At the premiere of his first Marathi film as producer, Shreyas was present with wife Deepti, actor Kunal Kapoor and lots of unidentified friends. After the screening of the film, Sinai Chaughade, one of Shreyas’s fans got ultra emotional and broke down. The theme of the film apparently centres on the pressures of being prim and proper and looking good at all times, on a girl seeking marriage proposals.
The fan in question was one such young girl, who could relate to the situation. Nonetheless, after a hearty pep talk from Shreyas, the girl went home smiling and the actor was back to interacting with the media.

Shreyas says he’d also like to cast his friends from the industry — Amrita Rao and Celina Jaitley — in his film, along with Amitabh Bachchan. But, the Big B has already stepped into the arena by producing a Marathi film of his own. Does that scare him a little bit? “Not at all. The Marathi film industry will only benefit from stars like Amitabh Bachchan,” he says thoughtfully.

It's felt by most members of Nagesh Kukunoor's Aashayein that this film would be John's turning point as an actor.

No stone is being left unturned to make sure John appears in the best light possible in this make-or-break film.

In this context it has now been decided to move the prestigious Aashayein forward by a couple of weeks, possibly to July 4 which is the date for Harman Baweja and Imran Khan's debut films.

Says a source, "Aashayein is crucial for both John and his director Nagesh Kukunoor. Both were banking heavily on their last projects. John on No Smoking which turned out to be a no-show and Nagesh on Bombay To Bangkok which was a fiasco. Both the actor and director feel Aashayein would be a new beginning for them."

But for John family always comes first. And now that his brother's wedding is days away he finds a lot of the attention that he would have ideally given to Aashayein is now being taken up by the wedding in the family.

Says a source, "Since Allan's wife is Romanian the wedding is in Romania. The arrangements therefore become doubly difficult. John's parents are too old and frail to manage the nitty-gritty.

Even Bipasha is shooting in Bangkok. That leaves John to supervise all the wedding plans. And Allan is his only brother. John wants to make it a memorable wedding."

It was therefore felt in the best interests of the film that the original release date June 20, be postponed by at least a couple of weeks.

Nagesh Kukunoor's associate and co-producer Elahi Hiptoola confirms these developments. "Yes, we did feel that we needed a couple of weeks extra, what with John's brother's marriage.

So yes we're moving to July, probably the first week. Aashayein is a film that needs careful nurturing. We don't mind waiting a bit. But we don't want the release to go wrong."

Interestingly John has no love interest in Aashayein. There's a new girl Sonal Saigal to begin with. But the female lead is played by Anaitha Nair one of the Chak De India girls. John and she share an unusual equation, quite like Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Sarkar Raj.

DOWNLOADS:
http://rapidshare.com/files/80499/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/81199/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/81792/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/98865/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/99894/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/103283/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/102238/Eshares.Dor2006.HM.BestQualit.part7.rar

ஸ்பாயிலர்சுடன் சில சிதறல்:

• ஜீனத் ஆக நடித்த குல் பனாக் (Gul Panag) மிஸ் இந்தியா பட்டம் பெற்றவர்.
• பல மோசமான படங்களில் ஆயிஷா தகியாவை பார்த்து 'நடிப்பு வராத பொண்ணு' போல என்று நினைப்பை உருவாக்கி வைத்தவர். இந்தப் படத்தில் இவர் இன்னொரு சிம்ரன்!
• 'Dutch courage' ஆக தண்ணியடித்துவிட்டு வந்து, ஜீனத்திடம் 'ஐ லவ் யூ' சொல்லும் ஷ்ரேயஸ் தல்பாடேவும் (Shreyas Talpade), அதை வெகு இயல்பாக எடுத்துக் கொள்ளும் தோழமையும்; கடைசியாக கல்லூரியில்தான் இந்த மாதிரி கோணங்கித்தனம் செய்து, வழியாமல், எதார்த்தமாக வாழ்க்கை தொடர்ந்தது. அதையே கிராமத்தில் பார்ப்பது 'நடக்காது!' என்று சாதாரணமாக எண்ண வைக்கும். ஆனால், ஜீனத்தின் அழுத்தமான கதாபாத்திர வடிவமைப்பு, அதை சரியாக உணரவைக்கிறது.
• வசனங்கள்: எளிமை. ஆனால், உணர்ச்சி & எழுச்சி உண்டு. தினசரி பேசுவது போல் இருந்துகொண்டே பலநாள் வடிகட்டிய சாராம்சங்களைக் கொடுக்கிறது. நாவல் எழுத்தில் கிடைக்கும் அழுத்தம் கொண்டவை.
• படத்திற்கு ஆதாரம் (அசல் கதை) மலையாளப் படமாம் (என்ன படம்?)
• தமிழ்ப்பதிவர் எல்லாருக்கும் ஏதாவது தீனி இருக்கிறது: சவுதி அரேபிய இஸ்லாமிய ஷரியத்தை எதிர்ப்பவர்; ஆண்கள சார்ந்து இயங்கும் இந்து மதத்தின் விமர்சகர்; முதலாளித்துவத்தின் கூறுகளை தாக்கும் கம்யூனிஸ்ட்; 'ராத்திரி பத்து மணிக்கு' என்று காந்திஜியை மேற்கோள் காட்டும் பெண்ணியவாதி...
• சினிமாத்தனம் இல்லாத வெற்றிப்படமா: கடைசியில் ரயில்வே ஸ்டேசன், தில்வானியா துலானியா லே ஜாயேங்கே

