bollywood's Mirchi Gossips... - Page 2

Corporate-counter-talk….. Madhur Bhandakar takes it on his chin….talks to Subhash K Jha

Q: Corporate has too much detailing and jargon from the business world. The average viewer is nonplussed.
A: When I decided to make a film on the workings of the business world I had to make it as authentic as the world of politics in Satta, the socialites' parties in Page 3 and the beer bars in Chandni Bar. I can't fake it. I didn't want my business world to look filmy.

If I did I'd call it Dhande Ke Saudagar or something. If I made a film on the film trade I've to use trade language, or else I'll end up making a filmy film on the film world. I was willing to take the audience into confidence.

I also knew with a title like Corporate I was making a film that had a niche audience and was completely metro-centric, for the multiplexes. I was aware Corporate won't have the immediate emotional resonance as Chandni Bar or Page 3.

But I'm also aware that once the audience gets hooked to the drama they'll love every moment of Corporate. Audiences are already connected to the theme… which is…everyone gets used in one way or another.

Q: Some critics have compared Corporate with Page 3.
A: Thank God they're comparing it with my film only, and not someone else's. I can't see any similarity between the two…You should ask them about it. My films can never be accused of copying each other or anyone else.

Why do people forget that Corporate is a 4-crore rupee experimental film? I'm not a commercial filmmaker I'm an experimental filmmaker whose films make a profit without being formulistic.

Q: There're too many characters. Actors like Sammir Dattani and Minisha Lamba barely register.
A: I was aware of this. And in fact Dattani and Lamba were billed guest appearance when I realized that their role wasn't large enough. Essentially Corporate is about the war between two giants played by Rajat Kapoor and Raj Babbar.

And Atul Kulkarni's voiceover tells us that at the start. I just wanted audiences to recognize the other characters as belonging to the two warring groups.

Q: You've used references from the cola-pesticide controversy and also used real-life personalities like Javed Akhtar and Prahlad Kakkar to give authenticity to your drama.
A: Yes, I have. But let me clarify real-life references are not snatched from the headlines. I didn't borrow anything from a real-life cola war. Our screenplay isn't judgemental.

And the pesticide controversy wasn't peculiar to soft drinks. It cropped up in so many other things. I don't know why my films are always so closely scrutinized for real-life references. Maybe that's a compliment for how real my films are.

Q: What was the point of an item song in your real -life film and of showing the item girl being sent for sex to the politician?
A: Please try to understand. Bollywood is brought in not for an item song but because we needed to show the politician's interest in Bollywood. Why only my film? So many films have shown this nexus. As for an item song, what's wrong with one if it's not out place? I had one in Page 3 also.

Q: Bipasha's character starts as being a woman in-charge but ends up being exploited and abused. Isn't that contradictory?
A: Yes. She becomes a victim eventually just like everyone else in the film. She has the option and she decides to be the fall girl for love. Her love for Kay Kay Menon supercedes all her other considerations. Why can't women in power be emotional?

Man or woman, people have been known to make unbelievable sacrifices for love. So far the audiences' response has been very encouraging. And my films have always grown by word of mouth.

By Subhash K Jha

Just close family, no one else…That's how Priyanka has planned her birthday for today.

"Arrey what birthday, yaar?" she says with mock-exasperation. "I'm going to be 24 today. Isn't that a little old to get all excited about my birthday?

Please, cake, balloon and all…that's for kids. Gosh, don't even remind me of my age! I can't believe I'm this old! My last birthday-party was when I was 5. I still remember the cake, candles, singing, my parents making it the most special day of my childhood. In adulthood that excitement is gone."

Priyanka has her best friend from Delhi flying in tonight to bring in her birthday. "Plus my two other non-filmy friends. That's it. Besides them there will only be my parents and my kid brother.

That's my world, and that's whom I want to bring in my birthday with. I'm a very private person. I like spending special days of my life with those who make my life special."

