Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan's wedding: YES! NO! YES!

This is getting a bit confusing though. At one end there is Saif Ali Khan saying that marriage in on the cards, and on the other, Kareena Kapoor going blue in the face saying that she has no plans of getting married in the near future and if Saif respects her he will wait for her.

Crossed wires, wishful thinking on Saif Ali Khan’s side, or coyness on Kareena Kapoor’s part?

Or is momma Babita afraid that her daughter will lose out on interesting roles once she is married? Somebody should tell her that she should stop living vicariously through her daughters.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor: Joined at the shoulder, elbow, hip, arm, thigh!

Whatever the case may be, the besotted Saif Ali Khan has said that Kareena Kapoor will accompany him to the village of Pataudi, to be with his parents, this winter. Saif also reminded us that Kareena is the love of his life, as though he ever let us forget.

Saif Ali Khan was earlier married to actress Amrita Singh in 1991, when he was only 21 years old. They divorced in 2004. After the divorce, Saif date Rosa Castalano for a bit. The two broke up in 2007.

Saif Ali Khan has two kids, Sara and Ibrahim, who live with Amrita Singh.

Hum saath saath hai!

In 2004, when Saif Ali Khan divorced Amrita, Kareena Kapoor started a relationship with Shahid Kapoor. The two were together till 2007, and parted ways just after they finished filming Jab We Met. The movie was a mega hit, Kareena Kapoor walked away with the Best Actress Filmfare award, and Shahid Kapoor, despite a sterling performance, was ignored by the critics and his lady love.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor

Now that Saif has announced the wedding, and if the wedding does happen soon, I can only hope it does not attract the kind of unrelenting frenzy the Abhi-Ash wedding inspired till one was ready to gag.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor at yet another award function: Killing us softly with their PDA

But there is a good chance, the madness will not touch dizzying heights because the duo are here, there, everywhere. In every ad, every interview, every function, every outdoor shoot, across continents, over the seas, the two can be spied hand-in-hand.

Saif and Kareena

And hopefully, everyone’s had enough of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. I, for one, am pretty close to hurling something at the TV screen when these two pop up kootchie kooing without pause.

Hollywood Reporter has said that negotiations are on with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, to write the script.

Markus and McFeely are the scriptwriters of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Prince Caspian.

First Avenger: Captain America is being produced by Kevin Feige. The movie that will go into production soon, and will be filmed at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, California.

The movie will be set during World War II.

First Avenger: Captain America will be released on May 6, 2011.

Captain America

Captain America first appeared in Timely Comics, and later in Marvel Comics. The character created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby was very popular during WW II, and is said to represent Kirby and Simon’s angst about Nazi Germany.

Captain America, or Steve Rogers, was a young illustrator who wanted to sign up for the WW II, but was rejected because of his sickly constitution. Given a chance to take part in a hush-hush defence project, Steven Rogers agrees to become a test subject for the Super-Soldier serum. Rogers becomes a super-strong optimal human being, Captain America, and takes on the Nazis, Japanese, and other foes of America.
First Avenger: Captain America is one of the first few independent films that Marvel Studios has planned.

The first two independent films were Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk released in 2008.

In the works, are Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, Runaways, Cloak and Dagger, and Doctor Strange.

Directors and screen writers have been attached to some of these projects. Iron Man 2 will be directed by Jon Favreau with no change in cast, except for Terrence Howard being replaced by Don Cheadle.

Ant-Man will be directed by Edgar Wright and scripted by Joe Cornish.

Andrew W. Marlow and Brian K. Vaughan have been attached as scriptwriters for Nick Fury and Runaways, respectively.

But, honestly, why would anyone expect Aishwarya Rai to get lots of footage in the trailer? Pink Panther 2 is all about Steve Martin as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. And so is the trailer. None of the other characters in the movie are in your face, in any way whatsoever. So why should Aishwarya Rai be treated differently?

If you take a look at the Pink Panther 2 official website, the Cast & Filmmakers page has Aishwarya Rai’s picture and details among those of the nine principal characters.

The website also has five games based on five characters, Clouseau (Steve Martin), Vincenzo (Andy Garcia), Sonia (Aishwarya Rai), Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), and Kenji (Yuki Matsuzaki).

Take a look at some of the pictures from the Pink Panther 2 trailer. The prominence she has got is adequate for her role and good enough for me, thank you very much.

Aishwarya Rai's photo on the Pink Panther 2 website's Cast and Character's page

Aishwarya Rai in a still from the Pink Panther 2 trailer

Aishwarya Rai in another still from the Pink Panther 2 trailer

But one cannot expect balance and maturity from the Indian media. It is a past master at knee-jerk reactions and drawing pat conclusions.

