Remaking
is kinng
Not a year of cataclysmic thrusts, but of subtle shifts, 2008 belonged more to makeovers than movers, writes
Chetna Keer Banerjee. And how!
There are churnings and
there're turnings in the life of a city. Where did year 2008 stand in the
maze of milestones in its journey? Did it cast a footprint or will it just
be a footnote on the sands of time? In many ways, 2008 was to
the tricity what a season of remakes is to B-town. Not that it wasn't a
year of some originals. Going by the common measures
of how its denizens live - the way they eat, spend, make merry, or even
make sherry - the year had its defining moments.
A force to reckon with
Let's
face it. It takes a lion's heart to name your film after its villain.
Hollywood, specially Bond movies - Dr No, Goldfinger, The Man With The
Golden Gun - may have attempted it successfully, but it's a feat
unheard of in the mainstream Hindi cinema. Of late, Bollywood has been
focusing on characters' grey shades, with no real heroes or villains
tumbling out of the creative closet. But Ghajini brings the baddie
back in vogue and creates a diabolical villain who is an unscrupulous
devil, mean and ruthless and is being desperately hunted by an iron-fisted
hero who wants to avenge his sweetheart's death.
Plane Jane Jiah
Jiah plays a curious medical student, who
gets involved in Sanjay Singhania's (Aamir) life in Ghajini after
studying his 'interesting case' file. "My character is very intense. It is
a completely deglamourised role. The focus is not on my body but on my
role in the film. Aamir was very clear that I should look like a student.
So, I am a plain Jane in the film except for a song which has lots of
special effects and I have been given a Jennifer Lopez kind of look,"
the actress said while talking about her role in the film.
Nothing to get animated about
The
head honchos of Percept Picture Company would be scratching their heads
for having paid a whopping remuneration (Rs 9 crore according to trade
insiders) to Bollywood's new lucky mascot Akshay Kumar to lend his voice
to their animation flick Jumbo. For, Akki's voice, both as narrator
and the lead tusker in the film, fails to crank up the excitement. Add to
it a mundane story, which aggravates viewers' woes.
When the city jived
Unadulterated action at the party scene, new-look lounge culture and the not to be missed high-profile weddings were the high points of the year
Now, whosoever thought Chandigarh was a dead city where the dark falls as soon as the clock strikes 10, can chew their words and swallow them hard. It's not just a quiet city anymore, in fact, it's thumping wild on nightlife and party culture. And the year got us quite into a partying mood with theme parties, ladies night outs and hard rock lounge.
Living up to its reputation of being the city of glamour and luxury, we had so many reasons to party this year. The loung culture got a step ahead in city with two new hangouts opening for party people. Peninsula opened in Panchkula, offering international exotic delights and top of the line lounge bar. So, we got the taste of some Spanish, Thai, Oriental cuisines along with the royal ones like Awadhi and
Lucknawi.
