Bollywood Movie Releases: October-November 2011

Ra One
Release date : 26 Oct 2011
Genre: Scifi
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma, (Special appearance- Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rajnikanth,), Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil, Shahana Goswami, Suresh Menon, Tom Wu
Producer: Gauri Khan
Executive Producer / Co-Producers: Sanjeev Chawla, Prashant Shah, Anil Sable
Writer/Director: Anubhav Sinha
Screenplay:Anubhav Sinha, Mushtaq Sheikh,Kanika Dhillon
Music Director: Vishal Dadlanim, Shekhar Ravjiani

Rockstar

Release date : 11 Nov 2011
Genre: Romance  /  Drama
Cast; Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Shammi Kapoor
Producer: Dhillin Mehta
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Music Director; A R Rahman





 

Desi Boyz
Release date : 18 Nov 2011 / Nov 25 2011
Genre: Comedy/ Action
Cast: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Chitrangda Singh, Omi Vaidya
Sanjay Dutt(special appearance)
Producer: Vijay Ahuja, Krishika Lulla, Jyoti Deshpande,
Executive Producer / Co-Producer: Manoj Mittra, Ram Mirchandani
Writer/Director: Rohit Dhawan
Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty
Screenplay: Milap Zaveri Rohit Dhawan

Bollywood Influence on Western Commercials

Bollywood song for Heineken Beer!

I was watching  The Daily Show with Jon Stewart  last night when an interesting commercial of Heineken got aired.   This high energy, extremely well made commercial is complimented by a musical score from the 1960’s Bollywood track “Jaan pehcaan ho”. Having been a copy writer with advertising background and being a Bollwood blah writer, I got intrigued into finding out more.

 The commercial I am talking about is Heineken’s “The Date”, the second film from their advertising campaign “Open Your World”. Their earlier film from the campaign was the Clio award-winning film 'The Entrance'.
The “Date” is a beautifully crafted, yet incredibly high-energy story following the Heineken® legend as he woos his stunning date on an epic journey, a glamorous tribute to all magical dates and legendary night-outs. The hip atmosphere of ‘The Date’ is complemented by a musical score featuring the catchy 1960s Bollywood track “Jaan Pehechaan Ho”.

Check out link for the advertisement film;
http://wkamst.com/#/work/heineken/the-legends-campaign


Also check out the song in full from the movie Gumnam; 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyEnG_DEB1I

The original song “Jaan pehchaan ho” was  sung by Bollywood legendry playback singer Mohammed Rafi  in the 1965 movie "Gumnaam". "Gumnaam" (Hindi for "unknown" or "anonymous") is a 1965 Indian horror thriller film directed by Raja Nawathe, produced by N N Sippy, starring Manoj Kumar, Nanda, Pran, Helen and Mehmood. The music for the film was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan The story is apparently based on Agatha Christie's novel “And Then There Were None”.

The film and the song  came to wider attention when  the song "Jaan Pehechan Ho" ( translated as "We should get to know each other") was in the opening credits of 2001 teenage  comedy-drama  movie Ghost world.
The movie  Ghost World,  features one of the characters Enid watching  and dancing  to the song.

The song is incidentally also featured on the CD Bollywood Steel Guitar[3], a various artists compilation released in 2008 by the Sublime Frequencies record label.


The Heineken ad was made by the advertising agency: Wieden+ Kennedy .

The Date Film was developed at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam by executive creative directors Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy, art director Alvaro Sotomayor, copywriter Roger Hoard, broadcast director Erik Verheijen, agency producer Tony Stearns, associate producer Niko Koot, planners Stuart Parkinson and Martin Weigel, group account director Clay Mills, account director Jasmina Krnjetin, account manager Dan Colgan, project manager Sharon Kwiatkowski, business affairs manager Karen Crossley, working with Heineken global brand director Cyril Charza, global communications team 
Sandrine Huijgen, 
Josefien Olij and 
Rachel Ijzendoorn.
Filming was shot by director Fredrik Bond via Sonny London with director of photography Mattias Montero, producer Alicia Bernard and executive producer Helen Kenny. The Making Of the Legend team also included digital content directors Zak and Dan, producer Jack Beardsley, and digital content photographer Hugo Stenson.
Editor was Tim Thornton-Allan at Marshall Street Editors.
Sound Designer/Mixer was Raja Sehgal at Grand Central Studios, London. Music is “Jaan Pehechaan Ho”, performed by Mohammed Rafi, through Agoraphone, with music supervisor Beth Urdang.
Post production was done at The Mill, London, by Flame artist Jay Bandlish, 3D artist David Lawson, colorist Adam Scott, and producer Paul Schleicher.

