Tag: Bollywood

Katie Holmes has ended her five-year partnership with stylist Jeanne Yang in their fashion line ‘Holmes and Yang’. Sources revealed that the former wife of Tom Cruise ended the deal on the eve of the Oscars due to an “interpersonal conflict” which has soured things between them, the New York Post reported. Sources added that line, which was launched in 2009, was also having difficulty because its creators live on different coasts and reports suggested that Yang was leaking information about Holmes and Cruise following their divorce.

STORY: The film is the real-life story of Rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof, a homophobic electrician, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1985 and given just 30 days to live. Unable to come to terms with his condition, he decided to fight not just the disease, but also the complacent American health-care system.

REVIEW: A film on an AIDS-stricken protagonist (who, in order to prolong his life, becomes an accidental entrepreneur-crusader-activist) could easily emerge as a melancholic piece of socio-medical drama. Instead, Jean-Marc Vallee uplifts and inspires by just showcasing Ron’s (an emaciated Matthew McConaughey) relentless resilience without glorifying his bigoted views or outrageous (drugs-prostitutes-beer) lifestyle. He is the unlikely hero who knows he is fighting a lost battle. He lives in a trailer park and hates ‘faggots’, who according to him are the only ones to contract AIDS.

After his friends shun him owing to the ‘disease’ and the doctors give him 30 days to put his affairs in order, instead of succumbing to depression, he becomes his own physician. He discovers and smuggles unapproved but effective drugs into the US from Mexico and other countries for himself and to make money. But somewhere down the line, he also ends up reaching out to those abandoned by society like Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman addicted to cocaine and infected by HIV. Their deep bromance forms an integral part of the story and is far more interesting than the insipid love track between Ron and Dr Eve (Jennifer Garner). What seems like a standard plot is elevated to excellence by the lead actors’ remarkable performances.

There’s more to McConaughey than the drastic weight loss and an author-backed, Oscar-friendly role. From getting the Texan mannerisms, swagger and his character’s juvenility right, to producing a range of emotions, he reinvents himself and gives the performance of his career. It would be a shame if he doesn’t bag the much-coveted Oscar for it. Leto is a revelation too and deserves the accolades coming his way. Ron died in 1992, seven years after he was diagnosed with HIV. This is his incredible life story, told with a dash of humour and an empathyevoking narrative. Brilliant would be an understatement.

STORY: Wealthy Veera is kidnapped by brutish Mahavir. Is she on a highway leading to hell – or away? REVIEW: Straight up, Highway is not a sunny, funny road-trip. It is Imtiaz Ali’s starkest, darkest work yet.

Rich Veera (Bhatt) steps away from her Monsoon Wedding-style shaadi preparations (a handheld camera capturing gold, ghaghras and a girl going, “Bhaiyya, flavvers lappet do!”) for a break with her reluctant fiance. Driving into a foggy Delhi night, Veera steps out to breathe free – and gets kidnapped by violent criminal Mahavir Bhaati (Hooda) and his gang. Gagged, tied-up, slapped and starved, Veera’s thrown onto a terrifying truck that drives off on a never-ending highway, leaving established society far behind.

What does Veera experience on this trip? Highway belongs unabashedly to Alia Bhatt. Her Veera is stunning – sincere and simple, prettily earnest, shakily emotional. Bhatt’s range and prowess are evident in her timid confidence, the slow swagger Veera gains as she takes control of the situation, captivating her captor, confronting assault. Hooda’s Mahavir is frightening, tightly controlled, the actor conveying dark dislike with crackling tension, switching to bewilderment with comic ease.

Alongside, Aaroo (Durgesh Kumar), Mahavir’s companion, who breaks into a delightful trance-wala dance with Veera as she sways to ‘English music’ on the road, is memorable. But what stamps this film indelibly is its sheer boldness. Imtiaz Ali must be congratulated for his daring novelty, for a powerful heroine-centric story, for his heroine who looks like a Vermeer painting dressed in a dusty ghaghra.

