Kareena Kapoor finally playing quiet and simple roles - Bollywood News

Tired of playing garrulous characters, Bollywood Bikini babe Kareena Kapoor is glad to finally play quiet and simple roles in 3 Idiots and Kurbaan.

Tired of constantly jabbering on screen in bollywood films as far-ranging as Jab We Met and Kambakkht Ishq, Kareena Kapoor has now taken a conscious break from the babble to play quiet and silently-evocative characters. After playing the unattainable and thoroughly unlikeable diva-bitch in Kambakkht Ishq, Kareena is moving on to play a more real salwar-kameez-clad Punjabi girl in Raj Kumar Hirani’s new bollywood film '3 Idiots' and also in Rensil D’Silva’s 'Kurbaan'.

In 3 Idiots, she plays a girl who has nothing much to say and she keeps mum, much to Kareena’s relief. “I play a quiet and nice Punjabi doctor,” says Kareena. In Rensil D’Silva’s Kurbaan, she plays a character close to her heart and she loves the silence that the character permitted her. “I’ve got one of the best roles of my career. Rensil D’Silva is such a fine storyteller. Again this girl speaks less and acts more. I play a simple Delhi girl who finds out that her husband is a terrorist,” reveals Kareena about her role in the film.

“I need my acting energies to be re-fuelled. I have been playing talkative characters in all my recent films. Omkara was the last really quiet character I played. In 3 Idiots, I’m soft and gentle and that’s the real me. I like my silence to speak for me. Unfortunately, in this business I am constantly asked to voice my opinion on everything,” adds Kareena. In fact, she has requested Saif Ali Khan and the director Sriram Raghavan, to let her play a spy in Agent Vinod, which will again be more about action rather than words.

Lip lock in Love Aaj Kal

Love Aaj Kal has five lip locks; even the Censor Board finds them ‘cute’



After Kareena Kapoor’s numerous lip locks in Kambakkht Ishq, boyfriend Saif Ali Khan has kissed five times in his forthcoming film, Love Aaj Kal. The Censor Board passed the film after censoring only one dialogue. Regional Officer of the Censor Board, Vinayak Azad, said, “The film has been given a UA certificate.” When asked about the kisses in the film, he said, “There are about five kisses in the film but they are not heavy-duty kissing scenes as such. They are much more toned down than what we have seen in other films. We ask a scene to be cut only when there it’s a prolonged kissing scene but in Love Aaj Kal they are cute pecks on the lips.”

Knotty about nuptials


Whom will rakhi marry? It seems like Elesh has the edge over other two contestants. Actually it was four guys in the final but Manmohan Tiwari from Hrishikesh rejected Rakhi in the final moment and out of the show.

Rubbishing reports that are doing the rounds, Rakhi Sawant insists that she is really getting married on August 2 to one of the contestants from the reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamwar. According to our sources within the TV channel, Rakhi has already made up her mind about which one of the three short-listed contestants — Elesh Parujanwala, Chitiz Jain and Manas Katyal — she will marry. They say that Rakhi will most probably choose Elesh Parujanwala, the Canadian businessman. A source says, “Elesh is the quietest and the most sensitive wooer of the lot. Unlike other contestants, he only admired Rakhi from a distance. Rakhi likes these qualities in him and has confessed to friends that she has chosen her groom-to-be. But then, Rakhi does change her mind every two hours.”

Incidentally, Neeta Lulla has designed Rakhi’s bridal outfit while Farah Khan has designed the jewellery.

Rakhi says, “I know many people assumed that my show is rigged, but believe me, I would never mock the institution of marriage. I have seen too many marriages fall apart, including my parents’, to not respect marriage. On August 2, sab ko asliyat ka pataa chal jaayega.”

Hinting that it is Elesh who she will eventually marry, Rakhi says, “It could be Elesh. He is a very nice boy. I’ve always craved for genuine love and I can see it in his eyes… let’s see.”

But is she ready to shift base to Canada post-marriage with Elesh? Rakhi replies, “Look, after the marriage, my husband and I will go back to our respective work, wherever it takes us. And I am certainly not ready to give up my career. Besides, don’t long distance marriages work well?”

