Bipasha Basu’s ‘Lamhaa’ facing odds at the Kashmir valley

Seems the shooting of ‘Lamhaa’ in the Kashmir valley has not been a very pleasant experience for producer Bunty Walia and actress Bipasha Basu. There have been many unpleasant experiences and disruptions during the shoot of the film.

On Wednesday, during one shoot Bipasha with a band of Kashmiri women in burqas was moving in a van. The local Kashmiris got apprehensive and demanded the shooting to be stopped.

Recalls Walia, “It wasn’t a pleasant experience for Bipasha to suddenly see a mob of locals descending on the unit. We were shooting on the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) compound, which was supposed to pass off as a street in Kashmir because there are a lot of Kashmiri Pundit houses in the compound.

One sequence had a band of Kashmiri women led by Bipasha moving towards one of the houses in a van. When the local Kashmiri men saw so many women in burqas, they wanted to know what was happening. They got increasingly agitated.

We realised that when it comes to mobs nothing works…not the police, not the CRPF. We decided we had no choice but to quickly pack up for the day for the sake of the unit’s security.”

There have been incidents before when last week, Kashmiri fruit traders had intervened to stop the shooting of the film at the fruit market as they feared the movie might portray them in a bad light.

Again on Monday, the principal of a college asked the shooting to be stalled when students of a college in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district posed objections to some of the portions being shot inside the campus premises.”

Bunty Walia is very disappointed and worried at the same time. He said, “I realised quite early in our schedule that shooting the entire film in Kashmir would be impossible. The minute the locals saw a 150-strong unit in Srinagar they got suspicious and excited. There have been recent film units in Kashmir but none in Srinagar before Lamhaa.

They are apprehensive about the guns. But the gun culture has been a part of Kashmir for years. I was not showing anything unreal. This is the real Kashmir. But unfortunately their reality in a film is not acceptable to the locals,” Walia said.

After Wednesday’s disruption, director Rahul Dholakia called a press conference in Srinagar to explain that Lamhaa wasn’t projecting the Kashmir valley incorrectly.

“Rahul was very upset about the disruption. He asked the locals not to become a mob,” Walia said. “Why did the Jammu and Kashmir government promise us all cooperation and protection? I’m anxious and irritated. I’m losing a lot of money because of the disruptions. I can’t shoot beyond November 21. I don’t have my stars’ dates beyond that. The light starts fading at 4.30 pm. I’m working against all odds. We feel pushed against the wall,” he added.

Now almost 80 percent of Lamhaa will be shot in Film City in Mumbai. “We’ve rescheduled. We’ll shoot vital scenes with our stars as fast as possible and quickly move out of Kashmir. My entire film was to be shot in Kashmir for 60 days. Now we can only shoot in Kashmir for 20 days. The rest of the film will be shot on a set erected at Film City (Mumbai),” Walia said.

The set for Lamhaa will be constructed by Wasiq Khan. “He’s done other Kashmiri films like Tahaan and Yahaan. We’re shopping for Kashmiri artefacts and furniture right now. We hope to create an authentic Kashmir in Mumbai,” Walia said.

“The administration in Kashmir was cooperative. The local people were hostile. They misinterpret anything we shoot. I’m not going to explain every shot and action to the mobs. Sadly I’ve to announce that the dream of Kashmir being a paradise for film units remains just a dream.”

Raima Sen does it for ‘Maxim’

Soha Ali Khan, Gul Panag, Minissha Lamba, Amrita Rao…. All have done it. Then why not the petite Bong beauty Raima Sen?So, this time we have the younger Sen sister Raima shed her inhibitions and clothes for the November issue of the famous Men’s magazine Maxim. The actress appears in a sexy makeover with black and white lacy lingerie set.Raima has already made her presence felt with films like Chokher Bali, ‘Antar Mahal’ or bit parts in big films like ‘Eklavya’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd’ or flops like ‘C Kkompany’, ‘Mukhbir’ and ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’. Currently she has ‘Teen Patti’, ‘Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye’, ‘Sunglass’ and ‘Mumbai Cutting’ on her cards.

The issue has Raima speak about herself saying, “My birthday is on November 7th. I’m a typical Scorpio. Last year the party was at China House, but this year, I’m planning to have it at home. Nothing’s been decided yet. My parents are really cool. The best part is that I won’t have to worry about organising anything as they’ll take care of everything.”

Raima confesses that she has a pretty bad taste in men. When Raima was gifted a lifetime subscription of the mag, a happy Raima said that ‘It might help me understand men better’. Raima finds ex-Bond man Pierce Brosman pretty charming and good-looking. About her ex-love Kunal Kapoor Raima says, “We do talk occasionally, but it’s just that his friend circle is different from mine. And if you want to beat him up, please be my guest”.

Celina Jaitley floored by Kiwi attention

It was an experience of a lifetime for Celina Jaitley when she appeared for the premiere of her first international film, Love Has No Language, in Auckland on Nov 5. Though it was raining cats and dogs, though it was freezing cold and though our lady was down with stomach infection, meeting the glittering celebs of Hollywood was the reward worth the pains.

