Pakistani.PK

He tickled your funny bone with Style, Golmaal and Shaadi No. 1; played the high spirited guy in Rang De Basanti! Yes, we’re talking about Sharman Joshi. The actor, back in the limelight after a stellar performance in 3 Idiots, is ready with his next release Toh Baat Pakki with Tabu. To know more about his upcoming projects and life after 3 Idiots, catch up with the star in an exclusive Bollywood Hungama Video Chat on Wednesday, Feb 10, at 1500 hrs IST. Don’t miss this one!

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Live Chat: Sharman Joshi on Feb 10 at 1500 hrs IST

On Friday evening, Akshay Kumar’s son Aarav was awarded for ‘Extraordinary Contribution by a Child’. The event took place at Delhi Sustainable Development Summit at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, where the 9 year old kid was awarded at the second edition of the Green Global Foundation Awards. As it turned out, Aarav held stage with some of the eminent dignitaries belonging to different spheres of life and occupying some of the highest positions in the corporate, political and environmental world. Each of them had a story to tell which led them to environment protection and Aarav had his own story to tell. “These human beings are very bad. They are cutting trees’”, Aarav remembers stating soon after seeing Avatar. Narrating the incident that impacted him, the young boy made this statement in response to the destruction, mainly pertaining to environment, which was on display in the James Cameron film which is now the biggest money spinner ever in the history of world cinema. While majority of cine enthusiasts, trade experts and ‘aam junta’, were happy debating the technical marvel and brilliance that Avatar brought with it, Aarav (who could well be amongst thousands of others kids who had a similar thought) picked up the point around environment destruction. A statement like this makes one think aloud – ‘Have today’s kids grown up faster than one thought?’ In the world of unimaginable gadgets up for exploitation, hundreds of satellite channels, blogs, social networking sites and of course the exposure that kids, especially in urban India, are getting today, are we looking at an age where it would finally be kids, instead of grown up adults, who could well be the saviour of Planet Earth. Of course this doesn’t take away the effort of thousands of professionals with brilliant minds who are working round the clock and across the globe to save the world from dying down. However, the statement from a kid here is something that is not often heard from a common man and this is the reason why it manages to raise a voice that is seldom heard. As a leading celebrity from the world of Bollywood comments, “People from our age group of 30-40 have more or less as many number of years left for us. May be we won’t get harmed by what we are doing to our own world. But then our kids have wised up. They know for sure that if this destruction continues for another 30-40 years, their lives are doomed. And lesser said about the future of the generation that follows after them, the better.” No wonder, it appears that kids and teenagers have taken up the matter in their own hands and are doing whatever little that is possible to create awareness about fighting the menace of global warming. In fact Aarav was recently awarded for ‘Excellent Contribution by a Child’ for his involvement in the reduction of global warming. Apparently he asked Akshay Kumar to adopt a village that didn’t have electricity and persuaded him to supply them with solar lanterns and other energy saving devices. Not all kids can be expected to be this lucky to boast of a doting father who doesn’t just sit on a pot of gold but is also understanding enough to grant a wish like this. On the other hand the very idea about kids of this age having at least a thought in this direction is a good enough reason to celebrate. Perhaps there may be thousands of other kids like these who do believe in the cause. Perhaps a few hundred of them will eventually come up with a practical solution and get support, both emotionally and monetarily, from their parents as well. Perhaps this would lead to a widespread improvement in the way inhabitants look at Planet Earth. And perhaps then, there would be far better and positive statements being made.

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Akshay Kumar’s son Aarav makes a statement

Tabu, who is currently busy promoting her upcoming film Toh Baat Pakki, will soon be seen for the first time ever in a music video for Rashid Ali’s debut album. In case you are wondering, Rashid is the same guy who sang the hugely popular ‘Kabhi Kabhi Aditi’ track from Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na. Tabu will be shooting for the music video soon in Hyderabad and noted ad filmmaker Trilok has been entrusted the task of directing the video. Rashid’s debut album is being released under KM Music label with mentor A.R.Rahman being the executive producer. Rashid, who is based in London, was in Chennai for almost 3 months busy with his maiden album. While he himself has composed and sung the songs, yet another Rahman protegee Raqueeb Alam has written the lyrics. The album is likely to release in a couple of months.

