Page03.com - Bollywood News

Remembering the unfortunate incident, Hema told IANS: “They screened ‘Sholay’ on a DVD and without subtitles. Nobody could get a hand on the print. So they just blew up the DVD print and projected it on the screen.

“Nowadays, every Hindi film is immediately subtitled. I guess it wasn’t so easy back then. We need to do something about this right away.”

In 2005, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan had to abandon the idea of taking “Sholay” for a retrospective to the Lincoln Centre in New York. He, however, had refused to allow the film to be screened on a DVD.

It’s generally felt that the authorities need to get more alert over the ready availability of films for such retrospectives.

“My brother handled the whole thing here while the embassy in Bangkok monitored everything from there. Our Indian ambassador Lata Reddy in Bangkok took very keen interest in my retrospective.

“It was very difficult to locate the prints of my films. Now that the Hindi film industry is becoming popular all over the world, we need to have a bank of every artiste’s films ready for international events. The authorities should take every artiste into confidence and select 10 of his or her best films.”

The 10-day film festival started on July 19 in Bangkok. The Thai papers are crammed with complimentary reports on Hema’s sojourn.

“The reports were very flattering. All part of my past glory,” she laughed. “A retrospective means I’m part of the past, right?”

The festival was organised in a centrally located multiplex.

“But I left Bangkok after ‘Sholay’. Indians came from all over South Asia. And they seemed quite excited to see me. There were many big stars from Asian cinema.”

Now she’s back in Chennai.

“I went to meet my daughter in Pondicherry where she’s shooting for a film called ‘123′,” said Hema who might have another retrospective in Moscow in September.

“The Russians are very fond of my films like ‘Alibaba Aur Chaalis Chor’ and ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’. I wonder if I’ll be able to get the prints!”

“It will be a film without songs, a very real docudrama kind of subject,” Bharadwaj told IANS.

“How will I make a film without music? I’ll worry about the impact when it’s released. Right now I just want to do the film that has come to my mind.”

“As for the World War II film, yes it’s very much on. But the film requires a huge canvas, huge budget and an international cast. The casting is taking a lot of time, much longer than we thought. I’m still in negotiation with Hollywood actors.”

Has Uma Thurman been approached?

“Yes, she has been approached. But she hasn’t made up her mind. I’m letting the producer go ahead with the casting of the World War II film while I’m going ahead with another film because I need to get back behind the camera by December 2007 or January 2008.”

About “The Blue Umbrella” he said: “I’m not stressed about this film because it’s a very simple and innocent story. No one can hate it.

“I’m not worried about my credibility. Of course, it was made before ‘Omkara’. I’ve matured since then. The ‘Blue Umbrella’ was made in a different frame of mind.”

She is taking great interest in the construction and design of her new home. In fact, one reason why she hasn’t signed any films is because she earlier could never find the time to get her new place ready.

“And it’s now or never. It will be ready during Diwali. It will be two connecting flats, just like it was earlier on. My family would be staying in one flat while I’d be staying in the other. They’ve always given me my privacy. I’d never be comfortable without my parents by my side,” Priyanka told IANS.

Hrithik Roshan’s wife Susanne is doing up her two new flats.

“It’s the first time I’m moving into a new place after I moved into Mumbai. And so far I’ve had no opportunity to do up my place the way I always wanted to. If you come to my house at the moment you’ll see it’s very functional.”

But now comes Priyanka’s dream house.

“Having a friend to do the interiors helps a lot. Susanne and I are doing it up the way I had always visualised my home. My parents are going to be just a door away. I always want my life to be this way, with my family at a place where I can reach out and touch them.”

Just like her home, the actress built her career with utmost care and in a very short span become one of the most sought after in Bollywood. She has given hits like “Aitraaz”, “Bluffmaster”, “Krrish” and “Don”.

Now Priyanka is looking forward to her next releases - action movie “Drona” which sees her as Abhishek Bachchan’s bodyguard and sci-fi flick “Love Story 2050″