Peepli Live, is a home production from actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan, and will be released worldwide through 600 screens in India and 100 screens abroad.

Aamir Khan says that the overwhelming response from the public to the trailers and promos of the film, prompted the company to scrap initial plans to open at 200 screens and go for a bigger debut. The promos have been character driven – in some instances using Aamir’s character from Lagaan for mileage. For the music release, there were performances by folk singers and also a glimpse of Aamir playing the drums with Indian music band Indian Ocean.

The film has been produced by Aamir Khan and is co-produced and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. The company has already recovered the Rs.10 crore it took to make the movie – having sold the satellite broadcasting rights to the Colors channel for Rs.10 crore and music rights to T-Series for Rs.4 crore.

The movie is satire about farmers’ suicides and the subsequent media and political response to the issue, set in a village called Peepli – a novel approach, since there are hundreds of villages scattered across India that have this name. Aamir Khan has reportedly received hundreds of letters and postcards from various Peeplis, expressing their thanks for making their village famous. Reports say that the actor was quite touched and overwhelmed to get so many postcards from so many different places that bore the same name. The Peepli in the film is set in Madhya Pradesh, but the name was chosen to represent all the Peeplis in the country. Letters have been pouring in from Peeplis in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan among others.

The film has been written and directed by Anusha Rizvi and is the first ever Indian movie to compete in the Sundance Film Festival. The UK release is scheduled for September 24.

During a recent trip to New Delhi, Hrithik Roshan said that he did not know much about the strategy and the marketing side of films. He added that he was still young in that space and needed to learn the ropes from “my seniors and people who have inspired me like Shah Rukh and Aamir”.

Directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan, Kites is scheduled to hit screens on May 21. The film, which also stars Mexican actress Barbara Mori (Barbara Mori in Kites: photos) and Kangana Ranaut, is about the journey of two lovers – an Indian dance teacher and a Latin woman who don’t understand each other’s language, and will be released in both Hindi and English.

Promotion is under way, and Barbara Mori is expected to be in India in May to join the team.

One of the tools being used to promote the film is Hrithik Roshan’s debut as a singer with Kites in the Sky.

The actor is still not convinced he’s very good at the promotion bit. He said he does not have that talent and he’s still learning.

Marketing it right

When it comes to marketing, Aamir Khan knows what it takes:

3 Idiots. The bumchum chairs at multiplexes across the country; an alternate reality game conceived Zapak that had Aamir travel across India and pop up in different disguises in places such as Varanasi, Palanpur or even Saurav Ganguly’s house in Kolkata; 3 Idiots stickers on autorickshaws; a tieup with Reliance Life Insurance to communicate the message of the film — all is well; the spat between producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra and author Chetan Bhagat; and a really feel-good film. How could 3 Idiots not be a blockbuster?

Ghajini. For this, Aamir Khan used a hairstyle as a marketing tool. First he got the ushers for his film to sport the Ghajini haircut. Then, he got ushers for Shah Rukh Khan’s film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi to also sport the look. Life-size cutouts of Aamir’s Ghajini look (remember that six-pack?) at theatres screening Shah Rukh’s film also worked wonders.

Jane Tu Ya Jaane Na. For the launch pad for his nephew Imran, Aamir Khan came out of seclusion and embarked on a media blitzkrieg. Imran and his costar, Genelia, were everywhere – on TV, in newspapers, in magazines – and, surprise, so was Mamu Jaan! Jane Tu… was also opened on fewer screens. The film, with Rahman chartbusters and fresh stars, had to be a hit.?

Photo: Aamir Khan on GQ cover

Aamir Khan is yet to make a decision in this regard. Synergy is said to have offered to top the Rs 75 lakh per episode that was paid to Shahrukh Khan for KBC 3.

If the deal comes through, Kaun Banega Crorepati 4 will be Aamir Khan’s first television outing. Khan has not confirmed or denied the news so far.

Siddharth Basu, CMD of Big Synergy which owns the rights to KBC, said it is too early to comment.