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Tabu to feature in music video for Rashid Ali’s debut album

Mallika Sherawat has been cast opposite Avatar co-star Laz Alonso in the feature Love, Barack, a political romantic comedy set during the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Mallika will play the female lead and central character Aretha Gupta, a devoted, local Obama volunteer coordinator. The story, a snapshot of a moment in time that was filled with hope, change, and passionate debate, follows the romantic and political rollercoaster that develops when, the month before Election Day, Democrat Aretha unexpectedly falls for her Republican counterpart (Alonso), a handsome, dynamic African-American working for the local McCain office. On signing up for the film, Mallika said, “Laz Alonso is a talented and exciting actor. I’m very lucky to be working with him.” To be directed by Doug McHenry, the film will also feature acclaimed actress Ruby Dee (Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nominee for 2007’s American Gangster) and comedy veteran Gerry Bednob and Loretta Devine.

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Mallika Sherawat cast with ‘Avatar’ star Laz Alonso in Love, Barack

The cat is out of the bag. Though it was supposed to be a well guarded secret, it doesn’t remain anymore with the revelation of one of the principal actors in Ishqiya. Though all this while the film was smartly publicised as the story of Naseeruddin Shah, Vidya Balan and Arshad Warsi, the fact remains that amongst many other principal actors in the film, there is also an actor from Pakistan who has a substantial role to play in the film. His name is Salman Shahid who enacts the role of the chief baddy in this Vishal Bhardwaj production. Another major revelation is that he was worked in only one Hindi film before, Kabul Express, and incidentally his co-star there was Arshad Warsi. Though one is tempted to believe that he (Arshad) may have played a role in the actor being roped in, Arshad denies any insinuation. “No, no, I wasn’t involved in the casting decision at all”, says Arshad, “There was an audition held for each of the supporting actors in the film and Salman went through the same process as well. I am glad though that he made it to the cast eventually.” He was pleasantly surprised though when he met Salman on the sets of Ishqiya. “I wasn’t aware about his casting and when I saw him on the sets, I exclaimed – ‘arrey, aap yahaan?’ It was nice to reconnect with him once again after Kabul Express. Apart from being a fantastic actor, he is also a very nice human being.” One wonders why the man was left behind in the entire promotional campaign of Ishqiya which has been on for over six months now. While a lot has been heard and written about the three main actors in the film, presence of Salman has been completely kept under the wraps. Was it the prevailing tension between India and Pakistan that turned out to be a major reason behind this exclusion? “Nothing like that”, says a source attached to the film’s production, “The film revolves around its three principal characters and publicising anything else would have been an unnecessary distraction. Yes, Salman is important to the film’s plot but it made sense to bring audience primarily on the basis of Naseer, Vidya and Arshad.” In Kabir Khan’s debut directorial effort Kabul Express (2006), Salman had enacted the role of a Pakistani who kidnaps the characters played by Arshad Warsi and John Abraham. He received quite some acclaim for his role and even though he had featured in another critically appreciated film Khamosh Paani: Silent Waters earlier, he didn’t bag too many roles in the Hindi film industry. One hopes that with Ishqiya turning out to be a good success, Salman will get back into the reckoning once again and bag some meaty roles for himself in films to come.

