Buzz is that Farah Khan might be launching Katrina's sister Isabel in another project sometime mid-2011. 
Music Director: A.R. Rahman
Singers: Srinivas D, Khatija Rahman, Mohit Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal, Rahman, Suzanne, Kash 'N' Krissy, Pradeep Vijay, Pravin Mani, Rags, Yogi B, Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam, Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer, Javed Ali, Chinmayi, Madhushree, Keerthi Sagathia and Tanvi Madhushree
Rating: **
There are many factors that compel you to have high expectations from the soundtrack of director Shankar's forthcoming film "Robot" - it is one of the most expensive films of the year, it stars Rajnikant and Aishwarya Rai and, most importantly, the music has been composed by Oscar-winning music director A.R. Rahman.
In spite of all these factors, the music of "Robot" doesn't impress that much. It lacks the punch and the wow factor that Rahman's songs are known for.
The album has seven tracks.
The soundtrack of "Robot" begins with "O naye insaan", sung by Rahman's daughter Khatija Rahman and Srinivas D. The slow-paced track is a gloomy one and is sung in a way that it seems a robot is singing it. It's a situational track. Even though it is not such a treat to hear, the song might look good on screen.
Next is a romantic song "Pyaara tera gussa hai", which has something like a scientific language. With Mohit Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal behind the mike, it has some weird lyrics, maybe because the film features a robot.
Then comes "Naina mile". The fast-paced number is sung by Rahman along with Suzzane and Kash 'N' Krissy. It fails to make a mark.
Strong orchestration marks the arrival of "Arima arima". Sung by Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam, the song describes the protagonist of the film. This is also a situational number and and not hummable.
Up next is the song called "Kilimanjaro", a very strange title for a song. Javed Ali and Chinmayi have crooned this peppy track that talks about a girl from the hills. It is better than others but doesn't exude the charm of Rahman's compositions.
Then comes the title track of the film in two versions. One titled "Chitti dance showcase" and the other "Boom boom robo da".
"Chitti..." sung by Pradeep Vijay, Pravin Mani, Rags and Yogi B fluctuates between slow and fast beats, while "Boom Boom..." voiced by Madhushree, Keerthi Sagathia and Tanvi Shah along with Rags and Yogi B is a fast number with a hip hop flavour.
Unfortunately, none of the versions really appeal to the listeners.
On the whole, the music of "Robot" does not appeal. They may suit the script of the sci-film, but the audio is not impressive.
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Music Review: Robot
Emraan Hashmi's next release 'Crook It's Good To Be Bad' is going to deal with the serious issue of racism, which had occurred in Australia recently. Mohit Suri of 'Kalyug' fame will be directing the movie.
The director was quoted sharing an experience during one of his visits to Australia. Mohit said that he was once standing outside a 24-hour convenience store, which is situated in the Sunshine district of Melbourne. The most brutal attacks on Indians had taken place in that spot in Australia. Suri said that he was shocked to known how they beat up the Indian only because of color and religion.
As a sensible filmmaker, Mohit felt that it was his duty to raise voice on this issue. He informed that while leaving the store, he saw an ad on the window of the store that read, 'Accommodation is available for the Indian students for Gujarati boys only'.
The director said that that particular ad was the starting point of the movie. He realized that the social evils like racism are part of all human heart. But it depends on an individual to decide whether it is good to turn bad in this current scenario or does one need to pay for being good.
'Crook It's Good To Be Bad' stars Emraan Hashmi, Arjan Bajwa of Fashion fame and new face Neha Sharma. In the movie, Emraan plays the guy, who has to decide to turn bad for good.
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Movie Preview: Crook
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Starring: John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal,
Written & Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor
Rating: *** ½
This is a film about coping with dying. But that’s not what makes it such a special experience. It’s the writer- director’s profound understanding of human nature that furnishes the simple story with a lucidity and coherence even when the protagonist’s mind is so numbed by physical pain he can barely think straight.
Aashayein is structured as a journey from a bright delusory light into a place where the radiance comes from a consciousness of why mortality is not to be feared.
In John Abraham’s eyes are mapped the entire history of the human heart, its follies and foibles as it struggles to make coherest the indecipherable logistics that define our journey across that bridge which everyone crosses from this world to the next.
As that very fine actress Prateeksha Lonkar (a Kukunoor favourite) says, “The only difference between the healthy and the ill is that the former don’t know when they are dying and the latter do.”
Between that state of blissful oblivion where we all think life is forever (and a day) and that one moment when our delusions come crashing down there resides some very fine cinema. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand where Rajesh Khanna smiled his way though that wobbly bridge taking us to the next world, is an interesting reference point in Aashayein.