Some reports say that the deal is far from being finalized and that other stars, including Shahrukh Khan, are also in the running. Interestingly, Shahrukh Khan, who had earlier turned down 3 Idiots, will now do Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s next, Ferrari Ki Sawaari, to be directed by Raj Kumar Hirani. The role was first offered to Aamir Khan who turned it down to focus on his upcoming home productions, Dhobi Ghaat, Delhi Belly, and Peepli Live.

The last two years have been extremely kind to Khan. His last two movies – 3 Idiots and Ghajini – were huge box office successes. In fact, 3 Idiots turned out to be the highest grossing Bollywood film ever.

All of Aamir Khan’s home productions so far – Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na – have received both critical and box office success.

Aamir Khan was recently honored with the Padma Bhushan award, on April 1, 2010.  Kaun Banega Crorepati 4 will be another feather in the actor’s cap if he accepts the offer. But, given Khan’s track record of focusing only on one project at a time, one can never be sure if he will do it.

Kaun Banega Crorepati is based on the UK reality show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The game show, that was previously screened on STAR Plus, will now be aired on Sony TV after Sony Pictures Television bought the rights.

The first two editions of Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, respectively, were hugely successful.

The grand prize for Kaun Banega Crorepati 3 was Rs 2 crores.

Bollywood Actors’ forays into television game shows

Amitabh Bachchan: The angry young man of the big screen metamorphosed into the pop guide and person you could turn to on the small screen. Kaun Banega Crorepati gave his sinking career a lifeline, and with Big Boss 3, he made himself comfortable in Indian drawing rooms, five days a week.

Shahrukh Khan: Shah Rukh had two innings on the small screen. In the first, with Kaun Banega Crorepati, he was always compared to Big B. In the second, Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain, he made the waistcoat sexy!

Salman Khan: When the brash and brawny Khan took to the small screen with Dus ka Dum, not many expected him to do too well. But his TV persona was extremely likeable – he was endearing and made his way to people’s hearts.

Abhishek Bachchan: He recently joined the telly brigade with National Bingo Night, an interactive game show. While he did a competent job as the host, it’s not clear is his career gained due to this move.

Akshay Kumar: The khiladi was in his element on Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi, urging on 13 beautiful girls to overcome their fears and perform stunts of various kinds. He was also part of a seven-episode special on martial arts aired on National Geographic.

Rani Mukherjee: The vivacious Bengali actress is a judge on a dance show, Dance Premier League, an assignment she took up because of her “interest in dance”.  More than her judging skills, people end up watching her Sabyasachi wardrobe.

John Abraham will star in Anurag Kashyap's Bombay Velvet

Now, reports say that John Abraham too will come onboard. But, the funny thing is that long back John Abraham had announced that he is part of Bombay Velvet along with Naseeruddin Shah and Kay Kay Menon. We had carried the report in March 2009.

Old hat, this.

In fact, I would take the news that Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan are part of Bombay Velvet with a huge pinch of salt, until the news in confirmed by Anurag Kashyap, Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan themselves.

Though, long back Anurag Kashyap has said in an interview that he wanted Aamir Khan to be part of Bombay Velvet.

Bombay Velvet is set in the 1960s and revolves around the crime scene in Mumbai then. Anurag Kashyap was quoted as saying that Bombay Velvet will be like the LA Confidential of India.

LA Confidential is a fantastic flick. It would be interesting to see if Kashyap can pull off a thriller on the same level.

Bombay Velvet, reportedly, will have three segments, with John Abraham, Aamir Khan, and Shahrukh, featured in each of them.

Anurag Kashap had said in an interview that he brought two writers on board, for Bombay Velvet, who criticised him most for No Smoking.

If Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan are indeed part of Bombay Velvet, then they probably have cameo roles in the movie.

It’s not clear what Danny Boyle’s role is in this production, but some reports say that Boyle will present the movie to further its chances in the international market.

Aaamir Khan's Raakh movie poster

Raakh was released on the heels of Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla’s blockbuster flick, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.

The movie was largely ignored by most, except for really really die-hard fans with an appetite for off-beat films, a rarity in those days.

I have no doubt Raakh is being re-released because of the similarity of its storyline with Ghajini. Young man helpless to prevent a crime against his loved one, goes on a revenge spree after her death.