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Arshad denies hand in recommending Pakistani co-star

Veer has released and more or less gone from the theatres. Along with it has subsided the topic that made for screaming headlines for most part of the film’s promotion i.e. debutant Zarine Khan being the look-alike of Katrina Kaif. Filmmaker Anil Sharma was never too happy with the comparisons and continues to maintain that it was more a game of perception building than anything else. “It was all a media perception that Zarine looked like Katrina. So much was written, said, heard and gossiped around for months that when people saw Zarine for the first time, the instant question that came to their mind was – ‘Kya yeh sach mein Katrina jaisi hai?”, says Anil Sharma who did make a mega film in Veer but couldn’t quite keep the pace (and the conflict) intact for its entire duration. Remembering the times when Zarine had come first on board, Sharma says fondly, “She is a nice Mumbai girl with her middle class values intact. The luck was on her side that Salman spotted her, showed us her photographs and we liked them. She worked hard to reach the position where she is in today. She got Veer through a screen test and it’s sad if some still choose to call her as a Katrina look-alike.” Through the very first pictures of Zarine that were revealed to the media, the perception building game began which carried on for weeks at stretch. Ultimately she came close to being a Katrina clone though due to her good luck, she didn’t fall into the Sneha Ullal trap who could never come out of the ‘Aishwarya Rai look-alike syndrome’ even years after Lucky – No Time For Love. A good performance in Veer meant that after a while, she came on her own and even audience started looking at her as Zarine rather than someone who bore some similarity to Katrina. “Aisa hi hota hai”, smiles Sharma, “When a magician shows us something, we get an illusion. However, the moment you are able to get that out of your mind and take control of yourself you don’t fall under any illusion. The same happened with Zarine too. After all, naak, baal, aankh, sab hi toh alag hain! Jab parda uthta hai to sab saaf dikhayi deta. Yeh sab dimaag ka khel hai!” This is the reason why it would only be helpful for the newcomer if there is some restraint shown in bringing up the topic of any similarity that she bears with Katrina Kaif. It may be natural or perhaps designed but for any newcomer, it may get her a moment of recognition but not necessarily huge benefits in the long run. We have seen Sneha Ullal going into oblivion after her brief ‘hey, check her out, doesn’t she look like Aishwarya Rai’ phase. With Zarine promising to be much more than just a Katrina Kaif clone and looking extremely confident as an actor for her very first film, it only makes sense to see her ‘as-is’ rather than any preconceived notion of diverting the conversation towards a topic that may not necessarily be conducive for her status as an actor performer.

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"Entire Zarine-Katrina look-alike episode was dimaag ka khel" – Anil Sharma

On the sets of Vipul Shah’s time-travel caper Action Replayy, Akshay Kumar’s retro-wig which he wears for his 1970s look is his most prized possession. Apparently, the wig designed by one of Hollywood’s biggest makeup artistes Paul Pattison (who’s done films like Braveheart and Mission Impossible 2) made Akshay paranoid. He was petrified of losing it. Says Vipul, “Since we haven’t copied our 1970s look from Hindi films, Akshay and Aishwarya sat down to look at real- life footage from the decade to get the look right. They specially looked at television footage of live cricket matches in the 1970s. Akshay was busy peering at the pavilion of spectators, what they wore, how they spoke moved their body language. That’s how he conceived his character in the 70s. That’s where Paul Pattison’s wig came in.” There are 400 other wigs all done under Pattison’s supervision for junior artistes posing as people in the 1970s. Says Vipul, “We were very particular about the 1970s look recreated at the Nitin Chandrakant Desai’s studio in Karjat. We needed the cars from the 70s which we had to get from all over India from private owners at a very heavy price. The BEST buses in the 1970s were very different from their counterparts today. Getting authentic BEST buses from the 70s was the hardest part of the whole era-recreation. Getting Akshay and Aishwarya to go retro was the easiest thing. They had a ball getting into their wigs clothes and body language.” We saw Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone travelling back to the 1970s in Om Shanti Om. But Akshay was adamant about doing his retro-look very different from SRK. Director Vipul Shah takes serious umbrage to the suggestion that the retro look in his film is similar to Om Shanti Om. “We haven’t copied anything from the films of the 1970s (as Om Shanti Om has). If we got into that 35 mm space, we’d have ended up copying only Mr. Bachchan’s clothes and style. Akshay insisted we do more authentic research. We dug into archival material on the clothes mannerisms and people of the 1970s.” And now Vipul Shah is paranoid about his 1970s look going out. “We, Akshay’s designer Shabina Khan, Aishwarya’s designer Manish Malhotra and all of us have worked really, really hard to give Action Replayy a unique look. If that look is leaked out we’d lose our biggest USP.” Much like the Big B’s Paa look which was given out prematurely. “We’re taking stringent steps to ensure the confidentiality of our look,” says Vipul. And what does he have to say to Action Replayy being compared with Back To The Future? “Well earlier my film was supposed to be The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Now that accusation has been wrongly passed on to another film (Paa). Now I’m supposed to have copied Back To The Future. Again, untrue. If anything all time-travel films including mine are inspired by H.G Wells’ Time Machine.”

