Rajinikanth denies '3' refund rumours

Quashing reports that he was going to compensate for the losses incurred by distributors who had released the Dhanush-starrer '3', actor Rajinikanth clarified that he was not involved in any way in the movie which was directed by his daughter Aishwarya R Dhanush.

Rajinikanth, who is currently in Kerala shooting for his next flick 'Kochadaiyaan' — directed by his other daughter Soundarya — issued this clarification for distributors to not believe in news reports that said he would step in to compensate for their financial losses.

It may be recalled that actor Dhanush earlier reacted to such news reports saying the movie hadn’t caused a loss to distributors. He had then said he would manage the problem if the film actually caused a loss.

'3' was produced by RK Productions and Wunderbar Films, Dhanush’s home banners, and is all set to release in Hindi next month.

Run 'The Dirty Picture' on TV only after 11 pm: I&B Ministry to Sony channel

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New Delhi: In trouble for the television broadcast of Vidya Balan-starrer 'The Dirty Picture', the Information and Broadcast Ministry has told Sony TV that it can air the film only after prime time, that's post 11 pm. Sony was scheduled to telecast the film at noon and 8 pm on Sunday. This after the High Court had cleared the film after 58 cuts and issued it a U/A certificate.

The film, which is reportedly based on the story of late southern actress Silk Smitha and fetched actress Vidya Balan her first National Award, was to be shown at 12 noon and at 8 pm on Sunday on Sony TV. However, it is not being shown Sunday, according to Tusshar Kapoor, one of the actors in the film.

The ministry in a letter to Sony TV on April 21, said that the channel should refrain from telecasting the 'UA' certified film ‘The Dirty Picture’ during the day and evening hours on Sunday.

However, if Sony TV considers telecasting the 'UA' certified film, they should telecast it during late night hours after 11PM, according to official sources.

CBFC had advised that the film should be shown late at night when most parents are available to suitably guide their children, said the sources.

Telugu Review: 'Rachcha' is technically sound, but lacks storyline

Film: Rachcha; Cast: Ramcharan, Tamanna, Mukesh Rishi, Dev Gill, Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Venu Madhav, M.S. Narayana, Krishna Bhagavan, Srinivasa Reddy; Producer: R.B. Chowdhary; Screenplay-Direction: Sampath Nandi; Cinematographer: Sameer Reddy; Music: Mani Sharma; Rating: **1/2

After delivering a blockbuster like "Magadheera" two years ago, it was felt that actor Ramcharan, son of Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi, would be occupying the pivotal place in the industry that undisputably belonged to his actor-turned-politician father.

Unfortunately, his next film "Orange", produced by his uncle Naga Babu and directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar, was a flop. Therefore, Ramcharan took a longer time to accept a film and to select a commercially viable script before giving the nod to debutant Sampath Nandi's screenplay.

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"Rachcha" is much better than "Orange", but cannot be minutely compared to the "Magadheera".

In the latest film, Ramcharan has added a lot of appeal with daring action sequences. But he must improve his dialogue delivery.

"Rachcha" is about protagonist Raju, who is always a winner in betting. He finds himself in a tough situation when his father is diagnosed with serious health problems and needs to undergo surgery for a liver transplant.

My focus is on quality, not quantity: Zarine Khan

Mumbai: Actress Zarine Khan has featured in just two films in her two-year-old career in Bollywood. She says it's because she is more focused on quality, rather that quantity.

"My life has been very unplanned, but as I have said this before that I plan to do only quality work than quantity work. So that's about it," the 27-year-old said here at a screening of her latest release 'Housefull 2'. The 27-year-old, who did a cameo as a runaway bride in 'Ready', and now plays a bride in 'Housefull 2' again, says one shouldn't take the plunge in real life unless he or she understands the responsibilities that come with married life.

"I am an Indian and I do believe in the institution of marriage. Every Indian girl dreams of getting married one day, but with marriage comes a lot of responsibility. So, I don't think you should take a plunge for the heck of it unless you are not ready for the responsibility," said Zarine.

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Zarine debuted in Bollywood with 'Veer' in 2010 and later did a cameo and an item song 'Character dheela' in Salman Khan's 2011 film 'Ready'. Currently, the actress also has 'Partner 2' in her kitty. It is a sequel to the 2007 film 'Partner'. Zarine is also shooting for a Tamil film 'Karikalan'.