காதல் உண்டு; காமெடி உண்டு; திருமண பந்தமும், அந்த உறவின் பாசமும் உண்டு; நட்பு உண்டு; சென்டியும் இருக்கிறது... இருந்தும் மசாலாப் படம் பார்த்தபிறகு மனசு முழுக்க நிறைந்திருக்கும் ஏமாற்றம் மட்டும் இல்லை.

புகைப்படம்: யாஹு

one thing that i remember distinctly about his talk is that he talked about us being indians, we think that we have achieved a lot by clearing jee, clearing gre, going to an awesome university and ending up in the US, with an classy high paying job... we think very highly of ourselves... but the thing is, the average IQ level in middle class india is so high, its only with a bit of hard work we can achieve all these wonders...
also, becoming an engineer does not require as much 'drive' as to become a doctor... you don't 'want' to become an engineer so much as your friend may 'want' to become a doctor...

if all of us gave some thought to what we really wanted to do we wouldn't be a nation heading towards a situation in which there were more people to manage than people to be managed... let's face it, as a nation, india is losing out on professionally skilled workers because everyone seems to run for an mba...

the session was humourous... very :) and had something to take back... something to think about - i like such talks...

Y sip asi veremos a Akshay en una proxima pelicula de el ... XD Akshay es uno de loas actores que peude desenvolverse mejor en escenas de accion, y hacer este tipo de escenas no le disgusto a Akshay, quien tuvo llevar un curso especial para esta dificil escena. La escena fue filmada la semana pasada en una piscina en Chembur ( Bangkok) , almando del director Nagesh Kukunoor.  Segun cuentan los productores del film, se le sugirio a Akshay que fuera firmando con un doble, pero Akshay decidio hacer la escena, y segun ellos le salio perfecta. "Aparentemente, ese escenario nunca se ha visto antes en el cine hindi. "Akki está desempeñando un super-héroe, pero no con poderes sobrenaturales." aclara el porductor del film. La escena  es una escenas en aguas profundas en la que Akshay fue encadenado. Akshay hablo un poco de esta escena antes de partir de Bangkok y dijo: "Fue una experiencia increíble porque yo mismo lo hice. Tienes que estar bien preparado para las secuencias submarinas. Si no lo hace correctamente, puede causar todo tipo de problemas de salud. Antes del tiro para la escena, se aseguraron de que yo estaba bien capacitado para hacerlo. Me sometieron a un curso especial en Bangkok por la misma. Tengo una instructor certificado, que se obtiene después de obtener sólo entrenados en la natación subacuática. " .... XD

The thing about Kukunoor is that even if he’s trying a genre alien to him, he still wants to do it his way. So a Nagesh Kukunoor ‘masala’ film is still an interesting experiment.
To be fair to him, the twain does meet and work, for most parts of the film.

Kukunoor’s latest could pretty much be art-house cinema’s unlikely romance with mainstream formula. How else would you define a street-smart cook (assembly-line recipe-based creator) falling in love with a conscientious masseuse and part-time sex and social service worker (a completely uninhibited artiste who lives life in her own terms and is only happy to make you happy because it is just another profession)?

Kukunoor’s heroine does break a few mainstream norms. When she whispers ‘Good morning, First Time’ to her lover the morning-after, it could probably be Kukunoor’s uninhibited sense of cinema waking up to a mainstream cinema that has always aspired for this sort of a liberation.

Specifically too, there is no sense of desperation or any tragic flashback trying to justify her choice of career. Yes, though this is not a new type to Hindi cinema, the girl is still Asian with similar family values (her uncle locks them up in separate rooms despite the warm hospitality, a nice touch). If she spoke fluent English, she would've probably told her clients: "It was a pleasure doing business with you and also purely a business doing
pleasure with you."

That sort of depth in characterisation with the complexity associated with the art-house genre for the girl (Lena Christensen fits the part perfectly looking confident and vulnerable at the same time) is adequately compensated by the mainstream type played by Shreyas (banking on his brand of innocence and charm), the quintessential uni-dimensional Indian hero: the simpleton romantic do-gooder.

