STARBUZZ Oct 23

STARBUZZ Oct. 16 2009 on stands

"Blue is a pure commercial entertainer" - Anthony D'Souza - Interview

Our first impression:

This guy is confident and bright, knows his stuff about films and ain't an old school mentality. We're sure he has thought more about the sharks in the last two years than probably anybody. But that's Anthony. He thinks larger than life, he thinks big and he thinks fast. He comes across as a debutant who isn't cliché. "Why do you want to interview me?" he questions, then adds, "Nobody wants to know about me. They only want to know about my film and the actors. I'll be known or not known after Blue releases". He laughs and you are then left with no option but to join the fun. For a man who is responsible to get the biggest names together on the silver screen for the best and never before seen action scenes, D'Souza is surprisingly soft-spoken and charming, which we're sure he won't agree on. What's more? Well, his film marks the return of two Oscar winning technicians: A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty who've worked on the score and sound of Blue. There's more. The underwater director of photography, Pete, has worked on Hollywood films like The Pirates of the Carribean. With big names, bigger budget and the biggest canvas ever, Blue seems like a dough making juggernaut. UK's Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama's London correspondent meets a mayhem artist in the crowd pleasing business: Anthony D'Souza, to talk about Bollywood's first underwater action adventure, as he gets ready to wring every bit of bang out of each buck spent on making one of the biggest films Indian cinema has ever witnessed - Blue.

How risky a business it is to make a film worth sixty crore and then bank on big stars to recover it?

To be really honest, I don't know the final budget of the film. I've heard several budgets ranging from sixty crores to hundred and twenty crores. My producer is the right person to speak to on that. Secondly, no producer in the world will put in an X amount of money unless he can recover his money back. If he thinks that the film can do a business worth a hundred crores, he will invest it. Considering the way our films have done in the last few years, I'm sure they had something in mind to put the right amount of money. If there is no potential in the film, they need not be pushing it. We are still shooting a music video of the title track. That says it all.
No producer in the world will put in an X amount of money unless he can recover his money back

Why go for an actor who hasn't had a very successful run in Bollywood - Zayed Khan? How important is his fame going to cost you?

Zayed has done a great job in Main Hoon Na. And then there was Dus. I liked him in that too. One, I wanted somebody who came across as a brat, some attitude when he comes on screen, someone who can ride a bike, someone who could do a scuba. Somebody who didn't care a damn about the world. I met Zayed and that's exactly how he is. You tell him, "Zayed, f*** you" and he'll reply back, "F*** you too." That's the attitude I was looking for and I got it. He is a very nice guy, very warm and very friendly.

This is the first ever time A.R. Rahman has composed for an all out action adventure film in Bollywood.

Yes he has. From day one I wanted A.R. Rahman to score for my film. But more importantly, I wanted him for the background score. In an action film, the music and the sound can make or break a film. I can shoot the best of visuals, but without a good sound quality, the visuals will fall flat. For me, Rahman is the only person, or if there are others I'm unaware of them, who understand the importance of a background score. For me, a background score is more important than the soundtrack of the film. Blue is a pure commercial entertainer. Rahman has done all kinds of film earlier so why not an action film too. It doesn't mean that there is no scope of music in an action film. Popular music is what sells and Rahman's music is popular.

Why do an additional music video and shoot the title track one more time?

In all honesty, I didn't want to this video. I think 'Fiqrana' is the best song. My producers and choreographer, Ahmed Khan loved the title track, the Blue theme. It's already been used in the film in a different situation. But they felt that it'll work well with lip sync. So I'm sitting back and watching them shoot the song.

How important for you is your overseas release and success?

Every director's first goal in life is that his film should recover the money and do well. If my film doesn't recover the money, I'm a flop director. Every person connected to the business wants the film to do well. The better the film, the more money you earn. For me, it's very important that the film should do well everywhere including overseas. Overseas is considered to be the biggest market for Bollywood films today. It keeps growing day by day. Over the years, so much has changed. They love the song and dance because it doesn't happen at their end. Some day you might have a cross over film where it'll happen both ways.

Everyone aspires to make their kind of cinema. What kind of films have you grown up watching and wanted to make?

If you take my all time favourite film, it'll be Scent Of A Woman. Now there is no way I can aspire to make such a kind of cinema because I don't think I have the maturity yet or sensibilities to make a movie as delicate as that. I've grown up watching summer blockbusters like Sholay, Deewar, Kaagaz Ke Phool, etc. Filmmaking has always been an adventure for me. It should entertain the audience. It has to be larger than life because for me it has to be money worth spent. I do enjoy watching smaller films but I don't think I can make them.

