Ranbir Kapoor to play Kishore Kumar in Anurag Basu's biopic

Legendary singer-actor Kishore Kumar has become a source of inspiration for director Anurag Basu, who is making a "colourful and entertaining" biopic on him with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead. "Ranbir, UTV and I, all three of us are committed to make this film. Ranbir is busy, he is doing two films in between. After 'Barfi', Ranbir and I will come together again for this movie," said Basu. Born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly, Kishore Kumar was a popular film playback singer and crooned in various languages including Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Malayalam and Oriya, apart from acting in a number of movies. Being the youngest of four siblings, with elder brothers like Ashok Kumar and Anoop Kumar, Kishore was more interested in becoming a singer. He was not keen on acting, but Ashok Kumar wanted him to be an actor like himself. For Basu, penning the story of the film is not an easy task, considering that Kishore Kumar was a legend. "I have started writing it. It is a very tough job to write this, as the whole world will be looking at my work. I should be happy and sure of this film before I jump into shooting it," he said. The legendary singer changed his name to Kishore Kumar and started his career as a chorus singer at Bombay Talkies. Apart from singing many melodious and popular songs like 'Maana Janaab Ne Pukara Nahin', 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke', 'Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si', 'Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka', 'Chhod Do Aanchal', 'Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein' and others, Kishore acted in films and was known for his comic timing in 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi', 'Dilli Ka Thug', 'Half Ticket', 'Padosan' and others. "The film will have madness of Kishoreda. I am lucky that this came to me, UTV was planning this movie, Shomit had written a script. I am a big fan of him. I think he was the most colourful person, so full of life. That's why we thought of making a biopic on his life. It will be a very entertaining film," Basu promised. "I had locked this film with Ranbir when 'Barfi' was only one schedule old. I had offered it to him and he liked the idea very much and consented to do it," Basu said. Ranbir will have to change his look to get into the boots of the stalwart singer. "We did some look test of young Kishore Kumarji on him (Ranbir). We have gone through several such processes before zeroing in on him to play Kishoreda on screen," Basu said. The film will bring back the black and white era where Kishore Kumar reigned as a comic star and trace his rise in Bollywood's playback scene. "It is a biopic so we are not taking the liberty to make our own story. There are a lot of things that people don't know about him," Basu said. Kishore Kumar's son Amit Kumar is involved at every stage to provide inputs for the film, Basu revealed. "The family does not have a problem with the film. They have already given the green signal. They are helping us out a lot with his personal things, secrets, which the people are not aware of," he said. Kishore Kumar had married four times. His first wife was Bengali singer and actress Ruma Ghosh. Their marriage lasted from 1950 to 1958. He later married actress Madhubala, who had worked with him in many films including his home production 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' (1958) and 'Jhumroo' (1961). They got married when she was sick with a heart ailment. However, the marriage was also strained and lasted nine years, ending with Madhubala's death in 1969. Later, Kishore married Yogeeta Bali in 1976, but separated in 1978. Then he was married to actress Leena Chandavarkar from 1980 until his death. He has two sons, Amit Kumar (playback singer) with Ruma, and Sumit Kumar with Leena. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that Katrina Kaif might be signed to play Madhubala in the film. "We have not thought of anyone as a leading lady yet. As of now only the three of us (Basu, UTV and Ranbir) are final," he said. Source: Indian Express

Read More........ → November 27, 2012

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi opened International Film Festival of India

