Fun Ma Mann Chaa

Mr Perfectionist has just got another bellyache. Or is it one he's giving others, again?

In the recent past, his production of Taare Zameen Par, saw the original director and writer of the film, Amole Gupte, being sidelined and the producer-star of the film, massively rewrote the film and took over the reins, too.

He gave due credit to Gupte, but the scrap caused a lot of heartburn to Gupte, naturally. It was small consolation that the film was appreciated very much by the audieneces as well as critics.

Now, Aamir Khan's production of Delhi Belly seems to have caused heartburn and a bellyache too. The first to the original director of Delhi Belly, and the second to Aamir Khan, to be sure.

Or is it that Aamir is giving a lot of bellyaches to just about everyone around?

These pre-production aches and post-production heartburns are not usual for Mr Khan, and he would probably have quite a stomach upset if he didn't play Mr Perfectionist all the time.

While the directorial responsibility in TZP changed hands when the film was nearly complete, Delhi Belly has seen a change at the helm even before it has gone on the floors.

The original choice to direct Aamir Khan's quirky and crisp sex comedy was Swedish director Robert Nylund. Nylund is nyet nyet already!

Delhi Belly has a new director in the chair already and likely to have a change of language, too.

Confirmed a source close to Delhi Belly, "Robert Nylund has been replaced by Abinay Deo who is veteran actors Ramesh and Seema Deo's younger son -- the elder one, Ajinkya, is a recognised Marathi and Hindi actor."

The source also informed that the film was originally going to be in Hindi when it was to be directed by the Swedish director. Amusingly, it will now be in English."

It has turned out to be big break for the bright spark ad-filmmaker who has already notched up high-budgeted star-studded Pepsi and Cinthol commercial spots.

Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone starred in his recent Pepsi ad with the 'Youngisthan' theme while Hrithik was the lead in the Cinthol ad.

Added the source, "In an instant replay of what happened between Aamir and Amole Gupte during TZP, Aamir couldn't see eye to eye with the Swedish director. Aamir was very impressed by Abhinay's ads. When they met, he found Abhinay to full of do-able ideas."

So, the deal clicked. Reportedly, Abhinay has been asked to direct Delhi Belly on the lines of Guy Ritchie's heist-caper Snatch. "It would be a very naughty and sexy comedy unlike anything one would expect from Aamir. And, yes, he's likely to play a part in it."

So, then, there is much to look forward to with this project. After the bellyache break.

I turned up 21 this November but im not happy of that everyone celebrate when they turn 21 but I didn’t coz I was far away frm my home far away frm everyone who was the important chapter in my life.

I was in a relation with a guy since 5yrs we used love each other ,care for each other , was so much crazy about eachother I was that much crazy about that guy that I never made a fren in my college time everytime I used roam around wid him only him , none can believe that I had got no frenz at all, he was everything for me everything I was so much deeply in love wid him that I used to cheat my parents and go out wid him coz my family were against our love he used to love me so badly that when someone wants to talk with me he used to be jealous.

I was entire world for him and so he was but one day everything shattered.. everything.... From that day he used to behave me differently as if I don’t exist I thought that it was just my feeling but it was the reality we started quralleling used to argue in small small things like this our relation started becoming worst he used to enjoy with his crap frens rather than me our relation was being weaker and weaker day by day now those love were turning slowly to hatred now those trust were disgarded. I was dumped, felt like I was being used so badly. But I did a blunder when I ask him to help me out he showed me his back, when I was in need of him he threw me away then I came to know he was just using me nothing more than that. I started ignoring him .

Thank god it wasn’t too late I gather all my guts and walk ahead their was person who helped me out. He comforted me, adviced me and supported me a lot never thought that I'd get help frm someone like him to take me out from that problem. I really can’t forget him, the one who used to say that he loves me a lot he never did coz when I was in need he walked away like a looser when he broke up wid me to tell the truth I was very happy though my heart couldn’t resist the departure if I hadn’t gone to this phase I would have surely loved him as I did and he left me he run away like a looser, thank god, I wasn’t too far in his love or he would have left me in the middle of ocean and I would ve been of nowhere but Im happy that i can still sail back and get a new boat to sail on.

