AKSHAY KUMAR V/s SANJAY DUTT

AKSHAY KUMAR v/s SANJAY DUTT

It seems that Akshay Kumar who is famous for getting the scenes of his co-stars edited in the film and thus hogging the limelight, is at his job again.

Well the latest is that Sanjay Dutt is not happy with Akshay during the shooting of their forthcoming film BLUE, reason being Sanju Baba feels that Akshay is outshining him in the film and Director Anthony D’souza is favouring Akshay because of his current STAR STATUS.

The film is around 80% done and as per the sources Sanjay Dutt is averse to shoot further and his interest has also declined in the film, for example he seems to report late for the shooting schedules, which as a result has extended the original schedule at Bangkok form around 3 months to 5 months.

But on the contrary Sanju says that there is no truth in the news and these rumours are being spread by Akshay.

GOD knows the truth, but the latest is that the differences have been sorted out between the two stars and the shooting will resume in February.

This high budget film has breathtaking underwater stunts.

HARMAN BAWEJA - VICTORY FLOPS

HARMAN BAWEJA – BAD PHASE CONTINUES

After the failure of Harman’s debut film LOVE STORY 2050, he was heavily banking upon VICTORY, but it seems that bad luck is still following him, since VICTORY has also not done well at the Box Office.

And the impact of his failures was such that, he was on the edge of losing his forthcoming important film – WHAT’S YOUR RASHI ?, being directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and produced by Ronnie Screwvala of UTV with his ex-girlfriend Priyanka Chopra starring opposite him.

Ronnie was so much disturbed by Harman’s FLOP FILMS that he and Ashutosh were considering him getting replaced, inspite of the fact that almost 50% film has already been shot. Bt as per the sources, Harman’s father Harry Baweja stepped in and discussed the issue with Ronnie and finally things are all fine now.

All the Best HARMAN, we know you can do it !!!

PRIYANKA CHOPRA

PRIYANKA CHOPRA – DANCING NON-STOP

Some more interesting news about HARMAN-PRIYANKA’s WHAT’S YOUR RASHI ? It is heard that Priyanka is playing 12 different characters in the film and to add on the latest is that Priyanka has gone ahead and has danced non-stop for 22 hours while filming a special song for the film.

This particular song required Priyanka to portray the moods of all the 12 characters thru’ dance sequence being choreographed by Raju Khan, son of famous Dance Director Saroj Khan.

And as a true professional, Priyanka danced non-stop for such a long stretch to avoid dis-continuity and hence ensuring the rhythm of the song.

Well done Priyanka.

AKSHAY v/s SHAH RUKH KHAN

SHAH RUKH KHAN v/s AKSHAY KUMAR

It seems that that cold war between Akshay & SRK is on the boil. Well it just happened that both were invited by Preity Zinta on her birthday party at her home on Jan. 31.

As per the sources, Akshay came early to the party with her wife Twinkle. Akshay wanted to leave early before the arrival of Shah Rukh Khan, so as to avoid their meeting. But when SRK arrived, they however greeted each other, but then were seen avoiding each other, adding to the awkwardness.

As all know, that Akshay’s rising stars and then Aamir’s superhit Ghajini had given some sleepless nights to SRK and had evoked a sense of insecurity in him. So much that now all are seen making digs at each other, especially Akshay & Aamir has joined hands and have become close. It may be recalled that during the recent Star Screen Awards, Akshay Kumar had offered his Most Popular Actor award to Aamir, saying that he deserves more than him.

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

ABHISHEK BACHCHAN

Today is Abhishek Bachchan's 33rd Birthday. We wish him A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY and all the best for his forthcoming films of 2009 - DELHI 6, RAVANA & TIME MACHINE.

LUCK BY CHANCE - REVIEW

REVIEW – LUCK BY CHANCE
Here comes another movie this week on India’s another favourite passion i.e, BOLLYWOOD, in competition with VICTORY based on other Passion CRICKET.

LUCK BY CHANCE is directed by Debutante JOYA AKHTAR, daughter of legendry Javed Akhtar and sister of ROCK ON star Farhan Akhtar. The film showcases the ins & outs of our Indian Film Industry (Bollywood), how it works, it pluses, it’s minuses, strugglers, backstage scenes and intricacies, manipulations, exploitations etc. etc.

LUCK BY CHANCE is all about the story of Vikram (Farhan Akhtar), who hails from Delhi and shifts to Mumbai with dream of making it big in Bollywood. On way to his path of struggle, he comes across Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma), who also lands in Mumbai to become a star in film industry. Gradually they both fall in love.

Now enters is Rolly (Rishi Kapoor), a superstitious producer, who gets in trouble when Super Star Zaffer Khan (Hrithik Roshan) drives him mad by opting out of his dream film, in which he is launching Niki (Isha Sharwani), daughter of yesteryear superstar Neena (Dimple Kapadia).
As luck would be, Rolly decides to cast a newcomer and the role falls in the lap of Vikram. During his shooting stint, both Vikram and Niki gets attracted towards each other, thus drawing him away from Sona. Finally what Vikram gets – Sona, Niki or Stardom, for this you better go and watch the film on Big Screen.

Now coming on to the performances, Konkona Sen Sharma, as usual is brilliant and natural. Farhan as really evolved after ROCK ON and here also, he carries on his good work ahead with a superb performance. Hrithik Roshan as Superstar is unbelievable. Rishi Kapoor once again shows sparks of his talent, followed by Dimple Kapadia. Shah Rukh Khan in a small role leaves an impact.

