Hey Father Geek here back from my wandering for a while... Here's Darius25's 17th Asia-AICN its a little late due to some confusion here at Geek Headquarters, its not his fault, he turned it in on time. Which brings me to another point, several items were omitted from the page during my 3 seperate trips in the last 3 weeks... this weekend I will attempt to catch you all up on some of them... so watch for a flurry of International reports over the next few days...

Asia-AICN #17

Hey all. Hope you all had a fun week. We have lots of new information in this column, including the latest info on Dr. Rajakumar's abduction, Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (Every Heart That Loves), King's Men, Black Mask 2, Shikijitu, Garapal, and Darna. Now here's the latest film news from Asia.

INDIA

- A considerable amount of things have happened since last week's news of Dr. Rajakumar's abduction by the bandit Veerappan. Two cassette tapes were delivered to the authorities on August 4th, with new demands by the notorious smuggler. There was also a message on the tapes by Dr. Rajakumar who assured the public that he is safe and under no harm. He requested the governments of the two states to consider Veerappan's requests very seriously, and to see how best they can be met, so that "we can all come out of this situation safely and quickly." The politicians were surprised to hear these demands as Veerappan asked (almost) nothing for himself.

The bandit's main demand was that the Government of Karnataka should implement quickly the interim award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and release the river's waters to Tamil Nadu. Also, his second most important demand was that 'adequate compensation' be paid to the victims of the 1991 Cauvery riots in Bangalore and parts of southern Karnataka. Veerappan also asked that the task forces set up to catch him be abolished and that some "innocent people" be released from imprisonement.

After spending some time considering these demands, the two governments agreed on most of the terms. They agreed to release most of Veerappan's imprisoned friends, and also said that "most" of the criminal charges will be dropped and that the task forces will be abolished. Among the political demands, the governments assured Veerappan that the victims of the riots were in the process of being compensated and that the Cauvery River Authority would take an appropriate decision regarding the release of the water. As of August 7, reports have been confirmed that Veerappan is aware of the governments' response to his demands. It's highly possible that Dr. Rajakumar will be released by the time you are reading this. I will continue to bring you more news on this matter as the information is released.

- I would like to congratulate Malayalam director Shaji N. Karun who has been awarded the prestigious "Chevalier dans ordre des Arts et Letters (Knight of Arts and Letters" title by the government of France, in recognition of his contribution to world cinema. This year has been very rewarding for Mr. Karun as his film Vaanaprastham (sorry I don't know what this means) was given a special screening at Cannes and the film was the recipient of many National Awards including Best Film and Best Actor. The only other Indians to be awarded the title of the Knight of Arts and Letters are Sivaji Ganesan and Satyajit Ray.

- Veteran actor Dev Anand's son, Suneil, is planning to make a comeback in Bollywood with a martial-arts film titled Master. According to Sunil Anand, the film will be set apart from other action movies in Bollywood as it will incorporate many different styles of martial arts in the film (esp. the Wing Tsun Quen style of Kung Fu, of which Anand has 18 years of experience in). I guess this is an attempt to make more chop-socky HK-type films, which will be a pleasant welcome, at least in Bollywood. Because the only familiar face in the film will be Anand himself (who is relatively unknown), the producers are aiming for a North American release before a domestic release in India as it is the type of film that will appeal more to an international audience. Apparently, it will be released in IMAX theatres in NA, a fact which I find very hard to believe since the movie will probably be over two hours long.

- There are talks floating around that actor Ajay Devgan will be the lead in director Mani Rathnam's next Hindi film. Rathnam has been quiet on the Bollywood scene since the failure of his last Hindi film, Dil Se (From the Heart).

- Aamir Khan's latest film, Lagaan (Tax), has been postponed from its October release. The film, which needs more time to shoot the climax and complete its post production, will now be released sometime in December 2000.

- Pop singer Sonu Nigam has joined the cast of director Rajkumar Kohli's latest movie, which is to star Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi and Manisha Koirala. The film does not yet have a title.

- Speaking of Arshad Warsi, one of his upcoming films will be Jeetenge Hum (We will Win). The film will co-star Amisha Patel.

- Actress Tabu has joined the cast of director Madhur Bhandrakar's film Chandni Bar ("Chandni" means moonlight).