In Ghajini the love interest is murdered, and is lost to him, and in Raakh, she retreats from Aamir after a brutal gang rape.

Aamir Khan in a still from Raakh

The only difference in the characters is that the former is a hardened tycoon while the latter e is a vulnerable young man – practically a boy – with a fragile ego.

And why should Raakh not ride on the success of Ghajini? Those sold on Ghajini can get to see a lean, mean – and most importantly, young – Aamir Khan go after scum.

But whether a no-frills thriller like Raakh will find any takers today is questionable, especially those who liked Ghajini for its typical Tamil movie over-the-top drama.

But, such is Aamir Khan’s poularity right now that even his worst duds like Love Love Love or Tum Mere Ho, will do well if released now.

I do hope the movie is appreciated, if not for anything else, then for daring to try something different at a time when such a movie was doomed to fail at the box office.

Though I do not remember all the details of Raakh, I do remember that it hit the cinemas (and just a few of them) for a very short bit and disappeared before it even registered that it had been released.

Most of us watched Raakh on video, and were totally impressed by the performances and starkness of the film.

Perhaps if I watch it now, I may not feel the same, but then it was the kind of thriller you never saw in Hindi movies.

Raakh starred Supriya Pathak and Pankaj Kapur, Naina Balsawar, and Madhukar Toradmal.

The movie was produced by Asif Noor and directed by Aditya Bhattacharya. Raakh’s script was penned by Aditya Bhattacharya and Nuzhat Khan, Aamir Khan’s sister.

Aamir Khan was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor award for Raakh, and also got a Jury mention at the National awards.

Pankaj Kapur and A Sreekar Anand picked up National awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing, respectively.

Raakh will be re-released on June 12, 2009.

Imraan Khan photo

The movie will star Aamir Khan’s nephew Imran Khan, Shenaz Treasurywala, and stand-up comedian Vir Das. Imran Khan who cut quite a dash in his debut film, the 2008 Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, replaced original choice Ranbir Kapoor.

Imran Khan

He was not the only topline change in the movie. Previously, Delhi Belly was to be directed by Swedish director Robert Nylund, who opted out, apparently, due to creative differences with Aamir Khan. Delhi Belly will be directed by Abhinav Deo, son of yesteryear actor couple Ramesh and Seema Deo (think friends of Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna in Anand).

Shenaz Treasurywala

The music  of Delhi Belly has been composed by Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa. UTV motion pictures has co-produced the movie with Aamir Khan Productions.

Earlier Aamir Khan was supposed to do a cameo in the movie, but reportedly he opted out because he was supposed to play the role of a fat guy, and there was no way he could put on weight so easily, since he was to shoot for 3 Idiots as well.

Delhi Belly is one in a recent spate of movies based in Delhi. Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye!, Jugaad, and the recent Delhi 6 have the capital as a background.

Aamir Khan Productions has a few movies on its plate this year. Apart from Delhi 6, Aamir Khan’s wife Kiran Rao’s Dhobi Ghaat is on the floors. Aamir is also planning to make a movie on the farmers’ situation in Bhopal. The movie is said to star Raghubir Yadav in a lead role.

Imraan Khan, whose second movie Kidnap was released in 2008, will be seen next in Luck, which is currently in production.

Shenaz Treasurywala made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with Ishq Vishk. She was  nominated for the Filmfare best supporting actress award for her role. Earlier, she was a VJ with MTV and has hosted  many programs on TV, such as The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 4 and Culture Shock on the Travel Channel.

3 Idiots poster

This is supposed to be a lucky omen for the movie because Aamir Khan’s Taare Zameen Par and Ghajini were also released on December 25, 2007 and December 25, 2008, respectively.

3 Idiots, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, stars R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, and Mona Singh.

The movie is based on the bestseller Chetan Bhagat’s 5 Point Someone – What not to do at IIT. The movie has been shot in Ladakh, Delhi, shimla, Bangalore and Mumbai. The 20-day first schedule of 3 Idiots was completed in Ladakh and Shimla, and the second schedule has commenced in Bangalore, in the first week of January 2009. The last schedule of 3 Idiots will be shot in Mumbai.

