Happy birthday to Deepika Padukone.

Happy birthday to Deepika Padukone.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Deepika Padukone on 5th January, 2009. Deepika Padukone, the daughter of renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone, started her career in the fashion world from where the producers and directors got impressed.

She made a dream debut in the film Om Shanti Om, opposite Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan was one of the biggest icons of bollywood films till 2007. Akshay Kumar had shaken up the box-office domination of Shahrukh Khan after giving many blockbusters in the last few years. It was a dream which came true for Deepika Padukone to act opposite Shahrukh Khan in the romantic blockbuster. Farah Khan and Shahrukh Khan searched a new face for the film. Deepika Padukone answered their query.

The film was related to reincarnation. Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan had double roles in the film. Deepika was killed by breaking out of fire in a grand studio. The entire story of her death was recreated to bring the perpetrators of crime before the people at large. The soul of Deepika Padukone did the rest.

The film had similar story line like that of Karz. But the excellent music of the film and decent performance from Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan had converted a decent film into a commercially successful mission. The songs of Sonu Nigam and others like “tumko paya hai to jaise”, “om shanty om”, “ankho me teri”, etc., became landmark hits in 2007.

Deepika Padukone bagged the best debutant award in the filmfare and Om Shanti Om bagged filmfare awards under different categories. As Deepika Padukone created a huge expectation from the performance in the first film the viewers started believing in her capability in the following films as well.

She did well again in 2008 in the film Bacchna Aye Haseeno opposite Ranbir Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Bipasha Basu. The film was related to the story of how Ranbir Kapoor met three girls namely Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba and how their interaction created an impact in the life of Ranbir Kapoor.

Again the fabulous locations and quality music composed by Vishal Shekhar impressed the viewers. The hit songs included “bacchna aye haseeno”, “ki mujhe pyar hai”, etc. Deepika Padukone probably matched Ranbir Kapoor the best if compared with the other performers in the same film.

In 2009, Deepika’s much awaited film Chandni Chowk To China was released in January. She had acted opposite superstar Akshay Kumar who had shown his action skills and comedy skills as well in the film. For the requirement of the film Deepika Padukone had learned martial art as well which was done by Priyanka Chopra in the past. But the film did mediocre business.

The other film of Deepika Padukone that was released in 2009 was Love Aaj Kaal. It was the film of Saif Ali Khan and he acted opposite Deepika Padukone. Although the film was related to romance in London, and the music was melodious, the viewers had very passive reaction.

The viewers expect Deepika Padukone to revive her position and continue her great work in the years to come in bollywood films and other films.

Happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna.

Happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna on 29th December, 2009. She has left films after marrying Akshay Kumar, but her performances in the recent past still haunts the viewers of bollywood films.

She was very successful in the film Barsaat opposite Bobby Deol. Bobby Deol started his career with that film and it was produced by Dharmender. The music was impressive. Twinkle Khanna expressed her romantic feelings very well in the film. With the success of the film in the early 90s, Twinkle Khanna became a readymade choice for any type of film.

She acted with Shahrukh Khan in the film Badshah. Just like other films of Shahrukh Khan the film was based on fantasy and funny acts. Twinkle Khanna played her part very well in the film. The song “humto diwane hue yaar” became superhit. Twinkle Khanna also acted in the comedy film Joru Ka Ghulam with Govinda. As the name suggested, the film was related to the story of how a groom became obsessed with the bride and almost became her servant. Although the term was used in the literal sense, Govinda’s character proved the title of the film. Johnny Lever did well in the film.

Twinkle Khanna got a challenging role in Amir Khan’s film Mela. The story was related a girl being chased by dacoits and how she was saved. Amir Khan’s own brother acted in the film. The film had action sequences as well. Sonu Nigam’s song in the film “mela dilon ka aya hai” became super hit. The other challenge was matching Amir Khan’s acting performance in the film as in most of his films he had strived to reach perfection in the respective roles. The viewers accepted Twinkle Khanna’s performance opposite Amir Khan in the film.

Probably Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai with Salman Khan was the most successful film of her career. The film was shot in UK, Switzerland and other European Countries. All the songs of the film were super hit including “o jana”, “is dil me kya hai”, “pehli pehli baar”, etc. In the film the love of Salman Khan for her reformed Salman Khan’s character, who was a playboy before that. Twinkle Khan looked gorgeous in the film.

Twinkle Khan in a number of films opposite Ajay Devgan also in the late 90s. She had acting in her blood, as her mother Dimple Kapadia is considered one of the greatest actresses of bollywood films with landmark performances in films like Lekin, Prahar, Krantiveer, Sagar, Rudali, to name a few. Besides her father Rajesh Khanna was a superstar of the 70s.

When Twinkle Khanna looked like dethroning Juhi Chawla, Preeti Zinta or Kajol in bollywood films, she married Akshay Kumar and ended her career. She must have been a proud wife as Akshay Kumar had proved himself to be the greatest entertainer of 2007 and 2008, with majority of his films becoming blockbusters.

But a lot of acting was still left in Twinkle Khanna. The viewers of bollywood films expect Twinkle Khanna to make a comeback and contribute in character roles where there are not many matured actresses at the moment.

