Peepali Live - A must watch Film

Peepali Live is a small budget film which is produced by none other than the perfectionist Aamir Khan. Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. The solution to this  problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might've been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebre' with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Political bigwigs, high ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips "Will he or Won't he?" As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels? 

After 3 Idiots Aamir Khan comes with this film which seems to a master piece though he has just produced the film. This is a film one should not miss. So wait for 13th August 2010.

5 horror movies you must watch once

If we are talking about Hollywood horror movies than we cannot forget The Exorcist that change the trend of horror cinema. Directed by William Friedkin, the movie stars Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sydow in the leading role. The movie is inspired from a documented exorcism that was performed on a fourteen year old child. The movie had some of the best special effects and sound effects that scared a lot of people. The spider-walk scene of the movie became the scariest scene of the movie that promised sleepless nights to the audience. The movie also won an Academy Award for Best Sound and became the most profitable horror movies of all time.

Jaws is another thriller movie which is nothing less than a horror movie and had such great impact on the minds of the audience that people began to fear water and many people across United States decided that they will never step into the sea again in their lifetime. Jaws became one of the most successful thrillers of all times. The movie was released in 1975 and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie is about a fictional Amity Island where a number of beachgoers become a victim of the great white shark. The movie is rated as one of the best horror movies of all times even though there are no ghosts or evil spirits in the movie.

To be very honest, The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 thriller movie but the movie is a blend of thriller and horror genre and believe me you will not sleep once you have watched this awesome movie. Directed by Jonathan Demme, the movie stars Anthony Hopkins in one of his best performances ever as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist and a cannibalistic serial killer. The movie won all the top five Academy Awards including Best Picture and people appreciate some of the scenes which were nothing less than horror. The movie also stars Jodie Foster who won the Best Actress Academy Award for the same movie.

Directed by Stanley Kubrick this horror flick is based on a novel of the same name by Stephen King. The Shining stars Jack Nicholson as a tormented writer along with Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd in the leading role. The movie has a slow pace but soon it takes over the mind and intense drama and tension is revealed that keeps you involved into the movie and scares you to the core. The initial response to the movie was dull but gradually The Shining received a word of mouth publicity to become one of the scariest movies in Hollywood that can give you nightmares for months.

The story of Omen is very much similar to The Exorcist but the execution of the story is so unique that you will not mind watching The Omen and find yourself sweating. The movie revolves around a wealthy US ambassador who adopts a child when he is informed that his wife gave birth to a stillborn child. Directed by Richard Donner, the movie stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in the lead role. The movie has a haunting background score that will not let you sleep for weeks and some gore scenes are capable enough to keep you away from having a sound sleep. The Omen does not have the regular horror scenes but the movie has a very creepy feel and penetrates deep inside our subconscious to scare the hell out of us.

Tere bin laden- movie you do not want to miss!

Tere Bin Laden is silly comedy about an ambitious young news reporter from Pakistan who is desperate to migrate to America in pursuit of the American dream. His repeated attempts to immigrate are shot down as his visa is always rejected due to some reasons. But when things couldn't look worse he comes across an Osama bin laden look alike. Ali then hatches a scheme to produce a fake Osama video and sell it to news channels as a breakthrough scoop! Unfortunately there are serious ramifications as the White House gets involved and dispatches an overzealous secret agent on Ali's trail. This is the movie you do not want to miss this year. But you have to wait till July 16, 2010

" Zenda " sends a strong message to fanatical party workers

Avdhut Gupte's much awaited political thriller  &   controversial Marathi movie " Zenda "  is release on 8th January 2010 all over Maharastra. You may be a dedicated worker of any political party having blind faith in your leader, but when your leaders take you for granted, the day is not far when your conscience will not permit you to continue with them further.  Set on the backdrop of the situation that had arisen in Maharashtra, due to split in a regional party over the issue of their chief handing over the leadership to his own son. The director has tried to emphasize on the impact of  political crisis on the dedicated party workers. " Zenda" does not openly show the senior political leader and founder of the party in this film, but only his shivering hands holding the Rudraksha string, indicate his presence in few scenes. The entire screenplay tests the patience of three fanatical youths who are affected by the changing political scenario in the state politics with the change in stance by their leaders. On the other hand, how the fourth youth who is a shrewd consultant of an Event Management company benefits out of this political battle, has been cleverly shown through this film. 