An actress adopts a child, it’s a trend. Papers and news channels will run story after story on how single women today are adopting furiously before their biological clocks wind down.

A manic depressive actress kills herself. Be ready to brave stories and chats with pop psychologists about how actresses in the show business are prone to offing themselves and why.

India wins a Gold at the Olympics, and suddenly it is a major player on the World’s sports scene.

The India cricket team wins two matches in a row, it’s the best team in the world. India loses one match, it’s the worst team in the world. Ganguly doesn’t retire, he is selfish. Ganguly retires, he is the most wonderful player ever in Indian cricket. I mean, grow up!

And then there are our film critics. Most don’t know the basic rule of writing a critique: you don’t compare apples with oranges. But no, Nagesh Kukunoor’s Bombay to Bangkok will be compared to his Dor and found wanting, never mind they belong to two different genres.

Bombay to Bangkok may or may not be a good movie, but if comparisons have to be drawn then it better be compared to, say, a Jab We Met or any other romantic comedy.

Whatever happened to perspective?

Pink Panther 2 will be released on February 6, 2009. Aishwarya Rai plays Sophie Solandres, a criminologist, in the movie.

Chitrangada Singh

Anyway, Sudhir Mishra is maha grouchy these days because Chitrangada Singh has chosen to come back with director Onir’s Sorry Bhai. Mishra had planned a movie for Chitrangada but it was taking too long to take off, and Chitrangada decided to do Onir’s Sorry Bhai.

Sharman Joshi, Chitrangada Singh, and Sanjay Suri in Sorry Bhai

Sorry Bhai is a romantic comedy starring Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Sharman Joshi and Chitrangada Singh. Sorry Bhai revolves around Chitrangada Singh (Aaliya) who is to marry Sanjay Suri (Harsh). Harsh’s mother (Shabana Azmi) is not too happy about the upcoming nuptials, but does go to Mauritius to attend the wedding with younger son Siddharth (Sharman Joshi) and husband (Boman Irani) in tow.

In Mauritius, caught between an antagonistic mother-in-law-to-be and a workaholic fiancee, Aaliya falls in love with Siddharth. Aaliya chases a reluctant Siddharth with a single-minded passion, leading to all sorts of complications within the family.

Chitrangada Singh: She does look a bit like Smita Patil, doesn't she?

Chitrangada Singh made her debut in Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi and 2003. It was quite a sensational debut with comparisons being drawn with the late Smita Patil. Chitrangada then appeared in Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow.

Chitrangada with husband Jyoti Randhawa and son Zorawar

But much to the chagrin of her fans, she quit the movies after her marriage to golfer Jyoti Randhawa. There were a flurry of rumors that Chitrangada quit because Randhawa would not allow her to act in films. Soon, there was nothing to be heard of her except lamentations of fans and sundry directors who said they would cast her in a heartbeat should be choose to come back.

In 2007, stories emerged about Chitrangada’s probable comeback with Sudhir Mishra’s Devdas that is expected to be released in 2009.

Onir got to her first and Chitrangada has been quoted as saying that she signed on for Sorry Bhai in an hour’s time.

Chitrangada will star in Sudhir Mishra’s Devdas - which is yet to go into production - as Chandramukhi.

Sudhir Mishra’s last film was the 2007 Khoya Khoya Chand. His Tera Kya Hoga Johnny with Neil Nitin Mukesh, Soha Ali Khan, and Kay Kay Menon is in post-production. It has missed its projected release date of October 15, 2008, though. There is no fresh word as to when the movie will be released.

Shah Rukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi movie poster

Is the story of RNBDJ - acronyms seem to be getting longer,  at least one should be thankful we don’t have movies with names like Paap Ko Jala Kar Raakh Kar Daloonga anymore - worse or better than that?

One of the popular stories that is being bandied about goes like this:

Shah Rukh Khan is married to a younger woman (newcomer Anushka Sharma) as a result of which they have a “difference of opinion.” About what? Whether she really is a younger woman or he is a older man or whether the grass is green and the sky is blue!

Photo: Model Anushka Sharma

OK, whatever it means, the “difference of opinion” translates into Anushka participating in a reality dance show Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi where she is wooed by a charming, handsome young man (Shah Rukh Khan with spiky hair, an improved version our fuddy duddy older man.) Of course, our heroine doesn’t get it till the end of the movie that the guy serenading her is her husband until he goes down on his knees and informs her, I bet. Talk about show and tell.

