Preity refuses Deepa Mehta

Preity Zinta was all praise for her “Heaven on Earth” director Deepa Mehta when the film was up for release. But after the movie’s failure at the box-office, Preity is not too certain about working with her again.

Deepa is currently finalising the cast of her new film. While Akshay Kumar has been decided as the male lead she wanted Lisa Ray to play the female lead. But Lisa refused as she is signed up for a US TV show.

After Lisa said no, Deepa offered the role to Preity.

Preity knew that she was Deepa’s second choice and hence refused to be a part of the film. However, she was diplomatic while saying no. She said she has taken up a TV show and hence would not be able to give dates for Deepa’s film.

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Akshay Kumar will grow his beard to play Sikh in Deepa Mehta's film

After the furor that was raised over the apology of a beard that Akshay Kumar sported as a Sikh in Anees Bazmee's Singh Is Kinng, Akshay Kumar is taking no chances.

For the role of the real-life Sardarji who sailed in the fateful ship named Kamagata Maru from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1914, Akshay is taking no chances.

He'll grow the beard to the size stipulated by the Sikh community before plunging into the role in January 2010.

In fact the actor, smarting under the attack he faced for his improper beard length in Bazmee's bearded burlesque, has this time decided to set aside all his assignments for Kamagata Maru to avoid continuity clashes with other projects.

Says Deepa, "Akshay is so amazing. Considering he has so much work on hand, I was surprised when he absolutely insisted on growing a full-length beard. One of the reasons I postponed Kamagata Maru to next year was so that Akshay would be able to block an entire chunk of dates for my film and keep the beard. I was very sure that I didn't want him for a month and then return with a false beard and finish my film. It's very important for actors to respect continuity. That's the only way to work."

Deepa saw Akshay Kumar play a Sardar in Singh Is Kinng before casting him in Kamagata Maru. "I thought he made a very good Sardar. He has a very Panju-Sardar look. Akshay has to play a 48-year old Sardar. And he's absolutely fine with a salt-and-pepper beard."

"Akshay is also the film's producer along with my life partner David Hamilton, so his interest in the film is very, very deep," says Deepa.

Post the fiasco that's Chandni Chowk to China, Akshay Kumar is also counting on converting his comic currency into something more compelling and enduring.

According to Deepa, Akshay Kumar will be seen in a completely non-comic serious and politically profound role in Kamagata Maru.

"Five years ago, Akshay was completely ready to transform his image in Water when he was to play the Gandhian reformist. The role in Kamagata Maru is far more challenging."

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Snippets: All thats happening in B-Town

It is everything you wanted to know but had little time to read about...

Deepa Mehta to adapt Midnight's Children

Director Deepa Mehta has taken up the challenge of making a movie out of Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children. The novel written in the early 80s, won the Booker of Booker prize. It was pathbreaking in that it took the writing style of South American masters like Marquez and Borges, called magic realism, and adapted it to India's geography.

But its uniqueness also makes it a tough film to make. This is because the writing is not wholly sequential, and a lot of the action unfolds in the mind of the protagonist, Saleem Sinai, who is born at midnight on August 15, 1947. "I love challenges and adapting Midnight's Children is a challenge for me," Mehta said.

"I read the book during the 80's when it first came out and I loved it but I never thought of making a movie on it at that time. I wanted to work with Salman for a long time and once told him 'Let's work together' and that's how it began," Mehta said.

Midnight's Children revolves around the partition of India. "Salman and I will write it together. We start working on it in June and we will be done by August. It is real fun and I am very excited." Mehta is also working on a film based on the 1914 Komagata Maru incident with Akshay Kumar in the lead.

Raavan disturbs Abhi-Ash quality time

April 20 would normally be a day for Abhishek and Aishwarya to spend together - it's the day of their second anniversary - but not this year. Alas, director Mani Ratnam, who is making Raavan with the couple has scheduled a shoot for the day in Kerala.

