SoggyCornflakes - Bollywood

Haal-e-Dil is being released today and depending on the reception, the debutants in it will be pushed into the limelight or dismissed as another untalented filmi offspring. I don't know what's going to happen with Haal-e-Dil, but the story is about a love triangle and will be starring Amita Pathak, Adhyayan Suman and Nakuul Mehta. I have to admit, Nakuul has such pretty eyes. Or is that Adhyayan? They're very similar looking...or is that just me?

Anyways, the movie features Ajay Devgan and Kajol in special appearances and Amita, who regards Ajay as a big brother figure, talks about him very affectionately,

"I can't remember a time when Ajay Bhaiyya has not been there for me. He's like a very protective loving elder brother.

I remember as a child he'd be there for me at functions just like a parent. Once he had fever. But he came for a function only because I asked him to.

And when I was assisting John Matthew Mathan in Shikhar Ajay Bhaiyya would be hovering protectively making sure I was never along, having me driven home properly escorted in the night. He and Kajoldi are parents beyond my own parents."

She's also surprisingly level-headed and knows that since she comes from a filmi family, her performance will be judged harshly.

"And I don't blame people for being cynical. Just look at the number of talented youngsters who are waiting for a chance. If I've been given an opportunity I better prove myself."

And don't expect any explicit stuff in the movie because it's a family production and no one is asking Amita to do anything embarrassing.

I'm cold...so very, very cold. And I'm grumpy...very, very grumpy. Would you believe, I get a new computer and within an hour, I have the most evil and annoying virus on it ever! I want to scream! But I'll calm down and update like a normal person, well, as normal as I can be.

After the release of U Me aur Hum, Ajay Devgan hasn't taken any time off, much to the annoyance of his daughter. 5 year old Nysa has missed her parents during the shooting and promotion of Ajay's directorial debut but when her father went off to shoot for the sequel of Golmaal, she threw a serious tantrum. Ajay was then forced to take some time off and spend it with the family.

"I had no choice in the matter. It was my daughter Nysa's command. And she's the only woman in my life who can make me dance around her little finger. Now that she's all of 5 her demands are far more vocal."

"I had been shooting non-stop for U Me Aur Hum. Then after the promotion and press for my film I left for Goa for Gol Maal. That didn't go down well with my daughter."

"And you know what? I actually enjoy her bullying. I loved spending time with her."

Bullying kids are cute when they're five but just wait until she's 15, she'll be screaming and demanding other things.

What's the biggest selling point about Love Story 2050? The science-fiction story line? The debut of Harman Baweja? The possible fact that Harman and co-star Priyanka Chopra may actually be dating in real life? The other possible fact that Harman has a striking resemblance to Hrithik Roshan?

Harman is trying very hard to make sure that the last two points aren't the reason that people come to watch the movie. I don't know why he's complaining though, because bigger audiences are better, no matter why they're there.

Harman is still busy dubbing the movie, even though it's getting released in exactly a month from today. He has a voice expert who listens to his dubbing, and if he has ay inflections or tone in his voice that sounds like someone else, he has to redo the dialogue. That sucks...

Harman is also worried that his connection with Priyanka is hurting the publicity of the movie, and a source reports,

"Harman has a great deal of self-respect. He'd never want to be known by being associated with anyone else more famous and recognizable than him.

In fact Kajol and Ajay Devgan were supposed to launch the music of Love Story 2050. Harman's father decided against it at the last minute.

Harry Baweja in fact rang up his colleague Kumar Mangat and advised him not to allow Kajol and Ajay's presence to overshadow his daughter at the music launch of Haal-e-Dil. That's how self-respecting the Bawejas are."

"He has now decided to seriously cut down if not entirely do away with public appearances with Priyanka. Of course she will be part of all the Love Story 2050 promotion. But Harman is refusing offers for magazine covers and guest appearances on reality shows with Priyanka."

I guess you could say that Harman wants to make it on his own. but there's also an undercurrent of paranoia. Whoohoo, I can spread a new rumour...Harman Baweja is going crazy...kidding.

I guess SoggyCornflakes and all it's readers (I can speak for you guys, can't I?) want to say a very heartfelt sorry to Kajol, who lost her father earlier today. Somdev Mukherjee (sometimes known as Shomu Mukherjee), went into cardiac arrest this morning and passed away at home. He was 65. I guess this was a shock for Kajol and family, as he had recently been released from the hospital after being unwell for a while. Kajol spent a lot of time with him in hospital, keeping a motherly eye on his eating habits and health. Mr. Mukherjee was a producer, making movies such a Sangdil Sanam and Ek Baar Muskura Do. Our thoughts are with Kajol, Tanissha and Ajay Devgan. May Mr. Mukherjee rest in peace.