Bollywood Movie Releases- September 2011

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar
Produced by Aditya Chopra
Story by Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring Imran Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ali Zafar
Music by Sohail Sen
Release date:  September 09, 2011
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Website : http://www.yashrajfilms.com/microsites/mbkd/index.html

Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSwvdvRx8cg






Mausam
Directed by Pankaj Kapoor
Produced by Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Sunil Lulla
Screenplay by Pankaj Kapoor
Starring : Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher
 Music by Pritam
 Release date:  September 16, 2011
Genre: Romance
 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cILw5BlRk9I&

Tell me O KKhuda
Produced by  Hema Malini
Directed by Hema Malini, Mayur Puri
Starring: Esha Deol, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Arjan Bajwa, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Sudhanshu Pandey, Farooq Sheikh, Hema Malini,  Deepti Naval, Salman Khan(Cameo), Johny Lever, Gurbachan, Madhoo
Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty  Release Date: September 30, 2011
Genre: Drama

Speedy Singh/ Breakaway
Producer: Akshay Kumar, Ajay Virmani
Executive Producer / Co-Producer: Russell Peters, Pauline Dhillon, Paul Gross, Clayton Peters
Director: Robert Lieberman
Starring: Vinay Virmani,  Akshay Kumar(As Himself), Anupam Kher, Camilla Belle, Gurpreet Guggi. Russell Peters, Noureen Dewulf, Sakina Jaffrey, Rob Lowe,
Music Director: Sandeep Chowta, Anjjan (Meet Bros), Harmeet (Meet Bros),Manmeet (Meet Bros)
Screenplay: Vinay Virmani
Story / Writer: Vinay Virmani, Noel Barker,Jeffrey Schechter, Matt Simmons
Release Date: September 23, 2011
 Genre: Family Drama




Force

Directed by Nishikanth Kamath
Produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah
 Screenplay by Ritesh Shah
Story by Gautham Menon
Starring;  John Abraham,Genelia D'Souza
Music by Harris Jayaraj, Lalit Pandit
Genre: Action, Romance.
Release Date : Sept 30, 2011
 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYyH6ujINzU&feature=relmfu
   



Soundtrack
Starring: Rajeev Khadelwal,  Soha Ali Khan, Mrinalini Sharma
Directed by Neeraj Ghosh
Music : Midival Punditz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ8rH8trxGE&feature=related
Release date: Sept 30 ,2011
Genre: Musical

Bollywood Movie Releases August 2011

Aarakshan
Director: Prakash Jha
Producers: Prakash Jha, Firoz A. Nadiadwala
Screenplay: Anjum Rajabali, Prakash Jha
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan,Manoj Bajpayee,Deepika Padukone,Prateik Babbar Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Running time 175 minutes
Language: Hindi
Genre: Socio-Politico drama
Release date:  August 12, 2011

 Trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWyAOhOoSqE

Chatur Singh -Two Star
Director: Ajay Chandhok
Producer: Mohammad Aslam
Screenplay:  Rumi Jaffery
Story: Rumi Jaffery , Sai Kabir
Starring : Sanjay Dutt, Ameesha Patel, Suresh Menon,  Anupam kher
Music by Sajid-Wajid
Genre: Comedy
Language: Hindi
Inspiration : Pink Panther

Release date:  August 19, 2011

BodyGaurd
Director: Siddique
Producer: Atul Agnihotri, Alvira Agnihotri
Screenplay/story: Siddique
 Starring Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Mahesh Manjrekar, Raj Babbar
Music by Himesh Reshammiya, Pritam
Genre: romance; comedy
Language- Hindi
Remake of :  Malyalam movie: Bodygaurd/ Telegu movie: Ganga;
                   Tamil movie: Kaavalan.
Release date:  August 31, 2011

