Review: London Dreams

Verdict: Good.

"K" Rating: 3/5
Watch: DVD

London Dream has an apt star cast with friendship, professional jealousy and insecurity forming the backdrop . London Dreams would be a winner had it not been for its music and weak ending.The outburst of Ajay, Salmaan's saintly behaviour at the end lack verisimilitude. The movie misses out on a perfect ending due to an unnecessary song sequence. Music of the film by Shankar Ehsaan Loy does not do justice to the beautiful shots of the performances.

Watch: For great performances by the Salmaan and Ajay- they have proved themselves yet again.Comic timing and pronunciations/new lingo of Salmaan's Character. Emotional intensity of the film and good cinematography make it a DVD watch.

Story: Remember Shakalaka Boom Boom? (*ing Bobby Deol/Upen Patel) maybe not. SBB like London Dreams is based on a old hollywood flick Amadeus. Its a story about 2 friends - the introvert, ambition driven Arjun and the fun-loving, carefree aimless Manjeet(Manu). They say ambition is self driven but talent is gods given. This drives a wedge between the two friends when Arjun brings Manu to London to join his Band but discovers Manu's muscial genius. Asin look good as a rocker girl and pairs with Salmaan beautifully.

("K" rating reflects my personal star rating from now on. I thank my brother for the suggestion)

Blue: Its all about Special Effects

If you saw the much hyped movie Blue irrespective whether you liked it or not, you could not deny the great special effects it had. There were scenes when the audience could be fooled into thinking they were watching a Hollywood flick.Movies like Luck, Blue and now Aladdin may not have a blockbuster tag on them, but they do prove that Indian cinematography and vfx has come of age. True, most of the special effects are still being done by Hollywood brains but on Indian shores with companies like Prime Focus, Eros and ofcourse Red Chillies vfx.

Let's have a look at how some scenes were created in Blue (Now we know where the most expensive film spent most of its budget)

(curtesy- BollywoodHungama.com)

Interesting Promos!

Due to the high influx of movies hitting the theaters every Friday in recent weeks, we are inundated with film promos. Here are two promos which caught my eye.

3 idiots - Starring Amir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sherman Joshi directed by Rajkumar Hirani and Produces by Vidhu Vinod Chopra this is the most awaited film of the year. Based on the book "5 point someone" by Chetan Bhagat it tells the story of 3 engineering students at a big name school. This is a definate watch! the promo was just released with London Dreams.

Rocket Singh - Salesman of the year: Starring Ranbir Kappor plaing a sadarji directed by none other then Shemit Amin (Chade Fame) and produced under Yash Raj Banner this movie is up for release on Dec 11. The initial promo's are unlike any other promos one has seen in recent times. Marketing people receive kudoos as they seem to be doing true justice to the tag line of "Salesman of the year". We have yet to see how the movie will be, but the promos are definitely "different" and appeal to the common man aka masses- hence we have hope from the movie aswell.

Chance Pe Dance- Stars none other then Shahid Kapoor opposite Genelia D'souza directed by ad-filmmaker Ken Gosh (Ishk Vishk) and is produced by Ronnie Screwvala. Looking at the promo it will be a must watch for the youth. The movie seems to have it all -Ken Gosh's trademark stunning visuals coupled with Shahid's dancing and Genelia's liveliness. After looking at the promo one realises why Farah Khan asked the south beauty to say the tongue twister "kaccha papad pucca papad" on her show Tere Mere Beach Mein. It is releasing in January of 2010 but promises to be worth the wait! The movie appears to focus majorly on dance and Shahid looks all shaped up for it!(Trailor brings mind images of movies like Save the Last Dance/ Step-up?).

Here are the trailers which are making the rounds in the theater and creating the buzz.

Lux Commercial: Aishwarya & Abhishek Bachchan

After 2 years, Aishwarya & Abhishek finally seem to be warming up to the idea of appearing together on screen post marriage. It began with the couple appearing on the Oprah Show less then a month ago and it continues on with the new Lux soap commercial.

