I am not making a comeback with 13B: Madhavan

By Joginder Tuteja

He could well be termed as the longest surviving newcomer. Even though he has been around for close to a decade, Madhavan a.k.a. Maddy has been lapped up by both arms by Bollywood audience with every appearance of his.

Also, 'yeh dil really maange more' as he spends most of his time down South rather than working in Bollywood cinema. Joginder Tuteja catches up with Madhavan who is now gearing up for the release of 13B and tries to figure out what is it that makes the film exciting and worth a walk to the theaters.

The film was supposed to release some time back. So has it been delayed?
No, not at all. It is pretty much on time. See, in any case working on 13B was like working on two films since it's a bilingual in Hindi and Tamil. Yes, we finished shooting some time back but post production itself has taken us close to 7 months.

Since we had to release the film on the same day (it is coming on 6th March), we had to be extra careful to keep the speed right for both the films during post production.

Overall, the film has taken us a year and 2 months to be completed and I guess it's a fair amount of time being spent on making two films.

The film is said to be taking a cue from the reality shows that are dominating the entertainment channels today. Please elaborate.
It's a known fact that today reality shows are the flavor of the season. Whenever people turn nasty or are thrown out in a particular episode, the popularity of a show increases.

With such happenings around us, we (the makers) started wondering ki in sab mein aisi kya khaasiyat hai. What is it that forces us to watch such shows with more and more interest?

The realization dawned upon us that TV is a powerful medium today because it's not us but the TV that decides what we have to do. It has taken over our lives.

Talking about your Bollywood stint, your last sole release was 'Ramji Londonwale'. Don't you think that if it had performed better at the box office, you would have been able to establish yourself far earlier in Bollywood?
I guess I am still doing reasonably well for myself in Bollywood. If you look at my track record, I have been doing only one Hindi film a year.

The list is there for you to see. 'Rehnna Hai Terre Dil Mein' (2001), 'Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar' (2002), 'Ramji Londonwaale' (2005), 'Rang De Basanti' (2006), 'Guru' (2007), 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' (2008) and now '13B' (2008). I have decided what I want to do in my career in Hindi film industry while making sure that my decisions do not affect my Tamil market.

On the other hand, 2009 looks crowded though.
True, this is going to be an exceptional year as I have a bevy of Hindi films releases. There is 13B followed by 'Sikandar'.

Then there are also movies like 'Teen Patti' and 'Three Idiots'. So yeah, a lot happening even though I wasn't looking at making a comeback per se, a term which many out there are trying to coin for me (smiles).

he minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was THE man I'll marry: Amrita Arora

By Subhash K Jha It’s arguably the most important day of her life. And Amrita Arora is naturally excited as she prepares for her Christian wedding to beau Shakeel Ladak. The nikaah is two days later. “We were supposed to have a church wedding today, ” Amrita chatters excitedly as the makeup lady does her most challenging job ever for the actress. “But there were some security hassles. So we quickly moved the venue to Olive. But no hassles because we always had a standby ready. ” Amrita gives full credit to her sister Malaika for all the arrangements. “I know nothing about the wedding arrangement. It was all done by my sister who put her own life on hold to look into my wedding details. I’m blessed to have such a supportive family. I’ve my wedding today (Wednesday 4 March) and I’m talking to you while my folks are taking care of everything, ” the bride got emotional as her mother reminded her she needed to hurry up with the dressing up. But Amrita decided to get introspective. “You know, the minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was the man I wanted to marry. It’s like a karmic connection. I just felt it. I had never felt this before. Shakeel is everything that I want my husband to be. And I’m determined to make our marriage work. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Ask her about the honeymoon which will follow the sangeet on Thursday and the nikaah on Friday and Amrita shrugs, “ The problem is, both Shakeel and I are so widely traveled we’ve nowhere to go that we can claim as being our private honeymoon spot. There doesn’t seem to be any place that neither of us has not visited. I guess we’ll just hold each other’s hand close our eyes and point to any part of the globe as our honeymoon spot. It doesn’t matter where we go as long as we’re together. ”

Why Soha and Emraan were vaccinated

Before stepping into the filthy water for shooting Kunal Deshmukh’s Tum Mile, the film’s lead stars Soha Ali Khan and Emraan Hashmi had to be vaccinated to avoid infection. Presently the film is being shot in Mumbai’s eastern suburb Bhandup and at an old dilapidated factory in Mulund.

Our unit source revealed, “Since the film is based on the infamous Mumbai floods of July 26th 2005, a lot of flood sequences are being presently shot but it’s getting difficult not only for Emraan and Soha but also the crew as well to be stranded in the water for long times.

Soha and Emraan therefore took vaccines for all the possible diseases because the water we have used is filthy. Few days back on the sets of the film, Soha was heard complaining of body aches, especially after shooting for 12 hours.”

Talking about Emraan our source further adds, “He is keeping getting injured on the sets. But while Soha’s really afraid of the water Emraan’s quite a soldier. While filming an underwater sequence, he injured his right eye.

