Feb 22, 2008

Vilm-Fair Awards 2007 - Winners

Last Friday, South India had witnessed one of the best celebrity nights in the recent times. The Vilm-Fair awards, after a lot of controversy ever since it inception, were finally declared. Award functions are always sad towards the end since another such grand and memorable event would happen only next year and also because some of the celebrities walk out dejected and disappointed. It is not possible to keep everyone in the industry happy and so we wish all the ‘hims or hers’ a better luck next time.
It is still a mystery to the entire film industry as to why the Awards were postponed to another week. Some say it is because of the release of Jodha Akbar on the same day as the big stars would not be able to make it up for the function. There are also rumors that the judges took their own sweet time in arriving at the results. However bad the reason is, the Vilm Fair Award nite was one great experience.

The venue, Karuppuswamy Art Academy at Chennai had a seating capacity of 2000 and it was a visual treat to the eyes to see most of the celebrities together in the black auditorium. For the first time ever in the history of Bollywood, the celebrities in the industry had flown down to a South Indian state for an award function. Prominent celebrities from the South had also accompanied their counterparts from the North and made the function a memorable one.

We had the happy (and gay) Karan Johar and the sulky (literally) Ekta Kapoor hosting the function initially. Both of them turned over dramatic (like their movies and soaps) and soon began to converse between themselves. This went on for sometime and the viewers were getting restless and some of them started booing too. This probably ‘hurt’ Karan and Ekta who suddenly started weeping on stage. All then the rest of us could hear was certain words that started with their trademark “K” along with their mourning. Karans best ‘friend’ Shah Rukh had to come on stage; pacify them and had to get them seated with the viewers. The event managers were looking baffled at what was going on and then out of nowhere the Hollywood Celebrity Richard Gere and our own Shilpa Shetty volunteered to host the rest of the event. Mr.Gere and Ms.Shetty took this as an opportunity to justify their actions that they exhibited on April 18th last year. The managers had to drive them out of the auditorium for their misbehavior and they are missing since then. There are reports stating that a couple of Hindu activists were outside the auditorium waiting for them. Sigh! Some people never learn! The center stage was then taken over by the former lovers Salman Khan and Aiswarya Rai Bachchan after a lot of persuasion from Big B (remember the movie Babul !!). They shared an awesome chemistry on stage and there was harmony on stage at last. But all the eyes kept looking at their respective partners; one could see a jealous and fuming Jr. AB and an ever-smiling (?) Katrina Kaif. Actor Viviek Oberoi tried getting into the stage to meet Ash; but as usual there is always our Salman to defend. Viviek was later admitted in the Madras Medical Mission and is currently in a state of coma. But however bad the situations were, the Vilm Fair Award nite was one great experience.

Shaahid Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Kareena, Govinda and Mallika Sherawat sizzled the stage with their gap fillers. There was a surprise performance from Salman Khan who left his hosting mid way and went to dance with his ‘partner’ Govinda. Sweet chap that he is! Saif Ali Khan experienced a wardrobe malfunction during one of his performances, which left him topless on stage. This revealed the name of Saifs other costars including Priety, Rani and Bipasha tattooed on his back. However, one star had kept away from the entire function, as he was not nominated for any of his movies. It was none other than our Akki. The ‘Welcome’ star claims that he had contributed a lot of revenue to both the industry and the government by giving five huge hits and by paying 26 crores as Tax respectively and still had not received even a nomination. He further adds that he is not going to be a part of any of the award functions from now on, as he no longer believes in them. Guess there is always one such celebrity who turns up against awards!!!

Even the Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh was seen sulking at corners as soon as the awards were announced. None of his movies got nominated as expected, atleast in a way he and his ‘friends’ wanted. Towards the end of the show, he made an announcement that he would remake all his hit movies till date with younger looking heroines. Shah Rukh being a sport and who is known to laugh at himself came up with a reason for his announcement too. It seems the scriptwriters are finding it difficult to create a new role for him and is presently being cast in a couple of movies in a cameo (Bhootnath, Dulha Mil Gaya, Hindi remake of a Malayalam movie ‘Kadha Parayumbol’). He further adds that he also plans to make a sequel to DDLJ and this time Raj would be falling in love with Chutki (Pooja Ruparel), Kajols sis in the movie, after he and Simran get married. Well decided Shah Rukh, now we could get to see you as a Baazigar or a Rahul/Raj again! Well, however bad the stars felt, the Vilm Fair Award nite was one great experience!!

And so the award goes to….