The couple was looking to escape to Mumbai for the day to be with their family but that is now off. "There are no special plans for us. We will be shooting for Mani's film on that day. So I guess we will wish each other on the sets," smiled Abhishek.

Ranbir turns down Rs 4 cr ad deal

Ranbir Kapoor's career is being carefully crafted by his parents. First mummy Neetu Singh became his manager, and now dad Rishi Kapoor stepped in to reject an advertising deal that could have got Ranbir Rs 4 crore.

The ad was for a suiting company, but Rishi felt the brand was not big enough for his son to endorse. At this early stage in his career, he ought to be careful with what he was associated with, Rishi reasoned.

Second innings for Ajay Jadeja in Bollywood

Cricketer Ajay Jadeja came to Bollywood after he was banned (along with Azharuddin) in the wake of the Tehelka match fixing scandal.

His debut was in 2003's Khel, with Suniel Shetty and Celina Jaitley, but that flopped. Now seen regularly on news television, Jadeja is going to have another crack at the movies. This time he will star opposite Mahie Gill (of Dev D) with Vinod Kambli for company. The movie is called Pal Pal Dil Ke Ssaat. Hope Jadeja has a better outing this time.

Slumdog kid to play young SRK

Tanay Chheda, who played childhood roles of Dev Patel's Jamal, will now act as the young Shah Rukh Khan. The film is Karan Johar's My Name Is Khan. Tanay says that other than this movie he will not be doing much other work. "My parents want me to concentrate on my studies," he said.

Fresh from the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Tanay has shifted from Campion School in Colaba to the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Bandra.
Earlier Tanay played the role of Darsheel Safary's best friend in Taare Zameen Par.

Gere with Big B in Teen Patti

Ageing Hollywood star Richard Gere may act with Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Teen Patti. Gere, who often comes to India, got into controversy when he kissed Shilpa Shetty at a charity event. The star has never acted in a Bollywood movie before, and his big Hollywood hits were his debut An Officer and a Gentleman and of course the monster movie Pretty Woman, with Julia Roberts.

Gere will not be shooting in India for the movie, and the schedule is set to be shot in London.

Salman campaigns for Milind Deora

Salman Khan is campaigning for Congress candidate from Mumbai South Milind Deora. The actor rode on the back of a truck for over two hours as Deora canvassed for votes in the areas of Bhendi Bazaar and Nagpada. Traffic was choc-a-bloc as people mobbed Salman.

Earlier, Salman campaigned for BJP's Vinod Khanna, and for Congress' Anu Tandon, in UP. He says he campaigns for the person and not the party.
"I'll never support an inefficient candidate, even if he is a friend of mine," Salman said.

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Videsh - Heaven on Earth - Movie Review

The promos of Deepa Mehta's VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH bring back memories of Jag Mundhra's PROVOKED, which also spoke of domestic violence. Sure, VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH also looks at domestic violence, it's also about a Punjabi woman who continues to take the beatings silently on a foreign land, but the similarities end there. There's a twist in the tale in VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH and that makes this film different from films of its ilk.

Partly based on Girish Karnad's play NAAG MANDALA and perhaps inspired by several true stories, Deepa tries to inject myth into the main story and that's one of the prime reasons why you don't take to the film completely.

VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH is an unconventional subject, but the moment a reptile slides into the story, it robs the film of realism. Your heart breaks every time the woman is subjected to physical abuse. You do relate to the character since you've either heard or watched tales of domestic abuse. But the sheshnaag part in the film is difficult to digest.

Besides, there's a major flaw in the writing. The husband continues to indulge in physical abuse, but it's not clear why he comes across as a frustrated man. Not once does the director spell out the reasons why the husband behaves like a monster and keeps harming his wife, right under the nose of his family members.

Yet, despite the hiccups, you can't deny the fact that Deepa has handled the material with sensitivity. Even the end -- you can predict the conclusion -- is well executed.

