RE: January 2008 - News - 11

Mumbai, Jan 20: Young filmmaker Rohit Shetty who struck big time in Bollywood with ''Golmaal,'' two years ago said his films cannot be called slapstick comedies, but were terrific humours.

Speaking to reporters here, Shetty, whose 'Golmaal' sequel 'Golmaal Returns' would soon hit the screens, said his next release 'Sunday' (January 25) has a blend of thrill and action.

''I can say my films have terrific humour. While watching them, the audience will not just be laughing, but also thinking about what will happen next,''he added.

Asked about the film's title, Rohit said it has been titled 'Sunday' because the story of the film was based on a Sunday.

''When we sat down to name the title of the film, we were at a loss. We neither wanted to project it as a dark film, nor as a slapstick comedy. At the same time, we did not want people to assume the film to be a hardcore action film. Thus, we settled on the name Sunday,'' he said.

Rohit said the film has turned out to be far better than his expectations. ''I have had so many good actors in the film that my experience has been a marvellous one. All the actors Ajay, Ayesha, Arshad and Irfaan have performed extremely well in this film.

Everyone has put their lives into their respective roles,'' he said.

In 'Sunday,' Ajay Devgan is portraying a corrupt police officer. '' When I first narrated the role to Ajay, he immediately agreed to work in the film. Similarly, Arshad, who has a very good understanding of comedy and he has proved this again in Sunday. He is doing a role of an intelligent cab driver. Irfaan is a surprise package in this film and he is doing the role of a struggling actor who is an idiotic, but cute too.

''On the other hand, Ayesha Takia has done a wonderful role in this film,''he said.

Speaking about his future projects, Rohit said 'Golmaal Returns' is under production. '' In Golmaal one saw four heroes (Ajay Devgan, Tusshar Kapoor, Arshad Warsi and Sharman Joshi) running around one girl, Rimi Sen. Golmaal Returns would be a multi star cast with four heroes and four heroines,'' he said.

Quelle: http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=14975

January 21, 2008 at 12:17:19

Auszug:
...
Asked about his stints with dance, he explains, "I never learnt dancing professionally but a mixture of yoga, karate and kickboxing taught me dancing unbeknownst to even me." He has choreographed songs such as Aye Ganpat from the multistarrer movie 'Shootout at Lokhandwala' and coordinated stunts for famous actors like Ajay Devgan and Saif Ali Khan.
...

Quelle: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/...-Compat/263704/

Ajay Devgan directorial venture U, Me Aur Hum will hit the cinema theatres worldwide in April.

The promos of the film are already on air. The film stars Kajol, Karan Khanna, Isha Sharwani, Sumeet Raghavan, Rituparna Sengupta, Sarika, Divya Dutta alongwith Ajay Devgan.

The film’s music has been composed by Vishal Bharadwaj. Ajay Devgan’s two releases in 2007 proved to be duds at the box office. Also, his first release of 2008 hasn’t gone too well with the film fanatics.

Quelle: http://www.radiosargam.com/films/archive...me-aur-hum.html

Author: Shaheen Parkar; Date: 19 Jan 2008

Ayesha Takia and her mum were barred from entering the ‘trial’ of Sunday!

Ayesha Takia and her mother Farida turned up at the Pixion Studios in Bandra recently for a trial of the film Sunday. Though the actress had received an invitation, the security guard would not allow her mom as her name was not on the guest list.

To make matters worse, the attendant insisted on checking the actress’s and her mother’s handbag.

Taken aback, Ayesha tried to explain that that the woman accompanying her was her mother. When there was no headway, she tried calling director Rohit Shetty who voiced disbelief at what was happening to her! When things started getting awry, Ayesha decided to walk off from the venue.

Just as she had turned away, Arshad Warsi and the rest of the Sunday crew turned up laughing. Ayesha had been made a bakra in league with MTV!

Says the latest MTV Bakra Ayesha, “What could I have done but laugh a lot when I realised it? The whole thing became a big joke for everyone around for a long time. So I too joined in with them.”

