| Suniel Shetty protests A certificate for Enemmy | Suniel Shetty, who is making a comeback on the big screen two years after Thank You is mighty livid. His action flick Enemmy has been granted an A certificate. That, when the film has no foul language, sex or violence.
"They say that 'thematically the film is of adult nature. Now that's a first," wonders Shetty, "I have been around for more than 20 years and have never heard of a film being granted an A certificate due to this reason. Interestingly they love the film and want the film to go as it is. They don't have any issues with the content."
That is of little respite though because an adult certificate immediately results in restricted footfalls and female crowd too turns away.
"Our film doesn't even have a single gaali. It could well be the cleanest ever Adults film released in the history of Bollywood, " says Shetty in a sarcastic tone, "As for the theme, guess we should now start submitting scripts as well to the Censors before we start filming. That should save us all the last minute heart burns."
Apparently, since the film deals with corruption, Censors feel that kids should not be exposed to the wrong doings of those in the Government.
"Censors are saying that if they pass our film for universal audience, they would be pulled up for that. They are saying that they have a lot of pressure from the top, especially in the current times when there are so many political developments, " says director Ashuu Trikha, "In the process we and our film are being made scapegoat. It is so strange because even in our item song we don't have any nudity; it goes with the film's narrative."
No wonder, Mithun Chakraborty, whose wife Yogita Bali had produced the film, is hardly amused.
"Dada is very upset and angry," says Shetty, "An 'A' certificate ends up losing a lot of audience. There are two other films arriving with us as well. I don't know if an 'A' certificate for us has anything to do with that. I have made 100-110 films but guess I don't understand this game anymore." | | Joginder Tuteja | | Ship of Theseus to be screened on demand | The film Ship Of Theseus which is up for a theatrical release in India will however only release in five cities i.e. Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. The makers though are sure that the film has huge appeal and thus to ensure that the film is screened in cities where they are in demand the team has come up with a unique idea. Audiences can Vote for their city, post which the film will release in a theater at their city.
For the first time ever the movie will be screened in a city- on demand. To gauge the audience enthusiasm the Ship of Theseus team is launching an online voting system. The audience will be able to vote online for the movie to also release in their city. The city which gets multiple votes, the team will ensure a screening of the film in that particular city.
The team is currently putting together a portal which will launch this week, where all the movie buffs can go and vote.
Says director, Anand Gandhi, "It's an exciting new way to reach out to viewers, a democratization of cinema, where audiences decide what they want to see. It's great that we have been able to work together with UTV on this initiative."
Ship Of Theseus presented by Kiran Rao film explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through the stories of an experimental photographer, an ailing monk and an enterprising stockbroker.
Speaking about the film's unique strategy, Kiran says, "We feel there are a good number of people who live outside of the big cities like Mumbai and Delhi who are also keen to watch Ship Of Theseus. With our online campaign 'Vote for the film in your city' our effort is to gauge the interest of that audience, and hopefully based on that to take the film to them."
| | | | John Abraham gifts himself a new Yamaha | Last we had heard that biker boy John Abraham had gifted good friend and director Sanjay Gupta a bike. Now the news is that John has added yet another set of flaming wheels to his collection with his latest acquisition the Yamaha YZF R1.
The quite literal beast of a machine which comes in a matte black finish is powered by a massive 998 cc, liquid-cooled, 16- titanium valve, DOHC, in-line four-cylinder engine with crossplane crankshaft is all than any speed demon can ask for.
Interestingly, the latest model which also comes with traction control is a limited edition and customized only for John. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Vishal Dadlani takes on Honey Singh | Music composer and singer Vishal Dadlani thinks explicit music such as Honey Singh's numbers should make mention of its adult intent on the jacket sleeve.
A very young Sikh contestant on the children's singing show Junior Indian Idol repelled composer Vishal Dadlani by rapping out lines of Honey Singh's track.
After hearing the child out Vishal asked him if he even knew what he was singing, "Focus on things that suit you. Don't sing about things like these," Vishal gently reprimanded the child.
So is Vishal Dadlani opposed to Honey Singh's brand of sexually charged songs?
When contacted Vishal Dadlani protests, "I am no fan of Yo Yo Honey Singh's lyrics. But I am all for his right to write and sing what he wants. Art will always reflect life. And sadly, these unfortunate lyrics and their undeniable popularity are a reflection of a certain reality."
Vishal feels the adult content of Honey Singh's music must not be exposed to kids. "I do feel that they are not appropriate for kids. I strongly feel that if an artiste's music is high on sexual content it should say so on the album cover, or on the download link. We need to ensure that there is a mechanism that directs adult content towards adults."
About reprimanding the child who rapped, a la Honey Singh, Vishal avers, "It is very important to have clearer parenting guidelines in this country. Parenting should evolve to a point where parents are made responsible for what their children watch and hear. Since parents are unable to educate or control their kids, I think it's our duty as judges on children's music contests to point it out to the child if what he sings is not suitable to him."
Vishal feels there is a market for all kinds of music. "We must stop blaming producers for selling explicit music content. There is a market for sensuality, sexuality even perhaps for crudity. And the sooner we stop being hypocrites about it the better."
