|
 Ayesha
Dharker is one Indian actress who is going places and doing so without
much fanfare. When Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones
opens in India in June she will be seen as Queen Jamillia of Naboo.
Then she’s playing a femme fatale in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Bombay Dreams to which she’s bound by a six month contract.
To think that it was Samuel Jackson who recommended Ayesha to George
Lucas after he saw her in Santosh Sivan’s The Terrorist. She
does Mumbai and India proud.
LENDING
VOICE
 TV
channels are resounding to several renditions of Mera Rang De Basanti
Chola. The most catchy one is from the Sunny and Bobby Deol starrer
23rd March 1931 SHAHEED. The voice is soul stirring, but one cannot
really attribute it to either Udit Narayan or Bhupinder Singh or
any one of the other voices on the album. The song has been credited
to a Veer Rajinder. In fact, T-Series the recording company has
signed him up for a five-year contract. The identity of the singer
was unmasked as being none other than the film’s music director
Anand Raj Anand. When he wrote the music, he could only remember
the late Mohd Rafi singing it in Manoj Kumar’s film on Shahid
Bhagat Singh. Since, Sonu Nigam the other preferred voice of the
music director was singing the same song for another version of
the film, Anand Raj Anand donned the headphones and sang the song
himself. Now he has a double identity — singer Veer Rajinder
and music director Anand Raj Anand.
NO
TAKERS
 Aruna
Raje’s working on a film, which depicts the life of a prostitute,
so stark is her approach going to be that she deals with the girl
being pulled into the profession, is rescued but dragged back. The
director has been approaching some actresses to play the lead role,
and they are diffident. The subject matter they say is even more
disturbing than Chandni Bar. Then our actresses complain there is
lack of roles of substance.
WAXING
LYRICAL
After  striking
success with films like Rangeela, etc. Sanjay Chhel had a successful
debut as a director with Khoobsoorat. Now as his second film Padmalaya’s
Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa starring Tusshar and Esha is about to be released,
all eyes are once again on the talented writer-director. For the
first time he’s penned the lyrics himself, and these have been
set to music by Himesh Reshamiya.
ONE MAN, MANY ROLES
 Other
than the race for the box office and multiple renditions of ’Mera
Rang De Basanti Chola...’ , the many film versions on Bhagat
Singh have one more common factor. There is this expatriate actor
Peter Rueckert, who finds himself in at least three versions of
the Bhagat Singh films. He plays Lord Simon for Raj Kumar Santoshi’s
The Legend of Bhagat Singh, a sarkari vakil for Tarun Wadhwa’s
Shaheed Bhagat Singh and a police officer in the Deol’s 23rd
March 1931: SHAHEED. A man for many parts you would say. But one
thing is for certain, by his getting into the character and make
up, the audience will hardly recognise that it’s the same actor.
HUMANITARIAN
WORK
 The
humanitarian that is Sunil Dutt once again responded to a social
call when he recently toured the relief camps of the riot-stricken
towns of Gujarat, namely Rajkot, Vadodra, Ahmedabad and Godhra.
He led peace marches, addressed press conferences and made a plea
for communal harmony because “communalism is the most dangerous
cancer and can kill the entire country.” He was accompanied
the MLA’s of his constituency Mumbai North West — Chandulal
Chandarkar, Suresh Shetty and Baldev Khosa, councillor Radheshyam
Chaubey and District Committee President of the Congress Kamruddin
Merchant. And before any one can it is a political move, Dutt sahab
has made it known that his intent was “a purely humanitarian
mission with nothing to do with politics or any party.”
WHEELS OF CLASS
 Amitabh
Bachchan’s trademark vehicle the customised van has been replaced
by this very sleek Merc. Reason: because of his back trouble, the
climb into the van and out of it was becoming troublesome. Here
he just has to glide in and out. Now Bachchan has always been partial
to the Merc, and his other favourite being the Rolls Royce. Even
in his early days he owned a Merc in Mumbai, but on overseas location
shoots he would revel in driving around in the newest models. Class,
speed and a smooth drive were what he preferred. He would look forward
to outdoors in England, as he would then drive a Rolls Royce out
into the English countryside.
ON
THE BRANDWAGON
 Royal
Palms in Mumbai’s Goregaon is a favourite location with film
and TV units. After movies, the other popular passion for Indians
is cricket, so naturally the management of the resort asked Vinod
Kambli to be their brand ambassador, who inaugurated their well
equipped cricket coaching facility. So next time you are there,
you might hear shouts of ’Howzzat’ with ’Action’
PAYING
TRIBUTE
 EVERYONE
knows that Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge did a scene in tribute
to Bollywood, with Chamma chamma.... Now at the IIFA awards at Gening
Highlands, Malaysia designer Azeem Khan dressed up the stars for
their show. And he did a tribute to Nicole Kidman’s Satine
by dressing up Sushmita Sen in a white body suit with feathers,
crystals and sequins as she shashayed to Diamonds are a girl’s
best friend...
STARS
& STYLE
 Bollywood
is known to set fashion trends Hence cashing in on the rage is only
a natural culmination with Bollywood Fashion Awards 2002 scheduled
to be held end June in New York. The brainchild of New York based
Sonia Dandona it promises to be a fusion of the rhythm and style
of Bollywood. Fashion sequences will be choreographed to popular
ever green melodies and represent the colour and glamour of Bollywood
through the creations of Manish Malhotra, Tarun Tahiliani and others
worn by an array of India’s most stunning models - Fleur Xavier,
Jesse Randhawa, Ishita Arun, John Abraham, Aryan Vaid, etc. Entertainment
will feature Vasundhara Das and Bhangra King Sukhbir. Maura Moynihan
daughter of Senator Patrick Moynihan will launch the American debut
of her music track Yoga Hotel. Now we are still trying to figure
out that Bollywood connection.
THE
PREFERRED STAR
ANIL KAPOOR
is one of the finest and most disciplined actors we have. He is
such a task master that he will not let anything come in the way
of him finishing his work on time, even if he is not well. Of late,
he has been stricken with a hoarse throat and is combating that
with antibiotics. Yet, he has been hard at work every day completing
his assignments — he has been doing patchwork shots for Badhai
Ho Badhai and finishing his dubbing; he has been reporting for shooting
for Om Jai Jagdish; and has also been giving promotion interviews
for Badhai Ho Badhai. Now we know why he was sounding hoarse during
the telecast of Jeena isi ka naam. We also know why he is among
the preferred stars of today.
NEW
YORK, NEW YORK
 It
would seem after London and Cannes, Bollywood is moving to New York.
Producer Vashu Bhagnani and actor- turned-director Anupam Kher will
present Om Jai Jagadish with Anil Kapoor, Mahima Chaudhary, Urmila
Matondkar, Abhishek Bachchan, Fardeen Khan, Tara Sharma and Waheeda
Rehman at an awards night in New York. There was a time when no
film award ceremony could be complete without Anupam Kher, the actor,
carrying away some award or the other. Donning the mantle of director
for the first time, he now brings to his new role, the same attention
to detail. In addition to the leading actors and actresses in the
Indian film industry, several mainstream American stars have agreed
to grace the event with their presence and have also promised to
give an earth-shattering onstage performance at the show. The live
presentation produced and directed by Vashu Bhagnani and Anupam
Kher could leave the live and global audience awestruck.
|
