Indian Film News

Oscar fever: Three Indians in contention

The 81st edition of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will unfold on the 22nd of February and there is tremendous news for India. Three Indians are in contention for the coveted little trophy called Oscar. Though 'Slumdog Millionaire' has been directed by a Britisher and has international relevance as far as the making of the film is concerned, the film carries with it good Indian talent. The film is currently making waves internationally and the very fact that it won four Golden Globe awards and ten nominations at the Oscars has given it a reputation like no other.

Well, everyone knows A. R. Rahman has been nominated in three categories (best music score and for composing two songs – 'Jai Ho' and 'O Saya'). There are two other Indians who are also in contention for the Oscars.

Famous lyricist Gulzar has been nominated along with Rahman for the song 'Jai Ho'. Resul Pookutty has been nominated for Best Sound Mixing along with Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke.

Maya Arulpragasam, a Britisher of Sri Lankan Tamil descent has also been nominated for co-writing the song 'O Saya' along with Rahman.

Three Indians and many Oscars to win. 2009 is probably the best year yet for India as far as the Oscars are concerned. And all this despite the fact that the Oscars are meant to felicitate American films and its technicians.

Way to go India….

'Slumdog Millionaire' accused of exploitation

adipolipic 1:18 PM 0 Comments

Slumdog Millionaire is in the news yet again! From the day it swept the Golden Globes something about this film or the people associated with this film has been published. Well now the parents of little Azharuddin and Rubina are accusing the makers of the film for exploiting their children. The parents of Azharuddin and Rubina are of the feeling that the film has grown leaving their kids behind. They feel that though the film has become popular their children have not been paid enough. It was reported that for a whole year's work Azharuddin was paid 1,700 pounds and Rubina a mere 500 pounds. Rafiq Ali Kureshi, Rubina's father says that although he is very happy for the movie's success, he feels that the money paid to his daughter is nothing and that more money should be paid.

The makers of the movie had said in the previous months that the kids have been provided with the means to complete their school education and a trust fund has been started in their names. They have also revealed that from June 2008, Azharrudin and Rubina had started going to school and they are doing very good in their studies.If this is the case, then the parents of both kids should be happy that their kids are getting education which they were not able to provide. There is a chance of someone else influencing these parents and making them think that their kids have been taken for a ride under the pretext of providing them money for their schooling.

As 'Slumdog Millioniare' conquers more heights, the fact that nothing is being done to give the two extremely talented kids good living conditions is a shame. Azharrudin is said to be homeless after his illegal hut was razed down and now lives in shack. Rubina also lives in temporary shed in the same slum.

Preity's cricketing mania!

adipolipic 1:17 PM 0 Comments

Seems like Preity Zinta has been motivated by the reports that came in last year accusing her of concentrating more on cricket than on films. The damsel with the dimple has now made some more plans for cricket fans! A big interstate T-20 tournament has been planned to be conducted in Chandigarh and Mohali. Cricket teams from Harayana, Punjab, Jammu& Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh will be competing in the tournament. Preity is of the opinion that she wants to help the emerging cricketers and build up cricket right from the grass root level. The actress having shed all the accumulated flab is looking gorgeous and is looking forward for an exiting year ahead with a couple of new releases. Preity, we appreciate your thinking of bringing up deserving talents, but as film lovers we hope that this year, you occupy more of news space being in films than in the midst of IPL.

It's a paranormal world!

adipolipic 1:16 PM 0 Comments

Big Pictures' stunning suspense-thriller ride from Jan 30 is sure to have us all glued to our seats.

Seems like it is raining horror films. Post '1920' and 'Raaz – The Mystery Continues', film buffs who love spooky 'suspense-horror' genres should have been disappointed as for the time being there are no films of this taste hitting theatres. There you got it al wrong. Big Pictures hop-skipping from classic themes will now ground on for different genres of 'Suspense' and 'Supernatural' thrillers. The brand from Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd is ready with two films of the horror class with one film titled 'Sikandar' and the other '13B'. The film 'Sikandar' will see Parzaan Dastur of 'Parzania' fame and Ayesha Kapoor of 'Black' fame being cast in the lead roles. The supernatural thriller'13B' will see R. Madhavan pairing up with Neetu Chandra. The first look of these films will be unveiled when 'Luck By Chance', the directorial debut of Zoya Akhtar will be released worldwide on 30th January, 2009. BIG Pictures has a list of doing 18 films for 2009 out of which the three films mentioned above are planned for release in the first quarter.

Ajay as gang lord

adipolipic 1:15 PM 0 Comments

Only once in a while a power packed role of Ajay Devgan comes through. Ajay is all set to get in to the shoes of the late Mumbai gangster Haji Mastan. This will be his character in Milan Luthria's forthcoming film 'Once Upon A Time In Mumbai'. There will be expectations running high for this film because of the role portrayed by Ajay in 'Company'. The junior Devghan is supposed to have jokingly commented that though he would go through all material that he can lay his hands on about the smuggler he has no plans of copying him. In a way Ajay Devgan will have a big task at hand because this was the same role essayed by Mr. Bachchan Senior in the film 'Deewar', way back in 1975. There are rumors doing the rounds that this film will showcase the relationship between the gangster and yesteryear B-town heroine Sona. This film may the first of its kind in Bollywood where the true life story of gangster is being directed. Well Ajay we wish you all the best, and lets us hope this film creates magic like the Big B starrer 'Deewar'!

