From Rediff.com

All's fair in love and war

by Vivek Fernandes

January 5, 2002

'Love is what is left when the feeling of being in love burns out.'

With a script rich in syrupy dialogues like the above mentioned line, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is all about love.

Our tale begins in the picturesque Greek island of Cephallonia in 1940. Life is beautiful in this peaceful town with a tragic past.

Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), our ambitious heroine, is besotted with a simple fisherman Mandras (Christian Bale). But her father Dr Iannis (John Heard) thinks Mandras is unsuitable for his daughter.

As the clouds of WWII loom on the horizon, this paradise is in danger of being lost to Fascist Benito Mussolini's men. Mandras goes off to war after Pelagia and he are engaged. He promises to write but despite the hundreds of letters Pelagia sends him, she receives no reply.

Meanwhile, Mussolini's men, led by Captain Antonio Corelli (Nicolas Cage), arrive to occupy the land. Being members of the opera society, his regiment would rather make music than war. Every now and again, the soldiers break into a Puccini aria for their Captain Corelli always finds some reason to sing.

After initial setbacks, the soldiers befriend the townsfolk. Captain Corelli who makes the Iannis' residence his home, is smitten by the beautiful and intelligent Pelagia. She on the other hand is torn between her love for the Captain and the vows she made to Mandras earlier.

She does finally return his love but before a happy ending, the war, quite unexpectedly, takes a terrifying twist. The Germans arrive and the picture perfect island turns into blazing hell. And the Captain and Pelagia must part.

Seven years later, the battle quells but happy ending is still not in sight. It does come about but by then the film becomes too tedious a watch.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin hinges on the romantic chemistry of the lead pair but the Cruz-Cage equation bombs. Cage's brawl coupled with the put-on Italian-English accent make him sound rather absurd. But as the commander the 33rd regiment of the infantry, he seems earnest enough. Cruz, with her black tresses and floral-print frocks, is not the woman on top; pretty unspectacular.

John Hurt, as the compassionate, irreverent doctor fits in well but Irene Pappas (The Guns Of Navarone), as Mandras' mother is a shrill caricature.

Director John Madden (Shakespeare In Love) treats the scenes of daily Cephallonian life with panache. But he's less than graceful with personal relationships.

However, the real star is Oscar-winning cinematographer John Toll, who captures the idyllic beauty of the island as each frame seems to be straight out of a travel brochure.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is no Saving Private Ryan nor is it The English Patient. But then again, it is more meaningful than the popcorn entertainer Pearl Harbor.

CREDITS:

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, Christian Bale, David Morrissey, John Hurt,

Irene Papas, Vicky Maragaki

Director: John Madden

Producers: Kevin Loader, Mark Huffam, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Louis de Bernieres

Screenwriter: Shawn Slovo

Cinematographer: John Toll

Composer: Stephen Warbeck

Entertainment News

by Komal Nahta

May 1, 2001

Rumours are rife that Aamir Khan's Lagaan has been postponed by two weeks. It will now be released on June 15.

When contacted, Ashish, secretary to Aamir Khan, said, "We are still working towards June 1. As of now, the chances of the film being postponed are nil."

Meanwhile, the star has called all the distributors of Lagaan to Bombay this week to discuss the pre-release publicity and the strategies of the film. The actor-producer will personally interact with all his distributors.

Aamir was not available for comment.

* * *

Even after a month, there's no solution for the ongoing cinema employees' strike in West Bengal.

The employees demanded a hike in wages, which was not agreeable to cinema owners. Several meetings were held between the owners, workers, their union and the government, but none of them were fruitful.

* * *

Jodi No 1 has a new song!

Ankh lad gayi, composed by Hans Raj Hans, has been added to the film in its third week.

The comedy starring Govinda and Sanjay Dutt is doing great business in Bombay and South, but is not very encouraging in other circuits.

* * *

Here's a list of who's doing what these days:

Yash Chopra is finalising the script of his next film.

Subhash Ghai is busy completing Yaadein, to be released on July 27.

Karan Johar will start the next shooting schedule of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie

Gham in London later this week.

Sooraj Barjatya is busy with the music of his Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon.

Rakesh Roshan, having zeroed in on the subject of his next venture after long meetings with his writers, is now holidaying abroad.

Indra Kumar is yet to finalise the story line of his new film starring Anil Kapoor.

Rajkumar Santoshi's Lajja was screened in Madras last week by music maestro Ilaiya Raja.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is deeply immersed in the making of his love epic, Devdas.

Ramgopal Varma, Boney Kapoor and Aswini Dutt are spending a lot of time together filming Company. After releasing Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Ramu left for Australia on May 1 to scout locations for his next film.

