Asia-AICN

Father Geek here, fighting the good fight with severe server slowdown due to millions (literally) of AOTC fans all trying to access the site all at once for the last several days. The site runs smooth enough between 1am and 6am CST when most of you are asleep, buuuuuuut during those same "pm" hours its at a stand-still, and if you think you're fustrated trying to get on to read stuff, just imagine how it is for us here at Geek Headquarters to have stories we're itching to post, but being unable to log into our own site's work-areas so we can pass on the latest coolness, and in addition to all of that our various E-mail accounts have become clogged to the point of running several hours behind time. ARRRRRAGH!!!

Anyway enough bitching, here's Darius with a late night edition of the latest from Bollywood...

Hey all, hope you’ve had a great week. We’re back in an another short edition, with some pretty cool Bollywood info. We have scoops on “Lagaan”, Mira Nair’s next film, “Bhoot (Spirit)”, and “Raja Bhaiyya”. You’ll also find some pics from “Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi (My Friend’s Wedding)” and “Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (Neither of Us Know)”.

INDIA

- We’ll start off with a friendly reminder that Aamir Khan’s Oscar-nominated hit film “Lagaan” is now playing in “official” mainstream theatres in NYC and LA (with further expansions coming shortly). Just check it out, if not for the hype (and trust me, it’s a GREAT film), then to make it possible for other Bollywood films to gain a larger recognition in North America. And if you haven’t been following the film on AICN, then click here to visit Rotten Tomatoes’ review page for the film (in which it obtained a 93% rating): That's It, Click Right Here!

- After achieving international success with “Monsoon Wedding”, director Mira Nair will now make a short film based on the September 11th attack in New York City. The film will deal with the aftermath of attacks and how it affected the lives of people in the Islamic community (and who did NOT share the same views as the terrorists). The film will be shot in NYC this summer and will release on September 11.

- Not surprisingly, Ram Gopal Verma-regular Urmila Matondkar has been signed as the lead for the director’s next film, “Bhoot (Spirit)”. No word on who the hero will be, but rumours indicate that Verma has been in heavy negotiations with Vivek Oberoi for the role. Oberoi was launched in the director’s latest film, “Company”, and also stars in the director’s next production, “Road”.

- Former Miss World Priyanka Chopra has walked off the sets for director Maan Singh Deep’s “Raja Bhaiyya”, due to creative differences. Newcomer Aarti Chabaria has been roped in as Priyanka’s replacement in the film, which stars Govinda in the titular role. Shooting is about to commence later on in the summer, with a planned release date of Spring 2002.

- Actress Esha Deol has been signed to play the main female lead, opposite newcomer Zaheed Khan, for director Sangeet Sivan’s next film. Principal photography is slated to start this summer, after Sivan wraps up work on the Jackie Shroff-Raveena Tandon thriller, “Sandhya”.

- Some new stills were released from “Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi (My Friend’s Wedding)”, which is being directed from Sanjay Gadhvi and produced by Yash Chopra. The comedy stars Uday Chopra, Jimmy Shergill, Sanjana, and Bipasha Basu. It’s due on June 7th. Here’s the pics.

Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu: Check Them Out Here

Jimmy Shergill and Sanjana: Yes... Click Now

Another pic of Sanjana and Jimmy: Click!

And finally a pic of Uday and Sanjana: Join Them Here

- Last week saw the release of two new movies, and the bigger of the two was “Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (Neither of Us Know)”, starring Hrithik Roshan, Esha Deol, Saif Ali Khan, Rati Agnihotri, and Maushami Chatterji. The film is the first directorial effort from Arjun Sablok who honed his skills at Yash Raj films, and as such the usual glossy bubble-gum style of Yash and Aditya Chopra is well-noticeable here. Esha and Hrithik star as Esha and Rohit, the usual couple in love with a slight twist – they haven’t met each other (face-to-face) and depend only on a bunch of love letters to convey their feelings (what happened to e-mail?). Esha hires Rohit to be the photographer for her fashion event, while not knowing that he’s the guy she’s been courting over the last few months. The two continue to write each other (and grow even more in love) until Esha is forced by her family to get engaged to Akshay (Saif Ali Khan). Of course Akshay and Rohit turn out to be friends, and Rohit sacrifices his love for the sake of his friend. The film doesn’t end there and some more situations arise till we finally get the (predictable) happy ending. No big surprises here!! As you can tell, this is just another love-triangle romantic drama, and if taken as such it’s not really anything such. However, it IS very slickly directed with high production values, good cinematography and adequate pacing. The acting is also pretty decent – Esha’s the real surprise here. While only being in her second film, she really shines in her role and is able to convey different levels of emotion not found in much more established (and older) actresses. Hrithik is a good actor and he’s just dependable here – he doesn’t show anything extraordinary but doesn’t disappoint either. Saif is just about ok, but don’t expect anything near the caliber of his performance in “Dil Chahta Hai (Desires of the Heart)”. Besides, I think it was just too hard to see him as the smooth Casanova-type when his geeky best-friend is Hrithik Roshan. The film would have been much better if their roles were reversed (but then the commercial aspects would seriously decline!). The songs are just about average, with Saif’s single number being the most catchy and hummable. All in all, this was an average romantic drama – nothing special, but entertaining while you’re in the theatre. If you’re a fan of the stars or of the genre, then you won’t be disappointed.

Here’s a great pic of Esha: Click for Coolness

Hrithik and Esha: Click Here

Saif and Hrithik: Just Click

Saif and Esha, flanked by Maushami Chatterji (left) and Rati Agnihotri: They're Right Here

And a final shot of Esha: See Her Here

- The second film released last week was “Ab Ke Baras (Now or Never)”, directed by Raj Kanwar. The film marks the debut of actor Raj Babbar’s son Arya Babbar and model Amrita Rao. It’s obvious that the film was made with a lower budget in mind, and if you expect a decent renter (but nothing amazing) then you won’t be disappointed. Amrita Rao plays Anjali, a brash teenager coming to India for the first time. She meets Karan (Arya Babbar), a car thief, who decides to accompany her through the trip. They eventually fall for each other but not before realizing that they were lovers in their previous lives. Yep, this is a re-incarnation movie. We then see flashbacks of the lovers’ previous life and the reason behind their eventual separation. After a lot of action sequences, we cut to present-day where a gang of criminals (and cops) come after the couple. Some more action scenes follow, before the heroes end up happily ever after!! Ok, well the re-incarnation plot device hasn’t been used for quite a long time now, and atleast seems somewhat innovative (even though it’s NOT) than the usual romance flicks (see the other new release). The action scenes are also very impressive – director Raj Kanwar is known for excessive and over-the-top set pieces, and he doesn’t disappoint here – expect lots of chases, shootouts, gore, and even some decent swordfights (for the period segments). The film has a pretty decent production value, while the songs are quite good aswell. The acting by the newcomers is ok, yet not too distracting. Amrita looks gorgeous and isn’t annoying at all, while Arya can handle the fights and dialogues pretty well. The pacing of the film is great, and we get a decent amount of action and romance making this a pretty well-rounded film. In summary, “Ab Ke Baras” makes for a slightly above-average action film (given that it’s not an A-grade blockbuster like Na Tum Jaano Na Hum), and an entertaining rental.

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