Is it a good thing or not when a politician likes a movie? Some politicial dude, LK Advani had a special screening of U, Me aur Hum for him and his wife. He used to be film critic before, but after realising that you couldn't make much money from accepting bribes in the film industry, he became a politician, where the "perks" came easily. Just kidding...about the bribes, I mean, he really was a film critic before. I guess that's an advantage to being a politician (being able to watch movies beforehand) but the main point is that he liked it. He liked it so much he gave it a standing ovation when it ended. Because it was a good movie or because he was glad it was over? I yell "Yay!" at the end of every class and believe me, I'm not commending the teaching prowess of my lecturer. But since Ajay Devgan and Kajol were both in attendance, he told them what a great movie it was and especially commended Kajol's performance.

Why don't they just write a book? That's the proper celebrity way of doing things. As Ajay Devgan and Kajol try to promote their movie U, Me aur Hum, questions are obviously asked about the title and the tagline "Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people". Deep hey? The title is pretty self explanatory...you, me and us...by us they mean the couple and the togetherness that comes with marriage. Ajay says,

"When two people marry they tend to think they have covered the distance between themselves but you never cover the distance. You just keep taking a step forward every day - through love, through fights, through understanding, through not understanding, through situations, through problems. It is a growth which keeps happening…"

Though Ajay says that people musn't feel like he's preaching or telling people how to live their lives...he just wants to make a fun movie. And all he wants in the end...

"I will think that I have succeeded with the film when a couple watching the film is holding each other's hands at the end of it."

Ok guys, now who wants to hold my hand at the movies? C'mon...there must be someone...anyone? Now my feelings are hurt!

Why not? Because he's already the brand ambassador for Motorola. Since Kajol and Ajay Devgan make a good advertising couple, it's only natural that Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai would want a piece of that pie. Well, I guess they want it but not that much. They have principles, people! A friend of the Bachchan's says,

"LG was very keen to have Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to endorse their entire range of products across-the-line. It was an extremely tempting and lucrative offer. But LG's range of products also included cell-phones. And Abhishek is already endorsing Motorola cellphones. So, he had to decline LG's offer. But he has received a letter from the company saying they would love to have him and his wife as their brand ambassadors any time they wish."

No wonder LG wanted them on board...their cellphones suck, you really would need to get some celebrity affiliation to sell one of those. Sony Ericsson's rule!

Now you know why it's not advised to wear 5-inch heels, even if you are 5-foot nothing. You never know when you might feel an urge to burst into dance, fall and sprain your ankle. It could happen...the rhythm will get you. Recently, during the shooting of a song for Ajay Devgan's directoral debut U, Me aur Hum, Kajol fell and hurt herself performing a little stunt. A member of the crew reports,

"We shot the song 'Jee le' on the cruise liner. Ashley Lobo has done the choreography. Once while performing the number in the evening, Kajol had to leap down from the upper deck and during the leap, she badly sprained her ankle, thanks to her five-inch heels! But despite that, she took some painkillers and shot the very next day for the same shot with full bravado!"

Isn't she brave? Hubby Ajay is also approving,

"I wanted a salsa for the song because that was the requirement of the script. It was an expensive shoot - more than 100 dancers and we had a crowd of about 600 people on the cruise. First we decided what the requirement of the script was and then Vishal made the salsa number. It was highly brave and professional of her to finish he shoot despite her bad leg injury."

And for once, I really have nothing to say.

And that people, is called wordplay, when I cleverly insert the title of Ajay Devgan's new movie into the heading. Now I'm smart. Someone call me smart...what? I had a bad day, I need some biased and mostly-untrue flattery! It'll make me feel better... So Ajay didn't have a good 2007...for someone who's so picky and choosy about his films, he does tend to choose the crap ones and pick the box-office flops. Though maybe no one brings out his true talents like...himself. Yep, Ajay Devgan's new movie is his directorial debut and will obviously star Ajay as well. U, Me aur Hum (You, me and Us...so have Bollywood writers all emerged with cases of mental trauma or what? Stop mixing up English and Hindi in titles!) is a unorthodox movie, because it doesn't really do the 'happily ever after' thing as most Hindi films do. It involves a married couple, who's story will span 25 years, through courtship, marriage, children and other problems. Blah blah, sounds boring.

Even though I've changed the title song to 'Crap to the left of me, crap to the right of me...' and you get the idea. I'm glad he's proud of himself because that movie is somewhere down there on the unrealistic-and-disjointed-rubbish movie meter. Ritesh Deshmukh loves Cash, even though it didn't do much for his career, but he feels that he's proved that he can do other roles besides comedy. He enjoyed shooting for the film so much that he lost track of how fast shooting went...and yet he never questioned where a F1 car appeared from.

"The kind of action that we got to see in 'Cash' was never seen before. Me, Ajay Devgan, Zayed Khan, Suniel Shetty, Shamita Shetty, Diya Mirza and Esha Deol had a whale of time. We didn't even realize when the shooting got over,"

Did you know Ritesh was an architect? He even has a company...good back-up plan in case the acting career flops. He's not really concentrating on that job just yet though, saying,

"I leave my architecture company's running in the hands of a very efficient team while I focus on my acting,"

Yes, and I leave my unwritten novel in my head while I concentrate on blogging...