* * *

Cinema halls are suffering. No film lasts at the box office -- and cinemas no longer have programmes to run.

The flip side is that distributors are in a commanding position to dictate terms to exhibitors -- which is totally unfair to the latter. The only other option is to keep their cinemas closed, and that is why exhibitors pay through their noses to acquire films for screening.

The growth of the industry is lopsided. While producers, stars and technicians are minting money, distributors and exhibitors are suffering heavy losses. Of course, the money inflow may not last very long due to the slump in music and satellite markets.

The slack in the market can be proved by this fact: Palanpur, a town in Gujarat, opened a multiplex Surmandir, last week.

A taste of things to come happened on the inaugural day itself: One cinema had to cancel one show (of Rahul) on the first day due to lack of audience.

The admission rates of the multiplex are Rs 30 and Rs 50 as against the more reasonable Rs five, Rs nine and Rs 14 in the three existing cinemas.

* * *

Twenty-eight years after Hrishikesh Mukerji made the Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bhaduri classic, Abhimaan, it will be remade in Tamil.

Directed by Manobala, Naan Paada Ninnaipadellam, stars Ramesh Aravind and Swarnamalya.

Ramesh, of course, must be hoping to get lucky with this film. The award winning star of Kannada films has, so far, been unable to duplicate the success of his Kannada ventures in Tamil films.

My songs were composed with me in mind: Singer Manna Dey reminisces. An exclusive

by Arthur J Pais and Som Chivukula

August 31, 2001

Rahul Dev Burman is remembered as one of the most gifted composers of all time.

However, if you are one of those who do not think much of his singing range, you may still want to give him the credit for composing and singing one of the most popular songs of the 1970s.

Mehbooba mehbooba from Sholay created history in terms of popularity.

But how many people know that it was composed specially for singer Manna Dey?

Burman, affectionately known as Pancham, had recorded the song in his voice hoping Dey would follow his (Burman's) singing pattern.

"But even before I finished listening to the way he had sung that song, I told Pancham that I did not want to sing the song," Dey recalls. "He had a unique way of singing -- and this song's rendition reminded me of (jazz great) Louis Armstrong's singing.

"So I told him that this was his song," Dey said in an exclusive interview in San Francisco, where he was visiting his daughter.

Of all the wonderful stories Dey could belt away as if they happened yesterday, the Sholay story remains his favourite.

Manna Dey, who made his singing debut some six decades ago, went on to lend his voice for some of the most popular leading men and comedic actors in Bombay including Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni and Mehmood.

He has sung for all major composers ranging from Sachin Dev Burman to Shankar Jaikishen and Ravi.

"Shankar had a special corner for me," Dey, who turned 81 recently, reminisced. Of the many memorable songs he has sung for Shankar, some are found in such films as Basant Bahar, Chori Chori, Shri 420 and Mera Naam Joker.

Yeh raat bheegi bheegi, a duet he sang with Lata Mangeshkar (picturised on Raj Kapoor and Nargis) almost didn't happen, the singer remembers with a nostalgic chuckle.

The film's producer, AV Meyappan Chettiar, who had flown to Bombay from Madras for its recording, insisted that Mukesh sing it. After all, Mukesh was considered the 'soul' of Raj Kapoor -- and had sung a majority of the songs the star lip-synced on the screen.

"When Chettiar saw me in the recording room with Lata, he turned to Shankar and asked where Mukesh was. He was not satisfied with Shankar's explanation that he (Shankar) wanted me to sing the duet."

Thereupon Raj Kapoor intervened, suggesting that the song should be recorded -- and if there was an agreement that it had come out well, it should be included in the film.

When Chettiar heard the recorded song, he congratulated the singer and said he was proud to have the song in his film. Yeh raat... went on to become one of the most popular songs of the 1950's, and Dey seldom leaves it out of his concerts.

Though Dey also sang one of his most popular songs for Shankar in Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker, and grabbed a Filmfare Award, he doesn't think there was much of a challenge in it for him.

"It was no great deal," he says as a matter of fact.

There was more of abhinay (acting) in the song, he says with a smile. "I had to imagine how Raj Kapoor would walk and talk when he sang it on screen."

Manna Dey has sung in more than a dozen languages, one of his most popular songs being a sad solo in Chemmeen, a Malayalam film that won major awards in the mid-1960s and was a huge box-office success. (Its music was composed by Salil Chaudhary, for whom Dey has sung haunting numbers in movies such as Kabuliwala).

