.9 million to beat the USD 1.1 billion scored by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the Variety reported online.
The film, which released worldwide on December 18, is expected to continue to make money as it enters into the fourth week.
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