The D-Day arrives!

Happy Diwali! It's that time of the year when everyone hopes and prays that the festival of lights spreads light in our lives. This year, I sincerely and genuinely wish, from the bottom of my heart, that the gloomy scenario fades and Diwali brings in cheer and prosperity to everyone within and outside the industry.

Till a few months ago, everything seemed bullish. But the last few weeks have been tough. Movies are flopping, the footfalls at plexes -- single and multi -- have reduced sharply, the corporates are in no mood to clinch deals, the independent producers are reeling under the shock over inflated prices of stars, the independent distributors are wary… Things have slowed down considerably.

But let's not lose hope. Or lose sleep. Let's keep our fingers crossed on GOLMAAL RETURNS and FASHION, the two movies that open today.

The pre-Diwali phase was dullest this year. HEROES, despite tremendous appreciation from all quarters, hasn't shown that big jump at the ticket window. The viewers were gung ho, the critics were generous too. But the numbers never reflected that appreciation.

After a decent start on Friday, things were more or less the same on Day 2 [Saturday]. There wasn't much improvement. Sunday was no different either. However, movie business hit rock-bottom on Monday and Tuesday, while Wednesday, today, should show an increase, provided HEROES manages to hold on to good shows.

Of course, GOLMAAL RETURNS and FASHION will be the first-choice, but let's remain optimistic. Also, the film deserves to be tax-exempted and the sooner the makers act on it, the better.

The other release, Yash Raj and Walt Disney's ROADSIDE ROMEO, has failed to lure the kids -- its target audience. No doubt, the animation was top notch, but the content was outright predictable. In fact, below mediocre level. We're moving ahead in terms of presentation and technology, but how about upgrading the content as well

Golmaal Returns - Movie Review

Two years ago, Rohit Shetty came up with a breezy entertainer GOLMAAL, which, most people agree, is the capable director's finest work to date. The comic scenes hit the right notes and buttons. Perhaps, that must've prompted its producers [Shree Ashtavinayak] and Rohit to continue with the GOLMAAL series.

But GOLMAAL RETURNS treats the viewer like a nitwit, with zero brains. No-brainer laughathons have worked in the past and people have catapulted these films to 'must watch again and again' category. But GOLMAAL RETURNS is simply unbearable!

35 years ago, the Kiran Kumar - Radha Saluja comedy AAJ KI TAZAA KHABAR [1973] is the inspiration for GOLMAAL RETURNS. No issues with that, it's an interesting concept. But screenplay writer Yunus Sajawal makes a mincemeat of the material, so much so that your head starts aching after a point and you want to tear your hair in disgust.

Seriously, what was the writer thinking when he came up with a pathetic screenplay? And how did a talented director like Rohit Shetty agree to ride on it? And how could an accomplished actor like Ajay Devgan green signal this enterprise? Questions, questions, questions...

GOLMAAL RETURNS was never meant to be a thinking man's film, but the attitude is, no-brainer comedies have worked and this one will work too. To give the credit where it's due, a few jokes/sequences involving Tusshar and Shreyas do bring a smile on your face, but in the absence of a tight screenplay, the film falls like a pack of cards.

Final word? Golmaal hai bhai script golmaal hai!

Gopal [Ajay Devgan], who lives with his wife Ekta [Kareena Kapoor], sister Esha [Amrita Arora] and brother-in-law Lucky [Tusshar Kapoor], gets stuck in a yacht after saving an attractive woman Meera [Celina Jaitly] from some goons. Both end up spending the night on the yacht and when he comes home the next day, his painfully suspicious wife, who is also a hardcore fan of the saas-bahu serials, smell fish.

Gopal knows it's going to be hard to quell her suspicion, so he concocts a cock-and-bull story about having stayed the night with a fictitious friend called Anthony Gonsalves. Ekta refuses to buy his yarn and writes to Anthony [on a fictitious address given to her by Gopal], asking him to visit her.

Gopal convinces his junior at work, Laxman [Shreyas Talpade], to pretend to be Anthony. Everything goes according to plan till the real Anthony turns up.

If that isn't complication enough for Gopal, a dead body is discovered at the location where he had saved Meera. The Investigating Officer, Madhav [Arshad Warsi], who is Esha's boyfriend and also who cannot stand the sight of Gopal, learns that the latter had been missing from home that eventful night and begins checking on him.

A sequel carries the baggage of humungous expectations. And you definitely expect GOLMAAL RETURNS to be a step forward. The makers had thundered, "GOLMAAL RETURNS is bigger, it's better" and that raises the bar. But the film is such a put off.

Writer Yunus Sajawal takes an interesting premise, but instead of upgrading it, only downgrades it with lacklustre situations. The writing is so weak, so lifeless that after a point you sit motionless, looking at the goings-on mechanically, instead of being a participant.

