Father Geek here with Darius25's Thursday morning Asia-AICN column for this week. It includes new GODZILLA flick news as well as info on the return of another oldtime Japanese Monster of legend, Daimajin. Toooo Coooool!!! Father Geek grew up on these guy's films, and I can't wait for them to invade our shores (screens) yet again. Lots of Bollywood news this week also, as well as the latest word on what's brewing in the Hong Kong cinema teapot. Sooooo Asian movie geeks check it all out below... but first a public service announcement:

AICN and this column needs a regular reporter on ANIME. We need it badly! I know you guys are out there digging up all the latest on the world of anime. Stuff like when AKIRA will be hitting DVD, and so on. Its time you started sharing that info with the world thru our Asia-AICN column. Just send your anime news to Darius25 , or good old Father Geek each week and get yourself a byline on this column. Then get prepared to fight the groupies off.

Asia-AICN #33

Hey all. How's it going. Well we're back with yet another edition packed with all sorts of news and scoop. Unfortunately "AznFob55" couldn't report any Filipino info this week as he's still on his vacation. But don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon. Now here's the latest from Asia.

INDIA

- Manoj Bajpai will star along with Sushmita Sen in Barf (Ice), to be produced by actor Ajay Devgan. The film will be directed by Vishal Bharadwaj.

- Some time ago, we told you that Govinda was forced off director Tanuja Chandra's latest film, Zindagi Ka Safar (Paths of Life). Well, it seems that actor Jimmy Shergill, hot off the success of Mohabbatein (Love Affairs), has now replaced the comic actor for the lead role. The film will also star Amisha Patel and Nafisa Ali.

- Principal photography for director Deepak Shivdasani's latest film, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke (The Road of Love), is nearly complete. The film stars Ajay Devgan in a dual role along with Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta. The film centers on Dixit's character, who is deeply heartbroken after the demise of her husband (Devgan), and mistakenly believes the lookalike to be her husband. Preity plays the other Devgan's girlfriend.

- Speaking of Preity Zinta, it seems that she will take on her first negative role in directors Abbas-Mustan's Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (Hush Hush). She will play the role of a prostitute (J ) who develops a psychotic obsession for a married man (Salman Khan) and sets out to murder his wife (Rani Mukherjee). Post-production work on the thriller is now complete and it is set to release on December 22.

- Principal photography for producer Mukesh Bhatt's Kasoor (Fault) is now complete. The murder-mystery stars model Lisa Ray and Aaftab Shivdasani.

- Post-production for director David Dhawan's Jodi No. 1 (Pair No. 1) is now complete and the comedy will release on January 26 (instead of the previously reported date of January 12). The comedy stars Sanjay Dutt and Govinda as a couple of con-men who plan to swindle the wealth of a rich family.

- Director Shankar's latest Hindi-language film, Nayak (The Real Hero), will be shot on 124 different locations worldwide. I presume these locations would only be used for the musical sequences as the film is a hard-core political drama. It stars Anil Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee.

- Legendary actress Waheeda Rehman has opted out of Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham (Sometimes Happy, Sometimes Sad) due to the recent demise of her husband. Instead, actress Achla Sachdev will replace Ms. Rehman in the film. The all-star family drama revolves around the story of two brothers (played by Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan). The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, and Rani Mukherjee. It will be released around the Diwali period next year (late October to early November, the same period in which Mission Kashmir and Mohabbatein were released this year).

- There was no release last week, since Mohabbatein is still destroying all the competition in the marketplace. Consequently, all of the major releases have been held till the Christmas season and only the more lower-budgeted films will be releasing in the next month. The next major film, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (Hush Hush), will not release till Dec. 22 making it a real drag for film lovers in India right now (no offense people J ). Anyway, this week's recommendation is director Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942 - A Love Story. While it may not be as good as Chopra's Mission Kashmir or Parinda (Dove), the film still packs an emotional punch as the two films and you can tell that Chopra put in all his effort on getting this film made. Anil Kapoor stars as a carefree bachelor with nothing to do in a time filled with rage against "The British Raj" and the "Quit India" movement. It is in this period that he falls in love with the seemingly innocent Rajjo (Manisha Koirala). However things are not as simple as Naren (Kapoor) had thought it was, and he also gets swept up in the Indian rebellion against the British rule. Jackie Shroff totally steals the show as Shubhanker, the brave leader of the Indian rebellion that both Naren and Rajjo get involved with. His character here is the exactly opposite from his role in Mission Kashmir and he proved here that he could succeed in the mentor-type roles as well as the traditional hero roles (ie. Parinda) that he used to excel in. Anil Kapoor and Manisha Koirala were at the peaks of their careers in 1994 when the film was made, and it really shows. Anil was an established star but he proved that with this and Parinda that he could do the more arty-type films with ease. Manisha was a rising newcomer in Bollywood at the time and sadly she has basically diminished to non-existing roles since then (with a few notable exceptions). But, like Parinda and MK, full credit must be given to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for his superb direction. His long, elaborate shots combined with a huge canvas and gorgeous cinematography gives this film a truly epic feeling. You will feel as if you're really in Northern India in 1942 amidst the chaos and violence. For fans of historical dramas, 1942 - A Love Story is definitely a must-see.

