Kamal Hasan - India's All Time Greatest Actor

Kamal Haasan is a four time National Film Award winning Indian film actor. He began his career as a child artist in many films, while also attending a theatre for stage plays. Kamal Haasan has acted in over two hundred Indian films.

Kamal Hassan has received India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri for his services to Indian cinema in 1990. In his currently unreleased film Dasavatharam, he attempts to portray ten different characters

Kamal is the youngest of four children born to Rajalakshmi and Srinivasan Ayyengar. His father, an attorney by profession, gave all his sons (Charu Haasan Ayyengar, Chandra Haasan Ayyengar, Kamal Haasan ) the suffix of "Haasan" as a sign of his friendship to one Mr. Haasan. Kamal is also a playback singer and sometimes pens the lyrics for the soundtracks of some of his recent films

Devdas won't Die this time!

By Subhash K Jha

For those purists who were appalled by the idea of Paro and Chandramukhi coming together in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's interpretation of the classic , Sudhir Mishra's version of the epic which he starts shooting on October 20, promises to deliver a jolting blow.

In Mishra's revisionist version of the re-located classic the doomed hero not only gets Chandramukhi, he also lives, arguing that life without Paro is as good as death.

But Devdas without his death?!

The film's producer Pritish Nandy seems pretty prepared to take on the purists. "Classics mutate with time. They change so many colours. I had decided to do our own version of Devdas after I had seen Sanjay Leela Bhansali's version.

As a Bengali I couldn't connect with his lavish operatic mood. Saratchandra' s version of the tale was all about austerity, holding back rather than unleashing a torrent of emotions."

The kingpin of Pritish Nandy Communication seems undaunted by the criticism that's awaiting him. "Fear of falling has never stopped me from climbing higher. Our Devdas goes back to its literary roots, though it's set in contemporary times."

THE GAMES SRK PLAYS........

The games SRK plays...

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Shah Rukh Khan is one of the greatest entertainers of our times...

He has played many roles -- from the cute lover boys roles, to obsessive lovers, from playing a ghost to a teacher. But more often than not, his character has always been 'sporty.'

His latest film Chak De! India sees him playing a hockey coach, and we thought it was a good time to have a look at SRK and his sporting moves.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Shah Rukh, as Dev Saran, was a failed football player, who lost his career to an accident. The film saw him walking with a limp, something that SRK had never attempted before.

Later, he turns his attention to coaching his son.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Even though basketball is not a very popular sport in India, Karan Johar made sure the game looked interesting in his directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

SRK and a very tom-boyish Kajol played the game convincingly, as college-goers. But it looked even better when the duo met after eight years, and challenged each other to a game. Sari-clad Kajol won.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

The longest running film ever in history of Indian cinema introduces an aggressive Shah Rukh playing rugby.

Though the rest of the film does not show SRK playing the game, this scene was mindblowing.

The music, dialogue, performances and direction by debutant Aditya Chopra has made the film an all-time classic.

Baazigar

One of SRK's first big hits, Baazigar showed the actor in three characters -- a nerdy boyfriend, a flamboyant car racer, and a killer.

SRK pretends to be a car racer, and smartly loses the race to his prospective father-in-law, Dilip Tahil, to win over his confidence, and his daughter Kajol's heart.

Chamatkar

Shah Rukh plays a cricket coach for this one. Teamed up with Naseeruddin Shah, who plays a ghost, Shah Rukh's team wins the match, thanks to Naseer's magic.

The film's heroine was Urmila Matondkar.

Pardes

Subhash Ghai's film told the story of Amrish Puri, who comes to India in search of a bride for his son, Apoorva Agnihotri. As fate has it, the girl (Mahima Chaudhry) falls in love with SRK instead.

But a distant cousin demans to marry Mahima, which upsets her. To solve the problem, a kabbadi match is organised between Shah Rukh, Apoorva and their team, versus the cousin and his team. Of course, SRK's team wins.

Guddu

SRK, playing Guddu, plays a popular college student, who is loved by one and all. He's very good in sports as well.