With the morality debate dismissed off in a short scene pretty early into the film, there is hardly any serious conflict and Kukunoor keeps the mood light and breezy for most parts, the first half bringing out most of the best laughs in the film. The racial undertones are affectionate, light-hearted and bordering on stereotype, yet largely relatable.

The film suffers from poor pacing, especially that, of songs. While the first song erupts late into the first half, the already slow second half is further burdened with about four song breaks with nothing much happening in the love story. Come on, they kissed before interval… without a serious conflict, there’s not much you can do.

So, for obvious lack of a plot, Kukunoor introduces a new twist to the tale – a rather convoluted one at that, especially, after the main chase part of the film involving him and the underworld takes a romantic comedy route.

JAM K, the bling-sporting gangster rapper, is the epitome of this unlikely blend of poetry, action, romance and humour in the film and you can’t help thinking that the psychologist is the in-built in-house voice of the film critic. Vijay Maurya’s performance that strikes a fine balance between subtlety and eccentricity has been singled out for praise almost unanimously by critics. The character itself is a beautiful sub-text.

There’s plenty to savour in Bombay to Bangkok, despite its slow-coach speed, if you look beneath the surface. Irrespective of that, this doesn’t really disappoint even if you leave your intellectual jeevandhara ki jwaalamukhi behind. ;)

Bombay To Bangkok Movie Review by Taran Adarsh

Nagesh Kukunoor is back to the genre he began his career with -- a light entertainer. In his new outing, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK, he goes a step further and incorporates every ingredient available on the shelf that constitutes atypical Hindi film. This one's not 'same-same, but different' from Kukunoor's earlier films!

But all's not well in Kukunoor's BOMBAY TO BANGKOK. The plot, though interesting, isn't fine-tuned into a gripping screenplay. What holds promise at the start turns out to be a below-ordinary exercise midway through the film.

Of course, Kukunoor's expert execution of the material makes a difference and a few sequences are elevated to the watchable level, but the impact the film ought to make in totality is missing.

In short, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK lacks the solid punch of a solid storyteller!

Shankar [Shreyas Talpade], a petty thief, in desperate need of money, steals from the local don [Naseeruddin Shah] and escapes his way into a team of doctors heading for relief work to Bangkok. Unfortunately, he loses the all-important money bag in the chaos.

In Bangkok, his world turns upside down at a massage parlour where he bumps into Jasmine [Lena]. The hitch is, she is all Thai and he can't converse with her at all. A ray of hope comes his way the next day when Jasmine turns up desperately in need of a doctor!

Shankar, posing as a doctor along with the Sardar buddy Rachinder, jumps into this whirlpool, while Jasmine soon gets pulled into his bumbling adventures while running away from the don and his son [Vijay Maurya].

Kukunoor's films have well etched characters and the ones in BOMBAY TO BANGKOK are no exception. There's a seedha-saadha cook turned thief - perfect; there's a Thai woman who works as a volunteer in the day and at the massage parlour in the night - perfect again; there's the don's son who wants the money back, but is more focussed on being a Rapper - great. But great characters don't really make a great film!

The problem? A few individualistic scenes [Shreyas' first encounter in a massage parlour, his prescribing Viagra to all patients and the sequence with Lena's uncle, a hardcore Bollywood buff] do raise a chuckle, but when viewed in totality, the zing is missing. It's a screenplay of convenience. And that's why you feel sad since Kukunoor gets it right with the characters, but not the script.

Clearly, Kukunoor is letdown by the writing. Yet, it must be mentioned that Kukunoor's comedies aren't the leave-your-brains-behind types, but inclined towards the Hrishi-da-Basuda variety, which is always welcome. The songs are soothing, with 'Same Same But Different' and 'Mausam Suhana' being well-tuned tracks. Cinematography is alright, although one feels that Kukunoor should've set the film in Bangkok, not at a secluded spot outside Bangkok. The viewers do miss the beauty of the metropolis.

Shreyas is a fine actor and he proves his abilities yet again. Lena, the Thai actress, is equally competent. The actor enacting the role of Rachinder is good. Vijay Maurya is excellent. Yateen Karyekar is alright. Naseeruddin Shah is there for just one scene.

On the whole, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK has a few enjoyable moments, but that's about it. At the box-office, not much to look forward to!

May be my friends found it boring but I found the movie quite interesting. Whatever humorous content the movie had, was filmed with Shreyas Talpade on the scene. A normal movie goer who just wishes to watch entertainment will not understand the movie. The movie tells a sordid tale of what goes through a young widow’s mind; the self-conflict and the conflict with the society. Yes, certainly the movie was a women oriented movie but kudos to Kukunoor he brought out another dimension through which one should be viewing young widows.