Director Suraaj calls on Ajith

adipolipic 1:12 PM 0 Comments

Director Suraaj has earned a reputation for churning out commercial masala entertainers. After a successful outing in 'Maruthamalai', he has come out with 'Padikathavan' starring Dhanush. The film produced by Vijaya Vauhini and presented by Sun Pictures, has opened big and is collecting good revenue at the box office. The latest buzz doing the rounds in Kollywood is that Suraaj, who is on a high with the success of 'Padikathavan', has called on actor Ajith and both reportedly discussed the possibility of working together for a film very soon. Meanwhile, Ajith will be starring in 'Asal' which is expected to feature Sameera Reddy as the heroine. To be directed by Saran, the film will have musical score by Harris Jayaraj. Suraaj has reportedly penned a story for Ajith and is keen to come out with a racy script.

Back in the hunt is Meena

adipolipic 1:11 PM 0 Comments

After 'Kuselan', Meena seems to have gone on a wait and watch mode these days. The actress had been part of several blockbusters with top artistes in various south Indian languages, is still a busy commodity in Malluwood. Meena, who played Pasupathy's wife in 'Kuselan', is acting in a Malayalam movie with actor-screenplay writer and director Sreenivasan again. She was part of his films including 'Udhayananu Tharam' and 'Katha Parayumbol' before. Meena is playing Sreenivasan's wife in a movie titled 'Katha Samvidhanam Kunchako', directed by Haridas Kesavan. She has reportedly bagged a couple of plum roles in Malluwood.

Shobhana to accompany Sagar Alias Jackie

adipolipic 1:10 PM 0 Comments

National Award winning actress Shobhana, who is recently busy with her biggest passion, dance, will shortly make a comeback to Mollywood with the Mohanlal movie 'Saagar Alias Jackey, Reloaded '. This costume action drama directed by Amal Neerad will feature Shobhana in a important role, though not as the heroine. Shobhana has also signed herself for a movie titled ''Naale'' directed by debutante Manu.The movie will have Dileep as her co-star.

'Love in Singapore' makes a big release

adipolipic 1:09 PM 0 Comments

Mammootty's first movie of the year is finally out. The movie 'Love in Singapore' made a wide release in 80 theatres in 67 centers across the state. And as expected, the movie fetched a grand opening in all parts of the state. The first day viewers opine the movie to be an above average entertainer with plenty of hilarious moments. Directed by Rafi-Mecartin, who has earlier joined with Mammootty for the super hit ‘Mayavi', is also expecting a big hit from the movie. Meanwhile V M Vinu's 'Makante Achan' which was released yesterday was also received with house full shows. The movie is opined as a good family entertainer.

Mammootty is a 'Loud Speaker'

adipolipic 1:06 PM 0 Comments

The titles of recent Mammootty starrers have mostly been the best adjectives for the highlighted quality of the protagonist. Moving on in this track after the movies like 'Mayavi', 'Thaskaraveran', 'Parunthu' and 'Annan Thampi' is his newer projects like 'Handsome', 'Pokkiriraaja' and 'Daddycool'. And so is the title of the latest Mammootty movie with Jayaraj. This new project is now titled as 'Loud Speaker', following the traits of the lead man who always prefers to talk aloud. Mammootty will play the character named "Mike Gopalan" in this movie, which will be penned by Renjith. 'Loud Speaker' will be one of the important projects of the superstar, this year.

Kunchacko Boban signed for 'Gulumal'

adipolipic 1:04 PM 0 Comments

The young heart throb of the movies of the nineties Kunchacko Boban, recently emerged out of his quiet retreat with the Shafi flick ‘Lolipop'. The movie which also had some more big young names, sadly didn't manage to become a hit. But Kunchacko Boban is till maintaining his busy routines, continuing with his real estate activities and also signing for another movie titled 'Gulumaal'. The movie directed by ad maker V K Prakash will also feature Jayasuriya as one of its protagonist. Scripted by Y Rajesh, the movie will also present Jagathy, Suraj Venjaaramoodu, Salimkumar, Bijukuttan and a few Bollywood antiheroes in important roles. 'Gulumaal' is expected to start shooting by the second week of May. The movie will also introduce a lady cinematographer -Fousia -into films.

Mammootty teams up with B Unnikrishnan

adipolipic 1:03 PM 0 Comments

The announcement of a new superstar movie with a new team, has become a routine act in Mollywood every week. This week saw the announcement of a new project with Mammootty in the lead. This movie to be produced by B C Joshy (of 'Maadambi' fame ) will be directed by B Unnikrishnan. B Unnikrishanan who is presently busy canning the sureshgopi starrer ''I .G'', will start scripting for this new untitled movie with Mammootty, after the completion of 'I.G'. As per the present plans Mammootty has agreed to more than a dozen of projects for the coming years, which includes the ones directed by Renjith, Jayaraj, Akku Akbar, Shafi and debutantes like Gireesh, Vysakh and Aashiq Abu.