Father Geek here with Darius25, pigmon; and AccSpy with a real nice report from the far east for this Thursday's regular column including complete coverage of the Hong Kong Film Awards with just tons of pics, a record I think, soooooo ol'Father Geek will just turn you over to our Asian offices and...
Asia-AICN
Hey all, hope you’ve had a great week. We have an extremely packed column for you, with some very cool info on films like “Devdas”, “Boom”, producer Gaurang Doshi’s next project, “Humko Tumse Pyar Hai (We are in Love with You)”, the La Brassiere sequel, “T. R.Y.”, and “My Left Eye Sees a Ghost”. We also have the results of this year’s HKFA ceremony, along with LOTS of pics of the event. We also have some pics from “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”, “Devdas”, and “Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (I have Started to Like You)”. Enjoy!
INDIA
Hey all, hope you’ve had a great week. We have an extremely packed column for you, with some very cool info on films like “Devdas”, “Boom”, producer Gaurang Doshi’s next project, “Humko Tumse Pyar Hai (We are in Love with You)”, the La Brassiere sequel, “T. R.Y.”, and “My Left Eye Sees a Ghost”. We also have the results of this year’s HKFA ceremony, along with LOTS of pics of the event. We also have some pics from “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”, “Devdas”, and “Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (I have Started to Like You)”. Enjoy!
INDIA
- This is a big week for India. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming epic, “Devdas”, has now been selected to screen at this year’s Cannes International Festival, as announced yesterday. While most of the sources indicate that the film will be shown out of competition, star Shahrukh Khan is insisting that the film will play in official competition – take that as you will. Meanwhile, some new pics were also released from the film, which stars SRK along with Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai, and Jackie Shroff. You can tell exactly where the budget went when you look at the impressive costumes and elegant sets recreating imperial life in the late 1800s.
Shahrukh Khan IS Devdas: Just Click
Aishwarya Rai as the STUNNING Paro: WOW!!!
Madhuri Dixit as the equally stunning courtesan, Chandramukhi: Double WOW!
Jackie Shroff, with Madhuri Dixit: Just Click Here Now
And here’s a haunting shot of Devdas during his worst moment (kudos to SRK): The Coolness Is Here
- Director Kaisad Gustad (“Bombay Boys”) is now set to direct a low-budget film titled “Boom”, to be produced by Ayesha Shroff. The comedy thriller is about three supermodels (newcomers Padma Lakshmi, Katrina, and Madhu Supre) who get caught up in a jewel heist. The film co-stars Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover and Jaaved Jaffrey. It will be shot over a 3-month period in Bombay, Dubai, and Thailand.
- Madhur Bhandarkar (“Chandni Bar”) has been signed by producer Firoz A. Nadiadwala to direct his next production, which will feature Amitabh Bachchan in the central role. This will be Bhandarkar’s second BIG film following the success of his low-budget drama – the first is a film being made under Subhash Ghai’s production banner.
- After “Aankhen (Eyes)”, producer Gaurang Doshi is all set to launch a yet another star-studded film. Though nothing is confirmed, rumours indicate that Doshi has signed Milan Luthria to direct a film which will feature 4 leading roles, 3 of which could possibly go to Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Arjun Rampal.
- Due to the unfortunate demise of producer-turned-director Bunty Soorma, the producers of “Humko Tumse Pyar Hai (We are in Love with You)” have signed Vikram Bhatt to finish the film. The comedy, which stars Bobby Deol and Arjun Rampal, had just started shooting this spring when production came to a halt. It is said that the already-completed portions will remain in the final version of the film.
- Some new pics have been released from Rajkumar Santoshi’s Bhagat Singh bio-pic, “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”. The film will be less commercialized than the Bobby Deol version, and looks to feature some great acting, especially from Ajay Devgan (who’s more capable of the role than Bobby IMO). Both Bhagat Singh films are due to come out on June 21. Here’s the pics:
Ajay Devgan as the revolutionary Bhagat Singh: He's Here
Ajay, with Sushant Singh (as Sukhdev) and Santosh (as Rajguru, left): Click Here
Newcomer Amrita Rao as Bhagat Singh’s fiancé: Just Click
- Last week’s new release was director Vikram Bhatt’s “Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (I have Started to Like You)”, which reteams Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel 2 years after their blockbuster debut in “Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (Say You Love Me)”. This new film was started before that previous hit and took over 2 years to make since the production had to wait for Hrithik to finish his previous commitments (“Yaadein – Memories” which released last year, and the upcoming “Na Tum Jaano Na Hum - Neither of Us Know”). After seeing the final product, the film wasn’t really worth the wait. Hrithik plays Rohit, a carefree college student who falls in love with Sapna (Amisha Patel), the rich daughter of the big gangster in town. The couple encounter many obstacles – especially from Sapna’s older brother, but all ends well after 3 hours, and a whole lot of unnecessary violence. The plot would have fit well into an ‘80s film, but lacks the required edge or massive commercial aspects of today’s hits. The director tries to infuse modern techniques (such as the high-energy action scenes, and some comedic college hi-jinks), but the plot is way too old-school for a modern audience. Both leads are ok, but the roles don’t give them enough of a scope to display any real talent - Amisha is still a goddess though!! The actions scenes (especially in the over-the-top finale) are impressive (while being completely unnecessary) and provide a good jolt of energy during some tedious moments. The romantic scenes are standard for any new Bollywood film, and don’t provide any ground-breaking moments. The songs are passable at best, with only 2 being somewhat memorable. All in all, “Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage” is a mediocre effort from Vikram Bhatt – I hope “Awaara Paagal Deewana (The Punk, the Fool, and the Lover)”, is MUCH better!