This is the first time the sizzling couple is appearing in a chimerical together. Ashwarya has long association with Lux along with other Bollywood beauties. Abhishek is the only second actor ever appearing in a Lux ad, the first was Shahrukh Khan who appeared in the soaps 75th Anniversary celebration Ad.

For the 34-second commercial Ash & Abhishek took home a whopping 25 crore it is belived. The golden couple was styled by Akki Narula and directed by Stephen Mead. Shankar Ehsaan Loy have given a very soothing music to the Ad. It provides the perfect background score to the playful tricks Ash is playing on husband Abhi. The body language of the actors and the overall feel of the commercial is very warm. Looks like everyone had a blast shooting it and it definitely conveys so! what can we say but "Ab Aishwarya Abhi ke bina nahi" dekhengi kahin.

On the making interview: Abhishek seems down to earth and casual, but note Ash's 2-3 buzz words which she keeps repeating - brand connect, relationship, communication, commercial.

SRK: "I'm neither Fair nor Handsome"

Modesty is King Khan's policy! Shahrukh was recently shooting for the new commercial for Emami's men's creme "Fair & Handsome" with the aspiring actress Shazahn Padamsee. Emami renewed their contract with SRK, as part of a strategy

to make it a 200-crore Rupees product in the next 2 years. After all Brand SRK is biggest in India and who better to endorse a product. (Here is a fab article on Brand SRK)

So what does he do for his good looks? black coffee, sleep 4 hrs, gym....

La affaire: Shilpa & Raj

Oct 24th, 2009 was a big day for the Shetty's as Shilpa(33) got engaged to her long time beau Raj Kundra (34) at his Juhu residence in Mumbai. Unfortunately sister Shamita could not attend as she is following big sisters foot steps and taking part in the Indian version of Big Brother - Big Boss. Let's hope Big Boss does what Big Brother did to Shilpa's career 2 years ago.

Shlipa transitioned from modelling to Bollywood in 1993 with SRK-Kajol starrer Bazigar. The song "Chura ke dil mera" from Mein Khiladi Tu Anari shot her to stardom and she became the face for some foot tapping item songs. After 40 films her career was at a all time low in 2007, but with her controversial win at the Big Brother reality show in London things changed and she turned hot property yet again - this time with on an international level.

Raj is a London based business man who met Shilpa for marketing her perfume S2 in London. Although Raj's ex-wife blames Shilpa for being a house breaker, the duo remains unhassled. Today together have a business worth millions - 15.4m dollar stake in IPL Team Rajasthan Royals, a 10 m dollar 33% stake in London's V8 Gourmet group, and a medispa "loosis" in Mumbai. This in addition to a 5 m dollar 7-bedroom house in London, yoga dvd, movies, brand endorsements - there seems to be no looking back for Shilpa. Shilpa & Raj bring together business acumen and glamour - a very profitable and winning combination. So the rest can just "shut-up and bounce"....

Review: All The Best

Verdict: Don't Bother

Star Rating: 1.5/5
Watch: Pass-able

All The Best desperately wants to be like Golmaal, Phir Hera Pheri, Garam Masala et al but even the big star cast can't save this film from falling flat on its face. Barring a few one liners here and there which have already been shown in the promos the film has no comedy to offer.

Wait for it to come on cable if you really want to watch it.

Review: Mein Aurr Mrs Khanna

Verdict: Good. simple story
Star Rating: 3/5
Watch: Dvd

This movie is definitely for the "Classes" therefore may not fare well at the box office. Mein Aurr Mrs Khanna is a simple, sweet movie minus the regular Bollywood masalas of elaborate dances or fights. A little more of emotional drama would have helped the audience to connect with the characters and story of the movie. Nonetheless its a light entertainer. Go to theater for the locales of Australia or if you are a Salmaan fan otherwise wait for the DVD.

Story: Raina Khanna's (Kareena) to Sameer(Salmaan) is going thru a rough patch. Sameer elects to try his luck in another country and decides to send Raina back to India. True to a 21st century woman Kareena decides to stay back in Melbourne and be self sufficient while giving her husband a chance at success. Enter Aakash (Sohil) in their lives, thus begins a journey of finding love amidst all the complications it brings.