BEST FILM
Taare Zameen Par
BEST DIRECTOR
Sriram Raghavan (Johnny Gaddar)
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (MALE)
Akshay Khanna (Gandhi My Father)
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (FEMALE)
Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MALE)
Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry&Manorama Six Feet Under)
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (FEMALE)
Shefali Shah (Gandhi My Father)
BEST DEBUT
Darsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Par)
BEST MUSIC
Shankar Ehsaan Loy (TZP& Salaam-E-Ishq)
BEST LYRICS

Prasoon Joshi…Maa (Taare Zameen Par)
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE)
Krishna …Moula Mere (Chak De India)
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE)
Mayyam Toller …Mayya Mayya (Guru)
MOST POPULAR MOVIE
Om Shanti Om
MOST LOVED CELEBRITY
Govinda
MOST HATED CELEBRITY
Ram Gopal Varma

Vilm Fair Awards is purely based on the imagination of the author and any resemblance to any of the events anywhere in the future is only coincidental. (Phew!)

Special Thanks to :
Award Design : Anitha
Nominations : Reeta
Judges : Vinoj, Selva, Pradipta and Ananth
Proof reading : Vivek

Feb 16, 2008

Movie Review : Jodha Akbar

Powered by: Chakpak.comJodhaa Akbar


A disappointing tale of romance with absolutely no essence.

So what if the director had roped in some of the best of the technicians in the film industry? So what if the director had managed to cast the best of the actors available in tinsel town in his movie? So what if the previous works of the director were critically acclaimed and one of them had even got nominated for an Oscar? But What if the latest offering from the director is only about style and no substance at all with all the hype that was surrounding it. And What if such a movie drags and drags for 3 hours and 20 minutes? Gawd!!!

If you ask me about the movie, it is just a normal average movie made with a lot of grandeur. And if you ask me frankly if I liked it, it’s a big NO. Probably, because I expected a lot from the movie and my expectations increased as soon as some of the reviews started floating in the net. Ashutosh Gowarikar had initially directed a couple of commercial duds, but ever since Lagaan, he had been accredited along with the best directors of India. Though his next venture Swades was not a commercial hit, it clicked because of its content. If Lagaan was about team work, Swades about patriotism, Jodha Akbar speaks about unity.

What goes wrong in JA is that though the message gets clearly conveyed in the first one hour, a lot of unnecessary scenes add to the length of the movie and makes the message very bland. To add it all, there is a love song towards the end that could have been easily avoided. Some of the plots reminded me of the movies that came in the 80’s and early 90’s :

* An evil godmother instead of a step-mom. But the existence of such a mother is recorded in history as well. It is the portrayal that goes wrong here.

* A treacherous brother-in-law and at the end, the hero’s sister runs and pleas him to pardon her ‘suhaagan’.

* Some of the characters eves dropping and leaking vital information at the most crucial points in the movie.

* A person nearing death speaking for so long a time and seconds before his death the important characters of the movie coming in front of him from nowhere.




If the movie had the same cast and crew with a subject that takes place in the modern era, it would definitely see the dust as the story and basic plot offers nothing new.

The movie does have some of the best moments ever shown in Indian cinema. The scene where Akbar reveals to his wife about his illiteracy, the song that appears when Akbar is in the middle of a heated discussion, Akbar taming an elephant (the elephant looks small during the fight but after taming and when Akbar finally mounts onto it, the elephant appears so huge!!!), the entire song Kwaaja Mere Kwaaja (mind blowing music and picturization), Jodha-Akbars sword fight are some of them.

The cinematography, art direction, dialogues, costumes and the music department has done a fabulous job in bringing the 15th century alive on screen. However, the war scene (only war scene in the movie!) could have been shot in a much better way. The scene is a total let down and lacks the intensity of a war. But again, some of the shots of the palaces and the courts along with the BGM’s would make you speechless. So whoever watches a pirated version would, for sure, miss the only best things that the movie offers.

Hrithik is simply amazing in the role of Akbar; one of his careers best performance. Each emotion, composed and controlled, is well captured too. Aishwaryas as Jodha is good only at certain scenes. Otherwise, her performance is very similar to the good roles she had done before. There is an eye color mismatch with the adult Akbar and Jodha and with their childhood. A blooper of the first order. Also, no where in history, it has been mentioned that Akbar had two thumbs in his right hand !!! The rest of the cast has only done what they usually do.

Overall, watching J.A. is not something to die for. Neither is it a time-pass movie, as the time doesn’t pass that easily here!!! Take your own time, check twice if you have anything better to do and only then decide to spend your 3+ hrs. You also need the guts to see an emperor like Akbar trying to woo his wife all the time and somehow win her “Dil”.