The story goes that Guddu is in love with Manisha Koirala's character. One day, Manisha falls from a horse, and loses her eye sight. Shah Rukh blames himself for this. At the same time, he is diagonsed of brain tumour. He plans to donate his eyes after his death but miraculously, he is cured. Deepti Naval, who plays his mother, donates her eyes after she dies... ... .

RAM GOPAL VARMA KE AGG

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag'

From the maverick director

Ram Gopal Varma

comes the much publicized film

that is said to be the remake of the cult classic Sholay ,

that was earlier titled Ram Gopal Varma Ki Sholay ,

but now, due to legal hassles,

has been renamed as 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag'.

In the dark underbelly of Mumbai City

a nihilistic new leader has risen to rule the fetid underworld.

His name is Babban Singh played by

Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Cruel beyond imagination,

psychotically violent and far more devious than

any gangster the city has ever known.

Babban perceives other human beings as objects

to amuse or occupy him with.

When he speaks, he does so to voice his own thoughts.

He does not engage in conversation with anyone.

He likes to play with his victims.

When Babban is angry,

his eyes take on a glazed look.

He seems to be looking at you as you speak,

but the focus of his gaze rests in the middle distance.

It's as if he's looking right through you.

He loves people who challenge him,

as then he can enjoy killing them more.

Hirendra Chavan alias Heero ( Ajay Devgan ),

Raj Ranade ( Prashant Raj ) are two young men from Latur,

who arrive in the megapolis of Mumbai

with as big sized dreams of buying out the city.

It's another matter that Heero and Raj are jobless

and don't have enough money even to buy a decent meal.

Childhood friends, their loyalty is absolute with the younger

Raj looking up to the elder Heero.

Portrayed by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal,

Narsimha's eyes retain composure at all times.

Dark circles collected over sleepless nights betray

the fact he is a man tormented by his own past.

Nobody has ever seen Babban and if they did,

they didn't survive to tell the tale.

But one man believed in his existence.

And that is inspector Narsimha,

an encounter specialist who has

a single-minded determination to finish Babban.

His thoughts have single point of focus: Babban.

Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen is Durga Devi

– a trained nurse her life blossomed when love happened...

and then tragedy struck. Stoic, dignified, silent,

her demeanor hid an inner strength that at times

raised itself beyond what one would expect from a woman.

Sex-bomb Nisha Kothari is Ghungroo,

who drives a 'rickshaw' named 'Laila'.

Laila is her best friend and confidante.

Ghungroo is Mumbai city's only woman rickshaw driver.

She knows all the shortcuts in Mumbai city.

She talks switching between Marathi, Hindi and English.

She'd like you to believe she's a man.

But deep inside, she is all woman.

Within a week of their arrival

on the recommendation of an old acquaintance

of theirs called Soorma ( Rajpal Yadav )

who runs a dance bar, Heero and Raj find work

with Shambhul Seth,

a criminal with heavy underworld connections

and also high on the police scanner.

In his pursuit of Shambhul, Inspector Narsimha

comes into contact with Heero and Raj.

On meeting them, he realizes

that these were no hardened criminals.

Small time hoodlums, perhaps,

but deep inside their values were still intact.

He chose to appeal to the honesty in them.

Inspector Narsimha exposes

Heero and Raj to Shambhul's criminal past,

who are surprised by this.

They agree to help in whatever way they could.

The inspector in the process of trying to get Shambhul

got into a deadly trap and both Heero and Raj in a show

of extraordinary courage and strength managed to

rescue him and managed to finish off Shambhul Seth.

But in the bargain, Heero and Raj are arrested

as well for associating with a criminal and for a while went to jail.

Much later, when Inspector Narsimha needs help

in his hunt for Babban Singh,

his brief impression of Heero and Raj returns to him.

Since Inspector Narsimha cannot expect

the police to help in a quest for personal revenge,

and his principles would not allow

him to turn to the underworld for help,

he decides to enlist the help of Heero and Raj.

How Inspector Narsimha takes his revenge

on Babban Singh with the help of Heero and Raj then forms the crux of the story.