Shahrukh Khan's statement about Amir Khan's promotional tactics.

Shahrukh Khan’s statement about Amir Khan’s promotional tactics.

Very recently Amir Khan came to Kolkata to reach Sourav Ganguly’s house. He came in disguise and enquired about the address of Sourav Ganguly in Behala. The gatekeepers did not recognize him.

Later when Sourav Ganguly returned home he entertained Amir Khan. Amir Khan was offered a grand dinner at night in Sourav Ganguly’s house. Amir Khan invited both Sourav Ganguly and Dona Ganguly to Mumbai to attend the Premier of Amir Khan’s film The Three Idiots to be released during Christmas.

Amir Khan had done all these activities as part of his film promotion. He had started his promotion from Benaras. That is the place where Amir Khan’s mother was born. There also Amir Khan went in disguise.

Shahrukh Khan had opened his mouth in respect to the promotional tactics of Amir Khan. He said that Amir Khan’s promotional tactics can be better termed as “chichorapan”. According to Shahrukh Khan these are very cheap standards of promoting a film.

Shahrukh Khan himself had started his publicity campaign for the upcoming film My name is Khan. Shahrukh had acted along with Kajol in the film made by Karan Johar. The film is scheduled to be released in February, 2010, but Shahrukh Khan had started his campaign from now itself.

Returning back to the comments made by Shahrukh Khan about Amir Khan, it is evident that Shahrukh Khan is jealous about Amir Khan. As far as the acceptability of Amir Khan amongst intellectuals are concerned, Shahrukh Khan is match.

In the last two years Amir Khan had acted only in one film per year, that is Taren Zameen Par in 2007 and Ghajini in 2008. Even the films became the best films of the year. Just like Dilip Kumar, Amir Khan had been selective in choosing roles. Shahrukh Khan had a great appeal with the mass, but as far as perfections in performances, Amir Khan is a better choice for creative directors. The Three Idiots should also do well.

Happy birthday to Sushmita Sen.

Happy birthday to Sushmita Sen.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Sushmita Sen on 19th November, 2009. After creating a mark in the fashion world she made notable contribution in films as well. She won the Miss World Crown in the early 90s and at that time remained one of India’s best beauties along with Aishwarya Rai.

She had impressed the viewers with the film Mai Hoon Na opposite Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan came to find his own brother in an educational institution after a long time. Shahrukh Khan fell in love with Sushmita Sen in the film. The online chemistry appealed to the masses. Both of them gave able lips in the song “mai hoon na”. Zaid Khan, Amrita Rao and Sunil Shetty also did very well in the film.

She faced the glamour of Katrina Kaif in the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, opposite Salman Khan and yet impressed the viewers with her unique performance. She was a nurse in the medical clinic of Salman Khan and she was asked to play the role of his first wife to satisfy Katrina Kaif. Salman Khan went on saying lies one after the other and Sushmita Sen had to help him for the wrongful cause. A time came when Sushmita could not bear any more. At the end of the film Salman Khan married her as she really loved him. Sushmita Sen gave brilliant lips in the song “laga laga laga re”.

She even did well in roles of second heroines like the one she played in Salman Khan’s film Bibi No. 1. Salman Khan was married to Karishma Kapoor and he lived with Sushmita after having an affair with her when he went for a foreign visit. When the question came as to upbringing of Salman Khan’s children Sushmita Sen failed miserably. Anil Kapoor and Tabu helped Karishma Kapoor to create ill-feelings of Salman Khan against Sushmita Sen and ultimately the family peace was restored in favour of Karishma Kapoor. The songs picturised on Sushmita Sen and Salman Khan became super hit like “ishq sona hai”, “chunari chunari”, etc.

Sushmita Sen also acted in challenging roles in films like Chingari, which were made for response from critics and Sushmita had shown her acting skills in these types of films. Her other successful films include Aaghaaz, opposite Sunil Shetty, where she played the role of police officer, Zor, opposite Sunny Deol, etc.

Both Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai joined bollywood films more or less at the same time and there was an express competition between both of them as both had come from the fashion world.

Although Sushmita Sen showed her potentiality in many films and the films had done well in box-office, she was not as lucky as Aishwarya Rai in bagging the big banners of Subhash Ghai, Sanjay Leela Banshali, Ram Gopal Verma, etc. Sushmita has also appeared as judges in many dance competitions hosted in different TV Channels in recent years along with other celebrities like Wasim Akram and others.

The viewers still believe that Sushmita Sen has a lot of acting left in her and she can do even better in bollywood films in future including her film relating to Benazir Bhutto.

Deepika Padukone had a silent year 2009.

Deepika Padukone had a silent year 2009.

Deepika had a very quite and silent year in 2009. Deepika Padukone, the daughter of International Badminton player Prakash Padukone, was born on 5th January, 1986. She accomplished her studies from Mount Carmel College in Australia and pursued her career as a super model. She had modeled for famous Indian brands like Limca, Dabur Lal Powder, Close Up Toothpaste and Liril.