- Last week's new release was the much awaited Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (Every Heart That Loves). The film stars Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta. It is a remake (ok, ripoff) of "While You Were Sleeping" with a convenient gender switch. Salman Khan stars as Raj, a down-on-his-luck singer, who saves Pooja's (Rani Mukherjee) life right before she goes into a coma. Pooja's family mistakenly think of Raj as her husband and he just plays along with it because of desperation and greed (Pooja's extremely rich). Eventually he finds himself falling in love with Pooja's best friend Jhaanvi (Preity Zinta) but before he can admit his love, Pooja wakes up. Alright, the story is right at home for a typical sickly-sweet Bollywood film, and it mainly works. Love triangles are extremely common in India, and the current trend is to make these movies more comedic than dramatic. These kind of movies are mainly made for the younger generations who just go for the pretty-boy heroes and the EXTREMELY hot heroines. The acting is pretty good in this movie with none of the actors getting overly dramatic or downright silly. Also, the songs in this movie are very, very good. They're catchy, hummable, and not at all sappy. No slow songs or overly energetic techno songs here, just good ole' pop / soft rock. Overall, if you like feel-good romantic comedies (like Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock movies), then you'll get your money's worth at the very least. Just don't go expecting a Gladiator-type epic. Here are two pictures from the movie.

This first picture is of the two main heroines from the movie. (Being a guy, I HAD to include this is in the column). Preity Zinta is the one in the black swimsuit, and Rani Mukherjee is the one in the red swimsuit.

And here's a picture of Salman Khan along with Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee.

- This week's recommendation is another movie from Raj Kanwar, who directed Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (Every Heart That Loves). The film's name is Jeet (Victory) and it stars Sunny Deol, Salman Khan, and Karishma Kapoor. Even though this is also a romance, it is in a totally different category from Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. While the more recent movie is a comedy, this one is geared more towards the action-oriented crowd. Sunny stars as a thug-for-hire who falls for a gentle, yet stubborn woman, Kaajal (Karishma Kapoor). She hates him for his vicious, animal-like behaviour but manages to transform him into a nicer human being. But their love is not meant to happen, and eventually Kaajal is forced to marry a wealthy entrepreneur named Raj (Salman Khan). Sunny goes insane, and accepts a contract out on Raj's life. But being the sensible man now, Sunny realizes that he cannot kill Raj and eventually starts to protect him from the bad guys. First off, let me start out by saying that the acting in this movie is very good. The whole movie drives on Sunny Deol's performance and he does not let us down. He stars the movie off as a very vicious hoodlum but we begin to sympathize towards the middle of the film. When he does turn into the noble hero, we begin to root for him and cheer him on as he starts kicking MAJOR ass. Karishma Kapoor is also very good as Kaajal, pulling off most of the dramatic scenes with no trouble at all. Salman Khan gives a likeable performance as Raj, but he's not given much to do in this film. The direction by Raj Kanwar is also very good. The film succeeds in providing genuine romance while at the same time showcasing some heart-stopping action scenes. The movie switches from Action to Drama to Action yet again with relatively ease. Once you see this movie, you won't wonder how Raj Kanwar can deliver an extremely violent film while making you feel something inside as well. All in all, I don't think anybody can be disappointed with Jeet (Victory). Here's a link if you want to buy this movie on Videocassette or DVD: Just Click Here

CHINA / HK

The following was reported by "The Accidental Spy":

- Chow Yun Fat has been invited to attend next year's Oscars for the second year in a row.

- There is a big rumour (big as unbelievable) going around that Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz are in negotiations with John Woo to star in "King's Men" (King's Ransom?), the film which will reunite Woo with CYF. This film has been progressing quite slowly because John Woo feels that the film must have a very strong cast and perfect script before its principal photography is started.

- According to Variety.com, Sammo Hung has been signed to star in a new film titled "In the Name of Heroes". With a budget set around $80 million USD, this Stormriders-like action movie is being directed by Corey Yuen (FONG SAI YUK!! - D25), who would also be the fight-choreographer for the movie (Corey did the fights for "Romeo Must Die"). The movie is set to release in the US in Summer 2001. I'm not sure if this is actually the Tekken movie we are hearing about.

- Director Gordon Chan ("Okinawa Rendezvous", "Beast Cops") has announced that his next project will be an assassin movie. Chan said that the movie will be a salute to John Woo's "The Killer", in which he will try to capture the honesty-of-friendship spirit from the classic. The film will starring Anthony Wong ("The Beast Cops", "The Mission") and Leon Lai ("A Hero Never Dies", "Sausalito") as a couple of killers with a long-term friendship who soon turn on each other. You guys might be interested to know that director Johnny To has already directed a Killer-ish film called "A Hero Never Dies" in 1998, starring Lau Ching-Wan and Leon Lai (again).

- Media Asia Studios held a press conference last week and many of their upcoming projects were announced including the now-shooting "Gen-Y Cops" and Michelle Yeoh's next film "The Touch", which follows a group of circus performers who are thieves at night. Director/Actress/Screenwriter Sylvia Cheung is also responsible for two projects: "Father from the Triad", about a triad boss who tries to cover his real identity from his daughter; and "Manhood", a comedy inspired by "The Full Monty", which follows four unemployed HK people who go to Korea to open up a restaurant.

