Moviewood.net

Love Aaj Kal is doing good with its songs and promos and is gearing up for an eagerly awaited release on this Friday. The film is an acid test for its lead pair, Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, and a lot of expectations are riding on this romantic comedy, which is about love across generations.

Saif Ali Khan’s previous two releases Tashan and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic bit the dust at the box-office. His voice over animated film Roadside Romeo was also a dud at the box office. Saif, who is aiming at a big come back with Love Aaj Kal has also turned a producer with the film.

Deepika Padukone is also badly in need of a hit. Her last two films were not able to live up to the expectations. While Bachan Ae Haseeno opposite her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor was an average, Chandni Chowk To China opposite Akshay Kumar turned a disaster at the box office. She also has a lot of hopes pinned on Love Aaj Kal.

As far as the audience are concerned, July was not a satisfying month for them. Even big releases like Kambakht Ishq and Luck have failed to live up to the expectations. Movie buffs are now expecting a lot from Love Aaj Kal, especially because the movie is directed by Imtiaz Ali who gave us the sweet Jab We Met in 2007.

Love Aaj Kal with its songs, trailers, controversies and freshness of the lead pair has created quite an interest in people. But can this film bring some cheer on the face of the audience on the last day of July remains to be seen.

Fans of Salman Khan are  eagerly waiting for his first appearance on the big screen in 2009. This is evident from the number of inquiries on his upcoming films, across the web. But Salman is one man who never disappoints his fans. He is coming up with some real entertainment for the remaining part of 2009.

Salman’s big screen silence will come to an end when his eagerly awaited Wanted:Dead and Alive hits the marquees this September. Wanted, directed by dance icon Prabhu Deva is a remake of the 2006 Telugu flick Pokiri, which was remade in Tamil with the same title. Salman will be seen playing a larger than life character of an undercover cop in the movie which has Ayesha Takia in the female lead. Wanted is slated for a September 18 release.

Salman’s second film this year will be Main Aur Mrs.Khanna where he will be seen alongside Kareena Kapoor and Sohail Khan. Main Aur Mrs.Khanna, directed by debutant Prem Soni is a family drama revolving around the theme of  extra marital affairs. The film is expected to hit the theaters on October 16th.

Next to hit the screens will be his much anticipated romantic musical London Dreams. Directed by Vipul Shah, the film has Ajay Devgan and Asin alongside Salman. London Dreams tells the story of two childhood friends who dreams about making it big in the music industry and turns it into reality.  ‘London Dreams’ is the name of their band and Salman and Ajay are the lead singers. Asin, who joins the band as a dancer, becomes the love interest of both the friends in the film which is scheduled for release on October 30th.

Salman fans have plenty more to cheer about! He will be seen in action mode in Veer which is expected to hit the theaters early next year. Veer, scripted by Salman himself and directed by Anil Sharma, is expected to be a period film and Salman will be playing a warrior in the film. Then there is Dabaang where he will be seen playing a corrupt cop. Dabaang, produced by Salman’s brother Arbaaz Khan and directed by Abhinav Kashyap, will see Salman mouthing a lot of UP slang and with a moustache. Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter Sonakshi Sinha will play the female lead in the movie.

Fear has always been a favorite subject for Ram Gopal Varma’s films. His films had sent chills down the viewer’s spine many times in the past. As he is getting ready to take the viewers on a scary ride once again this August with his latest venture Agyaat, let’s take a look on the long list of spooky movies from him.

Way back in 2003, Varma came out with Bhoot which gave the viewer’s some sleepless nights. The film, starring Urmila Matondkar, Ajay Devgan and Fardeen Khan, was quite an unconventional Bollywood movie and performed moderately well at the box office. Bhoot remains Ramu’s best work so far in the horror genre.

But his next two horror movies Darna Mana Hai and Darna Zaroori Hai failed to make any impact at the box office. Varma was the producer of Darna Mana Hai, directed by Prawal Raman and released in mid 2003.  He was also one out of the six directors of Darna Zaroori Hai released in 2006. Both times he tried to present an anthology horror film integrating six different spooky stories. Though the innovative story telling was appreciated, both the films sank at the box office without a trace.

Ramu’s next ghost story was Darling in 2007 with Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol and Isha Koppikar in the lead roles. Darling received only mixed reviews but was appreciated for knitting comedy, songs and dance sequences quite well in a horror film.

Ramu, then ventured into black magic and superstitions with Phoonk in 2008. This small budget affair with relatively little known stars turned out to be the surprise hit of 2008. Though the critical response was mixed, the film helped in bringing some kind of an end to Ramu’s bad run at the box office.

And now Ramu is all set to take viewer’s to the jungle for another scary ride with his Agyaat which is scheduled for an August 7 release. Agyaat, starring Priyanka Kothari and Nitin Reddy, is about a film crew who got misplaced in a jungle and is haunted by an unseen force.

Don’t think Agyaat is the last one! Ramu has announced his next horror film titled Warning, which will be India’s first 3D horror film. Warning will have Ritesh Deshmukh in the lead.