Vishal feels parental monitoring of what children listen to and a clear in-your-face indication of the music's intentions is vital to safeguarding children against music unsuitable for their age.
Says Vishal, "Who is responsible for what a child hears? Censorship is not the answer. Judicious parenting coupled with an effective demarcation-and-rating system are the solution."
Honey Singh is completely in agreement with Vishal. "Though I don't think I sing anything vulgar, I do think some of my songs are not for children. Unfortunately or fortunately I've a sizeable fan-following among kids and they do tend to memorize my songs. I just have to be more careful about the content. But I can't stop kids from singing my songs." | | | | Live Chat Puja Gupta on June 18 at 1530 hrs IST | Back in 2007, she won one of the most coveted beauty pageant crowns, that of Miss India Universe, later making the transition to films with her debut FALTU. She is none other than Puja Gupta.
Post her debut, Puja was seen in the recent zom-com Go Goa Gone, and now soon she will be seen in Shortcut Romeo. Bollywood Hungama gives you a chance to have a live video chat with Puja Gupta on Tuesday, June 18, at 1530 hrs IST. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Priyanka begins shooting for Mary Kom biopic | Priyanka Chopra who had her plate full with movies and her international album suddenly faced a setback in her personal life with her father's death. While everyone in the Bollywood fraternity was expecting Priyanka to take a break, she shocked all by expressing her desire to resume work.
Priyanka was set to shoot for the Mary Kom biopic with Bhansali but because of the tragedy, the shooting was postponed. Bhansali had given Priyanka all the time she needed to recoup from the trauma but the actress was stubborn about getting back to work as she believed that this would be her father's desire too. Priyanka who has been practicing boxing for a while now will start shooting for the film from today. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Sonali did not charge for OUATIMD | Sonali Bendre who is currently quite content judging reality shows on the small screen, will be making an appearance on the silver screen after a decade in Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobara.
She will be playing the role of Mumtaz in the film. Bendre says that she has done the role as a friendly gesture. Sonali who is making a guest appearance in the film, has a strong bond with Milan Luthria who shot her first song, 'Sambhala hai Maine...' in Naaraaz.
Apart from this friendship, Sonali's mother-in-law is one of Shobha Kapoor's good friends and Sonali claims that she did this role for free out of respect for the two important people in her life. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Dolly Ahluwalia takes the lead in Bajatey Raho | She is not the quintessential mummyji of the big screen. In fact, Dolly Ahluwalia is the alter ego of that and much more. The actress will be seen leading the way for the rest of the cast of the film Bajatey Raho. Yes, Dolly, who is in her mid-50s, is the lead actor of the film and has the entire story revolving around her. In fact, the storyline was changed for Dolly to be a part of this film.
"I feel blessed! It was very heartwarming to know that the story was modified keeping me in mind. Shashant is a brilliant director to work with because he knows how to give the actor his/her required creative space. This has made the whole experience rocking!" shares Dolly. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Sushant Parineeti in YRFs Shuddh Desi Romance | From the director of Band Baaja Baaraat and the writer of Chak De! India, comes a fresh and very real love story about the hair-raising minefield between love, attraction and commitment - Shuddh Desi Romance - finally, a romantic comedy that tells it like it is.
Starring in this candid look at the affairs of the heart in today's desi heartland are Rishi Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra, along with debutant Vaani Kapoor.
Shuddh Desi Romance is directed by Maneesh Sharma, written by Jaideep Sahni, and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film releases worldwide on September 13, 2013. | | Bollywood Hungama News Network | | Gay love story gets mainstream spin | The 2010 gay love story Dunno Y...Na Jaane Kyun is ready to get into the sequel zone. But there's a twist in the tale. The sequel would not just be in Hindi, but in English and Norwegian. And the film's Norwegian producers have asked the leading man and producer Kapil Sharma to make the homosexual theme more palatable to a mainstream heterosexual audience.
Hence the earlier torrid love-making scenes between the film's leads Kapil Sharma and Yuvraj Parasher are now being toned down. There will be plenty of intimate moments but no kissing and no bedroom lovemaking scenes that had so affronted Parasher's parents in the first film that they had legally disowned their son.
The gay relationship would now be taken into a happy more mainstream zone to cater to a more conventional audience throughout the world. It's felt by the sequel's makers that a more fun treatment of the gay theme would get a better audience response.
Says Kapil, "Yuvraj and I will play the same characters, namely Aryan and Ashley. But the story is fresh. And this time we shoot in Europe. It will be more of a rom-com this time with some touching moments between our characters."
So is the gay movement softening its attitude to be a more integral part of the mainstream?
Sharma concedes, "Our European producers don't want to make a sob-story out of a gay relationship. They want to celebrate homosexuality, not shed tears about it. So I'd say we're going a step ahead of the first film in the endeavour to get a larger audience. It's important for the gay movement to get the non-gay audience's support and participation."
Parasher's father has revoked his earlier decision to dissociate himself from his son.
Says Kapil Sharma, "Yuvraj's father came down to Mumbai and declared truce with him. I guess after seeing how many awards Dunno Y...Na Jaane Kyun had received worldwide, he re-considered his decision more realistically." | | Subhash K. Jha | |