FIRST LOOK: Housefull

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'K.I.' grosses 100 crores worldwide in opening week

Eros International has announced a record opening of Sajid Nadiadwala's KAMBAKKHT ISHQ. The film has grossed Rs. 100 crores worldwide in its first week, making it one of the most successful openings in Indian cinema.

KAMBAKKHT ISHQ has grossed Rs. 70 crores in India (Rs. 42 crores nett) and Rs. 21 crores overseas with music & digital platforms grossing Rs. 10 crores. The film has been produced at a cost of Rs. 62 crores, including print and advertisement cost.

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Love Aaj Kal’s music rocks!

Love Aaj Kal is a film I can’t wait to see. I also couldn’t wait to get my hands on the music because Pritam and Imtiaz Ali created some memorable tunes (we still like them) when they got together for Jab We Met. Love Aaj Kal’s music is fun, vibrant, romantic (of course) with bhangra and hip hop flavours with a tinge of country/folk and rock. Also, Pritam had to compose for the Pyaar 1965 track and the Love 2009 track, so hats off to him for pulling it off. No track on the album is intolerable. Our favourites are Aahun Aahun, Twist, Chor Bazari and Aaj Din Chadeya. This is the best album we have heard since Delhi-6 and Dev D. Go buy it!

Unlike Jab We Met, you may not like the songs instantly but listen to them a few times and you will be hooked.

Twist is something we are all addicted to by now. The sapera been tune fits in perfectly. Neeraj Shridhar’s vocal energy is unmatched. The rap vocals are reminiscent of Apache Indian. Pritam is brilliant with hip hop dance numbers and this one is no exception. It will set the dance floor on fire; even make you want to dance in your seat! The lyrics are very Punjabi like rounak-shounak, wicked-shicked, aankh-vaank, daaru-shaaru, etc. the step is easy too and Saif looks super cute in the video. Do the Twist! It’s sure to be a rage at discos.

Chor Bazari has a nice guitar tune. It’s a little like the relatively unknown but lovely Chori Chori Ankhiyaan from Race, also because Sunidhi Chauhan and Neeraj Shridhar are the singers. It’s a chilled out number. You imagine people having a beach or poolside party replete with thatched roofs, beer and summery dresses when you listen to the song.

Main Kya Hoon has KK adding his magical touch to it. The beats are almost electronic, so the song seems out of place on the album and it’s like something you have heard before.

Aahun Aahun is another instant favourite with its guitar prelude (makes it a great ring tone). Love the Punjabi and tu aaja dil janiya bit (what you hear in the promo) throughout the song. It’s a great club track too. It’s a fast track with hip hop and Punjabi flavours. Pritam has done a superb job with this super energetic number you want to listen over and over again. Neeraj Shridhar and the Punjabi singer are excellent.

Aaj Din Chadeya, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is soothing after the upbeat and exhausting Aahun Aahun. It’s a sweet and pleasant tune that will grow on you. I guess it is part of the ‘Pyaar 1965’ track in the film. It conjures pictures of a turbaned Saif admiring Harleen in the mustard fields of Punjab.

Thoda Thoda Pyaar has the reliable Sunidhi Chauhan on the vocals. It has a nineties feel to it, something Madhuri Dixit would dance to. A typical shaadi ka gaana that’s not an assault to your ears.

Ye Doorian has a serene start with Mohit Chauhan’s calming vocals. The song’s likeable but it isn’t magical like Jab We Met’s Tum Se Hi which practically launched Mohit Chauhan. It’s about lovers missing each other; wanting to erase the distance between them.

The remixes of Aahun Aahun, Twist and Chor Bazari are nice. They are simple, nothing over-elaborate.