No clue

Didn’t she realise that things were amiss as the venue does not hold trial shows? “No, not at all,” says Ayesha. “I did not doubt the invitation at all. Who thinks so much? As none of us have seen the film, I went along and even took my mother.”

The actress says that this was the first time that she has been a victim of a prank. “Nor have I done something similar on the sets to any other actor. But it’s okay, I took it in the right spirit and cheered along with them.” Now she will have to watch it on TV from this weekend!

Adds Shetty, “We had all planned the prank very well with MTV. I had even told Ayesha that there would be a security check as some ministers were to be present at the trial. So there could be no doubt at any stage. And the security pulled it off well too! Arshad was given the job of conveying to her the news that she is the MTV bakra of the month!”

Quelle: http://www.mid-day.com/web/guest/enterta...XT_5_groupId=14

21 Jan 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN

Actors Ayesha Takia and Anjana Sukhani are best friends.

At least in the film Sunday. So while shooting for the film, they were required to talk and stroll down a Delhi market.

While performing the scene the two got so involved in talking that they didn’t even hear the director say ‘cut’. They continued walking and talking long after the shot was called off.

It was when they had gone quite a distance that they realised what had happened and returned to the sets only to be laughed at for what they did.

Quelle: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Enter...how/2715370.cms

By Subhash K. Jha. Maharashtra, India, 04:33 PM IST

About his much-touted 'Ramayan', director Rajkumar Santoshi says he has selected Telugu actor Prakash Raj to play Ravan opposite Ajay Devgan's Ram.

'It's a decision we took after much deliberation. Only north Indian actors would be cast as members of King Dasharath's clan. Hence Ajay plays Ram and Riteish Deshmukh has been finalised to play Laxman. All of Ravan's clan will be cast from the south,' Santoshi told IANS.

Prakash Raj is a prolific Telugu actor. He was recently offered the chance to play the sandalwood bandit Veerappan in a film that Veerappan's wife wanted to produce. The actor declined the offer.

'Ramayan' starts shooting in February or March this year.

Apart from translating Valmiki's Adi Kavya on big screen, the director is trying to get Salman Khan's dates for his dream project 'London Dreams' in place.

There's also the comedy that Santoshi is planning to make with Pankaj Kapur and his son Shahid.

'I've met both, and the project is on. It will be an out-and-out slapstick comedy with Pankaj-ji and Shahid playing father and son. I haven't returned to comedy since 'Andaz Apna Apna'. It's time I had myself some laugh,' said the director, who collaborated with the actor in the just released 'Halla Bol'.

The film, starring Ajay and Vidya Balan, plummeted at the box office.

Quelle: http://www.indiaenews.com/bollywood/20080121/92921.htm

January 16, 2008

Arshad Warsi has now reached a stage in his career where he can easily be tagged as a versatile actor. After scoring a Goal with John Abraham, the actor is going back to what he does best -- comedy -- in his forthcoming release Sunday.

Out on January 25, Sunday sees him in the garb of a tourist-cum-taxi driver. The film also stars Ajay Devgan, Irrfan Khan and Ayesha Takia. Arshad talks to Girish Rao about the film and why he is being penalised for doing good work.

Between Irrfan Khan and you, who do you think has better comic timing?
In order to have a good comic timing, an individual cannot do anything on his own. If you were to make me stand alone in the frame, what timing will I be able to show? So, the answer would be without me, Irrfan wouldn't have a perfect timing and vice versa.

Sunday looks kind of similar to Golmaal. Your comments...
No, Sunday is a different film altogether. It is a thriller, with elements of comedy and romance.

Sunday was initially made in Telugu. Did you watch that film?
I came to know about this just a week ago.

In the promo, Irrfan is shown as Ravana...
Actually, we were looking for more actors in the film but unfortunately, we could not get them. So we just added nine more heads to Irrfan's head.
But the best person to ask this question would be Irrfan himself. He plays a struggling actor, who goes to different places for auditions and wherever he goes, he is there in full gear.

Some of your scenes were shot in extreme temperatures (45 degrees) in Delhi. How did you manage?
If our heroines can dance draped in a sari amidst snow, why can't I act in 45 degrees temperature with just a shirt on? I guess one has to do what one has to do. But to be honest, I had never encountered so much heat in my life and would never like to be in such a situation again.

