Echoing sentiments of common man

Filmi Fundas

He recently shot for what may be called as ‘the movie’s most controversial track’ — Bullshit. The song is aimed at corrupt politicians and pokes fun at them. It trails the existing state of affairs with respect to shoddy construction work, slow proceedings and traffic woes.

In the movie, Akshay’s character Sachin Tichkule starts coughing while listening to a politician’s speech and when questioned, says he is allergic to bullshit.

When the netas deliver speeches, making empty assurances, Akshay says ‘I don’t like bullshit!’

Akshay essays the role of a struggling but honest road contractor with big dreams, who ultimately succumbs to the corrupt practices of the system.

The song was added after a lot of contemplation and was conceptualised by Akshay. On seeing the first rushes of the film, Priyadarshan and Akshay realised that the movie needed a song that would justify the overall theme of it. That’s how Bullshit came about.
It’s a daring and controversial song and has been choreographed by Ganesh Acharya who calls it a “song with a message”.

Director Priyadarshan wanted to use the word Bullshit as its more hard-hitting than other words like bakwaas or ‘rubbish’. According to him, the icing on the cake was that the Censor Board couldn’t have deleted the word as it is used in the dictionary.

Says the director, “Khatta Meetha is a satire and I was inspired to make this movie from an interesting survey that I read about. This survey exposed that only 30 per cent of the budget allocated for development of infrastructure is spent on the actual work while the remaining 70 per cent goes into the pockets of different people like politicians and administrators.”

Priyadarshan is not worried about the hostile responses that the song may generate from politicians. According to him, the song is just a reflection of the actual state of affairs.

Well, the song is bound to be a success since it echoes the sentiments of common people.

Impressed by photographer

Ranbir Kapoor’s shoot with a film magazine was one of the most popular photo shoots of the year. The credit of this goes to the man behind the camera — Rohan Shreshta, son of renowned film photographer Rakesh Shrestha. The shoot, that showed various facets of the versatile actor, was the brainchild of the ace photographer Rohan, who has imbibed much of his father’s talent. Interestingly, Rakesh Shreshta had begun his career with a photo shoot with Ranbir’s mom, Neetu Singh. For Ranbir, there was a sense of deja vu when he was introduced to Rohan.

Reveals a source, “When Ranbir learnt that Rohan’s father Rakesh Shrestha had started his career way back in the 70s with his mother Neetu Singh, he was very happy to have met Rohan. He really loved Rohan’s vision and the two became close friends during the shoot.”

We come to hear that the photographer and the star share a bond that goes beyond their professional commitments and are already in talks about working together in the near future.

Maharaja Features

Binging on ‘biryani’

For those who thought the stunning Kareena Kapoor keeps away from food in order to maintain her famous size zero figure — think again! The Czarina of Bollywood, who is currently in Hyderabad shooting for Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal 3, has taken a break from her diet to freak out on the local biryani that was on top of her crave list.

Reveals a source, “Post pack up, Kareena would call for the typical Hyderabadi Biryani. She didn’t compromise on her yoga sessions but did gorge on some delicious food. Kareena is a true-blooded Kapoor after all!”

Recently voted as People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman — Kareena Kapoor joins Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade and Kunal Khemu for Golmaal 3, the third laugh riot in the Golmaal series.

Can’t get enough

Trisha Krishnan, one of the leading ladies down South, can’t seem to get enough of Mumbai ever since she started shooting for her Bollywood debut — Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha. Says Trisha, “Mumbai truly never sleeps. It feels so safe to just take a stroll even in the middle of the night. I especially love binging on the street food here.”

Trisha, who stars alongside Akshay Kumar in Khatta Meetha, has been praising every aspect of the city, right from its street food to its night life, people and lifestyle. “I personally love the city and can't get enough of it. I vow to visit it whenever time permits,” adds Trisha.

Rebuilding the wonder 

A foreign production house will recreate the iconic monument Taj Mahal at its studio for a film starring Sir Ben Kingsley. This is because the Indian Government will mostly not allow the film to be shot in Agra. A source says, “Sir Ben Kingsley is keen on shooting the film in India especially at the Taj  Mahal. But he knows getting permission will be difficult as the Indian government is strict about not allowing filming in the Taj. So he is already looking for an alternative. Ben is ready to recreate the Taj at a Hollywood studio.”

18 till I die!

Hollywood heartthrob Tom Cruise turned 48 on July 3. In Tom’s case, the saying — ‘Age is just a number’, couldn’t be more true. After all, he is more attractive, popular and fit than ever before!

In 2006, Forbes Magazine ranked him as the world’s most powerful celebrity. Since the early days of his career, Tom has always been versatile with his choice of movies, ranging from Top Gun, the Mission Impossible series, Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report to the upcoming Knight and Day. Almost every film he has starred in has become a blockbuster.

His dedication to his line of work was established in a recent interview, when Tom said that he is a “student of film”.

He admitted that he always puts story-telling at the forefront of his priorities while choosing a film role, and is delighted at the results of his latest effort, Knight and Day, in which he stars opposite Cameron Diaz.

At the movie’s Spanish premiere in Seville, he quipped, “It’s a kind of wish fulfilment film. It’s got a very unique tone. It was something I was really looking to do next. The most important thing to me is entertaining the audience, and it always has been. I just consider myself a student of film, of story-telling. The film itself is most important.”
With action sequences galore, exotic locations and sizzling chemistry with co-star Cameron Diaz, Knight and Day undeniably makes for a must-watch.

This holds true especially for Tom Cruise fans because even at 48, Cruise is in top form and raring to go.