I also thought of the actress Supriya Choudhary shouting into the dispassionate mists in the mountains, “I want to live.”The echoes reverberate all the way to Kukunoor’s heartwarming funny and elegiac exposition on the truth that lies on the other side of that illusory mountain we call life. Kukunoor pays a homage to life per se, and life as we know in the movies about death.
Even in the most poignant places in the art Kukunoor ferrets out some humour.When John’s lovely girlfriend (Sonal Sehgal) hunts him down in his exilic place of the dying John quips, “So you are not going to behave like one of those heroines in films who dumps the dying hero?”
The fantasy element creeps into the hospice (yes, that’s the spotless space that the story inhabits unostentatiously) with the least amount of fuss. There’s a little boy (the bright and expressive Ashwin Chaitale) who weaves mystical tales borrowed from the comicbooks for the desperate and the dying. Here Kukunoor brings in an element of rakish adventure borrowed from the edgy hijinks of Indian Jones.
Who says money can’t buy love? John uses bundles of cash to bring a smile into these doomed lives. When he doubles up with pain in womb-like postures of helplessness we feel his pain.
John in Harrison Ford’s hat and whip cuts a starry figure. He has never been more fetchingly photographed. John’s smile reaches his eyes, makes its way to his heart and then to ours. This film opens new doors in John’s histrionic hospice.It’s a performance that heals and nurtures.
John’s finest moments are reserved for a hot-tempered sharp-tongued 17-year old girl on a wheelchair, played with intuitive warmth by Anaitha Nayar. He guides the relationship between these two unlikely comrades of unwellness with brilliant restrain and candour.She wants him to make love.He does with his eyes using his unshed tears as lyrical lubricant.
Here is a performance that defines the character through immense measures of unspoken anguish. Rajesh Khanna in Anand? Nope. John pitches his performance at a more wry and cynical world where true feelings are often smothered in worldly sprints across a wounded civilization.
This is unarguably Kukunoor’s most sensitive and moving work since Iqbal. We often find little sobs pounding at the base of our stomachs. Not all the characters or situations are fully formed and fructified.
But even the partly-realized truths in Aashayein convey more common sense and uncommon affection for life than the “entertainers” of today’s cinema where laughter is generated through cracks in places very far removed from the heart.
This one takes us straight to the heart.
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Movie Review: Aashayein
Actress Priyanka Chopra says she is venturing into TV as a reality show host at the peak of her Bollywood career as she loves breaking rules. But she is quick to shrug off comparisons with Akshay Kumar saying he is the "original khiladi".
She will be host of "Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi" season three, which she says will be scarier than its previous editions that saw Akshay play host to 13 women celebrities.
"I want to thank Akshay. He was so wonderful in the last two seasons of 'Khatron Ka Khiladi' that he has already brought the show to one level, I only have to carry it forward. Comparisons would be unfair, " Priyanka told in an interview.
"Akshay is not only the industry's but also India's action hero. He is an original khiladi and I can't be like him; neither will I try following in his footsteps. I will try to make a mark of my own."
Breaking rules excites Priyanka and that's why she chose to venture into television now.
"Television is the biggest medium to reach your audience. There is a set rule that when actors are leaving films, they come to television. It's always exciting to break rules. I'm lucky that I'm in such a stage of my career where I'm doing good films with talented people. At this point, doing something different is quite exciting, " said Priyanka.
Asked why she chose "Fear Factor..." as a television debut, she said: "Actually I'm doing so many films right now that there's no time for television.
When 'Fear Factor' came to me, because it's my favourite show and I love spontaneous things...and the fact that I could grill the boys and be really mean to them, I guess being a part of a show like this was really exciting for me. What made it easier for me was they required only 20 days from me."
"Fear Factor" on the Colors channel will bring together 13 celebrities competing with one another by performing daring stunts and the one who survives through all the tasks is the winner.
"This time the stunts are bigger, a little more scary, a little more gross. Actually they play with your mind at lot...There can be trivial things that scare you. Some fear darkness, some may fear cockroaches, so it's basically playing with your fears, " said Priyanka.
The show was earlier supposed to have cricketers as contestants this season but now they have male celebrities including model-actors Rahul Dev, Milind Soman and Dino Morea, actors Rahul Bose, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Karan Singh, funnyman Cyrus Broacha, filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor and squash champion Ritwik Bhattacharya.
"I think BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had a commitment with the channel but later what happened I really don't know. But now I have contestants from various fields...so I feel it's much better because you have various people who will talk about many, many things. It's a different mix of people, " said Priyanka.
Asked whom she would choose if she had to select participants among her co-stars, she said: "I would love to see Shah Rukh Khan in this show. If Ranbir (Kapoor) had been a participant it would have been great entertainment."
Priyanka reveals that her mother is scared about her being on the adventure show.
"My father and brother were very excited, but my mom got very scared and she said she would stay with me during the shoot and keep praying for me, " the actress said.
