Bollywood News

Subhash K Jha speaks on Jashnn

Monday, July 20, 2009

Jashnn Rejoice! The Bhatts are back with a film that rips a hole in the heart, and lodges itself deep into your consciousness ...for a bit at least.

It's hard to move away from the territory of trauma that Bhatt perennially creates for his characters. His protagonists suffer because they allow themselves the luxury of feeling and hurting in an utterly self-centered way.

In a marked departure from the sacrificial mother-figures of our movies the film's central character Nisha (played with gut-wrenching brutal self honesty by Shahana Goswami) is shown to be a rich man's mistress not because of her kid brother but because, as she roars in one of the narrative's soul-piercing highest-pitched sequences, she has gotten so used to luxuries she can’t queue for buses any more.

Jashnn, like Mahesh Bhatt's Jannat before it wallows in the transparent hunger of today's lifestyle and how far individuals are able to go in pursuit of the next thrill.

At its heart Jashnn is a simple story about four troubled people tied together in a baffling labyrinth of complicated emotions.

As Adhyayan Suman, rising to the challenge of playing the author-backed role of Aakash Didi's ladla and destiny's unfavoured wannabe Michael Jackson, says to his spunky girlfriend (a never-say-why chick who moves in with her guy in his garage music room), ''Your brother was supporting my sister. Now you're supporting me. What a family we are!''

Bhatt's people are never afraid of facing the truth about themselves, no matter how ugly. And it can't get any uglier than the sequence where Akaash, angry embittered cornered and moneyless steals from a woman's purse in a bar to pay for his drinks.

There's a redemptive counterpoint to this hideous moment of compromise. There always is. And when it comes, Jashnn you feel like applauding our young hero's proclivity to look life in all its garish shades straight in the eye.

In what could be considered the best re-launch since Mallika Sherawat in the Bhatts' Murder, Adhyayan Suman gets a role with a graph and grip that most newcomers fantasize about in their most orgasmic dreams. Adhyayan surrenders himself completely to the bum-musician's inner world, emerging with emotions that lie buried too deep for tears fears and jeers. He cries openly and feelingly for his lost and redeemed dignity, he makes love to his girlfriend with the same tender look in his eyes as when he cuts a cake with his sister. He grits his teeth when his sister is insulted for her parasitical life as a rich man's mistress. He rejoices when she's liberated. He's a Mahesh Bhatt hero.

Jashnn Shahana Goswami the truest new-millennium inheritor Shabana Azmi's histrionic kingdom goes through the role of squalid dependency and emotional liberation with a velocity of expressions that expand the screen space into a universe of articulated angst. Of course the dialogues help. Shahana's sequence where she tells a cheesy guy she wants to be something better than meat in the market is proof enough of her capabilities.

It's interesting to see Anjana Sukhani turn a routine role of the spoilt but eventually sobered-down heiress into an area of interesting possibilities. The girl is spirited and plays her part with a determined relish.

The film's other protagonist Humayun Saeed hams his way through most of the material. He isn't to be blamed all the time. Some of his sequences lack the insightful intensity of what the writers offer the other principal characters. And to see this villain weeping in repentance at the end kind of takes away from the sting and bite of the tangy dish on contemporary compulsions that the Bhatts have prepared for posterity .Mention must be made of the actor who plays Aakash's best friend Sukesh. The boy gets the point.

It isn't as though Jashnn has something new to say. If you've been observing the cinema of Mahesh Bhatt you’d know they secrete dark recesses of resonant emotions serving more as mirrors for the mores of our times rather than just vehicles to get audiences into titillated submission.

The women in Mahesh Bhatt creations are extraordinarily striking creatures. And there are two such women in Jashnn. One is a tortured mistress of the night. The other is a wealthy woman who lives-in with her struggler boyfriend and refuses to abort her illegitimate baby.

A scar is borne. The womb is a wonderfully warm place to tell screen stories about people who maneuver out of materialistic morass in redemptive rhythms. Co-director Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala have here created a parable of pain written across the theme of a musician's journey from rejection to victory.

But the music of Jashnn goes far beyond what we hear playing so stylishly and sensitively on the soundrack.

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All you wanted to know about 'Love Aaj Kal'



A famous philosopher once quoted that "The rivers may dry, fishes may fly, an elephant may give birth to a cow, but love will still be called as love." Well, it is this love that will be presented in a never-before manner in the ace director Imtiaz Ali's latest offering Love Aaj Kal. It's a film that stars two of the hottest superstars Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone with music complementing it in every frame. Bollywood Hungama brings to you a special page dedicated this gem of a film talking about everything you ever wanted to know about the film.


