Hey there, Father Geek here with Darius25's regular Thursday morning Asia-AICN column. He got this in on time even though he's been attending the Toronto International Film Festival everyday. If you're interested in Asian film make sure to read all those reports from TIFF because a whole bunch of the films up there this year are from Asia, by Asians.

The quick way to find those reviews is to go to the More AICN box on the left and click... then click on Asia-AICN... an index will appear and ALL those Toronto reports listed there will have something to do with Asian Cinema. Sooooo check them out if you haven't already.

Now to Darius' column...

Asia-AICN #22

Hey all. Getting used to the normal workload yet ? There's tons of new traffic here in Toronto with the Film Festival and all. I usually don't like to namedrop but I HAVE to say that I met Ang Lee!!! How cool is that ?? By the way, CTHD is an amazing movie and you should all see it. Ok, rant's over. Here's the latest news from Asia.

INDIA

- This is unconfirmed but supposedly The Rock is in negotiations to make a guest appearance in director Subhash Ghai's Yaadein (Memories).**SPOILER** The Rock will play a wrestler (!) in the final action scene of the movie in which he kills Hrithik Roshan's character with his bare hands. Jackie Shroff, Kareena Kapoor, and Rati Agnihotri also star in the film.

- Even though What Lies Beneath hasn't even released in India yet, producer Mahesh Bhatt and director Vikram Bhatt have already decided to make an Indian remake. Anil Kapoor was offered the Harrison Ford role but declined it because he didn't want to alienate his audience with his negative role.

- Actor Kamal Haasan has announced that one of his upcoming releases will be Aala Vandhaan, to be directed by Suresh Krishna. Kamal will play the dual roles of psychotic serial killer, and the cop that must hunt him down. He has also written the screenplay of the film. Other Bollywood actors in this South Indian film include actresses Tabu and Raveena Tandon. However, the casting is not complete and there are rumours that a few more Bollywood actors will appear in the film.

- Actor Sunil Shetty's latest film, Aaghaaz - The Beginning, will be released on October 7th.The film co-stars Sushmita Sen and Namrata Shirodkar.

- One of actor Arshaad Warsi's upcoming films will be Jeetenge Hum (We Will Win) and it will be releasing sometime this fall. The film, directed by Sunil Mohra, also stars Arbaaz Khan and Anjala Zhaveri.

- One of the newest production companies in the South Indian film industry, Pentafour, has signed Shankar as the director for one of their upcoming films. They have also signed Kamal Haasan as the lead for this project. The film will re-unite Shankar and Kamal Haasan as they worked previously in a blockbuster called "Indian". The untitled film will begin production once Shankar has completed his latest film, Nayak (Hero), a remake of his own South Indian hit Mudhalvan.

- Last Friday's major release was the much anticipated Fiza (the name of the main heroine). This film is expected to be a major blockbuster because it stars Hrithik Roshan, who's emerged as India's latest superstar after his debut in the blockbuster Kaho Naa Pyar Hai (Say That You Love Me). The film also stars Karisma Kapoor, Jaya Bachchan and Manoj Bajpai. A word of caution to Hrithik fans - this is Karisma's film. She is Fiza. Yes Hrithik is also in the film, but it's not his film. Now, let's begin. The film, directed by one of India's most famous film critics - Khalid Mohammed, began with a good idea but eventually disappoints because of a really, really horrible script. The initial idea was very good - Fiza's brother, Amaan (Hrithik) gets lost during the Bombay riots of 1993. Six years later, Fiza sees him getting into a cab, and eventually tries to track him down. By the end of the film, she will wish that she shouldn't have searched for him in the first place. This is a simple plot structure and many wonderful ideas could have been inserted and made the film really really good. Instead this is a horrible mess filled with a few brilliant moments. Both Karisma and Hrithik are very good in their roles. Hrithik has demonstrated incredible talent in his second film which many established actors haven't yet been able to achieve. Karisma is also very good as the desperate sister obsessed with finding her brother. But these performances alone can't save this film. It attempts to achieve much but eventually ends up being pointless. One of its biggest flaws was major ideas re: politics, crime, terrorism and religion were included and then abruptly abandoned. The plot would introduce major themes and then completely forgets it and moves on other themes. The film's other flaws included the unnecessary including of songs in a serious story, downright bad editing with MAJOR plot holes and a godawful ending which leaves you clueless. Fiza doesn't even seem to know what she's doing, let alone Khalid Mohammed and his film. I would have loved to see his review if someone else directed it.

