Aarakshan Theatrical Trailer

Finally, a movie I am truly excited for (besides this year's SRK releases, of course!). This theatrical trailer for Aarakshan really has me pumped for this movie. Directed by Prakash Jha and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Manoj Bajpai, and Deepika Padukone, Aarakshan is a story about caste reservations and controversial policies based on caste--a topic rarely touched upon in mainstream cinema.

I'll admit that this trailer does remind me a lot of Rajneeti (also directed by Prakash Jha) but I have bigger expectations from this movie. Rajneeti becomes largely predictable once you realize it's a modern adaptation of the Mahabharat,  but Aarakshan looks like it will be its own story, with its own message. Interesting, thought-provoking cinema with popular actors can also be a nice change from masala entertainers. Masala films are great in their own way, but sometimes one just thirsts for something more.

Even from a 3 minute trailer, I can tell that Saif is gonna give us one award-worthy performance. Man, is his dialogue delivery intense! Amitabh and Manoj will clearly also be memorable, as usual. And Deepika! She looks ravishing in her "simple" look. But I'm afraid that that's all there will be to her character and she will be largely wasted. Aarakshan looks like it will be a passionate, moralistic movie that will appeal to the masses as well as the critics. The film is slated for release on August 12, 2011.

First look at "Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap"

The Big B is back, and in a movie with an awesome title (although I'm not a fan of the transliterated spellings)! Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap looks like it should be loads of fun. Directed by Tollywood producer/director Puri Jagannadh, the film seems to have a clear Southie feel to it. It should be a nice change from the more glitzy Westernized movies that Bolllywood has been churning out recently.

I do have certain qualms about Bbuddah at this point though. Is it just me or does the movie have a very Dabangg-type style to it? Are we just in for more over-the-top action scenes intertwined with "funny" dialogues? (Yes, I hated Dabangg.) Hopefully Bbuddah will be more than that, especially if Amitabh is involved. But Bollywood does have a tendency to make similar-themed films once one film is a success. We saw a slew of terrorist films, sports films, or films dealing with infidelity all around the same time. So is this just Bollywood's next genre convention? Only time will tell.

Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap also stars Raveena Tandon (!!!), Hema Malini, and Minissha Lamba in lead roles. I am beyond excited to see Raveena back in action, considering her last truly successful film was probably 2001's Daman. Amitabh also looks set to rock this film as an angry "bbuddah." Judging from this promo, the Bbuddah is clearly banking on Amitabh's legendary star status as a way to bring audiences in. But in this case, I feel it's more than understandable. Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap is scheduled for release in early July.

Sonu Sood can't get his "act" together.

Apparently there was some trouble on the sets of the forthcoming film Bbuddah when Sonu Sood just wasn't able to compose himself in front of Amitabh Bachchan to shoot a rather rough scene. In the sequence, Sonu was supposed to rough up the Big B, at one point pushing him to the ground. Sonu was reportedly "panic-stricken" and when he was supposed to say some rude things to Amitabh in the scene, Sonu only managed after "cringing and apologizing after every shot." He apparently couldn't "handle the aggression against someone so senior and legendary."

When I read all this, I nearly hurled. Most actors are understandably probably very nervous to shoot with the Big B for the first time, but this is pretty ridiculous. There's a limit to this whole "respect" to legendary actors thing. It's called acting, Sonu. Grow a pair and do it. Where's your Singh is Kinng persona? Amitabh clearly didn't have a problem with the scene.

Call me cynical, but is it just me or does this all feel like one big publicity stunt for the film? Young actor shows himself to be virtuous by respecting his elders, therefore you should watch his film. Sounds like an effective marketing tactic to me...

Source: http://www.bollywoodworld.com/bollywood-news/amitabh-bachchan-leaves-sonu-sood-numb-on-sets-114607.html

Top 5 Onscreen Bollywood Couples?

 

Some time ago, Bollywood Mantra published an article naming the top 5 onscreen couples of B-Town. Here's their list:

1. Raj Kapoor and Nargis
2. Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha
3. Shahrukh Khan and Kajol
4. Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif
5. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

While I personally feel that SRK and Kajol should have won that top spot, I can see the "old is gold" mentality here, so I won't argue too much. But, sorry Bollywood Mantra, I have a real problem with the rest of the list.

Akshay and Katrina? Really? Really?! Just because they have about a thousand movies together, do they really deserve to be on this list? And correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't both parties at least have some artistic talent (I'm looking at you, Kat) in order to be named one of the best onscreen couples of all time? Ok, sorry for all the rhetorical questions but this one just perplexes me.

Then there's Hrithik and Aish--who've done a grand total of three movies together and still landed on this list. And one of those three films was a total disaster (Sunehri, like, made me wanna cut my ears off). On top of that, I don't really feel they had much chemistry between them in their films.

Here are some couples that I feel were shafted from the list:

* Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla
* Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji
* Govinda and Karishma Kapoor
* Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor
* Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit

Who do you think should've been included?

Source: http://www.bollywoodmantra.com/news/top-5-onscreen-couples-of-bollywood/7036/