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi will opend the International Film Festival of India at Goa’s Panaji on Tuesday. Adapted to the screen from Yann Martel’s 2002 Man Booker Prize winning novel, Life of Pi is a tempestuous tale of a boy whose ship is wrecked in a killer storm on high seas. The boy, Pi, loses his mother, father and kid brother along with their little zoo when the family is sailing from their hometown of Puducherry or Pondicherry (close to Chennai in India) to Canada. In the end, Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with the most unlikely of companions, a Royal Bengal Tiger. Forced to spend many, many weeks on the tiny boat drifting on the waves, Pi learns to survive against not just Nature’s fiercesome odds, but also a deadly beast. While New Delhi’s Suraj Sharma’s essays the young Pi, whose carelessness on a cyclonic night costs the life of his parents and brother, Irrfan plays the older Pi. During a recent chat with me, Irrfan said that it was an impossibly difficult book to adapt for a movie. It was extremely complex and Lee shot the first parts of the film in Puducherry where the story actually begins, later moving to his native Taiwan for the more complex scenes. He recreated the Pacific Ocean, where Pi’s family perishes on a night of killer waves, in a disused airport. A gigantic water tank was built to simulate the effects of the hurricane in the 3D movie. With the production company, Fox, pulling out all stops, the shoot seemed so easy. As Irrfan averred, money was never a problem and the challenge of getting the tiger and the boy together was not as imposing as it had appeared in the beginning. “They had got four tigers from Canada or Russia, but, of course, in the end, it was all about computer graphics.” Irrfan has only a small role to play in the film and unlike the young Pi, who had a physically punishing and dangerous part to do, the older Pi had to grapple with mental challenges. Sharma was merely 16 when he signed for Lee’s first three-dimensional adventure. "After three years, the movie is now complete and being a part of the film has been a life-changing experience," Sharma said during a recent chat. "It has really changed me and how I perceive the entire world in many ways… People say that I have grown up personally after this movie. Like I went there as a 16-year-old boy. Now, sometimes I feel like I am 40 years old." "Earlier, I used to live in my own little shell and everything was small. Now I have realised that the world is this open place with opportunities. Now I know how to deal with situations in a better way and I can work five times harder without it affecting me because I have already worked like that. I've just become more ready for things," Sharma added. Irrfan agreed with this and said in an important way, the shoot itself had been as perilous as the actual story, where the boy kept the tiger alive and the tiger kept the boy alive. For each, the other was not just a distraction, but a point of hope, a point of survival. Pi wanted to outwit and outlive the animal, while it must have probably felt the same about the boy. So, both gave each other some kind of meaning to exist. “Perhaps the tiger would not have lived had it been alone on the boat. It was the presence of the boy that probably encouraged it to continue its fight to find food and sustain itself.” Irrfan felt that it would be very difficult for an Indian director to replicate Lee’s work in Life of Pi. “We are just not prepared for that kind of complexity.” Also, Indian movie companies and helmers are quite content with what they are producing. They have little desire to reach out to an international audience. However, Irrfan hoped that the new crop of directors would learn to understand the grammar of cinema better, in a way that their own films would hold out a great promise of appealing to a world audience. “Yes, funding would still remain an issue”. Irrfan, who has done some extraordinarily interesting roles in equally fascinating films like Pan Singh Tomar, Yeh Saali Zindagi and earlier Maqbool (based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth), is now shooting for Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Sahib Bibi Aur Gangster 2. Part one did not have Irrfan in it and he is stepping into Randeep Hooda’s shoes, who played the gangster. Irrfan is also doing Nikhil Advani’s latest yet-to-be titled work. With Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart, Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar behind him, Khan is all set to dream big. But those like Tabu who helped him evolve (Maqbool, The Namesake) continue to be in his dreams. During a recent promotional campaign for Life of Pi in Chennai, when Tabu said that she appears in Lee’s work much earlier than Irrfan does and does not share screen space with him, the actor had a wonderful rejoinder. “But you are always in my dreams.” I am sure she is, but Irrfan’s dreams must now include still greater performances than what we have already seen. Of course, I have little doubt about this. Source: Hindustan Times

Read More........ → November 22, 2012

Get Closer with Big Boss 6 Contestant

The new season of Big Boss 6 has started and it has full of elements of being the most controversial again. 14 popular contestants and one common man has now become a part of Big Boss house. The host of the show Salman Khan welcomed all the contestants in his louder style. Here we present all the list of Big Boss contestants with their details . . . have a look. . . Navjot Singh Sidhu – Navjot Singh Sidhu had a volatile career as a cricketer from 1983 to 1999. He announced his retirement from cricket in December 1999. He played over 50 Test matches and over 100 ODIs scoring over 7,000 international runs. He has 27 centuries to his credit in an 18-year career. Sidhu restarted his career as a commentator for Nimbus sport when India toured Sri Lanka in 2001. He also figured as a judge on the television programme - "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge." He also appeared in other similar programmes as "Funjabi Chak De." Sidhu entered politics & won on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from the Amritsar seat in the Indian general elections, 2004. Sana Khan – Sana Khan is an Indian film actress and super model. Best known for her appearance in the Amul Macho ad ‘yeh to Bada toing hai’. Sana Khan is a popular Tollywood actress who was born and brought up in Mumbai. She worked as model in Mumbai, appearing in more than 30 ad films alongside the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Akshay Kumar. She later on, appeared in item numbers in films such as Bombay to Goa and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, before she was signed in 2008 for the lead female role in the Tamil film Silambattam opposite Silambarasan, who approached and offered her the role. Vrajesh Hirjee – Vrajesh has acted in over 40 Gujarati plays and has done a number of successful movies like Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, Golmaal Returns and Tum Bin. He also hosted the show THE MAN'S world SHOW. He is an AIESEC Alumnus (Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales). Recently, he 

