Tuesday, August 9, 2011

'That Girl in Yellow Boots' my first worldwide release: Anurag Kashyap

Anurag Kashyap

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap says that none of his films have ever reached international audiences beyond festivals as Indian distributors are sceptical of giving them a global release. His forthcoming " That Girl in Yellow Boots" is his first world wide release.

"That Girl in Yellow Boots", written and acted by Kashyap's wife actress Kalki Koechlin, is releasing Sep 2 even in non-NRI theaters in America.

"None of my films had been released internationally so far. Be it 'Black Friday', 'Dev D' all the films went to festivals, garnered acclaim and I ended up selling it to the satellite," Kashyap told IANS in an interview.

"'That Girl in Yellow Boots' is releasing in all Scandinavian countries, Australia, New Zealand, Korea and in America there would be 30 art house releases. It's apparently a small release but a big one for my film," Kashyap said.

Kashyap criticised Indian distributors, terming them inefficient and dishonest as they "repeatedly failed or deliberately didn't make international releases" of any of his films even after owning overseas rights, "just assuming there is no market for such non-conventional films".

"What has been my frustration ever since I started making film is that my films go to festivals across the world then when I approach distributors they ask for world rights as well. They take the world rights but don't release them outside saying there is no market for the film abroad. Internationally none of the distributors know how to distribute it or they hide the film from the non-NRI market.

"If a film has big stars like the Khans then a roadside tea stall owner would be able to distribute it across the globe," he said.

He said: "When there is a film which is highly acclaimed in the festival circuit why would that not be loved by other people. For example 'Udaan' garnered audience choice award of another country, why can't they distribute the film in theatres for the same audience of that country."

He is thankful to producer-distributor Viacom 18 for supporting his endeavour to explore the international market for his film.

"I thought that I would distribute the film worldwide personally. It took one year to find international distributors. Then we got Viacom 18, which is the first producer-distributor that said we would work in collaboration because it's the first time for both of us to explore the global market. Viacom 18 is collaborating with so many distributors world wide," said Kashyap.

"That Girl in Yellow Boots", is a look at the social criticism Kalki Koechlin suffered for being an actor with French connections coupled with other real time incidences that appeared in the newspapers, revealed Kashyap.

"When my relationship started with Kalki there used to be all kinds of stories. It was out of reluctance of accepting a white person. She had become a topic of coffee table conversation. A white girl looks good that's why she has got a chance in Hindi film, that's what was concluded.

"What people forget that, is that girl left England to live here as she was born in India and secondly she grew up on the diet of sambar and rice, and she still continues it as she can't take spicy food and her first language is Tamil. But all these things got discounted. We thought let's make a film on it mixing with stories of its kind that appeared in newspapers," said the 38-year-old filmmaker.

"The mixture of all those stories evolved into the story of 'Yellow Boots'. It's a thriller based on a girl's search for her father but set in an underworld that's mushrooming around us that we refuse to see or know," he added.

The film also features Naseeruddin Shah in a pivotal role.

Zarine Khan endorses yet another jewellery brand

Of late, actor Zarine Khan has been caught in the storm of exclusivity. 

The actor who walked for the runway for two designers at a recent fashion week was in the capital recently to unveil the bridal jewellery by Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers.Looking stunning in a diamond necklace, Zarine mouthed the tired rhetoric about the jewellery. "The collection is glamorous and truly extravagant to let the bride splurge on one of the most memorable day of her life", said Zarine.

The contemporary diamond sets with intricate designs along with the combination of precious and semi-precious stones in varied hues are perfect to complement all the bridal attires. "There is an exclusive diamond range to go along with cocktail gonws. Similarly the traditional range of Polki jewellery has designs and colours to match the the ethnic attires", said the designer duo Praveen and Pradeep Goel.

Sulagna Panigrahi: The new chef!

Actor Sulagna Panigrahi cooks some lip smacking dishes at home 

Actor Sulagna Panigrahi who was last seen in the film Murder 2 is a great cook in real life. As a kid she never got to enter into kitchen. So it was only when she started staying alone she got an opportunity to cook. So once she entered into her kitchen, it became her laboratory for experiments. She enjoys chopping colourful vegetables but she hates to chop onions.


