Sunday, September 16, 2001		Movie Magic

WHOOSH! My poor ears are still smarting (and ringing) from last night’s party. What else can you expect? It seemed everybody, just everybody, was talking about pretty Priyanka Chopra — the reigning Miss World who has the filmwallahs eating out of her petite hand! And how?

Believe me, not since Preity Zinta or Kareena Kapoor made their celluloid entries, have I seen such a rush for any new girl to bite into the Bollywood burger! It virtually seemed as if all conversation started and ended with Priyanka (And you should’ve heard the "aaahs" and the "ooohs" echoing wildly around the Harbour Hall when this beauty finally made her arrival. Too much, man, simply too much!)

Currently on an unprecedented signing spree, Chopra is having no hassles teaming up with the best ‘n’ the biggest outfits. Her "price" is being kept a closely guarded secret... but insiders insist it’s way over the mark-up tagged of today’s top three leading ladies! What’s more, there are (very strong) rumours that she has signed up to do Hollywood blockbusters with the likes of Steven Segal and Van Damme, imagine!

Stay tuned to this column, readers, because I can bet you’re going to be hearing/reading a lot more about Priyanka...

I say, what on earth is the matter with Kamal Haasan, eh? The last time we met must be an year or so ago (at the Hey Ram celebrations) and the guy was looking a cool dude in his all-black tux, et al. But the other day (rather evening), I was appalled no end to see him looking so much older, stoopy and almost grotesque! Was it a trickery of the low lights... or did Haasan have a special mask on?

I believe he’s into two new films (one of them on Shaheed Bhagat Singh, reportedly) and will direct and act in both. Well, I just hope the make-up ‘n’ the get-up help to cover up (literally) his horrifying, aged appearance and bring back memories of the handsome, ever-smiling actor who’s enthralled cine buffs with terrific roles ‘n’ performances in the past. Otherwise, they’ll be left gasping incredulously: "Oh, God!" or, more aptly, "Hey Ram!"

Which reminds me: How come so many filmmakers suddenly want to make movies on the legendary Bhagat Singh, huh? I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but, at last count, there were no less than nine productions planned on the super Shaheed of Punjab! And some of them are already on the studio floor...

As for the lead actor(s) only too jumpy to play the title role, the (long) list includes Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Akshaye Khanna (and Kamal Haasan, as already annointed) ... amongst others!

Looks like the most popular song on everyone’s lips soon will be, "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna, ab hamaare dil mein hai", right?

To showman Subhash Ghai, must go absolute, unadulterated credit for making the amazing attempt to deny that his Yaadein is an indisputed flop. For weeks together, he kept smiling and assuring journalists that the film would "positively pick up" and be a grand success like Taal . Ghai kept on pointing to "promising similarities" between the two pictures (the slow, initial collections, the extravagant overseas response, the change in mood of the cinegoers, etc) in an all-out effort to justify himself to the media ‘n’ masses.

But how can the truth be hidden under loud talk, huh? The box office, the trade merchants, the film critics — any which way one looked, the thumbs down sign was only too obvious to be ignored. So, today, this famed ‘n’ celebrated showman has also stepped off the soap box and admits humbly that Yaadein has become memories to forget for me. And the sooner I am able to do that, the better..."

If I remember right, there was never really much pally-wally contact between Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. But then, that was passe. What is the hot happening today is that both these heroes have become the best of buddies — after starring together in Venus Films’ Ajnabee!

Maybe directors Abbas-Mastan have something to do with all this, since they’re repeating the duo in their next movie, as well. But I know better: It’s the actors’ better halves — Twinkle and Tanya — who’ve hit it off so ‘beautifully’ that the two can’t digest lunch or dinner without each other!