'Ishaqzaade' vs 'Dangerous Ishq' on May 11

New Delhi: The release date of 'Ishaqzaade', starring Parineeti Chopra and newcomer Arjun Kapoor, has been advanced from May 18 to May 11, resulting in a clash with 'Dangerous Ishq'.

The decision to release the romance drama a week earlier came in after much thought by production company Yash Raj Films (YRF). "With 'Ferrari ki Sawaari' moving to a later date and the IPL (Indian Premier League) crunch matches starting from May 18, this shift will give 'Ishaqzaade' a better window for release," said a statement from YRF.

The movie tells the story of two fiery characters and their fight for power and supremacy. Written and directed by Habib Faisal of 'Do Dooni Chaar' fame, the film narrate how two people who are born to hate, and destined to love, come face-to-face with each other.

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With the shift in release date, 'Ishaqzaade' will clash with Vikram Bhatt's 'Dangerous Ishq', which marks the comeback of Karisma Kapoor to Bollywood after five years.

Amitabh Bachchan teams up with R Balki again

Singapore: After directing Amitabh Bachchan in 'Cheeni Kum' and 'Paa', director R Balki is working on another project which will star Bachchan. Balki said he is writing a story and will start working on the movie soon for a next year release.

"I am aiming to complete the script by August-September for which Amitabh Bachchan has been briefed," Balki told PTI on the sidelines of the Pan Indian Institute of Technology Asia Pacific conference. The director also said this would be his big project three years after 'Paa'. "But the story would be completely different and based on the acting skill of Bachchan," he added.

Shooting of the film would start early next year and Balki hopes to complete it in about 60-70 days. Other casts and participants in the film have not been selected yet. Balki said his wife, Gauri Shinde's, 'English Winglish' will be complete by July-August. The movie stars Sridevi in the lead role. The director spoke on his films and work at the conference which opened yesterday. Over 300 IIT graduates from the region are attending the three day conference which is being held for the first time outside India and the US.

Hemant Kumar Gaba: You've made your film. Now what?

When I finally managed to finish my first feature length film Shuttlecock Boys which took me a good 2.5 years to pull off (normally this period would vary between 1.5-2 years for first time filmmakers, mine was just a little longer), I wondered – What do I do now ? That was my thought process in January 2011 after the film got completed.

I was not wise or smart enough before making the film to chart out the strategy on how the film will be showcased after it was complete. That's because I was not even sure, if I will be able to make a full length feature film. I thought, let's try it; we will see what happens.

I started figuring out what normally happens after a film finishes. If it's a Bollywood film from a studio or with an experienced producer, the film will already have a release date and a publicity plan. But what happens to Independent Films? That was question to which I wanted to find an answer. There will be few of those Independent Films which are made on a decent budget say Rs 2 crore or above that might be released independently; some recent examples might be 'Love You to Death' or 'Tutiya Dil'.

In cases like these, the producer might find territory wise distributors who charge commission on every ticket or a flat fee plus the producer bears all advertising and publicity costs. And territory distributor also asks for no less than TV promotion these days besides the publicity and advertisements in Print and Hoardings. So, the producer releasing the film independently will have to shell out at least a crore which sometimes might be equal or more than the cost of his small film. There are also non-studio independent films which are made in crores. But I imagine if an independent producer can spend Rs 3 crore on a film; he can probably spend another one or two crore for the release as well.

Kannada Review: 'Shikari' has a strong script

Cast: Mammootty, Poonam Bajwa, Adithya, Mohan, Innocent, Neenasam Achyutha, Sharathi Lohithashwa, Sathish, Neenasam Aswath, Mathew, Sihi Kahi Chandru, and others

Direction: Abhaya Simha

'Shikari' shows the sparks of brilliance in Abhaya Simha as a writer. He has written a good script and even dialogues make a good impact. The film distinguishes itself from normal Kannada films in the way it has been written.

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It is plausible that Abhaya convinced Malayalam superstar Mammootty to work in a script that is essentially rooted in the Kannada ethos. 'Shikari' is the story of Abhijith, a software engineer in Bengaluru, who accidentally comes across a half-written manuscript novel set in the pre-independence era. The novel is about a hunter and a village girl.

Abhijith loves Aruna, the prime character of the novel, who is a hunter arousing patriotic feelings in the rural folk. In the novel, Aruna is in love with Renuka, a village girl and daughter of a rich person. Since the novel is half completed, Abhijith sets on a journey to Manjinadka village near Theerthahalli to find the remaining pages of the book.

