Well our Thursday Asian film column is now 2 months old and going strong. Our international coverage is beginning to gain a real following and Friday will mark the debut of another continental column.Father Geek is proud to announce that Africa-AICN will be gracing these pages every Friday morning, edited by Dr. SOTHA from his South African offices. Make sure to check it out Friday with your morning coffee.
By the way HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY to loyal reader MIYAMOTO MUSASHI and have fun on your visit to Korea and Japan in celebration, but for now here is Darius 25...
Asia-AICN #8
Hey all. Hope you had a good week. We have tonnes of new info from Asia,
so let's get started.
INDIA
Asia-AICN #8
Hey all. Hope you had a good week. We have tonnes of new info from Asia,
so let's get started.
INDIA
INDIA
- We reported back in Asia-AICN #6 that Sunny Deol has walked out of director Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja (Ashamed). Well, they have found a replacement and it is none other than Ajay Devgan. Apparently, Devgan is very excited to work with Santoshi and immediately jumped on the chance to be in the film.
- Actor Akshay Kumar will head a large cast of primarily action heroes in director Rajkumar Kohli's next film. The rest of the male-dominated (no female leads have yet been cast) cast are Sunil Shetty, Sunny Deol, Arshad Warsi, Aditya Panscholi, Aftab Shivdasani, Rajat Bedi, and Armaan Kohli. If the film has a strong script, this could be a kick-ass action film much like "The Dirty Dozen". The film does not yet have a title.
- Rumour has it that former mega-actress Sridevi will come out of her self-imposed retirement to direct an upcoming film from her husband, producer Boney Kapoor. The film will probably star Boney's brothers, actors Anil and Sanjay Kapoor. The film does not yet have a title.
- Actress Rati Agnihotri will soon be making a comeback in Bollywood. First, she will be in a new Indian remake of "The Parent Trap" to be directed by Rahul Rawail. Also, she has joined the cast of Na Tum Jaano Na Hum (Neither of Us Know) along with Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Esha Deol.
- There will be a new version of Laila-Majnu, which is a tale of supposedly real life lovers who were separated and then died. Majnu was a beggar while Laila was some girl in high society, but I am not really sure. Think of this as a version of Romeo and Juliet. Anyway, the movie has been made 8 times and there will be a modern update of it, to be directed by B. Subhash. No actors have yet been cast nor is the film titled so far.
- Producer Rikku Rakesh Nath's son, Karan, will make his feature film debut in a film titled Pagalpan (Craziness), to be directed by Joy Augustine. Another newcomer, Aarti Agarwal, will also make her debut in this film.
- Actor-director Kamal Hassan will direct three films for Pentafour, a South-India based computer graphics company. All of the films will be made in two languages, Hindi and Telegu, and all three will be launched in July.
- One of Aishwarya Rai's next films is Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (You have my heart), which will co-star Anil Kapoor and Sonali Bendre and will be directed by Satish Kaushik. Aishwarya will play a rape victim who has to adjust to life following the sexual assault. Supposedly, the focus will be more on Aish adjusting back to life than getting justice on the man who assaulted her.
- For you South Indian fans, one of Kamal Hassan's next movies will be Tenali (I don't know what this word means, it's not in Hindi). The movie is loosely based on the movie "Mousehunt." The film co-stars Jyotika, Devyani, and Jayaram.
- South Indian superstar Rajnikanth's daughter, Aishwarya (not Ms. Rai), will join the film industry as a playback singer for the film Ramana (I don't know what this word means, but I suspect that the word refers to the Lord Rama of Hinduism.)
- Also, there are rumours that Kamal Hassan will play the lead in director Shankar's new film. The two previously collaborated in the South Indian megahit "Indian." The new film is not yet titled
- Hard to believe for an industry that makes the most movies per year, but there was NO movie released last week. Instead, I'll just jump straight into my recommendation this week. The movie's name is Border and is brilliantly directed by J.P. Dutta. Most of Dutta's films are multi-starrers and this one is no exception - it stars Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Sunil Shetty, Tabu, Pooja Bhatt, and Akshaye Khanna. This movie, in my opinion, is one of the finest war movies ever made - possibly even better than Saving Private Ryan. The film follows the Battle of Longewala in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. It tells the story of the 23rd division of the BSF as they successfully defend the Longevala post in West Rajhastan against the Pakistani invasion. The film starts out slow at first, describing the backstories of the some of the main characters, then becomes an all action war movie as soon as the Pakistanis arrive. All of the actors did very well in their performances. Since this is an ensemble movie, no character had a major role in the movie, but it all worked anyway. The anti-war message worked for me, and I think that it's more effective here than in Saving Private Ryan or Full Metal Jacket. A movie like this hasn't been released since the 70s and it would be well appreciated by everybody, including the international audience.
CHINA / HK
The following is from "The Accidental Spy":
- Last week, Tom Cruise and John Woo were in Hong Kong promoting MI-2 and attending the movie's Asian premiere. As "the extremely nice guy" described by HK media, Tom Cruise showed great interest to work with John Woo again, and surprisingly, also mentioned that he originally wanted to match Chow Yun-Fat in MI-2, but failed due to Chow's schedule for Anna and the King. In most of the interviews, Tom said that if there was a MI-3, it would be a great chance that Chan Yun-Fat is one of the cast members. On the other hand, Chow said that he is waiting for the script.