Watch: Beautiful shots of Australia. Salman & Kareena! This is one of those casual movies, that one wants to watch to relax without having to watch action or silly comedy. Salmaan is a very polished role as apposed to Wanted!Kareena is looking good and has given a great performance. Sohil provides the lighter moments of the film. Don't miss the airplane scene and the ending of the film!

Kouture with Karan: SRK & Gauri Sizzle

Its not everyday when SRK & Gauri sizzle the ramp together for a designer. The 6-day long HDIL Indian Couture Week had a memorable grand finale with launch of fashion label Karan Johar in association with designer Varul Bahl. The entire film fraternity came out to encourage the producer-director Karan Johar add another feather to his cap as a designer. Seen on ramp were Imran Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Karan Johar and the Badshah of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan with wife Gauri as the show stopper! Kajol, Priety, Mallika Arora Khan,Mehr & Arjun Rampal, Saif with Kareena and Priyanka Chopra were present among others.

KJo has been designing/styling for SRK quite sometime now including movies from Billu Barber, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna et al. With Label Karan Johar he is extending his designs to his audience who already so love his movies.

Review: Blue

Verdict: OK, timepass adventure
Star Rating: 3/5
Watch: Dvd/Theater

"Blue" is the most awaited film of the year, and rightly so - its the first of its kind to ever hit Indian Cinema. The cinematography, scale, under water sequence coupled with breath taking locales and action/adventure will make you think its a Hollywood Flick(Fool's Gold/ The Deep). Now that said, the storyline itself isn't strong, Anthony D'Souza (director) seemed to have got side tracked from it. The ending is loose and seemed to be rather amusing. Only about 25% of the film is an under water sequence. Music is good "Fiqrana", "Chiggy Wiggy", "Aaj Dil Gustakh Hai" are already doing good on the charts. The title track at the beginning of the movie reminds one of the 007 movie tracks.

Story: Sanjay Dutt (Sethji) lost his father finding "Lady in Blue"- the treasure ship. He now works for Aarav (Akshay) in the Bahamas with his doting wife (Lara). Pan over to Bangkok

where Sam (Zayed) is a bike racer who has gangster (Rahul Dev) after him. Fate drags the brothers to the shark infested waters yet again, bringing them face to face with his fears and untold fortune.

Watch: Fantastic bike races on the Ducati's, Lara is looking her fabulous self. Katrina Kaif has an interesting guest appearance as a biker chick. Kylie Minogue's "Chigy Wiggy" song starts off good but then looses out. It could have been done better - considering the hype around it. Sanjay Dutt needs to get in shape or retire! But its definately a Blue wave this Diwali weekend at the box office.

Salmaan Khan: Being Human

Salmaan Khan promoted his NGO - "Being Human" at the HDIL Couture Fashion Week in Mumbai by a especial fashion show. Outfits of top designers such as Rocky S, Shane & Falguni Precock,Rahul Khanna, Rohit Gandhi, Ashish Soni and few others were chosen to be part of the show - all sporting the tag line "Bring Human".Seen on the ramp and show were biggies like Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Govinda,Sanjay Dutt, brothers Sohil & Arbaaz, Sushmita Sen, Katrina Kaif. Also spotted were Malika Arora Khan with sister Amrita Arora Ladhak, Shridevi with her husband Bony Kapoor and kids, Kajol.

Interestingly all the gowns featured in the show were Salmaan Khan paintings transferred onto fabric. However the black n while gown Katrina Kaif wore was a Falguni Preacock creation hand painted by Salmaan Khan himself!! (Painting of a Saint).Salmaan has never painted a dress for anyone before, Katrina must feel special.

A memorable evening with glittering stars, good music (from upcoming coming movies Blue/Mein Aur Mrs Khanna/ All the Best) supporting a good cause. After all its all about "Being Human".

The Being Human Foundation is an NGO supporting the cause of education and health care for the underprivileged children.

You can support the cause by buying:

* Being Human Gold/Silver coins by Gitanjali for Diwali

* Being Human Tshirts/clothes - from the fashion show.