Feb 15, 2008

Apologies !!!

The Vilm-Fair Award ceremony have been postponed to 22nd Feb.

We(??) regret for the inconvenience.

Feb 8, 2008

Vilm-Fair Awards 2007 -- Nominations

The awards would be declared and presented on Feb 15th at Chennai.

There would be three separate categories, 'Most Popular Movie', 'Most Loved Film Celebrity' and 'Most Hated Film Celebrity' announced during the award ceremony. However, there are no nominations for that and the result is based on the viewers reaction.

Now why the name Vilm-Fair? The list has only the 2007 released films that I had watched and the music that I had listened to(One of my previous posts mentions that I havnt watched Saawariya. Unfortunately I did watch it, sometime early Jan '08). And unlike the other XXXX-Fare awards, this one, I assure, is going to be fair enough. One thing is certain; the judges (ahem!) are going to have a tough time till the results are announced!!!

So here goes :

BEST FILM
Black Friday
Chak De India
Manorama Six Feet Under
Gandhi My Father
Taare Zameen Par

BEST DIRECTOR
Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par)
Anurag Kashyap (Black Friday)
Sriram Raghavan (Johnny Gaddar)
Imtiaz Ali (Jab We Met)
Shimit Amin (Chak De! India)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (MALE)
Abhishek Bachchan (Guru)
Akshay Khanna (Gandhi My Father)
Shahrukh Khan (Chak De! India)
Amitabh Bachchan (Eklavya and Cheeni Kum)
Shahid Kapoor (Jab We Met)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (FEMALE)
Katrina Kaif (Namasthey London)
Tabu (Cheeni Kum)
Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)
Rani Mukherjee (Tara Ram Pum)
Vidya Balan (Bhool Bhulaiyaa)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MALE)
Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par)
Darshan Jariwala (Gandhi My Father)
Saif Ali Khan (Eklavya)
Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry&Manorama Six Feet Under)
Mithun Chakraborty (Guru)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (FEMALE)
Shefali Shah (Gandhi My Father)
Tisca Chopra (Taare Zameen Par)
Vidya Balan (Guru)
Kiron Kher (Om Shanti Om)
Gul Panag (Manorama Six Feet Under)

BEST DEBUT
Darsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Par)
Niel Mukesh (Johnny Gaddar)
Ranbir Kapoor (Saawariya)
Sonam Kapoor (Saawariya)
Deepika Padukone (Om shanti Om)

BEST MUSIC
A R Rahman (Guru)
Monty Sharma (Saawariya)
Pritam (Bhool Bhulaiyya & Jab We Met)
Shankar Ehsaan Loy (TZP& Salaam-E-Ishq)
Mithoon (Anwar)

BEST LYRICS
Gulzar…Shauk Hai (Guru)
Irshad Kamil…Tum Se Hi (Jab We Met)
Prasoon Joshi…Maa (Taare Zameen Par)
Sameer…Ya Rabba (Salaam-E-Ishq)
Munna Dhiman…Rozaana (Nishabd)

BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE)
Krishna …Moula Mere (Chak De India)
Kailash Kher… Ya Rabba (Salaam-E-Ishq)
Shail Hada…Saawariya (Saawariya)
Shankar Mahadevan…Maa (Taare Zameen Par)
Amitabh Bachchan…Rozaana (Nishabd)

BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (FEMALE)
Shauk Hain...Sowmya Rao (Guru)
Rekha Bharadwaj…Phoonk De (No Smoking)
Shreya Ghosal …Yeh Ishq Hai (Jab We Met)
Mayyam Toller …Mayya Mayya (Guru)
Sunidhi Chauhan …Aaja Nachle (Aaja Nachle)

Feb 3, 2008

Current Favs : Jan 16 - Feb1

New entries last fortnight- Jodha Akbar, Race, Superstar, Calcutta News
Reentry - Bheema

1 Kwaaja Mere Kwaaja from Jodha Akbar (Hindi)
2 Uyirile En Uyirile from Vellithirai (Tamil)
3 Maambulli from Kadha Parayumbol (Malayalam)
4 Sol Sol En Nenje from Pirivom Sandippom (Tamil)
5 Race Sanson Ki from Race (Hindi)
6 Engu Ninnu Vanna from Calcutta News (Malayalam)
7 Kannil Vandadum from Vaazhthugal (Tamil)
8 Maa from Taare Zameen Par (Hindi)
9 Mann Tu Talbat from Superstar (Hindi)
10 Mudhal Mazhai from Bheema (Tamil)