And while filming another scene, he ran into a wooden plank and hurt himself. But half an hour later, he was back on his feet, ready to shoot. However, he later visited the doctor.”

Presently sixty percent has been completed and Kunal (of Jannat fame) hopes to release it in the end of July. Tum Mile, is a love story that unfolds during the Mumbai floods and will have Emraan and Soha doing a lip lock as well.

Shahid and Priyanka lock lips in Kaminey!!!

Shahid Kapoor who was last seen in Aziz Mirza’s Kismat Konnection will now be doing double act in Vishal Bharadwaj ‘Kaminey”. In this film he will play bad man named as “Charlie” who is selfish and wants money.

We spoke to our source from UTV who gives details about Shahid Kapoor's role and more.

“Shahid has really done a great job in his new role of Charlie and Guddu and will surely be remembered as one of his greatest role ever. Kaminey is the story of identical twins.

Both want to make big in their life and so in the race of life, Charlie goes on the negative side. He meets Sunil Bhope, who is a shrewd politician and Priyanka Chopra’s (Sweety) brother, who misuses Charlie and over course of time he becomes a bad man.”

Further our source told us that, “Vishal has really done a splendid role in his screenplay as for the first time it’s his original screenplay and not adapted by any Shakespeare novels while Guddu is a chocolate boy who also wants to acquire money and go ahead in life but through hard-work and honesty and so in course of time the two meets together.”

“Kaminey” is quite an interesting film as its socio-political drama, in which Amol Gupte is debuting as main negative character with Shahid Kapoor in a double role.

Not only this, you would witness a lip-lock scene between Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor for the first time. Recently a song named as “Tan Taana” was sung by Vishal Dadlani and Sukhwinder Singh and it was being picturised on both Charlie and Guddu.

The film is releasing on 5th June, 2009 and we are hoping that this won’t repeat the debacle of Kismat Konnection.

It's raining money on Asin, Genelia and Deepika

By Business Standard

Freida Pinto After just a film or two, young film stars are charging the earth for endorsing brands.

Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto, who is believed to have bagged a role in Woody Allen's next, may see her brand endorsement fee rise nearly four-fold to nearly Rs 1.5 crore from a mere Rs 40 lakh that she charged earlier.

Genelia D'Souza and Imraan Khan, who starred in the hit Jaane Tu Ya Jane Na, and Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, the cornerstones of Pepsi's Youngistaan campaign, are already demanding between Rs 1 crore and Rs 4 crore.

The growing popularity of Generation X is easy to explain, given that Bollywood's established stars Shah Rukh, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Rani Mukherjee are appearing in fewer films.

"The older stars have very few projects for the next few months. The younger stars have three or four projects slated for release over the next 12 months and will be in the limelight.

The endorsement rate is directly proportionate to the number of new projects you have in hand, " said Anirban Das Blah, chief executive of Globosports, the Bangalore-based celebrity management company.

Genelia D'Souza: Rs 1-1.3 crore

Asin: Rs 1.2-1.3 crore

Freida Pinto: Rs 1.2-1.5 crore

Deepika Padukone: Rs 1.5-2 crore

Ranbir Kapoor: Rs 3.5-4 crore

Imran Khan: Rs 3-3.5 crore

Part of the reason for this rapid rise in asking price is that some new stars may be new in Mumbai but already have a large fan following in their regions. D’Souza and Asin, for instance, are already big names in south India, but the success of just one Hindi movie has virtually doubled their fees.

Industry sources say stars like Kapoor, D'Souza and Padukone are currently in talks with at least five leading brands in categories like automobiles, beauty products and apparel.

Companies say they are banking on new faces because it fits the profile of the brands they are endorsing. D'Souza, for instance, endorses Coca-Cola's new Fanta Apple.

"Genelia’s personality matches the Fanta brand persona, which is young, energetic and fresh, and she appeals to the youth, " said a company spokesperson.

Dabur Vatika has tied up with D'Souza, mainly to try and revamp the product and make it more attractive to the youth.

Tata Sky, for the same reason, roped in Asin during the release of the hit, Ghajini. "Tata Sky and Asin have a lot in common. Both are young, energetic, achievers, and both enjoy a high degree of credibility with consumers, " said Vikram Mehra, the company's chief marketing officer.

"As our new face, she will be influential in reinforcing the attributes of the Tata Sky brand and reiterate our positioning."

There are, however, risks in betting on the new faces. "The huge endorsement fees paid to the younger lot, especially the actress, are in anticipation of better on-screen work in the near future.

Mind you, if their next project flops, they will be out of the race for big bucks, " said ad-filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar. In contrast, he said, Shah Rukh or Hrithik were much more stable and time-tested.

Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Percept Limited, seconds this. "Asin has yet to prove her youth connect despite the success of Ghajini. So her unrealistic price could disappear if her next film flops.

However, India has a large youth population, so youth's connect with brands is a given, especially as the established actors today are over 40 and the new ones have to come to the fore, " he said.