I wasn’t being able to believe that he dumped me it was being hard for me to face myself my parents. I wasn’t being able to explain my pains also then I decided to move away. I chose to come here. God how could I come here alone with none’s supports??? None can believe that I came to Australia all alone no frenz at all and guess what no nepali people in my journey also I gather all my guts and came here to study hospitality coz I was keen interested in this subject came here alone struggle a lot missed my parents a lot.

The one who helped me to heal those pains used to be in touch with me actually he was my best frens’s fren he used to call me mail me saying not to be upset not to feel alone I also used to feel comfortable with him, talking with him makes me feel better than one day he proposed me I was shocked knowing all those craps also he’s ready to accept me I ask him do he know wat he’s doing he replied yes but I’m still confused what to do now it isn’t that I dont love him but I m afraid of my past I don’t no what to do, finally said yes but I’m still confuse why he want to be a part of me knowing all the truth he loves me a lot but am afraid if he’ll also leave me like that guy did .God can’t be rude to me every time thinking about this I put my step ahead .

Starring Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav, Juhi Chawla, Suresh Menon, Rajat Kapoor
Written and Directed by Jaideep Sen
Rating: **

Stand-up comedian Suresh Menon playing one of four psychologically –disturbed protagonists utters barely one word in the film.

"Kidnap!" he stammers to tell his associates that the sweet doctor Juhi Chawla has been whisked away by an assortment of baddies who look like they could do with a spot of training in crime management.

Krazzy 4 is a refreshing if not riveting change from the risqué-driven innuendo-laden ha-ha-thons that have recently infested our theatres with parasitical passion.

This one has a point to make under the barrage of burlesque. And it's all done in the spirit of give and tickle. Cinematographer Ajit Bhat shoots the streets and crowded places of Mumbai to signify the sense of freedom that the four institutionalized heroes feel even in the claustrophobic atmosphere outside the confines of their world within the stone walls.

So who's the crazy one? The guy who thinks we're still living in the era of Gandhian freedom fighters? Or the guy (Rajat Kapoor exuding suave viallainy with a slurpy stealth) who gets his sweet wife kidnapped for political gains?

Good question. And adeptly handled by debutant director Jaideep Sen as long as the audience doesn't ask too many questions about the logistics of four men and a jalopy joyride one not-so-fine-day into intrigue, adventure and crime.

Sen with ample help from writer Ashwani Dheer knows precisely which frontiers to open to ensure the comedy doesn't slip into farce. The initial scenes introducing the characters are well executed. And if the pace doesn't slacken it's because the actors wouldn't let it.

Each of the four main actors invest a certain something beyond the precincts of parody to their characters.

Irrfan Khan as the literate cleanliness freak, Arshad Warsi as the inmate with an anger-management problem, Rajpal Yadav caught in Gandhian time warp and Suresh Menon as the tongue-tied repressed vagrant invest a definite direction to the wacked-out goings-on.

If you persuade a cine buff to choose one from the foursome it would have to be Rajpal who's by now the maestro of mirthful manoeuverings. Watch him give his patriotic mouthfuls to several scumbags in the plot. Rajpal brings the house down.

Agreed some of the plotting and narrative transitions lack finesse. But when have mainstream Hindi films been known for extravagant bouts of finesse?

Amidst the rites of the road movie, the narrative packs in some seriously satirical and sensitive moments. Check out Arshad's scene with his prospective father-in-law. It's a superbly scripted encounter worthy of far more recognition than evident on 'farce'-value.

Or that isolated incident of pathos when the hygiene maniac Irrfan repositions the bindi on his wife's head.

Such moments, delicately drawn and deftly defined get drown in the din of devilish merrymakers on a rampage.

Krazzy 4 moves from one wacked-out adventure to another without sacrificing the sublinear message on the definition of normal behaviour in a social structure that has lost all its sense of proportion and is hurling into mayhem and anarchy.

Laughter, you might want to know, is the only medicine.