Rating: 3.5 on 5
Label: Eros Music
Composer: Pritam
Lyricist: Irshad Kamil
Singers: KK, Sunidhi Chauhan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Neeraj Shridhar, Mohit Chauhan

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Kambakkht Ishq music sucks

What is being touted as the biggest release this year and the project that is going to salvage the dwindling fortunes of its mega-star actors Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor- Kambakkht Ishq has done the unthinkable in its mad rush for attention. The music is out, and sure it got the attention of StarBoxOffice but is it worth the clamour?

Kambakkht Ishq looks like a follow-up to Tashan, but the music in that was so much better. In KI, from the very first track, Om mangalam (sung by KK, Sunidhi Chauhan), to the last one, Welcome to Hollywood (chorus), music director Annu Malik foresaw the project as his big ticket into Sylvester Stallone’s music rack and so has belted out tracks so loud, so screechy, that maybe Stallone would play them while in the ring, thrashing some poor pugilist.

Bebolicious actress Kareena even has a song in her name (holy mother) called Bebo. In it, singer Alisha Chinai writhes and swishes to announce Bebo’s dil on sale for the right suitor. Kareena chips into the track with her guffaw and seconds Alisha’s prompt. The track has a Jimmy Jimmy aaja aaja hangover from the eighties. Akshay gets his Punjabi munda track titled Lakh Lakh (sung by Neeraj Shridhar), which is a ghisa-pita dhol number. God knows how many drums were smashed, one thing is for sure, our eardrums hurt like Ganpati festival was around the corner. Shreya Ghosal glides in with the only love ballad on the album, Kyun where she is wondering about the state of the song, as much as we are, why?

Salim-Sulaiman guest compose Welcome to Hollywood, which is a dish-rag of a hip-hop-rap song. Utter crap.

All songs except the ballad, have their remix jodis (four extra faltu tracks) in the album, and if the deejay isn’t playing it on the console, make sure you bushwhack him to tune into these blasted tracks. For us, we’ll quickly make an exit the minute KI begins its assault.

Kambakkht Ishq

Music: Annu Malik, Salim-Sulaiman

Lyricist: Anvita Dutt Guptan

Singers: Alisha Chinai, KK, Neeraj Shridhar, Shreya Ghoshal, KK, Sunidhi Chauhan

Label: Eros Music

Genre: Film

CD Price: Rs149

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Love Aaj Kal - First Look

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OM SHANTI OM celebrates Silver Jubilee

In the times when a decent four week run of a film is good enough to take it to a success, OM SHANTI OM has completed 25 weeks at theaters.

On the Friday gone by, i.e. 2nd May, this Farah Khan directed film celebrated a 25 week run. Released across the globe on 9th November 2007, OM SHANTI OM went on to break records all over and turned out to be the biggest first week opener at the box office of all times with a 40 crores+ in collections. Till date the film has collected in excess of 85 crores just from India, hence turning out to be the biggest money spinner of all times.

Commenting on the film's continued success over the months, Farah Khan says, "In the times when it is rare to see a film going through a 50 day or a 100 day run, it gives me so much pleasure to see the film getting such a heartfelt response. It is running on a matinee show at Naaz in Mumbai and I am getting feelers that the theater is confident of the film completing Golden Jubilee there.

"My motto has been to make an entertaining film and going by audience response, I can say that I succeeded in doing that", concludes Farah.

Joginder Tuteja

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Eros' HEYY BABYY on blu-ray disc

Eros International, the leading company in the Indian media and entertainment sector announced today that in response to strong global consumer demand; it will release smash hit HEYY BABYY to Blu-ray high-definition disc format on March 3rd. Eros continues to lead as the pioneer in Indian media and entertainment as this will be the first global release of a Bollywood film on Blu-ray disc format.

Eros' exciting slate of Blu-ray Disc releases will begin with Director Sajid Khan's HEYY BABYY starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Fardeen Khan and Boman Irani, followed shortly by superstar Shah Rukh Khan's OM SHANTI OM.