Amisha Patel as gorgeous as ever: Check Her Out Right Here
Hrithik Roshan and Amisha: See Them Here
More Amisha: She's Right Here Again
CHINA / HK
Here’s the latest report from AccSpy:
Shaolin Soccer" cleared up last Sunday's the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) with 7 awards, while SS's biggest competitor "Lan Yu", unexpectedly went home empty-handed. Triple nominations certainly didn't help Sammi Cheng to win Best Actress, as the statuette went to Sylvia Cheng, who is brilliant as the AIDS infected son's mother in "Forever and Ever". The "It" girl Karena Lam scored a double win for Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer with her performance of a student who's having an affair with her teacher in "July Rhapsody". The most joyful moment of the night went to "Iron Head" Wong Yat-fai's win for Best Supporting Actor from "Shaolin Soccer". After being in the business for forty years, this is Yat-fai’s first nomination and win in HKFA and he also enjoyed a much-deserved standing ovation at the night. Here's the full list of the results:
Now, here’s the photos:
Best Film winner Stephen Chow and "third brother" Tin Ket-man, with presenters Michelle Yeoh and Raymond Chow at the back: They Are All Here
Best Actor Stephen Chow: Check Him Out Here
Best Supporting Actor Wong Yat-fei: He's Here
Best Actress Sylvia Cheng: She's Right Here
Double winner Karena Lam at the backstage:> Nice!
Sammi Cheng won for Best Song: Click!
Best Actor and Actress: Go Here
Chow with his Shaolin brothers at the party: They're Here
Chow alone won four awards: Click Here
Vikki Zhao Wei: YUMMY!
Best Newcomer nominee Charlene Choi(in white): WOW!
Best Actor nominee Andy Lau: Click
Best Newcomer nominee Niki Chow: COOOOOOOOL!!!
Best Actor presenters Anita Mui and Tony Leung Ka-fai: Just Go Here
Best Supporting Actress nominee Josie Ho: See Her Now
Karena Lam with producer and director Ann Hui at the party: Just Click Now
"Bullets of Love" Japanese star Asaka Seto and Zhang Zhun attended the event as presenters: They're Right Here
One more of Asaka at the party: Click Here For This One
Anita Mui: Check Her Out Here
Presenter Chistry Chung: She's Right Here
Sammi and Anita Mui struggle to leave the party: Click Here To See Them
- Johnnie To will direct Sammi Cheng yet again in the horror/comedy "My Left Eye Sees a Ghost (lit.title), co-starring Lau Ching Wan. The film is set to release in mid-summer.
- Meanwhile, Lau is busy shooting the sequel of "La Brassiere" with Louis Koo, Gigi Leung and Cecilia Cheung, this time the story will take place in a baby products company.
- Sammi Cheng will also take on a challenging role in "Lan Yu' director Stanley Kwan's new film, co-starring Leon Lai and Wu Jun. Sammi will be aging from 15 year-old teenager to a mid-50's woman. She’ll play a girl who gets married twice in the film, once with Leon Lai in mainland China and later on with a much younger man (Wu Jun) in HK.
- At the backstage of HKFA, Both Best Actor and Actress Stephen Chow and Sylvia Cheng confirmed that before the win they have been discussing the prospects of working together. The film, according to Cheng, will not necessary star them both and may not be a comedy.
- "The Scorpion King" also opened in HK last weekend and debuted on top with $4.3 mil HKD. Miriam Yeung and Louis Koo's romantic comedy "Dry Wood Fierce Fire" debuted not far behind at no.2 with a $3.8 mil opening. "Panic Room" fell to no.3, while another Korean blockbuster in HK, "My Wife is a Gangster", was at no.4 with a total grossing of $8.0 mil in 18 days. No.5 was the Oscar winning "Monster's Ball", which is doing great in limited release.
JAPAN
Here’s the latest report from Pigmon:
- Amuse Pictures will produce 7 short films with 7 promised young directors. Shunji Iwai, Tetsuo Shinohara, Ryuhei Kitamura are among them. All films will complete within 2 months. Some of them will go to the international market.
- "T.R.Y.", directed by Kazuki Omori, is Toei's big budget co production with China and South Korea, and stars Japanese superstar,Yuji Oda("Bay Side Shakedown).Set in early 20th century in Shanghai, Isama (Oda) gets money doing dirty tricks with the underworld in China. It will start shooting on the 27th of this month and will be released early next year in Japan, China and South Korea.
- Luc Besson established a distribution company for Japan. The company, Europe Corp., will produce and distribute films in Japan with "Taxi 3" and "Transporter" already in production. He said that he would like to produce Japanese films someday at the press conference.
- Quentin Tarantino will finally start location scouting for “Kill Bill” in Tokyo next month.
- Kyoto and Himeji Castle are the only locations used in Japan for the shooting of “The Last Samurai”. Most of the film will be shot in New Zealand where production team has found Japanese-looking locations near Mt. Fuji.
We have now reached the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@rogers.com. See you all next week.
Darius25
