Bollywood Review: Bride and Prejudice

Starring: Aishwarya Rai as Lalita
Martin Hendersen as William Darcy
Meghna Kothari as Maya
Peeya Rai Chouhary as Lucky
Naveen Andrews as Balraj and
Anupam kher as Mr Bakshi

Director : Gurinder Chadha

After ‘bending’ it like soccer world’s super hero David Beckham, Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice, an Indian adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is all set for a release all over the world.

While in Jane Austen novel the clash between Darcy and Elizabeth is due to their social status, in Chaddha’s story its a clash of cultures between Lalita, played by our very own Aishwarya Rai and Darcy, played by New Zealand actor martin Hnedresen.

The others in the cast include Namarata Shirodkar, Meghna Kothari, Anupam Kher, Peeya Rai Choudhary, Naveen Andrews, Nadira Babbar, Indira Verma and Daniel Gillies.

At the center of the movie is the Bakshi family comprising of Mr. Bakshi (Anupam Kher), his wife (Nadira Babbar) and their four daughters Jaya (Namrata Shirodkar), Lalita (Aishwarya), Maya (Meghana Kothari) and Lucky (Peeya Rai Choudhary).

Both Jaya and Lalita are in a marriageable age and Mr. And Mrs. Bakshi are keeping their eye open for suitable grooms. Coming from an average earning family with their Indian roots still intact, the parents of the girls are looking for men with Indian origin and also know that they won't be able to give much dowry.

The first man to catch Mr. Bakshi's eye is Balraj, anglicised as Mr Bingley (Naveen Andrews). Balraj is a British Asian from London and the new neighbor to the Bakshi family. Mrs Bakshi sees him as a prospective husband for Jaya.

Then comes into picture Balraj's best friend, Darcy, who falls head-over-heels in love with Lalita on a social meet. But Lalita is quite reserved in showing her feelings. Rest of the story is about how Darcy, an American hotelier, wins Lalita's love and how he convinces her parents to accept him as her prospective groom.

Hollywood

The Village

Starring: William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody

Written & Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

In yet another of Manoj Night Shyamalan trademark spooky film, it is a village which is terrified by the presence of some para normal being in the living in the woods starts living together like a family.
The claustrophobia of a cloistered village, where everyone knows one another by first name, is brought out in vibrant vignettes that accentuate the disturbances in the scheme of things.
“Try not to scream," village patriarch Edward Walker (William Hurt) warns the film's blind heroine Ivy (played brilliantly by Bryce Dallas Howard) when he leads her to the plot's big secret.
Cleverly - and Shyamalan is nothing if not clever - the narrative cuts to a later sequence and returns to the big secret only towards the end. He is stylish and secretive and like the village that is protected by its elders from calamitous forces, Shyamalan protects his narrative from a sure-shot exposure by withholding the suspense.

But once the secret is out, the film loses its audience almost completely.

Admittedly the 'climax' with the blind girl groping through the forest is more preposterous than scary. By this point we already know there's no ghoulish presence in the foliage. Hence the eerie music and craning camera angles seem symptomatic of an illness that never existed. Ram Gopal Varma created more terror in "Jungle" by simply holding the camera at a particular angle.

As a scare-fest "The Village" doesn't go far. The initial build-up of atmospheric tensions is first rate though.

The way Shyamalan frames his characters in husky silhouettes is truly a sign of a master creator. The sequence where Ivy holds her wounded man in a pokey room full of accusing mementos is incredibly chilling and poignant.

In a later sequence, she has to blindly grope into the room of the man who has stabbed her love, walk urgently to him and slap him repeatedly. I've watched this stunning sequence repeatedly and yet I'm equally shocked every time.

Shyamalan's narration is as rich and textured as a beautiful melody that you can hear repeatedly for it to acquire renewed relevance. Ever so tantalizingly, Shyamalan lifts the veil of enigma that sheaths his desolate people and their forlorn locations.