Driven by its mission to provide the greatest quality and leading products to their customers, Eros International long ago shared a vision with director Sajid Khan to bring this technology to India as this presents the film as never seen before. HEYY BABYY has been mastered directly from the negative digital source under the supervision of Sajid Khan, with upgraded picture and sound. In addition to the film, the disc includes many extra features and a four hour in-depth documentary explaining everything about making a big budget Bollywood film.

The proven Blu-ray technology has allowed us to take our films to new heights, fully utilizing the larger capacity and interactive capabilities for an incredible all-new consumer experience," commented Sunil Lulla, President of Eros International India.

Blu-ray discs offer next generation menus, 50 gigabyte storage capacity and incredible interactivity as soon as you put the disc in the player. For example, while watching the movie, you can seamlessly go to the pop up menu and navigate special features - pop ups, scenes and interactive director or star commentary.

"We are confident consumers will be astounded by the level of entertainment that can only be achieved by using the maximum capacity of the Blu-ray Disc format. We will soon be releasing OM SHANTI OM and many of our all time classics that will appeal to the ever growing market of Bollywood and Indian film fans around the globe," commented Marcus Stuart Vannini, EVP of Corporate Development & Eros New Media.

The HEYY BABYY Blu-ray discs are on sale and available immediately through www.erosentertainment.com and will be available shortly in retail stores throughout India, Canada, United States and United Kingdom.

Bollywood Trade News Network

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Hrithik Roshan signs up for Eros - Carving Dreams venture

Eros International, the London AIM listed leading integrated company within the Indian media & entertainment sector and Carving Dreams Motion Pictures, a division of Carving Dreams Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., the country's leading talent agency have signed Bollywood Superstar Hrithik Roshan as the main lead for their debut co-production venture.

Kishore Lulla, Chairman & CEO, Eros International further added, "We are happy to be working with Carving Dreams, one of the best outfits in the business of celebrity and entertainment marketing. I am delighted that Hrithik Roshan will be playing the lead role. That has elevated our first project together to an entirely different level. We are looking forward to a wonderful relationship & many more such ventures and specifically giving this particular film a great global distribution and marketing platform pulling our entire group's resources together."

Announcing the deal, Bunty Bahl, Director, Carving Dreams Motion Pictures said, "We are very pleased to be collaborating with Eros International, who is clearly the market leader in film production and global distribution today. Having worked closely with Hrithik Roshan as his business mangers for over two years now, we hope to be sensitive to his creative needs and expect him to be involved in our film beyond the boundaries of an actor. As we foray into film production, Hrithik was the most natural choice for us to fortify our relationship further. The Hrithik-Carving Dream-Eros combo is sure to create waves."

Hrithik Roshan confirmed the news and said, "Yes, I am positively excited about this venture and am looking forward to work with two of the best in our industry. Carving Dreams entertainment pvt ltd, manage my business profile in terms of endorsements, appearances etc... hence agreeing to do their debut film production project is a step towards strengthening our existing relationship. While Eros International is known for their excellent film production and global distribution network, so it helps to work with the best. I am confident that this union is definitely going to be a winner."

Bollywood Trade News Network

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OSO continues its blockbuster overseas run

Farah Khan's OM SHANTI OM continues its record-breaking overseas run, even during the second weekend. After resetting the first weekend Bollywood record in the US, the film moves on to an astonishing $2,892,773 in just ten days and is now certain to dethrone the top grosser KABHI ALVIDA NAA KEHNA's (2006) $3,275,444. Interesting to note that both the movies have one thing in common, Shah Rukh Khan.

Moving on to UK, OM SHANTI OM is now the top UK grosser of 2007, with $1,997,013. It has moved past the previous record holder, NAMASTEY LONDON's $1,730,000 (approx).

The movie that released with OM SHANTI OM, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Ranbir, Sonam, Salman (special appearance) and Rani starrer SAAWARIYA is now way behind, mainly due to a heavy fall in collections. SAAWARIYA has so far grossed $805,054 in the US and $554,271 in the UK.