At times, Highway feels like an unending Bharat darshan, a long look at suffering souls through several deserts and eucalyptus trees. But some meandering is its only flaw. Watch it for its cathartic creativity, for colours akin to Iranian palettes, for sound design where melting qawwalis, chirruping crickets and a screeching train make layers of noise – for that shot where Veera rests her head on a pillow of water.

Ragini MMS – 2, the forthcoming horror-erotica film, contains a horror-packed scene shot inside a lake. In fact, there is even a fleeting shot of the said scene in the film’s trailer. It appears at the point when Sunny’s costar follows her to a lake hoping to make love to her. The lake was in Vasai on the outskirts of Mumbai, in a scary and quiet location. The said scene had to be shot at midnight when the water was cold, so as to get the desired effect.

Sunny had to dip into the water to give her best shot but was petrified because the lake was quite a walk from her vanity van. There was also talk of water snakes. The scene took an entire night to shoot and Sunny fell ill the following day and developed a minor skin allergy. “I saw dead fish. The water was dirty,” said Sunny. “I was scared as hell,” she added.

After superstars like Shah Rukh Khan (The Incredibles — English version) and Priyanka Chopra (Planes — English version), Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan have lent their voices for the Hindi-dubbed version of Hollywood animation flick Rio 2. They are featured as the voices of the lovable macaws, Jewel and Blu.

The English version of the movie has Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg doing what Sona and Imran have. “I love animation films. So, when they approached me to lend my voice to the sequel of one of the most loved animation films, I didn’t think twice,” says Sonakshi, adding, “It’s a completely new experience for me and I’m very excited!” Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak had dubbed in Hindi for the characters of Nico and Pedro in the earlier version of Rio.

Though she is known more for her quirky fashion style, Bollywood diva Kangana Ranaut seems to have ditched western dresses to go for traditional ones.

The pretty actress is now being spotted donning Indian wear while promoting her upcoming film ‘Queen’. A report says the actress first wooed the audiences dressed in a vibrant anarkali at India’s Got Talent. She then surprised us all by wearing a simple churidar-kurta for a promotional event.

Her ‘simple, girl-next-door’ image is proving to be beneficial for her co-star Lisa Haydon, who is stealing the limelight with her sexy western outfits.

Kim Kardashian went under a new beauty treatment in order to reduce wrinkles on ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ show. The 33-year-old reality star paid a little visit to Dr Simon Ouvian to splurge on some casual lasering around her cleavage area, Daily Star reported.

The recent outing of Kim was shown in the new episode of ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’, where her fans saw her sitting in the patient chair with a blue surgical gown, oversized safety goggles and makeup free for the cameras in the latest episode of her TV show.

Hillary Duff was recently spotted with a mystery man, as they held hands at Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz concert in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old former Disney star walked into the concert at the Staples Center arm-in-arm with a dark haired hunk and joined her sister Haylie Duff to watch the ‘Wrecking Ball’ hitmaker perform, Radar Online reported. Duff, who had earlier announced her split with husband Mike Comrie, was wearing a low-cut black top, leather jacket, jeans and a statement necklace while her mystery man was clad in a tank top with a denim shirt and white jeans.

STORY: Set in 79 AD, Pompeii is a rich girl/poor boy-style romance served up with heaps of bloody gladiatorial action and of course, Mount Vesuvius, which erupts in a curtain of molten magma. REVIEW: As a young boy, Milo (Harington) sees his parents killed by a Roman general Corvis (Sutherland) as the Romans suppress a Celt uprising.

He is then taken into captivity and grows up to become an expert gladiator, fuelled by hatred for the Romans. His skills impress his masters and he gets a chance to fight in the amphitheatre of Pompeii during the Vinalia festival.Along the way, he meets Cassia (Browning), the daughter of a wealthy businessman Lucretius (Harris) and his elegant wife Aurelia (Moss), and the two become a veritable Romeo and Juliet of ancient Rome.