Photo: SRK as the dude in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

The other stories put forward say that SRK has a double role, one of the fuddy duddy guy and the other of the handsome dude. One of them win the girl, the other gets a consolation prize, who could be Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra. What a punishment.

Imdb has added Preity Zinta, Rani Mukherjee and Kajol to the mix, in their cast list. What is going on? It’s almost like a typist pool with temps.

I guess this another of Yashraj Films’s (YRF) attempts to make “hat ke” cinema. After the debacle of the 2007 Tara Rum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, YRF has realized that rehashing the same ol’ mushfest is not really working. It also recognized the fact that many small budget movies like Khosla Ka Ghosla and Pyaar Ke Side Effects were doing very well in the cities. None of these new movies had stuck to the tried-and-tested.

Lesson learnt, YRF came back with Chak De! India in 2007. The movie was refreshing, meaningful, and a superhit to boot. But notice, Aditya Chopra had nothing to do with it, except produce. Chak De was written and directed by Jaideep Sahni (promising writer of Khosla Ka Ghosla) and Shimit Amin (director of the acclaimed 2004 Ab Tak Chhappan.)

YRF also tried to use other successful directors and writers for the movies it produced, like Pradeep Sarkar and Kunal Kohli. However, despite a difference in approach, none of the movies following Chak De! India - Aaja Nachle, Laaga Chunri Mein Daag, Tashan and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic - worked. The biggest problem with all of these was story selection. If you want to be different, you cannot strut the old stuff. Except for Aaja Nachle, all of the others had a dated storyline.

So now Aditya Chopra wants to make another “different” romantic comedy with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. RNBDJ is written and directed by Aditya Chopra. So far, Adi has written and directed two movies - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Mohabbatein (2000), the former a smash hit and the latter a dud.

If the plot of RNDBJ is indeed about a dance reality show, a boring husband, and a fun-loving young wife, Aditya Chopra has drawn from his own Aaja Nachle for the story. In Aaja Nachle, Vinay Pathak plays a humorless, stuffy man to a bored and frustrated Sushmita Mukherjee. When he overhears what she thinks of him he is willing to participate in a dance program to woo his wife. So far so good. As a cameo, it is delightful but as a full-fledged movie I am not too sure, even if it’s SRK.

Will RNDBJ work? I doubt it. The Jassi-loving Junta will be turned on, I am sure, by the whole ugly duckling thingamajig but I am not too sure they want to see a guy do that. Personally, I don’t dislike YRF romances but it’s the treatment that is irritating - lots of lectures and sentimental outpourings. But one can put that down to a “difference in opinion.”

Original High and Low poster

The remake will be directed by Mike Nichols and the movie will be scripted by David Mamet. High and Low will be produced by Scot Rudin and co-produced by Scorsese.

Kurosawa’s High and Low was loosely based on a novel by Ed McBain.

High and Low revolves around Kingo Gondo, an executive who mortgages all he owns to raise money for a the takeover of a company that he thinks he can turn around.

When Gondo’s son is kidnapped, he is prepared to pay the ransom, but he faces a moral dilemma when he finds out that his driver’s son has been kidnapped by mistake, instead of his son.

Should he rescue the boy or use the money for the deal on which he has staked everything?

Akiro Kurosawa's High and Low poster

High and Low is also a fascinating thriller, as a cop hunts down the kidnapper.

High and Low has been on Scorsese’s drawing board since 1999.

Should he touch a masterpiece like High and Low, or rather can the movie be adapted to recent times? And even if it can’t, does it matter? If one doesn’t take it all too seriously, this would be an interesting movie to watch, depending on the casting, of course.

So who is it going to be? Leo, because Scorsese loves Leo? For me, it’s Leo, Leo, Leo because the guy can act and I can easily imagine him as someone who is conflicted over the moralities of a situation.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese

Maybe, I am biased but I can’t think of anyone else, except maybe Denzel Washington, Daniel Day-Lewis
or Guy Pierce, for the lead role. As for the cop, I would like to see Don Cheadle as the one who hunts down the kidnapper.

Aamir has called Ghajini an out-and-out commercial film. If you have watched Memento and enjoyed it like I did, I shudder to think about its fate, with lots of melodrama and a few item numbers thrown in. I am assuming there will be melodrama; I haven’t watched the Tamil Ghajini, but Tamil movies are not known for their restraint or subtlety. They breathe melodrama and sentimentality.

Anyway, here is a photo of Aamir’s look in Ghajini, all muscled and taut.