Shahrukh-Farah-Anu trio tries ad making

Shahrukh’s production company, Red Chillies is all set to produce an after striking gold with Main Hoon Na. Though the ad is that of a car, it not yet known which. No marks for guessing, it is most likely to be that of Hyundai Santro of which the King Khan is the brand ambassador. It will be directed by Farah Khan and the music will be composed by Anu Mallik. It is Anu’s first ad assignment.

Its raining flops at BO, Dhoom is King of Bollywood

Not a very different story-BO is again witnessing a series of flops. With Rakht, director Mahesh Manjrekar scores yet another flop. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and Neha Dhupia, the film resorts to horror effects by Ramsay Brothers and there is unnecessary violence in the film.
Hum Kaun Hai, starring Big B, gorgeous Dimple and Viru Dada, Dharmendra also seems to be headed for a downstream ride at Box Office. The flick is said to be a poor copy of Hollywood’s The Others.
However, the BO has given a thumbs up for Dhoom, which is doing well since two weeks. Though there are some loopholes in the script, the action is gripping and the performances by Aby Baby, Uday Chopra, John Abraham, well toned Esha Deol and Rimji Sen are quite plausible.
Luck hasn’t struck twice for Revathy. Phir Milenge, an informative tale about AIDS is running in the second gear at the BO. Though Abhishek Bachchan is the show stealer, the story is rated as drag sometimes. Shilpa Shetty and Salman Khan have given good performances.

Debut with Dobara

Director Shashi Rajan forays into the silver screen from television with an emotional film Dobara. While Jackie Shroff aka Ranbir plays an established writer as a male solo after a long time, Mahima Chuaudhary gets to play a meaty role as Anjali, Ranbir’s wife. All is well with Ranbir and Anjali till the former receives a call from his ex-lover Raveena Tandon aka Ziya.
Ziya calls Ranbir after an escape from a mental asylum where she is being treated for schizophrenia. Possessive Ziya’s condition detoriates after her relationship with Rabir turns sour as the latter goes to the US after winning a scholarship.
All hell breaks lose after Anjali follows Ranbir while he and Ziya visit their 13-year-old son residing in Goa.
The emotionally charged climax is the highlight of the film where things take an unexpected turn. The film has ample references to the classic love story Ek Duje Ke Liye (Kamal Hassan - Rati Agnihori) right from the start to end. Even the climax is set in a theatre screening Ek Duje Ke Liye. Perhaps in a way the director has attempted to offer a tribute to the film.
Ace car designer Dilip Chhabria has designed a special automobile for the film. DC has converted a Tata Safari to give it a roofless jeep look. The vehicle is an integral character of his film and the entire flashback story of the film is unveiled in this vehicle during Jackie and Raveena's journey from Goa to Mumbai.
The film will release on September 17.

King of Bollywood

The King of Bollywood comes in as a satirical spoof attempt at the way Bollywood functions. Om Puri stars in the title role while Hollywood actress Sophie Dahl gives her company in the film. Incidentally Om Puri starred in a similar Bollywood spoof film in 2001 titled Bollywood Calling directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. ourse with a liberal dose of exaggeration.

Directed by Piyush Jha who earlier directed Chalo America, the film is a story of a ‘young’ 51-year-old Karan Kumar (best known as KK), who in his heydays was the top star in Bollywood, the eponymous The King of Bollywood, a title that has stuck with him and has led to him having grandiose notions about himself. But the cruel fact is that KK is now nothing more than a shadow of his former self. He is a faded yet likeable hammy actor way past his “sell-by” date.

Enter Crystal Chaurasia, 24, an NRI documentary filmmaker of somewhat Indian origin. As a child, Crystal’s favorite Bollywood Hero used to be KK (her grandmother used to show her videos of KK’s films as sleep-inducers at bedtime). She comes to Mumbai from UK to make a documentary backed by The International Film Commission on the life and times of KK.

Eventually, KK realizes that he is past his prime and fuelled by the urging of his "secretary" Ratnesh Goyal, he tries to convince his son Rahul (25) to be launched as a hero, in order to carry on his legacy as a star. While Rahul is absolutely averse to Bollywood and has no intention of becoming an actor.

Crystal's presence triggers off KK's latent ambition and starts a chain of events that teeter on the edge of comic chaos.