Krazzy 4 isn't quite the tonic for our wounded souls. But you can't help giggle at the goings-on specially when the cast is so finely clued into the cult of comicality.

A word on the two controversial item songs. Shah Rukh moves. Hrithik glides. And yes, Irrfan Khan tries to wipe Rakhi Sawant's tattoo clean in her item song.

That's where the laughter of the lewd is dispersed in the innocence of the 'mad'. Krazzy 4 isn't Milos Forman's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Priyadarshan did that in Kyun Ki.

Krazzy 4 goes cuckoo in different sometimes endearing strokes.

It isn't as if Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan planned to be in Miami for their first anniversary.

"It just happened," says the Big B. "Abhishek is shooting in Miami for Dostana on their marriage anniversary. And Aishwarya is going to be with him.

We'll get them by a new technology called skyscape to speak from Miami to mediapersons in Mumbai at the launch of Sarkar Raj which happens to be on the same evening as their wedding anniversary."

Ram Gopal Varma says it's just a coincidence that the unveiling of Sarkar Raj will take place on April 20.

"I didn't even remember it was Abhishek and Aishwarya's wedding anniversary on 20 April.

We decided to do the First Look party of Sarkar Raj on this day because it was six weeks before the release. It's just a coincidence. I don't keep track of anyone's birthdays and anniversaries, not even mine."

Ramu is excited about something else. "This is the first time the actors of an Indian film will be connected to the media via satellite. We're doing it through a technology known as skyscape.

I think it's very exciting to reach out by modern technology in this way. It's the First-Look party of Sarkar Raj. Aishwarya and Abhishek will be live from Miami in Mumbai."

However the Big B will be physically present in Mumbai at the event.

Tell Ramu that the Sarkar Raj event will be eclipsed by the excitement of the lead pair's wedding anniversary, and Ramu shrugs. "It doesn't matter. We can't separate Abhishek and Aishwarya's life from Sarkar Raj.

Very soon after the First-Look event we'll have the music release of Sarkar Raj. T Series is releasing the music soundtrack."

After all the friction with Bhooshan Kumar it's back to T Series!

Starring Ajay Devgan, Kajol, Sumeet Raghavan, Divya Dutta, Isha Sharwani, Karan Khanna
Directed by Ajay Devgan
Rating: *** ½

Nothing that Ajay Devgan has done in the past prepares us for the poise, poignancy and sensitivity of his directorial debut.

U Me Aur Hum is one of those tender-and-tactile mellow-dramas that leaves you with minty thoughts and dewy eyes.

The heart is completely at the right place, as Devgan turning director with a élan that thumbs its nose gently at all those who scoff at his actioner's antecedents, tells the story of a husband whose gentle ministrations take his alzheimer-stricken wife from her absentminded youth to blanked-out old age.

The journey gives us insights into the man-woman relationship and the intricate commitments of a marriage as seen through the eyes that go beyond the romance and excitement of courtship to an area where dark clouds gather over a relationship and threaten its annhiliation.

The trick, says Devgan's soft but persuasive film, is to hold on. To value the things that make life worth living.

There's an interesting reversal of the age-hold cinematic formula where the husband is looked after by the wife through rain and shine.

Devgan plays the caring nurturing husband who wooes and wins the fey and feisty (if it's Kajol it cannot be any other way) waitress on a cruise that seems to go on and on and on….

Luckily the narrative doesn't get 'see' sick. To be sure, the film could have avoided a prolonged courtship that tells us nothing more about life than what we don't already know in the first fifteen minutes.

Devgan gets to the point halfway through. The narrative quickly comes to grips with the theme as the solemn doctor (Sachin Khadekar looking suitably solemn ) announces the absent-mindedness which has been stalking Pia for a while is actually alzheimers.

The realization of the gravity of the illness, coming to terms with and finally recognizing the reality of an unshakeable love and faith beyond the obvious hardships of a troubled compatibility….these are themes that are given a surprisingly lowkey treatment by the first-time director.

Devgan's directorial speciality is the interweavement of the characters through some wittily and cleverly written dialogues (Ashwin Dheer) which always tell us more than what we hear.

