Sisters get their act together
Lakshmi Menon

THE release of ‘Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai’ brings into sharp focus the role star sisters are increasingly getting to play in Hindi cinema. 

Coincidentally, the film showcases two such emerging stars — Karisma Kapoor’s and Twinkle Khanna’s kid sisters, Kareena and Rinke, respectively.

But then, they are not the only ‘chhoti bahens’ gunning to make their mark in Bollywood this year. 

Padmini Kolhapure’s sister, Tejaswini is making her debut with Anurag Kashayap’s ‘arty’ film ‘Paanch’, which has already been shot and is due to hit the theatres around September-October.

Padmini’s husband and producer, Tutu Sharma has now signed her for a film with funnyman Govinda while Sudhir Mishra has cast her in yet another untitled film with Sanjay Dutt. 

The idea, according to Tejaswini, is to work in both mainstream and off-beat films.

Also making her debut is Poornima Patwardhan, the lesser-known sibling of ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’s heroine, Bhagyashree. 

She will be seen with Raghu Raj and Moon Moon Sen, playing Mumtaz Mahal in the English-Hindi bilingual, ‘Taj Mahal — A Monument of Love’. Robin Khosla is the director.

Poornima’s is however, not a new face for television viewers. She has appeared in a series of teary family soaps and commands a sizeable fan following especially among college kids. 

But then, she is very choosy and refuses to run around trees or get drenched in waterfalls, the way her sister did.

Then there’s Shamita Shetty, who has already made her splash with Aditya Chopra’s ‘Mohabbatein’. 

As Shilpa Shetty’s younger sister, her voluptuous figure raised many eyebrows initially. But now she is regarded as an actress who has more to herself than just looks.

Shamita is currently doing a "realistic" film (hitherto untitled) with Chandrachur Singh and has signed a few others. 

Her secretary has let the word out that she will not act in "college love stories", but will be interested in films with "meaty roles". Any takers?

 — MF

Female filmmakers complain
Gautam Grover

WOMEN like Kalpana Lajmi and Tanuja Chandra may take to filmmaking, but their inability to pull off a single hit in years, is making them increasingly bitter. What is worse, they are suspecting a gender prejudice here and complain about discrimination on the part of audiences!

"Or else, why would I make only four films while David Dhawan makes 20?" asks Lajmi, the director of award-winning films like ‘Rudali’ and ‘Daman’. "In India, the market is largely dominated by men. So it a male viewpoint. People are not able to see that a woman filmmaker also holds a viewpoint."

"Women directors make films from the heart," explains Sai Paranjpye, chairperson of Children’s Film Society. "All my films like ‘Katha’, ‘Chashme Baddor’, ‘Sparsh’ and ‘Disha’ have been to film festivals and won awards. But somehow, audiences fail to connect with them."

According to Aparna Sen of ‘36 Chowringee Lane’ fame, the reason is that Indian women directors tend to deal with issues whereas the market goes by the success of a formula. "We women directors will not put in a fight here or a sex angle there," she asserts.

Among mainstream directors, there are women like Aruna Raje, Shrabani Deodhar and Tanuja Chandra who believe that they have to work "doubly hard" with their distributors, financiers and actors to make a mark. And should they fail, they aren’t given a second chance.

Says Deodhar, who made her debut with ‘Yeh Silsila Hai Pyar Ka’: "I cannot dream of getting creative freedom like a male director would. The financier and distributor dictate all the terms, with the box-office in mind. But when the film flops, I am supposed to shoulder the blame!"

Chandra however, sees nothing wrong in this: "The distributors and financiers have a point Why should they invest their money in someone who might sink it? So when they make some suggestions for their money, I understand completely and don’t feel victimised at all." 

— MF

HOLLYWOOD SCAN

Blowing his horn

WHAT Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger wants, he usually gets. While trying to reach a studio from the Pacific Coast Highway, he discovered that he had driven right into a four-mile-long traffic snarl and there wasn’t any way out of the mess. 

So, did he fret and fume in his Pagero? No way, Arnie just switched on the siren. The other drivers, believing him to be a cop in civvies, parted like the fabled Red Sea and let him through, without realising who was behind those dark, rolled up windows.

Pet jewels

What’s with Elizabeth Taylor these days? The Cleopatra of the ’60s walks around as if she’d swallowed a dead cat. However, the truth was out the other day when a vet let the cat out of the bag and revealed that one of Taylor’s pet pooches had chewed on her fabulous La Perriginla pearls. The sparklers which cost Liz $ 18,000 in 1970 are now valued at $ 700,000. Although the pooch is now banished to the doghouse, jewellers just can’t figure out how to restore the doggone damage!

Wail of a time

Visitors at a fun park in Florida had a double surprise waiting for them on a Saturday afternoon when they heard ecstatic shrieks from a crowd that had surrounded a lady. 

On close scrutiny, the lady turned out to be Whitney Houston who had stopped by with her 6-year-old child, Bobby Kristina, for a few rides. The little girl got so nervous on seeing so many nosey strangers that she wailed and then came the big surprise. Whitney sang ‘I will always love you’, which hushed up little Bobby much to the ecstasy of the crowd. 

— NF