Photo: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jodhaa Akbar

No details were available about the movie so far, though Sanjay Leela Bhansali had announced the movie quite a long time back.

Now we know something more about the movie. Its name.

And yes, another bit of detail that is being bandied about: Resul Pookutty will do the sound mixing.

I think one will have to wait for another few months to be handed another teeny-weeny detail about Guzarish, like, maybe, the name of one other member of the cast, apart from Hrithik and Aishwarya.

We live in hope.

Whatever the story line of Guzarish be, the movie should be decent. One, because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a pretty good director and, two, the on-screen chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai is pure dynamite.

I can’t think of any other screen couple in recent Hindi film history that has set the screen afire in the way these two do. The only names that comes to mind are Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. They just had to look at each other to make the air sizzle.

Apparently, Guzarish is in pre-production and will be released in 2010.

Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were last seen in Ashutosh Gowariker’s epic movie Jodhaa Akbar. The movie was more of a historical romance, with Hrithik playing Mughal emperor Akbar and Aishwarya his Hindu wife, Jodhaa.

The movie was a blockbuster, despite a slow start, and swept all the main awards at nearly all award functions, in 2008.

It won the Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Director award at both the Filmfare and Star Screen awards.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is also working on Chenab Gandhi, starring Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham and Vidya Balan. The movie chronicles the life and struggles of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi.

Chenab Gandhi will go into production in May 2009.

Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek bachchan photo

Dhun comes nine years after Rajiv Menon’s last movie as a director, Kandukondain Kandukondain in 2000.

Confirming the news, Rajiv Menon has been quoted as saying, “Yes…Abhishek and Aishwarya are starring in my next directorial venture titled Dhun. It’s a film where music plays a very important role. The film goes on floors sometime in June this year.”

Dhun will be shot in London and Mumbai.

As is obvious from the name, Dhun is said to have a musical backdrop. Further details about the story are not available at the moment, except denials that the story of Dhun is not similar to that of the Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bachchan starrer Abhiman.

I find it wierd that the question was asked in the first place. Just because music plays an important part in Dhun, and it stars the son and daugher-in-law of the lead pair in Abhiman, why on earth should the storyline be the same?

I am inclined to think that, if anything, there is more of a likelihood that Dhun may be based on some English classic film or book, since both the movies that Rajiv Menon has directed were based on classics. Minsaara Kanavu (Sapnay) was based on The Sound of Music, and  Kandukondain Kandukondain was based on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Dhun will be produced by Eros International.

Rajiv Menon is the cinematographer of Bombay (1995), Chaitnaya (1986), Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), Morning Raga (2004),  and Guru (2007).

Rajiv Menon has directed movies like Minsaara Kanavu (Sapnay in Hindi) with Kajol, Prabhu Deva, and Arvind Swamy, in 1996, and Kandukondain Kandukondain starring Mammooty, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, Ajith Kumar and Abbas, in 2000.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai are currently shooting for Mani Ratnam’s Ravan, which will be released in 2009.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have previously starred together in Dhai Akshar Prem Ke (2003), Kuch Na Kaho (2003), Umrao Jaan (2006), Dhoom 2 (2006), and Guru (2006). Of all these, only Mani Ratnam’s Guru was a hit.

The movie stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Manisha Koirala, Govinda, Ravi Kishan, Tejaswini Kolhapure, and Ajay Gehi.

Aishwarya Rai and Vikram on the sets of Raavan Pic: The Telegraph

Written By Mani Ratnam and Rensil D’Silva, and directed by Mani Ratnam, the movie is being shot simultaneously as Raavan in Hindi and Ashokavanam in Tamil, in a bungalow in Agarpara.

Photo: Abhishek Bachchan's Raavan look

Abhishek Bachchan plays the titular role of Raavan, Aishwarya Rai plays the role of Sita, and Vikram the role of Ram. The story of the movie has been kept under wraps, but reports say that Aishwarya Rai plays a talented carnatic musician in both Raavan and Ashokavanam.

Vikram who will play a character based on Ram in Raavan

Govinda is said to play the role of Hanuman. He is a forest officer who guides Vikram through forests in search of a criminal, presumably played by Abhishek Bachchan. Ravi Kishan and Ajay Gehi play versions of Ravana’s brothers Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana.

Previously, Mani Ratnam had made the huge hit Dalapati in both Tamil and Hindi. The movie was a contemporary version of the Mahabharata, with Rajnikanth’s character (Surya) similar to that of Karna, and Mamooty’s character (Devarajan) similar to that of Duryodhan.

Arvind Swamy’s character was clearly based on that of Arjun. He is even called Arjun in the movie. Interesting, Dalapathi was more the story of Karna, rather than that of the usual culprit, Arjun. It was this angle that made the movie so powerful, apart from a bravura performance by Rajnikanth.

One expects that Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, too, will tell the story of the much-pilloried man, in a balanced light.

Ravan was considered an accomplished scholar and author. He was supposed to be proficient in Political Science, and is said to have authored a book on Astrology called Kaali Kitab.

The role places a lot of responsibility on the junior Bachchan. Reports say that Abhishek Bachchan is working very hard to look right for the role. He is said to have shed 15 kilos, cropped his hair short, and grown a moustache.

Raavan’s music will be composed by AR Rahman.

The climax of the movie is being shot in the Vedic village in the outskirts of Kolkata, and in the city.

Photo: Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in Jodhaa Akbar

Zayed Khan will play Lakshman and Amitabh Bachchan will play Dashrath.

The Legend of Rama will be produced and directed by Sanjay Khan, who is Hrithik Roshan’s father-in-law and Zayed Khan’s father.

The Legend of Rama will be written by Sanjay Khan along with Farrukh Dhondy.

Farrukh Dhondy has been quoted as saying that The Legend of Rama will be a modernized version of the Ramayana, and that it will be the Ramayana in The Lord Of The Rings genre. He also added that the screenplay has the motion, motivation and movement of a Shakespearean play.

I don’t know if you have understand what that means, because I certainly haven’t.

Knowing Sanjay Khan’s penchant for laborious work (Abdullah, The Sword of Tipu Sultan TV series), I expect The Legend of Rama to be a pedestrian retelling of the story, that will trundle along in a beleaguered manner. The characters will be flat and unidimensional. Rama will be a goody-two-shoes, Lakshman even more so, and Sita’s bharatiya nari cloying martyrdom will make you gag.

Which is sad on two counts. One, that it will not explore the dark side of Rama, his doubts and insecurity; ditto for Lakshman. It will not probe Sita’s strength of mind.

Two, The Legend of Rama will be a waste of fine actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan, as also the chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai as seen in Jodha Akbar and before that, Dhoom 2.

And what is with Zayed Khan playing Lakshman, or variations of Lakshman, in every second movie? In Main Hoon Na, his character is based on the Lakshmanesque loyal younger brother thing. He is even called Lakshman in the movie, for God’s sake. Then again, he plays the youngest brother in Yuvraaj, a story of three brothers.

Casting hasn’t been announced for Ravan’s character though. I won’t waste your time asking you who do you think should be cast as Ravan. I am sure they will predictably cast Boman Irani as Ravan, who will ham his way through the movie.

I wish someone would take the Mahabharata and the Ramayan and do something good with it. If nothing else, they could pick up Ashok Banker’s Ramayan. At least the characters have depth and the sci-fi take is very interesting.

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.