What's happening in Bollywood Town!

We know what King Khan is doing this summer plus stars lend support to the cause of cancer and 99 has reasons to celebrate!

What is King Khan up to?
Shah Rukh Khan is off to work again, leaving wife Gauri home with the kids during their vacation.
The star is leaving for the United States on June 3, to shoot for My Name Is Khan. He had planned an extended vacation with family but it will be interrupted by the shoot.
Sources close to him said that he had wanted to take the family along but this was not possible, though it might happen later.
My Name Is Khan is being made by Karan Johar and also stars Kajol, a regular with SRK and KJo. SRK hasn’t gone to London this year with his family, as he does usually. His summer was spent in South Africa, at the IPL.
And what is SRK doing next week?
If the director of Kal Kissne Dekha, Vivek Sharma, is to be believed, the star will promote his movie, which stars Jackky Bhagnani and Vaishali Desai.
Kareena Kapoor has done stage shows with Jackky to boost the movie, but Sharma said that while SRK would not do stage shows, he would do his bit. "When I met him last week he said I will ask audiences to go to the single screens and watch the movie," Sharma said, referring to the limited release the film is likely to get because of the strike against multiplexes.

In Aid of CPAA: Aftab Shivdasani, Bakhtiyaar Irani, Raima Sen and Arjan Bajwa pledge their support to the Cancer Patients Aid Associations.

Naughty Boys: Sohail Khan with his sons at the same event. The boys are having a gala time.

The Long and Short of It: Pretty Raima Sen looks nice and simple in her Anarkali outfit while Neetu Chandra keeps it short with an electric blue number with shocking pink flats. We prefer Raima’s traditional outfit versus Neetu’s I-am-trying-hard-to-look-hot number.

Celebration Time: The cast of 99 including Vinod Khanna, Amit Mistry and Cyrus Broacha celebrate the success of the film with the directors and producer. This is the first 99 event that Vinod has attended and it’s probably because it was in South Mumbai.

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99 - Movie Review

99's credits have been shot slickly, and watching them you settle back into your seat. You expect the movie to be aimed at you, and it is.

Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha are friends who make fake simcards. The movie is set in 1999 when mobile phones were expensive and incoming wasn't free.

They overplay their hand and one of their customers leads the police to them.

As they flee, they steal a Mercedes-Benz, but cannot steer it and crash. The car belongs to Mahesh Manjrekar, a thug and a bookmaker. He tells the boys they must work for him to pay off their debt.

Boman Irani is a gambler in Delhi who thinks luck communicates with him through worldly signals.

His character reveals itself at a conference table in Bombay, when a cricket match is on in the next room. Irani's itching to bet but needs fortune to tell him she's on his side.

He asks her if he should punt.

If, he tells himself, that marker that's rolling across the table doesn't fall, the waiter unmindful of the wire drawn across from the wall doesn't trip, and the colleague who's unconsciously unwrapping the label from a used mineral water bottle does so without the label tearing in two, if all these three things happen, it's an unambiguous 'yes' from fortune.

They do: the marker's caught as it slides off the edge; the waiter steps over the wire; the wrapper comes off clean.
Boman goes to a bookmaker's shop and runs into Mahesh Manjrekar.

He wants to put Rs 4 lakh, on India (in 1999!), but is told that's not a big enough bet. It's Rs 20 lakh or nothing. He gambles, he loses.
Irani is one of Bollywood's two best actors. He's convincing in all he does and has been well cast in 99. He plays the man who must convince the world he has life under control when he's holding on by his fingernails.

Like some gamblers, he believes he can turn it around with his next punt.

That gives him hope, and the courage to take on the disappointment of his wife, who's left him, and the wrath of his creditors. You can see his desperation behind his mask. That makes him a terrific actor.

99's writing has an easy pace and it is lucid. The dialogue is urbane and keeps you focussed on the action.

Vinod Khanna (also a punter) and Boman are talking, when a cricket match about to be played later that day comes up. Does he have a tip, asks Boman. Tips are for waiters, says Khanna, not punters.

Manjrekar sends Khemu and Broacha to Delhi to recover from Irani. Staying in a five-star hotel, on Manjrekar's credit card, Khemu falls in love with the hotel's duty manager, Soha Ali Khan.

Boman works in a currency exchange firm and a client drops off $50,000 to be changed.

Boman is tempted to gamble with the money and hides it in his briefcase. The boys find it on a visit to his office, and take it from him. But it's stolen from them as well and the movie then spins into its long climax. Will the boys get the money back? Will Boman pull his life back together? Will Manjrekar let the boys go? Will Khemu bag Soha?

That's what you should watch the movie for: how all of this falls into place.

99 has some excellent performances.

There's a lovely role by Boman's rather short moneylender, who, having come to collect, takes Boman's phone and has a conversation with Boman's wife.