appeared in the water game show Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout as a contestant. He is currently seen in SAB TV sitcom Bhai Bhaiya Aur Brother. Sampat Pal Devi – Sampat Pal Devi is the founder and leader of a group of women vigilantes in northern India's Uttar Pradesh state's Banda District, called the "Gulabi Gang". Sampat Pal Devi is a former government health worker who came into news after the launch of the book “Sampat Pal – A warrior in pink saree” in 2008. Sampat Pal Devi, a mother of five and a former government health worker found the Gulabi Gang in 2006 as a response to the widespread domestic abuse and other violence against women. Urvashi Dholakia – Urvashi is half-Punjabi, half-Gujarati by birth. She was married at age 16, had twin sons at age 17, and was divorced one-and-a-half years later; her sons study in a boarding school. Urvashi is best known for playing the villainous character, Komolika, in the Star Plus daily soap opera, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, which ran from 2001 to 2008. Aashka Goradia – Born and brought up in Ahemdabad, Aashka made her acting debut with Balaji Telefilms. She dolled up Ekta Kapoor’s show Kkusum as a protagonist on Sony TV followed by Akela and Virrudh on Sony TV, Kahin To Hoga on Star Plus, Sindoor Tere Naam Ka and Saath Phere on Zee Tv, and Mere Apne on 9x made her popular amongst the television audience. Aashka has done some popular reality shows like Comedy Ka Maha Muqabla and Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. Dinesh Pal Yadav – Bhojpuri film superstar Dinesh Lal Yadav a.k.a Nirahua, grabbed the limelight after delivering hit movies like 'Til Gum gauwa.' Nirahua is a popular face of music in Indian states like U.P, MP, Bihar & Jharkhand. He has in his credit some big block buster Bhojpuri movies and ia the first choice of south Indian producers who are investing in Bhojpuri Industry. Delnaaz Irani – Dalnaz Irani is a popular Indian television and film actor, famous for potraying the chaarcter of Sweetoo, from the movie Kal Ho Na HoDelnaaz Irani is an Indian actress of Irani origin. She has acted in both Bollywood movies and Hindi television serials and has over twenty-five plays to her credit. She has worked with some of the biggest names in Bollywood including Shahrukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Salman Khan,Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, and Kareena Kapoor. She was the host of Nach Baliye, a reality dance show with her husband Rajeev (23–29 October 2009). Delnaaz was married for 14 years with Rajeev Paul and then they split in 2010. Sapna Bhavnani – Sapna is a celebrity hair stylist. Her celebrity clientele includes the likes of Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Siddharth Malaya and John AbrahamA self-styled hippie hairdresser owns a strand salon Mad-O-Wot at Carter Road in Mumbai. When she's not experimenting with daring hairstyles on celebrity tresses at either of her two kitschy salons, she’s playing producer, director, writer, photographer, DJ or an actress. Sapna’s salon is a second home to bollywood celebrities like Sameera and Sushma Reddy, Dino Morea, Koena Mitra, John Abraham and Bipasha Basu. Sapna has acted in movies like Pyar Ke Side Effects and Ugli Aur Pagli. Aseem Trivedi – Aseem Trivedi is a controversial Indian political cartoonist and activist, best known for his anti corruption campaign Cartoons Against Corruption. He is a founder member of Save Your Voice, a movement against internet censorship in India. He has been awarded the Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award for 2012 by Cartoonists Rights Network International. Trivedi is originally from Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, where his parents still live. He moved to Delhi in 2010, when he was just 22 and continued to work as a freelance cartoonist. He became closely involved with the Anna Hazare led campaign against corruption and displayed several of his cartoons during protests. Rajeev Paul – Rajeev Paul is an Indian television actor best known for his negative role in Balaji’s daily soap Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii. He also participated in Nach Baliye,a dance reality show with his then wife Dalnaz Paul. Rajeev Paul was born and brought up in Ajmer and hails from an army family. He went to an acting school before starting his career as an actor with Mahesh Bhatt’s television soap Swabhimaan. Rajeev was married for 14 years to a famous Indian television actress Delnaaz Paul before they split in 2010. Sayantani Ghosh – Sayantani Gohosh appeared in Naaginn - Waadon Ki Agniparikshaa , a serial on Zee TV in 2007. Sayantani won the Miss Calcutta contest and that brought her under the spot light. Later on, she ventured into Bengali films. Sayantani happened to act with Bengali film superstar Prasenjit. She made her acting debut on television with Kumkum in 2002. After Kumkum, Sayantani was picked to play the lead in Sahara One’s Ghar Ek Sapna. Later, she bagged another leading role in Aroona Irani’s Naagin in 2007. Sayantani showed us her funnier side in Comedy Circus 2
where she was paired with comedian Kuldeep Dubey. Niketan Madhok – Niketan Madhok is a Model who has walked on ramp for famous Indian and International labels. He came into limelight after Lakme India Fashion Week 2002. Niketan started his career as a model in 1994 with shows in Mumbai and Bangalore. A year later he hit the Delhi ramp circuit.Niketan has worked with a lot of big names in the fashion industry like Rohit Bal, Rajiv Bajaj, Rohit Gandhi, J J Vallaya, Suneet Varma, Muzaffar Ali, Ashish Soni among others. He has walked the ramp at the Lakme India Fashion Week for a host of fashion designers including Rohit Bal, Aki Narula, Rocky S, and Ritu Kumar. Karishma Kotak – Karishma moved to India in October 2005 where, within two months, she got herself onto the prestigious Kingfisher Swimsuit calendar. In 2006, Karishma took part in the "Lakme Fashion Week". She has also done music videos for artists such as Jay Sean, Sonu Nigam and Apache Indian. She has now become the brand ambassador for Dove (shampoo) in India. She remains best known for her work as the Kingfisher Girl. She has also appeared in a number of other commercials. Kashif Qureshi – Kashif hails from the city of Hydrabad, Andhra Pradesh. He got selected to be the 'Common Man' (non-celebrity) via auditions held across India. Source: Page3