A few sequences do entertain you, but they're few and far between. Not enough to camouflage the defects. In view of the fact that the writing is so weak, there's not much that director Rohit Shetty can do to save the ship from sinking. However, the dialogues are howlarious. Music is not as inspiring. 'Tha Karke' is the best track, while 'Tu Saala' [well promoted] isn't there in the film and 'Meow' comes during the end credits. And you're exasperated by then!

GOLMAAL RETURNS belongs to Tusshar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade. Tusshar is terrific yet again, the real scene stealer, while Shreyas displays his comic side very well. Both, in fact, provide respite to the viewer. Ajay Devgan is likable. Kareena does the suspicious wife act well. Celina stays on your mind even after the show is over.

Arshad Warsi is relegated to the backseat. Amrita Arora is strictly okay. Anjana Sukhani gets no scope. Vrajesh Hirjee is alright. Sharat Saxena, Rakhi Vijan, Sanjay Mishra, Murli Sharma, Mukesh Tiwari and Ashwini Kalsekar fill in the blanks.

On the whole, there's tremendous curiosity to watch GOLMAAL RETURNS and the terrific promotion has only enhanced the excitement. But the film is a major letdown in terms of content. Barring a few jokes and gags, this GOLMAAL pales when compared to its first part. At the box-office, expect a terrific start for the film, but GOLMAAL RETURNS lacks the power to stand on its feet after the initial euphoria settles down.

The Girls of 'Golmaal Returns'

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? Definitely not Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor or Shreyas Talpade! A scene for Rohit Shetty's 'Golmaaal Returns' requires the funny four to dress up, literally! The guys get dolled up to celebrate Women's Day in the film, and like any desi hottie, they just had to hit the mall up! Well, guess what? No entry unless you're packing pantyhose and lipstick! Director Shetty comments on the actors' willingness to go girly: "I was quite taken aback when Ajay [Devgan] agreed to this scene in particular. He was very gung-ho to go ahead with the scene! In fact, none of the guys had any reservations, which made it one of the best scenes in the film!" Hmm... Maybe the guys should have auditioned for Karan Johar's 'Dostana'!

OM SHANTI OM celebrates Silver Jubilee

In the times when a decent four week run of a film is good enough to take it to a success, OM SHANTI OM has completed 25 weeks at theaters.

On the Friday gone by, i.e. 2nd May, this Farah Khan directed film celebrated a 25 week run. Released across the globe on 9th November 2007, OM SHANTI OM went on to break records all over and turned out to be the biggest first week opener at the box office of all times with a 40 crores+ in collections. Till date the film has collected in excess of 85 crores just from India, hence turning out to be the biggest money spinner of all times.

Commenting on the film's continued success over the months, Farah Khan says, "In the times when it is rare to see a film going through a 50 day or a 100 day run, it gives me so much pleasure to see the film getting such a heartfelt response. It is running on a matinee show at Naaz in Mumbai and I am getting feelers that the theater is confident of the film completing Golden Jubilee there.

"My motto has been to make an entertaining film and going by audience response, I can say that I succeeded in doing that", concludes Farah.

Joginder Tuteja

Shreyas and Amrita caught in a burqa!

Actors are known to do all kind of things to hide from fans or from getting mobbed...

Recently, while shooting for a film in Hyderabad, Amrita Rao together with Shreyas Talpade and his wife, went to the market because the ladies wanted to buy some bangles. So, donning burqas, the three set out.

Now for Amrita this was a comfortable proposition. What Shreyas had not bargained for was how uncomfortable it would get in a jeans, shirt and burqa.

Shreyas looked extremely funny in this attire – with his physique, jeans and shoes that were peeping out. Apparently, Amrita and Shreyas’ wife just couldn’t stop laughing looking at him and teased him a lot.

An embarrassed Shreyas then removed his burqa and preferred wearing a cap and sunglasses and go shopping. Now that’s what we call paying a heavy price for stardom, what say?

TNN

Kareena, Ajay Devgan… up the temperatures

It was a huge set in Filmistan. Malls, restaurants and fancy salons were made to order to give a very Goan feel to the ambience. Expensive cars and hi-tech mean machines were parked alongside the bricked pavement. Credit of the magnanimity of it all ought to be given to art director Naren Raodekar.

And then appeared the cowgirls – Kareena Kapoor and Amrita Arora – and the cowboys – Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and Shreyas Talpade. While Bebo wore a mini-skirt, white shirt, hat and boots, Amu was more covered.