Many people complimented Dey for not only putting his soul into the song but also for pronouncing the Malayalam lyrics adeptly.

"The pronunciation has improved since then as I have been singing it at many concerts," he says, laughing. He remembers the day he went home with a tape of the song after the first rehearsal, and one of his daughters asked him what language it was.

It is Malayalam, he told her, surprised.

His daughter wouldn't believe him, and insisted that her mother listen to the song and confirm that it was in fact sung in the language of Kerala.

Not many people know that Manna Dey's wife Sulochana is a Malayali.

"She made sure I got it right," he says, adding on a grin: "Well, almost."

The song became a rage across Kerala, and since Chemmeen also became a hit in the neighbouring southern states, Manna Dey added thousands of new fans to his enviable fan base.

Many experts in popular music will readily acknowledge that Manna Dey, trained in classical music, was the most versatile singer in Indian music. He would sing with the same ease Sur na... in Basant Bahar as he would dole out Aao twist karen in Bhoot Bangla. Also he was very much at home with tunes based on folk music such Yaari hai in Zanjeer.

But he never made it to the very top, being overshadowed by Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar.

"There were a lot of great singers around," he says, without bitterness. "Naturally, I got a limited number of songs."

"But this much I know...My songs were composed with me in min

Short Takes

September 25, 2001

SRK 007: Will Badshah Khan Play Bond

If Big B could stage a comeback on the small screen, Shah Rukh Khan believes he can do it, too. That's why he is busy negotiating with a top ranking production house to star in a mega serial.

It is early days to talk about the project, but one hears it will be a slick thriller based on James Bond flicks, with SRK playing the debonair spy. The moolah is the bait.

But will Shah Rukh bite?

The war of the Khans

It must be said: The cold war between the two Khans -- Shah Rukh and Aamir -- is heating up.

Lagaan's laurels have Shah Rukh's insecurity rising.

Sources reveal that Shah Rukh is even more rattled because of the lukewarm reactions his Asoka has received at international film festivals.

Shah Rukh is confessed to a confidant that he feared Asoka might not have the same kind of mass appeal that Lagaan had.

With Lagaan poised to sweep the awards has the war only just begun? Or won?

Amisha has no dates

When Amisha Patel dethroned Priyanka Chopra from her perch in the Venus film directed by Abbas-Mustan, the industry was surprised.

Not without reason. If newcomer Priyanka didn't have the necessary dates, how could an established star like Amisha produce them at such short notice?

Amisha was said to have signed the film only to bag a prestigious banner. But then, as soon as the fervour of the mahurat abated, the producers now realise that Amisha doesn't really have all the required dates.

A matter of trust

Govinda's film with director Shyam Benegal might be shelved.

Govinda has decided to opt out because the title role was a take off on Laloo Prasad Yadav.

The fact, however, remains that Govinda was so taken aback with all the insurance contracts and binding guarantees sent to him by Benegal that he thought it best to keep away.

Poor Chi chi couldn't get over the fact that a filmmaker couldn't trust him.

Urmila conned!

Urmila regrets the day she answered a phone call from financier Bharat Shah.

The ailing financier pleaded with her to do an item number for his Lajja.

It seems Urmila had refused the offer when director Rajkumar Santoshi approached her because he had originally promised to cast her in the film. But then, he chose Manisha Koirala instead.

But an ailing and troubled Bharatbhai she could not refuse.

Amrita and the Salman connection

Was Amrita Arora thrown out of the Govinda starrer Tera Kya Kehna, directed by Manoj Agarwal only because of her Salman Khan connection?

Seems to us there's no other explanation. Although the director says he dropped her from the project because he realised she was under a contract with Mehul Kumar, the fact remains that he knew it all along.

For it was Mehul Kumar himself, who had suggested the girl to Govinda.

But Govinda, who has an axe to grind with Salman, because the latter replaced him in Biwi No 1, refused to work with Amrita (who is Arbaaz Khan's wife, Malaika's sister)?

Short Takes

September 15, 2001

Dear Akshay the show must go on with Ravs

Akshay Kumar was in for a shock.

Raveena Tandon was included in the troupe that was going on shows organised by Sunil Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment. And Akshay didn't know about it.

The man was cheesed off, more because he was not taken into confidence. Given a chance, he would not have liked to travel and spend virtually a month with his ex-flame.

But then there was no other go, really. Sunil Shetty put his foot down and insisted that they needed a star like Raveena to boost up the show. Not that the show was yielding the necessary favourable response abroad, anyway.

Gimme red, Tabu!

Okay, so Tabu sees red at the mere mention of Mahesh Manjrekar.

Ever wondered why?