Read More........ → November 02, 2012

National award for playback won't change my calling: Rupa Ganguly

Though she bagged the national award for her song in the critically acclaimed film 'Abosheshe', Rupa Ganguly, known to millions as Draupadi from the serial 'Mahabharat', does not want to branch out into singing. Recording her song for a film after long 12 years, Rupa said she was more focused on acting than singing and wondered what convinced the national award authorities to pick her up. "The song seemed to feel good more because of the visuals, which created the mood, than the quality of my singing," said Rupa. The 45-year-old actress said her voice was not in proper shape due to back to back shooting and there were far more worthy contenders for the award. "There were many other contenders who did a better job in other films, I guess," Rupa said at a meet to promote the film, which released today. The actress said the director and the script-writer were insistent that none but she could do the playback part and for her part she was determined not to bite the bullet. "I felt like telling them, 'have you all turned mad'? But ultimately I had to give in. They were all so insistent," Rupa recalled. Probably they were inspired by Rituparno Ghosh who, she said, made her sing in full throated voice in the film 'Bariwali' where she had played the character of a heroine present in a shooting. She, however, said she could deliver with proper practice and musical accompaniment as she had brought out a solo Rabindrasangeet album in the past. "It was Rituparno who first made me sing my own number without any musical accompaniment in a film, but he was already a known name at that time unlike Aditi, the director of Abosheshe," she said. Talking about her role of a mother role in the film, Rupa said, "I initially was not very sure if a young girl like Aditi can handle such subtle issues on celluloid at the outset when she came to me with the script by Neel Mitra." But ultimately she acquitted herself very well, Rupa said. 'Abosheshey', which had been screened at IFFI Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Wasghington DC South Asian Film Festivals and some other festivals, deals with the quest of a son (Ankur Khanna) to discover his mother Suchismita (Rupa) and her roots. About the songs and Rupa's initial reluctance, Aditi said, "We had to assure her that in the event of her voice cracking during recording we would make an alternative arrangement. But nothing of that sort happened as you can see from the audience response to the three tracks by her including "durey kothaye". Rupa said she has no qualms to play roles of mothers in Bengali films now, since she was also acting as mom in "Na Hanyate" by director Ringo. About working with Mithun Chakraborty in two films - - the under-production entertainer 'Buddhuram Dhol' and recently released 'Nobelchor' - - Rupa said these were very different portrayals. "Mithun is a co-actor I would always love to work with. Even when he is not in proper mood he starts cracking jokes," she said. Source: Indian Express