Chand [Preity Zinta] is a young bride leaving her home in Ludhiana, India, for the cavernous landscape of Brampton, Ontario, where her husband Rocky [Vansh Bhardwaj] and his very traditional family await her arrival.

Everything is new to Chand, everything is unfamiliar including the quiet and shy Rocky, who she meets for the first time. Chand approaches her new life and her new land with equanimity and grace. But soon optimism turns to isolation as the family she has inherited struggles beneath the weight of unspoken words, their collective frustration becoming palpable.

Trapped in a world she cannot comprehend and unable to please her husband, Chand is desperate. Hope comes in the form of Rosa, a tough and savvy Jamaican woman who works alongside Chand in a factory where immigrant women from all over the world clean and press dirty hotel laundry.

Rosa gives her a magical root advising her to put it in the drink. The root is supposed to seduce the one who takes it, making them fall hopelessly in love with the person who gives it to them. Chand's attempts with the magic root lead to surreal incidents.

Deepa gets it right till the snake transforms into her husband and that makes the entire aspect so hard to believe. You can't relate to it anymore. The cinematography is dark at times. If the intention was to impart a gloomy and depressing tint, it doesn't work. And why this need for a B & W look at several places? Doesn't work!

Preity delivers her finest performance to date. She displays the helplessness and pain that this character demands with gusto. It's at par with any powerful act by any international actor. Newcomer Vansh Bhardwaj is striking. Very rarely do first-timers enact their parts with such precision. Amongst supporting actors, Preity's mother-in-law and sister-in-law are believable.

On the whole, VIDESH - HEAVEN ON EARTH works in parts, but it's not enough. At the box-office, the Indian market may not be too receptive to the film. It will have to look internationally to recoup the investment.

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Censor raises finger on Preity's next

Filmmaker Deepa Mehta whose forthcoming film is the Preity Zinta starrer Videsh (earlier titled Heaven on Earth), has run into a spot of trouble with the Censor Board.

During a screening session last evening, the Censor Board felt that the film shows too much violence being inflicted on Preity and consequently insisted on some cuts, which would make the film look less gory. The film is based on domestic violence.

Now, Deepa Mehta has to once again show the edited version to the Censor Board before she gets the green signal to release the film.

Deepa Mehta’s representative who was present at the screening wanted a U/A certificate, but the Censors refused to relent unless several violent scenes where Preity is battered by her husband (played by Vansh Bhardwaj) are toned down.

Vinayak Azad, Regional Officer, Censor Board, confirmed and said, “We have asked them to tone down the domestic violence scenes by 50 per cent. And we had one more objection. The film has used expletives too, which will have to be either beeped or deleted.”

“We will review the film once again after they make the cuts which we have asked for,” Azad added.
Incidentally, Preity received the Silver Hugo Award for best actress in the Feature Film Competition section at the 44th Chicago International Film Festival, for Videsh.

Preity was quite disturbed after she shot for the scenes in which she was beaten up and humiliated by Vansh. Talking about the experience of working in Videsh, Preity had said in an interview, “I remember asking a woman, who was a victim of domestic violence and had left her husband, what the turning point in her relationship was and she said, ‘I told my husband if you want to beat me, beat me in the bedroom, don’t beat me in front of the family.’ I could never understand that. It’s terrible. I really didn’t know what it was to be in a situation like this till I actually did the film.”

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‘Preity is a gift’ - Deepa Mehta

NRI filmmaker Deepa Mehta, whose latest venture on domestic abuse, called Videsh in India and Heaven On Earth abroad, is ready for release in India, was so impressed by actress Preity Zinta's intelligence and talent that she has no qualms in saying that she is a "gift from above".

"Preity is extremely talented.

I had seen her body of work but I met her, for the first time, at IIFA in England.

We spoke about so many things and issues.

I was blown away by her intelligence and social consciousness and that's what made me offer her the role of Chand.