It seems, Ramu has no intentions to stop scaring people.

As “Luck” reaches the theaters this Friday, we can see the characters trying out their luck in some death-defying stunts. Off screen also the film is an acid test for some of the guys associated with it.

Director Soham Shah had almost disappeared from the industry after his debut “Kaal” in 2005 fell flat at the box office. Four long years of waiting and hard work and he is trying to prove his mettle with an even bigger film.  He should consider himself lucky to be back in the industry with such a big film. Wait and see if ‘Luck’ will come his way this time!

It is testing time for Imraan Khan also! Even though Imraan was quite impressive as the rough and tough guy in his last film “Kidnap”, the film sank at the box office. The actor, who is still riding on the success of his debut “Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na” which was released before one year, is hoping to hit the bull’s eye with the adrenaline-pumping thriller.

Luck will be quite an unconventional debut for its heroine Shruti Haasan, daughter of the legendary Kamal Haasan. While most of the heroines will choose a romantic or family drama film for their debut, she has gone for an action thriller and has done some daredevil stunts for the film. Will her decision turn lucky for her?

Well,  a lot is riding on the movie! We will have to wait and see if “Luck” will bring any luck in the career of these guys. Anyway, goodluck guys!

‘Tashan’, the last film which featured Saifeena together might not have created any magic at the box office, but who cares? Producers seem to have great faith in the couple as Saif and Kareena will be seen together in quite a number of upcoming films. Why shouldn’t they?  After all it is the absence of Kareena that is giving more publicity to Saif’s soon to be released ‘Love Aaj Kal’ than Deepika’s presence.

The pair is currently working on ‘Qurbaan’ which will be a serious film based on terrorism and is set in the US. The film will see Saifeena in one of the steamiest scenes ever in Bollywood. Vivek Oberoi plays an important character in the film.  ‘Qurbaan’, previously titled as Jihaad, is directed by Renzil D’Silva and is produced by Karan Johar.

The next on line is ‘Agent Vinod’, Saif’s home production after ‘Love Aaj Kal’.  As the title denotes, the movie is said to be a detective thriller with lots of action and it takes on after a popular old movie with the same name. ‘Agent Vinod’ will be directed by Sriram Raghavan of ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ and ‘Johnny Gaddaar’ fame. The movie is expected to go on floors after Saif and Kareena are through with their current schedules.

‘Race 2′, which is currently in scripting stage, is also reported to have Bebo as Saif’s heroine. According to the gossip columns, the script is being written as to make way for Kareena’s entry.

Hmmm, looks like the supercouple is all set to set the screens on fire.

If gossips are to be believed, 2010 will turn out to be a ’sequel year’ for Bollywood. Dhoom 3, Don 2, Corporate 2, Race 2, Dostana 2 …seems the list is never going to end! But the fact is that in spite of all the rumours, nothing certain has come out yet about these highly anticipated sequels.

Dhoom 3 has been creating all sorts of rumours ever since ‘Dhoom 2′ rocked the box office in late 2006. The first buzz was that Shahrukh Khan will be roped in to play the stylish baddie in the 3rd installment of the Dhoom series, along with Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra in their regular roles. The enthusiasm reached its peak, when it was heard that Aamir Khan will play the cop and Shahrukh will appear as a ‘goody thief’ in ‘Dhoom 3′. In between, Saif Ali Khan’s name was also heard for the iconic villain. Who will be the glamour ladies also remains a mystery whereas the buzz for the director’s hat was that Aditya Chopra might replace Sanjay Gadhvi this time.

Don 2 also had its own share in the gossip columns. One rumour said that Farhan Akhtar will feature both Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan in the sequel while another was that Sushmita Sen will replace Priyanka Chopra this time. However the producers of the film had later clarified that they will go on with pretty much the same cast of the original. The film will have some heavy-duty action scenes and will turn out to be SRK’s most audacious actioner yet. As of now the film is expected to start rolling in summer 2010 at Dublin.

‘Bipasha Basu or Deepika Padukone’ has been the headline for Corporate 2 gossips for quite some time now. Anyway the latest reports have gone in favour of Bipasha Basu. Though the sequel is in the scripting stage, it is expected to be a big budget film and there will be some major changes in the supporting cast. Director Madhur Bhandarkar might begin working on the film after he is through with his current film ‘Jail’ , which stars Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mugdha Godse.

Lady luck hasn’t favoured Bipasha as far as Race 2 is considered. As per the reports, Bips has been shown the door and Kareena has been roped in to play the heroine opposite beau Saif Ali Khan. Also there were reports that although the producers were not keen in keeping the director duo Abbas-Mustan for the sequel, Saif has convinced them to stick to the original directors. Race 2 is also in scripting stage and is expected to start shooting in late 2009.

