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More news →Diya Mirza's petulance with Bollywood
"Bollywood appreciates only successful films of actors, but not their talents" says actress Diya Mirza who is quite discomfited on this factor with Hindi Film industry. Despites possessing good potentials and of course, the enchanting looks, Diya Mirza hasn't witnessed success in any flicks of her entire career. With her recent venture with 'Krazzy 4' turning out to be more pathetic in box office, Diya has all her hopes in her forthcoming release, 'Bits and Pieces' with Rahul Bose in lead role. Speaking on her life in Bollywood, Diya Mirza says, "I was more gleeful in my earlier days of Bollywood with big banners and actors. With most of those films not doing well, I was despaired as industry didn't recognize my potentials, but the flops". Much before commencing her career in film industry, Diya Mirza was felicitated with the title of 'Miss Asia Pacific Beauty Pageant 2000'. She made her debut in Gowtham Menon's Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein starring opposite Madhavan. The film was quite moderate in collection at box-office while her following films Deewaanapan, Tumko Naa Bhool Paayenge and Tehzeeb flunked' It is notable that in seven years of her career in Bollywood, Diya hasn't been favored with at least one successful film. Her forthcoming flick 'Bits and Pieces' was supposed to hit the screens by last years and it's still waiting for release. However, Diya is quite confident about scoring high with handful of projects Acid Factory, Johnny Mastana, Alibaug, Kaun Bola and Kisaa'
Madhusree releases "Lagi Lagan"
It is a dream of every reputed play back singer to come out with a musical album in which the artist can make the kind of music that he or she likes the best and experiment a lot with the sounds and feel without restrictions. Vocalist Madhusree has made her dream a reality on Friday at her residence when music Wizard A.R.Rahman, Gulzaar Saheb, Mani Ratnam and Shaan released her first non-film album titled as "Lagi Lagan". She is today one of the hotshot singers in India having given her voice for famous songs in super hit films like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Kisna', 'Swades', 'Yuva', 'Kal Ho Na Ho', 'Kuchh Naa Kaho', 'Tehzeeb', 'Saathiya', 'Shivaji- The Boss', 'Jodhaa Akbar' etc. The album Lagi Lagan is released by BIG Music in association with Crossword Bookstores. BIG Music is India's leading Music and Home Entertainment Company and Crossword is India's leading lifestyle bookstore. "Laga Lagan" contains nine romantic songs composed by Madhusree's husband Robby Badal. Aditya Pushkarana played the keyboards, Shyam Raj gave life to saxophone tunes and Dilshad played the Srangi. On the launch of the album, Madhusree told that for more than one year she has put her heart and soul in making the songs. She also expressed her gratitude to BIG Music and told that she is extremely happy as her fans and music lovers will now be able to hear the music. The singer further spoke about the music style. She said that Thumri style of music was adopted as it is not understood by everyone in the present day. So she and her team wanted to present Thumri in a way that will be understood by all kinds of people. Notes from other styles such as Jazz, Latino and Western classical music have been incorporated in "Lagan Thumri". Madhusree in her singing career has performed with eminent musicians like A.R.Rahman, Hariharan, Udit Narayan, Sukhvinder Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Alka yagnik, Sadhna Sargam, Chitra, Rajesh Roshan, Himesh Reshmiya, among others. One of her most remarkable live performances was at Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles organized by The Philharmonic Orchestra. On Saturday Madhusree performed the songs from her debut non film music album at the Crossword store in Mulund.
Arjun Rampal, a superstar?
Arjun Rampal is a fine actor who hasn't got his due. Having started off with 'Pyaar Iishq Aur Mohabbat' this hot body went on to do several films that laid eggs at the box office. 'Moksha', 'Dil Ka Rishta', 'Dil Hai Tumhara', 'Elaan', 'Vaada', 'Tehzeeb', 'Yakeen' etc etc. The only films that did decent business have been 'Aankhen' (But then it also had Big B, Akshay Kumar, Suhmita Sen and Paresh Rawal too) and 'Ajnabee' (Big B once again). If you include bit parts in 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' and somewhat biggie in 'Don' then yes Arjun Rampal has been a part of successful films. But yes, the fact remains he hasn't had a solo hit. And he has been around for almost a decade now. The question remains then what makes Arjun feel-n-behave like a superstar? He doesn't keep his promises as far as interviews are concerned. Moreover except for Karan Johar, Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and the likes, rest of the world doesn't merit respect in Rampal's books. He has been selectively promoting his first home production 'I See You' by giving bytes to a few elite news channels. Rest of the mere mortals have to stand in a long queue before King Rampal obliges. Wife Meher Jessia answers his calls and informs that the 'super cool hot dude' (whatever that means) is busy in a meeting. And she too fails to honour her commitement of a curt: 'call after an hour'. The phone is conveniently switched off there after. SMSs are never answered (even the biggest of stars promptly reply to an SMS when they're busy). What one makes from Arjun Rampal's production plans, is that either he is super confident that 'I See You' will work anyway. Or he is sure it's not gonna work'So why tom tom about it anyway. The film's stills are dominated by debutante Vipasha Agarwal and to be fair to Arjun, he is looking a hunky dude as well. But the vibes from the promos of the film are absolutely thanda. Let's see if the film has a few surprises in store. The final verdict is that Arjun Rampal is a talented actor who needs a crash course in harnessing his PR skills. It's good to be nice sometimes. After all a warm smile and a confident handshake is always more precious than a smirk sitting in an ivory tower.
