Tag: Bollywood

Controversy queen Poonam Pandey, ready for her Bollywood innings with bold project ” Nasha”, is fed up of being compared to Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone. “I am tired of this comparison. I don’t know why people compare me with Sunny Leone. I’m here to act and you will see me acting in the film. There are intimate scenes in the film, but there is also a love story. I’m not a porn star.

Please don’t compare me with Sunny Leone,” Poonam said. Poonam, who grabbed headlines during the 2011 Cricket World Cup when she offered to go nude before Team India if they won the trophy, is confident that audiences will be satisfied with her performance in “Nasha”.

“So far people have only seen my bold pictures, now they will see me acting in ‘Nasha’, and I assure they will be completely satisfied with my performance in the film,” added the young actress, who keeps her fans abreast with her daily activities through online networking platforms. Directed by Amit Saxena, “Nasha” features debutant Shivam opposite Poonam Pandey. The film is produced by Surender Suneja and Aditya Bhatia under the banner of Eagle Home Entertainment. The film is

Model-turned-actress Nargis Fakhri, who made her Bollywood debut with “Rockstar”, has been more in news for her alleged affairs than work which she says is very upsetting. After the release of “Rockstar” (2011), Nargis did not take up any movie but still remained in the limelight for her link up rumours with Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Uday Chopra and businessman Ness Wadia.

Though she says its upsetting, the 33-year-old has decided to take such things with a pinch of salt. “Its (rumors) not true and it makes things worse. Its upsetting and unfortunate. It was sad. I stopped reading newspapers. I started questioning other stories… All of it is true or not. I started going crazy. But I am no more sad now.

I have learnt to understand that is the way it is. You can’t stop it. You either cry over or not,” Nargis said in an interview. Nargis feels everyone here (in the industry) knows how things are. She will be seen next in Shoojit Sircar’s “Madras Cafe”, where she

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Rinko
Kikuchi, Ron Perlman, Burn Gorman
Direction: Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes
STORY: Intergalactic monsters called the Kaiju are unleashed from a rift in the Pacific Ocean to wipe out humanity. Only a force of equally gigantic robots created by man called the Jaegers can thwart them. REVIEW: Stripped down, this movie is essentially about giant robots and giant sea monsters bashing each other up. The Jaeger robots are so large that they require two human operators to form a ‘drift’ (or a ‘neural bridge’) with each other to act as the left-brain and right-brain hemispheres controlling the mecha-robots from within.

The Jaegers are then airlifted out to sea for a supersized slugfest with the Kaiju. Raleigh Becket ( Charlie Hunnam) had lost his brother Yancy (Diego Klattenhoff) to the Kaiju and the neural bridge allowed Becket to feel his co-driver brother’s pain in his time of dying. Commanding officer Stacker Pentecost ( Idris Elba) later plans a last-ditch effort to knock out the Kaiju once and for all at their source point.

Burned-out Becket is recalled into service to command his old Jaeger called Gipsy Danger with Mako Mori (Kikuchi). Mori’s own need for revenge against the Kaiju is convincing. She is perfect for her role. Other than that, Del Toro has populated their fellow Jaeger combatants with stereotypes – stoic Russians, bellicose Australians, softspoken Orientals and two mad scientists who seek a cerebral solution. The visuals are undeniably great and so are the effects. You’ll even get to see a Jaeger bludgeon a Kaiju with a cargo ship.

But the visuals will have to be this film’s calling card because the ballast that holds it back is generic acting, monster film cliches and a sparse script. Ron Perlman, notwithstanding a tiny role, manages to shine as Hannibal Chau. The effort to inject romance between Mori and Becket is redundant. For once though, the battle for the planet is being fought someplace other than the USA. Although the story line is passable, the real stars in Pacific Rim are the Jaegers.

Angelina Jolie, who had implants after her double mastectomy, went braless last week as she toured Hawaii while checking sites for a new movie she is going to direct. The actress proudly wore a low-cut top just five months after having both breasts removed because of cancer fears, the Mirror reported. The 38-year-old took the brave decision to have the op after discovering she had inherited the cancer gene that killed her mum, grandmom and great-grandmom.