Although Rakhi says that all brides would want their mothers to be a part of the wedding festivities, she admits that after parting ways with her mother, she has put the past firmly behind her. “I have forgotten my past and that includes my mother. Ex-boyfriend Abhishek Awasthi is also a closed chapter now. I hope Abhishek wishes me well, I am about to start a new life,” she says.
In the show she visited native place of all the finalyst. As all you expected a big drama happened. In Hrishikesh, Manmohan's native this incident occured. It goes like this. She visited his parents, family members in the day and the same night Manmohan Tiwari appeared in her bedroom without permission and told Rakhi that he is not interested in this marriage. The next day a scene created like rakhi meeting Manmohan in the hotel and rejected in front of the camera.

Rakhi told her car driver is more handsome than Manmohan!! It was clear that she was hurt by his act. Since its her swayamvar, for the viewvers the episode is telecasted like rakhi rejected Manmohan not Manmohan actually.

Hope she really marry some one from the show and never mock the institution of marriage.

Bollywood’s Five Musketeers

Bollywood’s 5-year report card brings to light that its five musketeers — Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan — have netted a business of approximately Rs 1,830 crore from the ticket windows alone. And, if you add the revenue from satellite, home-video and other mediums to this figure, you can easily see why these men are on top. Year 2009 didn’t start auspiciously for the superstar brigade — Shah Rukh had a lukewarm Billu while Akshay had two duds (Chandni Chowk to China and 8 x 10 Tasveer) and one uncertified Kambakht Ishq — but Bollywood continues to rely heavily on these stars.

It’s easy to explain here. Trade sources estimate a total of Rs 500 crore came from Akshay’s 17 releases in the five year-period from 2004 to 2008, Rs 400 crore from Shah Rukh’s nine releases, Rs 365 crore from Aamir’s five releases, Rs 350 crore from from Salman Khan’s 13 releases and Rs 215 crore from Hrithik Roshan’s three films.

Trade analyst Komal Nahata said: “Despite these actors’ ups and downs, Bollywood depends a lot on these five men because they have a fairly high success ratio. You have to go by aggregates; individual films may run or flop but these men net good averages. Akshay leads the pack with his earnings by virtue of the fact that he has done the maximum number of films.’’

This year, too, he has already had three releases; Shah Rukh has had only one release and Aamir is yet to open his account. Hrithik was seen in a cameo in Luck By Chance. However, when it comes to rating the five men, Nahata says: “Aamir and Shah Rukh are neck to neck at number 1 and Hrithik Roshan and Akshay Kumar are neck to neck at number 2. Salman currently occupies a solo place at number three because he hasn’t had a spectacular release after Partner.’’

Trade consultant Amod Mehra, however, disagrees: “Aamir is a clear number 1 because each of his films in the past five years has been different.’’ Mehra pointed out Mangal Panday was the only dud in Aamir’s bouquet of five; all the other four — Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Taare Zameen Par and Ghajini — made a killing at the box office.

“Shah Rukh is a close second, Hrithik is third, Akshay is fourth and Salman stands at the fifth position. However, a hit or two here and there and these positions could easily change,’’ he added.

Ashok Ahuja of Percept Picture Company feels Shah Rukh and Aamir are tied at number 1. “It was hard to choose between Ghajini and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Both films rocked. Hrithik is number 2, Akshay is number 3 and Salman is number 4. The kind of excitement generated by Three Idiots, My Name Is Khan and Kites is palpable even though their release dates are yet to be set; the euphoria associated with Aamir, Shah Rukh and Hrithik is very high,’’ he said.

Prabhat Choudhury of Spice says these five men, apart from films, have also taken over the endorsement world because each of these is a very big brand in himself. “Aamir leads the pack because he brings to the table qualities of a discerning thinking actor, who is very sincere and sensitive whereas Shah Rukh’s strong point is that he is entertaining and very charming,’’ Choudhury said.

Love Aaj Kal - It’s not about judwaa bhais

Saif Ali Khan, who plays the suave lover Jai in Love Aaj Kal, also plays the younger Rishi Kapoor. His decision to play both roles has confused the simple minded, as he fends off rumours that it is a double role or a judwaa bhai situation.

Saif says with a laugh, “When my trainer heard about the two roles, he said that this concept of a judwaa bhai is dated. I said it’s not a judwaa bhai situation, yaar!”