* Being Human Watches

Diwali Offer on Nokia Mobiles

Nokia mobile is the latest entrant to come up with exclusive Diwali offer. This is after the mobile offers from Sony Ericsson and LG Mobiles. With this Nokia offer you can win cash back up to Rs. 10 Lakhs and many mother other exciting apps, games, ringtones, wallpapers, etc. But this offer is valid only on certain models of Nokia mobiles and not valid on all models. This offer is brought directly from Nokia itself and not that of the dealers who sell them and is valid on select stores as well which you can search from this link.

To explain elaborately, you will need to buy the select Nokia mobiles from the selected dealers of Nokia to be eligible to get a scratch card and use it and you might find gifts like ring tones, wall papers, free apps, mobile games, as well as the cash back of up to Rs. 10 Lakhs and the cash back values varies and the maximum cash back that you can get is Rs. 10 Lakhs which is the grand prize for this Nokia offer.

This offer is valid only when you buy the following Nokia Models namely; Nokia 5030, Nokia 7210 Supernova, Nokia 2700 classic, Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic, Nokia 6700 Classic, Nokia 2330 Classic, Nokia E75, Nokia 5130 Xpressmusic, Nokia E63, Nokia 6303 Classic, and Nokia N97.

This offer is valid till Diwali. This offer was shared to me via email by Shailesh Das.

You can find more details about this offer here.

Get Rs.50 Back on Movie Tickets with Giftmate

After a pretty long time Giftmate has again come up with a good offer. This time it is the movie ticket offer. Wherein you will get Rs. 50 back as the Giftmate voucher when you book movie tickets via the Giftmate vouchers. You will need to book the movie tickets at www.paymate.co.in/movies to avail this offer. And once booked you will receive your Rs. 50 Giftmate voucher within 48 hours of the transaction the same can be used anywhere else for the purchases, wherever Giftmate is accepted.

To explain, visit www.paymate.co.in/movies and book the movie tickets according to the movie and the hall of your choice and choose Giftmate as the payment option (remember, you should have Giftmate balance to buy the same). And once you have used the Giftmate voucher to buy movie tickets, you can wait for around 48 hours to get the fresh Gift Mate voucher worth Rs. 50 in your mobile. This offer can be availed multiple times during this offer period. This online movie ticket booking is in association with Book My Show.

You can buy any number of tickets to get Rs. 50 back. Even if you purchase movie tickets for just Rs. 80 you can get the cash back and hence proving to be an useful and worthy offer from Giftmate this time as well. You should provide a valid mobile number and email ID to receive the free Giftmate voucher worth Rs. 50. You can use this Rs. 50 voucher anywhere and anyplace where Gift Mate is accepted. All the other regular terms and conditions apply for this offer. You can visit this link to know more details about this offer.

You cannot transfer the Giftmate voucher or exchange for cash. This offer is valid till December 31, 2009.

Get Rs 25 Extra Talktime with Giftmate

After the Movie Offer with Giftmate, here is another one and this time it is for the prepaid mobile recharge that you can do via Giftmate. With this offer if you recharge your mobile for Rs. 100 via Giftmate, you will get Rs. 25 back into your Giftmate account, which again you can use it to recharge your mobile and hence meaning you are getting Rs. 25 extra talk time. This offer too is valid till December 31, 2009.

You should have at least Rs. 100 in your Giftmate account if not you will need to buy the same at www.giftmate.in. And then you will need to visit the mobile top-up page and recharge your prepaid mobile account with Rs. 100 and pay via your Giftmate voucher. And once the top-up is successfully done, you will receive your Rs. 25 gift mate voucher in your mobile within 48 hours of the successful transaction. You can use this additional Rs. 25 to recharge your mobile again. The minimum recharge to get Rs. 25 worth gift voucher is Rs. 100.

You can avail this offer any number of times till December 31, 2009 and you will get Rs. 25 worth Giftmate for each of the transaction that you make. You will need to provide valid email ID and mobile number to avail it. You cannot transfer the voucher or exchange it for cash. All the other regular terms and conditions for Giftmate applies here as well. Visit the link given below to know more details.

You can recharge using Giftmate for the following mobile networks only: Aircel, Reliance, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile, BPL (Loop), BSNL, and Idea.

Let the festivites continue....