She has truly given a mind-blowing performance," Deepa told reporters.

Preity won the Best Actress award at the Chicago Film Festival last year for her performance in the film.

She has also been nominated alongside Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon at this year's Genie Awards that will take place in Canada in April.

The film, which revolves around the life of a young woman (Preity) from the rural hinterland of Punjab who migrates to Canada post marriage, is set to hit screens March 27.

While it will be released as Videsh in India, it opened to international audiences as Heaven On Earth.

Videsh is a film very close to my heart and I really enjoyed making it.

The film is about two things.

One, the triumph of imagination and two, about immigration and isolation," explained Deepa, who has earlier made women-centric films like Fire and Water.

"Domestic abuse is the major theme of this film.

But that's not the only thing the film deals with.

Domestic abuse has an environment and a socio-economic atmosphere.

It can happen to anyone anywhere.

I have also tried to portray the isolation and the pain of a woman who has migrated to another place," she added.

The Canada-based filmmaker's forthcoming projects are Exclusion with Akshay Kumar and a film based on Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children.

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What's happening in Bollywood

Check out Jackky and Vaishali at the music launch of Kal Kissne Dekha, Eesha Koppikhar without make up and how being Bebo's BFF has helped Amrita Arora professionally.

Launched
Vaishali Desai, Zayed Khan, Vashu and Jackky Bhagnani, Abbas Mustan and Sameer launched the music of Kal Kissne Dekha last evening.


Future Stars?
Jackky Bhagnani keeps it simple in black and denims. Vaishali has a pretty face and hot body but the hot pink is a tad too much to handle. Both of them will evolve, hopefully.


Jail-ers
Neil Nitin Mukesh, Mugdha Godse and Madhur Bhandarkar at the mahurat shot of Jail, held yesterday in Bandra, suburban Mumbai.


Desi for Videsh
Preity Zinta looks pretty in a black kurta with denims and blue sandals at the launch of Videsh: Heaven on Earth.


Secret Notes
Director Deepa Mehta exchanges notes with cinematographer Giles Nuttgens. All of them, from Preity to Deepa to Giles and Ravi Chopra, were exchanging notes during the press conference.


Kaun Hai Woh?
Can you recognize Sushma Reddy and Eesha Koppikhar (with beau Timmy Narang) without make up? Looking at her hands, Sushma sure had a blast on Holi. Eesha, on the other hand, looks fat in her all-velvet track suit which isn’t nice at all.


Cover Up
Sangeeta Bijlani looks lovely for her age but she should avoid wearing knee length dresses because her legs aren’t the slimmest!


Useful Friend
Being Bebo’s best friend has really helped Amrita Arora. Bebo helped her bag supporting roles in Golmaal Returns and Kambakkht Ishq, lose weight with the help of her Yoga trainer Payal Gidwani and becaus of her friendship with Bebo, her wedding was made a big deal of. Now she is seen in an Airtel commercial alongside Kareena, Saif and A R Rahman. We wonder what Amu’s achievements are that she deserves to be on the same platform as Rahman, Saif and Kareena.

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Preity Zinta describes Dubai Film Fest experience as 'Heaven on Earth'

Actor Preity Zinta's Last Lear was prominent at several international film fests and now the Deepa Mehta-directed Heaven on Earth , too, is doing its bit around the globe. Only recently, the movie was screened at the Dubai Film Festival (2008). "Such films give you creative satisfaction. You don't do it for the money or any other commercial aspect. You do films like Heaven On Earth simply because they are brilliant scripts and address an issue... You feel proud to be part of such movies," says actor Preity Zinta, who also attended the 'Cinema against Aids 2008' function at the Dubai fest.

About the reaction of the audiences there, Preity Zinta said it was 'encouraging'. "You get to meet people who are crazy about films. And it's great to talk films with them. Festivals give you a chance to be exposed to different cultures, and different forms of filmmaking," she said.