CHINA/HK

The following was reported by "AccSpy":

- Xung Yi, the current Olympic diving gold metalist, is in talks to make a cameo in Stephen Chow's now-shooting "Shaolin's Soccer (lit.title)"

- Shu Qi and Daniel Wu are now shooting "Beijing Love Story" in Beijing, China. The romantic film, about a musician and a showgirl, is being directed by Mabel Cheung. Shu Qi has to finish this film as well as "Ultimate Love Thief (lit. title)" and director Ann Hui's new suspense thriller before next Feburary in order to start her one year break.

Here's a pic from the set with Daniel Wu (left) and Shu Qi (middle):

- Two weeks ago, "In the Mood for Love" opened in France and debuted no.6 at the box office - the highest opening of an Asian film without dubbing in French (CTHD opened at no.2 months ago, but was dubbed). The film also enjoyed the highest per-screen average among top 10. Director Wong Kar-Wai confessed to all the fans that Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung's characters are the same characters from a film called "Days of Being Wild", the director's second effort in which Tony Leung appears only in the last three minutes of the film.

- Nicolas Tse has finished shooting his cameo in "Chaos of Comics (lit. title)". In the film he is playing himself as a movie star who's always starring in nothing but comic-book adaptations. His character will embody the infamous Chan Ho-Nam from "Young & Dangerous" and other fantasy heroes in movies within this movie. Sounds like he's mocking Ekin Cheng (My thoughts exactly - D25).

- Last weekend at the box office, Leon Lai and Jordan Chan's "Skyline Cruiser" had an impressive debut at the top spot, grossing an estimated $3 million HKD over the Friday-to-Sunday session. Another huge debut for the week was "Charlie's Angels", which entered the second place with an estimated $2.1 million HKD over three days and an overall $2.5 million HKD over the Thursday-to-Sunday session. Both big budget action flicks will likely finish around $15 million HKD each. "Men of Honor" slipped one spot to no.3, "Taxi 2" was down to no.4 and the teen drama "I Do", starring Raymond Wong from "Needing You...", rounded up the top 5.

Here's two pictures from "Skyline Cruiser". This first one is with (from left) Sam Lee, Jordan Chan, Michelle Saram, and Leon Lai:

This pic's with Shu Qi and Leon Lai:

JAPAN

The following was reported by "Pigmon":

- A guy from Toho told me that next year's Godzilla film will be titled Godzilla Vs. Anguirus. Anguirus is a popular monster in Godzilla series who first appeared in "Godzilla's Revenge" (I could be wrong). Also, Toho is now choosing a US distributor for "Godzilla vs Megaguirus". Columbia Pictures has not decided yet for the distribution of the film.

- Toho will be releasing yet another sci-fi / horror film, "Kairo (Circuit)", next January. The film will be on the subject of Internet murders (Bizarre - D25).

- Daiei Co. has finally decided to produce the remake of "Daimajin". Daimajin is a huge rock monster who was the subject of 3 films produced in the 60's. At this moment, there is no official announcement for the director, plot or the production starting date but I will report more on this film once I get the info.

- This week at the Japanese Box Office, "Charlie's Angels" was at the top while "The Law of Sun" and "15 Sai Gakko" were at the runner-up spots. The rest of the films in the top ten were "Space Cowboys", "Shaft", "Yo Ni Mo Kimiyo Na Monogatari", "Autumn in New York", "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", "Ekiden", and "Kal" respectively.

That's about it for this week. Remember, if you have information regarding any movie industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices . See you all next week.

- Darius25