Paoli Dam on bold cinema: Life comes once, I want to do everything

New Delhi: "Do you have Paoli Dam's nude clip from Chhatrak? Can you forward it to me?" I have been asked this question on Google Talk, direct messages on Twitter and mobile text messages countless times. Most of these people, some of them friends, have only a vague interest in Bengali cinema. They hadn't heard of Paoli until her short sex clip from Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara's controversial film appeared on YouTube. It did not matter that Paoli has worked with some of Kolkata's best known art house filmmakers. Most of the people who wanted to see that clip thought nudity in mainstream cinema was preposterous.

With her Bollywood debut Hate Story is about to hit the screens on April 20, 2012, the interest has shifted from the clip to the trailer in which she proclaimed "Main is sheher ki sabse badi r**** banna chahti hu (I want to be the biggest whore of this city). The trailer gave an insight into the film's explicit scenes and bold dialogue. It got people talking about the film. Hate Story is produced and written by Vikram Bhatt who is not known for underplaying the sensuality of his heroines.

"There is a thin line between vulgarity and sensuality," Paoli said when I asked her whether her choice of subsequent films with explicit scenes was intentional. She had said earlier that she had no artistic inhibitions about filming nude scenes if it added sense to the flow of thought. "Look at world cinema. Explicit films are being made on a range of subjects. We should get that liberty," she said.

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Her explosive oral sex scene in Chhatrak (Mushroom) caught the attention of Bollywood filmmakers and landed her Hate Story, a revenge drama. But in the hushed drawing room discussions, obsessive curiosity, snarky jokes on social networking websites and cautious appreciation, the debate has shifted from whether Paoli's lack of inhibition heralded a new age of cinematic freedom to whether using nudity would prove to be a convenient marketing alternative.

Paoli, who has worked with directors such as Buddhadeb Dasgupta in the TV series Gangaur, Rituparno Ghosh in Shob Charitra Kalponik and Goutam Ghosh in Kalbela and Moner Manush, raised the hackles of conservatives with her full frontal nude scene in Chhatrak. Interestingly, most of the shock stemmed out of the fact that she was shown as the receiver of pleasure in an explicit oral scene. In Indian cinema, the woman's role in intimacy has always been a matter of dissent. Should she get as good as she gives? Should she sacrifice her needs for those of her husband? In a land that worships the genitalia of Lord Shiva, the popular opinion is condescendingly protective of the woman: It would ruin her career and typecast her as someone who is easy to persuade to shed her clothes.

There are a handful of actresses who gingerly stepped a toe into that zone. Nandana Sen in Rang Rasiya and Rii in Gandu are among them. Both films have had trouble with the censor board and public screenings.

"Hate Story is bold, it is explicit but it is very aesthetically done and beautifully shot. I am playing a girl next door, a journalist, a normal girl who has been ditched and betrayed badly. She has lost love, and she lost her right to motherhood. This is the boldest film of this year, of any year. And it's high time that people get mature," said Paoli.

In India experimentation often remained limited within art films with morality guiding the hand that held the camera or the paint brush. Indian audiences, with their long association with a rich culture of cinema often associated the personal traits of their matinee idols with the characters they played on screen. Which is why Rajinikanth could do no wrong, Amitabh Bachchan persuaded by legions of distraught fans to quit politics and Hema Malini remained the virtuous and kind role model for women who hoped to snare the prince.

The duality in Indian films is deep rooted in social behaviour. For most films in the 80s, tackily shot and edited, rape scenes were played out extensively as alternative to the real thing. Rapists were always punished but the thrill could not be denied to the audience. The submission of Madhuri Dixit in the famous scene in Dil where an angry Aamir Khan corners her in a barn in a mock rape attempt is nothing but a voyeur's secret fantasy.

Paoli said she wanted to do all kinds of films. So what if they had skin show? "I am not a very insecure person. I want to good cinema, wherever it is. I'm in no hurry," she said. Thankfully the trend is reversing. We may not inherit European cinema's relaxed attitude towards sexuality but we may get there eventually.

Shruti comes into her own with '3': Kamal Haasan

Mumbai: Kamal Haasan watched his actress daughter Shruti's new film '3' and says he was elated after realising she looked like him in the film and that he was so enamoured by her performance that he hugged her.