Actress Dania Ramirez, one of the stars of the television series “Devious Maids”, announced on the social networks that she is pregnant with twins. “I am proud 2 Announce our 2 NEW BUNDLES OF JOY! Yes, I’m having TWINS!” wrote Ramirez on her official Twitter account. The actress, who plays Rosie Falta on the Lifetime network series, posted on the Instagram social network a photograph of an ultrasound on which the shapes of two foetuses can be made out.

The two babies will be the first children of the actress and her husband, film director Bev Land, whom she married in February. Ramirez, who starred in the film “American Reunion” (2012) and the series “Entourage” (2004-2011), joked on Twitter that the father of the twins is not the character Mr. Spence on “Devious Maids”, the man her character works for as a maid and who confessed in one episode that he is attracted to her.

After making her announcement, the Dominican actress received many online messages of congratulations from her fans. “Thank you all so much for all of your incredible messages!!! I am beyond grateful for all of you!!!!” she said on Twitter in response.

For a debutante, Poonam Pandey sure is actively participating in the creation of marketing and promotional strategies for Nasha. In fact, she even turned down a suggestion to circulate a fake MMS clip to promote the film. She feels it would end up having an adverse impact on the film given that it is “an unusual film” and “does not fall into any specific genre.”

She adds, “Though it is the story of a teenager falling for an older woman, there are a lot of finer nuances that translate on screen very beautifully. I am very confident about the concept,” she says. Her first film isn’t out yet and the debutante’s already considering new offers. “I was offered films ever since I hit headlines. But none were up to the mark. It is a little better now. The roles being offered now are interesting and give me a platform to do something different,” she says.

Bollywood’s style icon Sonam Kapoor, who is known for her impeccable dressing sense, faced a nightmarish experience when she suffered from a wardrobe malfunction just before a press conference to promote her latest film ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ in Chandigarh. The actress was dressed in a gorgeous peach-coloured gown and was all set to make a statement in the conference when she realised that she had ripped her dress.

She had to rush back to her hotel and change her dress to an elegant salwar kameez. In all this hustle-bustle of changing clothes, Sonam missed a chunk of press conference and also managed to irk few other attendees, as they had to go for two other events. However, Sonam managed to dazzle all with her grace when she reached the event. She then accompanied the team for another screening for defence forces.

While her co-stars changed their dresses, Sonam thought it was safe to stick to her salwar kameez than change into a western gown. Insiders reveal that though Sonam had brought two suitcases full of clothes for public appearance in Chandigarh, she refused to change her clothes due to fear of a replay of the earlier incident.

Cast: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta,
Chris Evans
Direction: Ariel Vromen
Genre: Crime
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
STORY: Can you ever escape who you really are? The film is a crime biopic on hitman Richard Kuklinski, who adored his family, but didn’t regret killing over 100 people, for money, out of anger or just to cover up his own crimes! MOVIE REVIEW: The film gives a disturbing account of Kuklinski’s life from being a porn distributor to becoming one of the most diabolical contract killers in American history.

Since he kept his family in the dark, they continued to live off his blood money until he got arrested in 1986 in an undercover operation. How he led a double life all those years – by playing a doting family man and a cold-blooded killer – is what forms the story. The Iceman is grim, dark and gritty. A certain sense of paranoia engulfs the proceedings, which helps build the psychological tension. Vromen manages to capture the period setting required. The background score is unsettling and does complete justice to the film’s creepy theme.

Michael Shannon is outstanding as the devilishly smooth deadpan psychopath, as passionate about the wellbeing of his family as about staring at his victims before he brutally murdered them. He gives a solid performance as the soulless, unsmiling man who solely cared for his family and had no qualms about confessing he felt that way, either. Shannon arrests your attention and sends shivers down your spine with his impeccable portrayal, especially in scenes where he struggles to hide his inner monster from his family.

However, the film becomes sluggish after a while as the script relies heavily on Shannon’s acting. The story runs out of steam as you sit through a series of generic mafia wars and killings. The scenes start looking repetitive and events monotonous. Fortunately, it all culminates in a gripping climax. Winona Ryder as Kuklinski’s wife and Ray Liotta are effective.