He goes on to explain why it was important for him to play the younger Rishi Kapoor as well. He says, “It would have been really alien if someone else did it. The whole idea is that Jai becomes Veer. We thought it would be too distracting to have another actor. It’s almost like parallel universes, so it’s important that I play him. Veer, the younger Rishi Kapoor, is very pure. Every girl would love to have a guy like that. Today, a guy has a drink and kisses the girl before asking her name.
The magic of the screenplay is when Jai becomes Veer and realises that when he is in love, he is consumed by it. And whether or not it’s too late by then to salvage the situation with his soulmate.”

As he concludes, he firmly insists that it’s not a double role and neither is it like a judwaa bhai vibe like his trainer thought.

Although Saif Ali Khan’s first home production, Love Aaj Kal, stars Deepika Padukone opposite Saif, it is Kareena Kapoor who’s constantly been talked about. Strangely, it’s not because Kareena has anything to do with the film but because she’s not in the film. This constant reference to a Rebecca like presence in Love Aaj Kal has irked Deepika. She has apparently been wondering to her friends if Love Aaj Kal should be dedicated to Kareena.

Confirming the news, Deepika said, “This must be the first film in the history of cinema where a leading lady is being talked about so much for not being in the film. No, I’m not annoyed by these neverending references to Kareena. When people see the film I know they’ll come out talking about me and my performance. Director Imtiaz Ali was very sure he wanted only me in the film.” To elaborate her point further, Deepika lets out a secret, “Imtiaz was so sure that he wanted me for the part that he had offered me Love Aaj Kal even before my first film,
Om Shanti Om, was released. Even before seeing me on screen, he knew that I was right for the role. So there was no question of any other actress being in the film.”

Deepika’s subtext is loud and clear. Imtiaz discovered her potential long before he discovered Kareena for Jab We Met. “I wanted to work with Imtiaz when I saw his first film Socha Na Tha. As this wide-eyed teenager, I remember seeing the film and wondering who the director was. I remember many years ago when I was a model, Imtiaz had offered me a film. At that time I wasn’t ready for an acting career. In fact, when I had told him I wasn’t ready to join films, Imtiaz had said, ‘When you’re ready let me know.’ He kept his promise. That’s how I got Love Aaj Kal. So now I’m not affected by people talking more about Kareena than me,” she said.

What about her producer-cum co-star Saif’s on-record wistful yearnings for Kareena’s presence in Love Aaj Kal?

Deepika said, “Considering Saif is in a relationship with Kareena, isn’t it understandable if he wanted Kareena in Love Aaj Kal? They’ve worked together in the past. And I’m sure he wants to work with her in his home production. As for Kareena, if I was in her place I’d feel the same way. Don’t I want to work with Ranbir?”

A film meant for the masses, with emphasis on asses

KAMBAKKHT ISHQ - Movie Review

DIRECTOR: Sabbir Khan
ACTORS: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora
RATING: **




As the gay community celebrates a long overdue judgement, Indian cinema too displays its special brand of “inclusiveness”. A week after the serious New York released, comes the totally ludicrous Kambakkht Ishq, which is set in good old Hollywood. While New York relied on logic and fact to grapple with new world terrorism and identity issues, Kambakkht Ishq bets on double entendres and buffoonery to grapple with the age-old battle of the sexes.

Kambakkht Ishq is what is called a masala film — an extravagant production filled with slapstick gags, furious action and music videos, wrapped around a size zero story, as befitting its lean mega stars. It’s a film meant for the masses, with emphasis on asses. The kind of film where the costume has more importance than the story — there’s nothing happening in this scene, so lets throw in some bikinis! The film credits four screenwriters, but clearly the producer has finally stitched the film together with parts picked from each one.

Kambakkht Ishq breaks new ground in “hip crassness”, which could well make it a hit. Starting with Akshay and Kareena, who expressively call each other Dog, and Bitch, followed by dialogues like, “Women are only good for two things” and “I will make sure she sleeps with me”. How cool. To induce humour, the film resorts to the worst clichés — amnesia, Viagra overdose and a set up date. The mood of the film is set during the first song, as Akshay’s sidekick keeps getting repeatedly slapped while he imagines women stripped down to their lingerie. Then Amrita Arora gets farted on her face. Later, a woman throws up on Aftab Shivdasani. A fat black woman shoves her fist up Akshay’s backside as he screams in pain. Not funny, dude, it’s just gross.