- Besides MI-3, another project involving Tom and Woo also came up last week, which was once mentioned before MI-2. The project is a Chinese historical war drama set in the 19th century, a true story about the Chinese kingdom clamping-down a civil war with British government's help.
- Leslie Cheung, Faye Wong, Tony Leung Ka-fei, Gigi Lai are all busy shooting the action comedy, "Love and War in Okinawa"(previously mentioned as "Cops on Vacation"), in Okinawa, Japan. The flick is about a hard-working police officer (Leslie Cheung) who takes a few day off for a trip to Okinawa, but accidentally meet the wanted thief couple (Tony Leung Ka-fei and Faye Wong) whom he was searching for a long time. Without any backup, he tries to befriend with them in order to catch them. This crowd-pleaser is directed by Gordon Chan (Beast Cops) and is schedule to release in August. Here is a picture on the set of the movie...
(from left to right: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fei, Faye Wong, Director Gordon Chan):
- This year's HK film awards' Best Actor, Andy Lau ("Running out of Time"), just re opened his Teamwork Studio and the first project would be a tragic romance between a Thailand-style boxer and a Japanese girl. The movie is starring Andy Lau himself and Japanese actress Takako Tokiwa (also starring in another HK production, 1999's "Moonlight Express", with Leslie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh). The movie is directed by Daniel Lee, the director of "Black Mask" and "Moonlight Express".
JAPAN
The following is from "Pigmon":
- First of all, there is a correction from last week's column. "Jouvenile" will be opening in Japanese theaters on July 15th, not June 15th.
- Shohei Tsukamo( Testuo, Tokyo Fist)'s Gemini (Or Twins?) got grand prize in the 1st Nushatel (sp? It's a town in Switzerland) Fantastic Film Festival. This is Tukamoto's latest film(released in Japan last Fall) and a visually stunning film.
- After "Brother" is completed, Takeshi Kitano's next film would be a samurai film!! He already asks to my friend, who's a sword master (he did Oshima Nagisa's weird homosexual samurai film" Gohatto" with Takeshi) to be part of it.
- Godzilla Vs. Megagilas will be completed in October and then the world premier would be at Tokyo Film Festival in late October. It will be releasing all over Japan on December 15th,2000.Godzilla 2000 video releases in June 9th.
- One of top Toho top executives has told me that a sequel to the American Godzilla will be made within 4 years and it could be the same director (NO!!!!!! - D25)
- First full CG Gandam simulation ride film is in production. It will debut at Fujikyo High Land amusement park which is located near Mt.Fuji in August.
- In late August, "Sakuraya Yokaiden"(direct translation-Sakuraya Monster Story) will be releasing in Japan.This film is made by new company, Towani, which is Co-financed by Toshiba, Warner Brothers and Nihon TV (one of Japan's largest TV stations).So naturally this film will be releasing in US near future through WB. The director is Mr. Haraguchi, who is the number one special make-up model maker in Japan (a Japanese Rick Baker!). VFX director is the man who did all three Gamera series, Mr.Higucchi! 30 legendary Japanese monsters will be in this film and it will be completed in early August.
- On June 6th,big premier of Mission Impossible 2 will take place at Tokyo Forum (an arena which has a capacity of 6000!).Tom Cruise and John Woo will be there too. I got pair of tickets to the premier and I will report on this event next week.
- Trusted person Peter Greenaway (8 1/2 Women) is planning to make a remake of Metropolis(!!)for next project but has been so busy for Opera and his own exhibit throughout the world. (My God, this is FANTASTIC, all of you should see The Pillow Book right now!!! - D25)
- Mamoru Oshii (Akira, Ghost in the Shell) is currently shooting "Avaron" in Poland. The movie is being entirely shot in Poland with Polish crew. It will feature lots of CGI and Mr. Oshii wants to release this movie by the end of the year in Japan.
- This might be interesting for Asia-AICN readers. Here is the list of American /European celebrities currently appearing on Japanese TV commercials:
Leonardo DiCaprio - Credit Card - He acts as detective.
Bruce Willis - Canned Coffee - Wearing Aloha shirts in 6 different versions of the commercial!
Mariah Carey - Canned Coffee - She sings and dances on the stage with popular Japanese comedian, Sanma.
Meg Ryan - Canned Green Tea - She performs as American businesswoman who comes to Japan to look for job. She speaks Japanese throughout the commercial.
Ashley Judd - Honda Life car - Drives somewhere in California with bunch of CG characters!
Bratt Pit - Edwin jeans - It looks like he plays himself.
Rachel Leigh Cook - Lux shampoo - She acts as model, pretty damn cute!
Winona Ryder - Cappuccino Coffee
Jodie Foster - Pasona - Human resources company
Catharine Zeta-Jones - Lux Shampoo - She is so gorgeous!
Cameron Dias - English School
Kevin Costner - Legacy car - This just finished airing.
Spike Lee - Mazda car - Demio - He plays himself. A pretty black girl at LA airport arrives and Spike picks her up.
Vincent Garro - Parco department store - He even directed this ad.
Audrey Hepburn - Tea - She is dead but the producers are using old footage and CGI.
Elvis - Cup Noodle - The ad follows Elvis on stage as he drinks soup on stage (using VFX, replacing water bottle to cup noodle.) (Funny - D25)
Jean Reno - Soy Sauce!
Vanessa Williams - Medicine for constipation (LOL!!! - D25)
Whitney Houston--Money loan company Pepsi Man - Hahaha, I think this one is showing only in Japan. A silver colour Pepsi Man (full CG) is made by ILM!