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Akshay and Aishwarya go retro; will sport 70’s look in Action Replayy

Striker, as we can well see, was not an easy film to make. It’s not an easy film to see either. The vast near-epic scale scope and expanse of the slum saga stretches into two hours of a non-linear narration where time passages are made without borders. The lack of punctuation marks in the telling of the tale of the coming of age and rage of the protagonist Surya (Siddharth, strikingly in-character) is a major determent in identifying the swarm of characters as people who go beyond the immediate job of living their grass root-level lives and try to repair their lives and restore a method of morality behind the madness of a fringe existence. The madness of slum-life, its eccentric crime modalities as seen through the eyes of the growing and aimless Surya, is brought out in the way editor Sajit Unnikrishnan cuts the material. It is quite evident that director Chandan Arora (swerving effectively if not neatly, away from the quirky comedy of errors in Main Madhuri Dixit Ban-na Chahti Hoon to the grim and taut narrative of this film which can be subtitled ‘Main Don Corloene/ Bhikhu Mhatre Nahin Ban-na Chahta Hoon’) has bitten more than the editor can finally chew. There’re stretches of undisclosed narrative material that seems to have been sacrificed to a serious economy of expression that borders on an austerity-over-drive. Characters such as the Muslim girl next-door (newcomer Nicolette Bard) vanish from Surya’s life (as they often do in real life) . But not before Surya does his own Mere Mehboob with the girl, even throwing a letter into her balcony…This is the Mumbai slum in the 1980s, in case you’ve forgotten. Quite strangely and inexplicably director Chandan Arora makes no use of the film songs from the 1980s to create the correct ambience. Except for one cheesy song-and-dance inside a movie theatre, no film song plays on the soundtrack. Is this a pointed refusal to pay a predictable homage or just an oversight in the narrative? Many questions that crop up in the course of the narrative remain unanswered to the bitter brutal end. All we know is that Surya wants a better life. He gets the bitter instead. Striker opens and closes with the tension around the slums during the 1992 riots. The on-location shooting brings to the proceedings a kind of clipped and cutting edge and an intimate immediacy to the proceedings. You feel you are there in the slums with Chandan’s characters. But you aren’t sure you want to be there. We never stay long enough with the characters to get to know them well. Taking the other Mumbai slum epic Slumdog Millionaire, it worked so effectively because life at the basic level was dealt in a linear progression and restricted to the two easy reference points of crime and grime. In Striker the references are a little more complicated, the ambience not that easy to categorize and the moral values that accentuate the dramatic tension are not that easy to identify. The performances keep us moving kicking and dragging with the seamless unpunctuated narrative. Almost every characters seems to get the point, Siddharth more so than the most with a performance that creates contours in the climate of chaos. His layered performance is balanced and even. Siddharth hits the high notes without getting shrill. Aditya Panscholi as his chief adversary on the carrom board and off it is menacing sinister yet restrained managing the age-leaps with startling ease. Ankur Vikal in the oft-seen role of the hero’s hyper-ventilating best friend, who comes to a sticky end, plays the part with relish. Yup, he too gets the point. There’re some other fine actors who prop up in the narrative including Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas and Anoop Soni. There’s no room for them to make an impact. The same goes for the two leading ladies. Quiet and wordless Nicolette comes before interval, verbose and aggressive Padma Priya comes after. This self-consciously sought-out symmetry seems strangely at odds with a world of ceaseless anarchy and chaos run by laws that govern the fearless. Striker uses the metaphor of the strike on the carrom board with a fair amount of inner conviction that unfortunately gets substantially lost in a welter of crowds and noises signifying the fury of nulled lives. You can’t fall in love with Chandan Arora’s carefully-crafted world of slum-dogged obduracy where swords still rule and guns are a distant boom. Valentine’s Day is not on the cards for these desperately driven people. See the film for its frenetic characters who seem to have distant links with the people we saw in Vikram Bhatt’s Ghulam and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Happily the tragic outcome of the lives lived on the edge in Chandan Arora’s film is strictly their own.