Tell us a bit about your role.
I play a simple cabbie from Delhi. He is more of a tourist guide-cum-taxi driver.

Most cabbies hail from Punjab and Haryana, and have a typical accent. Will we get to see something similar in Sunday too?
Yes, I have made an effort. There is bit of both.

Judging from the star cast, I guess the shooting experience must have been a picnic for you.
It was like that only because you have secure actors. Ajay and Irrfan are very good at what they do. So yes, the atmosphere on the sets was fantastic. Plus, you also have a very confident director (Rohit Shetty), so that helps too.

Why so much stress on comedy these days?
I am not stressing on comedy. Blame it on circumstances, but I am actually being penalised for doing good work. I did good comedy so everyone is making me do comedy in their films.
But apart from this, the reality is that out of 10 films being made, seven or eight have a comic flavour. The stars these days, be it Shah Rukh Khan [Images] or Salman Khan [Images] or Akshay Kumar [Images], are all doing comic roles. If such films are being made, we have no choice but to do them.

Sehar was one film, which will always find mention in your list of good work.
Yes, I think so too. It is fun to be able to perform different roles. Otherwise, it gets boring.

Quelle: http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/jan/16arshad.htm

January 21, 2008 4:24:12 PM IST
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

Joining the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan who have grooved to the tunes of item songs in some of the recent films, Tusshar Kapoor has also recently made his debut as an item boy. The song in question is 'Manzar' and the film is SUNDAY.

A night club song which also features the Ayesha Takia, the leading lady of the film along with Ayesha Takia, 'Manzar' has Tusshar as the center of attraction as he jives to the tune of young, talented and multi faceted composer Raghav Sachar who also sings the song.

A rocking number set in a Western mode, 'Manzar' has just recently being premiered across music channels and has been an instant attention grabber, as have been rest of the songs from SUNDAY. One of the last songs from the film to be unleashed on the small screen, 'Manzar' now takes the film towards it's eventual release which takes place this Friday i.e. 25th January.

Quelle: http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/08...-boy-010805.asp

By Bollywood Hungama News Network, December 25, 2007 - 12:47 IST

Auszug:

...
NEW MUSICAL SENSATION – FEMALE
Hard Kaur – Johnny Gaddaar (Move Your Body)
Maryem Toller – Guru (Mayya Mayya)
Anoushka Manchanda – Cash (Aye Chori)
Akriti Kakkar – Johnny Gaddaar (Johnny Gaddaar)
Suzanne – Aawarapan (Mahiya)
Aanchal – Dus Kahaniyaan (Dus)

...

Quelle: http://www.indiafm.com/features/2007/12/25/3391/index.html

From correspondents in Delhi, India, 08:00 AM IST

After the huge success of 'Golmaal - Fun Unlimited', Rohit Shetty returns this Friday with another entertaining film. 'Sunday', starring Ajay Devgan, Ayesha Takia and Arshad Warsi, is an intriguing mystery laced with comedy.

The story, set in Delhi, goes something like this:

Sehar's (Ayesha Takia) world turns topsy-turvy when she gets a clue about the missing Sunday in her life, pointing to a possible violent attack on her. Her fiance ACP Rajveer Randhava (Ajay Devgan) takes charge of the case and finds that on that particular Sunday different people interacted with her - any one of them could be the accused.

The list includes taxi driver Ballu (Arshad Warsi) and his friend Kumar (Irrfan Khan) who is a struggling National School of Drama actor.

Other people who fit into Rajveer's realm of suspicion include Sehar's close friend Ritu (Anjana Sukhani), a suspicious character living in Sehar's society.

The story becomes more complicated when Rajveer stumbles upon a murder case and the clues point to Sehar. She is terrified and tries hard but can't remember a thing.

Then another body is found. And the bracelet found near the corpse belongs to Sehar. The evidence is mounting and the needle of suspicion again points to Sehar.

And, still, she doesn't remember anything.

While Sehar struggles to remember the Sunday, Rajveer has to fight the fact that the woman he wants to marry might be a murderer and worse.