"Cooking is like painting to me and I love to put colours together. I never follow recipes I make dishes with my own estimation. I remember, once during Diwali I had made 84 gulab jamuns for ten of us. Finally I had to give the leftover to my bai," says Sulagna who is currently busy reading few scripts but still whenever she gets the time she cooks. She adds, "Cooking distress me after hectic schedules."

Well in an industry where actresses don't step into their kitchens, it's nice to know Sulagna can cook a meal!

Vedita Pratap Singh shoots with Saif Ali Khan

Lucknow gal Vedita Pratap Singh is on a roll. After tasting success in her debut film, "Bhindi Bazaar" Vedita is now having a great time shooting with the who's who of Bollywood. "

Bhindi Bazaar" was a great learning experience. Sharing screen space with actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Prashant Narayan, Dipti Naval etc was any new comers dream come true. I really feel I'm very lucky to have bagged that movie," says Vedita who's very happy with the success of her film. "Best was that my acting was great;y appreciated by everyone," she adds.

But there's lots more in store for the girl who has been busy shooting with the Chhota Nawab Saif Ali Khan in Parel in Mumbai since morning on Tuesday. "It's a very cute and hilarious TV ad for Amul Macho that Saif and I have been shooting since morning here. We're having loads of fun," says Vedita. Vedita will also be seen in a scooty ad, which will be aired on TV soon.

No love triangle in Aarakshan: Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone isn't surprised certain people have certain issues with her upcoming film Aarakshan that talks about the sensitive issue of reservations in our country. In an exclusive conversation with Gaurav Malani , she speaks about everything from her take on reservations to who would she want to reserve from the industry for herself.

How much scope do you have in a male-dominated political drama like Aarakshan?
Well I believe that the character that I play of Purbi Anand has a very strong and important voice in the film. She's a girl who is torn between her father and boyfriend when the issue of Aarakshan flares up. She idolizes her father, loves her boyfriend but at the same time understands the situation and where both of them are coming from. The decision that she makes thereon is important.

What is your personal take on reservations?
It's an issue that I've always been very aware of. But having done the film, it's very difficult for me to tell whether I am for it or against it because I know both sides of the story now. I know the implications and the complications that it has and I don't even know what the solution to it is.

Does the film take any stance towards reservations?
The film doesn't talk about pro or anti reservations. What it does is states facts and reality like it is in our country today.

Aarakshan is facing a lot of opposition for its theme...
Since it is such a sensitive issue, I am not surprised that certain people have certain issues with the film. Having said that, being a part of the film, I believe it is unfair for people to react at a stage when they haven't seen the film. Ok, the promos are suggesting certain things but you still don't know what the entire film is about. So I feel until you have seen the entire film, one shouldn't really judge it.

What is the one thing you learnt from Amitabh Bachchan?
I can't say I learnt one thing from Amitabh Bachchan. It has been an overall learning experience - watching him interact with people, the way he is on the sets, the way he performs in front of the camera. The minute he walks in the room, he has this certain energy and aura about him. He made me feel very comfortable, instilled a lot of confidence in me and he's also fun to work with.

Don't you think Saif is too suave and sophisticated to play a Dalit?
I think this is where the fact that he is a good actor comes into play. A lot of people felt that because of, say maybe, his personal lineage or the fact that he has played only certain kind of roles that he can't play certain other kind of roles. But I think what he did in Omkara was a classic example of that. He took people by surprise and won awards and acclaim for that film.

Is there a love triangle between Saif, Prateik and you in the film?
No there isn't a love triangle. The conflict for me is of three different kinds. One is with my father whom I worship and idolize and look up to. The issues I have with my friend (Prateik) and my love (Saif) are separate.

Which was the most difficult part of working in Aarakshan?
I think to hold my own amongst so many male characters within the film was really challenging for me.

Finally, given a chance, which actor/director would you want to reserve for yourself?
I think I would want to reserve an entire classroom so that I can have many actors and directors in that. It's a never-ending list!

Akshay Kumar on Preity Zinta's chat show

Preity Zinta invited good friend Akshay Kumar for the first episode of her chat show to be aired soon on UTV Stars.

The actress is trying few new things these days. She announced her chat show just after starting her own home production. The actress is pretty much busy setting up things in her own way. Interestingly her friends are helping her too in her new venture.