Apparently, Deepa Mehta gave Zinta very short notice, and was surprised that her actress even made it there. Mehta said, "I didn't expect to see Preity in Dubai at such a short notice. It was very sweet of her to come since Heaven On Earth is as much her film as mine." The Dubai Film Fest was a double celebration of sorts for Deepa, as her brother, Dilip Mehta's film The Forgotten Woman was also screened there.

Attended by the likes of Salma Hayek, Goldie Hawn, Nicolas Cage... this fest proved to a Heaven on Earth experience for all those who attended it!

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Akshay Kumar replaces Big B in Deepa Mehta's Komagata Maru

After saying 'No' to Big B, Oscar nominated director Deepa Mehta has signed Akshay Kumar to play the lead in her next film, Komagata Maru. It was earlier reported in the media that Big B couldn't do the film since it is a Canadian Production and their government expects the actors to have a Canadian citizenship. The film has therefore gone to Akshay Kumar.

Komagata Maru is an epic film based on a true story surrounding the voyage of the ship 'Komagata Maru' from India to Vancouver in the early part of the last century with 376 passengers on board seeking a new life in the promise land. It is a film of high level government intrigue, duplicity, racism, spying, military engagements, court battles, sedition, and assassination. It is a journey of one man's courage that challenged the largest empire in the world. Set in the year 1914, the film spans two continents. It bears open the heroism of Gurdit Singh, who dares to have an impossible dream- a life of freedom, equality, and dignity. The film also depicts the martyrdom of Mewa Singh.

Akshay Kumar has confirmed he will be playing the lead Gurdit Singh, in this collaboration with Deepa Mehta. Talks are also underway with various actors including Hollywood A-listers making this truly an international project.

"This is an extremely important opportunity for me to reveal a significant moment in Canadian history and illustrate the steadfast bravery of the Sikh community who sacrificed so much to help create a more tolerant community within my adopted country," says award winning director, Deepa Mehta.

Akshay Kumar says, "I'm not used to working with the Oscar nominated directors so it is a great privilege to work with Deepa Mehta. The subject of this film has moved me, as it is a true representation and a testimony to human struggles for freedom, justice and equality. I want to portray this real life tragedy to the world identifying how injustice was done to innocent people. It is an hour for me to play one of the bravest Sikhs, Gurdit Singh, in this tragic forgotten moment in history. I salute those brave souls who sacrificed their lives for justice and equality today."

Komagata Maru is a Canadian production being produced by Hamilton-Mehta Production Inc. in association with Akshay Kumar's home production, Hari Om Entertainment. The film's budget ranges from $ 30-35 million dollars approximate and is currently in pre-production. It will begin full production in September 2009. The story will be filmed in various locations around the world. The film will be distributed in Canada by Mongrel Media.

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Preity starrer Heaven On Earth to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival

Deepa Mehta's Heaven On Earth is to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival on 6th September at the prestigious Elgin theatre.

"It's the venue of all serious-minded films at the Toronto Film Festival meant for a discerning audience. Last year, the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men premiered there. This year I'm proud to have my film there in the 'Special Representation' section," says Deepa.

The film's leading lady Preity Zinta joins Deepa in Toronto for the Festival screening. "And that's when Preity will dub her portion of the film in Hindi", informs Deepa. The Punjabi film is now being dubbed into Hindi as a two-language film on the insistence of the film's Indian distributor Ravi Chopra. However, Deepa insists that the Hindi version will have a very restricted screening. "The language of the film is Punjabi," she insists.

And now begins the struggle to find the right voices to dub the Punjabi characters. "The entire cast barring Preity is from Toronto. They can only speak English and Punjabi." Deepa arrives at Mumbai next week to supervise the Hindi dubbing of Heaven On Earth. "Preity will have to do her portions in Toronto after her world tour with the Bachchans and also attend the Toronto Festival screening."

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