Director Avadhoot Gupte has tried to touch upon so many other relevant  issues covered by the story and screenplay writer Sachin Darekar. One of them is obviously the selfish attitude of the leaders, while playing the hand in glove game with opposition party leaders to protect each other’s interest.  Very clearly the film goes on to show how a Home minister of a ruling party is in touch with his opposition party leader to derive maximum benefits for him and his party. In the climax, the director has shown as to how the change in stance by their leaders at the last minute, make them lose their dedicated workers. And at the same time, it is shown as to who ultimately benefits. 

" Zenda " is an action packed thriller based on a serious issue that ultimately affects today’s youth, but it is a more a serious tale rather than an entertaining film. It is altogether a different cinema showing the dark side of Maharashtra’s politics and how the local Maharashtrians ultimately suffer. Those who love to watch films on realistic subjects, will surely like " Zenda "  Besides good music, excellent photography at outdoor locations; the other plus points of the film are good editing and performances of the artistes, who look so natural. 

Surprisingly, the film  has not received much opposition prior to its release, except for a delegation belonging to one upcoming party, lodging their protest over few scenes. It is very difficult to predict the success of this well presented film, but one thing is clear that Marathi cinema has taken up a bolder and sensible theme to create that required impact on the target audience affected by blind faith in their leaders.

Watch Santosh Juvekar as a fanatic party worker. His body language and spontaneous reactions speaks a lot about the dilemma of a serious party worker. On the other hand, Sidhharth Chandekar who plays his close friend and his own sister’s boy friend, has a different image of a well educated young man, who takes his decisions as per his conscience.  Chinmay Madlekar the young party worker from Kolhapur perfectly fits into his character of an educated youth who is very ambitious of making it big in Politics.

Among others in the cast Puskar Shotri and Rajesh Shringarpure fit perfectly into their respective characters, well supported by Tejashree Pradhan,Sachit Patil, Neha Joshi, Ujwala Jog and Shubhangi Gokhale.

Download the hit VITHALA song from movie " Zenda " click Here.

Top Filmi hairstyles in bollywood

How did Kareena Kapoor get this gorgeous look in GQ magazine? It's all thanks to 35-year-old hairstylist Purshottam Hans or Pompy, who has been styling Bollywood heroines for the past seven years. Hailing from Amritsar, Punjab, Pompy started his filmi career by assisting make-up artist Cory Walia. His first assignment was making Sameera Reddy look hot in Darna Mana Hai. He went on to do films like Girlfriend, and finally landed his first independent movies, Dev D and Kambakkht Ishq.

Kareena Kapoor -Kambakkht Ishq

Priyanka Chopra- Fashion

Deepika Padukone- Fiama Di Wills ad

Mahi Gill- Dev D

 

Kalki- Dev D

 

Malaika- Construction Ad

Amruta Arora- Girlfriend

Karishma Kapoor- Nach Baliye

Sophie- Alibaug

Vipasha Agarwal- I see you

 

Technologies used in “Avatar” Movie

Writer & Director James Cameron is making another cinema history with the breathtaking new 3D Technology in his latest sensation "Avatar" which has swept the world with more surprises giving a new dimension to the world of cinema. Cameron developed this new technology that could finally revolutionize the film making by getting the 3D and the CGI to new heights while mixing the real footage and the motion-captured CGI in an immersive 3D technology. A brief review of the technologies used by the director that powered some of the most stunning effects of the movie is given below.   

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  Digital Animation:- All the movie’s animations were rendered by Weta Digital, the digital-effects studio of Peter Jackson, and a huge team of the artists were constantly working for over a year to transfer the renderings to the photo-realistic images. Every minute detail was taken care of, by rendering every tree, leaf or even rock individually with the most innovative methods in rendering, lighting and shading that used over a petabyte (1000 terabytes) of hard disk storage.