Bol
Directed by Shoaib Mansoor
Produced by Shoman Productions
Written by Shoaib Mansoor
Starring Atif Aslamm, Humaima Malik, Mahira Khan,Iman Ali, Shafqat Cheema
Manzar Sehbai, Zaib Rehman, Amr Kashmiri
Music by Atif Aslam, Shoaib Mansoor, Sajjad Ali, Ahmed Jahanzeb

Language- Urdu/ English
Genre: Social, Drama

Earlier Pakistan Release: June 24, 2011
World Wide Release Date: August 31, 2011

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara……..Carpe diem -Seize the day!

Cast: Hrithik Roshan , Farhan Akhtar , Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif,  Kalki Koechlin
Producer: Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Story/screenplay : Reema Kagti, Zoya Akhtar
Dialogues: Farhan Akhtar
Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan , Ehsaan Noorani , Loy Mendonca
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Genre:  Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Rating: ***.5 ( 3.5/5)
Website: http://www.znmdthemovie.com/
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. Minor details may have been divulged for proper review!

Zindagi  Na Milegi Dobara is about  ‘Carpe Diem’, ‘Seize the day’, ‘you only live once’, ‘do what you want to do’,’ face your fears’, ‘fight insecurities’,  have adventures,  ‘appease your soul’, ‘live out of the box’, make life worth living for………

 Its philosophy  rings a bell of Robin Williams philosophizing of carpe diem seize the day- make your life extra ordinary in Dead Poets Society; …… Its inspiration seems to be from Hangover where the groom and his friends  go on a  bachelors party trip and have many misadventures; …… And  it brings memories of a  movie about 3 friends with  a philosophy of ‘do what your heart wants’  ' Dil Chahta Hai'

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara   buddies are copy writer Imraan (Farhan Akhtar), stock broker Arjun (Hrithik Roshan) and construction businessman Kabir (Abhay Doel). The adventurous road trip they have is in  picturesque Spain. Their  dare devil adventures to challenge their fears and do the extraordinary are Scuba Diving, Sky Diving and Running of the Bulls (Encierro).

 Besides adventure and thrills it’s about  emotions, fears,  indulgence, relationships, friends,  tender sensitive moments, spontaneous incidents, bonding moments, lively banter, romance, camaraderie, juvenile pranks,  and of course carpe diem and realization that zindagi na milegi dobara.

The movie was worth seeing in theatre today with friends and kids. It was a pleasure to the eye seeing beautiful and picturesque Spain in travelogue form on big screen with handsome studs and  beautiful babes.  There is eloquent poetry and flamenco music for the ear too. The movie on the whole is entertaining and well made but not spectacular as it was rumored to be!

Bagwati ;)

My favorite scenes were Farhan Aktars personification of the inanimate designer Hermes hand bag as ‘Bagwati’

Cast of this movie was excellent with good acting by all. Imran/Farhan Akhtar comes out as the sweet, likable, deep creative writer. His stumbling words and emotions meeting his birth father/Naseeruddin Shah  was  well emoted.

Arjun/Hrithikh’s character grows from a workaholic focused financial guy to a sensitive, spontaneous person under the influence of a beautiful, free-spirited and spontaneous personality of Laila/ Katrina Kaif.  The emotions of accomplishment/contentment depicted by Hrithikh after scuba diving for a non swimmer were excellent. Katrina quite appropriate for the role enacts both the sparkling and tender moments pretty well. Her philosophies of life delivered very subtly and  matter of factly was realistic. Her lines of thinking and living out of the box and the box being only for the dead were excellent, of course credit goes to the dialog writer ;)

 The stable yet juvenile prankster who has emotional conflicts regarding his wedding is depicted well by Kabir/Abhay Doel.  And finally if I didn’t like anyone, it was Natasha/ kalki /'chudail/witch alert', the character was as painful as the actor.

@ Tomatina festival

  While the Akhtar’s - Zoya, Farhan and Javed excelled in their contributive parts of direction, production, acting, story and lyrics,  the movie could have done better with better editing and avoiding the dragging parts!

