There are plots and there are plots – and this one has been one that has left us all at the edge of our seats – cliff-hangers; deal makers and deal breakers; tears and tirades; twists and turn; false promises and revelations galore secret meetings galore; secret meetings and deals; passions exposed; anger and confrontations; glamour and power play. What are we talking about? No it’s not the storyline of the forthcoming Bollywood multi-starrer Rajneeti – but the political machinations post the UK election! Phew – if someone makes a Bollywood movie on all that is going on it would have been dismissed as being far from reality. But as we’ve always said everything is connected in some way (six degrees of separation!!) to Bollywood.
And the buzz about Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti is strong – a multi-starrer starring Arjun Rampal, Ajay Devgun, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Nasserudin Shah and Nana Patekar to name a few – is all about the political shenanigans that take place during election time in India – a thriller about unstoppable ambitions; bitter and violent power struggles that take place to take power. Sounds familiar? Katrina is determined to make her presence felt as a serious actress and has re-dubbed her Hindi to make sure to silence her critics. And if rumours are to be believed this is movie that cemented her friendship with Ranbir Kapoor. As part of the promos all the cast have sang the Indian National Anthem. One we are definitely looking forward to!
Rajneeti trailer:
Shahid and Anushka are over the moon about the success of Baadmash Company. Both were nervous – Shahid told us he was disappointed with the lack of success of Dil Bole Hadippa, Chance Pe Dance and Paatshala and Anushka as it was her second release after the blockbuster Rab Ne Bana De Jodi with SRK. Shahid laughed that the movie took him back to his days as a teenager in the 90s when he used to dance and sing to Aamir Khan’s songs. Anoushka on the other hand is excited as she was determined to prove herself as a glamorous star that can also act. Both are pleased that their sensuous kiss in the car has been appreciated. Do watch this one – its fun, fast paced and Shahid Kapoor proves he has depths first glimpsed in his power packed performance in Kaminey. And YES Anoushka oozes glamour!
We caught up with wunderkid Darsheel Safary – the child prodigy who stole everyone’s hearts in Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par. He’s excited about this weeks release Bum Bum Bole where he plays an under privileged kid who strives to ease the poverty of his family. He’s bright bubbly and a true star kid – he’s had his teeth done; spends his money on computer games and loathes studying. He giggled “No Comment” about having a girlfriend and the tonnes of fan mail he receives. Darsheel is excited about filming Walt Disney’s Zukkomon where he plays a super hero – SRK and RA1 eat your heart out!
The Cannes Film Festival has just started and The Indian Pavilion will be in full Bollytastic. The main buzz is the long awaited Mallika Sherwat movie HISS. It’s directed by Jennifer Lynch and sees the sex bomb Mallika Shewat’s debut into Hollywood. Rumours are that Mallika will perform on stage at Cannes as part of the promotion with some snakes. Watch this space! The film also stars Irfan Khan and the talented Diviya Dutta – who has just signed another Hollywood movie.
Hiss trailer
With Cannes happening, and the threat of the Icelandic Volcano subsided London is gearing itself for the annual migration of who’s who in Bollywood. We bumped into legendary Sanjay Khan, his designer daughter the multi talented and gorgeous Farah Khan and her husband Dj Aqueel at one our favourite Indian restaurants. Sanjay is ever gracious and is enthusiastic about his other son in law, Hrithik’s movie – Kites. London’s Leicester Square is abuzz with the preparations for next week’s premier of Kites. Hrithik and Suzzane who love the anonymity of London are looking forward to the premiere and are determined to take some time out to shop!
Talking about twists and turns – we’ve got some news – after the fire in South Molton Street – we are finally gearing up to reopen our offices in a couple of weeks. The Bollywood Boys will be back in Bond Street – so if you see us lugging boxes of files – DO GIVE US A HAND! And to celebrate we are having a very special Raj&Pablo’s Bollywood Nights@The Cobden on Bank Holiday Sunday 30th May with an exclusive performance from Canadian born French Asian pop star Abbas Hasan. Do hope you can join us!
Keeping is with Mallika’s sensational shakes and snakes, this week’s Raj&Pablo’s REWIND IN TIME is Harmesh Malohtra’s 1986 super blockbuster Nagina starring Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor and a very scary Amrish Puri. The movie is a classic – Sridevi as the Snake Queen – who is determined to avenge the death of her Snake King transforms herself into a woman and marries Rishi Kapoor to take revenge. It’s Bollywood melodramatic horror at its best. Sridevi is superb as the Nagina and with all the twists and turns the climax is the fantaboulous snake dance by Sridevi, choreographed by Saroj Khan, as Amrish Puri attempts to exorcise her possession. The climax was featured as a hilarious tribute in Gurinder Chadha’s Bride&Prejudice.
Nagina secured Sridevi as the No1 star after the super success of Mr India. Jayaprada was offered the role first but refused, as she was scared of snakes. As well as Sridevi’s awesome performance another highlight is Laxmikant Pyrelal’s songs – The music is superb including ‘Balma To Balma Ho’, ‘Tu Ne Bechain Itna’ and the super hit Lata rendition ‘Main Teri Dushman’. Watch this with your pet mongoose for safety!
‘Main Tere Dushman’
Till next week,
Love Us, Love Bollywood
Raj&Pablo xx
Catch us on the BBC’s definitive Bollywood Show –
LOVE BOLLYWOOD – Raj&Pablo -BBC ASIAN NETWORK
SAT&SUN – 9am – 12pm.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/lovebollywood/
