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Ash
zooms to the top! AND so, ladies and gentlemen, the
awards season continues. Though we’re in the year
2000, the honours being bestowed on the filmfolk are
those for 1999. And, if you remember, 1998 was the year
of Kajol who bagged the maximum She has already clinched the coveted crown at the Stardust-Hero Honda and the Screen-Videocon presentations... and more top honours are in store for her, I daresay. After all, Aishwarya really wowed cinegoers with Taal and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, didn’t she? Besides, let’s face it, she really didn’t have much competition in the first place.... However, that in no way undermines her achievement. Ash, it must be admitted, has grown as an actress through sheer hard work and confidence, thereby bringing a newfound maturity and conviction to her roles. I reckon congrats are deservedly due to her for the fact that her very name today implies the topmost heroine of Hindi filmdom. |
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Anil annoyed! Incidentally, at one of the awards ceremony, the one hero who failed to hide his annoyance (disgust?) at the results was none other than Anil Kapoor. Without doubt a fine actor (both on and off the screen), he couldn’t keep his inner feelings from showing plainly when he was awarded the "Best Supporting Actor" trophy for Taal and Sanjay Dutt walked off with the "Best Actor" trophy (amidst deafening applause) for his pithy, ‘punchy’ performance in Vaastav. And if Kapoor thought he was being witty when, while receiving his award on stage, he took the announcer’s mike and hollered: "Watch out for me next year, everybody, when I return to take the ‘Best Actor’ trophy!"... well, I’m not the only one who thought he was being plain crusty. Villain to the rescue If anything, Ashutosh Rana may manage to salvage this new movie titled Hum Panchhi Ek Daal Ke, with his crazed kind antics and asides. You see, he plays a demented, villain with two pointy horns sticking out of his head — a la the Devil — and a whole lot more. Believe me, this guy’s outrageous. A Sunil Shetty-Aishwarya starrer, Hpedk is produced by Nitin Desai and directed by Latif Binni. But, considering the latter’s last offering — Dahek — with Akshaye Khanna and Sonali Bendre, and recounting the bashing it took at the box office, I’m afraid to bet on his new film. I mean, there hardly seems to be any ‘direction’ to his direction! Well, the unit is supposed to be returning to Mumbai soon after completing the shoot in the USA and the flick is scheduled for an early release... when we’ll know how it’s turned out. But, if you find that Hum Panchhi... seems to be a collage of popular scenes from old hits, don’t say you weren’t warned! Mystery woman There’s this newcomer in Bollywood who goes by the name of Sundara. She claims to have "no less than a dozen movies" in hand and, what’s more, already has an eye (rather, both eyes) on the starry sky as she shrugs very confidently, very casually: "Oh, there’s no word such as ‘competition’ in my personal dictionary. Because, frankly, only I can be my own rival!" The most remarkable thing about Sundara is that she only discloses her mobile phone number for contact and communication; no surname, no fax or e-mail... and certainly no address! Maybe, she only wants to do mystery movies like, Gumnaam or Woh Kaun Thi? Rumour has it... ... that the personal security business in Bombay is booming in the wake of the near fatal attempt by underworld killers on Rakesh Roshan’s life. ... that many top producers and financiers have fled abroad in sheer panic. |
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number of "Best
Actress" trophies. But ‘99 belongs to another
leading lady — the comely Aishwarya Rai.