“It was the grandest premiere I ever attended. 800 Asians turned up to meet me besides the 325 formal invitees. We had the crème de la crème of New Zealand attending, including television film and sports personalities,” recalls an awed Celina.

Gorgeous as Celina is, it did not come as a surprise when New Zeland’s rugby star Monty Beetham seems to be quite impressed by our beauty.

Laughs Celina, “I’m no stranger to male attention. Though I met Beetham only briefly, I believe he was quite taken up by what he called the Indian beauty. I was just floored by all the attention I got.”

Celina talks about her illness and her experience at the premiere saying, “I was down with this acute tummy infection. I was doubling up with cramps and pain. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to attend. But at the last minute, I squeezed into my Manish Malhotra gown and dragged myself to the red carpet. The effort was worth it.”

The best part of the entire episode was the fact that her movie was admired by all and even got a standing ovation.

“Not only that, people stood in the pouring rain for autographs and pictures. I tried to oblige everyone. The New Zealanders are extremely warm. As I shook hands with them, the freezing cold melted away. Never mind my gown shrank into a mini-skirt, ” adds Celina.

Referring to her co-star Ben Mitchell as scary and horrifying, Celina says, “He scared the hell out of me with bugs and butterflies all the time. Believe it or not, I’m terrified of butterflies. And although the film is called Love Has No Language, I couldn’t understand anything he said because of his Kiwi accent. Maybe because I wasn’t really in love with him.”

The Story of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Aditya Chopra’s well guarded secret… the story of his forthcoming flick starring Shahrukh Khan and newcomer Anushka Sharma is finally out.Shahrukh Khan’s different look, that of an ordinary boring government employee has evoked quite some curiosity from people and now that the story is out, all curiosity will fizz out. A source at the Yash Raj Films revealed on the condition of anonymity that RNBDJ is a romantic tale of an older man Shahrukh Khan his young teenage bride. The source says,“There is a big age difference between them and they are not what you’d call a perfect couple. They are merely stretching their marriage with no real romance in between them. They are two very different people. There’s a reality dance show called Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi — which is the main backdrop of the movie. The show is on the lines of popular television show, Nach Baliye.”
The source continues, “Anushka wants to take part in the dance competition but she can’t because her husband is an old and not hip and happening. She fears that if she dances with him, she will lose the show and become the laughing stock among all her friends, who are taking part in the same. Shah Rukh over hears his wife’s problem and decides to go in for a makeover. He then watches some movies and changes his image completely and comes back to the show and woos Anushka off her feet. All the way through the dance competition, she keeps on falling in love with this new and improved Shah Rukh, without once realising that the man she is dancing with is her real husband.”

However, Yash Raj Films have not commented on this news. We gotta wait and watch to see if this news is correct.

Mithun Chakraborty

Mithun Chakraborty

Information On Mithun Chakraborty   

Name:  Mithun Chakraborty   

Address:  Monarch Hotel Ooty Tamil Nadu  

Date of Birth:  16 June 1947  

Zodiac:  Gemini  Height:  6' 0"  

Family:  Wife-Yogeeta Chakraborty, Sons-Usmay and Namoshi, Daughter-Dishani,  

Debut Film:  Mrigaya

 

