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Superstars is an adjective which is rarely attached to new actors in 21st century Bollywood. There are stars and actors and there are prodigies and immensely talented youngsters, but can you name a single actor who can be termed a superstar? Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are perhaps the only current actors who can be called superstars in the true sense of the word.

Amitabh and Dharmendra in 'Sholay'

If you’re like me and you like watching old Bollywood movies, I am quite certain that you switch on Set Max or Zee Classic every once in a while to watch reruns of Bollywood movies from 40 years ago. A different sort of feeling rises within – the pace is slower, the dialogues are better, the impact much more powerful. Those are movies from the golden age of Bollywood when superstars such as Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Dharmendra and of course, the legendary Amitabh Bachchan ruled. Popular actresses such as Parveen Babi, Hema Malini and Rekha donned film posters all over India.

Today, these very names are  often remembered with the term ‘superstar’ and there is no reluctance in saying so.

Many of these superstars who ruled then have faded away, some gracefully, some not so gracefully. Most have opted to retire to a life of memories, spending their years in peace and quiet. There are very few who still remain and who have managed to remain a part of the filmy scene.

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan is one of the oldest and most endearing superstars of yesteryears. This phrase is not quite apt for him, since he is a superstar of present times also, but when we recollect the fact that his first film was released over four decades earlier, we realize that he is definitely the most enduring star of all times. Even today he can command his own price and roles which seem to have been written specifically for him.

Hema Malini

Hema Malini can also be counted as one of the most enduring superstars of many decades. She still looks graceful and beautiful, and her acting is flawless as always. Baghban brought her back on the box office stage with a bang and we look forward to many more years of fine performances.
Waheeda Rehman and Sharmila Tagore do not come on the silver screen as often as we would like them to, but that may be due to their own choices in life. But whenever they do star in a film, they shine with an incandescent glow.

Rishi Kapoor

Rishi Kapoor is another actor who despite having become nice and round, does a great job as the avuncular uncle or father in the newer films. He carries years of experience and tradition on his shoulders, and his joy in his craft is evident in every role.

Mithun Chakravarty

Mithun Chakravarty, the ultimate Disco Dancer, has become popular as a reality show host. He may no longer be very nimble on his feet, but he still has the grace and the expertise to guide the newer aspirants who would like to step into his dancing shoes.

And some others…

There are many more superstars who we would like to see once again, even though it may be for short scenes or roles. Dev Anand does keep coming back with new flop shows, but he only seems to remind us of the fact that he is no longer a superstar, just a mockery of his old self. Naseeruddin Shah was never a superstar, but he along with Amol Palekar has managed to retain his own niche as a phenomenal character actor. We miss Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Mumtaz and many others – they were the true superstars and in their heyday they could give any of the new “stars” a run for their money.

Bollykings

Shivaratri lord Shiva festival in India is celebrated by devotees by observing fast on the most auspicious day, enjoy the bhakti by listening to lord Shiva devotional songs, bhajans, mantras, mp3. Here is popular God Shiva song Har Har mahadev song sung by one of the greatest singers of all time and the Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh. Har Har mahadev by Jagjit Singh [...]
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After his unconventional last movie (Dhobi Ghat), Prateik Babbar is all set to burn the screen with supermodel Amy Jackson in their upcoming Hindi movie, Ek Deewana Tha.

Ek Deewana Tha posterek deewana tha

About Ek Deewana Tha

It seems almost everything about Ek Deewana Tha, apart from the lead actors, has been copied from Gautham Menon’s Tamil film, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (VTV). Interestingly, VTV was also remade into a Telugu film titled Ye Maaya Chesave in 2010.

The soundtrack and film score of Ek Deewana Tha has been composed by A. R. Rahman, as he had done in the Tamil and Telugu versions. Even the original cinematographers and editors, M. S. Prabhu and Anthony Gonsalves, have been hired for Ek Deewana Tha. Last of all, singer Chinmayi  who dubbed for actresses Trisha Krishnan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu respectively in the original Tamil version and its Telugu remake, is doing that for Amy Jackson in Ek Deewana Tha.

The intentions of the filmmakers are quite clear – all they want to do is make money by rehashing a Tamil story that worked years back, into Hindi and feeding it to Bollywood fans. I wonder when will creativity and not money, will rule. At least in the film and arts industry.