Chris Evans and James Franco make special appearances, making you wonder why they did so! The film works as a documentary. However, it fails to dramatise the character in order to evoke an audience reaction, which is what is usually expected from crime thrillers.

Kelly Brook has been voted as the hottest bikini babe in movie history, according to a recent survey. Brook, who reportedly is going out with English rugby player Danny Cipriani, beat stars like Halle Berry and Jessica Alba in the poll conducted by the Sun.

She won 22 percent of the 17,000 votes cast by the publication’s readers for her role in ‘Piranha 3D.’ The second place was bagged by Alba for her role in ‘Into The Blue’, while the third spot went to model Brooklyn Decker for ‘Just Go With It.’ The fourth place was nabbed by Berry for her Bond flick ‘Die Another Day’. Salma Hayek completed the top 5 for her part in 1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Iconic bikini fillers Ursula Andress and Raquel Welch, had also competed for the top spot.

Oscar-nominated actress Kate Husdson will launch a new sportswear line, Fabletics in collaboration with an online retailer Just Fab. It will hit markets in October. Hudson, who has a two-year-old son Bingham with her fiance Matt Bellamy, and Ryder, 9, with her ex-husband Chris Robinson, said that the collection is aimed at working professionals and mothers onthe- go.

“I’ve always lived an active lifestyle, and with two boys, life has only gotten busier,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted Hudson as saying. “As a working mom, I know what it’s like to be on the go and running around from one activity to the next, sometimes you just don’t have time to change, but you still want to look cute – whether you’re taking a yoga class, running errands or meeting up with friends before you pick the kids up from school,” she said.

The 34-year-old said that she wanted to create outfits that are not only fashionable, but also functional and affordable. “I co-created Fabletics with Don Ressler and Adam Godenberg, (JustFab co-CEOs), to offer busy women quality activewear that is fashionable, functional and affordable,” said Hudson.

After facing flak for her weight ever since she made her debut in Bollywood, Zareen Khan seems to have had enough. We heard the actress, who is currently shooting for an action film with Rajeev Khandelwal, has lost almost 10 kgs to look the part as it involves stunts. Interestingly, in an interview to a newspaper, she had clarified “A woman should look like a woman.

I will never become size zero as I am a Pathan…We are not in Hollywood where actresses do stunts.” However, now that she is doing stunts, weight loss seems to be the need of the hour. She has been focusing on getting into shape with the help of power yoga, cardio, boot camp and weight training.

Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor, who is lovingly called Bebo, has reportedly been approached by an international brand to design a signature denim line under her nickname. A source says that Kareena, who once hogged limelight for becoming a size zero, was approached by the brand as her appearances and presence impressed many. “Whenever Kareena gets associated with a fashion or health initiative, it always goes on to be very successful.

Apart from that, she is always impeccably dressed and has an international appeal. These are the qualities that the brand is looking for,” said the source in a statement. Kareena, who forayed into the Hindi film industry in 2000 with “Refugee”, endorses several brands, and is considered a trend setter of sorts in the industry.

Cast: Jason Statham, Vicky McClure, Benedict Wong, Agata Buzek
Direction: Steven Knight
Genre: Action
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

STORY: Back from Afghanistan, a homeless former Royal Marine gets an opportunity to change his identity. It is a decision that alters his life.

MOVIE REVIEW: A glance at the film poster might suggest that Jason Statham (playing Joey Jones) with his thousand-yard stare has just done what he usually does in movies – busting skulls and breaking bones from beginning to end. Not so here. Hummingbird has him on the biggest tangent of his career. A bum on the mean streets of back-alley London, fate (or God, as he puts it) lands him in the vacant house of someone really loaded. Jones realises that this is his chance at getting his life together again. He decides to assume the identity of the apartment’s owner. What he doesn’t realise is that slipping into a second skin can only go that far.