Abid, Bollywood Trade News Network

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Emma thompson and Laxmi Mittal will walk the red carpet in London for 'Om Shanti Om' premiere

Leisceter Square in London will be glittering with glitterati on Thursday night at the premiere of ‘Om Shanti Om’. After all it doesn’t happen often that you get to see Hollywood actresses like Emma Thompson and steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal at the premiere of a Bollywood movie. Well, it appears that they just couldn’t ignore a personal invitation from SRK.

“There will be some very special people at the premiere on Friday, including Emma Thompson and Laxmi Mittal. They are dear friends and I am so glad that I will get a chance to catch up with them,” Shah Rukh said just minutes before leaving for London.

“Basically, the idea of having a premiere in London is to attract the global audience, not just the Indian diaspora. Also our distributors, Eros International are based out of London. And you know what, I really want to get away from it all and just enjoy the film,” Shah Rukh added.

SRK has fond memories of Leicester Square. After all, he had held the premiere of his home production ‘Asoka’ also at the same theatre (Empire theatre) in 2002, again at the time of Diwali.

“‘Chak De’ also premiered in London. In a sense, having a premiere here in London has always been special to me.” In spite of the fact that arch rival ‘Saawariya’ having its premiere in Mumbai last night, the OSO team is unperturbed, and will go all out to celebrate the event.

The red carpet event before the screening is also going to be a grand photo opportunity with the entire star cast of the film, including Deepika Padukone, her parents Prakash and Ujjwala, Arjun Rampal, and of course Shah Rukh Khan walking the red carpet along the ‘special’ guests.

DNAindia.com

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Om Shanti Om - House Full even before Advance Bookings

Farah Khan's Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Shreyas Talpade starrer OM SHANTI OM seems all set to be a 'BLOCK'buster. One of this year's two Diwali releases OM SHANTI OM is releasing coming Friday the 9th of November.

The movie is just two days away from the opening of advance bookings across the cinemas of India but the hype of the movie can be predicted with 18000 tickets, which is equivalent to about 40 shows HOUSE FULL has been confirmed by corporate block bookings at Satyam Cineplexes, New Delhi, informed a reliable source.

Way to go!

Bollywood Trade News Network

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Om Shanti Om ties up with Lycra MTV style awards

Lycra MTV style awards announced a tie up with the most eagerly awaited movie of the year- Om Shanti Om. King Khan, director Farah Khan, gorgeous Deepika Padukone, versatile Shreyas Talpade and the debonair Arjun Rampal will show their distinctive style statements on the October 25 at LYCRA, MTV Style Awards 2007. Designer Manish Malhotra will be showcasing his retro theme, inspired by his Om Shanti Om.

Farah Khan excited about the whole event says, “Lycra MTV Style Awards is a fantastic platform to give our audience the first taste of style in Om Shanti Om. For me style is one of the most critical elements in the film and I am proud to display some of the style at this year’s Lycra MTV Style awards.”

The lucky invites at Lycra, MTV Style Awards will get to watch Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal and Deepika Padukone in their stylish splendor in action LIVE on a stage- a bit of dekko before you watch them on celluloid. To which Ashish Patil, General Manager, MTV India and Vice President- Creative and Content says, “Style is something integral to our films and films are the one thing that hugely impact style and fashion of the year, Om Shanti Om, at the Lycra, MTV Style Awards! So get set to step back in time with an absolutely sensational “retro” showcase by Manish Malhotra with Arjun Rampal, Deepika Padukone and some insanity with Shreyas Talpade, Farah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as never before!”

Over the last few years, Lycra MTV style awards, has showcased films like Musafir, Jaan-e-mann and Kya Kool Hai Hum, that not only rocked the box office but also set a distinct style statement - be it cinematography, music, looks or even action. So, let’s wait for the magic to unfold this October at Lycra MTV Style Awards with the entire crew of Om Shanti Om.

IndiaFM

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