Here's a scene from Fiza, with Hrithik Roshan and Karisma Kapoor in the center, surrounded by the Police:

- This week's recommendation is Kamal Haasan's latest film, Hey! Ram (Ram is Lord Rama from Hinduism), which is also screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, written and directed by Haasan, also stars Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Vasundra Das, Om Puri and Naseerudin Shah as Gandhi (!). Hey! Ram is a brilliant modern-epic partially based on the real life events surrounding Mahatma Gandhi's death. The film follows the life of Saket Ram (Haasan) as his life is torn apart as the result of the partition of India and Pakistan in the 1940's. There were riots all over India at this time. After losing his wife to the riots, Saket Ram goes on a rampage, killing many Muslims, and blames Gandhi for creating these riots. He eventually joins a cult whose main goal is to assassinate Gandhi. How he finds redemption through these brutal times is the focus of the film. Kamal Haasan is a very talented actor, and it really shows. You will totally understand the reasons of his psychotic behaviour. Shahrukh Khan is also very good as Saket Ram's best friend. His role is brief but he makes his presence felt. Naseeruddin Shah is very good as Gandhi. He completely disappears under the persona and BECOMES Gandhi. (It is interesting to note here that Shah was Richard Attenborough's original choice for "Gandhi" before Ben Kingsley got the role.) Not only is the acting very good in the film, but the story and the script are very good aswell. Mr. Mohammed should have taken some ideas from Kamal Haasan when he was writing the story for Fiza. There are rarely any comedy sequences and there are very few songs which do NOT distract from the movie. There are many characters in the film, but the focus remains on Saket Ram all the way through. There is no hint of commercialism in the film, nor are there any major plot holes. The direction is very tight and the film is able to keep our attention throughout its 199-minute running time. All in all, Hey! Ram is a brilliant film that should be seen for its amazing performances and a though-provoking script.

CHINA / HK

The following was reported by "The Accidental Spy":

- Actor Sean Lau Ching-Wan ("Running out of Time", "The Longest Nite") has signed a contract with Chinastar Studios to star in twelve movies within three years starting from the year 2001. The deal also states that he cannot appear in projects from other companies. For the past three years, Sean had been starring in most of the critically-acclaimed films produced or directed by Johnnie To and his Milkyway Images Productions. The production company merged with Chinastar this year and their first project was the successful blockbuster "Needing You...". Expect Lau Ching-Wan and Johnnie To to team up again next year.

- Mario Kassar, the producer of "Basic Instinct" and "Terminator 1 & 2" has decided to hire HK director Clarence Ford to direct the sequel to "Basic Instinct". Ford has directed "Naked Killer" (starring Chingmy Yau and Simon Yum) which Mario Kassar admired a lot. Ford confirmed that Mario Kassar and Sharon Stone would come to HK soon to discuss the project. Ford's last film is 1999's "Century of the Dragon", a triad drama starring Andy Lau, Louis Koo and Gigi Leung.

- Last week, Chow Yun-Fat flew to Deauville, France to attend the 26th American Film Festival. Chow was honoured on September 8th with the Festival naming that day as the "Salute to Chow Yun Fat Day". Three films, "The Killer", "Anna and the King," and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; were shown after the welcome ceremony. Chow is the first Asian star to be honored in the festival. Here's two pictures from the festival:

From left, Ang Lee, Mrs & Mr Chow Yun Fat:

Chow Yun-Fat:

- International star Gong Li has won the Prix d' interpretation feminine award at this year's Montreal Film Festival for the role in her latest film "Breaking the Silence". Gong Li was also honored with a Grand Prix of the Americas award for her contribution to cinematography art.