She won the Model of the Year award at the Kingfisher Fashion Awards, became one of the models for Kingfisher Swimsuit Calender 2006 and won two awards at the Idea Zee Fashion awards. She became the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines, Levi Strauss, Tissot SA. After impressing the judges of the modeling world she featured in private album Aap Ka Suroor of Himesh Reshamiya. She got one of the biggest breaks of her life in Farah Khan’s film Om Shanti Om.

She astonished the viewers of bollywood films with her all round performance in the film Om Shanti Om which was the first film of her life. Farah Khan’s film ended up being the greatest blockbuster of the year and created a room for Deepika Padukone to be a super star. She acted in a double role, one having an old background with the name Shantipriya, while the other Sandy having similarity with the looks of Shantipriya. The success of the film with the brilliant performance of superstar Shahrukh Khan created the spirit where Deepika Padukone had a greater challenge of balancing the standard in her following films.

Her next film Bachna Aye Haseeno, opposite Ranbir Kapoor created sensation as well. Deepika acted opposite Bipasha Basu and Minissha Lamba. So she had the additional challenge of balancing their beauty with her own screen presence. Some way or the other she stood out as the leading actress of the film and the film became super hit. The songs “sazde”, “bachna aye haseeno”, etc., composed by Vishal Shekhar became super hit.

But 2009 had been a silent year. Her film Chadni Chowk To China opposite Akshay Kumar flopped. The other film Love Aaj Kal opposite Saif Ali Khan did mediocre business. She has a challenge of giving a hit film very soon before her image is forgotten. The viewers expect her to bounce back in style.

Happy birthday to Juhi Chawla.

Happy birthday to Juhi Chawla.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Juhi Chawla on 13th November, 2009. Juhi Chawla stormed bollywood films in the 90s.

Her first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak became super hit in the late 80s. Her pair with Amir Khan was well accepted by the audience. The songs in the film became very successful. The landmark songs included “aye mere humsafar”, “papa kehte hai” sung by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and others. From that time many producers and directors did cast her opposite Amir Khan in many films. Her comedy andaz in the film Ishq opposite Amir Khan was well appreciated. The film did great business.

Juhi Chawla acted in romantic films opposite all the leading actors of bollywood, including Rishi Kapoor in Bol Radha Bol and Eena Meena Dika, Anil Kapoor in Deewana Mastana, Jhoot Bole Kowa Kate, Amir Khan in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, to name a few. In the mid-90s she acted in a number of films opposite superstar Shahrukh Khan.

Her major films opposite Shahrukh Khan included Duplicate, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, etc. She started her production house Dreams Unlimited along with Shahrukh Khan and produced many films. One of the hit films included Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Both Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla acted in the film.

Juhi Chawla also acted in films opposite other actors. Her performance in character roles in the recent times had also impressed the crowds. Some of her recent films included Salaam-E-Ishq opposite Anil Kapoor. She played the role of a middle-aged woman whose husband got attached with another woman.

Juhi Chawla acted in action films like Darr as well. She performed opposite Sunny Deol and Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan acted in a negative role in the film who was killed at the end by Sunny Deol. Juhi Chawla’s dance performance in the film in songs like “tu meri saamne” still haunts the viewers.

The viewers expect Juhi Chawla to continue the quality work in future.

Happy birthday to Shahrukh Khan.

Happy birthday to Shahrukh Khan.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Shahrukh Khan on 2nd November, 2009. He was the ruler of bollywood industry in the 90s. Right from Baazigar, Shahrukh Khan gave blockbusters one after the other.

Shahrukh Khan had a grand combination with Director Karan Johar, and most of the films directed by him ended up being super hit. The notable films include Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, etc. Shahrukh Khan also gave able lips in hit songs of these films including “kuch kuch hota hai”, “suraj hua madhyam”, etc.

Shahrukh Khan also succeeded in negative roles. The greatest example includes Darr. There he played a negative character opposite Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla. On one hand he gave good lips in the songs “tu mere samne”, on the other hand his attack on Juhi Chawla made the viewers understand that he could act in any type of films. He was played a challenging role in Mani Ratnam’s film Dil Se. The film was related to terrorism in North East India and Shahrukh Khan died with Manisha Koirala in the film.

Shahrukh Khan has the record of bagging 7 filmfare awards for best actor, which is the second best record after Dilip Kumar who had won it 8 times. Shahrukh Khan, better known as King Khan, had acted in the films of almost all the leading directors of the country, including Amol Palekar’s Paheli with Rani Mukherjee. Besides he had acted opposite different actresses like Kajol in the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Preeti Zinta in the film Veer Zara, Anushka Sharma in the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jori, to name a few.

Shahrukh Khan opened own production house titled Dreams Unlimited with Juhi Chawla, and the films produced by such combination like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani also did good business. Shahrukh Khan had ruled the industry for more than 15 years.

The viewers are waiting for his next film My Name Is Khan and expect him to continue the great work and entertain everyone.

Happy birthday to Mahima Choudhury.

Happy birthday to Mahima Choudhury.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mahima Choudhury on 13th September, 2009. She had been a big asset of bollywood films in the 90s.

She had been given a great break by Subhash Ghai in the film Pardesh opposite Shahrukh Khan. All the songs in the film became super hit like “do dil mil rahe hai”, sung by Kumar Shanu or “yeh dil diwana” sung by Sonu Nigam, etc. Her traditional role in the film was well appreciated by every section of the viewers.