Akshay Kumar who is dear friend of Preity decided to be the first one on her new chat show. The actress was glad to know that Akki managed to be on the show despite his tight schedule. Preity who shot with Akki yesterday enjoyed the shoot. The duo has worked together in a couple of films like Sangharsh and Jaan-e-mann . Though the film didn't do well, the actors became very good friends.

According to a unit-hand Akki and Preity were like best buddies on the show. Apart from professional life the actress asked him some personal questions too and Akshay was a complete sport on the show. The uniqueness of this chat show will be Preity's casual attitude which should be loved by her fans.

Preity's chat show is not yet titled. The Show will be aired on UTV's new channel called UTV Stars. Preity's show will be the first program to be aired on the channel.

Katrina, Anushka fight over makeup man?

Katrina Kaif might have an impressive track record at BO, but Anushka Sharma is also not far behind with three mega hits (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Badmaash Company and Band Baaja Baaraat).

Recently the two actors had a catfight over, ahem, a makeup man. Katrina's makeup artist who has been working with her for a long time has also started working for Anushka Sharma.

The makeup artist had apparently informed Katrina about Anushka's shoot in London 15 days in advance, and the actor was reportedly fine with it.

But at the last moment, when the makeup artist, was about to leave for London, Katrina put her foot down. Reason? She had to finish the patch-up work for Yash Raj's Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.

A source told Mumbai Mirro, "Katrina on Sunday refused to let Subhash go for the assignment since she had some urgent patchwork shoot to finish on Monday. Subhash informed Katrina and her manager Sandhya that he wouldn't be able to cancel his trip to London since he had already got the visa and the tickets in place. But Katrina just wouldn't let go of him. In fact, she called in the higher authorities," added the source.

Katrina immediately reached Yash Raj Films and told them she wouldn't be able to shoot if the makeup guy leaves for Anushka's shoot. Aditya Chopra then called up Anushka and requested her to not take the guy along with her. Guess, what happened next?

Katrina's patch-up shoot got cancelled, and the poor make-up guy lost his London assignment as well!

"Anushka was very upset about having to go to London without a makeup man," the source told the tabloid.

Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz Could Give Kristen Stewart Kitchen Competition

We always kinda figured that the hot young stars of "The Twilight Saga" would dine out every night at the hottest restaurants in town—wolfing down mountains of high-end caviar and eating rare, peculiar meat products off the naked backs of beautiful slaves. But, um, apparently not? Because when MTV News caught up with Ashley Greene at the Teen Choice Awards, the girl was giving rave reviews to the culinary talents of none other than co-star Kellan Lutz.
"I was so excited, the place we ended up staying at, literally a block away was Whole Foods," she gushed. "Me and Kellan get excited sometimes, like, let's just buy everything! We're gonna cook every night!"

Sadly, the hectic filming schedule of our fave vampire romance put Ashley's and Kellan's dreams of hardcore chefdom on hold. But Ashley says that they did get the chance to mess around in the kitchen, with fabulous results.

"I generally stick with chicken," she said, when asked what her signature dish is. "I kind of mix it up. I made my own homemade mojito one time, which was pretty interesting and awesome. And we made pumpkin soup, which I'd never made before. We just got recipes and kinda, y'know, mixed it up!" (Wonder how their pumpkin soup compared to co-star Kristen Stewart's tortilla soup!?)

Meanwhile, we're trying to think of anything cuter than the image of Ashley and Kellan, still sporting their sparkly "Breaking Dawn" body paint, donning a pair of aprons and getting elbows-deep in some homecooked goodies.

...Yeah, we got nothing.

Would you like to dine chez Ashley and Kellan?

Big B Books Desai Sets Appeal Forever!

Emotion suffused the air and tears flowed copiously, as a choked Nitin Chandrakant Desai stood on the dias, unabashedly expressing his sentiments. And the whole adage about real men not crying can now be safely be tossed into the back of beyond.

Having completed a glorious 25 years in cinebiz as set designer, Nitin Chandrakant Desai, National Award bagging set specialist had reason to beam as his biography 'Adhunik Yugacha Vishwakarma' penned by editor Mandar Joshi ( Sakal Group of Publications & ICPPL) was released on August 8, 2011 at a memorable event convened within the five star confines of a suburban Mumbai hotel.


