Mumbai, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has received threat through a text message on his mobile phone for having visited both a temple and a dargah.
The sexagenarian, who often mentions his routines on his blog, mentioned his visit to Haji Ali Dargah and the nearby Siddhivinayak temple here Thursday.
“That I visit a Muslim dargah and [...]
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New Delhi, Saif Ali Khan met Kareena Kapoor for the first time when she was just 14 years old and more than a decade later he fell in love with her. The two are now one of the most talked about couples in tinsel town, but say marriage is not on the cards.
“We do discuss [...]
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Mumbai, Shilpa Shetty is tying the knot with fiance Raj Kundra in the last week of November and there’s a chance that her sister Shamita, who is in the “Bigg Boss” house, may not be able to attend the ceremony.
“Shamita has not been told anything about Shilpa’s engagement or the marriage in the last [...]
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New Delhi, Kareena Kapoor is clear she will never endorse food chains like McDonald’s or Burger King, known for their beef burgers and the like, while co-actor and boyfriend Saif Ali Khan says he can’t think of doing an underwear ad.
“I will not endorse non-vegetarian products like McDonald’s or Burger King. I won’t endorse [...]
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Indian tennis player Sania Mirza, who is in London to start the build-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, came face to face with Salman Khan who was put up at the same hotel.
Salman invited Sania and her family for a private screening of London Dreams, which was held at a West End [...]
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Mumbai, Sanjay Dutt has been shooting with much younger Kangna Ranaut for “Knock Out” and if they look compatible in spite of the latter being half his age, it’s all because of a special ketosis diet – a high-fat, low-carbohydrate food.
“Sanjay went on this special diet in June. It required him to take lots and [...]
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New Delhi, He was her last resort for her critically-acclaimed directorial debut “Luck By Chance”. But for her second film Zoya Akhtar has specially written a part for brother Farhan.
“It’s a road movie set in Spain about three boys and one of the three characters is definitely Farhan. I knew I wanted him. I was [...]
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Mumbai, “London Dreams” is Vipul Shah’s first film that doesn’t star Akshay Kumar. While the filmmaker missed his favourite actor, he says he thoroughly enjoyed working with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn and loved their dynamism.
“When you work with people with whom you have never worked before, there are two ways to look at things. [...]
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Most stories sound interesting on paper or when narrated in 10/15 minutes flat. But when you watch the full-blown cinematic version, you realize why most Hindi films fall flat on their face.
Sujoy Ghosh’s ALADIN promises the moon, but what you get is a mere flicker. This fantasy had the trappings to transport you to fantasyland, but… Seriously, Sujoy could’ve run his imagination wild and come up with a film that would’ve made the child in you jump, scream and clap with glee. But 15/20 minutes into the film and you realize that ALADIN is merely a visual spectacle. A film that lacks soul!
After having watched ALADIN, I too desire three wishes…
* Wish 1: Henceforth, actors shouldn’t ask for scripts before they sign on the dotted line;
* Wish 2: Producers should act more responsibly. They shouldn’t be mere moneybags, but have creative control too;
* Wish 3: Directors and writers should stop taking the intelligent viewer for granted.
Will a genie appear and fulfil my wishes? I doubt!
Aladin Chatterjee [Riteish Deshmukh] lives in the city of Khwaish, an orphan who has been bullied since childhood by Kasim [Sahil Khan] and his gang. But his life changes when Jasmine [Jacqueline Fernandez] gives him a magic lamp because it lets loose the genie Genius [Amitabh Bachchan].
Desperate to grant him three wishes and seek the end of his contract with the Magic Lamp, Genius makes Aladin’s life difficult until the real threat looms on the horizon: the ex-genie Ringmaster [Sanjay Dutt]. Why does Ringmaster want to kill Aladin? What is the dark secret about Aladin’s past that Genius is carrying?
Let’s give the credit where it’s due. ALADIN starts with a bang, with the initial portions holding a lot of promise. But no sooner does the genie appears, he breaks into a song and you realize that ALADIN is no different from those mundane films churned out week after week. Sadly, ALADIN only slides downwards after this point. Sure, there’re some interesting moments, but you can actually count those sequences.
The problem is not with the story, but the screenplay [also penned by Sujoy Ghosh]. It rests on absurdities. Okay, one expects absurdities in a fantasy, you can be pardoned for it, but at least they should have the power to keep you hooked. In this case, they don’t!
You can’t overlook two major flaws in the writing…
* One, Amitabh refrains from revealing the past to Riteish, till Sanjay Dutt arrives on the scene and spills the beans.
* Two, the flashback portion - which resulted in Riteish’s parents losing their lives - is haphazard. It’s not easy to comprehend.
Also, the entire track, when Amitabh loses his powers and becomes an ordinary mortal, looks gimmicky. At the same time, it looks weird when Amitabh fights an entire army of Sanju’s henchmen in the end. It gets very formulaic at this point. Not just that, even the climax is ridiculous.
Sujoy Ghosh’s screenplay is bad, to put it bluntly. Given the kind of stars and budget at his disposal, the director should’ve come up with a slick entertainer, but ALADIN comes across as a feeble clone of a poor Hollywood film. Like his last outing HOME DELIVERY, this one too is high on gloss, but low on content.
The visual effects are excellent at places, but tacky at times. Vishal-Shekhar’s music is strictly okay. However, too many songs in the initial reels act as roadblocks. The cinematography is top notch.
ALADIN belongs to Riteish, who’s easy on the eyes. The best part is, he looks the character and enacts it without going overboard. He’s at his natural best here. Surprisingly, Amitabh Bachchan is over the top this time, which puts you off after a point. Sanjay Dutt has two standard expressions from start to end. Jacqueline Fernandez gets no scope, but she looks gorgeous nonetheless.
Ratna Pathak Shah is wasted. Ditto for Victor Banerjee. And what is a wonderful actor like Mita Vashisht doing in this film? Saahil Khan and Arif Zakaria are okay.
On the whole, ALADIN is a terrible waste of a terrific opportunity. Hugely disappointing!
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New Delhi, Bollywood actor Riteish Deshmukh, who has been on his toes promoting his upcoming fantasy adventure “Aladin”, says film promotion is tedious.
“I think working on films is far more easier than promoting them. Same questions (by the media) and same answers (from me),” Riteish posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.
Riteish plays the title role [...]
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