Carrying the Diwali celebrations forward to the end of the year are some promising movies. Which will ensure the year definitely ends with a bang! The desert is being served up by the entertainment industry and looks very delightful, delicious and delectable, so much so that you may have trouble choosing.To help you in the decision process - here are the release dates, promos and my personal recommendations (base on initial promos).

Oct 30th:**

Aladin This age old story is retold with loads of vfx and drama. Starring Big B, Ritesh Deshmukh. Desi version along the lines of Chronicals of Narnia/HP

Recommendation: Theater watch for the special effects, Kids will enjoy this. Genre: Comedy/ Drama

London Dreams: Salmaan Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Romance/Drama

Nov 6th:

Ajab Prem ki Jazab Kahani: Ranbir Kapoor & Katrina Kaif

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Romance/ Comedy

Jail: Madhur Bhandarkar's direction with Neil Nitin Mukesh & Mugda

Recommendation: DVD Genre: Drama / Serious Cinema

Nov 13th:

Dulha Mil Gaya: Much awaited with Fardeen Khan, SRK & Sushmita

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Romance

Tum Mile: Emraan Hashmi & Soha Ali

Recommendation: DVD Genre: Romance w/ backdrop of 26th July 2005, Mumbai

Nov 2oth:

Kurbaan: Karan Johar production with Saif Ali Khan & Kareena Kapoor

Recommendation: DVD / Theater Genre: Romance w/ backdrop of 9/11

Nov 27th:

De Dana Dan: Priyadarshan's comedy flick with Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Sunil Shetty

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Comedy

Dec 4th:

Radio: Himmesh Reshamya is back with Shenaaz Treasurewala, a new voice playing a radio jockey

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Romance/Drama

Paa : Big B, Abhishek Bachhan

Recommendation: Theater or DVD Genre: Drama- story about a man who ages fast

Dec 11th:

Rocket Singh: Shimit Amin's (Chak De fame) next starring Ranbir Kapoor

Recommendation: Theater or DVD Genre: Comedy / Drama

Dec 25th:

3 idiots: Aamir Khan's much awaited movie base on Chetan Bhagat's novel 5 point someone with Kareen Kapoor, R Madhavan and Sherman Joshi.

Recommendation: Theater Genre: Romance/Drama

** dates are those given to the theaters by producers and maybe subject to change

Let the Festivities Begin!

It's time to ring in the festive season at the Box office and get the cash registers at the ticket windows clinking. The year began with few good movies followed by lull created by the strike,but Wake Up Sid definitely woke up everyone! This Friday was low at at the box office with only Acid Factory releasing making it the calm before the entertainment storm on Diwali weekend.The Hindi Film Industry has a variety of firecrackers to offer to its audience in terms of the genres of movies releasing on Oct 16th . For the first time in the history will there be so much variety on one given weekend.

So lets have a look on whats in store:

Mein Aur Mrs Khanna - (Romance) with Salmaan Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohil Khan in the lead with a debutant director Prem Soni this movie will be full on the emotional, drama, love and relationship quotient! Landing straight from Australia,The songs like"Don't say Alvida" are already a hit!

Target Audiance: Classes / Multiplex

Genre: Romance & Relationships

Blue has Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta,Zayed

Khan and Kylie Minogue's "item number". The most awaited treasure hunt of the year in the sinister shark infested waters is ready to surface on the screen. Watch out for AR Rehman tracks!Its the most expensive flick in India so far. This movie is inspired from the Hollywood flick The Deep.

Target Audiance: Multiplex w/ few single screens

Genre: Mystery / Thrille

All the Best stars Bipasha Basu Mogda Godse, Ajav Devgn[yep, that's howhis name is now spelt] Fardeen Khan and Sanjay Dutt. From the director of Golmaal this would be the out n out brainless comedy filled with mistaken identities and goof-ups.

Target Audiance: Masses

Genre: Comedy / Action

With advance booking already open in India and most AMC theathers playing it in USAThe question is...which movie will you watch?

Bipasha Basu

Vidya Balan Pictures #1

Shilpa Shetty pics 1#

Deepika Padukone Picture Collections

Katrina Kaif 1#