After that Mahima Choudhury acted in every type of roles. She was sublime opposite Chandrachud Singh in the film Daag the fire. She had a double role in the film and did very well in the role of an accomplished girl and the role of a prostitude. Due to domination of Sanjay Dutt in the film Mahima’s performance did not get the limelight which she deserved.

She did extremely well in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s film Lajja. She was one of the five ladies who faced oppression from the patriarchal society and her way of expressing discontent was very impressive. She was sublime opposite Sanjay Dutt in the film Kurukshetra. Sanjay Dutt was a fearless police officer and faced the hurdles created by the corrupted ministers and the corrupted police officers in his department. Mahima Choudhury, who played the role of his wife in the film expressed her discontent after being the victim of vengeance of the criminals who were arrested by Sanjay Dutt.

Mahima Choudhury did well in smaller roles as well. The one which is most remembered is her performance in the film Dhadkan where Shilpa Shetty, Sunil Shetty and Akshay Kumar had the more prominent roles.

She had featured in less number of films in the recent past. The viewers expect her to contribute in character roles in bollywood films in future.

Happy birthday to Kajol.

Happy Birthday To Kajol

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Kajol on 5th August, 2009. She had dominated bollywood films during the mid-90s.

Besides her combination with Shahrukh Khan had given many everlasting hits like Baazigar, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Karan Arjun, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, etc. Most of these films were musical blockbusters as well. The songs in these films like “yeh kaali kaali ankhen”, “jaati hun mai”, “kuch kuch hota hai” became landmark hits over the years.

Besides, the directors and producers of the late 90s experimented with different types of roles with Kajol. She played the role of a villain in the film Gupt opposite Bobby Deol. She went on killing Raj Babbar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and others to maintain his attachment with Bobby Deol. She also received the filmfare award for the best villain for her performance in the film Gupt.

Kajol did well in comedy films like Ishq opposite Ajay Devgan, whom she married later on. She played the role of the friend of Juhi Chawla and got involved into incidents with Ajay Devgan and Juhi Chawla. Kajol did well opposite Sanjay Dutt in the film Dushman.

After the fading away of Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla from the bollywood industry, Kajol got the maximum number of chances in big productions. After marriage with Ajay Devgan, she reduced the number of films. She made a comeback but could not maintain the success rate as she did in the past.

The viewers are looking forward to better performances from Kajol in future as many people feel that she still has lot of acting left in her.

Happy birthday to Karishma Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Karishma Kapoor.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Karishma Kapoor on 25th June, 2009. She had been probably the only descendant of the Kapoor family who did not arrive in the bollywood industry with pomp and show. Her debut was made in a small manner.

She had to struggle hard and got good roles in films like Hero No.1 opposite Govinda. In Hero No. 1 Karishma showed her good dancing skills in songs like “mai to raste se ja raha tha”. Karishma was very impressive in the film Dil To Paagal Hai opposite Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit. The film showed triangular love story and strong music of Uttam Singh. Karishma gave good lips in the songs “le gai le gai”.

Karishma Kapoor ventured in parallel films like Shyam Benegal’s Zubeida. Her performance opposite Manoj Vajpayee amazed the viewers. She was equally impressive opposite Hrithik Roshan in the film Fida. She played a non-glamourous role in the film. She was the sister of Hrithik Roshan. She wanted Hrithik to return back to mainstream society. She did not show any mannerisms in the film.

At the same time Karishma Kapoor played important roles in commercially hit films. In Krishna, her performance opposite Sunil Shetty was appreciated by all the viewers. Her dance performance in the song “jhanjhariya buddhi khanak gayi” was very impressive. Similarly her performance in the song “batti na bujhao” and “hai hooku hai hukoo” opposite Sunil Shetty created sensation in bollywood.

Karishma Kapoor did well in comedy films as well. She was sublime opposite Salman Khan in the film Judwaa where Salman Khan had double role. She did even better in the film Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge opposite Salman Khan. In that film she had to balance the comedy andaz of Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher and Om Puri and she did that in style. Even her lips in the song “jane kya hua hai dekho jiya bekarar” was very impressive.

Karishma Kapoor suited Govinda’s style of acting the most and contributed a lot in comedy films opposite him including Haseena Maan Jayegi. She balanced the strong dancing skills of Govinda with her own aggressive dancing style.

She left films at a time when she learned acting. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in character roles in future.

Review of My name is Khan.

Review of My name is Khan.

Karan Johar is coming up with his new project with the title My name is Khan. Shahrukh Khan also had co-produced the film. Shahrukh Khan’s fans are waiting anxiously for the release of the film as he failed to give any hit film in the last two years and lost the number one position.

In this film Rizwan Khan was a muslim who was brought up in Borivali (as a child the role was played by Tanay Cheda) in Mumbai with his mother played by Zarina Wahab. After growing up Khan, (Shahrukh Khan) entered into an affair with Mandira played by Kajol.

The affair blossomed into marriage. After long period of time the viewers will find the hit pair of Shahrukh Khan and Kajol together. They were utilized to their limit by Karan Johar in the past and will be seen once again in My name is Khan.

