Lekha Washington steps into Bollywood

It is the time for South beauties to rule Bollywood now. After Asin took everyone by surprise bagging some plum projects with big Khans of Bollywood, Lekha Washington is the latest south side actress to join Bollywood. Lekha has been chosen to star opposite Rajeev Khandelwal in UTV’s new film, ‘Peter Gaya Kaam Se‘. She was chosen since UTV needed a heroine who could play football, ride the bike, look like a super model, do martial arts, and be everything from cold-hearted to a girl next door.

An NID graduate, Lekha is a powerhouse of talents being associated with theatre, adventure sports, sculpting, and hosting travel shows. Apart from being a qualified documentary filmmaker, Lekha co-hosted the first season of the Indian Premier League with Ajay Jadeja on Sony Max. A Maharashtran Burmese Italian Punjabi hybrid, Lekha Washington is quite a known name in Tamil Cinema.

In October 2008, Lekha had hosted the Al Barakha Canada Cup Twenty20 tournament on international television. She has also hosted travel shows around the world, and been an active theatre enthusiast for much of the last eight years, directing her theatre group Khel.

 

 

Brinda Parekh ready to hit Bollywood again

Brinda Parekh was seen in the Bollywood arena in ‘Corporate’ and the girl definitely caught the attention of the producers. Brinda is a known name in South India as she has blockbusters like ‘Pokkiri’ in Tamil and ‘Buddhivanta’ in Kannada to her credit. Now, the dusky curvaceous beauty is back in Bollywood as she plays the lead negative role in Vipul Shah’s ‘London Dreams’ starring Salman Khan and Asin.

Owing to her complexion, curves and looks, Brinda has always been compared to the dusky Bong beauty Bipasha Basu and she has no qualms about it. Instead she feels proud about it saying, “It feels nice because I think Bipasha is extremely talented and very good looking. I consider her as my mentor. It will take me a very long time to get to where she is!”

Party time for ‘Ghajini’ team

The long and hard work from the team of perfectionist Khan has finally paid off and ‘Ghajini’ has broken all records by becoming the only Indian film to earn one billion rupees at the box office across the country in less than a week of its release on Christmas. Apart from this, the film has fared very well in the overseas market as well with a gross of US four million dollars in the same week. Not to mention, it called for a grand party and celebration.

So, it was party time for cast and crew of ‘Ghajini’ as they celebrated the huge success of their film in Mumbai. A cake was cut by Aamir with figures of the collection topping it.

Aamir Khan was more than happy at this success and said, “I'’m very happy and thankful that the film is being appreciated by the audience so much. The hard work put in by the entire team is being appreciated by the people.”

Asin, who has done many films in South and makes her debut in Bollywood with this film expressed her delight at the film’s success and thanked the audience for appreciating her performance. “I don’t come with baggage or expectations. I just focus on my work. I thank you all for the love you have given,” said Asin.

Asin Feels Lucky in Bollywood

No debutante could have had a better debut than actress Asin. She was a renowned actress down south and she got a chance to make a debut opposite the great Aamir Khan. Ghajini is the biggest hit of the year and Asin is flooded with Bollywood offers… Lucky isn’t it! Thats what she feels.

“I was approached for ‘London Dreams’ while I was shooting for ‘Ghajini’. I don’t know how they found out about me. I have just finished a long schedule of shooting the film abroad and some of it is still left.

“But I feel I have received a very warm welcome to Bollywood. Both my initial projects are with good banners, actors and filmmakers. I feel lucky and blessed,” she told IANS.

I’m a Perfectionist Like Aamir Khan: Asin

Debutante Asin who made her debut with superstar Aamir Khan in Ghajini says she had no problems matching up to Aamir’s perfectionism.

“People often call Aamir a perfectionist and a tough taskmaster, but I didn’t have any problem matching up to him because I’m also quite a workaholic. We gelled quite well as far as the demand of perfection was concerned. Even I like things to be the best,” Asin told IANS

Talking about working with Aamir she says, “Shooting with Aamir was great fun. He isn’t as serious as he is projected to be. He is highly dedicated to his work but is very cool and easy to work with.  He’s a simple person, very genuine and frank about his opinions despite having such a good stature in Bollywood,” said Asin.

Did she ever feel overshadowed by Aamir in the promos of the film? She says,”I have not felt overshadowed by Aamir’s publicity at all. Actually, I’m not used to all this really because we don’t have it in the south film industry. The marketing team for ‘Ghajini’ has its strategy to promote the film in the right manner. If Aamir is promoting the film in the north, I am doing it in the south.”

“Aamir has got a huge fan following and he is the highlight of the film. In fact, since a lot of people down south have seen the Tamil version of the film, they will now probably come to theatres just to watch Aamir.

“I have no issues about that as ‘Ghajini’ is the story of Sanjay Singhania, played by Aamir. So the fact that his presence is being highlighted is completely justified,” said Asin.