So will we get to see her perform dangerous stunts as well?
"You will see me showing stunts. Quite a few actually...may be not in every episode. See the lucky thing is I'm the host and I can pick my stunts, " she quipped.
"Fear Factor..."' is expected to go on air in September and will be shot in Brazil this month.
Paul the Octopus created a worldwide stir with his accurate predictions for the World Cup matches.
But nearer home it is Salman The Rocktar who is rapidly building up a reputation for accurate prophecies on the Twitter.
Ever since Salman started tweeting he has been regularly recommending one film or another. And the ones that he has so far recommended have all been successes.
It started first with Raajneeti. One of Salman's first tweets was in favour of the film, although he had not seen it. Raajneeti became the first blockbuster of 2010.
Then came Salman's tweets on debutant Punit Malhotra's I Hate Luv Storys. That too jelled with the audience. Lately Salman has been gung-ho about another debutant Abhishek Sharma's Tere Bin Laden, apparently because the producer Pooja Shetty is a pal.
That too has been very well- received.
The aftermath of Salman The Soothsayers's soothing recommendations? Brother Arbaaz Khan is now sure the tweet-magic would work for their home production. Without informing Arbaaz, Salman has already started posting images and comments on Dabangg on the social network.
Laughs Arbaaz, “If Salman's recommendations worked for three films so far, why not for us? We seem to have a resident soothsayer. And I plan to make maximum use of him.”
Arbaaz admits Salman has started his Twitter campaign for Dabangg a little prematurely. “He has been going around taking pictures on the sets and putting them on Twitter. It shows his enthusiasm for the film.
I am happy to have Salman on my side. Dabangg is a very important release for Salman. He has no other release this year. We hope to use his time for him to visit non-metropolitan cities for promotion, since Dabangg is set in a small North Indian town.”
As for his uninterrupted luck on Twitter Arbaaz laughs, ”I think more producers need to have Salman on their side, if the industry is to have more hits.”
Music Directors: Sajid-Wajid and Lalit Pandit
Lyricists: Faiz Anwar, Lalit Pandit and Jalees Sherwani
Singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Mamta Sharma, Aishwarya, Sonu Niigaam, Shreya Ghoshal, Sukhwinder Singh, Wajid, Master Saleem, Shabaab Sabri and Salman Khan
Rating: ***
Keeping in mind the film that is set in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, composer duo Sajid-Wajid have composed a soundtrack for "Dabangg" that has mass appeal and is entertaining.
The album offers 10 tracks.
The soundtrack of the much-awaited Salman Khan flick opens with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a favourite of Sajid-Wajid, crooning romantic track "Tere mast mast do nain". The moderately paced track is likeable especially due to the brilliant vocals, and the change in tempo gives an edge to the track. This is a song you would like to hear.
The number has two more versions - one a duet with Shreya Ghoshal and the other a remix.
Then the album takes a turn and brings forward a completely different song "Munni badnaam", composed by Lalit Pandit and sung by Mamta Sharma and Aishwarya. The item number goes well with the character of the film. It is fast-paced and catchy.
This song too has a remixed version attached to it.
Romance again creeps in the soundtrack with Sonu Niigaam and Shreya Ghoshal behind the mike for "Chori kiya re jiya". The song is a soft and melodious love ballad. Even though the composition doesn't offer too much experimentation, the song exudes a pleasing effect.
Next is the title track of the film, which has a faint resemblance to the title track of the film "Omkara". Yet, it is hard-hitting and appeals to the listener. The song crooned by Sukhwinder Singh and composer Wajid himself, describes Salman's character in the film.
Then there is "Humka peena hai", a song soaked in the folk flavour. Vocals by Wajid, Master Saleem and Shabaab Sabri, this dance number is meant for the masses and has dholak as the predominant instrument. This has a remixed version too.
Finally, there is the theme song of the film that is packed with dialogues by Salman.
On the whole, the soundtrack of the film is entertaining and apt for the film.
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Music Review: Dabangg
OMKAR DAS MANIKPURI - NATHAOmkar Das Manikpuri belongs to the state of Chattisgarh, in Central India. He started his career as a performer in the local form of folk theatre called Nacha.
Performing often in makeshift and open air stages, he honed his skills as a singer, dancer, mimic and a stand-up comic. He then joined Naya Theatre as an actor. With them he has performed in India and abroad such timeless classics as Agra Bazaar, Charandas Chor and Sadak. Peepli Live is his first feature film.
RAGHUBIR YADAV - BUDHIA
Raghubir Yadav is one of India's leading arthouse actors and a highly gifted musician. At the age of 15 he ran away from home and joined the Parsi Theatre Company, Bombay. He later moved to Delhi, where he joined the National School of Drama (NSD).
