Canny producer Sajid Nadiadwala combines the best of cricket and movie magic in his sales strategy for 'Housefull.' The Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment Production has engineered a marketing tie up with a leading sports channel for the ICC World Twenty20.
"This strategy of combining our film's promotion with cricket has proved successful for our previous films such as 'Heyy Babyy' and 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi,'" states Nadiadwala in a newspaper quote. " It will add immense value to 'Housefull' and will also strengthen our company profile."
Akshay Kumar asserts that he's honoured about lending support to the Indian team. "I'm hopeful that we will lift the Cup once again. I've always been very interested in sports and a tie up of my two passions, films and cricket, truly excites me."
Lara Dutta, sporting a new chic haircut, says in a media chat, " I do hope that we get packed audiences at cinemas for 'Housefull' and I do hope that the streets will be empty as it was during the first T20 World Cup final."
Riteish Deshmukh, meanwhile, is betting on Virender Sehwag and Yusuf Pathan as "they are the biggest hitters in the world."
Their romantic, chirpy chemistry in 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' had set the cash registers ringing. In 'Raajneeti', however, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif are on a totally different footing.
Kapoor, perhaps, enacting the most mean character in his cine profile addresses Kat as "Bhabhiji" since she essays… RK's sis in law and Arjun Rampal's widow in the Prakash Jha helmed flick.
And reportedly, Kapoor Boy would consistently tease Kat, referring to her as "Bhabhiji" on the sets of 'Raajneeti'.
Says Kat in a media chat, "Ranbir and I cannot get more unconventional than what we have done in 'Raajneeti'. We've gone into a completely new space. If and when we do another film, it will have to be completely mainstream."
His January engagement to Avantika Malik did generate quite a rash of media hype. And towards the end of the year, Imran Khan will earn the spotlight as he ties the marital knot with his fiancee.
Says a close source, "It will be a solemn Muslim ceremony in Mumbai followed by a grand wedding bash in a foreign country which will be attended by close friends and family."
Khan will show up in two releases this year: Punit Malhotra's 'I Hate Luv Storys' and Aamir Khan's 'Delhi Belly.' Adds the source, "Imran is looking at a time when he's completed 'I Hate Luv Storys' and before 'Delhi Belly' releases in December."
'Phoonk 2' is definitely not the scariest film we've seen. Ram Gopal Varma's terror theme has clearly run its course.
Perched somewhere between crowing (ahem ahem) about the supernatural and crying over the nerve-wracking disruption of domestic harmony by a ghost which just won't go away, 'Phoonk 2' is like that promised roller-coaster ride which gets aborted in the first lap because of a short circuit.
It's not really Varma or his director Milind Gadagkar's fault. It's the nature of the material. Varma's love for horror has never extended beyond there's-something-under-the-bed kind of unwarranted foreboding that we all feel in a new environment. In a majority of his horror films, a family moves into a new haunted home and experiences the eerie.
Ironically, Varma's best effort in the horror genre was 'Kaun' where the victim of terror (Urmila Matondkar) was stalked by unseen forces in her own home. The terror, it turned out was not under the bed, but in the mentally disturbed girl's head.
There wasn't much terror, let alone horror, in 'Phoonk'. Under the bed, or in the head. In 'Phoonk 2' the characters' screeching plea to have us believe they are under immediate peril is sadly not communicated to the viewers. We remain tragically detached from the trauma of Kannada star Sudeep's family.
Haven't we seen it all? By now the trademark Varma camera movements, here manoeuvred with emphatic energy by cinematographer Charles Meher, and the intricate cluttered but effective sound design by Jayesh Dhakkan and Jayant Vajpayee do nothing to suck us into the plot.
The technique remains unfastened to the characters. Their desperate attempts to get away from the supernatural remain desperately detached from the audience.
At the end of the two hours into the zone of error-terror we are left wondering why Varma threw open a contest inviting any viewer to undergo an ECG to check his heart beats.
It is this film that needs a respiratory system. Varma's last horror outing 'Agyaat' with its spooky ominous wide-open jungles was far more gripping. In 'Phoonk 2', you wonder what the fuss is about. These people have nothing to fear except fear itself.
And yes, Varma was right. The crow does come up with the best performance. And that's nothing to crow about.
After winning a National Award for his directorial debut, animated feature film 'Roadside Romeo', Jugal Hansraj returns to acting - but only for a cameo on the small screen.
The 38-year-old, who began his career as a child artiste with 'Masoom' in 1983, will feature in two episodes of 'Rishta.com' that comes on Sony.
'Yes, I am in the next two episodes of 'Rishta.com'! Faced the camera after long. Hope you all enjoy,' Jugal posted on his Twitter page Friday.
His first film as a full-fledged actor was 'Aa Gale Lag Jaa' (1994). Two years later, he featured in 'Papa Kehte Hai' (1996) and then did Yash Raj Films' multi-starrer 'Mohabbatein' (2002). After that he did cameos in movies like 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham', 'Salaam Namaste' and 'Aaja Nachle'.
In 2008, Jugal turned to direction with 'Roadside Romeo' and followed it up with Priyanka Chopra and Uday Chopra-starrer 'Pyaar Impossible'. Both his films were produced by YRF and his appearance on 'Rishta.com', a YRF production venture, indicates his strengthening bond with the Yash Chopra camp.
'Rishta.com' that comes on Sony is about a marriage agency run by four friends.
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