The music of 3 Idiots has been composed by Shantanu Moitra, and the lyrics have been penned by Swanand Kirkire. The screenplay of 3 Idiots has been written by Abhijat Joshi, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani.

Aamir Khan

The movie is about three IIT students who cannot cope with a punishing grade system at IIT. They all have a 5-point grade they are constantly struggling to improve.

Kajol will appear in a cameo role in the movie. Both Shahrukh Khan and Kajol were supposed to play the leads in 3 Idiots. Both turned down the roles because of a conflict of dates with Karan Johar’s My Name is Khan, which will be released in November 2009.

Posters and photo stills of 3 Idiots had been released in November 2008. An intriguing poster, designed by Rahul Nanda, was a talking point for a bit. The tag line on the poster says Choose Excellence – Success will Follow.

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan is still riding the Ghajini wave. Ghajini‘s produced Madhu Mantena has launched an Aamir Khan figurine modeled on his six-pack look in Ghajini.

Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan

In Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance, Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan play themselves. The other actors who have cameo roles in the movie are Shilpa Shetty, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Rani Mukherjee, Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Ranbir Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Vivek Oberoi, Boman Irani, Anurag Kashyap, and Rajkumar Hirani.

Luck By Chance poster

Luck By Chance stars Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Isha Sharvani, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla, Rishi Kapoor, and Sanjay Kapoor. Since Luck By Chance revolves around Bollywood actors, the movie has Hrithik Roshan playing a superstar.

The movie revolves around a Bollywood actor Vikram Jai Singh (Farhan Akhtar) who comes to Bombay from Delhi to try his luck at the movies, and a starlet (Konkona Sen Sharma) who also wants to make it big in Bollywood. The story is about their journey through Bollywood, and is an insider look at the Indian film industry, where self-aggrandisation is the norm and self-promotion is the only motive. Does success here depend on luck or hardwork and talent, and how does it change you?

Juhi Chawla in Luck By Chance

Luck By Chance has been scripted by Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar. The movie is director Zoya Akhtar’s first film.

The movie has been produced by Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, and executive produced by Zoya Akhtar.

Hrithik Roshan and Isha Sharvani in Luck By Chance

Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy has composed the original score for Luck By Chance.

The movie will be released on January 30, 2009.

Farhan Akhtar in Luck By Chance

While Luck By Chance boasts of a number of actors in cameo roles, it is Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan who will generate a lot of interest. The actors burst on the Bollywood scene, with spectacular success: Aamir in 1989 with Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Shahrukh Khan with Deewana (1992) and his blockbuster hit Baazigar (1993).

Konkona Sen in Luck By Chance

In Bollywood’s history, movies with two reigning stars have always been a major draw. Many of these superstars acted in movie after movie together, the memorable ones being Dharamendra – Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna – Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor – Amitabh Bachchan. Shashi Kapoor – Vinod Khanna, Akshay Kumar – Saif Ali Khan, Shahrukh Khan – Saif Ali Khan, and more ecently Abhishek Bachchan-John Abraham.

Aamir Khan was first paired together another star, Salman Khan, in the 1994 hit Andaz Apna Apna, which for the first time aroused a lot of speculation about Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan working together. Shahrukh Khan, then, had expressed a lot of interest in working with Aamir Khan, but Aamir did not respond to the sallies.

In the past few months, the verbal sallies between the two have led to speculations (in the media, I might add) about a war between the two superstars. One of the reasons Luck By Chance will draw in the crowds will be the presence of these two stars. It is a poor substitute, though, for watching the two stars act together in full-fledged, meaty roles.

Aamir Khan's GQ cover photo. Pic credit: GQ

Timed perfectly with the release of his upcoming film, Ghajini, the December 2008 edition of GQ India carried an interview with Aamir Khan, conducted by contributing editor Karan Johar. The intro line on the cover says Aamir: On why divorce was good for him and why maybe he should keep his mouth shut.

Che Kurian, editor of GQ India, said, “Aamir Khan doesn’t appear on many magazine covers. The fact that he has chosen to work with GQ is a testament to the magazine’s 50-year old reputation as a publication featuring and read by intelligent, successful men.”