- Last weekend, "Hollow Man" opened at the no.1 spot at the HK box office. Thailand comedy "The Iron Ladies" dropped to no.2 while still running strong. The hit comedy has brought in a stunning $10 millions HKD in just 11 days. "Conman in Tokyo" and "What Lies Beneath" also fell one spot each to no.3 and no.4, respectively. "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps" opened at a disappointing fifth place. Also, Francis Ng's "A War named Desire" opened at an inexcusable sixth place, since the actioner about brotherhood opened two days before other films like "Hollow Man" and "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps". Here's the official site for "A War named Desire": Just Click Here.

Here's a little tidbit from a new reporter named "Ke Le":

Have you guys reported anything on the recent problems with Feng Xiaogang's new movie (in Chinese called: "Yi Sheng Tan Qi"; in English "Sigh")? If not, I'll provide you with the scoop. Feng's new movie is currently being bid on by theaters. Whoever bids the highest gets the right to release the film first. The problem happened when illegal copies of the film flooded the streets on VCD (precursor to DVDs and only found in China). Of course Feng, as all directors and producers do in China, had tried to keep the film from being illegally copied before the wide release. The film's UPM, Lu Guoqiang, swore in the media that he didn't let the print out of his site. But strangely enough the film was copied. Who knows what happened but the fact that the VCD is already out in the marketplace has totally weakened the value of the film. To an industry that continues to run a loosing battle with the illegal copiers, this is another big blow.

That's the latest gossip going on here.

JAPAN

The following was reported by "Pigmon":

- The trailer for Takeshi Kitano's "Brother" was released recently. You can check it out at This Site. Takeshi wants to use Omar Epps once again for his future film called "Kids Return 2".

- Arnold Schwarznneger's newest film,"The Sixth Day", will have its world premiere at the opening of theTokyo International Film Festival 2000 on 10/28. Arnold will be attending the opening ceremony.

- "Murudeka", a big budgeted Toho produced picture, is filming in Indonesia now. "Murudeka" is a story about one Japanese soldier who fights for the independence of Indonesia after World War II. It is the Indonesian version of "Lawrence of Arabia". The film is directed by Yukio Huji and will be in Japanese theaters next May.

- Here is last week's Japanese Box Office: 1. Whiteout 2. Scary Movie 3. M:I-2, 4. The Perfect Storm 5. Taxi 2 6. The Talented Mr. Ripley 7. Wonder Boys 8. Rules Of Engagement 9. Mirai Nikki 10. Stuart Little

KOREA

The following was reported by "Matrix1966":

- Hollywood Blockbusters ruled the Korean cinema complexes this summer. According to the Korean Film Commission, 5 out of the 6 top box office movies in July and August were Hollywood movies. Here's a ranking in terms of the number of audience in Seoul: 1. Gladiator (1.13 million) 2. M-I:2 (1.12 million) 3. Bichunmoo (0.78 million) 4. Perfect Storm (0.55 million) 5. Dinosaur (0.45 million) 6. Gone in 60 Seconds (0.42 million). Only Bichunmoo is Korean.

- J.S.A.(Joint Security Area), a thriller about the shooting incident between North and South Korean soldiers, opened big in Korea last weekend (September 9th). More than 90,000 audience in Seoul saw this film, directed by Chan-Wook Park, and this is the record breaking number for a Korean movie's one day exhibition record.

PHILLIPPINES

The following was reported by "AznFob55":

- Charlene Gonzalez, former "Dyesabel", is now taking on the role of a sexual psychopath in a new movie opposite Richard Gomez (who you previously saw in "Minsan Minahal Kita" and "Linlang"). Here's a picture of Charlene Gonzalez...

- Albert Martinez' "Ika-13 Kapitulo" (which I have been following since its inception) opened on August 23 and is being reported as one of the scariest movies in Philippine history. The movie is doing quite well at the box-office.

- Zoren Legaspi returns to the screen with his new movie, "Testigo" (Witness) and he plays a dual role (having to play twin brothers) in the film.

- GMA Films will release another film after the international success of "Jose Rizal" and "Muro Ami". The new film will be called "Death Row" and the film will be about teenagers being sent to jail with death sentences.

We've now 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