Preview

Veer does not understand how Jai can treat matters of the heart without passion, like a financial transaction. Jai does not understand...

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Music Reviews

What a kick start! That's an immediate reaction the moment you are through listening to the opening number 'Aahun Aahun' for...

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News

- Humungous expectations from 'Love Aaj Kal'
- Neetu Kapoor to make her comeback with Imitiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal
- Saif and Deepika to play in a celebrity cricket match for Love Aaj Kal
- Imtiaz Ali's Saif-Deepika starrer finally titled Love Aaj Kal
Features

- "Pirated version of Love Aaj Kal songs are not the final version" - Pritam
- "Deepika has impressed me completely" - Imtiaz Ali
- "Kissing scene was necessary for film, so why make such a big fuss?" - Deepika
- "Deepika's personality grounds my personality on screen" - Saif
- "My Sardar character comes in a story within the story, I've a double role"- Saif
- An exclusive look at Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in Love Aaj Kal
- "Saif's first love these days is Love Aaj Kal" - Kareena Kapoor
Gallery


Wallpapers

Movie Stills
- Movie Screensaver: Love Aaj Kal
- On the Sets: Love Aaj Kal
- First Look: Love Aaj Kal
- London Press conference of Love Aaj Kal
- Audio release of Love Aaj Kal
- Saif and Deepika Unveil The First Look Of Love Aaj Kal

Broadband


Theatrical Trailer (Love Aaj Kal)

Audio Release Of 'Love Aaj Kal'
- Aahun Aahun (Love Aaj Kal)
- The Making Of 'Ye Dooriyan' (Love Aaj Kal)
- Saif Ali Khan Speaks About 'Love Aaj Kal' Part 1
- Pritam Chakraborty Speaks About 'Love Aaj Kal'
- Twist - Remix (Love Aaj Kal)
- 'Love Aaj Kal' Press Conference
- Ye Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal)
- Saif And Deepika In 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs'
- 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs' With Saif And Deepika
- The Making Of 'Chor Bazaari' (Love Aaj Kal)
- Chor Bazari (Love Aaj Kal)
- Making Of 'Twist' (Love Aaj Kal)
- Twist (Love Aaj Kal)
- Unveiling Of 'Love Aaj Kal' First Look
- Love Aaj Kal - T20 World Cup Promo
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"Slaps that we got after The Train and The Killer were important" - Raksha Mistry

For director duo Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwaala, Jashan wasn't an easy assignment. After all box office wasn't too kind to them in spite of two reasonably entertaining films [The Killer, The Train] while they were charged with lifting scripts from Hollywood sources. However, they promised to make something out and out original once they were set out to make their third film. The result was Jashnn where they had Bhatt brothers backing their dream.

However, life hasn't been all bed of roses for them as even till the eve of the film's release, they have been bombarded with queries around Mahesh Bhatt being the driving force for the film. In a conversation with Joginder Tuteja, Raksha Mistry sets the record straight and hopes that eventually it will be the film that would do all the talking and ultimately film lovers would realize that Jashnn has a lot more to it than the mystery surrounding the direction credits.

There have been talks about Mahesh Bhatt being a creative force in the making of Jashnn, which is actually a fair deal. However, were you expecting or rather seeking it as well from Day One?
Let me start from the very beginning. When we started scripting Jashnn, we realized that Mahesh Bhatt was taking the film quite personally. Somehow Bhatt saab's journey in life is very similar to that of the character that Adhyayan plays in the film due to which I could see him getting attached to the project. Because of this, we requested him to be on the sets because that would have only added value to the project. However, media has its own way of looking at things as they were blown out of proportion and it was being declared that he has directed the entire film!

Bhatt saab's journey in life is very similar to that of the character that Adhyayan plays in Jashan.
But he did direct a few scenes, right?
There is a technical definition of direction and as far as our film making education goes, he was 'aiding' in a few scenes, not 'directing' them. He helped in those scenes where there were some real life references because he could help the actors bring in the kind of intensity that the characters felt. Saying anything more than this would be just repeating the obvious!

Going back in the past, The Train didn't work in spite of Emraan Hashmi, hit music and some good thrilling moments. Have you ever asked yourself, why?
Yes, I have and the first thing that comes to my mind is that it was revealed even before the release of the film that the character played by Geeta Basra was negative. I mean that was THE fulcrum of the movie and since the entire country had seen Derailed, the surprise factor was gone. I was just hoping throughout that the suspense won't leak out but it did eventually. For a thriller, the biggest plus point is the suspense quotient and our film failed in that very aspect!