Khan suffered from Asperger Syndrome (a form of serious disease which impairs abilities relating to social interaction). After the 9/11 attack, Khan was arrested as a suspected terrorist.

His peculiar behaviour and sickness created background for the sickness. After he was arrested he was cured by a therapist played by Sheetal Menon. That part of the film will be interesting as the viewers will be anxiously waiting for the consequences relating to Shahrukh Khan’s arrest.

The other actors and actresses who had performed in the film include Jimmy Shergill, Bilal Khan and others. Shahrukh Khan had done a splendid job once again.

But there is lot of doubt relating to acceptance of Kajol as a heroine once again. Bollywood is dominated in the recent years by Katrina Kaif , Priyanka Chopra and others. Kajol had lost her glamour some time back and her presence with Shahrukh Khan is a weakness in the film.

The music is given by Shankar –Ehsaan –Loy and the music is impressive just like any other films of Karan Johar. The performance of the character artists in the film is very impressive. Although Shabana Azmi left the role of the mother of Shahrukh Khan after being cast initially, Zarina Wahab did do well in the film.

In a nutshell it can be said that the film is going to be a big hit inspite of the negative factors.

Sonali Bendre in the 90s.

Sonali Bendre in the 90s.

Sonali Bendre showed a lot of promise in the 90s when she joined bollywood films. She had spontaneity in her performance and did not imitate any star. She was sublime in Aamir Khan’s film Sarfarosh.

Sarfarosh was the film based on the story of an honest police officer who addressed the corruption existing in the police department itself and the other wings of the Govt. Sonali Bendre ably assisted Aamir Khan in his noble mission. Jagjit Singh’s song “husnwale” became very successful.

Her performance in Sunil Shetty’s film Bhai requires special mention. Although she loved Sunil Shetty like Pooja Batra but when she knew that Pooja Batra was also attached to him, she sacrificed her love. She died at the end of the film while fighting for the cause of Sunil Shetty. In fact she helped Sunil Shetty to learn urbanized style of living as he came from the hills and was uneducated.

She acted in completely different role opposite Shahrukh Khan in the film Duplicate. Shahrukh Khan played a double role in the film, one having an affair with Juhi Chawla while the other having an affair with Sonali Bendre. She acted opposite Shahrukh Khan who played the role of the smuggler. From the time the two characters interchanged Sonali Bendre expressed the astonishment in style. Her lips in the song “mere mehboob mere sanam” require special mention. Although the film had mainly comedy element in it, the powerful performance of Sonali Bendre and Juhi Chawla helped the film to be successful.

Her other hit films include Hum Saath Saath Hai, opposite Salman Khan, Zakhm with Ajay Devgan, to name a few. She received the star-screen best supporting actress award for her brilliant performance in the film Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. Her performance in the film was as outstanding as Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai.

After success in films like Jis Desh Me Ganga Rehta Hai with Govinda, Major Sahab, etc., she left films in 2002. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in character roles.

Future of Preeti Zinta in bollywood films.

Future of Preeti Zinta in bollywood films.

These days Preeti Zinta is seen more frequently during IPL matches involving Kings Eleven Punjab. As she has invested her money in the team and the team under the captainship of Yuvraj Singh ranked within the first 4 teams in the IPL last years, the viewers have lot of hope in the team. Preeti Zinta is seen cheering her team nearly in all the matches played in South Africa.

The question that comes in the minds of viewers of bollywood films is that is there any future of Preeti Zinta in bollywood films? Her age and the success of upcoming stars like Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra create eyebrows in the faces of most of her fans. This year she had acted in a challenging role in Deepa Mehta’s film Videsh which was made in the background of the life of Indians in Canada. Although her performance was extraordinary and the film is destined to win a number of awards just like any other film of Deepa Mehta, the film cannot determine the destiny of Preeti Zinta in bollywood films, as such type of films are seen by mainly intellectual audience.

If her success in bollywood films is examined, it will be seen that the films related to Australia had always stormed bollywood. Her first film Soldier opposite Bobby Deol became superhit. She was sublime in Farhan Akhtar’s super hit film Dil Chahta Hai, where again her romance with Amir Khan in the film was associated with Australia. Her super hit film Salaam Namaste with Saif Ali Khan was based in Australia. Even Rakesh Roshan’s mega project Koi Mil Gaya was also based in Australia and Preeti Zinta’s career was given new turn along with Hrithik Roshan.

Besides earlier her acceptance of any role was backed her age and popularity amongst viewers. Her film Kya Kehna was accepted by the viewers, her role in Kabhi Alvida Ne Kehna opposite Shahrukh Khan was also accepted. She was sublime in Salman Khan’s film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, etc. , where Rani Mukherjee also played major part. Even last year her performance in the film The Heroes opposite Salman Khan was appreciated by the viewers. Her record in bollywood films show that she had achieved name, recognition and identity in bollywood films.

The test of popularity is under scanner as the new actresses had created fierce competition in the recent years. Besides, the role of smart tall models like the ones played by Priyanka Chopra in Dostana or Katrina Kaif in Race or Lara Dutta in Partner cannot suit Preeti Zinta. From the time she acted in the film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom her fortune started going in the other direction.