This edge-of-the seat murder mystery promises to make audiences laugh too.

Shetty has teamed up with the best of the lot, but it doesn't guarantee success at the box office. Ajay's first release of the year - 'Halla Bol' plummeted at the box office, Arshad's 'Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal' too flopped and Irrfan's last release 'Aaja Nachle' was not a success story either.

Although 2007 ended on an excellent note with Aamir Khan's 'Taare Zameen Par' hitting the jackpot, no single release has been able to carry forward that success story. Perhaps 'Sunday' will break the dull spell at the box office.

Quelle: http://www.indiaenews.com/bollywood/20080122/93044.htm

January 22, 2008 9:14:29 PM IST
Sampurn, Bollywood Trade News Network

Rohit Shetty, director of SUNDAY, may have been termed as a relative newcomer by many, but he already has two successful films under his belt - ZAMEEN and GOLMAAL - FUN UNLIMITED. The common factor in both these three films is none other than Ajay Devgan playing the leading man.

But are you aware that SUNDAY is not the third instance when Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgan are coming together? In fact in more than a decade old working relationship, the two would have SUNDAY as their tenth film together. Surprising, but true?

If one goes down the history lane, it was way back in 1991 when Rohit Shetty started off his career. The film was PHOOL AUR KAANTE, which was mainly the launch pad of Ajay Devgan. Rohit Shetty was the assistant director for the film and from here on began a fruitful partnership between the actor and the director who are continuing to work together till date.

After PHOOL AUR KAANTE, the two got together in SUHAAG where Rohit was an assistant director again. Later, in HAQEEQAT (1995), Rohit started showing his action genes, as inherited from his father Shetty and got associated with the film in the capacity of an assistant action director. The film starred, who else, but Ajay Devgan as the central protagonist.

HAQEEQAT was followed by more Ajay Devgan films like PYAAR TO HONA HI THA (1998), HINDUSTAN KI KASAM (1999) and RAJU CHACHA (2000) where Rohit played the role of an assistant director or an associate director. In fact, Rohit's love for Ajay Devgan movies carried on to designing promos for LAJJA as well where the intense actor had an interesting and important cameo to play.

Ready to wield the megaphone for one of his own projects, Rohit eventually kick started a project of his own and directed ZAMEEN (2003). This was followed by GOLMAAL - FUN UNLIMITED (2006).

Now a year and a half after his comic laughaton, Rohit is returning with SUNDAY with his focal point Ajay Devgan being still intact. His next film GOLMAAL RETURNS, a sequel to GOLMAAL - FUN UNLIMITED, stars Ajay Devgan again along with Kareena Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Celina Jaitley, Shreyas Talpade and Amrita Arora. The film is aiming for a late 2008 release.

Quelle: http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/08...jodi-010818.asp

By Businessofcinema.com Team; 22 January 2008, 04:55 PM

Mauj Mobile in association with Eros Multimedia Pvt. Ltd has unveiled mobile content for the movie Sunday across the country. With this film, Mauj continues its association with all films produced by Kumar Mangat.

Sunday is a part of Mauj's ongoing relationship with Eros that gives the company worldwide telecom rights for the film. Mauj Mobile has developed creative and attractive mobile content based on the film's visuals and catchy sound in the form of video animations, wallpapers and video ring tones of the movie.

People Infocom (Mauj) CEO Manoj Dawane said, "Mauj is known for the quality content and innovative products that it provides to its consumers. Sunday has given us an opportunity to develop content that is fun filled and exciting, in-keeping with the feel of the movie, and we have utilized this to the maximum best in the form of – ringtones, videos, animations, wallpapers, etc. As the first major release of 2008, we are optimistic about the uptake of the movie in the form of mobile content."

"Eros International enjoys a successful relationship with Mauj and they have developed some highly innovative and exciting content for our films. With Sunday they continue in their endeavor in providing quality mobile content, which will help create maximum visibility for the film," adds Eros International vice president international sales and new media Kumar Ahuja.

Sunday is directed by Rohit Shetty and stars Ajay Devgan, Ayesha Takia, Irfan Khan and Arshad Warsi.

