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Bachchan is the
best! PEOPLE are going around saying that Aishwarya Rai was "the surprise packet" in Mohabbatein... but that’s only ‘coz producer Yash Chopra and director Aditya Chopra chose to keep her out of all the promos of the picture. Well, Ash certainly added a delightful dash to the celluloid proceedings with her pretty presence, but it couldn’t compensate for the three-and-a-half-hour-plus meandering that the movie subjected the (yawn!) viewers to. By packing so many new faces in the film, the Chopras nearly created a record in sardine canning!
Ever the modest
megastar, this (phenomenal) actor merely smiles and shrugs:
"Look, it was a role like any other...and I just played the
character to the best of my comprehension and capability." Listen
to that (simple) introspection! |
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Mineral water laao! Tabu’s producers have a new hassle on their hands — the actress will drink a particular brand of mineral water whether she’s doing a film shoot in Mumbai or Moscow! And, considering she’s currently on a "water diet", her filmmakers have no option but to cart along enormous cartons containing her ‘precious’ mineral water packs to Hyderabad, Hamburg and even Hawaii! Tabu defends herself by stating that she’s doing it all on her (German) doctor’s advice. "She’s told me to drink at least eight bottles of this mineral water every day (two before bedtime and two first thing on waking up, if you please) besides washing my face with it as often as possible," discloses Tabu in an unsure, hesitant tone. Perhaps, she’s afraid to let on that she has been prescribed to even bathe in it twice daily. Mad about music ! Hey ! I personally find it pathetic that a gifted filmmaker like Mahesh Manjrekar earlier on music to make a hit of his films, Hasn’t the guy learnt a (bitter) lesson from the miserable flopping of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai...? Evidently not. For, now he’s busy eulogising the music of his forthcoming film, Kahin Pyar Naa Ho Jaaye. Granted that some of the numbers are good, and have been, picturised captivatingly on Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Aishwarya Rai... but if the story is scrambled and silly, how is melodious music going to help? Poonchh se poochho ! Producer R. Mohan is very worried man — he has no idea whether his film, Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya, is going to be released or not. You see, he’s received a terse, legal notice from Maneka Gandhi’s ministry, threatening to ban the movie on grounds of depicting severe cruelty to a baby elephant in one of the scenes ! And what’s the scene ? Leading lady Manisha Koirala playfully tugs at the tail of a young elephant, twirls it a bit and giggling, lets go with a smart slap on the animals backside during the picturisation of a song. That’s all ? Yeah, that’s all. But Maneka is highly upset. "The law and the Wildlife Protection Act doesn’t allow for such acts of cruelty on a species that enjoys privileged care. This act as shown in the film, on the part played by Ms Koirala, is punishable under section..." So, while the legal wrangles get worked
out, all here in Mumbai, have only one thing to say: "Arrey bhai,
pehle poonchh se toh poochho!" |
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Oh, but maybe I’m
being too harsh; the film does have its positive points — Amitabh
Bachchan being the ace in what is obviously a badly dealt out (cine)
card game. As the steel-eyed, gray-bearded Narayan Shankar, Amit
walked away with all the whistles and claps whenever he loomed large
on the silver screen and deservedly so.