Jones soon slides into London’s dark underworld, populated by the Chinese and Russian mafia, using his combat training for cash. Suffering from guilt-ridden hallucinations, he uses vodka to allay his post-combat demons. He tries to redeem himself by using the illgotten money to buy good food for the homeless and nice things for a nun called Cristina ( Agata Buzek) who runs a makeshift soup kitchen. An urban Robin Hood? No, not quite. Cristina is his ‘angel’. She is the epitome of empathy and represents all that is good to him – the better person that he knows he can never again become. She senses his turmoil and is not put off. They are both damaged and in a city that is a sea of strangers, their stories are irrevocably intertwined. Dialogues are sparse and minimal, thankfully so. The score (Dario Marianelli) elegantly fills in the silences, speaking volumes. It is intense, but thanks to the editing, steers away from being drippy. Statham’s stony visage tries to emote, often successfully. If this film marks a new direction for Statham’s career, he’s on the right track.

Teen Mom’ star Farrah Abraham has checked into a rehab facility for alcohol abuse, in Florida. The reality-star-turned-pornstar confirmed to RadarOnline that she entered an outpatient program on Sunday to deal with her alcohol abuse and to focus on getting sober. The single mom told the gossip site that she needs to stay focused on the positive to get through the entire negative that a DUI has caused in her life. Abraham is all set to undergo intensive counseling over the next 10 days at The Lukens Institute in Palm Beach.

Actress Keira Knightley is confirmed to be involved in Fox Searchlight’s latest project ‘The Other Typist’. Knightley, 29, is set to produce and star in film which is the feature version of Suzanne Rindells’ debut novel of the same title, reported Ace showbiz. The novel centers on Rose, an aloof typist in a police precinct who builds a friendship with a beautiful yet mysterious co-worker who later introduces her to the glamorous and forbidden underworld of 1920s New York. Knightley recently starred in ‘Anna Karenina’, director Joe Wright’s big-screen adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s 1877 novel. Her performance as the titular character earned her a nomination for Best Actress at People’s Choice Awards and Satellite Award. Knightley is currently filming drama ‘Laggies’, in which she acts opposite Chloe Moretz.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who has been on a selfimposed sabbatical from films ever since she delivered a baby girl, is all set to be back on the screen. The pretty actress who has been attending film festivals and making a lot of international appearances has finally green lit a few projects. The actress in recent times has shed all her post-pregnancy flab and has been working out to get back in shape. Sources close to her say that she has been looking at scripts and has finally zeroed down on a couple of them. Until the producers make an announcement, she isn’t allowed to talk about them though there have been talks about Karan Johar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali having approached her for their next projects. Over the past few months, the actress has been making quite a few international appearances but her daughter has been constantly travelling with her. She also had her mother for company but right now, Ash seems to be getting ready to get back into the limelight. Aaradhya is a year old and this is probably the right time for Ash to make her much awaited comeback on sorts on the big screen.

Sonam Kapoor, who is known for her honest opinions claims that men need to change their outlook towards women, and the idea about banning item numbers is stupid. On being asked about her opinion on banning item numbers in films or requesting girls to dress in a certain way to avoid crime rates, Sonam says, “I think it’s so stupid to think about banning songs. So what if we wear certain type of clothes or do certain things? We are not doing anything wrong. Men have to look at us differently.” “If you see our Ajanta Ellora Caves, you will understand that we are the land of Kamasutra. We can’t cover ourselves from head to toe. We can’t run around in burkha; that’s not our culture. It’s unfortunate when people say you can’t wear skirts or do item numbers or a girl can’t dress in a certain way. Are we going back to dark ages?” Sonam asks. “I am trying to be a girl who is real and has an opinion. Might say stupid things but not scared of men and for me that’s important,” concludes Sonam.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West sent fake photos of their newborn daughter, North West, to trick friends and test their betrayal. The reality star, who was allegedly concerned that pictures of her newborn baby were going to be leaked to the media, apparently wanted to weed out untrustworthy pals, the Mirror reported.

A source told the publication that the new mum developed a plan to see who she can trust and who she can’t. According to TMZ.com, six snaps were sent to half-dozen friends and someone has already tried selling them to US media for mega money.

Kelly Brook is likely to star in a British comedy inspired by 1920s bank robbers, Bonnie and Clyde. The 32-year-old model’s character in the upcoming film is of a struggling actress who turns to crime after her boyfriend dumps her and she loses her job, the Daily Star reported. The curvy model said that the film is hilarious, full of twists and turns and that ‘Taking Stock’ will be her first starring role.

Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishbourne
Direction: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 23 minutes.

STORY: Kal-El is rocketed to Earth from the dying planet Krypton, where he is raised by the Kents (Lane, Costner). Even as he begins to comprehend his powers, he must soon confront his nemesis and save the planet. MOVIE REVIEW: Superman has always been the quintessential clean-cut superhero, the sincere saviour of the day.

While that essence remains, he now gets a decidedly darker, introspective and brutal edge under the Nolan-Snyder aegis. After emerging from interplanetary exile following a failed coup attempt on Krypton, General Zod and his crew arrive on Earth in search of the Codex – and Kal El (Cavill) – that will allow him to create a new race on Earth, while destroying humanity in the process. The world becomes a battleground for the inevitable confrontation between Zod and Superman. While huge swathes of cities are wantonly reduced to rubble and the scale of destruction is off the map, there are also tender moments in-between.

The curvy Lois Lane’s (Adams) chemistry with Clark Kent is moving, as is the bond Clark shares with his Earth-parents. Many of the usual Superman tropes are deliberately avoided. In fact, he barely even smiles and the quips of past films are studiously avoided. The film is quite simply, a visual smorgasbord. It is grand, sweeping, epic and all the stops have been pulled out. Snyder and Nolan are a blockbuster machine with intensity thrown in too. Being a full-fledged reboot of the Man of Steel’s story, it’s an immersive film and it’s also Superman’s most violent outing yet.

While the dialogues might be devoid of the cheeky one-liners that pepper other superhero films we’ve seen of late, it blindsides everything with sheer enormity of scale. This is a Superman film for today’s audience. A hugely impressive and entertaining story of arguably the most powerful character in the superhero pantheon (and also one of the biggest pop culture icons), it’s clear that the Man of Steel is here to stay.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha has teamed up with Prabhudeva again for a dance number in upcoming film ‘Rambo Rajkumar’. Sonakshi, 26, who was last seen with the ace choreographer in an item number in ‘Oh My God’, will also dance with his co-star Shahid Kapoor in the song.

“Time to put on my dancing shoes… Joining Prabhudeva and Shahid Kapoor for one dhamaal song in Rambo Rajkumar this morning!!,” she posted on Twitter. ‘Rambo Rajkumar’ is an upcoming action film directed by Prabhudeva and will hit theatres on November 29.

Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë
Kravitz
Direction: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: Sci-Fi
Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

STORY: A father and son are stranded when their spaceship crash-lands on post-apocalyptic Earth. Father sends the son on a mission to get to a rescue beacon in time and beam a distress message into deep space.

REVIEW: Will Smith is known to do films with a bang – grand movies of sweeping scale where he is the focal point of attention. Not so in this one. Here, he takes the back seat and hands Jaden the baton (obvious metaphors abound; he gives the kid his own saber at the commencement of the quest) to be the main man. The film is set hundreds of years into the future, where mankind has been evacuated from Earth; a planet now inhabited by human-eating nasties.

Cypher Raige (Smith) and his son Kitai Raige (Jaden) are forced to crash-land. The film’s plot bears an uncanny resemblance to a video-game where the player has to go the distance from point ‘A’ to ‘B’ (100 km, in this case) in ‘X’ amount of time. Along the way he battles monsters of increasing strength. There are health packs too, like bonus points. And in the end, there is a ‘boss fight’ with a hideous alien critter called the Ursa. That’s it, game over. Cypher maintains a radio link with Kitai as the harsh patriarch at times and the voice of reason-cumvendor of wisdom and encouragement at other times.

Again it’s like how a computer-programmed narrator is in a video-game. At some point, they lose contact and Kitai’s moment of reckoning arrives. It’s about Kitai having to prove himself to his dad. The rest of the cast is inconsequential, forgettable and completely replaceable. There are menacing moments and the editing is taut but this stays in cliche territory; it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. The film suffers from a lack of ambition. After Earth aims for interstellar overdrive but barely manages to take off.