Father Geek here this 4th of July along with Darius25 and pigmon to bring you our holiday edition of AICN's regular Thursday column on Asian Cinema news. Sooooo, inbetween all the fireworks and Bar-B-Q make sure to check out this installment of...

Asia-AICN

Happy Fourth of July everyone!! Hope you’re having a great holiday.

We’ve got some great new scoops for you in this week’s column, including info on N. Chandra’s new film, Satish Kaushik’s new film, “Paisa Vasool”, “Warau Kaeru”, “Tomie – Final Chapter”, and a new installment in the popular Yakuza series “Jingi Naki Tatakai”. I’ve also reviewed last week’s Bollywood releases, “Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa (What the Heart Said)” and “Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein (You Say Something, I’ll Say Something)”, along with pics from both films.

INDIA

- Director N. Chandra will make a third collaboration with actor Sharman Joshi in “Agar Laila-Majnu Ki Shaadi Hoti (What if Laila and Majnu had Married?)”. Joshi had worked in N. Chandra’s previous film, “Style”, and its upcoming sequel, “Excuse Me”. Further casting on this new film remains to be completed. The director will start the film a couple of months after “Excuse Me” is completed.

- After the box-office debacle of “Rahul”, director Prakash Jha is finally finished working on the script of his new film and is planning to start it pretty soon. While the title is not yet confirmed, it has been reported that actors Ajay Devgan and Gracy Singh have been roped in for the leading roles. The film will start production sometime this fall.

- Satish Kaushik will direct another film with Anil Kapoor, besides the multi-starrer film with Kapoor, Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt. This new film will be produced by Ripples Entertainment and will feature a younger actor as the secondary lead. There is only preliminary talks going on at the moment, but the Kapoor-Kaushik combo is confirmed.

- Actress Manisha Koirala has launched her own film production company, and her first production will be “Paisa Vasool (Money’s Worth)”. The comedy, which stars Manisha and Sushmita Sen, will focus on the relationship between two urban girls and how their carefree attitudes affect the lives of those around them. Additional casting remains to be completed.

KYAA DIL NE KAHAA (What the Heart Said)

The more prominent of last week’s two releases was this new film from director Sanjay Chhel, who made a not-so-promising debut with the Sanjay Dutt-Urmila starrer “Khoobsurat (Beautiful)”, two years ago. This new release is sort-of anticipated, as it’s the second film of newcomer Tusshar Kapoor, this time paired with Esha Deol. Esha gets to act a little different this time, and her performance and the somewhat-different storyline set this teenybopper romance apart from the rest of the genre.

Esha Deol is the highlight of the film as Esha (yet again!), a high-spirited young student who travels to New Zealand for educational purposes. She falls for Rahul, an equally arrogant student, and manages to woo him with her attitude and beauty. However keeping him committed proves to be a tough task as Rahul is stubbornly opposed to marriage (or any long-term relationships), while Esha’s in this for good (she comes from a large happy family while Rahul hails from a dysfunctional home).Their two opposing views clash, and constantly threaten to tear the lovers apart, but as you all know, everything does work out in the end.

It’s a rather thin storyline, but still atleast you don’t get any status conflicts or any tales of feuding families this time around. The whole outcome is solely dependent on the two main characters, and their takes. Esha wants to marry and have stability while Rahul just wants to have fun! One of them has to give in, and we as an audience just wait for the appropriate time (the climax ofcourse), until one of the characters finally does!

Esha, surprisingly, manages to carry the role quite well. One would think that her quite manner (from other films) would not suite this role of an arrogant, flirty, yet strong girl role yet she pulls it off with ease!! She doesn’t appear to cry or pout, and manages to fight for her guy very well (even if she does have to fight him!). This is a strong, well-written role for a female leading character, and its’s about time that females are getting good roles in commercial teenybopper films (as opposed to the more arty-films). Tusshar, like his last film, just plays his role with minimal requirements. I don’t hate the guy, but he does nothing special here – he’s just there to play off Esha’s character and I admit, does his task reasonably well. His character isn’t well written as Esha’s and I could never manage to identify (or sympathize) with him at all – Esha was just so damn good! Rajesh Khanna, Smita Jaykar, Raj Babbar, and Neena Kulkarni provide adequate support as the parents of our lead couple. (On a sidenote, it was kind of sad to see Khanna, who was a major superstar in the 70’s and 80’s, being forced to do character work now.)

The songs are another highlight of the film. Music composer Himesh Reshammiya has made some great tunes and we get to hear them all in great settings, particularly the “Nikamma” song. All songs come at appropriate times, and are so ear-pleasing that they don’t drag down the plot at all. The direction is fine for a romantic dramedy and the short running time (150 mins) ensures that the plot runs along quite briskly.

In short, the story is a little different from the usual teenybopper romances and if you’re a fan of the genre than you’ll probably like the film a lot. I liked it for some of the humourous sequences and Esha’s acting. If you’re a fan of Esha Deol, or if you want to see her in a different role, don’t miss this film!