The song that was being shot was titled Tha Karke , and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya. The music of this film has been composed by Pritam. Director Rohit Shetty informed us, "We are shooting here till March 5. Then we go to South Africa in April to shoot one more song. The film will see a July-August release.

Actor Ajay Devgan was most tense because he had to dance and dancing is just not his cup of tea. But the rest of the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves on the foot tapping number. "This is a dream sequence, it's an imaginary, fantasy song" Amrita informs us.

Bebo on the other hand was looking hot in her micro-mini skirt. Ask her if she is still on her strict diet and she says, "No, I've been eating everything. But I do workout still."

The happiest of the lot however, was Shreyas Talpade who seems to have got along with the 'gang' pretty well. "It's a fun atmosphere. I'm lucky to have bagged this entertainer."

It was one hot day at Filmcity, and we returned to write this piece tha karke .

Image Courtesy: Indiatimes Movies | Source: Indiatimes Movies

OM SHANTI OM creates history of Indian cinema

Eros International, the leading integrated company within the Indian media & entertainment sector announces an unprecedented opening of Shah Rukh Khan's OM SHANTI OM, produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and directed by Farah Khan. The film opened to rave reviews and advance bookings on the 9th November and has since grossed over US$19 million worldwide in its first week making it the most successful opening in Indian cinema history.

OM SHANTI OM released across 1,400 plus screens globally, and for the first time saw screenings as early as 7.45 a.m. in certain multiplexes in India, making it one of the most anticipated films in recent times. OM SHANTI OM's staggering first week gross collections of US$13.5 million in India make it the best ever opening there. The figures overseas are no less remarkable with the film grossing $1.5 million at the UK box office and over $2million in North America in its first week

With as many as 14-16 shows planned daily in its second week at some multiplexes, Eros International is looking forward to an excellent run of King Khan's film offering.

Kishore Lulla, Chairman and CEO, Eros International Plc said, "We are ecstatic with the audience as well as critics' reactions to OM SHANTI OM. It was one of the most awaited films of the year and we are excited that the magic combination of Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan has proved to be a huge success once again. The superb run of the film in the first week has superseded all expectations and we are confident of the film's performance in the weeks to come."

"We were expecting a commercial success but this kind of response has been overwhelming. It's great that audiences as well as critics have appreciated the film. We had a lot of fun making this film and I am thrilled that audiences are having fun watching it too", Farah Khan added.

With the film opening in cinemas in India to a fantastic 95-100 percent capacity audiences and maintaining a steady 80-90 percent from Monday, OM SHANTI OM promises to be the biggest film of SRK's career.

View Om Shanti Om Movie Stills

View Om Shanti Om
Movie Stills
OM SHANTI OM stars Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack has been composed by the musical duo, Vishal Shekhar with lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Cinematography for the movie is by V Manikandan whilst editing is handled by Shirish Kunder.

The film has over 30 of Bollywood's hottest stars including Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kajol, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan and many more putting in a guest appearance.

Eros has previously distributed MAIN HOON NA as well as PAHELI, which are both Red Chillies Productions.

With OM SHANTI OM, Eros International continues its successful line up of global releases including hits like OMKARA, SALAAM-E-ISHQ, EKLAVYA, PROVOKED, NAMASTEY LONDON, CHEENI KUM, PARTNER, GANDHI MY FATHER, HEYY BABYY, etc.

Bollywood Trade News Network

OSO continues its blockbuster overseas run

Farah Khan's OM SHANTI OM continues its record-breaking overseas run, even during the second weekend. After resetting the first weekend Bollywood record in the US, the film moves on to an astonishing $2,892,773 in just ten days and is now certain to dethrone the top grosser KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA's (2006) $3,275,444. Interesting to note that both the movies have one thing in common, Shah Rukh Khan.

Moving on to UK, OM SHANTI OM is now the top UK grosser of 2007, with $1,997,013. It has moved past the previous record holder, NAMASTEY LONDON's $1,730,000 (approx).

The movie that released with OM SHANTI OM, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ranbir, Sonam, Salman (special appearance) and Rani starrer SAAWARIYA is now way behind, mainly due to a heavy fall in collections. SAAWARIYA has so far grossed $805,054 in the US and $554,271 in the UK.

Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

Emma thompson and Laxmi Mittal will walk the red carpet in London for 'Om Shanti Om' premiere

Leisceter Square in London will be glittering with glitterati on Thursday night at the premiere of ‘Om Shanti Om’. After all it doesn’t happen often that you get to see Hollywood actresses like Emma Thompson and steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal at the premiere of a Bollywood movie. Well, it appears that they just couldn’t ignore a personal invitation from SRK.

“There will be some very special people at the premiere on Friday, including Emma Thompson and Laxmi Mittal. They are dear friends and I am so glad that I will get a chance to catch up with them,” Shah Rukh said just minutes before leaving for London.