The film's substantial emotional impact depends entire on the performances, not just Devgan and Kjaol but their two sets of friends, played by Sumeet Raghavan-Divya Dutta as the constantly-quarelling divorce-bound couple and Karan Khanna-Isha Sharwani as the ever-horny about-to-wed couple.Raghvan is a special revelation. He's quiet and attentive in scenes that require him to be that.

The broad strokes in which these characters are portrayed helps to give the narrative a spindly sensuous and moving spin.

But of course the chemistry between the lead players guides the destiny of this remarkable film.

Kajol's powerhouse performance punctuated and italicized by moments where she hungrily sinks her teeth into emotional depths seldom afforded to commercial actors, comes as no surprise. However her makeup sometimes gives her caked look.

Never mind. This is a film where we can easily look beyond the mask.

Ajay Devgan bowls you over. To find him measuring up to his wife's dizzying histrionics is an amazing experience. Watch his exprsssions as his character goes from concern to bitterness to acceptance and atonement. Jim Broadbent looking after his alzheimer-stricken wife Judi Dench in Iris couldn't have done better.

One sequence in the restaurant where Devgan is required to give a long bitter and ironical monologue on man's innate selfishness after he leaves his wife at a care centre, will stand out among the sincerest expressions of the human ego seen in the cinema.

Devgan's command over his craft and the language of heart take you by surprise. Watch that longish but never-dull sequence at the little party where the friends make up their own poetry expressing their personal philosophy to the tune of Sarey raah chalte chalte in Pakeezah. Kaifi Azmi meets his match.

Such moments imbue the narrative with an instant cinematic literacy.

Some of the sequences showing Kajol's mental blanking-out are so vivid they make your hairs stand on-end.

That nervewracking moment when the mother nearly ends up drowning her baby in the bath tub or that poignant interlude when the husband leaves his wife at the hospital are so wonderfully devised and executed you wonder which came first: the thought to make a film on alzheimers, or the characters who inhabit this dark yet uplifting theme.

The film has its flaws. It sometimes tries too hard to be trendily philosophical in its dialogues and ends up sounding phoney.

The pseudo-philosophical lyrics for the songs sound like cheap ripoffs of Gulzar. Also, the narrative doesn't seem to follow the linear path. The back-and-forth editing pyrotechnics where key incidents are recreated in flashy flashbacks are distracting.

However Aseem Bajaj's cinematography does much to create a smooth homogenous look and mood for the narrative.

The film makes you forget all the flaws. It takes us through a world of love pain and acceptance with such transparent honesty of purpose that at the end of it, you only wonder one thing…why can't more movies be like U Me Aur Hum?

Shrugging off controversy over being part of the Olympic torch rally as brand ambassador for the Lenovo group, Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan says while he favours the Tibetan cause, the world of sports and politics should ideally be kept apart.

'My reasons for running are to honour my commitments as brand ambassador for the Lenovo group, one of the sponsors of the Olympics,' said Saif, who is among those carrying the torch Thursday in the capital.

'Maybe I'm being idealistic. But we have issues with Pakistan over Kashmir, and we still play cricket with them. It's good that the cause of Tibet is highlighted, but in a perfect world sport and politics would remain separate. The Dalai Lama himself has said he is supporting the Olympics.'

A number of the country's celebrities from sports and films, including Saif's sister Soha Ali Khan, have pulled out of the Indian leg of the globe trotting ritual.

'It's a personal issue. My sister, for example, is not supporting this and I respect her decision.'

After last year's health scare when Saif was admitted to hospital with chest pains, the performer is making an effort to stay fit. 'It was almost a heart attack, caused by exertion from dancing,' Saif asserted. 'I used to smoke a lot, but then quit,' added the actor who impressed in his recent release 'Race'.

He also puts down his newfound healthy living to 'a bit of Kareena Kapoor's influence'.

And how has the 'Race' star been staying in shape before the relay?

'I did about 45 minutes on the treadmill, running between 6 and 9 km an hour.'

With two thumbs up, the actor signs off by giving his support to the Indian competitors at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 'I'd like to wish all of our sports stars all the best.'