Churning out chartbusters

Be it the touching Taare Zameen Par or the upbeat Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na, T-Series and Aamir Khan Productions has always churned out chartbusters.

No exception was made this time around with ‘Peepli Live’ as the music company and the star went all out to promote the music album of the film, which was launched earlier in the month, with a live performance by the artists involved.

Upbeat about their latest association with Aamir Khan Productions, said Vinod Bhanushali, President, Media,Marketing and Publishing (TV), T-Series, “We have an association that is not just successful but one of great mutual trust and respect with Aamir, right from his breakthrough film 22 years ago, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, as well as Dil and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin in the time of Gulshan’ji’ to the recent blockbusters like Dil Chahta Hai, Ghajini and 3 Idiots.”

T-Series is leaving no stone unturned in marketing and promoting the music of the film, right from having the music team interact with television channels to Aamir Khan and director Anusha Rizvi visiting the various radio stations.

Confirms Vinod Bhanushali, “Since the film does not star Aamir, it was necessary to create a strong acceptability and the right buzz, especially since the songs are situational. From day one, plans were made and this has given very good results not just among young urban generations but across the country. In fact, the response is way beyond what we expected.”

Wooing critics with performance

Nikhil Dwivedi seems to be one actor, who has benefited a lot from Raavan, as he was singled out for his performance in the multi-starrer. Nikhil played the role of a cop named Hemant, who is Vikram's confidante. His role was based on that of Lakshman from the epic Ramayana.

Nikhil gave his best shot, and that reflected in his performance as well. Critics have even gone to the extent of calling his performance pitch-perfect, played with integrity and dignity, magnificent even in an undefined role. Nikhil made his debut in 2008 with E Niwas’ My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves and was appreciated for his performance in his debut film. It is with Raavan, a bigger canvas, that he has been noticed and has taken everyone by surprise.

Nikhil has some good projects lined up, like Navdeep Singh’s dark and edgy thriller Basra, which also stars Abhay Deol. Another big project of his is Balaji Telefilms’ Shor with Tusshar Kapoor.

In the remake of Arjun (which originally starred Sunny Deol), he plays the title role. He is also working on a project titled Matric Pass.

Fan of old Hindi songs

Though the stunning Southern beauty Vidya Balan can essay any contemporary role with panache, she loves coming home to some classic compositions by old school music maestros. Among Vidya Balan’s favourites are Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi and R D Burman.

Says a source close to the star, “Vidya loves old hindi music. One of her most prized possessions is a collection of some of the greatest songs by Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi.”

“We also hear that Vidya always has a couple of these CDs kept in her car and listens to them while she is travelling. “The songs never fail to calm her down after a stressful day of work,” adds the source.

No ‘Boss’ for Shah Rukh Khan

Though the fourth season of Bigg Boss is around the corner, the host for the show is far from being finalised. After hosting season three of Bigg Boss, Amitabh Bachchan will not anchor the show again, because the channel does not repeat hosts on this show.

Says a source, “The channel went all out to get Shah Rukh to host Big Boss 4. They even offered him a larger remuneration than Big B. But SRK could not agree to play host because of lack of time. The dates for Bigg Boss 4 clashed with Shah Rukh’s shooting schedule for Farhan Akhtar’s Don 2 with Priyanka Chopra in Bali. The channel is trying to get Akshay Kumar now or even a non film celebrity.

Real on reel?

Amitabh Bachchan may play Rabindranath Tagore on screen soon. Big B has done many films like Deewar and Sholay, which were scripted by hit writer duo Salim-Javed. Sources say that the legendary actor may be reuniting with one of the two — Javed Akhtar. The years may have dimmed the fire, but not the creativity. Apparently, Javed is writing the screenplay for a Rabindranath Tagore biopic, that may see a mellow Amitabh Bachchan in the lead.

New ‘jodi’ on silver screen

Sanjay Dutt and director Mahesh Manjrekar are friends again to make a film that was planned with Kareena Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt ten years ago and did not progress when they did not see eye to eye. They reconnected when Dutt requested his film-maker friend to do a small role in Lamhaa. Says Manjrekar, “Ek Anokhi Prem Kahani is about a blind girl and a grotesquely disfigured man. It was planned with Sanju and Kareena right after she made her debut with Refugee. She projected a pristine beauty and innocence that I needed to play up against Sanju’s character.” The film-maker feels that the pair has never been tried before and have a crackling chemistry about it.