Viewers expect her to face the odds and still make valuable contribution in bollywood films as there is no doubt that she is still beautiful, fare, talented and crowdpuller.

Irfan Khan was sublime in Billu Barber

Irfan Khan was sublime in Billu Barber.

Irfan Khan was sublime in his challenging role in the film Billu Barber. Although has banked his resources on the popularity of superstar Shahrukh Khan, the acting in the film had mainly being done by Irfan Khan who made people cry with his realistic performance.

In parallel cinema, those actors who show least amount of mannerisms are considered to be real actors. Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri created an identity as legendary parallel film actors through their natural performances. They used to understand the uniqueness of the characters they had portrayed in films like Akrosh, Drohkaal, Mirch Masala, to name a few. Irfan Khan belongs to that gharana of actors.

In Billu Barber, in the first part of the film he was not too happy to know that Shahrukh Khan had come to his village to shoot his new film. His children and wife Lara Dutta were excited about it and also told the other villagers about Irfan Khan’s association with Shahrukh Khan. Irfan Khan realized the change of status of himself with Shahrukh Khan and was reluctant to meet him.

When the news relating to his intimacy with Shahrukh Khan spread in the village, different sections of the society came to him and wanted them to be introduced to Shahrukh Khan with his reference. Om Puri even gave him costly equipments for restructuring his saloon which was there in a dilapidated condition. But with strong security created by the local police, Irfan Khan could not get access to meet Shahrukh Khan.

When the police arrested a number of villagers who tried to enter the shooting zone forcefully, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav and others understood the fact that Irfan Khan had no closeness at all with Shahrukh Khan. Om Puri unnecessarily ransacked his saloon and took back all the expensive items which he gave to him on the understanding of getting introduced with Shahrukh Khan.

The striking part of Irfan Khan’s performance was that he kept his composure when the villagers misbehaved with him after not getting access to Shahrukh Khan. He even remained calm and never got elated when Shahrukh Khan disclosed the contribution of his friend Billu whom he searched a lot but could not find after he became a film star.

Irfan Khan could not even go and visit the speech of Shahrukh Khan that he gave in the school in the village, he heard his words from outside. His realistic performance is a learning experience for commercial actors who believe in mannerisms. Irfan Khan should better roles in refined commercial films in future.

Shahrukh Khan believes in publicity more than Abhishek Bacchan

Shahrukh Khan believes in publicity more than Abhishek Bacchan.

Shahrukh Khan believes in publicity more than Abhishek Bacchan. The debate did arise considering the fact that both the films of Abhishek Bacchan and Shahrukh Khan had been released very recently. Shahrukh Khan has banked his assets on Billu Barber while Abhishek Bacchan tried his fortunes with Dilli 6.

If the publicity stand of both the actors are compared everyone will agree that Shahrukh Khan had left no stones unturned to reach the message of his film to every corner of the country. Not only that he had brought all the leading actresses for his film including Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone, he had also interviewed stars who had acted in the film in the different private channels all across this week.

Shahrukh Khan interviewed Irfan Khan about his experience of working in Billu Barber. He asked him questions about his feelings on the director Priyadarshan. Lara Dutta was interviewed in the same program by Shahrukh Khan. She was asked about her feelings in respect of acting in such a deglamourized role. She played the role of the wife of Irfan Khan who had rural background.

If Abhishek Bacchan is taken on the other hand, he had talked about the film Dilli 6 to many persons and shared his experience of working with giant performers like Om Puri, Wahida Rehman, Rishi Kapoor in the film. But he had not publicized the film the way Shahrukh Khan has done for the last few days. According to Abhidhek Bacchan if the film has substance the viewers will automatically see it.

Where as, according to Shahrukh Khan he has the noble duty of informing his viewers about the story and casting of the film before they go to cinema halls to watch the movie. Last year he did the same in respect of the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. He and his choreographer spoke about the reasons why Preeti Zinta did a dance sequence imitating Sharmila Tagore, Bipasha Basu imitated Sadhna and Nutan, Rani Mukherjee imitated Neetu Singh and Kajol imitated Nargis.

Whether the film Billu Barber or Dilli 6 becomes a greater hit is a question to be answered within a short period of time. For the time being the viewers are more informed about Shahrukh Khan’s Billu Barber than Abhishek Bacchan’s Dilli 6 due to the publicity campaign of King Khan. Let’s hope both the film do well and entertain the viewers.

Character actors were brilliant in Billu Barber.

Character actors were brilliant in Billu Barber.

Those who have watched Priyadarshan’s films in the past know about his capability of utilizing the potentiality of character artists in his films. Furthermore he had the record of using many character actors together in his own films. The best example can be Malamaal Weekly. Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Asrani, Shakti Kapoor, Sudha Chandran, all contributed in their own way in the film. The comedy sequences were very intelligently directed and the film was well accepted by the viewers.