“Basically, the idea of having a premiere in London is to attract the global audience, not just the Indian diaspora. Also our distributors, Eros International are based out of London. And you know what, I really want to get away from it all and just enjoy the film,” Shah Rukh added.

SRK has fond memories of Leicester Square. After all, he had held the premiere of his home production ‘Asoka’ also at the same theatre (Empire theatre) in 2002, again at the time of Diwali.

“‘Chak De’ also premiered in London. In a sense, having a premiere here in London has always been special to me.” In spite of the fact that arch rival ‘Saawariya’ having its premiere in Mumbai last night, the OSO team is unperturbed, and will go all out to celebrate the event.

The red carpet event before the screening is also going to be a grand photo opportunity with the entire star cast of the film, including Deepika Padukone, her parents Prakash and Ujjwala, Arjun Rampal, and of course Shah Rukh Khan walking the red carpet along the ‘special’ guests.

DNAindia.com

Om Shanti Om - House Full even before Advance Bookings

Farah Khan's Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Shreyas Talpade starrer OM SHANTI OM seems all set to be a 'BLOCK'buster. One of this year's two Diwali releases OM SHANTI OM is releasing coming Friday the 9th of November.

The movie is just two days away from the opening of advance bookings across the cinemas of India but the hype of the movie can be predicted with 18000 tickets, which is equivalent to about 40 shows HOUSE FULL has been confirmed by corporate block bookings at Satyam Cineplexes, New Delhi, informed a reliable source.

Way to go!

Bollywood Trade News Network

Om Shanti Om ties up with Lycra MTV style awards

Lycra MTV style awards announced a tie up with the most eagerly awaited movie of the year- Om Shanti Om. King Khan, director Farah Khan, gorgeous Deepika Padukone, versatile Shreyas Talpade and the debonair Arjun Rampal will show their distinctive style statements on the October 25 at LYCRA, MTV Style Awards 2007. Designer Manish Malhotra will be showcasing his retro theme, inspired by his Om Shanti Om.

Farah Khan excited about the whole event says, “Lycra MTV Style Awards is a fantastic platform to give our audience the first taste of style in Om Shanti Om. For me style is one of the most critical elements in the film and I am proud to display some of the style at this year’s Lycra MTV Style awards.”

The lucky invites at Lycra, MTV Style Awards will get to watch Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal and Deepika Padukone in their stylish splendor in action LIVE on a stage- a bit of dekko before you watch them on celluloid. To which Ashish Patil, General Manager, MTV India and Vice President- Creative and Content says, “Style is something integral to our films and films are the one thing that hugely impact style and fashion of the year, Om Shanti Om, at the Lycra, MTV Style Awards! So get set to step back in time with an absolutely sensational “retro” showcase by Manish Malhotra with Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone and some insanity with Shreyas Talpade, Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as never before!”

Over the last few years, Lycra MTV style awards, has showcased films like Musafir, Jaan-e-mann and Kya Kool Hai Hum, that not only rocked the box office but also set a distinct style statement - be it cinematography, music, looks or even action. So, let’s wait for the magic to unfold this October at Lycra MTV Style Awards with the entire crew of Om Shanti Om.

IndiaFM

Shah Rukh Khan walked the ramp with Om Shanti Om's cast

The leading premium fashion and lifestyle destination Shopper’s Stop and the most awaited movie of this year, Om Shanti Om have come together to unveil the unique look of the movie through a fashion show. With this association Shopper’s Stop will retail the limited edition clothes and merchandise inspired from the film at their stores across India. The dazzling show witnessed the leading pair Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone along with Arjun Rampal and Shreyas Talpade walking the ramp showcasing their respective looks from the film.

The stars transcended from the big screen to the ramp in amazingly beautiful avatars. The high voltage evening commenced with Shreyas Talpade donning the stylized look of the 70’s. The next sequence saw Deepika Padukone dazzling the ramp wearing ethnic look crafted by Huate Curry. The fashion show spiced up a lot more when Arjun Rampal walked the ramp flaunting his premium classy look of the movie, which is recreated by Vattorio Fratini.

The evening reached its crescendo when the showstopper and King of Bollywood - Shah Rukh Khan walked the ramp in his stylized new avtaar. His look in the movie will be recreated by the edgy fashion brand for youth, Push and Shove.

“The movie showcases the stars in two eras, the 70’s, and the present 2007. We wanted to associate with the brand, which could be accentuate and replicate the looks and style of Om Shanti Om in the right way”, says Farah Khan.

Om Shanti Om will be Farah Khan’s second directorial venture after Main Hoon Na. The film is slated to release on November 9.

IndiFM