This displeases the visiting Senator Corvis, who fancies Cassia but despite his rank, air of entitlement and imperious lines, has the charm of a doorknob. Unsurprisingly, Cassia is repelled by him straight into the arms of Milo, who also befriends the man-mountain of a gladiator, Atticus (Adewale). Atticus, due to be freed after one last death match, begins to help out the already capable Milo during combat and reminds him to keep his eye on the prize – Cassia. So, they fight for freedom and love respectively.

Anderson cleverly cuts to the increasingly ominous rumblings of Mount Vesuvius whenever the story is in danger of dragging, to refocus on the movie’s focal point. You will notice the inevitable parallels with Gladiator and Game of Thrones and the script is often rudimentary (“My name is Milo. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” or “You looked at him. Did you see his muscles?”).

But that is par for the course because brutish gladiators are meant to fight and kill, not speak flowing prose in the King’s English. The love story itself is forgettable and cheesy. But that is only incidental compared to what you can watch this movie for – its fight scenes and cataclysmic climax, both produced and recreated in good detail.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S star Courteney Cox reportedly wants her musician boyfriend Johnny McDaid to move in with her. The 49-year-old actress sparked dating rumours with the Snow Patrol musician last year, when she attended Jennifer Aniston’s Christmas party with him, reported Contactmusic.

“Johnny went home to Ireland over the new year, while Courteney headed to Mexico with Jennifer Aniston. The time apart made her realise how serious she is about him and as soon as he got home she asked him to live with her,” a source said. “This is the happiest Courteney has been in a long time,” the source added.

Actress Eva Mendes was allegedly caught using her cell phone while driving but managed to avoid a ticket.The 39-year-old Training Day star narrowly avoided a ticket when she was pulled over by a police officer on a bicycle in Los Angeles after he spotted her chatting into the device in her grey Lexus SUV, reported TMZ online.

Eva Mendes was reportedly given a piece of paper but apparently talked her way out of a ticket. The brunette beauty has had a difficult time recently as rumours surfaced she split from her boyfriend Ryan Gosling after almost three years together over Christmas. But a spokesperson for the actress said that the breakup reports were just rumours. The 2 Fast 2 Furious star also sparked speculation she was pregnant when she refused to go through an airport security scan recently.

STORY: Based on Mark Halprin’s 1983 novel by the same name, Winter’s Tale makes us want to believe in miracles and eternal love that transcends time and space.

REVIEW: In spite of the escapist theme and a beautiful snow-clad setting, the time-travelling romance seems ineffective as you have demons, a magical white horse and much more barging into the story, making it all look more ludicrous than fascinating. However, diehard fans of mushy love stories may still like the film, given the ‘feel-good’ execution. Coming to the plot, the story spans across centuries.

Set in a mythical New York, it all starts in 1895 when orphaned thief Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) falls for Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), a wealthy young woman dying of consumption. However, Peter is being chased by crime boss Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), who is actually a demon in the service of Lucifer (Will Smith).

A magical white horse whisks Peter away, every time he faces trouble but in return, can Peter become the guardian angel of Beverly and rescue her from the clutches of death? While the setting, cinematography, background score, outfits, imagery, everything is ideal for a ‘magical love story’, the adaptation is way too convoluted and unconvincing. It all looks beautiful but you don’t feel for the characters or their love, which is a big drawback for a romantic fantasy.

Barring Jennifer Connelly’s cameo, even performances are mediocre. The two lead actors have no chemistry. Colin Farrell survives for some 100 years to ‘find and fulfill the purpose’ of his immortality but you fail to find the purpose of this never-ending love story. Russell Crowe hams while Will Smith embarrasses himself by taking up the role. Farrell sports a funny hairstyle but acts well. Jessica Brown Findlay looks gorgeous but has nothing much to contribute. If you dream about Colin Farrell, you might like this one, otherwise read a Jane Austen novel instead.

Deepika Padukone is known for her professional conduct and all her directors and producers have always had good things to say about her. She is extremely punctual and pushes herself to her utmost capacity. Last week itself, the actress worked for 30 hours straight.