Meanwhile, the sexy Jiah Khan, who also stars in Ghajini along with Aamir Khan and Asin, has also appeared on the cover of Maxim India’s December 2008 edition.

Knowing Aamir Khan‘s marketing skills, he must have given the association much thought, and a major reason for giving the interview would be publicity for his movie Ghajini. Not that he needs to do much for publicity.

There is nothing in terms of marketing initiatives that have not been covered for Ghajini, be it the teaser trailers, photos of his new look(s), and, of course, internet marketing. We were one of the first to do a story on Aamir’s marketing abilities just after he started his Lagaan blog.

Aamir has been sweetening the media for some time now. In 2007, Aamir apologized to the media and said that he would now be more amenable in the future. For a long time, Aamir Khan has been in a cold war with the media right after Rangeela, when the fall-out between Ram Gopal Varma and Aamir Khan became a source of intense media speculation. After the debacle of Mela, Aamir Khan was written off by the press. It was only after the success of Lagaan that Aamir’s relationship with the press improved.

For Ghajini, Aamir has added a section for the press where mediapersons can upload their photographs and details, which will help Aamir place the journalists when he meets them. Aamir Khan will also add personal notes to each journo, and provide an information kit to those who register on the official website of Ghajini.

With the kind of money ploughed into the movie’s publicity, Aamir Khan should be able to capture a remarkable opening for Ghajini, when it is released on December 25, 2008.

Ghajini is written and directed by AR Murugadass who also directed the Tamil remake of Memento. Asin, who starred in the Tamil movie,  is part of the Hindi version along with actress Jiah Khan.

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

Taare Zameen Par poster

Shakuntala Devi says her book revolves around a nine-year-old girl who hates Maths but ends up being brilliant at it. Huh?

Either Shakuntala Devi has not put across her point well or she is just talking through her hat.

Reports have said that the nine-year-old protagonist of her book, In the Wonderland of Numbers was dyslexic. If she was, then Shakuntala Devi forgot to mention it in interviews she gave in 2007.

Shakuntala Devi, author of In the Wonderland of Numbers

Shakuntala Devi was quoted as saying, “I have written a book called In the Wonderland of Numbers. It’s about a young girl, Neha, who is very poor in mathematics but in a series of illusory experiences, she becomes a great mathematician.”

Orient Paperbacks that published Shakuntala Devi’s book had described In the Wonderland of Numbers as “The adventures of an engaging and talented child, Neha, In the Wonderland of Numbers is a fine way to introduce children to the concept of maths as fun activity. The specialties of each individual number, from zero to nine, and the little mathematical tricks as shown by Shakuntala Devi, all combine to make the reader learn to befriend numbers and excel at maths. Numbers are not symbols to be written on the blackboard, They are the doorway to the world of intellectual adventure. My purpose of narrating his wonderful story is to take away any fear a child may have of numbers. Numbers are fun, numbers are magical. It is my hope that this story will inspire parents and teachers to enthuse children with a life-long love for numbers and maths.”

Anyway, the story of a teacher changing the life of a student has been depicted in god knows how many movies. Besides, Amol Gupte and his wife Deepa Bhatia had conceptualized Taare Zameen Par based on a short story written by them titled High Jump. The story was translated into a full-fledged movie screenplay seven years after the story written.

Shakuntala Devi had said in an interview after the launch of her book, that she would like to make a movie based on the book. She is now saying that she wrote the book as a movie script and is now hunting for a producer to make the movie.

So why is Shakuntala Devi raising the issue a year after the release of the movie? Either it’s pique that a movie, she thinks is a lot like her book, got made, or it is a move to get free publicity, or force Aamir Khan, who has produced and directed Taare Zameen Par, to cough up.

Shankutala Devi is a mathematical genius, who at the age of six had calculated the cube root of a 15-digit number in her head in a matter of seconds. Her father was a trapeze artist and a circus peformer. In  1980, Shakuntala Devi was able to multiply two 13-digit numbers in 28 seconds.

Taare Zameen Par is India’s official entry for the upcoming 2009 Oscar award for Best Foreign Film.