sRK’s eNJoyINg the exPRess exPeRIeNce

It’s been a while since energetic superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been seen in a light-hearted avatar, so it’s no surprise that he’s pleased with comedy-action entertainer Chennai Express. SRK believes it is “different” from the intense and serious films he has done in the recent past. According to sources, the film has fantastic comedy, action and amazing songs.

The film, produced by the actor’s wife Gauri Khan, features Deepika Padukone opposite King Khan. Shah Rukh is, of course, happy with the way the movie is shaping up, revealing that he injured his right shoulder while shooting for the film.

“It’s awkward for me to speak of [a] film that I produced, but I just have to say that Rohit [the director] has done me great favour while making a film like this for me. It’s fun and I am enjoying it. Yes, I end up doing very intense films like Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Chak De! India and My Name Is Khan, and so, it [Chennai Express] is a nice change for me,” he said recently.

The Bollywood badshah also hopes to do more such films in the near future.

SRK has been experiencing a few ups and downs lately. His IPL team the Kolkata Knight Riders are doing well at the time of going to press, and he’s on a high. But the controversy of veteran actor Manoj Kumar suing him for Rs100 crores must surely be a low. The veteran actor had shot a scene for 2007 hit Om Shanti Om which was subsequently edited out when the film was released. However, a re-released version in Japan includes this scene, which Kumar feels is disrespectful to him.

The actor also revealed that he’ll soon be making another film, A for Apple, B for Billi, C for Cutta (ABC). With a name like that, naturally, SRK doesn’t want to reveal more! Good luck to the King Khan!

Other notable winners at the awards were Sonu Nigam, Best Playback Singer Male for Abhi mujh mein from Agneepath; Saans by Gulzaar for Jab Tak Hai Jaan won for Best Lyrics and Atul-Ajay won Best Music Director for Agneepath.

And while the awards created a stir, Bollywood blazed through the evening with a range of power-packed performances.

Shah Rukh Khan, dressed in a long red jacket, entered the stage to thunderous applause, starting his act with a small speech, thanking the city of Vancouver for love and respect. He then danced on his popular tracks like Suraj hua maddham, Challa ki labh da phire, Chamak challo and many more, while the audience went quite mad with delight and tried to mob the stage.

Before SRK, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai had enthralled the audiences with their super-charged acts. This was Aishwarya’s first stage performance abroad after the birth of her daughter in 2011, and she didn’t disappoint. She not only dazzled everyone, her act was one of the highlights at the gala night. Looking gorgeous in a black free-flowing outfit, she performed to songs like Khwaja mere Khawaja and the title track from Dhoom 2

Priyanka dedicated her act to women power, while Katrina’s Chikni Chameli performance set the stage on fire.

The icing on the cake was the last act by choreographer Shiamak Davar, who not only sang songs from Student Of The Year, but also invited the entire galaxy of stars on the stage as well as other performers for the closing act. Trio co-hosts Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Boman Irani thoroughly entertained the audience with their wit and humour.

It was a bonanza that Vancouver is unlikely to forget for a long time to come. Well done, Bollywood! Next stop, down under?

Aamir Khan aids Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Dutt’s imminent imprisonment has thrown a spanner into Bollywood’s works, and several projects that feature the unfortunate actor are now in limbo. But some of the industry’s biggest stars are showing a great deal of support for Sanju baba, and Aamir Khan is one of these. Aamir has gone out of his way to allot days out of turn to Raj Kumar Hirani’s PK, to ensure that Sanjay’s scenes are completed before the latter’s proposed incarceration on April 18, a move that has had both the producer and actor heaving a sigh of relief. The 53-year-old was sentenced to five years in jail by the Supreme Court March 21 for illegal arms possession during the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. Sanjay has been asked to surrender, to serve his remaining term of three-and-half years, as he has already spent 18 months in jail.

Bollywood’s best have rallied around Sanjay, with Jaya Bachchan vociferous in her support for the actor, while others accept the court’s decision. Watch this space for news on whether Sanjay will be granted a pardon…

A different Chashme Buddoor David Dhawan, director of the hit remake of Chashme Buddoor is going hoarse claiming that his film is different from the one made 32 years ago by Sai Paranjpye. Dhawan emphatically claims that he has done nothing that would offend the director of the old classic, responding to reports that the veteran director is upset about the remake.

“How can she be upset without seeing my Chashme Buddoor? I have not taken anything from her film except the idea of three friends, two of whom are pukka kaminey types. That apart, if Sai was to see my movie, she wouldn’t recognise it,” said Dhawan, who has churned out hit comedies like Hero No.1, Biwi No. 1 and Partner

The 1981 movie starred Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani and Saeed Jaffery, while the new one features Ali Zafar, Taapsee Pannu, Siddharth, Divyendu Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Lilette Dubey, and it is doing well at the box office. Critics have also given the new version a thumbs up.

“Mine is a completely different film,”

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Dhawan said. “Not one shot or frame in my film can be compared with Sai’s film. And we have changed the script considerably. Rishi Kapoor’s character is a totally revamped avatar of what Saeed Jaffrey played in the original. Rishi even has a love angle with Lilette Dubey. The two of them are fantastic as a pair”.

The prolific director insists he has not given Paranjpye any reason to be offended.

“She’s so well respected. I love her Chashme Buddoor. But my film is not what she made 32 years ago. It can’t be. Times have changed. What worked back then would look completely out of place now,” he said.

What is particularly exciting is that Indian cinema, in its 100 years’ legacy, witnessed for the first time, the digitally restored version the 1981 Chashme Buddoor, and its new-age remake of the same name. And while the latter seems to be doing better business, the former is setting pace for more classics to be restored in times to come. And while the remake minted nearly Rs 5 crore at its release, the original version is unlikely to match that trend.

But for those of us who love our golden oldies, it’s certainly worth a watch again! ranbir wants to be a baddie

Actor Ranbir Kapoor would love to play negative roles, but he says no director is ready to accept him as a baddie.

“I would love to play a negative role, something that is like an anti-hero. Something without guitars, roses and even a heroine. I have been asking this for quite a long time, and I hope the directors are hearing me out and come out with scripts like that,” said the 30-year-old actor who starred in hits like Rockstar and Barfi.

Indian cinema is celebrating its 100 years, and Ranbir says a significant change over time is the fact that there are “challenging roles for actors today, unlike in the past when an actor kept on doing same kind of roles for three to four years”.

“I think the time when films like Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan came into being, that was the period when we noticed the slight switch in storytelling. I think cinema has kind of evolved after that. Also, I think every hero was playing the same character over three to four years in the past, but right now there is so much diversity in characters,” said the young heart-throb from Bollywood’s famous Kapoor family.

But although Ranbir has himself managed to maintain a great variety in his roles - be it a free-spirited boy in Saawariya, a loverboy in Bachna Ae Haseeno, a carefree college boy in Wake Up Sid, a ruthless manipulator in Raajneeti, a struggling singer in Rockstar or a deaf and mute innocent boy in Barfi!, he still hasn’t been able to nab a downright negative role.

“There are so many challenging roles now. There are more stories to tell. Back then, there were more society problems [in films]. Now, we have wider things to make,” Ranbir added, hoping no doubt, that some kind director would offer him a challenge.

The actor will be next seen in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, which also stars Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapur. He’s also excited about playing the lead in a biopic on late actorsinger Kishore Kumar. Well, Ranbir, let’s hope a villain role comes your way!