Mallika breaks her silence

Download image as wallpaper Here's another EXCLUSIVE and as always, it's ONLY on 'Bollywood Hungama'. Mallika Sherawat is in the eye of a storm. Make it two. The actress, who stopped talking to the media almost two years ago, has been dragged into two controversies. The first pertains to the film FAUJ MEIN MAUJ. Sometime back, there was talk that after shooting a major chunk of the film, the actress told the producer in very clear words that she would complete the film only if the director was changed. "Never! I never said that," Mallika breaks her silence, "All I said was that the script wasn't shaping up to everyone's satisfaction and it would be great if we re-worked on it. It's a great plot and everyone felt that it deserves a better screenplay. It's the producer's call, how can I dictate terms?" More recently, Studio 18 lodged a complaint against the actress in a producers' association [IMPPA] because the actress, after signing the film, had problems with Kundan Shah, the director, on certain issues. "False! I am ready to work with Kundan-ji even today. He's someone I truly admire. JAANE BHI DO YAARO is a cult film, one of my favourites. But it was clearly decided that things would be mutually discussed at the very outset. If the problems are sorted out, I'd love to work with Kundan-ji. Why not?" she sets the record straight.

MAN-TURNED-WOMAN to star in a film

The name of the film is 'Paal' and is directed by D. Sivakumar. The movie's mission is to show facts of life keeping in mind that every single individual has a right to peaceful life immaterial of gender – male, female or transsexual. Most of Indian Cinema has always depicted transsexuals in a rather shabby vein in order to tickle the funny bone of 'insensitive' people. Barring a few short films and documentaries, the lives and emotions of transsexuals have always been underplayed and even exploited. This is where director D. Sivakumar steps in. His film 'Paal', meaning 'gender' in Tamil would explore the hitherto unexplored terrain of the lives of transsexuals in mainstream commercial Tamil cinema for the very first time. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary defines transsexual as follows…."a person born with the physical characteristics of one sex who emotionally and psychologically feels that they belong to the opposite sex" Many transsexuals undergo surgeries in order to fully relate with the sex that they emotionally and psychologically are attached to. D. Sivakumar zeroed in on Karpaga, a middle class lady from Erode, Tamilnadu, who was born a boy and at age 17 went away to Mumbai only to return back a woman after five years. Her parents were reportedly shattered but then came to terms with reality and accepted her. "'Acceptability' is what the film is going to talk about in detail" says the director. 'How many people are ready to accept?' he asks. According to the story, Karpaga plays an intellectual short filmmaker who happens to fall in love and is terrified to reveal herself to her lover. The debutante has been taking acting lessons and is also training to be a dancer. Actress Revathy will play Karpaga's mother and this role is a very vital part of the film. The director of the film is hopeful that the message the film comes out with will be well received by the general public. Karpaga, it seems, is being approached for other films as well. She has been offered to play heroine in a film and villain in another. However, Karpaga is keen on seeing 'Paal' released first.

Imran in Karan's next?

Here's the biggest news of the week. Rumours are rife that Karan Johar has signed teen sensation Imran Khan for his next project, which will be directed by one of his associates. The film-maker is keen to cast a new face opposite Aamir's bhanja in this film, the story goes.

"I would love to work with Imran, he was fantastic in JAANE TU… YA JAANE NA, but the fact remains that I haven't signed him for any of my projects," Karan Johar tells me, "There's no denying that Imran has great potential. He's sensational and looks so fresh. But the news is untrue."

Meanwhile, Karan has decided on the release date of his new film DOSTANA, being directed by Tarun Mansukhani. It's November 14.

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First weekend performance of latest release

The unthinkable has happened. Till about a year back, there was no news around the progress of JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA which had begun close to two years back. The film was stuck and while Aamir Khan got busy with his TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, the Imran Khan starrer was put on a backburner.

Somewhere down the line news started pouring in that JTYJN was being revived but except for the fact that the film had two heavy weights backing it up - Aamir Khan and A.R. Rahman - there didn't seem to be much curiosity about the film. This is when these very trump cards came into motion. First came the music of the film which became an overnight craze with 'Aditi' and 'Pappu' becoming chartbusters. Later, Aamir took complete charge of the film and the results were there to be seen.

So strong was the buzz created by Aamir's planned publicity overdrive that it was JTYJN all over. The fabulous promos coupled with intense media campaign did it for this sweet love story which caught on so much hype by the time of it's Friday release that it was irresistible for the urban audience not to give it a watch.

Result? The film took a fabulous response on Friday and as this piece is being written, the word is already out all over that the film is a superhit in the making. While the opening shows saw 70-80% range occupancy, the evening saw cent percent footfalls at the farthest of multiplexes which means that JTYJN has been accepted all over. Saturday and Sunday are only better while weekdays too have been stable.

With coming Friday not really throwing a challenge due to MEHBOOBA being the sole release of the week, the makers of JTYJN have hit gold. Imran Khan begins his Bollywood journey with a big HIT under his belt while Genelia D'Souza too makes a real good comeback after a forgettable MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP!

On the other hand LOVE STORY 2050 just hasn't worked with the audience. For a film of such grandeur, huge release and immense hype, one expected a very good opening though there were always fears that business may be divided between the Harman Baweja starrer and JTYJN. However, the situation hasn't been good for LS 2050 because as of today, it doesn't seem like a competition at all between the two films. After a below average opening, the film hasn't really been finding much patronage with all around negative reviews killing whatsoever chances that this futuristic film had. The film is headed for further lows in weeks to come and the only silver lining has come in the form of Bollywood getting one more hero to explore further.