The same thing happened in the film Billu Barber. The character artists those who were used by Priyadarshan did a great job. Om Puri was a money lender in the film. He relationship with Irfan Khan, the barber in the film, totally changed from the time he came to know that Shahrukh Khan, a star who had come in the village to shoot his film, was a friend of Irfan Khan. Om Puri’s comedy conception had been witnessed by the viewers in landmark films in the past like Jane Bhi Do Yaaron, Chachi 420, etc. He continued his great work in Billu Barber as well.

Rajpal Yadav was an aspiring poet in the film. He also did a great work in the film. He initially never gave that amount of respect to Irfan Khan, the barber in the film Billu Barber. From the time he came to know about Irfan Khan’s association with Shahrukh Khan in the film, his reaction towards Irfan Khan changed altogether.

Lara Dutta acted in a non-glamourous role, playing the role of the mother of two children and the wife of Irfan Khan in the film. Although she had acted in dynamic roles like the role of lawyer in the film Bardasht, or the role of car driver in the film Zinda, this role in Billu Barber was very realistic in nature and Lara Dutta had done full justice to the role.

Irfan Khan himself is known for realistic performances in films of Madhur Bhandarkar and other noted directors. In Billu Barber he exhibited his emotions in respect of love, pride, thoughtfulness together at different intervals of the film. He was the central character and the success of the film depended more on him than Shahrukh Khan.

Even Rasika Joshi, playing the role of the principal of the school, where Shahrukh Khan came and visited during his film shooting, did a marvelous job. The performance did not have mannerisms and was totally down to earth in form.

Only Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone poured in their mannerisms during the dance sequences in the film, but the script required them badly. Overall Priyadarsha had used his resources to perfection and for those reasons the film should do extremely well.

Billu Barber can bring back the No. 1 spot of Shahrukh Khan

Billu Barber can bring back the No. 1 spot of Shahrukh Khan.

Billu Barber is the next project of Shahrukh Khan which will address the audience in February. In 2008, Shahrukh Khan had a bad year as such, probably the worst year in the recent past. None of his films did great business and he could not make his presence felt among hit films of Akshay Kumar like Singh is Kinng or Hrithik Roshan’s Jodha Akbar or Amir Khan’s Ghajini.

He has all the possibilities of regaining his number one spot with the film Billu Barber. The film which is going to be released in February probably has most of the celebrities in one film together. It includes names like Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor to name a few. Even Irfan Khan who makes acting look so easy did a great job.

Shahrukh Khan played the role of the friend of a village barber played by Irfan Khan. Shahrukh Khan returned back to the village for shooting a film. The other actresses in the film like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra performed with Shahrukh Khan in the village. The moment the story of Irfan Khan’s friendship with Shahrukh Khan spread all across the village, the fellow villagers got excited.

Irfan Khan never had any expectation of Shahrukh Khan being able to recognize him as the status of both the friends was totally different. But Shahrukh Khan surprised everyone when he came for visiting a local school in the village. He disclosed before everyone that Irfan Khan was an old friend of him. Not only that, Irfan Khan had a huge contribution in the life of Shahrukh Khan.

The film ended with a happy note. Lara Dutta played the role of a rustic villager in the film as opposed to the glamourous roles of Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. She hardly took any make up and provided natural performance. Probably her performance was the best amongst the rest of the heroines.

As far as Shahrukh Khan was concerned he had done a great job. He almost lost his no. 1 position to Amir Khan and others due to giving flops one after the other in 2008.

2009 can be the year of comeback of Shahrukh Khan. Once he is involved with big productions and believable stories his larger than life image always haunts the viewers. Other than Salman Khan no other actor had the committed viewers like that of Shahrukh Khan. He was bound to make a comeback. Billu Barber has all the masala to become a blockbuster.

Billu Barber has all the elements to become a super hit film.

Billu Barber has all the elements to become super hit film.

Shahrukh Khan starts off his journey in 2009, with brilliant performance in Billu Barber, his first release in 2009. 2008 had been a very average year for the superstar, with Hrithik Roshan, Amir Khan and Akshay Kumar contributing more in bollywood films than Shahrukh Khan. His film Rab Ne Bana De Jodi also did mediocre business as opposed to his blockbusters like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Om Shanti Om, etc.

In Billu Barber, Irfan Khan, a rustic villager met his school friend played by Shahrukh Khan when the entire shooting team came to his village to shoot a film. Shahrukh Khan played the lead role in that film and Irfan Khan was quite surprised to meet his old friend. The villagers urged him to disclose the stories relating to his friendship with Sharukh Khan at the time when the shooting was going on.

Irfan Khan felt very shy to do it, as he was only a barber by profession and doubted whether his friend was going to acknowledge his relationship with him as his status was that of a superstar and Irfan Khan’s intimacy with him would have affected his stardom in the film. The viewers will also have to wait in the film to see whether Shahrukh Khan recognizes Irfan Khan.

At the end of the film Shahrukh Khan revealed his relationship with Irfan Khan in the past and disclosed before the villagers the immense contribution of his old friend. He told them he got clothes from the friend when he did not have any and got food from him during his bad times.

The actresses in the film were all very impressive including Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. All of them had a very impressive year in 2008 and looked gorgeous in their costumes in Billu Barber. They played the role of the heroines of Shahrukh Khan who had come to the village for shooting the film.

