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By: Anand. J (Cinema Correspondent)
[monsoonjournal.com]

Slow 2007

If 2006 was the year of blockbusters, then 2007 might be the year of disappointments. Guru being the lone glowing exception, all other big budget, big banner films have fallen by the wayside in 2007. Some have managed to garner some respect while others have fallen flat on their face. The season of disappointments kicked off with Salaam-e-Ishq and has stretched along till Ekalavya. The jinx does not seem to be over as yet. Recent releases Nishabd and Nehle Pe Dehla have both got off to nearly disastrous starts at the box office. Never expected to take big openings during the inauspicious (for the box office) Holi weekend, no one expected the films with such star value to crawl at a 15-29% opening. And to make matters worse, the word of mouth has not been too good. Critics have found nothing other than Amitabh Bachchan and the cameraman to point out as positives in Nishabd. Nehle Pe Dehla is waiting to be reviewed, three days after its release. These are not things that normally happen to films starring the Big B, Saif Ali Khan and Sanjay Dutt. For Nishabd, the blame is being put on the theme which is being labeled as one with severe limitations. The treatment is sensitive they say, but there are not enough twists and turns to keep the viewer interested. Things look bleak. So what happened after farewell was said to 2006. Is Bollywood yet to get over its hangover of the dream run or is it just the great cycle of fortune that is playing tricks. Whatever it may be, the truth is that the industry now needs a hit and there are quite a few candidates in the coming weeks. 1971, Sarhad Paar, Cheeni Kum among others. Let’s wait and watch.

Mercedes Salman

It seems to be the season of cars gifting. First it was Amitabh (or was it Amar Singh of Samajwadi party) to gift Abhishek Bachchan a car, then it was Vidhu Vinod Chopra who gifted Amitabh the Rolls Royce and now it is the turn of Salman Khan to show his love and gratitude to actor Govinda. Salman surprised Govinda with a Mercedes Benz when the latter was in shooting. Govinda’s market in Bollywood is down after getting into politics joining the Congress party. Govinda has done a dance number in the Tamil movie “Three Roses” along with Rambha. After long gap Govinda featured along with Akshay Kumar in the Priyadarshan directed “Bhaagam Bhaag” which did not do good business at the box office. It is said that Salman Khan was instrumental in Govinda’s come back. “I was in the midst of shooting when Salman asked me to come to the gate. I saw a brand new Mercedes there and knew he is up to some surprise. I was thrilled” said Govinda. Govinda is now all praise for his new found friend.

Hollywood Aishwarya

The most talked about and the most written about lady in the recent times could only be Aishwarya Rai who continues to remain in spot light for various reasons. Announcements have finally started pouring in about her impending wedding with Abhishek Bachchan. Now the next question on everybody’s lips is - will she continue to act in films after wedding? Despite society’s tall claims about the improvement in equality of gender, a lady artist in Indian films after her wedding receives a volte-face treatment. She is no longer considered fit enough to play somebody’s beloved or spouse. However the same cannot be said about the male artists. One cannot ask Abhishek Bachchan if he would continue to act in films after wedding. It would certainly be a ‘breaking’ or ‘flash news’. But as per the grapevine, former Miss World has decided to consider acting as any other profession and plans to shift only her workplace after her wedding. It would be more of Hollywood movies this time for this talented actress. Though her earlier films Provoked and Bride and prejudice were received with a lukewarm response, she continues to be flooded with Hollywood offers, says her international manager. After completing her domestic assignments, she would concentrate on her Hollywood projects as there is a steady market for her there. Good Luck Aishwarya.

Bollywood Cricket

The cricket fever will grip world over this March 2007. Cricket world cup is to start in West Indies on March 11th. The Indian team has reached the Caribbean islands on March 1st. A grand send off was organized in Mumbai for the Indian cricket team. Pepsi cola under the banner “Blue Billion” has organized such extravaganza with Shankar, Eshan and Loy performing for the cricket stars. How can Bollywood left behind in such functions. Priyanka Chopra too contributed her bit by singing along with Shankar Mahadevan. King Khan Sharukh was also seen cheering the Team with his wits and comments. Singer Adnan Sami too sang for the team. What is a cricket function without Mandira Bedi? She played her part as the hostess. The Indian cricketers were seen enjoying themselves and there were some bullying going on in the team and Dhoni, Sreeshanth and Yuvraj were the men behind. Sachin, Harbhajan, Munaf, Sehwag and Uthappa were also present. Later in the show Dhoni and Sharukh were seen pouring Pepsi over the media and visitors. If Indian team wins the World cup it will be after 24 years since they last won the World cup in the famous 1983 World cup.

International A R Rahman

Rahman is all set to rule the international music charts. With the release of his self-composed-and-sung English track titled ‘Pray For Me Brother’ produced by Universal Music, it could just be possible. However, notwithstanding the commercial reasons, Rahman has composed the number for a noble cause to support the vision of Millennium Development Goals.The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was formed from the pact that was signed in the year 2000 at the significant UN Millennium Summit held at New York by Prime Ministers, Presidents, and other noted leaders from 189 countries. Rahman is an ardent supporter of MDGs that functions with an aim to eradicate poverty, hunger, and disease in the world by 2015. ‘Pray For Me Brother’ will be made available on the Millennium campaign’s website www.millenniumcampaign.org, for free downloads according to Salil Shetty, director of the Millennium Campaign, New York. The song will also be used for the organization’s global campaign to propagate its goals around the world including Europe and the US. Rahman mentioned that this song would be India’s rendition to the world in achieving the cause of MDGs. “Hunger is the only common thing among people and it is only to survive that people beg. I hope that this song will inspire people to do something to eradicate those kind of social evils”, the maestro added. Not many people knew that Rahman has been appointed by the UN as Brand Ambassador to eradicate tuberculosis. “It was while planning to compose a song for the same that I started to think about the much bigger universal issue - poverty and hunger. I decided to shift the focus and with the help of my friend Blaaze came up with the song”, revealed Rahman.