So you can make big films but no small film?

If you make a film like Dev D, your script has to be so precise. You have to focus a lot on emotions and acting. When you make a larger than life film and if something goes wrong somewhere, like you blow up a car in the background, have some other stuff happening in a good location, it takes care of lot of other stuff. I always knew that my forte in life was visuals. So why not use that as your strength rather than use stuff that I'm not good at. If I had to make a Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, I'd do a horrendous job simply because I'm not Indian by heart when it comes to filmmaking. My sensibilities are very western. I've grown up watching more of western flicks and that'll obviously come out in my films. From the clothes, to their styling, the way people behave, their relationships, etc. Thanks to the cable networks, the influx of the American way of life is influencing us day by day so we can accept all that. I'm in a right time to make a film like Blue.

Will Blue break into world cinema?

World cinema films are the ones like Amelie, Life is Beautiful, Slumdog Millionaire, etc. We call them art house cinema. Slumdog was never intended to be a commercial film. These films are accepted around the world because it has a certain soul. An action film is something that you can see quite often. Like, I can see a Broken Arrow, Die Hard, Bad Boys, etc. You don't watch such films for the acting potential nor for the script. You watch them because they look nice and it entertains you. With Blue, we want people to sit back, be entertained and walk out.

Any new breed of filmmakers you look up to and are you ready for the October 16?

My three favourites are Imtiaz Ali, Sriram Raghavan and Anurag Kashyap. I think the trio is absolutely brilliant. Today's times are such that I know the people from the industry who want others films to flop. I still don't get the reason why because when I sit with a few people from the trade, they say, "Uski picture toh pitegi". They don't understand a simple formula. The more the films work, the better for us. We can make more films, more directors will come in the business, more actors will get work. With Blue, I want more people to make larger than life kind of cinema. I just hope people open up and wish well for the entire film industry than just their own films.

BLUE is currently playing at Albion & Woodside Cinemas

STARBUZZ - October 9 2009

“All The Best” Movie Preview

'A light purse is a heavy curse'...The same is applied to Veer (Fardeen Khan) who is a singer by profession. Veer in greed of extracting extra pocket money from his step-brother Dharam (Sanjay Dutt), a business-honcho from London, tries to lie about his single status and puts it forth as 'happily married. His friend Prem (Ajay Devgan), a concept car expert, lends a helping hand in this falsely embossed projection.

Veer is in love with Vidya (Mugdha Godse) but has qualified in the hate list of her father. Prem is happily married to Jhanvi (Bipasha Basu) who takes care of his ancestor's out dated Gymnasium. Veer and Prem land up in debts as they had opted for a short-cut to earn easy money.

The two get into a bigger soup when Veer's step-brother, Dharam pays a sudden visit to their place. Time does not give a chance and unavoidable circumstances arouse such situations that Prem's wife Jhanvi is mistaken for Veer's and Veer's girlfriend for Prem's.....The two start juggling between prolonging the debt payment to a local don and pacifying Dharam, about the false status, The outcome resulting in a rib-tickling comic situation where Veer and Prem handle the unexpected incoming characters arriving at their place and coping with acquaintances where they boast and cover up with lies.

Even the world's best juggler can juggle for a limited time. How far do these jugglers hold on? Pressurized and scrutinized, do they give up at one point? Or Has Dharam, the righteous character of all, wrapped a lie underneath all these events. Let's just say... All The Best to that.

All The Best is set to release at Albion and Woodside Cinemas on October 16th 2009.

धुआँ - dhuaan

uThta hai miTTii ke
antaHakaraN se
Wah dhuaan—dhuaan
kyuon hai?

miTTIii jo
hathalii se
merii lagakar
badal jaatii thii
ek aise KshN mein
Jiska na to koi aadi thaa
na hii ant
Usii miiTTI se uThhata jo aaj

Wah dhuaan kyon hai?

-Meena Chopra

उठता है
मिट्टी के अन्तःकरण से
वह धुआँ धुआँ
क्यों है?

मिट्टी जो मेरी
हथेली से लग कर
बदल जाती थी
एक ऐसे क्षण में
जिसका न कोई आदि था
न ही अन्त।
उसी मिट्टी से
उठता है जो आज
वह धुआँ क्यों है?