Esha Deol and Tusshar Kapoor from the film’s GREAT poster: Its Right Here

And here’s a great pic of Esha showing off her new attitude (DVD screencap): Check Her Out Here

And one more with Esha and Tusshar (DVD screencap): Just Click

KUCH TUM KAHO KUCH HUM KAHEIN (You Say Something, I’ll Say Something)

Also released last week was this new film from producer D. Rama Naidu, who’s given some very popular dramas in the 80’s. This new release was directed by K. Ravi Shankar and stars Fardeen Khan, Richa Pallod, Vikram Gokhale, Farida Jalaal, and Sharad Kapoor. It’s another family drama with Fardeen Khan as a young man trying to win his stubborn grandfather over while ending the rivalry between two feuding families. Sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it – “Badhaai Ho Badhaa (Let’s Celebrate)” had the same theme two weeks ago.

Rest assured, unlike the two Bhagat Singh releases, this film has nothing much in common with the other family film – yet the plot isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. Abhay (Fardeen Khan) is a recent graduate who relocates to his ancestral home along with his mother and sister. Once there, he proceeds to win over his stubborn grandfather (who’s still angry with the family over some previous matters), settle the grandfather’s rivalry with his brother-in-law, and romance the pretty Mangla (Richa Pallod). Of course a lot of melodrama follows, with bits of comedy and romance, and everything comes out well at the end.

The acting in general is pretty good. Fardeen Khan gives another sensitive portrayal and is overall likeable in the role. He is funny when needed yet serious in other moments but he doesn’t go overboard. He’s done these roles way too many times in the past and is set to do the same thing once again in “Om Jai Jagadish”, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Newcomer Richa Pallod makes an ok debut here, mostly providing many of the lighter moments in the plot. She doesn’t handle the dramatic scenes too badly, but is good in the romantic scenes. Her acting is a little wooden, but she isn’t annoying at any point in the film. She also looks pretty fine, which is a plus point in itself. The rest of the cast provides good support work although Vikram Gokhale is no Amrish Puri (who could have done this role in his sleep!).

The songs are of the typical sappy type and are ok for listening during the film, but you wouldn’t want to buy the soundtrack. The editing is ok – the film isn’t TOO long, and despite a few slow points, the overall pace was pretty fast. The direction is average for a family drama – there’s nothing here that is particularly noteworthy, but I didn’t cringe at any scene either.

All in all, this is a pretty typical drama, which will remind many viewers of the old-fashioned films of the ‘70s and ‘80s. This genre was really big back in the days, and it’s good to watch once in a while – if only for nostalgia’s sake. There’s nothing here that makes it stand out and but it does make for a fine DVD rental.

Fardeen Khan and Richa Pallod: See them Here

Richa, Fardeen and Farida Jalaal with a bunch of kids: They're Right Here

Another great pic of Richa: Click to See

JAPAN

Here’s the new report from Pigmon:

- There will be a new installment of the most popular Yakuza series EVER – “Jingi Naki Tatakai”. 10 films were made in the series from 1973 to 2000 and now there will be an 11th film. Actor Kastunori Takahashi will play the lead in this new film, which will take place in Osaka and Nagoya. TV-director Hajima Takahasi will make his feature-film debut with this film. It will start shooting in August and is aiming for a November release.

Here’s a quick look at some recent releases:

- “Ping Pong” was a major disappointment with both critics and audiences. The main problem was that first time director Fumihiko Souri (an ex-Digital Domain employee) could not adapt the translation from manga to film very well. Even the FX sequences left a lot to desire. Also it didn’t help that main protagonist Yosuke Kubozuka acted in the same mannerisms and style as his previous film “Laundry”.

- Director Hideyuki Hirayama’s dark comedy “Warau Kaeru” was surprisingly well made. The bizarre fantasy tells the story of guy returning to his ex-wife, whom he abandoned 7 years ago. The trick is that she already has a fiancé so he starts stalking and peeping at the couple. And during these moments, a mystical group of creatures (looking like frogs) start to appear and laugh at these pathetic humans’ miserable lives!

- “Tomie – Final Chapter” was a silly sequel to an equally idiotic horror series. This fourth installment seems to be the last one, and thank god for that. The only thing worth viewing involves a lesbian kiss and nothing else! Perhaps director Toshi Nakahara should go into another branch of filmmaking!

- Famous music video director Kensuke Kawamura’s feature debut, “Kioku No Ongaku-GB” is much better than expected. The film, which has an EXCELLENT soundtrack, tells the story of a deaf man learning to understand music without his natural senses. Rock star Matsuioka Sai is excellent as the lead.

We have now reached the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact us at Asia-AICN's Palace Harum Application Offices (an equal opportunity employer). See you all next week. (if I survive the interview process)

Darius25

Father Geek back... just got this in on THE TOUCH...

The new "release trailer" for Michelle Yeoh's latest pic is online. Image is pretty small (can't figure out why they didn't put the usual three sizes), but it looks great. Much more exciting than the previous teaser. According to the website the movie opens in Hong Kong on august 1st, and is distributed in the US and UK by Miramax (no idea when it will be released though). Thought you might want to check it out. Hope we'll get to see a bigger version.

It's here : Just Click for the Coolness (sorry, can't seem to find a direct link to the trailer)

You can call me Erdent.