A show reel illumining the repertoire of the four time National Award winner (
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Hum De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Lagaan) that spans close to 109 films, a host of serials and foreign flicks as well (Slumdog Millionaire, Salaam Bombay), anchored by Mrinal Kulkarni and Makarand Deshpande sufficed to spotlight the path- breaking oeuvre of the set specialist.

Extending the honours was Chief Guest Amitabh Bachchan, looking natty as usual in Armani attire (or was it Hugo Boss, who cares… terrific, either way) seated amid a posse of celebs: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, art director Nitish Roy ( Desai's unofficial
Guru), politico Uddhav Thackeray, Kiran Shantaram, Feroz Abbas Khan, Ketan Mehta and Manmohan Shetty, among others.

Chopra described him as being "extra sincere", a young assistant to Roy on the sets of his
Parinda, who was keen to "put cotton behind the wooden panels of the ship" used in his flick, coz' Nitin had read that "cotton was definitely used." In a fitting tribute, Chopra asserted that he was "still putting cotton", as his sincerity never ever flagged.

While director Feroz (
Gandhi My Father) hailed Nitin as a "boy from a humble background" who was "never short on madness", Mehta (Rang Rasiya) lauded him as being one "who dreamt the biggest dreams" and fructified them into reality on the strength of his genius and intrepid stance.

His visage was flooded with tears… as Nitin thanked "everybody connected with my success", terming Bachchan as a "living God who has always encouraged me"… and post book release, prostrated himself at the feet of the veteran icon!


Holding forth on Desai, Bachchan also "warned" other actors to be careful, ribbing Nitin since he'd also "turned actor with a Marathi film."


Delving into flashback mode, Bachchan ferreted out an anecdote… when he'd stepped in to inaugurate the 32 acre spread ND Studio at Karjat.

"When I'd come there, I saw that there were various beautiful statues of several Gods and Goddesses that he had made. Nitin told me that after I'd inaugurated the studio, he'd have them sent over to my house."


Added Big B significantly, "Today, they occupy place of pride in my house. Some of them are also there at the gym where I exercise every morning, at around 5 a.m. Prior to my workout, I bow to the idols everyday. But in very many ways… I also bow to the genius of Nitin Chandrakant Desai."

South Indian actress Nayanthara changes religion?

Bangalore, Aug 9 (IANS) Top southern actress Nayanthara has converted from Christianity to Hinduism, say sources close to the Arya Samaj, even as she herself maintains a studied silence on the issue.

Nayanthara, born and brought up as Diana Mariam Kurian, was a born Christian. She changed her name because of her foray into films. 

She reportedly converted to Hinduism Sunday morning at the Arya Samaj Temple in Chennai, the sources said, adding she has retained her name Nayanthara.

Some see it as a step towards her impending marriage to actor-director Prabhu Deva who divorced his earlier wife, a Muslim and did not change her religion at the time of marriage. 

Nayanthara is tightlipped. Asked about her marriage, she says: 'No comments.'

On Sunday morning, the actress reportedly headed straight to the Arya Samaj Temple on Waltax Road.
She went through all the religious processes as per the scriptures. All the procedures of 'Shuddhi Karma', a procedure involving Vedic purification, were meticulously followed, say the sources close to Arya Samaj.
They also added that a 'homan' or fire ritual was held where Nayantara chanted hymns and the Sankeerthan Mantra.

Incidentally, the members of Prabhu Deva's family are devotees of the Suttur Mutt in Mysore. His parents are devotees of Male Mahadeshwara Swamy. 

The sources said Nayanthara left soon after the purification ceremony. A certificate of conversion to Hinduism was issued to her. The actress flew back to Kochi by an evening flight. 

It is reported that her parents have expressed their opposition to Nayanthara's desire to convert to Hinduism.
Nayanthara's last film 'Ramayana', directed by veteran director Bapu, was completed only a few days ago. 

Nayanthara who plays Sita's role in the film became emotional on the last day of her shoot and even lay prostrate before all the elders in the unit, including the octogenarian director Bapu.

Nayanthara says her decision to convert to Hinduism is purely personal. 

'Yes, I have become a Hindu and it's my own personal decision. I went through the entire ceremony with passion and conviction,' she is believed to have told a friend.

She sports a tattoo of Prabhu Deva on her body. The couple were also seen in some film related functions together.

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