May be commercially it was not a successful movie, I would like the content of the movie to be ranked on the likes of "Tare Zameen Par" movie.

Director : Nagesh Kukunoor

Starcast:

• Gul Panag
• Ayesha Takia
• Shreyas Talpade
• Girish Karnad
• Prateeksha Lonkar
• Rushad Rana
• Anirudh Jaykar
• Shivan Joshi and others

Tasveer, es una pelicula que cuenta con la actuaciond e Akshay Kumar y Ayesha Takia, y con la direccion de Nagesh Kukunoor. La pelicula se estara estrenando a finales del 2008.

Movie: Dor

Song: Yeh Honsla

Njoy!

Part 1 : Part 2

Movie Name : Dor
Tagline : How far would you go to save the one you love?
Year of Release : 2006
Release Date : 22 September 2006
Genre : Drama

Banner : Sahara One Motion Pictures
Producer : Sahara One Motion Pictures
Executive Producer : Elahe Hiptoola

Director :

Nagesh Kukunoor
Cast : Ayesha Takia, Gul Panag, Shreyas Talpade, Girish Karnad, Nagesh Kukunoor, Prateeksha Lonkar, Uttara Baokar, Vipin Bhati, Abhay Bhargav, Vishal Malhotra, Iklaq Khan
Music Director : Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
Lyricist : Mir Ali Husain
Cinematographer : Sudeep Chatterjee
Dialogue Writer : Mir Ali Husain
Screenplay Writer : Nagesh Kukunoor
Editor : Sanjeeb Datta
Art Director : Muneesh Sappel
Production Designer : Devika Bahudhanam
Action Director : Mahendra Verma
Costume Designer : Komal Shahani, M. M. Karthik
Sound Designer : Vipin Bhati
Background Sound : Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
Playback Singer : Shafqat Amanat Ali, Salim Merchant, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghosal, Karsan Sargathia, Rakesh Chaurasiya, Pratichee, Trilok Gurtu
PRO : Parag Desai

Synopsis :
Dor has two principle characters that are from different walks of life but get bound together following certain occurrences. It's a story about Zeenat (Gul Panag), an independent, self-assured, married young woman, living in a remote Himachal Pradesh village and about Meera (Ayesha Takia) who abodes in rural Rajashtan and hails from a conventional Rajput household. A life changing piece of news which happens to be of common interest reaches both these strangers and compells their life to no longer remain the same. A search begins so that life could be habitual and happy again, a bahuroopiya, played by Shyreas Talpade enters the scenario and perhaps helps unravel the mysteries, leading into a powerful and unexpected ending. The story questions us on how far one can go to save her/his love, fighting all odds, perhaps even destiny.

At that time, I thought that the film was a well made film, though Nagesh  Kukunoor lost it towards the end with a cliched Bollywood  style exchange of bride and bridegrooms who were sitting in different wedding halls till that point.

Since then, I've kept in touch with Nagesh Kukunoor's films once in a while... Rockford, 3 Deewarein... Though I missed Hyderabad Blues2 and Bollywood Calling.

Among his films that I've watched, I always thought that Rockford was a class apart. In the genre of films on 'growing up' in an Indian context, the film stands out. And I guess I also identify with it very much because I am a boarding school girl, and I understand about 'growing up' in boarding school.

But, I rediscovered Nagesh Kukunoor this evening when I watched Iqbal. It was a bad print that made my computer hang again and again... But, with all the many interruptions, I liked the film.

It's a simple story... A boy born deaf and dumb in in a village in India with a passion to play cricket... But, even when it predictable, it is a well told story... And you want to laugh and cry at all the places that the director wishes to have that impact on you.

There is poetry in the name Iqbal. And there was poetry in the film. I loved the blending of shots, set off by poignant music, used by Nagesh Kukunoor for some of his sequences.

Always in the background, is the great Indian love for cricket. You know that this is the story of the small town boy who will achieve his dreams. And yet, you find yourself drawn into the story. The freshness lies in the manner in which the story is told.

The are also creditable performances by Shreyas Talpade (Iqbal), Naseeruddin Shah and Shweta Prasad (Iqbal's sister). When the film ends, a good script is brought to life by able actors, and they leave you with characters that you will remember.

It's hard to fathom why Iqbal lost out to Black at all the major Indian cinema award ceremonies. Naseeruddin Shah does a better potrayal of the coach mentoring a deaf and dumb pupil as compared to Amitabh Bachchan as the Teacher in Black.

Still, it's  good  to watch  Nagesh  Kukunoor mature as a durector. You no longer find the immature director who 'loses it' towards the end of a film. He has grown into a Master who can 'will' his audience's response to the film. That is one of the characteristics of a great director. I look forward to seeing him there.