Madhushree: The Golden New Voice of Bollywood
Whether it is the hummable 'Tum Bin Bataye' from the Oscar nominated 'Rang De Basanti' or the alluring 'Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhie Shahad Shahad' from 'Yuva', the honey coated voice of Madhushree Bhattacharya leaves an impact in the corridors of mind. She is back to mesmerize all the music lovers with her sweet voice in Rakhi Sawant's upcoming music video. This Bollywood canary has also contributed her voice for the much-awaited Mani Ratnam's 'Guru', starring Aishwarya & Abhishek Bachchan. She has lent her voice to films like, 'Yuva', 'Tehzeeb', 'Kal Ho Na Ho', 'Kuchh Na Kaho', 'Kisna', 'Aitbaar', 'Swades', and many more. 'It was always my dream to do playback singing. I'm very happy with the response I've received so far and also lot of encouragement from music fraternity. I'm excited about my forthcoming projects, as I've tried to experiment new things and explore new genres. And I hope I'll be able to win the same love from people and industry as I've so far.' She was nominated in the best singer category for the song 'Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad'... from 'Yuva' for the Star Screen Awards and Sony Stardust Award. Not only is she the recipient of various prestigious awards but has also performed with the musical man AR Rahman for Tsunami victims. World tour with A.R.Rahman and other big names: Udit Narayan, Hariharan, Shankar M., Kailash Kher, Sukhvinder, Alka Yagnik, Chitra, Sandhna Sargam, Karthik and others'. are also in her kitty. Belonging to a musical family, music has always fascinated Madushree Bhattacharya. She has completed her Masters degree in music from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkatta; thereafter she went to South America, where she began teaching at the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. But after three years of teaching NRIs, she returned to India, to try her luck in Bollywood. And now she looks forward to her fruition in the Bollywood playback singing with some credible and melodious soundtracks. Madhushree is one talented singer one ought to look out for in the days to come.
The Gamble of Urmila
Urmila Matondkar inaugurated the Casino Shangrila, the newest addition of gaming facility in Kathmandu. Urmila wearing white sleeveless t-shirt with colourful Punjabi Lehenga inaugurated the seventh casino of Nepal in Hotel Shangri-La by lighting the traditional Lamp last evening amidst hundreds of guests. Urmila who is in the beautiful Himalayan country didn't give any performance of her own but watched others perform to Hindi music, including 'Kaanta Laga'. Urmila has been going through a difficult phase in her film career. For, she is no spring chicken to enact the teeny bopper roles, and she isn't over-the-hill to say no to glamorous roles. But it defies reason as to why she is segmenting herself only in the mould of 'Sensible' cinema like 'Pinjar', 'Banaras', 'Tehzeeb' etc. She would be seen next in 'Bas Ek Pal', another small film that hasn't been able to create enough buzz in spite of having fantastic music. Maybe, she should realize that if her focus lies only in performance oriented roles, then a 'Bhoot' or a 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya' also gave her chance to showcase histrionics successfully. The audience would love to see her glamorous avatar. And even she should realize that it's time she upped her Glam-Quotient. Before it's too late!