After shooting for Happy New Year for 16 odd hours, Deepika rushed for her dance performance at an awards function. Not only did she perform, she also did a thorough rehearsal with the team before that. However, the young actress had a sudden bout of ill health over the weekend (Saturday). Deepika was shooting till wee hours on Friday and almost fainted.

She woke up with running high temperature on Saturday and felt extremely weak. A doctor was rushed home who advised her strict bed rest. Deepika who is a workoholic would usually skip his advice, take medication and head straight to the studio but this time around, she was physically drained.

She had a hectic day ahead with a magazine shoot and brand commitment to keep. However she felt very weak and hence had no option but to stay home and rest. Deepika’s spokesperson confirms, “Deepika’s health has taken a toll. The doctor has strictly advised her complete rest for couple of days.”

Actress Bipasha Basu, who is in the news for her relationship with Harman Baweja, says she is looking for an eligible bachelor. Bipasha is all set to perform at the IIFA awards in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Asked if she going to the IIFA awards with Harman, Bipasha said: “I am going to IIFA alone. So I am looking for an eligible bachelor there.”

Story: Buddies Bikram and Bala control Calcutta’s black trade, both falling in love with Nandita – who’s the biggest gunda?

Review: Straight up, Gunday pays loving homage to Bollywood classics ‘Sholay’, ‘Kaala Patthar’ and other ‘brothers-in-arms’ films while offering more. Gunday is Oliver Twist, given a Bollywood twist. Orphaned Bala (Kapoor) saves waif Bikram (Singh) from a paedophile in war-torn Bangladesh. Escaping officials, the two boys reach Calcutta, hiding on a train. Facing homelessness and heartlessness, the duo decides to conquer life, selling stolen coal – till they become Calcutta’s most famous gundey, controlling all its illegal trading from timber to fish.

Bikram and Bala are tough, cheerful and inseparable – until they both fall for cabaret dancer Nandita (Chopra). As they bitterly fall out with each other, ACP Satyajit Sarkar (Khan) closes in for the kill. Gunday showcases refugee Robin Hoods refusing to be beaten. Its music has peppy, bright dil while its muscular action is hard-hitting. Irrfan stands out as the sarcastically drawling cop while Arjun displays endearing vulnerability as dark-natured Bala. Ranveer endows Bikram with a charming, if familiar swagger while Priyanka infuses Nandita with languid sexiness.

However, the plot distractedly rushes in several directions – refugee angst, ration cards, the system’s rot, gang wars, bromance, romance, broken bromance – while Calcutta appears like a Wild West of the east, fringed by Chambal-like landscapes through which goods trains sway, gundas bashing each other to coal dust atop.

Gunday’s heart is in the right place but the plot gets overwhelmed by its own voluptuousness, its slick torsos and slow-motion slaps, its extended Durga Puja which leaves it lost between Calcutta’s cabarets and Dhanbad’s dark mines. However, Gunday’s fun while it lasts. Bala and Bikram’s chemistry is literally fleshed out well – don’t miss the cheeky salaam to Salman Khan when their shirts fly off – and you giggle as they’re scolded, “Daant mat dikhao!” More depth, more fire would’ve sharpened this film. But Gunday offers glitter coating a grim tale.

STORY: Straight-forward boy and eccentric girl are drawn to each other. Wait, they’re not the ones in a relationship. Will their love fructify?

REVIEW: Hasee Toh Phasee is for the romantics who like their martinis stirred not shaken. Debutant director Vinil Mathew’s straight-forward approach is smart and fresh; his characters are lovable. Nikhil(Sidharth Malhotra) is an optimist, who believes once committed, there’s no straying. Meeta( Parineeti Chopra) is a nonconformist; she’s a go-getter in her personal and professional space. Naturally Nikhil and Meeta’s ideologies don’t match. But there’s an under-current in their equation that keeps the audience hoping they that they will seek each other out.

Ok, so why aren’t these two together in the first place? Is it only because they are poles apart as people? No, it’s because Nikhil is engaged to be married to Meeta’s elder sister Karishma. And, Meeta herself has been missing from the family scene for seven long years chasing her professional dream. It is only when the prodigal returns, does she realise that there’s an emotional void in her life. Besides her father who dotes on her, she also feels the need for a companion like Nikhil who can put her topsy-turvy life into perspective.

