Amitabh Bachchan is humming a new tune in Baabul. "It's a tune I remember. I just thought I'd use it in Baabul because it fit perfectly. I played with the notes and came up with this song for Baabul and recorded the song just a few days ago. In Ravi Chopra's Baghban I had sung four numbers. In Baabul, I've recorded two. But they are rather pensive numbers which I've composed," he says.
Inspite of singing in the past, Big B insists that he isn't much of a singer. "I like to meet up with Aadesh Shrivastava, sit in his music room and fool around with the notes. In Baabul, for the first time I've contributed to a tune. Obviously the orchestral arrangements are Aadesh's. The theme song ‘Kehta hoon bitiya’ in Baabul is tuned and sung by me. In Baabul, the full theme song (written by Sameer) is mine."
Big B is glad that a film stressing Indian values has been made. "Television is so full of family dramas that this genre is hardly attempted. Baabul is very traditional and close to our hearts. It addresses the sensitive issue of widow remarriage. Why does a young widow become a victim of ridiculous customs, almost an outcast? Like all movies from BR films that address a social issue," he says.
About his on-screen rapport with his Baabul co-star Hema Malini, Big B says, "We aren't doing as many films as we used to earlier. In Baabul, Hema is very much part of the drama. In Sholay there was the effort to rehabilitate the widow. That sentiment continues in Baabul. Cinema needs to raise the collective conscience level of the audience."
Last week, Big B walked the ramp with Hema Malini. He explains, "Today, the promotion and marketing of a film is as critical as its making. For Baabul we wanted to do something novel. So we devised a fashion show," he says.
Recently, the Bhojpuri audience in UP and Bihar went ballistic over Big B's guest appearance in Ganga. As for his Bhojpuri dialogues, Big B says, "I had spoken the Awadhi dialect in Ganga Ki Saugandh and Adaalat. In Ganga, I spoke Bhojpuri, which is similar to Awadhi, for the first time."
In fact, last year, Bachchan had also made a guest appearance in a Kannada film Amrithvarsham. Ganga and Amrithvarsham are Big B's only two stints in regional cinema. "I did the two guest appearances because two dear friends asked me to. I was asked to do a cameo in Rajnikanth's next Tamil project. But I declined as I didn't have the time. Also learning a South Indian language is a huge responsibility (in the Kannada film, he spoke English). I truly admire artistes from Mumbai who act in South Indian films and also speak the language. Rajnikanth and I are close friends and we have done films together. I'd have loved to be in his film."
He is thrilled by the spectrum of films released this year. "Films of various genres have been accepted this year. It's an exceptional year for Hindi cinema. Guru, Dhoom 2, Umrao Jaan and Vivah are still to come…,” he says.
* Obviously the orchestral arrangements are Aadesh's. The theme song ‘Kehta hoon bitiya’ in Baabul is Tuned and sung by me –
Bachchan
People change and so do their equations with others. Initially, the mere presence of Aishwarya Rai intimidated actress Vidya Balan. But this is a thing of the past. While shooting for Mani Ratnam's Guru, earlier Aishwarya would never talk to Vidya. But, more recently when a particular shot was in progress, Aishwarya realised that Vidya did not have her hairpin on (required to maintain the continuity in a scene). Both Ratnam and Vidya didn't notice the slip. But, Ash being the perfectionist that she is noticed and immediately went back to her make-up van and sent the hairpin to Vidya. "Just before Vidya would deliver the shot, Ash's hair dresser went up to Vidya and gave her the hairpin," says our source. Vidya was flummoxed at this gesture extended towards her. That's the smart Ash we know of - trying to change an equation depending on the box-office success of the person.
Her last release ‘Jaanemann' is doing well at the box office and actress Preity Zinta is now looking forward to sign a new film very soon.
Men are not as strong as they look. They are very fragile and so need to be handled with care – as thinks actress Priyanka Chopra. In a recent interview, when asked about her love life Priyanka said she's single and she has no regret for that. Doesn't she feel the need of someone special in her life? She said, “Men are essential sure, but not indispensable.” According to her, men are very confused souls. “They are like kids. They are also very fragile and so need to be handled with care,” she gushed.
According to Mallika, a man's sex appeal lies between the ears. Surprised? Actually Mallika can't resist herself from making such surprising quotes. In a recent interview, when asked what sort of a man does she prefer – metrosexual or retrosexual, Mallika raised an eyebrow and said, “Metrosexual? I think they are mere clone to women. They go to beauty parlors to get a manicure, pedicure, facial ….that's called being a metrosexual? Then they wear colors like orange, pink and red, the way women do; go into kitchen and call themselves chef. Is that it?”
Yet another controversy has surfaced regarding Mallika Sherawat and this one concerns her age. The tabloids insist that she cannot be 25 years old as claimed by her mother. Instead, she could well be 35 years old.
Admittedly she couldn't match up to the appeal of Helen, but Kareena is the flavor of this festive season. With her ‘Yeh mera dil pyaar ka diwana' number in ‘Don', she is blazing the screen with her look- the golden gown and seductive kohl-lined eyes, and thunder thighs. This remixed version packs in some extra beats while the Kareena (read K-bomb) burst on screen this Diwali.
Celina Jaitley has no qualms to be called sexy, and finds nothing wrong if directors present her as a sex-idol on screen. In a recent interview, when asked to comment on the buzz that most of the directors tried to exploit her on screen to present her as seductress, she was quick to quip, “Well, I am sexy, so why not!”
The Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai chemistry rocks – that's the unanimous view. Whosoever has seen J.P. Dutta's ‘Umrao Jaan', including the members of the Censor Board (the three hour long film has been passed without any cut), has been raving about the jodi. “The tension in the air was palpable and both have done a great job,” an insider present during the screening says. The screening for the censors was on October 24. Censor Board members praised the film sky high. Aishwarya's performance also came in for praise and her image as a non-actor will die a natural death after that. ‘Umrao Jaan' will be the first Abhishek-Aishwarya release after rumour of their affair made headlines. The film is scheduled to release on November 3.
Jaan-E-Mann has hit back strongly. As expected, post Eid the collections of Jaan-E-Mann have gone up. The advance booking report for the second week are very positive. Well Jaan-E-Mann was steady all this week till Eid but post Eid it is a completely different story. Jaan-E-Mann can safely be declared as a hit now.