Though the film is widely conceived to be a remake of 'Sholay',

Ram Gopal Varma gives his own interpretation

to the film that is regarded as the Bible of Hindi cinema.

And true to his nature,

Ramu doesn't cease to surprise and says

he has changed many things in his

modern version of 'Sholay' like the title itself

and also the names of the characters.

Thakur in 'Sholay' has become Narsimha in Ramu's movie .

Radha has become Durga, Basanti has become Ghungroo,

Veeru has become Heero and Jai has become Raj,

Gabbar Singh will be called Babban Singh.

Apart from the names,

the characters themselves would be different.

Babban, for instance, will have much larger footage in the film

Also, he would be more vengeful, almost like a psychopath.

Instead of chopping Narsimha's nds, Babban

only cuts his fingers.

Durga has a muted aggression in her character.

She is clad in black, and has suppressed anger within.

Since the movie is set in Mumbai,

Ghungroo drives an auto rickshaw and not a tonga.

Even the roles played by

Ajay Devgan and Prashant Raj are different.

A major attraction of the film is Urmila Matondkar

gyrating to the modern version of one of the most famous

dance numbers from Hindi cinema Mehbooba Mehbooba

The promos show the hot looking

Urmila in a sexy, low-neck, red colored outfit shaking

her enormous bust and booty to the techno

composition by choreographer Ganesh Hegde

.

AKSHAY TO STAR OPPOSITE BOND GIRL

Akshay to star opposite Bond girl?

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Akshay Kumar is gearing up for his first international venture.

Is it going to be Bond girl Eva Green? The excitement is certainly mounting – not just for Akshay Kumar fans, but for Akshay himself. In his first international film, Akshay could be cast opposite either Salma Hayek, Eva Green or even Jessica Alba.
According to a source, “The producers of Akshay’s new Hollywood film have approached Eva Green who was seen in the James Bond flick Casino Royale and Kingdom of Heaven. Also, they have sent feelers to Jessica Alba. ”

POOJA BHATT DONT BELIVE IN 15 AUG

I don't celebrate on August 15: Pooja Bhatt

Despite 60 years of freedom from British rule, we Indians still face problems that thwart us from feeling proud of our nationality. Gradually, some of these challenges have even changed the meaning of Independence for us. Some eminent people of tinsel town spoke to us about what Independence means to them. Pooja Bhatt (Actress, producer, director) I do not celebrate our Independence on August 15 or January 26. All the 365 days of the year are days of Independence for me. In fact, we Indians are not independent in the real sense. And most of our failures come from the habit of not sharing each other's problems. If we find anybody in trouble, we stay away and watch from a distance. We do not bother until and unless our own family, friends or relatives are involved. Is this what we call Independence? Till there is no change in Indians in this regard, Independence is quite meaningless to me. Firoz Abbas Khan (Director): What does Independence mean to me? It's really a tough question. Independence is responsible for whatever we are today. Only a confined person can understand the true worth of independence. Although we are going to celebrate the 60th year of Independence, there still are some hurdles that restrain us from becoming free Indians. One big issue is that most Indians are still deprived of social and economical freedom. Till we get rid of these obstacles, Independence will remain incomplete for us. Manoj Bajpayee (Actor): For me, Independence gets implemented only when the citizen gets the freedom of thought and expression. To me, that is the gist of Independence and I believe only in it. Rituparna Sengupta (Actress): Independence Day is a symbol of our strength and pride, earned after the sacrifice of several lives. Obeying the Independence means honouring those immortal people. Life is so fast-paced these days that we don't remember these heroes every day. On August 15 and January 26, we get the opportunity to pay homage to our leaders and pioneers. Sunny Deol (Actor): We were not present when India got her independence. Hence, we would not be able to understand its real value now. Back then, our freedom fighters had to fight for it. Now, we take it for granted. We are in the 60th year of our Independence, but frankly speaking, we are not yet independent. We are living with a "this is how it happens" outlook. Helping somebody is considered another way of accepting problems. Till we understand the meaning of unity and share each-other's problems, we won't get real Independence. Shefali Chhaya (Actress): Independence is our basic need. Today, it's impossible to think of a life without freedom. That's why our freedom fighters fought so hard to get our birth right. To me, freedom of thought and expression is much more important than physical freedom. Freedom of thought allows freedom of dreaming. And only when we dream, will we try to fulfill them. We are still dealing with problems like corruption, dowry and foeticide in our society. Alhough these are not happening in every home, the exceptions are numerous enough to thwart the development of our country. Sonali Kulkarni (Actress): Independence is as important as breathing. At the same time, it's necessary to continue struggling to enjoy freedom. Although we have been independent for 60 years now, we are still facing social problems, unemployment being the worst, because it's directly connected to one's disposable income. It's shocking that though we have enough jobs for the entire population, but still all of us can't find suitable work. The potential of our human resources is immense, but it is not utilized properly. As a result, neither is work being done efficiently, nor are people getting work. With strong view on corruption, poverty, unemployment, foeticide and Indian Independence, these stars of Bollywood seem to have their feet very much on the Indian soil. Instead of being immersed in their blessed lifestyle, they think about the problems of the nation. But problems must not weigh us down completely. For every nation has its own set of challenges, progress can be made by finding solutions to them. Once we Indians unite and set our minds to it, the ending is bound to be happy as are most of our Bollywood films. -Rajnee Gupta