The story goes that Tabu came to his rescue when almost all heroines, from Padmini Kolhapure, Madhuri Dixit and Shefali Shetty to Sonali Kulkarni heard and refused the script of Astitva, for various reasons.

Now, when it comes to making the English version for the international market, Mahesh has sidelined Tabu and gone in for Madhuri Dixit.

Strong enough reason to see red?

In two minds -- SRK and Juhi

One would have thought they had learnt their lesson.

More so since they claimed that the press ruined the prospects of their debut production Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.

But Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla are once again chasing the press now that their new film Asoka is ready for release.

One wishes they would made up their minds.

They seem to have forgotten what they said when they started Asoka. They claimed then that they were making the film for the international circuit and the festivals.

It was the awards more than rewards they were concentrating on. But now that the film is ready for release, they seem to be singing a different tune altogether.

First, they are planning a commercial release of the film. Second, though Asoka has been registered at the festivals, it is not in the competitive section.

Why? Because the two do not want their film to be classified as an art film.

Will they make up their minds, please?

A slip out of time

Esha Deol is all bandaged and bruised.

A black eye and injuries on her face, which has resulted in her shooting schedules going awry, as also the fear of a plastic surgery, required for her scars to be wiped away.

Official sources say that Esha, tired after a day-night shooting schedule, woke up one night in her hotel suite to drink a glass of water. She slipped in the dark and banged herself.

The resulting injuries are proof of that. But then, there are others who insist that Esha did a Raj Kapoor. Or a Sridevi. To throw light: A few years ago, she too slipped and hurt herself at the lobby of a five-star hotel. The reason? Alcohol.

Arjun and a few home truths

And here's the real reason for Arjun Rampal's exit from the Abbas Mustan film.

Barely did reports of Moksha trickle out, and the appreciation that came his way in the wake of the releasen of his maiden release, Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat than Arjun's chamchas and advisors got busy, prompting him to hike his price.

Arjun demanded a crore. He got the boot.

Now he is aware that not only has he lost out on a good, solid project, he has also sent out the wrong signals and has antagonised a lot of right people.

From Filmfare.com

Review: Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya

by Khalid Mohamed

December 2000

Cast : Govinda, Juhi Chawla, etc, etc

Director : Raghavendra Rao B.A.

Rating : ** 1/2

Synopsis

BATTERED-`N'-SHATTERED, inexplicably three housewives desist from strangling their men with ropes or neckties. Instead, the brutalised femmes keep serving chai, chivda and apple pies to the male chauvinist pigs. Oink oink. Truly, Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya can boast of the most infuriating assaults on womankind, besides the loudest shrieks-`n'-screams this side of the Suez, which are likely to shatter the eardrums. How you miss the comforting sounds of your aunts, nannies and mums. This Eight Anna Salary Expenditure A Rupee, directed by K. Raghavendra Rao (who always adds B.A. to his name to emphasise his high-literacy credentials) is sorrily quite uneducated about the leaps-`n'-strides made in the progressive world. In fact, Rao seems to reside in an archaic time warp where the aforecited housewives aren't even aware of the fact that they could say phooey to the horrendous hubbies and look for gainful employment. Sad. Loud, loony and lustreless, this money-unsplendoured thing is indeed one of the most taxing challans plastered on you in recent times, all in the name of hee-haw-haw-comedy. So, suffer the spectacle of the three patidevs (Chandrachur Singh, Vinay Anand, Johnny Lever) who're car mechanics hell-bent on blowing up their monthly pay packets on booze. Each one of them is quite a silly goose. Their wives (Tabu-Isha Koppikar-Ketaki Dave) are sweetly tolerant, occasionally grumbling that there is no cash-vash for aata, daal and soap. No hope. The creditors and the hafta -creeps add salt-`n'-pepper to the women's wounds till a wonder couple (Govinda-Juhi Chawla) move in next door. Mrs Wonder is quite a cat, actually, encouraging the hapless women to seek jobs, quit the home and hearth and take a sabbatical from the children. Incidentally, the poor kiddos look more traumatised than lambs at an abattoir. Bah bah. For reels-`n'-reels, the women continue to squeal, now even hammering their men with sticks, bricks and knives till like the audience everyone on the screen is ready to hit the ICU. Quite expectedly, a thoroughly exasperated kid falls violently ill and has to be rushed to a hospital where one of those heartless doctors demands lakhs of rupees to fill the till. Crammed with cliches, the ouchcome of course subjects us to a reconciliation between the warring patis and patnis. Pass the chutney please. If Raghavendra Rao's aim was to comment on the equation between the genders, he blows it. The punching-crunching men and women squabble so relentlessly that the intended moral of the story is lost like the proverbial needle in a haystack. Enough endured. Really. About the only unusual aspect of this anna-conda of a movie is that it often manages to fit in a battalion of characters into a single frame. Shot largely at Hyderabad's Ramoji Rao studio, the set designs are strictly old-worldly and creaky though.