 There were some flaws and technical gliches too: An obvious one was when Hrithikh Roshan gets a call on his cell  in Spain, its on vodaphone service, an exclusive  Indian telephone service!!

Bollywood Movie Releases June -July 2011

Ready
Directed by Anees Bazmee
Produced by Rajat Rawail, Bhushan Kumar, Nitin Manmohan, Kishan Kumar, Sohail Khan
Screenplay by Rajiv Kaul, Rajan Agarwal, Ikram Akhtar
Story by  Gopimohan, Nisar Akhtar
Starring : Salman Khan, Asin Thottumkal,  Arya Babbar, Paresh Rawal, Puneet Issar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Akhilendra Mishra
Music by Pritam
Remake of Telegu movie : Ready ( 2008)
Genre: comedy
http://www.readythemovie.com/

Double Dhamal
Directed by Indra Kumar
Produced by Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar
Screenplay by Tushar Hiranandani
Story by Tushar Hiranandani
 Starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Jaaved Jaaferi, Aashish Chaudhary
Music by Anand Raj Anand
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j743nTV-5WE
Genre: Comedy
website : http://www.doubledhamaalmovie.com/

 

Delhi Belly
Directed by Abhinay Deo
 Produced by Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Ronnie Screwvala, Jim Furgele
Story by Akshat Verma
Starring Imran Khan, Vir Das, Poorna Jagannathan, Kunal Roy Kapoor,Shenaz Treasurywala
Music by Ram Sampath
Genre: Comedy

Bbuddah hoga tera baap

Director: Poori Jagannath
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Prakash Raj, Makrand Deshpande, Shahwar Ali,  Rajeev Mehta, Rajeev Varma, Vishwajeet Pradhan, Atul Parchure
Music Director: Vishal – Shekhar
Lyricist: Vishal Dadlani, Swanand Kirkire, Anvita Dutt Guptan
Singer(s): Amitabh Bachchan
Genre: Action
website: http://www.bigbisback.com/
 video trailer :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7g_0naxTjI&feature=player_embedded

 

Zindagi Na Milege Dobara

Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin
Directed by Zoya Akhtar
Produced by Farhan Akhtar,Ritesh Sidhwani
 Screenplay by Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
Story by Zoya Akhtar,Reema Kagti
Starring Hrithik Roshan,Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Kalki Koechlin,Ariadna Cabrol, Naseeruddin Shah
Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Genre: romance
http://www.znmdthemovie.com/

Chillar party
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Salman Khan
Director: Vikas Bahl, Nitesh Tiwari
Cast:
Irrfan Khan ,Sanath Menon, Rohan Grover, Naman Jain, Aarav Khanna, Vishesh Tiwari, Chinmai Chandranshuh, Vedant Desai, Divji Handa, Sherya Sharma, Ranbir Kapoor...... Item Number
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Genre: Childrens movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls7hxjVnHNQ


http://www.chillarparty.net/

Singham
Directed by Rohit Shetty
Screenplay by Yunus Sajawal
Starring Ajay Devgn, Kajal Aggarwal,Prakash Raj
 Music by Ajay-Atul
 Remake of  Tamil movie Singam(2010)
Genre: Action
http://www.singhamthefilm.com/

Lady Gaga too remixes with Bollywood Music.

Lady Gaga  teamed up with ‘Desi Hits’ and famous Bollywood music composers Salim-Sulaiman and released a Bollywood-inspired remix of her hit single "Born This Way,".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9_elVuSZWM&feature=related

 Salim- Sulaiman are known for their successful music direction in movies- Fashion and ‘Rab ne Bane di Jodi’.  Sulaiman says of this remix, "When we started working on "Born This Way" there was a feeling of excitement and a bit of nervousness. This was the no. 1 track in 23 countries and to remix it and give it an Indian touch was something that we were very conscious about. The sitar was the instrument of choice for us when it came to creating a melodic riff. Of course there was the dholak and the dhol that always create the atmosphere of party and euphoria, but what really rocked it all was Salim's voice to add that Indian flavor."

This is the first step Lady Gaga has taken to break into the Indian market, while may other pop stars before her have been seeking the Indian audiences in various ways.