  
  
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  Virtual Camera and Simul-Cam:- The latest inventions in the motion capture area are the Simul-Cam and the Virtual camera, which combined the best features of the 3D and the CGI technologies for Avatar. To build or develop his virtual world in a more enhanced way, Cameron captured the motion-capture results in real-time set up. The integration of the CGI based characters and the environments into one single Fusion eyepiece with the help of the Simul-Cam assisted the director to view and direct the CGI scenes like any other normal live action scenes. The virtual camera acted more as a virtual monitor that allowed the director to judge the overall effect of the final cut of the movie, and which was fed with CGI data by the supercomputers. 
  

  
  
•  Stereoscopic 3D Fusion Camera System:- This has been the most advanced of the technologies in recent times as Cameron’s undying obsession with 3D has resulted in the most advanced camera system ever designed, the new Fusion Camera System. It was specially used to bridge up the gaps between scenes and artistically formed an untraceable connectivity between the live action scenes and the computer generated scenes.
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  Performance Capture by CGI:- Cameron has used the Computer generated imagery (CGI) extensively in Avatar. Though he has already been using it since his earlier movies days like Terminator2: Judgment Day, and Total Recall, but in Avatar he specifically used a novel technique called “image-based facial performance capture” that required actors to wear some special head-gears already equipped with camera. As the actors performed, the camera transmitted facial movements that were put on the virtual characters. This made the movements of the body back to a connected array of systems which acted out their scenes on a ‘performance capture’ stage six times bigger than anything that was ever used earlier in the industry. This resulted in an amazingly emotional authenticity by the movie characters. The movie’s footage was built from around 70% CGI including its female lead.

  
  

With these technologies, Cameron has redefined the meaning of sci-fi cinema and Avatar being declared the biggest blockbuster of 2009 is surely a “must-watch” 3D movie.

London Dreams- Review

London Dreams is a complete departure from Vipul Shah's earlier outings Aankhen, Waqt, Namastey London. This film is about relationships and tends to get very real and intense, in the post-interval portions specifically. The scale of London Dreams is gigantic and the execution of concerts (it's about a band) sweeps you off your feet. London Dreams borrows from Milos Forman's brilliant film Amadeus (1984), which was based on Salieri and Mozart's life. In fact, Suneel Darshan too had made a film based on Amadeus called Shakalaka Boom Boom. Vipul Shah has handled this intricate subject well, but the writing could've been tighter. Sejal Shah's cinematography is super. Brownie points for capturing the concerts brilliantly. Salim-Sulaiman's background score matches international standards.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is a downer. London Dreams is about a rock band, about music, about concerts and the music had to be the soul of the film. Unfortunately, it's not! The songs have been filmed in the most energetic fashion, but how one wishes the music was one of the strengths of the film. The film could've concluded when the two friends re-unite at the station. Adding one more song thereafter only dilutes the impact of the emotionally correct sequence that has just been witnessed.It's the second hour that does the trick. You can't help but carry several sequences in your heart, even after you've made an exit from the auditorium.Both Salman and Ajay vie for top honours. Salman has a role that the junta would take to instantly and the actor too endears himself to the viewers. He's stupendous. When it comes to displaying intensity on screen, very few can live up to the standards set by Ajay. To state that he packs in a power-packed performance would be an understatement. They, in fact, compliment each other wonderfully well.

Asin is admirable and pairs off very well with Salman. She is sure to have a new name after this film - Chennai Express (that's how Salman addresses her affectionately, all through the film). Om Puri has a brief role. Aditya Roy Kapur is very good and registers an impact. Rannvijay Singh doesn't get much to do, except throw nasty looks at Salman. Manoj Pahwa provides some funny moments. Brinda Parekh is okay.

This film was originally planned over a decade back to be made by Rajkumar Santoshi with SRK and Aamir. Well, it may not star them now but makes for an excellent musical journey worth an experience in the big cinema hall.

London Dreams has superb performances from its principal cast and several emotionally-charged sequences as its two trump cards. But its biggest drawback is its climax and also the music, which is the weakest link of the movie.