Analysis

Himesh Reshammiya's music explodes like grenades in your ears, inciting you to wish that you'd carried cotton buds. The dialogue is on the lines of, ``You son of a wet papad, you omelette made of two rotten eggs,'' not to forget one of the housewives' relentless banshee cry which goes, ``Arrraaarraaa''. Boy oh boy. Of the cast, Govinda in a brief role strives to pep up the scene. Juhi Chawla and Ketaki Dave reveal an astute sense of comic timing despite their wacked-out roles. Vinay Anand is a pleasant surprise, while Chandrachur Singh oozes sincerity. Ditto Isha Koppikar. But hello, whatever possessed Tabu to take on a role that's strictly sidey? Johnny Lever is Johnny Lever, going at his lengthy part out here with unbridled enthusiasm. Still, despite the gung-ho participation of the cast, Aamdani leaves you with a mega-mindache and body pain. Honestly, this one could have been titled Entertainment Atthanni Ticket Rupaiya.

Dance of Life

The film 'Legacy of Terror' based on the June 1985 Air India bombing tragedy in which 329 people perished, left Canadians weeping unabashedly. They wept for those who died and their families in what was the deadliest act of aviation terrorism in history.

Ex Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid: Making Friendly Appearance!

January 7, 2002.

Making guest appearance in films is nothing new. Filmmakers have often restored to this gimmick to pull in the extra crowd. Almost all the top actors have appeared in guest appearances for each other's films. But when a politician makes the guest appearances it certainly raises eye brows. Former Foreign minister in the erstwhile congress regimen Salman Khurshid will be making a guest appearance in a film by FTII (Film & Television Institute Of India) called 'Soch'. The film starts Raveena Tandon along with Sanjay Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan and Aditi Govitrikar. Khurshid will play the role of a chief guest in an awards function in the film. Raveena Tandon and Sanjay Kapoor who play the roles of a film star and a director are given awards by Khurshid at an award function and then Khurshid praises them for their contribution to cinema. Well, for politicians in our country doesn't need to make an extra effort to act, after all everyday we see them fooling people with their flawless acting!

Celina: Strong Resemblance With Parveen Babi

January 7, 2002.

Beauty queen Celina Jaitly has a very familiar face. It reminds you of someone. Have a closer look and you realise that Jaitly has a strong resemblance with the one time `oomph' actress Parveen Babi. She is presently shooting for 'Kashish' with Ajay Jadeja (who is making debut with this film). Call it destiny or whatever; Celina also makes her debut Jadeja, like Babi who made her debut with cricketer, Salim Durrani in a film called 'Charitra'. What a coincidence!

Subhash Ghai: Avenge Or Confession!

January 1, 2002.

Ask the great director about his 25 - year experience in this industry and this is what he has to say "I have thoroughly enjoyed my filmmaking career and am looking forward to anoth er twenty five years of the same thing." Within this time period the director has tried to make films on subjects and relationships that he strongly believes in. However on questioning him about his favourites, he convincingly said that Dilip Kumar was still at the top of the list. "He gives me six perfect options for one scene of his," and when he's questioned about the most difficult person to direct, he says, "I don't mean to be demeaning but Mahima was a quite a difficult case in time. 'Pardes' was her first film, I know, but it was difficult to get her into the character she was portraying. Nonetheless, we managed well together."

John Abraham: Another Step Forward!

January 1, 2002.

The hunk will soon be seen on the big screen. Though John has quite a number of offers in his kitty, his debut will be defined in Rahul Rawail's film, in which his leading lady is Akanksha Malhotra. From an advertising agency to the modeling world and now on to the silver screen. One can never know where your stars will take you, and John's way no doubt seems pretty pleasant. We wish him luck at his new profession.

'Monsoon Wedding' & 'Lagaan': Featured at International Festival!

Jan. 02, 2002.

While 'Lagaan' is India's official entry to the Oscar's, and Mira Nair's 'Monsoon Wedding' has a 'Monsoon Wedding' has won various awards, there seems to be no let up in admiration from the international community. Now one hears that the films will be screened at the 13th Annual Nortel Network Palm Springs International Film Festival. The two films will be part of approximately 150 films selected from more than 45 countries. Must say, Indian films have certainly caught on all over the world!