The kind of slaps that we got after The Train and The Killer were important us and we knew that in our third attempt, we had to work on an original
And you swore off doing remakes forever, right?
See, at that time we were nobody who wanted to be somebody; something which is also the pitch for Jashnn. Hasnain and I had been assistants to renowned directors and had seen a fair share of struggle. Now after making two movies, life did teach us a lesson. The kind of slaps that we got were important for us and we knew that in our third attempt, we had to work on an original.

From Emraan Hashmi to Adhyayan Suman, the casting did see a change, isn't it?
I wanted the casting perfectly right for Jashnn. Even if I had to go to hell and back I would have only settled down for what I wanted. I told this to Mukesh-ji and discussed around getting the right faces in. He just said that since Vishesh Films doesn't work with stars but actors, we had to get the hunt going. He gave us complete freedom to choose the right faces as directors. Today, my best compliment has come from Bhatts who have acknowledged that Jashnn has been cast quite well.

We treated Adhyayan as if Jashnn was his launch pad
For Adhyayan too it's a big film, right?
Yes, we treated Adhyayan as if Jashnn was his launch pad. In fact he himself believes that. At the end of the day, this is his first solo hero project and the whole film rests on his shoulders.

Any specific guidance that you had to give him before you began the shoot?
We mainly told him that he didn't have to act. He had to bring in his real life experience into the film while keeping all the 'filmiyat' at home!

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Meet-N-Greet with Amrita Rao

Meet-N-Greet with Amrita Rao


She came, they saw and she conquered. We are talking about the gorgeous Amrita Rao who stole the hearts of one and all at a special Meet-n-Greet contest organized by Bollywood Hungama. Looking resplendent in a flowery red dress, Amrita who is glowing on the compliments coming her way for her glamorous avatar in Short Kut- The Con is On, got excited on seeing the fans who had gathered to meet n greet her

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"Bhatt saab can bring emotions out of a rock" - Adhyayan Suman

Adhyayan Suman
Adhyayan Suman is honest enough to admit that it was a scary experience to be working in Jashnn. No, not scary in a manner similar to that of working in a horror flick like Raaz - The Mystery Continues but 'emotionally and mentally' scary! After all, he got a platform where he was the sole lead in the film, was being backed by Bhatts who have launched quite a few careers and last but not the least, being aware of the fact that quite a few prying eyes were expecting him to fall down.

Talking to Joginder Tuteja, he shares his apprehensions about being the main lead in Jashnn, his relationship with Mahesh Bhatt, his conviction in director duo Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala and how, in spite of a Haal-E-Dil and a Raaz - The Mystery Continues behind him, he still considers Jashnn as his real launch pad!

Win of an underdog, is that the best way to describe Jashnn?
I would probably say that. It is a small film as far as the budget is concerned. However, content wise it is big. It's a beautiful story put together which is emotionally quite rich. (Mahesh) Bhatt saab has extracted beautiful performances from everyone.

The film is being widely publicized as a film about 'a nobody who wants to be somebody'.
And that's just the apt way to describe the film. See, we all have dreams and want to become something in life. Aakash, the character I play, wants to become rock star. Jashnn is the story about his struggle, how he achieves success and his relationship with his sister (Shahana Goswami) who is someone's (Humayun Saeed) mistress.

I knew at the bottom of my heart that Raksha and Hasnain would be eager to give a hit
Raksha (Mistry) and Hasnain (Hyderabadwaala) have earlier suffered two setbacks in the form of The Killer and The Train. Weren't you worried about signing Jashnn?
For me there were three factors that made me sign Jashnn. a) It was a film being made under Vishesh Films banner, b) Raksha and Hasnain for sure know their job and c) My own debut film Haal-E-Dil was a flop. You know, people grow with experience and I knew at the bottom of my heart that Raksha and Hasnain would be eager to give a hit and they would work even harder in Jashnn. I believed in their conviction; I still do!

I am a part of the Bhatt camp, I am proud of that
So in a way, is Jashnn a launchpad for you?
Yes, this is indeed my launch pad. It's my first solo film and now I have got full opportunity to prove myself as an actor. (Mahesh) Bhatt saab has been an immense helping hand. In fact it was scary for me while doing the film because I had an entire film on my shoulders. I knew that I couldn't afford to mess up and I sincerely hope that the film does well. I am nervous and anxious because people would be scrutinizing me differently this time around. They are bound to say that Raaz - The Mystery Continues worked because it had bigger stars like Emraan (Hashmi) and Kangna.