The day before the birthday there is a sudden unexpected chutti for Priyanka. "Shooting was called off. But I might have shooting. Fortunately it's during the second-half so I can sleep late on my birthday. But no, I don't expect a late night tonight," she said on the afternoon before her birthday.

"Not with my family and friends. They are early-birds. But yes, I do like surprise birthday parties. I don't expect one this time. And I do like lots of gifts on my birthday, who doesn't?

But you know what's my greatest birthday gift? To have those who love me around me. I'd love to have my dear ones with me for my birthday. I'm very shy of people I'm not close to. Accepting birthday wishes from strangers becomes a bit of an ordeal. But I guess I've no choice."

She gets reflective about the year that's gone by. "I remember my last birthday happened on the sets of Rohan Sippy's Bluff Master. Abhishek and Rohan got a cake, and I cut it. A lot has happened since then. I'd say my career has swung into the fast lane. In the past year Bluff Master and Krissh have become hits.

Now I've my fingers crossed for Salaam-e-Ishq and Aap Ki Khatir. Both have shaped up really well. So yeah, my one birthday wish is to continue holding on to the place that I've made for myself. But if you give me only one birthday wish it'd have to be my dad's health.

I want him to come back from his final surgery in the US next month fully healed and whole….It's strange, but while on the work front we had so much happiness, my family has gone through hell because of dad's illness. I want my 25th birthday to be totally stress-free. Is that possible?"

Sandeep S. Sandhu

I once was watching a TV interview of legendry Naushad Ali. Naushad narrated an incident, when he and other musicians from different parts of the world, were invited by the US President for a dinner. An evening before the party, he received a message from the White House: "Kindly, wear a black jacket and a tie for the dinner". Naushad decided against going to the White House, rather than wear a 'jacket and tie', which he had never done in his life. He wouldn't succumb to an invitation that he thought was a subtly delivered 'cultural coercion'. At the last moment, however, he had different thoughts—he strutted into the White House wearing his favourite 'Bandgala'. As far as dress was concerned, he was the odd-man out (everybody else was supporting a black tie). But Naushad had made his point. Indians could not be arm-twisted with ease. The US President (I am forgetting his name) complimented him for not allowing the dress code for the dinner prevail over his love for his culture. That incident is truly symbolic of what Naushad stood for in his entire life. He was an untiring crusader of the Indian culture and a patriot to the core.

Born on December 25, 1919, Naushad Ali, the great music director breathed his last in Mumbai on May 5, 2006. He is survived by four daughters and three sons.

Naushad's contribution to the Indian music cannot be quantified. Figures and words may fall miserably short of portrayal of his true genius. Naushad was a phenomenon; someone, who not only harmonized the Indian classical music into filmy style, but was an important part of the movement that has made music an indistinguishable feature of Hindi movies.

Naushad Ali was born in the culturally important city of Lucknow. He got training in music from Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali, and Ustad Babban Saheb. In 1930s, Naushad moved to Mumbai, where in the beginning, he struggled very hard to find a foot-hold. Later, he picked up a job in an orchestra. Before playing a second fiddle in many movies, he gave musical score to Prem Nagar (1940) independently. However, Sharda (1942) gave him much needed recognition.

In 1940s, he gave music to many films that included Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949), Dulari (1949), Anmol Ghadi (1946), Elaan (1947), and Andaaz (1949). Naushad Ali's some of the best works like music of Baiju Bawra (1952) and Mughal-e-Azaam (1960) were steeped heavily in classical music. Mother India (1957), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Ganga Jamuna (1961) and Mere Mehboob (1963) are some of the other films, whose music was created by Naushad.

Pakeezah (1972) was the last great flick that carries the unmistakable Naushad stamp on its musical notes. However, Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005) became the last movie of his illustrious career. Naushad would always be remembered for the fusion of Indian and Western instruments. Naushad was the pioneer of sound mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing. He was equally fond of the sitar and the flute; the mandolin and clarinet.