Read More........ → September 24, 2012

Shreya Ghoshal to perform in Muscat, Dubai next month

Playback singer Shreya Ghoshal is set to take the stage in Dubai and Oman's capital, Muscat, next month. The Dubai leg of her tour, titled Salaam Dubai, will take place on October 26. It will be a three-hour concert packed with chart busters and will mark her return to Dubai after her hit show in November last year. The Muscat concert is titled 'Ooh La La' and will be held on October 18. At this show, Ghoshal is likely to croon Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil and Kannada songs apart from her hit Hindi numbers. This will be Ghoshal's first concert in Oman. In March this year, another leading female singer from Bollywood, Sunidhi Chauhan, performed at a largely attended concert in the Omani capital. Ghoshal shot to fame after the success of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas" and Since then she has been recording songs with many music directors in different languages. She has been performing all over the world and has also judged child contestants in musical talent show 'Voice Of India - Chhote Ustad'. Ghoshal also wishes to take her musical talent beyond film music to Hindustani classical music. Source: Indian Express

Read More........ → September 19, 2012

Salman to gift Kareena a BMW for being a part of Dabangg 2

To Salman Khan, relationships matter a lot. By now we all know that kareena Kapoor will be doing an item number in Salman Khan starer, Dabangg 2. Salman Khan is thankful to the actress for giving a nod and has now decided to payback by gifting her a BMW. After the UTV Motion Pictures’ senior manager Prithwish Ganguly tweeted “@BeingSalmanKhan to gift Kareena Kapoor a BMW for being a part of Dabangg 2”. The buzz is that Salman is going to give this special gift to Kareena started doing the rounds.Source: GaramGossips

Read More........ → June 16, 2012

I would love to pair with Abhishek Bachchan: Vidya Balan

By Gahoi Ad Online Media; Vidya Balan’s is unquestionably the queen of Bollywood blockbusters. The actress now has a huge list of actors she would love to act with. Abhishek Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Prosenjit Chatterjee, are on her list. “I would like to work with those who I have already worked with and those who I haven’t. I would love to pair with Abhishek (with whom she was seen in ‘Paa’)… It’s been long. I am very greedy to work with good actors and directors,” The actress was at the release of the DVD of her film “Kahaani” in Mumbai on Wednesday. Hrithik Roshan is on her list as she hasn’t worked with him yet. And Prosenjit??? Well, she told, “We have been wanting to work together for a long time. Every year there has been talks about a Bengali film but we have not been able to work out the dates. So this year, Sujoy has said he will make a film with both of us. We are on a lookout for a good script. If everything happens, we will make it work.” Vidya Balan is keen to do a romantic film with the King of romance, Shahrukh Khan. “I think I grew up watching all his films where he plays the ultimate romantic hero. When you think of romance you think of Rajesh Khanna and Shah Rukh Khan. These are the names that are foremost on my mind. Every woman wants a Raj (SRK’s character in ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’). That’s why I have always wanted to work with him. Whenever we work together, I would like it to be a nice relationship story,” she told. Source: GaramGossips