Zoya Akhtar has done a wonderful job as a Director and as well as writer with some interesting sequences, though the script is bit predictable, but she still manages to show her talent and has fully utilized his filmy background to the fullest. Dialogues by Javed Akhtar are worth mentioning. Though music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy trio is not up to the mark, he delivers another mediocre piece after Chandni Chowk To China.

Overall, LUCK BY CHANCE is a good film, high above average, but I doubt it will make big on Box Office, it’s a film for film lovers, with some good performances.

TITLES

Banner : Big Pictures, Excel Entertainment
Released On : January 30, 2009
Language : Hindi
Genre : Drama
Producer : Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Zoya Akhtar
Director : Zoya Akhtar
Star Cast :

Rishi Kapoor - Rommy Rolly

Farhan Akhtar - Vikram Jaisingh

Konkona Sen Sharma - Sona Mishra

Dimple Kapadia - Neena Walia

Juhi Chawla - Minty Rolly

Isha Sharwani - Nikki Walia

Sanjay Kapoor - Ranjit Rolly

Hrithik Roshan - Zaffar Khan

Aly Khan - Chaudhary

Saurabh Shukla - Asst. director

GUEST APPEARANCES BY - Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Karan Johar, Vivek Oberoi

Music on : Big Music
Singers : Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonca, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ila Arun, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Mumay Khan, Babu Khan, Manzoor Khan, Rajab Khan, & Amit Paul

Lyrics & Dialogues : Javed Akhtar
Music By : Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Cinematography : Carlos Catalan
Choreography : Vaibhavi Merchant, Megha Narkar & Rajiv Surti

Story / Writer : Zoya Akhtar

VICTORY REVIEW

REVIEW - VICTORY
In India, game of Cricket is a passion, obsession & to some extent religion, besides FILMS. Every 2nd person either wants to be in Indian team or in Film world. Even my young son of 12 years is a big fan of cricket and he dreams to be in Indian Cricket Team.

VICTORY is one such film based on the story of a middle class family hailing from Jaisalmer, headed by father Ram (Anupam Kher), who dreams of his son Vijay Shekhawat (Harman S Baweja) representing the Indian Cricket Team. Their hard work and dedication pays off and Vijay becomes the Indian team batting sensation.

But there is a twist to the tale, as Vijay is unable to digest superstardom and falls to the glamour, money and advertisement world, so much so that his attention gets diverted from Cricket, as a result his form dips miserably thereby leading to his ouster from Indian Cricket Eleven. This leads to displeasure among his fans, but the turning moment comes when his father suffers a paralytic stroke.
This tragedy opens Vijay’s eyes and he determines to redeem his honour and once again makes a comeback in the team and gets tom play against Australia in the Champion’s Trophy Finals. And as predicted, plays a key role in winning the Finals for India, his father and his fans. In between there are some twists and turns, when Vijay is injured in between and gets hospitalized. And when India are on the verge of losing, our Hero returns to bat, inspite of his injury and pulls of an incredible VICTORY.

The problem with the film is it’s loose and predictable Story and Screenplay, which matches no way to the earlier legendry films based on Cricket - LAGAAN and IQBAL.

First half is bit dull, but 2nd half and Climax make up for the poor 1st half.

Ajitpal Mangat makes a promising debut as Director, but the script lets him down.

However some excitement and eagerness will be there in the form of bunch of true life Cricketers’ presence as – Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, Brad Hogg, Simon Katich, Allan Border, Dean Jones, Muralitharan, Jayasuriya, Vaas, Maharoof, Fernando, Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Graeme Smith, Morkel Brothers, Andre Nel, Harbhajan Singh, Yousuf Pathan, Praveen Kumar, R.P. Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ramesh Pawar, Dinesh Karthick etc.

As regards to performance, veteran Anupam Kher as expected once again excels as a father. Surprisingly Harman S. Baweja impresses, he really has worked hard and looks like a cricketer, his body language, confidence, expressions seem perfect and he seems to be a right choice to play the lead role. One can’t fail to draw similarities between Indian Cricketer Yuvraj Singh and his character in the film.
Gulshan Grover ovceracts. Amrita Rao has nothing much to do but does justice to the role of a simple middle class girl.

Music bu Anu Malik is so so, Songs like – Money Money and Balla Utha look good in the film. However Cinematography by Vikas Shivraman is just superb and worth praising.

Overall, VICTORY is a an average film and can be seen once for time pass.

TITLES
Banner : Walkwater Media & Victory Moving Pictures
Producer : Manmohan Shetty & Ajitpal Mangat
Released On : January 30, 2009
Language : Hindi
Genre : Sports
Director : Ajitpal Mangat
Star Cast :
Anupam Kher - Ram Shekhawat, Harman Baweja - Vijay Shekhawat, Amrita Rao - Nandini, Gulshan Grover - Andy Singh, Dalip Tahil - Dilip Malhotra &
Scores of Real Cricket Stars.
Music on : T-Series
Music By : Anu Malik
Singers : Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Suresh Wadekar, Shaan, KK, Kailash Kher, Daler Mehndi, Anushka Manchanda, Krishna, Sudesh Bhosle, Mahalaxmi Iyer,
Cinematography : Vikas Shivraman
Choreography : Ganesh Acharya and Remo
Story : Ajitpal Mangat & Kanna Iyer