Mahesh Manjrekar is first rate. It's a wonder his presence in Slumdog wasn't noticed as much as, say, Anil Kapoor's was, because certainly he was better in the movie.

In 99, he tramples underfoot all the actors about him, especially in the first half, when he's up against only Khemu and Broacha.

His scenes as the slightly off-centre and short-tempered thug are delightful.

Vinod Khanna in his short role is effortless. He's put on a lot of weight and his once-rocklike face is now uncle-y soft. His eyes have become slits because of the fat on his cheeks. But he shows us the experience of his 35 years in acting.

If there is a problem with the movie, it is that a star is missing.

Kunal Kemu is lean and muscled, but he doesn't fill the screen. In the scenes he has to himself, there is a space that's vacant.

Soha Ali Khan is not as luminous as she was in Rang De Basanti. She's pleasant as she always is, because of her understated acting, but physically she looks wan.

Go watch 99. It's a good reason to get back into multiplexes again.

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Finally, a film releases in multiplexes

New Bollywood release "99" starring Kunal Khemu and Soha Ali Khan is expected to bring relief to multiplexes and film-starved movie buffs after nearly five weeks of a dry spell due to a deadlock between producers and multiplexes.

Made at a budget of over Rs.150 million, the film is releasing on Friday (May 15) worldwide with around 500 prints.

The makers of "99" are going out of way to release it despite the deadlock which halted the release of new movies last month. The producers are going for an independent release as the United Producers and Distributors Forum (UPDF) were against it.

Anupam Mittal, chairman of People Group, one of the producers of the movie, says that releasing the film without the industry's support was not easy.

"There were reservations from the producers' association and I understand their perspective. We tried having a dialogue and explaining our situation to them. They are not happy, but we don't have a choice," Mittal told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

"When we approached the multiplexes for a release, it was like a call from heaven for them. They were very happy and welcomed the film with open arms," he added.

Mittal though refused to divulge details on the revenue sharing ratio arrived at between them and the multiplexes for "99".

Directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., "99" is a comedy inspired by real events in 1999 and 2000. Experts say "99" doesn't fall in the "big product" range, but it will bring footfalls. It also stars Boman Irani and Cyrus Broacha in the lead. Mahesh Manjrekar and Vinod Khanna will also be seen in pivotal roles.

People Group has co-produced the film with People Pictures.

"'99' is a multiplex movie as it has some star value attached to it. Moreover, the reports are positive for the movie from Mumbai and it just might help increase the footfalls," said a PVR cinemas official on condition of anonymity.

"However, we need at least four to five back-to-back big budget movies to draw in audiences in huge numbers. But we are pinning hopes that this movie might help in bringing audiences," the official added.

"99" has already had eight test screenings in Mumbai and one in New York and Mittal informs "anybody who has watched the film has thoroughly enjoyed it".

"We had timed our release during the IPL (Indian Premier League) because cricket plays an integral part to our film. Our first date was April 18, which was then pushed to May 1 and then further pushed to May 8. This was done because we were given to understand that the strike would be called off by May 5," said Mittal.

"But we can't wait any more. IPL gets over in a couple of weeks and our financiers have already waited patiently. We owe it to them and the entire cast and crew to get this movie out in the best way possible. We think May 15 gives us that platform and beyond that I cannot go or else I'd face some severe financial consequences," he added.

While, the advance bookings for the movie opened on Wednesday evening, multiplex chain like BIG Cinemas is also offering special offers like two tickets at Rs.99 for the first day first show of the film.

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Cyrus, Kunal's crazy lamhe!

The Cyrus Broacha and Kunal Khemu starrer 99 is promising to be one modern-day take on yesteryears hit on-screen comic pair Laurel and Hardy, and no points for guessing, who Laurel and Hardy here will be.

And it’s not only on-screen that the duo share a superb chemistry, but even off the screen. A source reveals that very much like the characters the two play on screen, both Kunal and Cyrus are always locked in a never-ending battle of wits. “The script demanded that the two argue all the time and it wasn’t different off screen either. The sets end up becoming the battleground for the two arguing endlessly. It’s all of course in good fun, but the ceaseless banter causes so much entertainment and distraction, that the unit hands have a tough time keeping a straight face. They are forever joking,” said an insider.

That Cyrus has the gift-of-the-gab is a well-known fact, but he seems to have met his match in Kunal. Looks like even in the modern-day Hardy’s getting a tagdi takkar from Laurel.

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Soha's character in 99 has a wild streak

Actress Soha Ali Khan, whose career is going through a dry spell, is now looking forward to her upcoming venture "99" and says that her character in the film has a "wild streak".

"I play the character of a girl called Pooja, who is a lobby manager of a hotel floor. She is stylish, confident and vivacious and has a wild streak," Soha told IANS.

"In the film, two conmen played by Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha enter the character's life and since she wants some excitement in her life, she happily joins them. She is a fun character at heart," she added.

The romantic comedy will hit screens in May.

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