Dostana 2 is also not behind in the gossip columns. The latest report is that Bollywood’s “Goddess of Luck” Katrina Kaif will replace Priyanka Chopra in the sequel. It is heard that director Tarun Mansukhani and producer Karan Johar will take the friends Sam (Abhishek) and Kunal (John Abraham) from Miami to Punjab for the gay comedy sequel. Also the rumours say that Ritesh Deshmukh and Shreyas Talpade will play a real gay couple in the sequel.

It will be nice to see these big sequels hitting the theatres one after the other. But how many of them will really come out of the gossip columns is something we will have to wait and see.

Release date of ‘Puthiya Mukham’, directed by Deepan and starring Prithviraj, has been changed once again. The film, which was supposed to hit theatres tomorrow, is now rescheduled for release on July 18th.

This is the second time that the release of the film is being postponed. Initially the film was slated for release on July 10th, but was changed to July 16 to avoid clash with Megastar Mammootty’s ‘Ee Pattanathil Bhootham’.

2009 has not been a great year for Prithviraj so far as all his films fell flat at the box office. But it seems that the producers and directors still have great faith in him as he has quite an interesting line up of films this year and the next. The first one in that list is ‘Puthiya Mukam’ which will hit the theatres tomorrow.

‘Puthiya Mukham’ is directed by Deepan who was an associate to Shaji Kailas. Deepan had earlier debuted as an independent director with the film, ‘The Leader’ which couldn’t make any impact at the box office.

The film has Prithviraj playing the character of Krishnakumar, a mridangam player. After joining an engineering college in Cochin his life takes a turn and he is forced to take on the real estate mafia and liquor lobby.

Priyamani and Meera Nandan are paired opposite Prithviraj in the movie. Bala plays an important role in the film which has Saikumar, Jagathy Sreekumar, Shammy Thilakan, Sudheesh, Vijayaraghavan, Suraj Venjaramood and Janardhanan in supporting roles.

Deepak Dev has scored the music for the film and Kaithapuram Damodaran Namboothiri has penned the lyrics. Prithviraj has turned a singer for this film. He has sung the title song, “Suryamugham Ini Oru Puthiyamugham…”.

‘Puthiya Mukham’ is produced by Anil Mathew and S. Murugan under the banner of Bethesda Productions. The film is marketed by Time Ad Release.

Mallika Sherawat is having the time of her life! She has been going places ever since she went to Hollywood for the post production work of her upcoming movie ‘Hissss’. The latest buzz is that she has been personally invited by the social networking biggie Twitter to visit their headquarters. Mallika will visit the Twitter office at San Fransisco, California on July 14th.

Mallika is in Twitter by the name MallikaLA. She is relatively new to Twitter, but is the most popular Bollywood star on the site and has one of the fastest growing followers list. As of now, this Bollywood bombshell has around 6300 followers. The sultry actress has been regularly posting messages on her experiences in Hollywood, along with giving some tips to men on how to impress women!

Mallika has been creating news ever since she reached Hollywood. She garnered awards and was busy meeting and making celebrity friends. Recently a new milkshake in the “Millions of Milkshakes” shop at West Hollywood was named after her. Then it was the legendary Greek musician Yanni, who dedicated his new song Changes to the “one of a kind” Bollywood beauty.

Also Mallika is invited as a guest at the Miss India-America pageant, scheduled for August 7 at LA. And according to reports, Mallika will start working on her next Hollywood film by this October. In this movie, she will be playing a character inspired by San Francisco Attorney General – Kamala Harris.

Well, it seems Hollywood is doing more for this Bollywood beauty!

Yesteryear Malayalam films were rich in their scripts and connected easily with the social and cultural life of people in Kerala. But, unlike Bollywood and other regional film industries in India, Malayalam film industry had always shied away from remaking its classics. But, the first step in this direction is made now and this year Malayalam cinema will witness the release of the first ever remake in its history. ‘Neelathamara’ (The Blue Lotus) is this path breaking film in the history of Malayalam Cinema.

‘Neelathamara’, one of the most beautiful movies ever made in Malayalam cinema, was scripted by M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the renowned Malayalam author, scriptwriter and director. M T has made some slight changes in the script for the remake to connect to new generation audience.

The original movie, released in 1979 was directed by Yusaf Ali Kechery. Ambika immortalized the lead character of Kunjimalu, a 16 year old village girl, with her fine performance in the original. The remake, helmed by Lal Jose will have debutant Archana playing Kunjimalu.

The male lead of the film will also be played by a newcomer. Debutant Kailash steps into the chappals of Ravikumar, who played the hero in the original. Suresh Nair, who is making his debut as an actor, will be seen as Appukkuttan, the character that Sattar did in the original.

The remake is produced by G. Suresh Kumar under the banner of Revathy Kalamandhir. The new version is Suresh Kumar’s tribute to the original, as he was fascinated by the original in his youth days.

Vidyasagar has set the tunes for lyrics penned by Vayalar Sarath Chandaravarma. Vijay Ulaganathan is the cinematographer. ‘Neelathamara’ is scheduled for release on October 9th, 2009.