Prateik Babbar is the son of Bollywood legend Smita Patil while Amy is a British model who has appeared on the covers of a lot of fashion magazines (FHM, Maxim, Cosmo, Vogue). According to the grapevine, Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson are romancing each other off screen as well. Of course, this could also be a publicity stunt but apparently, they were really comfortable doing intimate scenes on screen.

The Trailers of Ek Deewana Tha

Watch the trailer of Ek Deewana Tha below. The movie seems to be pretty decent – let’s hope Amy Jackson shows some promise and talent because Bollywood could seriously do with some nice foreign maal among the usual crop of desi actors.

Ek Deewana Tha is all set to release on 17th February, 2012.

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Ekk Deewana Tha is a remake by Gautam Menon of his earlier Tamil masterpiece Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa(VTV), which he had remade in Telugu as Yeh Maaya Chesave (YMC). Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson are playing the main characters in Ekk Deewana Tha.

Ekk deewana tha – Remade Music

Read more about Ekk Deewana Tha

The music of VTV/YMC had been composed by A R Rahman and it had garnered widespread critical acclaim. Therefore, it was only natural that Rahman be commissioned to work on the Hindi remake as well. The lyrics of Ekk Deewana Tha have been penned down by none other than Javed Akhtar.

Ekk Deewana Tha has 12 tracks which have been sung by some really excellent singers:

• Clinton Cerejo (‘Kya Karoon’ –Wake Up Sid)
• Shreya Ghosal (‘Chikni Chameli’ – Agneepath)
• Javed Ali (‘Guzarish’ – Ghajini)
• Naresh Iyer (‘Robaroo’ – Rang De Basanti) and
• Rahman himself amongst others.

Ekk Deewana Tha hits theatres 17 Febuary 2012.

Ekk Deewana Tha: Music Review

After you listen to the music composed by A R Rahman for Rockstar, it’s quite hard believing he did it for Ekk Deewana Tha too. The music of Ekk Deewana Tha is okayish – nothing great, nothing bad. It’s a pleasant to change to listen to new music every once in a while. Unfortunately, the entire soundtrack has also been, almost, copied from the original film.

Kya Hai Mohabbat is the only track in Ek Deewana Tha which is not there in VTV/YMC, so naturally its first on the list. Rahman himself sings this track, and does it well. Similarly, Javed Akhtar’s lyrics are just ok. Rahman’s recent solo numbers like ‘Jaane Tu’, ‘Rehna Tu’ and ‘Meherbaan’ have been quite surprising solid therefore a bland solo track such as this is unusual.

Dost Hai Hum To loses its essence in translation. The original song is a highly emotive track with anger filled in it while this one sounds completely different. Naresh Iyer has sang this and, I daresay, ARR has violated his music with ill-sounding rap and a mix of equally bad sound effects. This song is a complete train wreck.

Aaromale sounds more or less the same in Hindi and Alphonse Joseph does a good job singing the track in Hindi, clearly not his first language. An edgy track, it’s a situational number which grows on you when you listen to it a few times. The violins and guitars, coupled with Akhtar’s lyrics are in form this time round.

Hosana was available for official download on many websites for the promotion of Ekk Deewana Tha’s music album. Leon D’Souza does a brilliant job of not letting one miss Vijay Prakash too much who sang the Tamil and Telugu versions. Suzanne D’Mello reprises the position behind the mic to deliver the heavenly crooning of ‘Hosana’ throughout the number.

Phoolon Jaisi is a contemporary track with traditional South Indian arrangements. The track has been sung by Clinton Cerejo and Kalyani Menon and they do a decent job. Javed Akhtar’s lyrics fail to entertain us and that makes this an average track.

Sharminda Hoon is featured during a major turning point in the film and thus it demands a higher lyrical quality. However, it is quite evident that Javed Akhtar saab had been forced to write along the lines of the original songs which greatly restricted his creative freedom. This comes across quite clearly when you listen to the song. Average, yet again!

Sunlo Zara is decent translation into Hindi. Rashid Ali and Shreya Ghosal, who replaced Chinmayi and Devan, have sung Akhtar’s poetic lyrics effectively enough. The feel-good music makes Sunlo Zara a track worth listening to.

Javed Ali’s Zohra-Jabeen is a raw and earthy number, in the same line as Aaromale. However, this time round the emotions are more subdued and soft as opposed to the angst/frustration in the Aaromale. Javed’s effortless rendition amidst the acoustic guitars makes Zohra-Jabeen a fine number.