Quelle: http://www.businessofcinema.com/boc/?file=story&id=6647

January 18

Tact and diplomacy be damned when the ‘Brooding Tiger of Bollywood’ Ajay Devgan loses his cool. In a moment of brutal honesty, the actor told Taran Adarsh on the latter’s show ‘B Biz’ on Zee Muzic, “Today I'm the happiest person knowing Cash hasn't worked at the box office”. This, coming from an actor about his own film, is a SHOCKER!!! Rarely, if ever, has any actor spoken with complete disgust about his own film, regardless of any differences he may have had with its makers. Our surprise is doubled by the fact that it comes from the usually controlled Ajay Devgan. What went so awfully wrong with Cash that Ajay disowned the film? Did he have issues with Director Anubhav Sinha? Was he infuriated on seeing his scenes edited from the final cut of the film? Ajay Devgan Ko Gussa Kyu Aaya?

Quelle: http://www.indiantelevision.com/release/...an/janrel51.php

19 Jan 2008, 0000 hrs IST,TNN

Auszug:

Ordinary is definitely extraordinary this year. Was it just a coincidence that both the films released last week were set in Bollywood? And surely, it was more than just mere chance that Nikhil Dwivedi who played the wannashine in his debut movie seems to be the true inheritor of Ajay Devgan’s man-of-the-masses image!

We need heroes who look like one of us. Because, reel-life crimes are now at our doorstep. They said, it doesn’t happen in Mumbai. No way! Women don’t get violently violated in the so-called sophisticated cities ...and how dare Raj Kumar Santoshi suggest such a sleazy occurrence in a city like Mumbai?

But, the outrage-quotient of a woman being shot point-blank in a crowded party in the movie was scarily pre-empted on New Year’s eve, right outside one of Mumbai’s poshest hotels. And, inside another luxury hotel on the same evening, Koena Mitra with all her bouncers and other security personnel, was hounded, stalked and attacked by a crazed fan. Seventeen years ago when he made his first film Ghayal, Santoshi’s hero was Sunny Deol, fighting the ghouls of the ghettos with his bare hands.

Today, the weaponry has changed. But, the fight remains the same. And yes, Santoshi’s hero is now Ajay Devgan — leaner, meaner, more wily and cynical.You can sneer at the high-pitched drama of a hedonistic star’s journey from self-gratification to social commitment. But, the theme has thundering ramifications in today’s times. More and more such films are going to show up as the year ‘progresses’. If what we’re doing to our society could be called progress. The year 2007 had started with Mani Ratnam’s Guru and Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday. These two films in their own individual ways, defined the cinema of socio-political awakening and served as early warnings for the year’s creative turnaround when authenticity became a dirty word. In no time at all, comic escapism took over the entertainment business. Not so in 2008. The year’s dark unrelenting mood is specified and pinned down by Santoshi’s clamorous clarion-call. Ignore the warning signs of a rapidly-degenerating social and moral order at your own risk. Santoshi isn’t doing that, sorry. He now goes back to history and mythology to ferret out two of Indian civilization’s most abiding moral fables in Emperor Ashok and Ramayan.

...

Quelle: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India...how/2710944.cms

January 22, 2008 2:22:24 PM IST
Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

Launch pad of the first debutant of 2008, Nikhil Dwivedi, has turned out to be a damp squib at the box office. MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES, which released on 11th January all over, has turned out to be a box office disaster. The film has barely managed to complete one week at the theaters and has been discontinued from majority of screens.

In spite of the fact that the weekend gone by just had BOMBAY TO BANGKOK as the sole release, exhibitors have been wary of giving MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES a second chance and have instead put their money on HALLA BOL. Reasons are two fold - a) the film has found favorable reviews and b) word of mouth has been decent which gives the distributors an opportunity of raking in some moolah.

Though HALLA BOL is also not creating ripples at the box office, it is still managing to give some fight. However, poor fate of E Niwas directed MNIAG means that the film would go down as the first major box office disappointment of 2008.

Quelle: http://glamsham.com/movies/scoops/08/jan...nner-010805.asp