Asin says she is “excited but anxious” of how her “new audience” will react to her performance when “Ghajini” hits theatres worldwide.

We wish her goodluck for her career in Bollywood!

'Ghajini' already a hit at ticket counters

 

New Delhi, Aamir Khan's much-hyped and eagerly awaited psychological thriller “Ghajini” has set the cash registers ringing in terms of advance bookings, beating Percept Picture Company's animation caper "Jumbo".Both films release after a dry spell of two weeks at the box office after Yash Raj Films' Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" that hit the screens Dec 12.
However, “Ghajini” seems to be the clear winner already, giving the children's film pitted against it a tough competition, say trade experts.
“Considering the hype it has generated with the massive promotion and marketing tactics and looking at Aamir's amazing previous record, the movie is going to have an excellent initial opening vis-?vis 'Jumbo',” Joginder Mahajan, a Delhi-based distributor, told IANS.
“The film ('Ghajini') has got block bookings so far and the paid previews on Dec 24 are already packed. It is expected to sweep in a gross of about Rs.100 million only from north India. Moreover, it has no competition until 'Chandni Chowk To China' hits screens Jan 16,” Mahajan added.
Said Tusshar Dhingra, COO of Big Cinemas: “We are almost sold out on the paid previews of the film. 'Ghajini' has an added advantage as it is opening on Christmas. It also has a bonus of an extended five-day weekend with New Year holidays.”
Written and directed by A.R. Murugadoss, "Ghajini" is the Hindi remake of his 2005 Tamil hit of the same name. The original featured southern actor Surya Sivakumar along with actress Asin Thottumkal, while the remake will see Bollywood perfectionist Aamir Khan taking Surya's place.
“Jumbo”, on the other hand, is a re-dubbed version of the 2006 Thai animated hit “Khan Kluay” directed by Kompin Kemgumnird. Co-produced by Eagle Home Entertainment, the film is about a baby elephant (Jumbo), who embarks on a journey to search for his father.
The main attraction in India are voice-overs form a host of Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Dimple Kapadia and cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
In terms of budget, while the producers of "Ghajini" have invested around Rs.300 million, Percept's “Jumbo” needed a reworking investment of Rs.200 million, including the marketing rights.
So far as the prints are concerned, distributors Geetha Arts, Studio 18 and Big Cinemas are releasing “Ghajini” with about 1,500 prints worldwide vis-?vis the 300 prints of the 90-minute “Jumbo”.
“There has been a high response from overseas exhibitors to 'Ghajini'. Aamir Khan has been off the screen for almost a year and his fan base cannot wait to watch the movie,” said Jawahar Sharma, COO (international distribution) of BIG Pictures.
“Jumbo” hasn't found any slots in single-screens and would be played only in multiplexes.
“Animation is not that successful a genre in India right now and the movie will have a limited audience. But with 'Ghajini' releasing on the same day, it is doubtful whether the movie will even recover its basic costs,” said Mahajan.
Dhingra, on other hand, said that the cartoon film had its own audience.
“Both the films are from different genres and both have different takers. While 'Ghajini' is much hyped because of different reasons, 'Jumbo' also has Akshay Kumar's voice-over to lend it its own standing,” he said.
Shailendra M. Singh, managing director of Percept Pictures, said he was confident about his film doing well.
“We have purposely pitched 'Jumbo' against 'Ghajini' because we feel our film has the ability to stand against a big commercial film. This film is a pure Bollywood potboiler just like a Manmohan Desai movie,” he said.

Madras High Court stays screening of Aamir starrer 'Ghajini'

 

Chennai/Mumbai, The Madras High Court Tuesday stayed the release of the much-awaited Aamir Khan-starred Hindi film "Ghajini", two days before it was to hit the screens worldwide after the producers of the Tamil film on which it is based filed objections.Justice P.R. Shivakumar granted the stay after A. Chandrasekaran, the producer of the original Tamil film of the same name, filed a suit claiming that the producers of the Hindi remake had "fabricated documents to claim ownership over the remake rights".
Senior Counsel A.R.L. Sundaresan who appeared for the petitioner told IANS: "The judge has accepted our plea that Geetha Arts and director A.R. Murugadoss had fabricated documents to claim ownership over the remake rights of the movie 'Ghajini', which our clients had not assigned at all."
"Our matter is not connected to any other matter in any other court," he said, referring to the Bombay High Court order allowing release of the film.
"Our colleagues have filed a caveat to meet any appeal filed during the winter vacation starting tomorrow (Wednesday) in view of the release that was scheduled on Dec 25 - which has now been stayed," Sundaresan added.
"Ghajini", a revenge saga, has Aamir Khan in the lead role and Asin plays his love interest.
In the petition filed in the Bombay High Court, Mumbai-based K.B.C. Pictures had sought a stay claiming "Ghajini" infringed its copyright of a film being made by them on the same subject entitled "Kahani Ghajini Ki".
Film industry circles say an amount of at least Rs.1.2 billion was riding on the Hindi remake.
Mumbai reports said earlier that Rs.140 million had been spent on the Hindi version's publicity alone.
According to the Hindi version's producer Madhu Mantena, various brands being endorsed by actor Aamir Khan have joined hands for the Rs.140-million promotional campaign, the costliest ever Bollywood movie.
"This kind of promotional campaign is necessary to create a hype around the film, so that more people become aware of its release," Mantena said.
Some brands associated with the campaign have come out with their new product lines.
While clothing brand Van Heusen has already launched its new 'Ghajini' apparel, the mobile instrument and accessories' company Samsung has come out with two special edition mobile sets, L700 and M200. These two models are pre-loaded with 'Ghajini' ringtones, songs and pictures.