"It was most considerate of Mr Dhanush. He quietly left the theatre. For the first time in her career, I hugged my daughter after watching her performance. Besides her performance what really thrilled me to bits is that Shruti looks like me in the film. So far everyone thinks she only looks like her mother (actress Sarika)," Kamal said from Los Angeles.

He admits he has offered tips to improve the products and added: "Again I've never done this before. But then this is a very special film."

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Last week just before Kamal flew out of Chennai to Los Angeles to supervise the sound-mixing for his new film 'Vishwaroop', Dhanush arranged a very special screening of the much-awaited Tamil-Hindi film '3'.

Coming up: Live tweet review of Tamil film '3', 1st day, 1st show

New Delhi: Tamil film '3' marks the directorial debut of Dhanush's wife and superstar Rajinikanth's daughter Aishwarya. It stars Dhanush and actress Shruti Haasan in the lead roles. On March 30, we will review the film live from its first show on the first day of its release. Stay tuned!

Aishwarya worked as an assistant director for regional films 'Baba' and 'Aayirathil Oruvan'. She is a trained classical dancer as well.

The film has got a U-certificate from the Censor board. The Tamil-English song 'Kolaveri Di' which garnered the actor overnight popularity globally is also from the film. Dhanush said Aishwarya has given her best in this film. 'Kolaveri di' went viral online as soon as a video of it was posted on YouTube.

Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who won the international honour for his work in 'Slumdog Millionaire', has been roped in for the film. Pookutty, 36, won the coveted Oscar at the 81st Academy Awards. He has also been sound engineer for like 'Black' (2005), 'Traffic Signal' (2007), 'Saawariya' (2007) and 'Ghajini'(2008).

Watch this space for a live review that will tell you what to expect from one of Dhanush's most anticipated films of the year.

Review: 'Bumboo' lacks lucidity

Cast: Kavin Dave, Sharat Saxena, Sumit Kaul, Mandy Takhar, Sanjay Mishra

Director: Jagdish Rajpurohit

No one knows the importance of unlearning things more than a director with a theatre background. The audience easily figures it out the moment a 'narrator' appears on the screen - an almost extinct art in Bollywood.

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Last time it was Vivek Oberoi in 'Deewane Huye Pagal' who had donned the role of a narrator but the director Jagdish Rajpurohit's theatre background provoked him to keep one in his film too. The theme of the film is quite simple.

It says life will screw you so keep smiling.

The basic storyline has three branches. First branch deals with a down-on-luck photographer Suresh Sudhakar aka SuSu (Kavin Dave) and his wife Pinky (Mandy Takhar). Frustrated with her marriage, Pinky goes to a psychiatrist Dr D'Souza (Sumit Kaul) who convinces her to leave Suresh. D'Souza has a serious motive guiding his advice. He wants to marry Pinky himself.

Second branch shows an international hitman Mangal Singh (Sharat Saxena) who has been given the task to eliminate a scamster Manu Gupta (Sudhir Pandey). The third sub-story revolves around Manu Gupta and his absurd activities. Who is the narrator then?

Well, it's a waiter Vincent (Sanjay Mishra).

Here comes the first flaw of the script.

The waiter doesn't have the access to the story of Manu Gupta but he acts as a narrator. Ideally he should know all the characters.

Circumstances bring heavily depressed SuSu and Mangal Singh to the same hotel where Mangal Singh has to conceal his real identity while SuSu is hell bent on taking his help in coming out of depression.

Pinky, Dr. D'Souza and the police also land up in the same hotel in due course of time. Now, the hitman is waiting for Manu Gupta and the others are determined to make him a good soul at any cost. The narrative strategy follows a non-linear path where the storyteller has taken help of parallel cutting to take the story forward.

The idea of shooting three stories separately and bringing them to a common conclusion doesn't work for very simple reasons.

First reason: The acting is generally appalling. Kavin Dave looks funny but that's all about him. His dialogue delivery needs a lot of fine tuning. Kavin's movements look so methodical that at times you can predict where he will stop.

Presenting Sharat Saxena as a soft hearted killer is a nice idea but comedy doesn't seem to be his forte. He appears bored throughout the film but black clothes suit him.

Sumit Kaul's characterisation is very confused. He is neither funny nor vicious.

Mandy is the weakest link and it's the item number which makes her noticeable.