-मीना चोपडा
Drawing by Meena Chopra

“BLUE” Movie Preview

Characters:

Akshay Kumar: Aarav

Owner of Blue Shipping & Fisheries - a shipping company. Aarav is easily one of the richest and the most eligible bachelors in the Bahamas. Always ready for a dare, he hates the thought of losing. Because, for him, the best and most intoxicating high in the world is RISK!

He constantly badgers Sagar to search for the lost treasure. But is it out of insatiable greed, or some ulterior motive.

Sanjay Dutt: Sagar

Aarav's closest friend and employee. Sagar is a straight-forward, simple man with a troubled past and a modest future. He's not ambitious - either for money or fame - and content to lead a simple life. But he has a haunted past and his redemption lies in facing his demons, that lie hundreds of feet underwater.

Zayed Khan: Sam

With great confidence, comes a bit of arrogance. Self- assured Sam, Sagar's estranged brother, is an urban named with a singular driving passion - bikes. His accidental involvement with a mafia drug lord, forces him to flee Bangkok and find asylum in his ancestral home, in the Bahamas.

Lara Dutta: Mona Mona

is a marine enthusiast. She is Sagar's confidante and love. Her effervescence and compassion, compliment Sagar's stoicism, perfectly.

Synopsis

Blue is set in the breath taking sun soaked white sand beaches of Bahamas. Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) is an excellent deep sea diver who dreams of getting his own new boat someday while his friend Aarav (Akshay Kumar) is a rich arrogant businessman, whose ego is much larger than the big boats that he owns. The conflict between these two sparring friends is the conflict between the rich and the poor, between the moral and the immoral, between greed and honour.

Caught in between these two is Sagar's brother Sam (Zayed Khan) who has inadvertently managed to rankle a whole gang of mafia men. Now, these dangerous men are after him and Sagar is the only one who can help him. But to save his brother, Sagar has to wrestle with the ghost of his dead father... The only other person who is privy to Sagar's dilemma is Mona (Lara Dutta), his girlfriend. She is afraid that the secret that lies within the restless waters could destroy all their lives.

The adrenaline rush that comes with Blue accelerates as each new chapter unfolds. It begins with a bare handed skirmish with sharks, moves into deep sea diving, reveals the secret of a forbidden treasure and a buried past, flirts with death at the hands of the mafia and goes straight into the treacherous waters again.

A team of the best underwater technicians from around the world - divers, cameramen, and stunt directors are working on the making of Blue to make it as real and as palpable as the medium of cinema can allow, so that the viewer feels engulfed in the entire experience.

Blue - the color of the sky and the color of the seas...Underneath the shimmering beautiful inviting waters of the sea, lurks a secret which threatens to destroy one friend and save the other friend.Blue is set to release at Albion & Woodside Cinemas on October 16th 2009.

STARBUZZ - October 2 2009 is on stands. Do not miss it.

“DO KNOT DISTURB” Movie Preview

Characters:

Govinda: The HusbandHe lives on his wife's money and moves to her beats. She provides everything from his meals to his clothes. Suffocated and looking for a way out, he is having an affair...

Sushmita Sen: The Wife

She is sophisticated and sexy. She is a generous and loving wife. She is more successful than her husband, she owns the company, the house and controls the purse strings... and she also suspects that her husband is up to something...

Lara Dutta: The Mistress

She is hot enough to burn. But she is also ditzy and naive. She believes that her lover will leave his wife to marry her...

Ritesh Deshmukh: The Pretend Boyfriend

He is the man caught in the middle, who is in desperate need of money for the treatment of his sick mother. The husband promises to pay him a large some of money if he pretends to be the boyfriend of the mistress... so that the suspicious wife is thrown off the scent...

Sohail Khan: The Actual Ex-Boyfriend

He is the ex-boyfriend of the mistress whom she dumped to be with a married man. He is genuinely in love with her, although he does have an anger management problem.

Ranvir Shorey: The Private Detective

He is the childhood friend of the sexy, rich wife. And he has always in love with her. When she comes to him with her suspicious about cheating husband... he is hell bent on getting proof of the infidelity, so that he can marry his childhood sweetheart himself!

Synopsis

This film is a zany comedy of errors. A filthy rich businessman (Govinda) married to a beautiful and sophisticated woman (Sushmita Sen) tries to hide his extramarital affair with a supermodel (Lara Dutta). To save his skin, he bribes his friend, a waiter (Ritesh Deshmukh) into pretending to be the supermodel's boyfriend. What follows is a series of mistaken identities and misunderstandings, culminating in one mammoth laugh riot.