The album closes with various instrumentals that were featured in the VTV/YMC. Jessie’s Land is a beautiful thematic piece,  followed by the aptly titled Jessie’s Driving Me Crazy that has been done quite nicely by Sanjeev Thomas and Timmy. Broken Promises is a beautifully derivative of Aaromale while the violins in Moments in Kerala makes the track quite soothing.

In summary, members of the Hindi audiences who have already heard either YMC or VTV will be disappointed with EDT more often than not, while those that haven’t may be able to appreciate the soundtrack on its own. However, its hard to see how the miss-match of music and lyrics in Sharmida Hoon, the bad rap in Dost Hai Hum To and the inarticulate lyrics in Phoolon Jaisi Hosana, would not be apparent to the objective listener.

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I went to the theatres the other day to catch the Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt starrer, Agneepath. The movie was meant to be pure masala fare meant to keep one thrilled for a good three hours. The expectations were quite high because of Agneepath’s trailer and accomplished actors such as Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay Dutt starring in it. Unfortunately, it failed to keep me gripped for the plot was loose with several illogical gaps and it was just too much Bollywoodism packed in for one film.

Synopsis

Based on Mukul Anand’s original cult film, the plot of Agneepath is quite simple. It’s belongs to the good old fight-for-right and avenge-with-revenge type of Bollywood films.

Agneepath is the story of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Hrithik Roshan) who is out on a mission against, Kancha (Sanjay Dutt), the bald, evil looking villain to avenge his father’s (Master Deenanath played by Chetan Pandit) death in the village of Mandwa.

Agneepath star cast

After his father is wrongfully murdered by Kancha, young Vijay (Arish Bhiwandiwala) along with his mum Suhasini Chauhan (Zareena Wahaab) go away to Bombay. There he rises from a little kid to a little gangster under Rauf Lala (Rishi Kapoor), the leader of Bombay’s underworld.

Kali (Priyanka Chopra) is his only friend who is pining away for his love. Inspector Gaitonde (Om Puri) is the long arm of justice who understands Vijay and wants to help him.

Where Agneepath Failed

A plot based on fighting for righteousness and vengeance is a hackneyed story line for Bollywood films. But in the original Agneepath, Kader Khan’s superbly written dialogues and Amitabh Bachchan’s delivery of them managed to create a powerful impression. It had eventually turned out to be one of Amitabh Bachchan’s most epic performances.

Cut to 2012, when debut director Karan Malhotra and producer Karan Johar decide to rip off  remake a cult classic by shredding the original screenplay to bits and adding masala to suit the taste of the new generation. They only thing epic about the new Agneepath will probably be Sanjay Dutt’s style and performance.

If you go watch Agneepath, be prepared to see Hrithik kill a whole gang of villains armed with automatic machine guns with a single revolver and later, dying in the arms of his mother with cheesy Bollywoody dialogues spilling off his tongue. Some find this stuff good but for some, it can get too ludicrous to digest.

They have gone too far to make the new Agneepath a crowd puller. There really was no need for ear blasting background scores or irreverent action scenes.

A Few Good Points

Cinematography.

Some of the visuals in the movie are beautifully painted on the screen, giving Agneepath a surrealist tinge to it. Color and depth seem to have has been meticulously worked up in almost every single frame. Kudos to Sabu Cyril and Kiran Deohans for such stunning visuals.

Sanjay Dutt – The Best Bollywood Villain in recent years

Sanjay Dutt in as Kancha in Agneepath

The most noteworthy and original element of Agneepath is Sanjay Dutt’s role of Kancha which had originally been played by  Danny Dezongpa. Bollywood villains have often entertained audiences more than the heroes. In The new Kancha is looks disturbingly evil and is a thousand times meaner. This is one of his best performances after Munnabhai and I’m quite sure he will take away many awards for the role.

Conclusion – Lots of noise, little substance

Agneepath has all the characteristics of a Bollywood film which usually make us love Bollywood. It has conflict, it has souped up drama and emotion, unbelievable action scenes, a much talked about Chikni Chameli, powerful dialogue, a hero, heroine and villain.

But it just somehow doesn’t make the cut for a blockbuster. It will probably make 70-80 crores at the Bollywood box office and push off into the archives without making that impact which we thought it would make.

Watch it for Sanjay Dutt and his constant reminder from the Bhagavad Gita:

Tum Kya Laye Thay, Tum Kya Leke Jaoge

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