Like Aamir, I'm also quite a perfectionist: Asin

New Delhi, Aamir Khan's perfectionist attitude often sends jitters down his co-stars' spines. But southern beauty Asin, who is set to make her Bollywood debut with Aamir in "Ghajini", says she had no issues matching up to the superstar as she too always settles for nothing but the best."People often call Aamir a perfectionist and a tough taskmaster, but I didn't have any problem matching up to him because I'm also quite a workaholic. We gelled quite well as far as the demand of perfection was concerned. Even I like things to be the best," Asin told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.
Just like any other girl her age, 23-year-old Asin has been a huge Aamir fan.
"I have always admired Aamir and have enjoyed his movies 'Lagaan' and 'Dil Chahta Hai' and also loved 'Taare Zameen Par'. I have danced a lot on 'Dil Chahta Hai' songs with my friends," she said.
After working with the superstar, she says he is unlike what the media and industry project him to be.
"Shooting with Aamir was great fun. He isn't as serious as he is projected to be. He is highly dedicated to his work but is very cool and easy to work with. He's a simple person, very genuine and frank about his opinions despite having such a good stature in Bollywood," said Asin.
The actress, who was brought up in Kerala and debuted in Sathyan Anthikad's Malayalam film "Narendra Makan Jayakanthan Vaka" in 2001, also starred in the Tamil version of "Ghajini" released in 2005. It was in this film that she received her second South Filmfare Award for best actress.
Asin has been kept away from the promotions of the Hindi remake thanks to Aamir's knack for keeping his cast away from the media prior to the release. But she is nonchalant.
"I have not felt overshadowed by Aamir's publicity at all. Actually, I'm not used to all this really because we don't have it in the south film industry. The marketing team for 'Ghajini' has its strategy to promote the film in the right manner. If Aamir is promoting the film in the north, I am doing it in the south," she said.
Besides, Asin believes publicity is something that would only bring people to the theatres. Liking or not liking the film is in the viewers' hands, she said.
According to her, though audiences down south have already seen and appreciated the original "Ghajini", they would surely revisit theatres for Aamir's charm.
"Aamir has got a huge fan following and he is the highlight of the film. In fact, since a lot of people down south have seen the Tamil version of the film, they will now probably come to theatres just to watch Aamir.
"I have no issues about that as 'Ghajini' is the story of Sanjay Singhania, played by Aamir. So the fact that his presence is being highlighted is completely justified," said Asin.
As of now, the actress is "excited but anxious" of how her "new audience" will react to her performance when "Ghajini" hits theatres worldwide.
Her next Bollywood release after "Ghajini" would be Vipul Shah's "London Dreams" in which she stars alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. She is also a part of Walt Disney's multi-lingual project "19 Steps" and would be sharing screen space with south Indian superstar Kamal Haasan and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano.

Asin, Ranbir Kapoor & sci-fi flick - Irresistible combination

Asin had been delivering hits down South and was just waiting for the right time and right role to debut in Bollywood. Seems the time is just too right for her coz even before her debut flick ‘Ghajini’ could hit the screens, Asin has bagged in meaty projects with some of the topmost heroes of Bollywood.

The actress is close on the heels of completing her ‘London Dreams’ with Salman Khan and Ajay Devagan. Meanwhile, talks are going on to sign for the biggest projects with Disney and Warner Bros.

Well-known in South, GV Films are all set to produce an untitled film which will be simultaneously made in Tamil and Hindi with Asin as female lead in both the versions. Producers Usha Venkataramani and Mahadevan Ganesh of GV Films have finalized Ranbir Kapoor as the male lead in Hindi version.

Though not much has been disclosed about the film, GV films claim that it would be based on science-fiction like Rajnikanth starrer ‘Endhiran’.

Salman proposes to Asin in Paris

Bollywood hottie Salman Khan recently shot the most crucial scene of his upcoming flick London Dreams in Paris, where he proposes his heroine Asin underneath the beautiful Eiffel Tower.

