Bollywood has had a torrid time during the first half of the year with some dismal performances at the box office and no real hit in sight. But things are looking up due to the recent successes of Andaaz, Chalte Chalte, Bhoot and Jhankaar Beats. But after those highponts one of the more eagerly awaited films Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon has become a major disaster at the box office. Despite being directed bt Sooraj R. Barjatya whose previous 3 films were major blockbusters and a starcast including Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor the film has flopped miserably. As a result of this, 22 minutes of the 3 hour plus film have been cut. But this has come too late as the damage has already been done and the film is considered a financial and critical failure. Even internationally the films takings have dropped tremendously after a superb opening weekend. Roshan now hopes that his next release, Koi Mil Gaya, will not be affected by the fiasco of his current failure. His fate though, lies in the hands of his father Rakesh Roshan who directed his debut film, the blockbuster Kaho Na Pyar Hai. Roshan snr. is at the helm of his next film Koi Mil Gaya due for release in August. It’s being heavily promoted and has a unique, by Indian standards, storyline involving aliens.
Audiences who appreciated top Bollywood director Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s award winning films like Parinda and Mission Kashmir will be thrilled to know that he has been signed to direct a film in Hollywood. Tenatatively titled Move 5 it will be co-produced by Chopra and the Hollywood production company Outlaw Productions whose previous films include the Denzil Washinton starrer Training Day and National Security with Martin Lawrence. This is a major transition for the talented Bollywood director as the English language film is being targeted towards international audiences. The story co-written by Chopra, focuses on the friendship between a chess player and a detective, both of whom have suffered the death of a daughter. When the chess player is killed, the detective sets out on a quest to find the killer.
Warner Bros is currently looking at making a Hollywood version of the story of the Taj Mahal. The project is already in pre-production, based on a script by screenwriter Kamran Pasha. The story of Taj Mahal, the monument of love built by the Emperor Shahjehan for his beloved Mumtaz, has long fascinated filmmakers and several Indian films have been produced on the subject. The most memorable the Bina Rai-Pradeep Kumar starrer Taj Mahal in 1963. The latest version, an Indo-Canadian co-production directed by Robin Khosla, is due to be released in August. Another film on the same theme, Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story, is to be released in November. The film stars Manisha Koirala and Arbaaz Khan. The film, which will be in Hindi and dubbed in English, is budgeted at a staggering US$13m, making it the most expensive film ever made in India. The script of this film has been co-written by our very own Professor Fatima Meer. Indian music video and commercials director Bharat Bala is making India's first IMAX film The Heart Of India, which will celebrate thousands of years of India's cultural heritage and the extraordinary architectural achievement that is the Taj Mahal. Indian music composer AR Rahman, who has worked on many top Bollywood films as well as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ production Bombay Dreams, has scored the music for the film.
Recently Cape Town has had a glut of Bollywood inspired musical shows. I attended a show featuring local talent and was happy to see that there are certainly quite a few up and coming artistes in our midst. Hopefully they’ll receive the proper encouragement and training as they certainly have lots to offer. However Capetonians have once again missed out on the bigger names. Prolific composer/singer Adnan Sami performed in Gauteng recently and according to reports the show was excellent. However it proved too costly to bring the entertainer to our shores. This has often been in the case in the past but recently Cape Town have seen major Bollywood artistes performing locally including Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam. Let’s hope that these artistes haven’t hiked there fees to such an extent where we might lose out once again.
Audiences who appreciated top Bollywood director Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s award winning films like Parinda and Mission Kashmir will be thrilled to know that he has been signed to direct a film in Hollywood. Tenatatively titled Move 5 it will be co-produced by Chopra and the Hollywood production company Outlaw Productions whose previous films include the Denzil Washinton starrer Training Day and National Security with Martin Lawrence. This is a major transition for the talented Bollywood director as the English language film is being targeted towards international audiences. The story co-written by Chopra, focuses on the friendship between a chess player and a detective, both of whom have suffered the death of a daughter. When the chess player is killed, the detective sets out on a quest to find the killer.
Warner Bros is currently looking at making a Hollywood version of the story of the Taj Mahal. The project is already in pre-production, based on a script by screenwriter Kamran Pasha. The story of Taj Mahal, the monument of love built by the Emperor Shahjehan for his beloved Mumtaz, has long fascinated filmmakers and several Indian films have been produced on the subject. The most memorable the Bina Rai-Pradeep Kumar starrer Taj Mahal in 1963. The latest version, an Indo-Canadian co-production directed by Robin Khosla, is due to be released in August. Another film on the same theme, Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal - An Eternal Love Story, is to be released in November. The film stars Manisha Koirala and Arbaaz Khan. The film, which will be in Hindi and dubbed in English, is budgeted at a staggering US$13m, making it the most expensive film ever made in India. The script of this film has been co-written by our very own Professor Fatima Meer. Indian music video and commercials director Bharat Bala is making India's first IMAX film The Heart Of India, which will celebrate thousands of years of India's cultural heritage and the extraordinary architectural achievement that is the Taj Mahal. Indian music composer AR Rahman, who has worked on many top Bollywood films as well as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers’ production Bombay Dreams, has scored the music for the film.
Recently Cape Town has had a glut of Bollywood inspired musical shows. I attended a show featuring local talent and was happy to see that there are certainly quite a few up and coming artistes in our midst. Hopefully they’ll receive the proper encouragement and training as they certainly have lots to offer. However Capetonians have once again missed out on the bigger names. Prolific composer/singer Adnan Sami performed in Gauteng recently and according to reports the show was excellent. However it proved too costly to bring the entertainer to our shores. This has often been in the case in the past but recently Cape Town have seen major Bollywood artistes performing locally including Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Sonu Nigam. Let’s hope that these artistes haven’t hiked there fees to such an extent where we might lose out once again.
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