Aamir Khan's Ghajini photo

Aamir Khan’s Ghajini look is pretty similar to actor Surya’s look in the Tamil Ghajini, which needless to say is similar to Guy Pearce’s look in Memento. Here is a picture of Surya’s look in Ghajini….

Actor Surya's look in the Tamil version of Ghajini

….and Guy Pearce’s look in Memento.

Guy Pearce in Memento, the original from which Ghajini was remade

Like Guy Pearce, Aamir Khan too has numbers and other to-do lists tattooed on his body so he does not forget all of this since he suffers a short memory loss every 15 minutes.

Aamir Khan too has numbers and other to-do lists tattooed on his body so he does not forget all of this since he suffers a short memory loss every 15 minutes.

After Shahrukh Khan in Om Shanti Om, it is Aamir Khan’s turn to take a shot at the six-pack look, which has been done to death by Salman Khan. The six-pack veteran scrutinizes the latest six-pack devotees and then solemnly pronounces judgment. Before Salman’s fallout with Shahrukh Khan, he had praised Shahrukh’s look for Om Shanti Om.

Aamir has said that Salman really liked his look in Ghajini.

Ghajini is directed by AR Murugadass who also directed the Tamil remake of Memento. Asin, who starred in the Tamil movie,  is part of the Ghajini cast as well.

Ghajini will be released on December 25, 2008. Ghajini was initially scheduled to be released on Diwali, on October 28, 2008 (on Diwali) but was postponed due to Aamir’s leg injury.

Ghajini is faithful to the basic plot of Memento. In Memento, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) searches for one of the two men who broke into his house and raped and killed his wife. Leonard kills one of them but the other hits him on the head, as a result of which Leonard is affected by anterograde memory or short-term memory loss.

In Ghajini, the protagonist is a business tycoon, whose sets out to track his girlfriend’s killer. He too is hit on the head and suffers from short-term memory loss. So far so good, but what made Memento special was its treatment. I have no idea how Ghajini will pan out. I just hope its not just about Aamir Khan’s look, and I so hope there is NO romance between Aamir and Asin.

Aamir Khan and Asin in Ghajini

This worries me!

Brad Pitt in Troy

Brad Pitt had earlier player Achilles in the 2004 Troy, based on Homer’s The Iliad. The movie got Pitt a fair bit of drubbing.

The sci-fi Odyssey will be set in outer space, according to Variety. So those of you looking forward to Brad Pitt’s toned thighs in a skirt can forget about it. But really Odyssey set in outer space? The mind boggles.

In Homer’s Odyssey, Greek general Odysseus is returning to his wife Penelope in Ithaca, after the Trojan war. But Odyssey has to deal with sea-nymphs, witches, monsters, and cyclops for 10 years before he can return.

Brad Pitt in Troy

Brad Pitt will be seen next in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the story of a man who ages backwards, later in 2008. The movie also stars Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton.

Brad Pitt will then appear in The Tree of Life, set in the 1950s, in 2009.

The other Brad Pitt movies in production and post-production are Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards, The Fighter, Chad Schmidt, and Dirty Tricks.

Brad Pitt’s sci-fi Odyssey will be produced by his own company Plan B.

Earlier, Brad Pitt has produced The Departed and Running with Scissors in 2006, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and co-produced A Mighty Heart in 2007. Brad Pitt has also exec produced Year of the Dog in 2007 and Shantaram that will be released in 2009.

A few days before the announcement of Odyssey, director Ridley Scott, has also announced his first science film, Forever War, since Blade Runner and Alien. Forever War will be based on Joe Haldeman’s 1974 novel, “The Odyssey by way of Blade Runner.”

But that at least is a sci-fi novel to start with.

Ramayan 3392 AD Liquid Comics' sci-fi series

The Ramayan 3392 AD Hollywood movie adaptation will be produced by Mark Canton, who has earlier produced 300 and Land of the Dead. Ramayan 3392 AD will be adapted for the silver screen by John Collee, screenwriter of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Happy feet. The sci-fi series is a graphic novel created by self-help and spirituality guru Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor, in 2001.

Sharad Devarajan  and Deepak Chopra’s son, Gotham Chopra, will be the executive producers of Ramayan 3392 AD, with Atmosphere Entertainment.

Ramayan 3392 AD is based on the ancient mythological epic Ramayana, written in Sanskrit by a great sage name Valmiki.