Direction is influenced by Rajpurohit's theatre background. Sometimes actors take stretched movements in close up shots. Conversation between actors is another problem. Either they are asked to speak loudly or they just don't realise the jarring effect it creates. Too much dialogue leaves the audience confused.

The editor has done some glaring mistakes. The technique has failed to hide continuity jumps in hotel room scenes. The cinematography is average. It seems that the director has deliberately left the scenic beauty of Goa out of the frame.

But the film has some good comic moments too. The hotel room sequences among Kavin, Sanjay Mishra and Sharat Saxena generate laughter. An emotional scene between Mandy and Kavin is also worth watching but such moments are rare.

Constraints of independent filmmaking are visible throughout the film. The problem of shooting the entire film within limited locations mars the story.

Lack of punches in script punctures the chances of this comedy.

The good thing about 'Bumboo' is its climax. You can certainly laugh towards the end. And yes, Mika Singh's song during the credits is worth dancing.

Message of the film fails to reach the spectator because Sanjay Mishra gives a really long 'speech' before coming to the crux of the matter.

'Bumboo' is a film made with good intentions but somehow the makers couldn't transform the original idea onto the celluloid.

You can always watch 'Bumboo' to support the storytellers who dare to go against the established market norms.

Not more than 1.5 out of 5.

Poll	Do you think 'Bumboo' will be a hit? Yes No It's too early to say anything

20 things you didn't know about Dhanush's '3'

New Delhi: With Dhanush and Shruti Haasan in the lead roles, Tamil film '3' is all set to hit the screens on March 30, 2012. The popular 'Kolaveri Di' song is also a part of this film. Read on to find out the lesser known things about '3'.

(1) Previously, actress Amala Paul was cast opposite Dhanush in the film. She even attended the press meet of the movie with Dhanush and Aishwarya. However, Shruti Haasan replaced Amala soon. Aishwarya says, the film was written with Shruti in mind.

(2) Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who won the international honour for his work in 'Slumdog Millionaire' has also worked on the film.

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(3) Aishwarya Dhanush, actor Rajinikanth's daughter and Dhanush's wife is making her directorial debut with the film.

(4)Aishwarya worked as an assistant director for regional films 'Baba' and 'Aayirathil Oruvan'. She is a trained classical dancer as well.

(5)Apart from Tamil, '3' will be released in Telugu and Hindi as well.

(6)The Hindi rights of the movie have been sold for a record prize.

(7)'3' was initially not a feature film, but a short movie.

(8)Dhanush didn't agree to do the film at once. A week after reading the script he agreed to star in '3'.

(9)The 'Kolaveri Di' song has already crossed 50 million hits on YouTube. The popularity of the song led to the creation of a number of imitations and parodies in various languages around the world depicting different types of situations. Even Pakistan had its own version of 'Kolaveri Di'.

(10)Surprisingly, the song which set new records in the world of music didn't benefit Dhanush in terms on money. Dhanush didn't expect the song to be such a big hit and sold its rights to Sony Music for a very small price. So, Dhanush can't release any version of the song without Sony's prior permission and will have to share the song with them.

(11)Apart from singing, Dhanush also wrote the 'Kolaveri' lyrics. And as he claims, it just took him six minutes.

(12)Dhanush says that he is one of those people who can't speak proper English. His lack of comfort with the language helped him in choosing the words to connect with people who are not fluent in English.

(13)An article on the song written by Dhanush was also featured in the Time magazine.

(14)'3' has been produced by Dhanush's father, Kasthuri Raja. His RK Productions and Dhanush's Wunderbar Films have jointly produced the film.

(15)It wasn't easy for Aishwarya to convince Kasthuri Raja, as he had doubts about her filmmaking abilities. Despite showing a video that she shot, he was reluctant to say yes. It was only after Dhanush showed him the script; he gave a nod to the project.

(16)Team of '3' is now eyeing a nationwide release on March 30, 2012. The film is being released with 400 prints in Tamil and 600 prints in Hindi.

(17)21-year-old Anirudh Ravichander, music director of '3' is an alumnus of AR Rahman's school of music.

(18)'Kolaveri Di' has won the YouTube Gold award, which is given to the viral videos from across the world.

(19)Director Aishwarya Dhanush finished the shooting of the film in just 50 days.

(20)Everyone is tight-lipped about the story of '3'. It is a romantic film, which is high on emotional drama. Shruti Haasan and Dhanush will also be seen as school kids in the film.