Box Office Analysis-April 06 , 2006
First weekend performance of latest release It was as dull as it gets in the weekend gone by! Four films that were released tried to make their presence felt before the biggies start striking from the coming weekend and none of them made any impression whatsoever on the audiences. Incidentally each of the four flicks, 'Chand Ke Paar Chalo', 'Madhubaala', 'Ho Sakta Hai' and 'Naughty Boy' had a woman centric plot but that wasn't good enough for either females or males. Obituaries have been written long ago for sex-based films and the opening of 'Madhubala' and 'Naughty Boy' was no different. Preeti Jhangiani's attempt at starring in an old fashioned drama cum love story 'Chand Ke Paar Chalo' too didn't pay much dividends in spite of reasonably OK publicity while 'Ho Sakta Hai', the best product of all, came at the time when the craze of watching horror flicks has all but died down. If only it had come during the 'Bhoot' or the 'Darna Mana Hai' days, it may have fetched a positive opening. Net result? None of the movies show any promise of going beyond the first week with multiple biggies releasing one after another from coming weekend on! Last week's movies 'Being Cyrus' kept itself in news throughout the week gone by and helped itself get an average, though not spectacular, opening. For an offbeat film in English starring mainstream actors, it was quite an accomplishment to reach the 2 crore mark, in spite of a selective release. A 'typical' multiplex film that should prove to be beneficial for its producers in an extended run, 'Being Cyrus' has successfully opened new avenues for independent film makers who want to try out something different within commercial boundaries. As expected, the film garnered the best collections from Mumbai with around one-third of its first week total being attributed to it. This Homi Adajania film should manage to break even but that's about it. 'Souten' is yet another flop for Mahima Chaudhary when she must have been pining her hopes from this movie centered on her character. She got good reviews from most of the places but audiences were wary about the movie's theme and believed 'Souten' to be one of those sex-laced films. A 70 lakhs first week total is hardly flattering and it seems impossible for the film to even break-even and cover the production cost. Karan Razdan gets another supreme box office failure after 'Umar' and now has his hopes lying on the third successive release 'Eight - Shani' that should come in a couple of weeks or so. From the past 'Umar' is out of theatres in 2 week flat with a sub-20 lakhs total. Simply disastrous! Collections of 'Banana Brothers' have been so shocking that Anupam Kher may want to erase the film from his filmography. Ironically his once-upon-a-time contemporary Paresh Rawal, who started his career a little later than him and went on to play comic roles after a successful stint at playing a villain, has delivered second super hit of the year, Malamaal Weekly, solely on his presence. The fall in collections was minimal in the third week with more than 4 crores being added to its kitty. The film is now one of the fastest to have crossed 20 crores since 2005 and is the BIGGEST ever Bollywood success for Priyadarshan. The film has been enjoying a repeat run amongst the audiences who are simply freaking out on Paresh/Om Puri/Asrani/Riteish/Rajpal combo. One now eagerly awaits the DVD/VCD of the film to be out on stands as it should mean added revenue for this family film. 'Taxi No. 211' continues to hold on well even in the 5th week by netting in an additional crore to bring the total closer to 20 crore mark. The film now stands at 19 crore and it should be a matter of 2 more weeks when 'Taxi No. 9211' reaches the elite 20 crore club. 'Aksar' is now in its final leg as its total hardly moves after the 8th week. There were hopes that it may turn out to be 9 crore hit but the collections have fallen short by around 25 lakhs here. Nevertheless, the film is a decent success for everyone involved and has got Ananth Mahadevan number of other interesting projects to direct. 'Rang De Basanti' barely movies from its position as the collections remain amazingly steady even in the 9th week. A crore and a little more have been added on to make its collections stand at 49 crore. Nevertheless, it's unlikely that the collections would continue to be steady in the coming weeks too with arrival of so many biggies one after another. It was a different scenario in the months of February and March when multiplexes had only RDB as an ace to be screened in multiple shows, but now with so many more options, there obviously is going to be a cut in shows for RDB. Having said that, RDB is still a comfortable 50 crore hit and firmly establishes Aamir Khan's position after a shaky 'Mangal Pandey'. With 'Fanaa' looking strong, SRK will need to have twin successes in the form of 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' and 'Don' to battle it out for the No. 1 slot! In the future The most important phase of Quarter 2 of 2006 starts with arrival of 'Shaadi Se Pehle', 'Saawan - The Love Season' and 'Banaras - A Mystic Love Story'. Each of the three films release a day earlier to benefit from the 'Ram Navami' holiday. Out of the three, 'Shaadi Se Pehle' is a comfortable success in sight due to refreshing theme, Akshaye Khanna's presence [he has never had it better with multiple comedy hits under his belt], Mallika Sherawat's oomph appeal and a reasonably popular music. Tremendous publicity of the film means that an excellent opening [80%-90%] is a given and it should only be consolidated if director Satish Kaushik indeed manages to tickle the funny bone. 'Saawan - The Love Season' is another film that appears to be a safe bet, especially in the single screen theatres due to Salman Khan's towering presence. Producer-director Saawan Kumar may just get a hit under his belt after years if audiences in the interiors catch fancy for their favorite star. The third release 'Banaras - A Mystic Love Story' is the only film that doesn't really appear to be mass appealing in the true sense. Urmila's decision to act in unconventional films [Ek Haseena Thi, Pinjar, Naina, Tehzeeb to name a few] may be getting her lot of laurels but box office success continues to evade her barring a film or two that have just managed to break even. 'Banaras - A Mystic Love Story' too has an offbeat theme and though Pankaj Parashar's reputation as a director promises a polished product, the opening is not expected to be more than 50%. After that it depends upon the film's quality and overall impact it makes to result in word of mouth that may take it past the safety mark as the week follows.