However if you like this kind of inane humour, then go for it. Akshay plays a stunt double working at Universal Studios in Hollywood, while Kareena is a surgeon and part-time model. Oh, that’s rich. Further, modelsurgeon Kareena is called Bebo, with a personal soundtrack which follows her around. Bebo mai bebo, dil mera le lo. Seriously. So anyway, Akshay randomly sleeps around while arrogant Kareena hates men, specially duplicates. One day Aftab Shivdasani, Akshay’s brother gets married to Amrita Arora, lingerie model and also Kareena’s friend. Akshay and Kareena square off in a battle of the sexes, and that’s the beginning and end of the story. The novelty factor in the film really kicks in when Kareena operates on Akshay and leaves her musical watch in his appendix. Oops. The watch plays a catchy tune, Om Mangalam Mangalam, leading to all kinds of stupid situations. A few, like the operation theatre scene, are hilarious.

In between all this nonsense, Brandon Routh, Denise Richards and Sylvester Stallone pop up. Denise looks old and wasted, while Stallone still commands a presence, specially in the elaborate Kodak theatre sequence. Vindu Dara Singh as the sidekick who keeps getting bashed up is stupidly goofy, but another trio of talent is just wasted.

Jaaved Jaffrey is once again acting in his own film, which has no connection to the main plot, while Kirron Kher is irritating as Dolly aunty, and Boman Irani comes in for a forced, wasted scene.

Kambakkht Ishq makes no pretensions to cinema, and sets out to be a entertainer. I hope it’s a hit — only when enough people see drivel like this, will they yearn for that special, different film. Hopefully.

More Trivia !!

I came across numerous Bollywood trivia and thought it'll be great to post them here. Some of them came out to be a great deal of surprise to me since I've never heard of them and others I already knew about.

Enjoy!

1) Actor Amjad Khan was almost dropped from SHOLAY because scriptwriter Javed Akhtar found his voice weak for Gabbar Singh’s role.

2) Danny Denzongpa was the original choice for playing Gabbar’s role in SHOLAY but due to date hassles, he opted out.

3) The original title of K.C Bokadia’s AAJ KA ARJUN [Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Pradha] was KAUN SUNE FARIYAAD.

4) Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Sharmila Tagore were teamed in DEVDAS, produced by Kailash Chopra and directd by Gulzar. Launched with great pomp and show, the filme was shelved subsequently.

5) Hema Malini and Premnath were working free in Dev Anand’s JAANEMAN, directed by Chetan Anand. How considerate our stars were for their co-stars!

6) According to a report, Neetu Singh was the busiest heroine in 1975, with as many as 85 film assignments on hand. Most of her films were with Rishi, Randhir and uncle Shashi Kapoor.

7) As many as 300 labourers were employed to construct a temple set for J.P Dutta’s KSHATRIYA [Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol] in Bikaner. What’s more, the entire construction took a month to be completed.

8) Zeenat Aman was born in Germany, studied in Los Angeles. She was Miss Asia and her father was a film writer (Aman).

9) Zeenat Aman got dressed up as a village girl with a burnt face and landed up at Raj Kapoor’s office when he was finalizing his heroine for SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM . He was so impressed with her dedication that he signed her immediately.

10) Before entering films, Dilip Kumar used to sell fruits on Bombay’s Mohammed Ali Road.

11) The film PAKEEZAH took 17 long years to complete and since Meena Kumari could not match her steps to one of the dance numbers because of age, Director Kamal Amrohi had to bring in Padma Khanna, and made her to dance to the number with her face covered with Ghunghat.

If you're interested, it's for the song Teer-E-Nazar

12) Saawan Kumar, known for making heroine-oriented films, had signed Rekha to head the cast of KHULI KITAAB. Well, the interesting part is that the film was to star seven heroes opposite Rekha.

13) Not many are aware, the promos of Rakesh Roshan’s KOYLA were designed and executed by Hrithik Roshan, who was assisting his dad in the movie.

14) Do you know that Manisha Koirala had failed the screen test for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942-A LOVE STORY? Manisha later requested Vidhu for another screen test, which she cleared and became a part of the film.