3 Idiots are coming this Dec

This December Vidhu Vinod Chopra is coming up with 3 Idiots. Three Idiots has been directed by Rajkumar Hirani, with Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, and Boman Irani in lead roles. It is scheduled to be released on December 25, 2009. This is the most anticipated Bollywood films of the year 2009. The film is based on a famous novel, Five Point Someone written by Indian writer Chetan Bhagat. However, Chetan Bhagat has said that he was not involved in the scriptwriting of this movie. 3 Idiots is likely to be a big Christmas Gift to all Bollywood fans. I am also eagerly waiting for the release of the film. 

3 Idiots Synopsis 

"Two friends (Madhavan and Sharman Joshi) embark on a quest for a lost buddy. On this journey, they encounter a long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash and a funeral that goes impossibly out of control. As they make their way through the perilous landscape, another journey begins: their inner journey through memory lane and the story of their friend – the irrepressible free thinker Rancho (Aamir Khan), who in his unique way, touched and changed their lives. It’s a story of their hostel days that swings between Rancho’s romance with the spirited Pia (Kareena Kapoor), and his clash with an oppressive mentor, Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani). And then one day, suddenly, Rancho vanishes….

Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he leave?
The friend who influenced and inspired them to think creatively and independently, even as the conformist world called them three idiots. Where is the original idiot now?
Finally in misty mountains of unparalleled beauty, the friends find the key to the secret.

Three Idiots is a comedy of ideas that is as provocative as funny, as wildly entertaining as insightful. A laugh-riot that talks about the most important of human pursuits: self-actualization.

Review: Blue

Blue is the most awaited movie of the year. Blue, directed by debutante Anthony D Souza, sets a new benchmark in Hindi film-making. It boasts of some stunning underwater photography and It has some scintillating action sequences both on the ground and underwater, superbly shot.

This film is an example how even with Rs 100 crore -- the reported budget -- worth of eye-popping gimmicks and stunts, you can make thriller that ends up being hilarious. And that's largely because of the ridiculous plot, the inane dialogues and plain bad direction.

Akshay plays a rich man in the Bahamas who loves his women and the good life. He befriends Sanjay Dutt, a fisherman/diver who lives in a sprawling designer bungalow and flaunts a glamorous wife (Lara Dutta). There are vague references to Dutt's dark memories about a sunken ship. Meanwhile, Dutt's brother Zayed Khan gets arm-twisted by some goons in Bangkok so he lands up in the Bahama's, leaving his girl (Katrina Kaif behind. The characters live in a world of item numbers and yachts with bikes and jacuzzis on them. And Lara Dutta frolics in the sea looking like male fantasy personified, before she is kidnapped by Bangkok baddie (Rahul Dev) out for revenge. Eventually, they all need money to get Lara back. And Akshay convinces the motley crew to go hunt for treasure in the sunken ship from Dutt's dark memory.

The plot is supposed to be full of clever twists and turns, but is nothing but preposterous. It is meant to be a razor-sharp adrenaline inducer, but throughout the nearly two-hour film you get the feeling as if you are watching an extended music video with snatches of National Geographic footage.

Almost all of the first half, the director takes you through sunny Bahamas and neon-lit Bangkok, and tries to establish a relationship of sorts between the lead characters.

The much-touted treasure hunt, which was allegedly at the heart of this film, comes and goes before you can say 'Blue'. When it does appear at the tail-end, it reveals the kind of jewellery you'd seen on TV during the days of Mahabharat.

The actors must have expended all their energies in the underwater sequences. They look exhausted and uninvolved delivering their dialogues.

Akshay Kumar wears some cool suits (designer Narendra Kumar Ahmed) and sports a grey goatee. That's all. Sanjay Dutt -- who wears sunglasses the first thing when gunmen attack his house -- looks flabby and flabbergasted, and seems unsure of what to do with the sizzling Lara on his arms.

Zayed Khan gets to ride some hot Ducatti motorbikes and exchange very strange, stilted dialogues with Katrina Kaif ("special appearance"). And finally pop star Kylie Minogue makes an appearance, shaking her booty to the weakest song of the soundtrack.

The film has some cool songs, but a disappointingly weak. Maybe with the right kind of background music things would have looked up. Blue was supposed to be a thriller. But if you made Captain Haddock of Tintin fame watch it, I am sure he would exclaim: Blue blistering barnacles!