In an interview, he had said: "In my 62 years in the film industry, I composed music for 66 films…we used to agonise over every tune and phrase in music, spend sleepless nights over a song, and work on it until it was perfected. And I am still looking for perfection." No other words can succinctly spell the 'creations and quest' of Naushad.

In 1981, Naushad was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. Naushad till his end was a vociferous critic of vulgarisation of music. At whatever forum he could speak, Naushad condemned the 'pop' and 'remix' versions of old masterpieces in no unequivocal terms.

May his soul rest in peace!

Rekha is the Mona Lisa of Bollywood. Enigmatic, seductive, and iconic—Rekha, in her four-decade-old career, has drawn more 'ohs' and 'ahs' from the audiences than any other actress. Although, she has already celebrated her fiftieth birthday, but the charm of her personality and glow of her face, refuse to fade. She is the same charming enchantress, who had once weaved her magic spell on the greatest superstar of India—Amitabh Bachan.

Rekha was born as Bhanurekha Ganesan, to the doyen of south Indian cinema, Gemini Ganeshan, and Telghu actress Pushapavalli in 1954. The unfortunate separation of her parents brought Rekha to Mumbai, with her mother. The ways of nature are strange. A gloomy, flabby, clumsy looking child of the 60s groomed into the most beautiful Indian actress of 70s and beyond.

She debuted in Sawan Badhon in 1970. Regular regimen of exercise, yoga, and meditation brought a sudden and significant change in her figure, complexion, and beauty. Dulal Guha's Do Anjaane (1976) and Maneck Chatterjee's Ghar , reaffirmed in no equivocal terms that Rekha was here-to-stay. Call it her will or God's benevolence—by 1980, Rekha had become the most sought heroine of Bollywood. This was the time when, Amitabh-Rekha flicks like Mr. Natwarlal, Muqadar Ka Sikander (1978), Silsila (1982), Khoon-Paseenacarried Houseful banners. And the gossip mill worked overtime with Amitabh and Rekha's love tales. But alas, not all fairy tale stories reach their logical culminations. Soon the two stars were moving in different orbits. But by this time, both, with twenty films between them, had been catapulted to the super-stardom status.

There was no looking back for Rekha, who kept on mesmerising the ever-hungry Indian audiences, with one riveting performance after another. The role of courtesan played by her, in Muqadaar Ka Sikaander and Umraao Jaan (1987) are masterpieces in a genre, which can only be emulated, but not outdone. In Kamasutra (1996), she again portrayed a seductress, who had spent a lifetime, gratifying the sexual desires of the royals. In between, she gave legendary performances in art films like Utsav (1984), Basera (1981) and Ijaazat (1987) too.

Recently, she won critical acclaim for her roles in Shayam Benegal's Zubeeida and Raj Kumar Santoshi's Lajja, where she played second fiddle to new generation actresses like Karishma, Manisha, and Mahima. Nevertheless, she proved the point, that a thing of beauty is joy forever. More recently, in Koi Mil Gaya and Parineeta too the audiences saw the same charm about her that they had once relished in those 'angry young man' starrers.

But far from the celluloid that has sparkled with her scintillating expression, the personal life of Rekha has been a tragedy that can best be described in Shakespeare's words:

"She pined in thought; And, with a green and yellow melancholy, She sat like Patience on a monument, Smiling at grief." (What You Will)

A child of a disturbed family, she would have least expected her life to be as tumultuous. She was once wooed by film stars Jeetendra, Vinod Mehra, Kiran Kumar and of course, Amitabh Bachan. But none could size up to the persona, whom, she could deem as her man. Ultimately, she married a Delhi based businessman, Mukesh Aggrawal, in 1990, which not only ended in their divorce, but latter's suicide as well. Inwardly bruised Rekha leads a detached and a solitary lifestyle in her Mumbai bungalow.

A veteran of over 60 films, Rekha has won two Best Actress and one Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Awards. She also won a coveted National Award for her performance in Umrao Jaan