This romantic comedy mirrors the quirks in human nature subtly and provides humour in everyday situations; in the family and amongst friends. Parineeti’s relationship with her father(Manoj Joshi, in fine form) strikes the right emotional chord. The songs–Shake It like Shammi and the Punjabi Wedding Song add zing to an otherwise simple narrative. Parineeti who has come to represent the power-house performer passes with flying colours. And, Sidharth, whose good-looks distract, shows a definitive growth in his second outing as an actor after Student of the Year. If you’re looking to rediscover the magic of goofy love around Valentines, give HTP a shot.

Katrina Kaif has once again made headlines but unlike her last few news sightings, this one isn’t about her holiday pictures getting leaked or her rumoured tiff with alleged boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. Katrina is under the limelight this time for her response to a question asked by a journalist on Salman rating her higher up on the honesty meter. At a recent awards function which was hosted by Salman, the superstar invited filmmaker Karan Johar on stage and threw a volley of questions at him in a mock rapid-fire round inspired by the latter’s popular celebrity chat show.

Titled ‘Sherbat With Salman’, he gave Karan the names of a few actresses and asked Karan to rate them on their level of honesty. When Karan put Katrina right at the bottom of his list, Salman intervened and asked him to rank her a little higher. In an interview later when Kat was informed about the same, she replied with a smile and said “If Salman has said that then it is a very important thing. We should always respect what Salman says”. Well, compliments never hurt anyone and her ex-boyfriend’s compliment certainly put a bright smile across Katrina’s face.

Sunny Leone, who thrilled one and all with her bindaas attitude in Jism 2, is all geared up to set the screen on fire with her Baby Doll avatar in Ragini MMS 2. Sunny Leone launched the much awaited Baby Doll song in Mumbai. The former adult film star turned Bollywood actress Sunny Leone was seen in a cage dance performance at the unveiling of the most sensual song of the year, Baby Doll, from the film Ragini MMS 2. The actress is confident about the film and Ekta Kapoor, who was present at the event termed Sunny Leone to be the biggest side effect of Ragini MMS 2.

Actress Jennifer Aniston is set to star in ‘Cake’. Produced by Courtney Solomon produced, the film sees a collaboration between Chinese TV producer Shenghua Entertainment and After Dark Films, said The Hollywood Reporter. The film will be directed by Daniel Barnz and has been written by Patrick Tobin. Speaking about the collaboration Solomon said, “Our goal is to find great material and great talent and let them do what they do best and Shenghua has proven a great partner to make that happen.”

“The formation of Cinelou Films DHJ, and this new venture with Shenghua is a unique pact which allows us to give great projects a chance to be made for the right reasons without many of the usual limitations put on indie films,” he added. Aniston, 44, who rose to fame with sitcom ‘Friends’, recently starred in ‘We’re the Millers’ alongside Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter.

British actress Elizabeth Hurley took to Twitter to rubbish sensational claims made by ex-boyfriend Tom Sizemore that she allegedly had an year-long affair with former US president Bill Clinton. “Ludicrously silly stories about me & Bill Clinton. Totally untrue. In the hands of my lawyers. Yawn,” Hurley wrote on Twitter. She later updated that it had been a tough day for her.

“Thank you very much for your (mostly) very nice comments on what has been a pretty gruesome day… It’s been a tough couple of months in many ways- thanks to all my friends & family for your unwavering support & kindness,” she added. In the undated audio tape, obtained by Radar Online, Sizemore is heard boasting in detail about how he set up Hurley with Clinton after meeting the president during a screening of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ at the White House in 1998. The actor, who has battled with substance abuse in the past, says on the tape that Clinton immediately called Hurley and sent a private plane to pick her up.