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Subhash K. Jha speaks about Striker

MY NAME IS KHAN makes two strong statements… The first: B.C. [before Christ] and A.D. [after death] are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. There’s a third designation now – 9/11. Post September 11, the world stands divided. Terrorist outfits continue to strike in the name of religion and the common man, not even remotely associated with these groups, is bearing the brunt. The world is not a safe place anymore. The second statement: There’re two sets of people in this world – the good and the bad. No matter how strong the evil forces are, good always triumphs. Write your own movie review of My Name Is Khan MY NAME IS KHAN mirrors the era we live in. Not a day goes by when you haven’t heard/read/watched news of terror attacks and innocents being killed. We live in turbulent times. Also, the movie states – and states very strongly, without mincing words – Not all Muslims are terrorists. Karan Johar’s cinema got more real from KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA onwards. In MY NAME IS KHAN, the storyteller attempts to make a social statement and succeeds completely. At the same time, it takes no sides. If the protagonist says ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist’, it also exposes those who misadvise the youth with inflammatory and rabble-rousing speeches. Karan’s take on the issue deserves the highest praise, since a subject like this is difficult to attempt. Final word? MY NAME IS KHAN is Karan, SRK and Kajol’s best outing to date. Do I need to add anything more? Rizvan Khan [Shah Rukh Khan moves to San Francisco and lives with his brother [Jimmy Shergill] and sister-in-law [Sonya Jehan]. Rizvan, who has Asperger’s syndrome, falls in love with Mandira [Kajol]. Despite protests from his brother, they get married and start a small business together. They are happy until September 11, when attitudes towards Muslims undergo a sea-change. When tragedy strikes, Mandira is devastated and they split. Rizvan is confused and upset that the love of his life has left him. To win her back, he embarks on a touching and inspiring journey across America. Let me alert you. The story unfolds feverishly from the very start itself. So if you miss a scene or two, chances are you would’ve missed some vital links in the story. The fact is, there’s too much happening in the first half. Although the narrative tends to get leisurely-paced at times, the wheels continue to move from one episode to another. A number of sequences are endearing. For instance, the romance between SRK and Kajol is subtle, yet charming. But it’s SRK’s relationship with Kajol and their kid that’s one of the best parts of the movie. Your heart bleeds when an accident occurs and their lives are torn apart. Kajol’s outburst – first, when her son meets with a catastrophe and second, when she confronts SRK – are truly shattering. MY NAME IS KHAN’s strength lies in the fact that you root for Khan all through. At the same time, you are weighed down when he’s in a vulnerable situation, especially when he’s labelled a terrorist and thrown behind bars. You don’t realize it, but the fact is that you, as a spectator, have already got entwined in Rizvan and Mandira’s lives. There’s a slight hitch in the second hour, when SRK returns to Georgia to save a hurricane-ravaged hamlet. Also, the media exercise tends to add to the length of the film. Nonetheless, it’s a minor hiccup that doesn’t rob the film of its punch. There’s just one word to illustrate Karan’s direction – exemplary. One of the finest storytellers of our generation, he deserves brownie points for deviating from ‘Karan Johar brand of cinema’ and attempting a film that knocks on your heart and stimulates your mind. With MY NAME IS KHAN, Karan takes rapid strides as a storyteller. Shibani Bathija’s screenplay is truly arresting. Shibani and Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues are noteworthy and at times, applaud-worthy. Ravi K. Chandran’s cinematography is awe-inspiring. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music gels well with the nature of the film. When a film stars two of the finest talents of the country, you expect nothing but the best. SRK, well, how does one describe his performance? To state that this is his best work so far would be cutting short the praise he truly deserves. In fact, no amount of praise can do sufficient justice to his portrayal of Rizvan Khan, who has Asperger’s syndrome. His latest work is several notches above anything he has done before. The only compliment that I can think of is, SRK has a new screen-name now. Raj is passe, Rizvan it is. Kajol is pure dynamite and casting her for this character was the most appropriate decision. No other actress could’ve matched SRK in histrionics the way Kajol has. In fact, SRK and Kajol compliment each other wonderfully well and this film only proves it yet again. It’s a powerhouse performance from this supremely talented actress. The film boasts of a number of capable actors, but the ones who leave a rock-solid impact are – in this order – Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Jimmy Shergill, Arjun Mathur, Parvin Dabas and Arif Zakaria. Sugandha Garg is confident. Navneet Nishan supports well. Vinay Pathak leaves a mark in a brief role. Tanay Chheda [young SRK] and Yuvaan Makaar [SRK and Kajol's son Sameer] are excellent. The American actors, especially the kid who plays Sameer’s friend, deserves mention. On the whole, MY NAME IS KHAN is a fascinating love story, has an angle of religion and a world-shaking incident as a backdrop. It not only entertains, but also mesmerises, enthrals and captivates the viewer in those 2.40 hours. At the same time, a film like MY NAME IS KHAN is sure to have a far-reaching influence due to its noble theme. I strongly advocate, don’t miss this one! Rating: 

