Short Takes

THE GROWTH OF THE SON
IS THE FATHER’S DECLINE?
The game show’s become the talk of the town. Kaun Banega Crorepati has had viewers gasping and tearing their hair in a tizzy, watching others get lucky on the Big B show. AMITABH himself is the star attraction on the show, lest you forget.
But it isn’t him the couch potatoes are getting worked up about. It’s the scent of big money that’s the real clincher for the show. No one’s become a crorepati yet, but there are thousands to be made for answering absolute sitters such as "Which of these cricketers isn’t married to a filmstar?" And the Big B himself comes on gamely, though God knows, he can do with a few crores himself.

Well, we put in a dekho at the show’s shoot in town recently. And there was Refugee himself, BACHCHAN JR, who, we’re told, is a frequent visitor on the sets. The sight of him, between takes, had the women on the show turning restive.

"Aap ke bete ko andar bulayiye na, hum ko dekhne ka hai," said one plump, matronly figure to Amitabh. And the latter plays hard to get. "Why don’t you see the film Refugee?," he chides her playfully. "I’m sure you can afford a ticket."

Well, in the end, he does send a unithand scampering to fetch Abhishek, so that the women may get to see him. But it’s too late. By then, Abhishek’s already done the vanishing act from the sets, it turns out.

And Bachchan’s forced to do some clowning to get the women to cooperate for the next shot. "Am I not Bachchan enough?," he asks them, sending them into squeals of delight.

THE BULL BY THE HORNS
FOR one who’s had just two modest hits against her name in Soldier and Kya Kehna, PREITY ZINTA sure has some of the hottest films going. What’s more, all of them seem to be on the floors, too, in various stages of production, and it’s a marvel how she manages to juggle time for them all. Here’s a sampler of her forthcoming movies: Mission Kashmir, Farz, Chori Chori Chupke and Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, Farhan Akhtar’s debut effort and films alongside Aamir, Ajay Devgan and Madhuri Dixit.

It’s her stint as a model, endorsing the likes of Perk and Liril that helped her get a look-in for the role in Dil Se. She broke the mould of the conventional heroine with her very first outing -- remember the sassy lass who walks up to Shah Rukh and asks him if he’s a virgin? Well, she followed up the much-hyped Dil Se with Soldier which did well in some circuits and the offbeat Sunghursh which didn’t. Then of course, there’s been Kya Kehna, where she played the unwed mother sparking off angry debate among the nation’s erudite.

For Preity, it’s all been par for the course. Her none-too-secret personal agenda is, "I want to do films which reflect the 21st century, not play a woman who’s relegated to the kitchen or the bedroom. I represent the present generation, a generation with no hangover of the previous."

Another hurrah for women’s lib, what say?

SEEING DIVINITY IN MAMTA
WITH a title like Khajuraho, and the skimpily-clad MAMTA KULKARNI for heroine, cinematographer-turned-director, Ashok Kumar’s having a lot of explaining to do, convincing takers that his multilingual opus is no sex film.

Of course, the fact that Mamta’s playing a devdasi doesn’t make matters easy. Neither does Ashok Kumar’s career history. The man who caught the eye with the stunning visuals in Jeans, is known for movies that celebrate the female form. It’s happened once too often for comfort, and Khajuraho’s having a rotten time fighting off the ‘sex’ tag.

As for Mamta, let’s hope Chennai offers her some respite. A mere also-ran in Hindi films, Mamta’s had little luck going her way in subsequent outings in Malayalam and Telugu.
"There’s a lot of divinity in Khajuraho’s sculptures," says Ashok Kumar. Then he adds by way of afterthought, "And Mamta suited the role best."

NOW FOR THE BIG TIME
YOU’VE seen her before in several ad campaigns, such as Kunwar Ajay and Milton. And if you’re a Hindi theatre buff, chances are the name DIVYA DWIVEDI rings a bell. She’s even put in an appearance in a forthcoming Punjabi music video for Venus. Now, she’s all set to storm the big screen.

Divya’s just been signed to make a crucial special appearance in a forthcoming Vimal Kumar movie, Suno Sasur Ji, where she’s been pitted against the likes of Mast boy, Aftab Shivdasani and Amisha Patel, yes, she of Kaho Na... Pyar Hai fame. And there’s more coming. She’s even been signed by Raj Kumar Kohli to play the main lead in his next production. And by Rakesh Kumar for an untitled production.

The special appearance is all very fine for starters, she reckons. But Divya sure has her sights set on the big time as a heroine in the movies. Now, all that’s left for her to prove is that she’s got the talent to match the looks.

THE MIDNIGHT SUMMONS
ISMAIL Merchant’s legendary powers of persuasion have worked again. All it took, for him to get AYESHA DHARKER to sign on the dotted line for his next movie, Merchant-Ivory’s The Mystic Masseur was a call, long distance.

Dharker was in Champagne, Illinois, where she’d been invited for the Roger Ebert Festival along with her debut effort, The Terrorist. It was midnight, and Ayesha was catching up on some sleep when Merchant’s call woke her up with a start.

Needless to say, Ayesha’s to play the lead role, of Leela, no less, in the screen adaptation of VS Naipaul’s novel. And she has had little else to crow about, ever since.

Ayesha is all set to fly to Trinidad for two whole months, starting October, for the shoots. And keeping her company will be the likes of Om Puri, Asif Mandvi, Prayag Raj and Sakina Jaffery. Screenplay writer Caryl Philips is determined to preserve the element of pathos and underlying humour in the story.
Already, Ayesha’s had critics like AO Scott eulogising her "unforgettable face, with her wide full mouth and enormous eyes, which appear in nearly every frame" of Santosh Sivan’s The Terrorist. To which actor-director John Malkovich adds his own comments on Ayesha’s "hypnotic beauty, intense watchfulness and peerless screen presence." All said and done, here’s Ayesha’s chance to make further inroads on the international festival circuit. And she can hardly wait to get started.

AFTER THE CALORIE CRUNCHER
AS lead pairs go, they’re by far the oddest ones out. He’s the Kallu Mama of Satya, the rotund, pleasant-faced actor who doubles as a writer. Saurabh Shukla, of course. And she -- she’s the one-time Channel (V) veejay who’s now earned a new lease of life to her career in showbiz, this time as an actress -- SOPHIYA.

The film’s called Snip, a shoe-string budget affair directed by Sunil Sippy, that’s been long on the make. Press hounds who’ve been to the movie’s protracted shoots affirm Sophiya could well be its suprise packet. The reason? She’s turned in some sizzling, breathtaking takes for the film, especially in the songs.

Songs did we say? That’s right. For a low-budget movie, Snip’s got as many as six of them, three each in Hindi and English. And Sophiya, who’s been on a calorie-cruncher to lose a few expendable inches, has brought her experience on the dance floor to bear on her performance. So what if she didn’t quite make it as a ballerina, which was her childhood ambition? Sophiya’s sure got a sniff of the movie big time here, with Snip.

Compiled by Shaju George Alex
With inputs from Chaya Unnikrishnan