Sizemore, however, has now done an about turn claiming his rants about Hurley and Clinton were recorded while he was high on drugs. “I’ve never met former President Clinton, I’ve never known him to know Hurley. I’m not denying that I said these things … I don’t remember saying these things,” Sizemore told HuffPostLive. “They’re the rantings of a guy that it has been well-chronicled had a very severe problem,” he added. Hurley and Sizemore are said to have dated after meeting on the set of 1992 thriller ‘Passenger 57’.

STORY:
Set in a fictitious city called Strathaven in North America, the film is about a series of events that follow a diamond heist planned by a mysterious hacker named Roman. REVIEW: Before you think that this film has something to do with the rock-paper-scissors-stone game, nope, it has got nothing to do with that. Instead, by the end of the film, you are meant to deduce that ‘rock’ stands for diamonds, ‘paper’ for information, ‘dice’ for chance or certainty and ‘enter’ denotes technology. Roman, along with two associates, hacks into Strathaven’s ‘security protocol’ and then uses the threat of national security as bargaining leverage when he speaks with Strathaven’s figures of authority.

As Roman then periodically calls the police chief and various other officials over an electronically distorted internet call, he tells them what he’s really after is world peace. The diamond heist is also connected to the cat-and-mouse game Roman plays with the officials. What is surprising is that in dealing with this threat to ‘national security’, the cops apparently struggle to trace a scrambled VOIP call. There are gaping plot holes, no character sketches and a shocking lacuna of logic at many points. Even more confounding is the plot, which is more muddled than the murky and gloomy atmosphere of the movie.

The script borders between being rudimentary to random. It is made worse by the delivery and the poor acting that underscores everything. One redeeming factor is the music, which is good in small parts. However, the same pieces of music are used over and over again and loudly, even in sequences that could have worked using silence. One of Roman’s partners, Kat (Dicey) at one point exclaims ‘What is the point?’ or something similar, which might have you wondering whether it’s a comment about the movie itself. The only noteworthy thing about the movie is the concept it started out with – which to be fair, is unique. But despite that, it goes wrong in almost every other department.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha is teaming up with choreographer Remo D’Souza for the first time in Amit Sharma’s ‘Tevar’. The 26-year-old actress, who shook her leg with Prabhudeva in her previous films, said the new song is “killer and crazy”.

“On my way to rehearse for a song in Tevar. Killer crazy song!! My first time working with Remo… Looking forward!,” tweeted Sonakshi. Remake of 2003 Telugu film ‘Okkadu’, the film also stars Arjun Kapoor in the lead. The film is producing by Arjun’s father Boney Kapoor.

Parineeti Chopra, who is playing the role of a quirky scientist opposite Sidharth Malhotra in her upcoming film ‘Hasee To Phasee’, says she is a drama queen in her real life too.

The song ‘Drama Queen’ in the film is dedicated to Parineeti’s character of Meeta, a nerdy and unpredictable girl. “I am a drama queen in real life too but I don’t take this terms in a negative way. It is a positive term for me. I stay happy don’t take life seriously,” Parineeti told reporters.

Parineeti says she said yes to the movie as a part like this is rarely written for a Bollywood actress. “It was quite difficult to play the role of a scientist in ‘Hasee To Phasee’. There was no reference point for me. No actress in the industry has ever attempted to do a role like this because in our industry either the female characters are normal or mentally challenged.

My role is a cross between the two,” she said. Parineeti shot to fame with her debut film ‘Ladies vs Ricky Bahl’ and garnered critical acclaim for her effortless performances in subsequent movies ‘Ishaqzaade’ and ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’. The actress says she and director Vinil Matthew practiced a lot to make her scenes appear effortless on the screen.

“It was physically exhausting for me. I and my director we used to practice my expressions and Sidharth (Malhotra) used to be our litmus test. He used to finalise the expressions for a particular scene. “I try and make things on my own, I just practice a lot. I make the dialogues easy on my tongue before shooting,” she said. Asked whether she would like to share the screen with her cousin Priyanka Chopra, Parineeti said, “I would love to work with Priyanka provided the script is a strong one.” ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ to hit theatres on February 7.