Lara Dutta was even better in the role of a village woman. She has been a sensation over the years and showed her class of acting in Billu Barber once more. The music of the film composed by Pritam also was very impressive.

The main songs of the film like “marjani marjani” had already become hits before even the release of the film. Shahrukh Khan and Irfan Khan were brilliant in their respective roles.

The film has all the elements of entertainment including a strong storyline, powerful casting, good songs, good locations, and is going one of the blockbusters of 2009.

Shahrukh Khan's projection of bollywood history in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Shahrukh Khan’s projection of bollywood history in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

In the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, there was a dance sequence where Shahrukh Khan along with Anushka Sharma, showed the style of dance performances propagated by the leading stars of bollywood over the years.

Composer Salim Sulaiman composed the tunes for the modernized version of the legendary songs and Sonu Nigam sang them after representing the style of singing of all the stalwarts of the different decades. Shahrukh Khan showed the style of Raj Kapoor with a costume that the showman wore in the film Shree 420, while Kajol showed the style of Nargis. The form of the dance presentation was related to the era of Raj Kapoor, although the mannerism was evolved by Shahrukh Khan.

Dev Anand’s style was also depicted by Shahrukh Khan with Bipasha Basu playing the part of both Nutan and Sadhna. The songs included some of the hit songs of Dev during the 50s, 60s. Shammi Kapoor’s rock and roll style was also displayed with Helen’s performance replicated by Lara Dutta. Someway or the other the music of Shankar Jaikishan could not be matched or replicated.

Rajesh Khanna’s style was also depicted by Shahrukh Khan with Preeti Zinta depicting the mannerisms of Sharmila Tagore. Also Rishi Kapoor’s mannerisms were shown by Shahrukh Khan with Rani Mukherjee playing the part played by Neetu Singh. The producers, directors, choreographers of the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi claim that the selections of actresses were based with their similarity with the stars of the different ages.

But in respect of conveying the message of domination of the respective stars of the different periods of time, there were lot of disparity. Firstly performances of giants like Dilip Kumar in the 50s, Joy Mukherjee or Biswajeet in the 60s, Amitabh Bacchan in the 70s were not found in the show.

Secondly as far as actresses were concerned very significantly the powerful dancers of the 50s and 60s were not shown at all like Vaijayantimala, or Asha Parekh, or Wahida Rehman. In fact, most of the dance sequences of the golden age, especially the 50s and 60s were dependant on the sheer brilliance of Vaijayantimala, Wahida Rehman, Rajashree, Mumtaz, etc., as most of the actors other than Shammi Kapoor and Jeetender were not specialized in dancing in serious sense of the term.

Another thing that is evident was that Shahrukh Khan could not create any magic out of the dance sequence relating to bollywood history, the way he amazed the viewers with his dance sequence in Om Shanti Om. In that film, he danced with all the leading stars of golden age and modern age like Dharmender, Jeetender, Rekha, Shabana Azmi and Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Bobby Deol, etc.

The film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi had done moderate business and could not match the expectation of viewers who were used to see Shahrukh Khan’s blockbusters like Kabi Alvida Na Kehna, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, etc.

Amir Khan's Ghajini did business for more than 200 crores.

Amir Khan’s Ghajini did business for more than 200 crores.

Amir Khan has been considered as the most thoughtful personality in bollywood industry. His films were seen by the audience like any religious site that is worshipped by devotees. The same thing had happened with Ghajini.

There was lot of curiousity in the minds of viewers about the film before it was released. Amir Khan himself told the journalists in press conference that he built the muscular body only to express the feelings of the mentally affected person in the film. It took more than 2 years to build the muscles.

When viewers watched the film they got flabbergasted with the performance of Amir Khan. He would have Oscar award for his brilliant performance had he acted in Hollywood films. There were stages where Amir Khan lost his memory every 15 minutes and looked helpless.

The character Ghajini in the film killed the girl friend of Amir Khan. Later on when Amir Khan wrote the name of his enemies in his body, he rubbed them off when he caught Amir Khan in a state of unconciousness. A young medical student helped Amir Khan to get back his memory.

The film took a turn in the last part where Amir Khan recovered after an iron rod was pierced in his body by Ghajini and he killed Ghajini with a heavy iron weapon. The last part was different from the South Indian version of the same film Ghajini.

The credit lies on Amir Khan in converting an otherwise simple film into a classic film. Already the film had brought revenues in India and oversees market of more than 200 crore rupees. It is still being exhibited in the leading halls all across the country and has the capability of bringing even more revenue.

It is quite unfortunate that the best performers in India never get the awards for best performances in Filmfare ceremony or other major Group awards that are given every year. Otherwise Shahrukh Khan would not have dominated bollywood films for the last 10 years.

It is evident in Ghajini that when an actor like Amir Khan puts in his heart, soul, body in the role played in the film the hard work gets rewarded in terms of the responses of the viewers. He is the best actor of the country at the moment and the popularity of Shahrukh Khan or Abhishek Bacchan cannot stop him from performing in even challenging roles in contemporary films.

If Taren Zameen Par was the best venture of 2007, then Ghajini was the most meaningful project of 2008. The viewers expect Amir Khan to explore himself more in his strive to reach perfection in bollywood films in future.