Rani to talk about her 'engagement'

By Subhash K Jha

Apart from a scene or two in her films, Rani Mukherjee has never touched a cigarette in her life.

A story that Rani has been lately puffing on the cancer stick has her family and friends amused exasperated and bewildered.

A very close friend of Rani says, "Rani's mother has apparently been asking Rani to quit smoking. Rani's mom is having fits. She wants to know why she'd ask her daughter to quit smoking when the girl doesn't light up at all?

All her friends smoke and drink, and Rani is okay with that. But she won't touch either. We've never seen Rani smoke in our life. She has done a couple of scenes in Bicchoo and Bunty Aur Babli where she had to smoke. Beyond that she has never touched the damned thing. "

Says the friend, "First the false report on Rani's engagement with Aditya Chopra, now this report about she being a smoker…The day Rani was supposed to have been engaged she was shooting the entire day for Pradeep Sarkar's Laga Chunri Mein Daag and laughing her head off.

'Hey guys guess what? I got engaged and I don't know about it,' she called her friends and joked. But now Rani is really up to her neck. Her father cannot go on clarifying on her behalf.

Even on the engagement issue she felt it wasn't right to for her ailing dad to be harassed. 'Dad is already handling my work. How much more can he take?' Rani said to us friends.

Her silence is being misconstrued as acquiescence. Rani has been lying low because she feels the stories are much too baseless to be dignified with a clarification. But now she feels some people are taking advantage of her silence. "

The lady in question is all set to speak out against all the controversies.

Ironically, the story about her smoking comes at a time Rani is all set to do a campaign against smoking.

Says the friend, "Rani had decided to do an anti-smoking campaign on television even before this story came out. Now she's all the more determined to do the campaign, and not just that.

She'll soon be giving her version on the supposed engagement with Aditya Chopra because her family and close friends feel such talk and her silence are damaging her career. "

ASH SHOKED ME

Aishwarya Rai shocked me'

by Subhash K Jha For the first time in her career Aishwarya goes completely makep-free for Varma. He has had the time of his life shooting with the Bachchans, including their Bahu Aishwarya Rai. Exults Ramu, "Very frankly I was wondering what she had in store considering I had never worked with her before. And considering the Sarkar sequel is a dark intense raw and real film I was apprehensive about how far Aishwarya Rai would be able to shed her immense glamour. " But the Bachchan bahu took Ramu by surprise. " She shocked me with her performance. Without too many rehearsals and certainly without attending any pre-shoot workshop (I work, I don't shop) Aishwarya has stood up to Amitji and Abhishek in every scene. Audiences will be shocked with her performance. " Apparently Ramu is already planning a third part to the Sarkar saga. "I can't see the film working without her. But to quote me as saying the film could've worked with Mr Bachchan and Abhishek but not without Aishwarya is like saying the Godfather could do without Brando and Pacino. "