Wild Thing

THAT Bollywood is getting bolder by the day is evident from the fact that one filmmaker is actually attempting to remake the hit Hollywood s...

THAT Bollywood is getting bolder by the day is evident from the fact that one filmmaker is actually attempting to remake the hit Hollywood steamy-flick, Wild Things. Director Rajat Rawail has signed Milind Soman, Aryan Vaid and sexy Riya Sen to step into the shoes of Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon and Denise Richards. It remains to be seen however, whether the film-makers will go so far so as to include the red-hot three-way love-making scene (which was the highlight of Wild Things) in the desi remake. And no news yet on which Bollywood actress will play the role inspired by the one Neve Campbell played in the original.

Getting Shetty

MR Diplomacy Sunil Shetty seems to have decided that enough is enough. The actor has been openly complaining about the raw deal he claims he got at the hands of producer Feroz Nadiadwala. Shetty says he had decided not to work with Nadiadwala again after they collaborated on Hera Pheri, where he felt the producer sidelined director Priyadarshan completely. But Shetty still went ahead and accepted Nadiadwala’s offer to star in Awara Pagal Deewana because he felt Nadiadwala wouldn’t repeat his past behaviour. But the actor is angry as hell now, claiming he’s been reduced to a glorified extra in the producer’s latest multi-starrer. Shetty swears he will never work with Nadiadwala ever again. Meanwhile, those in the film trade are whispering that Nadiadwala always intended giving give higher billing to Akshay Kumar, who also stars in Awara Pagal Deewana, and who is a close friend of the producer.

Trailer Trouble

ANOTHER person likely to cry foul sometime soon is Mahima Chaudhary, who seems to be completely sidelined from the promotion of her new film Dil Hai Tumhara, which also stars Rekha, Preity Zinta, Jimmy Shergill and Arjun Rampal. Both Preity and Mahima were hired for the film after being convinced they had equal roles. But the Tauranis of Tips Films, who have produced the film, have focused all the hype on dimpled Zinta, who they have a close bond with ever since they worked with her on Kya Kehna and Soldier. Mahima, as a result, finds herself making only a fleeting appearance in the film’s trailers, in which Preity gets maximum footage.

Going, going… Govinda!

FROM being the actor who was once on everyone’s list of favourites, Govinda has slipped to becoming an actor neither the distributors nor the movie-going public seems particularly excited about. According to the grapevine, at least four films of the dancing star are stuck in the cans with no distributor willing to shell out even a reasonable sum. As a result, even faithful film-makers who flocked to sign him up, are deserting him in favour of newcomers who are likely to arouse some curiosity and interest at the box-office.

Remake Roster

ANOTHER remake being quickly readied for the big-screen is director Vikram Bhatt’s Aitbaar. No surprises whatsoever that Mr Unoriginal Bhatt has once again ripped off an interesting Hollywood idea for local audiences. The Amitabh Bachchan-John Abraham-Bipasha Basu starrer is a Bollywood take on Fear, that spine-tingling thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, in which an obsessive bad-boy harasses the living daylights out of his girlfriend after she dumps him for his dangerous ways. Amitabh Bachchan probably plays sizzling Bipasha’s protective daddy, who tries every trick in the book to ward off John’s unwanted attentions. Incidentally, the filmmakers had first offered John’s role to newcomer Zayed Khan (son of Sanjay Khan, brother-in-law of Hrithik Roshan), who turned down the offer as he was committed to make his debut in Universal’s as-yet-in-the-cold-storage romance, Lucky.

THE NEXT BEST THING

WITH two Oscars in two consecutive years under his belt, Tom Hanks is regarded not without reason as one of Hollywood’s finest leading men. Making a big impression with such teen fare as Splash and Big, and then graduating to such complex characters as the ones he played in Philadelphia and Saving Private Ryan, Hanks has emerged as one of the most bankable stars in America.

They say his equivalent in Bollywood is none other than Aamir Khan, but Hanks has inspired a bunch of desi actors in some of their most memorable roles. Our good ol’ Hrithik Roshan will, later this year, be seen portraying one of Hanks’ most celebrated roles when Koi Mil Gaya hits the screens in months to come…

• Hrithik Roshan in Na Tum Jano Na Hum, inspired by Tom Hanks’ role in You’ve Got Mail
• Shah Rukh Khan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, inspired by Tom Hanks’ role in Sleepless In Seattle
•Salman Khan in Chandramukhi, inspired by Tom Hanks’ role in Big
• Hrithik Roshan in the forthcoming film, Koi Mil Gaya, inspired by Tom Hanks’ role in Forrest Gump

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Nagging Doubt

Kamal Haasan and Shah Rukh Khan are currently writing their respective tell-all autobiographies. Do you have the courage to write your own memoirs someday?

Anil Kapoor: ‘‘It’s too early for me to write an autobiography. I still have a long way to go here…’’

Govinda: ‘‘Yes, why not? Zaroor likhenge… But right now I’m busy writing poetry. When I’m done with that, maybe I’ll start my autobiography.’’

Subhash Ghai: ‘‘I’m still only in the first half of my career. An autobiography is written after retirement, and I have no plans for retirement yet. However, when I do write mine, it will be detailed, and will include all the ups and downs of my life. This will help the next generation not to repeat my mistakes.’’

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Yash Chopra: ‘‘Like everyone else I would like to leave behind something when I go. But I’m not a great writer so I have no plans to do an autobiography.’’

Disquiet in film board: ‘Censorship raj’, no meeting in 6 years, no reports, term lapsed

3 hr ago

A controversial decision-making process has set off divisions within the CBFC, and cast a long regulatory shadow on the Indian film industry as it aspires to be a global player . The Indian Express spoke to several top filmmakers and board members to find that a not-so-silent storm is brewing within the fraternity — and inside the CBFC, too — over what many call a “one-man show”.

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