The Ramayana, that has 24,000 versions spanning seven books, is - rather simplistically put - a holy book for the Hindus in India. The epic is not just the story of Prince Rama, his younger brother Lakshman, their disinheritance and banishment for 14 years, and the final war waged against Ravana of Lanka to rescue Rama’s wife, Sita. The epic is more a vision of a kingdom governed by Dharma (duty in terms of the right thing to do) and the values by which a good life should be led. It embodies the philosophies and thoughts of sages in Ancient India.

Ramayan 3392 AD Liquid Comics' sci-fi series panel

Ramayan 3392 AD is written by Shamik Dasgupta and illustrated by Abhishek Singh. Ramayan 3392 AD  is, ostensibly, a recreation of the classic in a post-apocalyptic world, where the world is in danger of being taken over by Ravana, king of a half-human half-cybernetic race of Asuras. The good humans live in Aryavrata, ruled by King Dashrath who have four sons, the eldest being Rama, followed by Lakshman, Shatrughan and Bharat. Rama is exiled due to the evil machinations of Ravana. In order to prevent the world from anarchy, Rama has to take on the Ravana’s massive army.

Apart from the upcoming Ramayan 3392 AD Hollywood movie, a Ramayan 3392 AD MMO video game is also the on the cards, with Virgin Comics trying aggressively to spin off its comics as game and movie properties.

Meanwhile, Hindus are upset that the 3392AD Hollywood movie version may hurt Hindu sentiments. Earlier, The Love Guru led to protests in India, US and UK. A re-imagined version of the Ramayana is bound to get into trouble as well.

Photo: Mallika Sherawat's look in Nagin

Does not augur well for Hisss on the face of it. But, Hisss‘ costume, make-up, and special effects teasers have generated a lot of interest. You can see from the pictures here that this is not your standard Ramsay, or even Ramu (The Factory) horror film. Costume quality and makeup in the Hiss arfe definitely on Hollywood standards. We hold our judgement though on that ridiculous name Hisss - who chose that, some assistant director to the Ramseys?

The producers, Vikram Singh and Govind Menon, have roped in Robert Kurtzman, known for his expertise in make-up, special effects, and visual effects. Kurtzman has won the Saturn award in 1999, for make-up in the movie Vampires.

Mallika Sherawat

Mallika Sherawat is best known as the hottest bod in Bollywood. Mallika Sherawat was last seen in Maan Gaye Mughal-e-azam and Ugly aur Pagli, both of which were box-office disasters. She has also acted in The Myth with Jackie Chan.

Mallika Sherawat’s look has been crafted quite painstakingly in Hisss. In the movie, Mallika Sherawat has to wear huge contact lenses that even cover the white of her eyes. Mallika Sherawat has to take out the lenses every few hours to let her eyes breathe. The elaborate nagin elaborate costume has to be kept on for 8-10 hours at a stretch, and she has to be carried around.

Mallika cannot drink water or go to the loo during those 8-10 hours.

Photo: Mallika Sherawat in her Nagin avatar in Hisss

Mallika Sherawat was first noticed in Khwahish (2003), a movie that became famous for its seventeen kisses. The hero was forgotten, Mallika was both appreciated and condemned for her “boldness,” depending on which side of the fence you are on. Mallika Sherawat refused to apologise for her sexy image, rather she reveled in it.

Next came the 2004 Murder, which was a runaway hit. Mallika Sherawat played the role of a woman who has an extramarital affair.

All through her career, Mallika Sherawat has courted controversy because of her outspoken comments on sexuality.

Mallika Sherawat’s last hit has been Pyaar Ke Side Effects, a multiplex movie that did quite well, and gave her an opportunity to shed her sexy image.

Mallika Sherawat does not have any other films in her kitty right now, except the recently announced Unveiled. The other movie she was supposed to apppear in, Fauj Mein Mauj, has been shelved. Hisss is very important to Mallika’s career, in that sense.

Hisss revolves around a vengeful nagin (Mallika Sherawat), who shape shifts into a gorgeous woman and goes to the city to hunt for her mate, who has been captured from the jungle by an American, George States. Hisss also stars Irfan Khan who plays a cop who has to track her down to stop the destruction she unleashes in the city.

The vengeful nagin theme has been very popular in Indian cinema, with more than a dozen movies made on snakewomen, between 1925 and 1990. What is common among all the Nagin movies is the horrendous make-up and equally terrible special effects.

With good production values, Hisss might actually do justice to the tired theme. The last woman to play a Nagin in Bollywood was the sumptuous Sridevi in Nagina (1986). Nagina was a huge hit and even had a sequel.

Hisss will be released in 2009.