Mithun Chakraborty's Profile

Every great man who reached the zenith of glory has a story, more promptly a saga, to tell the world. Then what about a naxalite turned-dancer-actor who one day appeared on the corner of the vast arena of film world like a supernova and collected nothing but the prestigious and highest award the nation presented to any actor? That story becomes more sensible and touching if he failed to fix his posture and position in the same field from where he accomplished the best honour for his sincere work. A one-time-honour can provide only a momentary glittering as far as a person of career is concerned and it simply a challenge before him to prove his talent and perseverance when he is provided a golden opportunity. Somebody face such a challenge and certainly, after winning the battle, becomes the role-model of the society. To influence it and make it hard enough to accept and fight the challenges come across in everyone’s life. Such a role-model is called by the name of MITHUN CHAKRABORTY, who is a monarch in the minds of his admirers, who has done some miracles in the silver screen, because of which he keeps his position intact so far. The saga of Mithun is so touching but at the same time hair-raising The film ‘Mrigaya’ was the first telescope with which the Indian film lovers recognized a new star named Mithun Chakraborty rising on the horizon of the wide sky of Indian film Industry. Even before the common man realized him he succeeded to catch the attention of technically talented eyes and he won the best actor award in the national level from his very first very first film ‘Mrigaya’ directed by well-known Mrinal Sen in 1976. But the world he conquered by a single film was not enough to make his livelihood. Even the film viewer of the street couldn’t identify his talent. They demanded more films to accept and adore him. That was the real challenge he faced from the film lovers at the first time. But what would be if a fish is dared to challenge to show it’s skill in swimming where there is no water? He was ready to fight butt nobody provided him a field. Anyway he had to be alive to prove either he is skilled or not. The days were almost same as the old days when he reached Mumbai from Calcutta with the ambition of acting in films. He had been an assistant to then famous dancer Helen. He was known by the name Rana Rez. Those days were the real days of struggle for existence-as far as Mithun-the man is concerned. After winning the national award, Mithun was offered some roles for the sake of name, and he did two-minute role in ‘Do Anjane’ with Amitabh Bachan and in ‘Phool Khile Gulshan Gulshan’ with Rishi kapoor. But the goddess of fortune was still away from him. Then it was Ravikanth Nagich, who showed willingness to conduct a screen test for Mithun for his film ‘Suraksha; To Mithun it was like a test to decide whether he should be alive or dead; and he proved eligible to live as an actor. The film was a success and soon other producer began to catch sight at him and his talent. And he started receiving offers. Then there released films lime ‘Dilwala; ‘Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye; ‘Baazi’ making Mithun their backbone. All of them collected fairly well. That makes him courageous to produce his own film. Thus came ‘Boxer’. In spite of his good performance ‘Boxer’ died in the box-office, putting him in utter disappointment and financial crisis. But he had a great security-the emotional security he got from his recently-wedded partner-Yogeeta Bali, now better known as Yogeeta Chakraborty. And he began fighting hard with his destiny, to win his lost position. Afterwards he blindly accepted all the offers that he saw around. Critics evaluated him as an actor of third rate films. But he unheard such a remarks because he had a great goal to achieve, mainly to find out an economic asylum and then regain his lost pride. Then came ‘Disco Dancer; to raise him from the ditch of negligence and under-estimation. ‘Disco Dancer’ the film produced and directed by B. Subhash, who saw some rare sparks in Mithun’s feet and made a super star, a super dancing star, the kind of star the industry had never seen before. Finally Mithun recognized as a star, a very big star... This film proved to be a boon to him to win the minds and thoughts of million. It was an opportunity to show his miracle once again and mesmerise the audience by his tremendous performance as a disco dancer. He made them sing; he made them dance… For many of the years followed, the song "I am a disco dancer" was seen dancing over the lips of not only Mithun-admirers but all who loved music. The result of all that was, becoming Mithun a superstar from he status of an actor who used to act in ‘B’ and ‘C’ class films Disco dancer made Mithun an idol of not only people but the producers of film industry also. Common people who began worshipping him rushed to theatres where his films were running, and the producers rushed to his home to fix a date with him... When quite a lot of them assembled around him, his life began to sprout anew. People called him "Amitabh of the poor; but the producers gave him no new name because his name was all that they needed for their films Disco Dancer’ led him to ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ when director K.C Bokadia landed Mumbai from Madras, as if it was to give a second hit to Mithun Chakraborty. If ‘Disco Dancer’ brought him out of the huge eclipse f ill-luck, ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ brought him up to the heavens, where the real stars are stayed to light the universe permanently. ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ was the most collected best-hit of that year in 1986. Once he was a chance-seeker like many other suffered-young actors in Mumbai. On those days his ‘Bharath award’ was like a toy to a kid, only a show piece. Once Mithun had to plead with an elderly photographer Mr Thakkar to photograph him. When it happened he felt he was really honoured with another award. That photograph still adorns India photo studio, Mr Thakkar’s studio, now being run by his son, Vimal, who was one of Mithun’s rich friends. The veteran film maker Dulal Guha and sons Gautam and Pututl and their sister took a great liking for Mithun and treated him like a part of the family. Mithun still remembers the day he cried when the sister was getting married and leaving home. But Mithun Cahkraborty after the hilarious success of ‘Disco Dancer;’ and ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin; was a different man. It was the miracle played by time that he was thrown in to the world of busy and work, all of a sudden. He felt it was only a curtain like division that existed between the world of hope and that of despair. And once he succeeded in breaking it he had no look-back. The film world accepted him but by the time the film-lovers had adopted him. Soon word about his hotel spread in Mumbai. He also made it clear to film maker in the city that he was willing to act in films provided their films entirely shot in Ooty and other places in the South, any place but Mumbai. Some film makers reluctantly decided to take the risk. They made films with Mithun wherever he wanted. Once they came, they found much possibility there in "The Monarch". The films they made with Mithun did well at the box-office and soon something amazing happened. Mithun was a market by himself. He formulated his own plans. He decided to work with directors without any fun fare, any ‘nakhras’. He planned films where no big money, no big risk were involved. He was responsible for an umpteen number of new girls getting their breaks as his leading lady ladies. According to one rough estimate Mithun is the only hero who has never objected to casting any girl as his heroine. He was worked with more than twenty five new girls, including Madhuri Dixit. After making his debut in Mrinalsen’s ‘Mrigaya’ in 1976 and walked away with a national award for the best actor, seventeen years later, in 1993, Mithun Chakraborty has once again bagged the best actor award for his role in Budhadeb Das Gupta’s Bengali film ‘Tahader Katha’. It proved that despite his pre-occupation with desi disco and dare devil action in the intervening years, the real actor in him still breaths. It launched his sense of pride once again and he got back the energy and spirit of another angry-young man though he was at his 40 plus. Honours other than film awards also came to his way. Mithun had been honoured by the Oxford University Majlish, an organisation at Oxford made by Asian students. Mithun Chakraborty is the third Bengali after Rabindranath Tagore and Pandit Ravisankar to be thus honoured. Some other Universities also followed it and honoured him.