- It is rumoured that Louis Koo may walk away from "Black Mask 2" due to his busy schedule. If so, director Tsui Hark may decide to find a fresh face to stand in for the title role.

- Gambling movies seems to be one of the trademarks of HK cinema and the latest movie from this category is "Gambling Hero from China", starring recent gambling movies' regular Nicky Cheung ("The Conman", "The Conman in Vegas"). Louis Koo ("Bullets over Summer") and Athena Chu ("The Conman") also star in the movie. The final card-battle scene of the movie, with Louis Koo vs. the villain Ben Lam, is being shot on the Soviet Aircraft Carrier, Minsk. With the help of the fight-choreographer Ching Siu-Tung (the director of "Chinese Ghost Story"), the final sequence is sure to be a classic.

- Here are two reviews of the latest hit HK movie "Okinawa Rendoz-Vous" which are definitely worth a look: http://brns.com/pages3/comed76.html and http://www.kowloonside.com/movies/okinawarendezvous.html

JAPAN

The following was reported by "Pigmon":

- Soe Kosugi (of Ninja fame in the 80's) has just opened acting and stunt school in Tokyo. Soe wants to raise another Ninja hero from this school.

- Indian films are still booming in Tokyo. Last weekend, "Dil Se. (From the Heart, see Asia-AICN #4 for my semi-review - D25)" opened to a tremendous response. There were HUGE lineups, even for the morning shows which start around 9:15 AM.

- "M:I-2" is still going strong at Japan's box office. In close second was "The Perfect Storm" followed by "Pokemon 3", "Digimon 2", "The Cider House Rules", "Kaze O Mita Shonen", "Gladiator", "Stuart Little", "Jouvenile", and "Cardcapture Sakura", respectively.

- The creator of "Neon Genesis Evangelion", Hideaki Anno, has completed the feature film, "Shikijitu". This is the first live-action production of Studio Ghibli (of "My Neighbour Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke" fame). The film stars Shunji Iwai (the director of Swallowtail in his acting debut) and Ayako Fujitani (Steven Seagal's daughter and the heroine of the "Gamera" series). "Shikijitu" is expected to participate in the Tokyo Film Festival in October.

KOREA

The following was reported by "Matrix1966":

- Japanese movies are getting a lot of attention in Korea recently. In the past, they were banned in Korea because of political reasons, but many Japanese films are drawing audiences after the Korean film market opened to the Japanese this year. The 1998 Japanese blockbuster - "Bayside Shakedown (Odoru Daisosasen)", which opened nationwide in Korea on July 22nd, attracted 370,000 Koreans in just two weeks. The next Japanese import, Ring 2, scored 60,000 audiences in 5 days since it opened on July 29th.

- Hollywood blockbusters are making big waves at the Korean cinema complexes. More than half of the top 10 films in Korea are from USA. M-I:2. Gladiator, Gone in 60 seconds, Dinosaur, and The Patriot are No. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 respectively as of July 27th. Future US blockbusters in Korea include Titan AE & The Perfect Storm (July 29th); Shanghai Noon & Fantasia 2000 (August 5th); and X-Men (August 12th).

PHILLIPPINES

The following was reported by "AznFob55":

- Actress Lara Fabregas has teamed up with Gary Estrada on a new action movie called "Garapal" (don't know the translation but it goes somewhere along the lines of "Heinous Bitch"), to be directed by Pong Mercado. The film is supposed to break the genre's conventions but if it's a Filipino action movie, expect tons of scantily clad women. "Garapal" opens on August 2.

- Ronnie Ricketts is finishing up his script to the sequel of his directorial debut, "ManoMano" (Hand to Hand). The sequel is appropriately titled, "ManoMano 2" (Hand to Hand 2). The first one was a huge success and the sequel will soon be underway.

- The new sultry movie starring FAMAS award-winning Glydel Mercado was re-submitted to MTRCB for a new rating. It received an "R" Rating which only allows people 18 years old or older to view the film. The film was screened in Greenhill recently and was highly-praised by some critics. It is about a poor girl agreeing to become the company executive's "toygirl". The company executive (played by Emilio Garcia) will shower the very ambitious (hence the title) woman with all the riches he can afford. Afterwards, the plot continues with lots of twists and turns. The film opens Wednesday, August 2. To see a picture of Glydel Mercado, please visit the following website: yehey.com/bin/redirect.asp?id=4711

- According to my sources, Judy Anne Santos has replaced Charlene Gonzalez as "Darna". I can't imagine why would this happen. My sources also reveal that Judy Anne has already been fitted for the part. This time around, "Darna" is wearing hot pants. Ugh. And I thought civilization was moving forward.

Well, we've come to the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any movie industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices atshrivas@home.com See you all next week.

- Darius25