Read More........ → May 21, 2012

Aamir Khan: Experiments with truth

By Priyanka Sinha Jha: Packed with songs and emotions, Aamir Khan’s 'Satyamev Jayate' could well be a giant leap for celebrity chat shows. Here’s why. Talks of Aamir Khan hosting a television show first began more than a year ago. The conspiratorial whispers soon turned into a wide-held belief, at which point some fearless scribe could not hold his peace, and put the “Is it true?” question to the actor at a press conference last year. Khan, however, maintained a no-comments stance on it which is usually synonymous with consent. Soon after, the rash of rumours suggested that it was likely to be an issue-based show, and the buzz only grew louder when Aamir met Anna Hazare last year during the latter’s agitation for the introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill. Of course, no information was forthcoming from the star in the hot seat till sources from the channel confirmed the news. As it turns out, Khan has been working on the show for the last two years with Satyajit Bhatkal (who produced a documentary on the making of 'Lagaan'), joining the dots in north, south, east and west that make India. Last week, Khan finally shared a promotional song with the media to test waters for his forthcoming chat show, 'Satyamev Jayate', to be telecast on Star Plus (starting May 6). At the moment he is still tight-lipped about the show and has only confirmed the obvious—that it’s a chat show with real people. The only celebrity on the show would be Aamir himself but the hero, he assures, is India’s Aam Aadmi. It was perhaps between the time that 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' helmed by Amitabh Bachchan, its runaway success and the disastrous fate of me-too celebrity shows that followed, that programmers realised the futility of simply using star presence as a tent-pole for television shows and their promotion. And conversely, the utility of the “Common Man” was suddenly realised by programming heads. In the competitive world of television, the common man has rescued many a show ever since. The last very successful season of KBC, on Sony Entertainment Television, again with Amitabh Bachchan was well packaged (bigger prize money etc) with a clever tag-line that ran “Koi bhi insaan chhota nahin hota,” in order to draw the small-town audience. With an eye to garner eyeballs in Tier-2 cities, the line worked like a charm. In fact, Sony went a step ahead when it replicated the show (originally aired on Star Plus) in different regional languages with different hosts—-Shatrughan Sinha for Mahua Bhojpuri, Sourav Ganguly (Mahua Bangla) and Suriya for Vijay TV (Tamil) and plans of a follow-up in Malayalam and Kannada too. Star Plus now is taking the thought forward, leveraging existing channels to promote and air 'Satyamev Jayate'. It is also a smart move to draw attention away from rival channel Sony’s IPL-5 which is currently high on both visibility and noise. Star Plus, in the past, had experimented with variations of the star and “Aam Aadmi” mix. Former cop Kiran Bedi’s 'Aap Ki Kachehri' on the channel solved people’s problems pertaining to finance, succession and marital rights among others and ran into three seasons. There was also director Farah Khan’s 'Tere Mere Beach Mein' which had top drawer celebs on common meeting grounds such as a daughter supporting her family - ergo Bipasha Basu and a non-celebrity daughter providing financial aid to her parents presented on the show. Aamir Khan’s show travels beyond the studio — he is seen playing hockey with kids, breaking bread with a family and sailing in a shikara. It is something he hopes that everyone will “emotionally connect with.” In order to establish an emotional connect with the audience each episode of the show will be accompanied by a song quite like the promotional song, “a love song to the nation.”  The songs have been put together by composer/singer Ram Sampath, along with lyricist Prasoon Joshi while the audio-visual footage has been shot by ad filmmaker Ram Madhvani. T-Series and Hungama are collaborating with them on the music front while Airtel has come on board as sponsor and is already using the song as a caller-tune for its subscribers. The show timing — 11 am Sunday slot — which has been lying dormant ever since Doordarshan relinquished its former glory to the newbie private broadcasters, is yet another re-packaged innovation. Besides this, the show in a dubbed version will simultaneously be aired on all Star channels (Star Plus, Star World and all regional channels within the star bouquet such as Star Jalsa etc) in addition to being shown on Doordarshan. The show, produced by Aamir Khan Productions is a 13-episode affair, shot in different parts of India and if well-received, may go into another season. When asked for a comment on the template, Siddharth Basu, Chairman and Managing Director, Big Synergy, which produced 'KBC', '10 Ka Dum' among other top ranking star shows as also 'Aap Ki Kachehri', said, “It’s a brave attempt to raise front-burner issues in a moving and thought-provoking way. We need that on our TV. I wish Aamir and the show the very best.”  This is the biggest that a chat show on a GEC has gone in recent times. Given that this is “Perfectionist” Khan’s foray into television, in the thick of Indian Premier League season, the channel’s efforts to up the bar in different ways, is understandable.According to Star India CEO, Uday Shankar, “'Satyamev Jayate' is an universal show that will touch hearts and connect with every Indian. This is the first time any show will be broadcast on a pan-India platform and will be simulcast in all major channels of the Star Network — Star Plus, Star Pravah, Star Jalsa, Star World, Star Vijay, Asianet as well as Doordarshan. This is a landmark move and the aim is to ensure that every Indian has the chance to view and experience the show.” The show has a larger aim and truly lives up to Star’s promise of “Inspiring a Billion Imaginations.” “Star and Aamir have come together to push the frontiers of creativity and programming and create something that is truly impactful and engaging,” Shankar says. According to Dheeraj Kumar, Managing Director, Creative Eye, with many successful years in the television industry as actor, director and producer, “It’s an innovative approach, as non-fiction shows, so far, have usually been slated for the prime-time slot. Aamir Khan is known to be very professional and given his reputation, will certainly put in his best. Content will really be key because shows like 'Ramayana' and 'Mahabharat' made the Sunday morning slot a winner and not vice-versa.” Considering that one has not yet been privy to the content of the show, it would have to be the marketing strategy and unusual firsts to the show that stand out. Khan is not merely hosting the show, he is even producing and promoting it — his publicity agency has been pencilled in for publicising the show. None of his predecessors, namely Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Preity Zinta, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan (though Red Chillies did produce the show Up Close and Personal with PZ and Farah Khan’s chat show Tere Mere Beach Mein) have produced television shows starring them. “I am not looking to create a revolution. I just want everyone to connect with the show,” Khan says to enthusiastic media persons likening his travels across India to Mahatma Gandhi’s. But, if he wins the TRP game, he may well be credited with creating a revolution on the small screen at least. l Music & Lyrics *'Satyamev Jayate', the inaugural song for the show is already a viral hit according to T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar who says, “It is even better than some of the film songs—akin to an item number almost” *The last time something similar was attempted was Kolkata Knight Rider’s Anthem also with T-Series and Hungama. It did well during the cricket season  *The songs will be played at the end of each episode of 'Satyamev Jayate' with an accompanying AV *CDs of single songs will be put out for sale but it will be the revenues from digital platforms that will be the big earners, says Kumar.  *All songs are in Hindi and have been sung by different singers. Ram Sampath has composed the music and the lyrics have been penned by Prasoon Joshi priyanka.sinha@expressindia.com, Source: Indian Express