With you continuing to work with Bhatts, is there a case of a 'camp' building in?
There are quite a few people who ask me if I believe in camps. Well, my answer to that is 'yes'. Indeed there is a camp system in the industry. It is in fact very difficult to break into camp and work with people there. So, if I am a part of the Bhatt camp, I am proud of that. In fact when I work in the outside banners, I would look at similar treatment in their films as well. I got a family like treatment from the Bhatts and they love and respect you like anything. I am spoiled now.

When you have Bhatt saab there on the sets to take care of acting, you don't get much worried
Raksha and Hasnain have been mentioned stating that Jashnn is an absolute original work by them. Is that indeed true?
Yes, it is a very-very original film and not a copy of anything. In fact it is also a lot about Bhatt saab's own experiences in life. He was very close to the story because it is about people who want to be somebody. He in fact even helped writing the scenes by bringing in his own personal experiences.

When Mukesh Bhatt commissioned Jashnn, what were some of the guiding principles for you before you got started with the film?
First and foremost, it was very important for me to be focused. I couldn't have let my focus get diverted. Jashnn is a very difficult film as far as acting is concerned due to heavy emotions and drama. However, when you have Bhatt saab there on the sets to take care of acting, you don't get much worried. After all he can bring emotions out of a rock.

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Mallika Sherawat 'tweets' at Twitter's Head Quarters at San Francisco

Mallika Sherawat

What will you do if someone tells you that the temperature and glamour quotient at our office has gone way up in the office because of your presence? Well, we know that you will surely be floored and must be rolling on the ground!

But, if you are Mallika Sherawat and the compliment came in from none other than Evan Williams, the CEO of Twitter, you will simply flash your smile at the compliment, as you know that your million dollar smile carries more worth than all the stocks in the NASDAQ put together! Mallika arrived at Twitter Head Quarters in San Francisco in a stretch limousine with fans and media channels waiting outside for her. The actress was mobbed for an hour by fans and press, signing autographs and doing interviews.

Evan Williams, Mallika Sherawat

Not just an excited Mallika gushed saying, "I'm honored to be the first Asian star to be invited to Twitter. Jai Ho!" but also posed for pictures outside Twitter's headquarters and then gave some inspirational remarks to Twitter employees during the lunch break. If that wasn't enough, at the request of a Twitter executive, Mallika even showed the employees a few Bollywood dance moves, and then the whole company joined in for the jhatka-matkas, prompting a spontaneous company dance party!

Following the Indian tradition, a coconut was broken in true desi style, by her producers in front of the Twitter office. Even the superhot promo of Mallika's forthcoming film Hissss was also shown to the Twitter employees during their lunch break, which received a tumultuous applause. Twitter staff members informed Mallika's producers that "Since Mallika joined the Twitter service, membership in India has skyrocketed." Can anyone 'dare' to argue on that! Jai Ho, Madame Mallika!
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Maxim'um exposure by Malaika Arora Khan

Tuesday, July 14, 2009


Malaika Arora Khan appears on the cover of this month's edition of Maxim magazine.

Malaika is unarguably the hottest mom in Bollywood. She still scorches the ramps at fashion shows, still shakes her booty in item songs (the latest one was in Heyy Babyy) and she still can make many heads turn with her beauty and sex appeal.

And now she has posed for Maxim. Titled Black Velvet the photographs show Malaika in black lingerie, striking provocative poses on a couch.

The concept of the shoot is by Wendell Rodericks while photographs are snapped by Farroukh Chothia.

Talking about her wildest experience, Malaika told the magazine that it was swimming with sharks.

When asked about the stupidest pick-up lines guys have tried on her, Malaika said she cannot remember many. She added she gives out an aura that intimidates guys when it comes to pick-up lines.
When asked about what she sleeps in, Malaika said: "Hot pants, Satin nighties or old pyjamas". Malaika also said that she sees it as a compliment to be seen both as a mother and a sex symbol.
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Bollywood Celebrities with tatoos

Shruti Hassan






Saif Ali Khan:


Akshay Kumar:




Sanjay Dutt:





Malaika Arora Khan:



Hrithik Roshan:


Mandira Bedi:



Esha Deol:

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