Last week's movies

While the flop show of TASHAN created a lot of noise, it hasn't been the same in case of THODA PYAAR THODA MAGIC that has failed again. There are three reasons for that - a) It has been such a poor run for Yash Raj Films that their flops have stopped being news worthy, b) JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA has become such a huge hit that it is the only film everyone is interested in talking out and c) YRF have made a smart choice - they have been bombarding the promos of BACHNA AE HASEENO all over which has resulted in the Ranbir Kapoor film making far more headlines than the Saif-Rani flop.

So how did the first week of TPTM go. Pretty much below the average in fact. In spite of being enabled by a good release, the film only gather around 17 crores in the first week. Of course it isn't really bad but then if only the film would have sustained in the second week, there were chances of this Kunal Kohli directed film turning out to be an average runner at the least. However, the storm that JTYJN has created has ensured that TPTM would see a substantial drop over it's second week.

The film has been good in Mumbai with 3.5 crores coming in while Delhi too has been fair with a little over 2.5 crores. Since the film hasn't been mounted on an extremely huge budget, the losses would be minimal for those who invested in this Yash Raj Film which could have done better had it not been preceded by the failures of TASHAN, AAJA NACHLE and LAAGA CHUNARI MEIN DAAG.

VIA DARJEELING and THODI LIFE THODA MAGIC have added on to the growing list of 2008 disasters. While the former earned 25 lakhs odd, the latter was standing at, believe it or not, a mere 3 lakhs. This one tops the list of all disasters!

From the past

HAAL E DIL has been down and out in it's second week with a mere 3 lakhs more taking the film's collections to only 46 lakhs. One wonders what would the DVD prospects of the film look like? DE TAALI too tanked badly and earned only 1 crore more to barely cross the 8 crore mark. With a 80% fall in it's second week, DE TAALI is a flop though it has done wonders for at least Riteish Deshmukh and Rimmi Sen.

MERE BAAP PEHLE AAP too fell by 70% and is now making a rapid exit from the theaters. With the third week bringing home 1.5 crores, the film has crossed the 22 crore mark though there are no chances of this Priyadarshan film reaching anywhere close to 25 crores. An below-average success, this one would see a quick DVD release.

Though SARKAR RAJ is being labeled as a flop by some sections of trade, it is far from true as overall the film has done decent enough to earn itself an average tag. The huge release may have raised quite a few expectations but in the end, if one looks at 34 crores coming in 4 weeks, it doesn't make for a bad picture at all. The film made a little less than 1 crore last week though a huge dip in collections is inevitable from here on.

Makers of AAMIR did the right thing in release it's DVDs at the peak of euphoria that the film had managed to create amongst the minds of those looking at some unconventional cinema. While the film is now doing well on home entertainment, theatrically too it had a decent fourth week with 35 lakhs more coming in. At 2.75 crores, AAMIR is a dream beginning for Rajeev Khandelwal.

In the future

While JAANE TU YA JAANE NAA has emerged a major success, it would be a speed breaker ahead for the new releases with the coming weekend looking all set to be a dull affair. The silver lining though for MEHBOOBA is that now it enjoys the sole release status due to MUKHBIIR and GOOD LUCK being pushed to later dates. The movie may just see some footfall due to Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan on billboards but all in all, this one would only have to make way for KISMAT KONNECTION and CONTRACT which release next week.

SRK versus Akki this Diwali

Here's a piping hot 'News Break' and as always, you get it first on 'Bollywood Hungama'.

Get ready for fireworks this Diwali. With Salman's YUVRAAJ not arriving in the festive week and SRK's BILLO BARBER getting confirmed for Diwali, it seemed like a cakewalk for BILLO BARBER, since no other biggie was scheduled for release on October 24. But there's tough competition now.

Initially, the Akshay Kumar starrer CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA was supposed to arrive a week later, on a Wednesday to be precise [October 29], but Warner Bros., Rohan Sippy and Nikhil Advani have decided to bring the film in Diwali. Which means, BILLO BARBER and CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA will battle it out this Diwali.

It's a battle royale, what with the two superstars, SRK and Akki, coming face to face in the festive week. Expect fireworks, for sure.

Aap Kaa Surroor 2 - Ae Himesh Bhai

Status
Announced

Color
C

Release Date
2008

Language
Hindi

Producer
Vijay Taneja

Director
Prashant Chadha

Star Cast
Himesh Reshammiya

Music Director
Himesh Resha

Govinda's NAUGHTY @ FORTY progressing fast

Producer Sanddeep Kapur, in association with Anuj Sharma, has successfully completed the 18 day shoot schedule for his next film at various locations in London with Govinda. The entire schedule went as planned. As decided earlier, the next schedule will be shot at various locations in India. Producers have also sent the title 'Naughty @ Forty' for registration. Produced under the banner of Promodome and Sishty Creations, this film is directed by Jagmohan Mundra, it has music by Monty Sharma and choreographer is Pony Verma. Star cast of the film is Govinda, Ayesha Takia, Anupam Kher and Shakti Kapoor. This comic caper revolves around the life of a 40 years old bachelor, who finds himself infatuated with a very young girl.