Read More........ → April 22, 2012

Shah Rukh says he didn't imagine staying in films so long

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan today said he never imagined that he would be able to survive in the film industry for such a long time - a good 21 years - and ascribed his long innings to greater opportunities available in the country now. "Because our country is progressing so fast, a lot of people like me, who perhaps don't even deserve it, get a lot more opportunities than what actors and stars got in years past," the star, who just received the prestigious Chubb fellowship by the Yale University in the US, said. He was speaking at the inauguration of the first phase of Prayag Film City here in West Midnapore district as the brand ambassador of the film city.  "I come from a lower middle class background and for the last 30 years it has been my habit to work for 18-20 hours a day. Through my hard work I try to make the life of my family better," he said. Asked if he was drifting towards entrepreneurship from acting, SRK said he considers himself just as an actor. "I am hardly an entrepreneur. I don't even think of myself as a star. I only try to make a difference in the world with my acting," he said. Describing acting and sports as two of his passions, he said, "Whatever I do, promotions and other things, they are offshoots and ancilliaries". Emphasising the importance of a film city, he said he had always wondered why a country like India, which makes the largest number of films worldwide, does not have world-class infrastructure and facilities. "The biggest dream of my life has always been to try and make an international class studio for this country, not for profit, but for the fact that India makes the maximum number of films that are seen around the world," he said. He said the Prayag Film City is going to be a "wonder of the world". He went on to say that hopefully next year he can come and shoot one of his films in the film city. "If it were ready, I would shoot here the new film that I am going to begin," he said, describing West Bengal as the most creative area "the country has historically" in terms of literature, poetry, theatre, music and sports. The Prayag Film City, promoted by the Prayag Group, is a state-of-the-art integrated film city which will also house an amusement park. It will be thrown open to filmmakers and tourists later this year. Planned as a one-stop destination for filmmakers, Prayag Film City is spread over a sprawling campus of 2,700 acres at Chandrakona, 165 km away from Kolkata.It has sound-proof studio floors for outdoor shooting locations, a helipad, railway station with bogies, golf course, swimming pool, water bodies, tree-house, restaurants, cottages, manicured parks and other facilities. Source: Screen India, Image: flickr.com

Read More........ → April 18, 2012