In his stage career as an actor and singer he has performed in over 70 plays and about 2500 shows. Massey Sahib (1985) was his first feature film for which he won the Fipresci Critic's Award, Venice Film Festival, 1986, and the Best Actor Silver Peacock, IIFI, 1987.
Three films that he has acted in have received Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film (Salaam Bombay, Lagaan and Water). He was the first actor to be cast in Peepli Live. He has also sung for the film.
MALAIKA SHENOY - NANDITA MALLIK
Malaika is a Mumbai-based model, actor, and voice-over artiste. She has anchored and hosted many programs on Indian television and has appeared in a number of advertisements. She won the Best Actress Abby at the 2003 Indian Advertising Awards for Toshiba.
Her experience as a TV presenter came in very handy for this film where she appears as a star reporter and presenter. She is also a part of the vibrant English theatre movement in Mumbai. She has appeared in two independent feature films before Peepli Live.
Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide.
As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might've been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action.
Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - “Will he or Won't he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?
SHALINI VATSA - DHANIYA
Shalini Vatsa holds an M. Phil degree in Political Science from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As an actor she has worked with various acclaimed Indian theatre directors such as Habib Tanvir, Barry John, B.V. Karanth and has performed all over India and abroad.
She also trained with Barry John for Theater in Education and worked with children across sections of society including those with physical and learning disabilities, and still continues to do so. She is a full time member of Habib Tanvir's Naya Theatre repertory and essays leading roles in plays like Zahreeli Hawa, Charandas Chor and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Peepli Live is her first feature film.
NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI - RAKESH
Nawaz is a graduate from The National School of Drama, New Delhi, India. He did theatre for many years before he started working in films. He has worked with several acclaimed and award winning directors in India. Peepli Live is his first lead role in a film. Hailing from a small town in Northern India, he was able to pitch the character nearly perfectly.
FARUKH JAFFER - AMMA
Farrukh Jaffer has been a radio actor, announcer, and film and television actor in a career that has spanned over 5 decades. She started her career at Lucknow, in Northern India, with radio plays and diversified into broadcasting, writing and compering radio programs.
She has appeared in two feature films before Peepli Live. An Urdu scholar as well as an expert on proverbs, idioms and phrases of rustic speech, Ms. Jaffer proved to be a great asset for Amma's role. She was the final lead actor to be cast for the film and was selected after nearly a hundred auditions in many different cities.
VISHAL O SHARMA - KUMAR DEEPAK
Synopsis
Vishal is a Mumbai-based television and film actor who has appeared in a number of mainstream Hindi films. A self-trained actor, he was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and moved to Kota in Rajasthan.
Vishal's gift for improvisation proved very useful for his role of an ambitious and unscrupulous reporter in the film. Kumar Deepak in Peepli Live is his first major role in films.
Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan.
A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!!
His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might've been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action.
Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - “Will he or Won't he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?
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Movie Preview: Peepli Live
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Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai | |
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Aisha | |
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Labels:
Movie Review: Aisha
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Starring: 
The film is full of double intender jokes and one-liners that amuse you at times but don't really entertain. While the first half is quiet pacy and hilarious at places, the pace drops considerably after Vasu's visit to Manasi's house. 
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi,Randeep Hooda, Kangna Ranaut, Prachi Desai; Directed by: Milan Luthria;
The vintage cars, the costumes and that attitude of rebellious abandon comes through in the inner and outer styling of the characters. The people in Luthria's panoramic view of Mumbai in the late 1960s and 70s are steeped in a cinematic realism. Neither a part of that period nor a completely true representation of an era gone-bye-bye the characters hover in a no-man's-land populated by fascinating details of past recreated with a tongue-in-cheek broadness of purpose.
Maybe we shouldn't give away the plot. Because the plot never gives itself away. It never betrays a phoney intent of purpose. The narrative unfolds through the first-person narration of a troubled wounded cop, played with remarkably restrained bravado by Randeep Hooda. Indeed this is the most accomplished performance in the film. He's partly a gallant law enforcer and partly a victim of a system that breeds inequality, corruption and finally, self-destruction.
Emran Hashmi as Devgn's uncontrollable protégée gets the look and body language right. His courtship of Prachi Desai to the accompaniment of romantic hits from the 1970s (e.g Raj Kapoor's "Bobby") is engaging.
Starring Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Amrita Puri, Ira Dubey, Cyrus Shahukar, Arunoday Singh
When placed in the neo-rich spiced-up politically-charged atmosphere of Delhi Jane Austen’s characters seem to come alive in unexpected spurts of sassy splendour and unbridled joie de vivre. You can’t help laugh at these young often-aimless people’s selfimportance.
The casting is as dead-on as it can get. While the guys Abhay Deol, Cyrus Sahukar and Arunoday Singh play the Brain, Nerd and Hunk with absolute relish it’s the girls who keep you chuckling and tch-tch-ing.