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Movie Review: My Name is Khan

A long-delayed film but one that comes with its own baggage of silent merit, The Hangman hinges on a rather heart-wrenching irony. A noble hangman Shiva (Om Puri) must finally execute the son on whom hinges his whole hope of the future. Tragically the execution of this executioner’s tale suffers from an excruciating linguistic anomaly. For some strange and inexplicable reason the characters located in a Maharashtrian village speak in English. Their clipped self-conscious accent jars and reduces the impact of the powerful drama by alienating the characters from the words that come out of their mouth. Om Puri playing a character apparently inspired by real life is in emotional form as the doting dreaming father of an earnest son who, stereotypically, is spoilt and ruined by the Big Bad City. The opposition of values between rural and city life is done with a simplistic yet sincere flourish. The story could’ve done with a less pedantic treatment. The characters are almost parabolic. The hangman Shiva’s wife is named Parvati, and played with a clipped accent and eyebrows to match, by Smita Jaykar and the son, believe it or not, is named Ganesh! There begins the tormenting tandav on migration from the villages and its ruinous aftermath. There’s a touching core to Shiva’s hopes of getting his son out of the noose into a world of prosperity. This side of the plot needed further nurturing and irrigation. The father-son sequences as played out by Puri and Talpade, convey a wealth of warmth, sadly melted-down by outdated values and narrative devices. By the time the narration moves clumsily into the city life to show the urban corruption of the poor rustic Ganesh the narration embraces naivete wholesale abandoning any deeper thoughts for a surface-level exploration of the relationship between ambition and guilt. And portraying the city girl (Amrita Bedi) as a toxic influence is the last straw. In case the director hadn’t noticed the villages have moved and merged into the cities. The city-rural divide is only a mind-set now. Tackling a concept that is thoroughly outdated The Hangman never proceeds beyond conveying the mood and modality of a serious high-school morality- play performed with touching earnestness. It’s the sincerity of Om Puri and Shreyas Talpade’s performances that place this film a peg or two above the trite level. If we add Gulshan Grover’s acting as an upright jailor The Hangman is a bearable depiction of a rustic family’s dreams gone to seed. But Do Bigha Zameen, this is not.

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Subhash K Jha speaks on The Hangman