Apparently Salman had convinced director Vipul Shah to shoot the scene at the romantic place. When the director-actor duo went to check out Eiffel Tower on Champ de Mar they were in for a surprise as they tower was lit up in blue and gold as France was celebrating their presidency of European Union.

In the scene Salman bends on his knees to propose Asin.

Salman looks great in the above picture. Don’t you feel the same folks?

Asin doesn’t mind being overshadowed by Aamir

Asin is all set to make a big mark in Bollywood by starring opposite Aamir Khan in the most awaited movie of the year Ghajini.However Asin knows her place and is aware that Aamir is going to hog all the attention, she says,  “I obviously know that Aamir will outshine me. The film is about Sanjay Singhania; Aamir is the central part… I am just glad that I have a small role in this big project.”When quizzed about playing a small role, she says, “How can that even be an issue? Aamir Khan is such a fabulous actor, that anyone would give an arm and a leg to share the frame with him. I shouldn’t and don’t have ego hassles, and instead am thanking my stars that I got to be part of such a project.”

Well it’s good that she is well aware of Aamir’s charm at the box-office before the release of the flick.

Asin: Aamir is not a perfectionist

While the whole world tags hot Khan Aamir with Mr Perfectionist tag, his co-star from his soon-to-be releasing movie Ghajini thinks otherwise.Asin on Aamir says, The term Perfectionist is negative, he’s hard-working, dedicated and sincere. He’s not tough to work with in fact, Aamir’s down-to-earth and easygoing. “Asin who is currently filming with Salman for Vipul Shah’s London Dreams cannot decide with which Khan she shares a better chemistry, she says, “I can’t say with whom I share better chemistry. As to who is the better co-star, it’s difficult to compare the two. All I can say is it was an absolute pleasure working with both the Khans at the start of my career.”

Well the girl is surely going to rock with Ghajini, Aye Bachchu. !!!

Asin Scared of Photoshoots!

Asin is a very well known actress in Tollywood and she has become quite popular up in Bollywood thanks to her debut vehicle Ghajini opposite the Perfectionist Khan - Aamir Khan.

Aamir, who is known for experimenting with different looks for each of his film is said to have worked to improve Asin’s look in the film too. Asin claims to be really scared of Photoshoots. Wonder why because she looks absolutely stunning in all her photoshoots.

Nevertheless, Aamir the perfectionist decided to arrange Asin a very good make-up man, hair stylist and asked his favorite photographer to take her pictures for Ghajini’s posters.

Looks like Aamir has really put his heart and soul in the movie… he seems to be so particular about every minute detail. Even Asin’s look in the posters.

Asin displays two different shades in ‘London Dreams’

Newcomer Asin portrays two different looks for her ‘London Dreams’. At home, she is a docile conservative South Indian girl. But put her on stage and she transforms into a cool chic rock singer with a guitar in her hands and a song on her lips. Though it has not been officially disclosed by producer-director Vipul Shah, it is reliably learnt that Asin even gets to sing in her voice and play the guitar in ‘London Dreams’.

Meanwhile, getting her big break in Bollywood, Asin has moved bag and baggage with her parents to pursue a full-time career in Hindi cinema saying bye-bye to South. However, Asin says she is open to regional cinema if the script is good. The family has been staying in a rented place in the suburbs for a year now.

But now, Asin is ready to buy her own place in Bandra. “We’re looking at some places. And we’ll zero in on the place we want soon.”

About her role in London Dreams Asin is totally tightlipped. “All I can say is, it’s something I’ve never played before. In fact I think it’s a role never seen in Indian cinema. Beyond that I can’t talk about it. But I’m very excited about both Ghajini and London Dreams. I’ve a long list of criteria for selecting a role beginning with the director, banner and co-star and ending with the cinematographer…I want them all to be just right. Am I being greedy? Perhaps. I’m sorry. I can’t settle for anything but the best,” said Asin.

Asin Going Strong In Bollywood

South Indian actress Asin is going really strong even before her debut Hindi film Ghajini has hit the theatres. The 23 yr old has impressed everyone from Aamir to Salman and even Vipul Shah. She has a meaty Tanishq endorsement and a Fanta advertisement in her kitty that has got her noticed.

Now she has also bagged Tata Sky’s telly ad replacing former Miss India Gul Panag as Aamir’s better half.Asin confirms, “Yes, you’re right. I have signed a deal with Tata Sky for their next television commercial opposite Aamir Khan which goes on air on the 25th December. I haven’t shot for the advert. It should be anytime soon.”It is said to be a promotional sort for Ghajini after its release. Wonder what Gul Panag has to say as Asin steals her screen hubby.

Asin’s next Bollywood film is Vipul Shah’s London Dreams opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan. This girl is surely going hot.