Cocktail: Homi Adajania is all praises for Saif, Deepika, Diana
"The film is out of hands now" says actor-producer Saif Ali Khan, pleased as punch with the upbeat response that the promos of "Cocktail" have been getting from the trade and the public.
Incidentally, Deepika Padukone was the first actor on board the project; yes even before director Homi Adajania stepped in. Dinesh Vijan, Saif's partner at Illuminati Films is the one who insisted he helm the movie, written by Imtiaz Ali. Homi concedes, "I thought it was bizarre that Dinoo wanted me to direct it. It wasn't my comfort zone. Maybe that's why he was sure I'd have a fresh take on it."
While he insists on remaining tight-lipped about the story of three friends and how their relationship with each other changes, Homi is a lot more forthcoming about his actors. Having worked with Khan in his directorial debut, "Being Cyrus", he says, "I don't think Saif has any method. He is very instinctive and natural. He understands you instantly and nails it in the first take."
All praise for his spontaneity, Homi adds, "Even in the intense scenes, he switches on the moment the camera is on and after 'cut', he's back to being himself. He's effortless in bringing that sincerity to his characters - I saw it in "Being Cyrus", and now I saw it in "Cocktail" too."
About Deepika, Homi feels this is her best performance till date. "She is very restrained when required, and perfectly pitched even in highly emotional scenes. Credit goes to her for working hard on her character of Veronica." The filmmaker is also impressed with Diana Penty's maiden performance in the film. "Initially, she may not show many emotions, but she's quite intense in the second half," asserts Homi.
The wild Veronica
Deepika, the first actor on board even before director Homi was hired, says, "My producer Dinesh gave me the choice to play Meera (a simple desi girl) or Veronica (a total wild-child). Veronica was not in my comfort zone, so I grabbed the challenge. I hope the hard work pays off and I have done justice to the character." Deepika also kept a personal video diary of herself as Veronica for a month before shooting. Sometimes she would wake up and film herself for 15-20 minutes, half-asleep, just being the character without thinking too much about it.
Joking around on the sets
Often during shoot, Saif, Homi and Dinesh Vijan would be up to constant antics, joking around and forgetting that the shoot was going on. "Our Anil Mehta would settle us down and remind me that I was supposed to be directing. What can I say man, it was really a laugh riot with Saif on a set and you need an Anil (Mehta) around to balance out the madness. I know I should have been that, but he was really the glue keeping it all together," says Homi.
The director and his sky-diving actresses
Often the actresses would sneak off to indulge in adventure sports like sky-diving during theCape Town schedule. "It's important in life to do things that you think you cannot do. Facing your fears makes you so much stronger. Deepika reminded me of this during the entire shoot in the way she tackled her role.With few actors, you share a synergy where you can stop directing and just let things happen. I did this very often with her" says Homi.
Name debate over cocktail
"Love Aaj Kal 2", "Yaariyan", "Jawaani Janeman" were options that the producers thought of before locking "Cocktail", which was the original working title. "Throughout the shoot, it was called 'Production No. 3'. During post-production, "Yaariyan" became a favourite song, making it a preferred choice. But the title "Cocktail" persistently kept rearing its head and somehow in the end it just felt like the right choice," says producer and actor Saif Ali Khan. Incidentally,"Cocktail" was Imtiaz's working title for the story he wrote. Initially, they were apprehensive that it may sound too western, but they soon realised that even in the villages people understand the word 'cocktail' to be a mix.
Director's note on the producer
My producer Dinesh had probably drunk too many cocktails when he decided to hire me. Okay, in all seriousness, I know he went out on a limb by putting together an unlikely mix to collaborate and make this film. I had made an offbeat English film called "Being Cyrus" six years ago and fallen off the map (intentionally!). He wanted to launch a brand new girl without prior acting experience and we cast Diana in a day. To add to this Dinesh threw Pritam into the mix and wanted to contrast my visuals with some beautifully raw and rustic voices. He had Sajid Ali and Imtiaz give me very 'today' dialogues and gave me an unbelievable cinematographer, Anil Mehta, to visualise this story. It truly has been a cocktail in every sense of the word."
- Homi Adajania
Producer's note on the director
"I had been toying with Imtiaz's story for a while and wondering how I could turn it on its head. I realised that I had cracked my dilemma when I hired Homi Adajania to make this film. I knew he would make the moments of this story his own and since he is the guy he is, it would naturally turn on its head. I was aware that he would add his spontaneity to the story and this would inject freshness into it. Once he was on board and we ideated on the screenplay, I knew I had made the right decision because he had a very unexpected and in-depth take on love without losing its freshness. Besides which, his characterisations are very new, especially the way he has created Veronica (Deepika's character) without making her a cliche. I think he based her on himself!"
- Dinesh Vijan
Locals invited themselves for the party
Maiden's Cove, where "Tumhi Ho Bandu" was filmed, is probably the windiest location in Cape Town. "It was calm while the set was being built, but when we checked the location a day before the shoot, it was so windy that we wondered whether we'd be able to complete shooting the song in time," recalls Homi. Set around a casual beach party, the song became an actual party as the extras were unaware when the camera was rolling and by the second day they even brought their friends just to party on the set. An internationally reputed DJ was hired to spin tracks and often, the crew ended up dancing during the shot.
Illuminati Films' and Eros International's "Cocktail" releases on July 13.
7 AUM ARIVU-REVIEW
Movie : 7 Aum Arivu
Banner: Red Giant Movies
Production: Udhayanidhi Stalin
Direction: A.R. Murugadoss
Here is the day to know more about '7aaum Arivu'
The highest big budget film of 84 crores with innovative markerting strategy of Surya`s career has graced the screens today. Read on as what '7aaum Arivu' is all about
The film opens in the backdrops of 400-500 A.D. where see Suriya as a reigning prince from Pallava Dynasty of Kanchipuram. He embarks a journey to China for helping the poor and innocent people there from ailing diseases and teaches them martial arts. When it’s time for him to get back to Tamil Nadu, the astrologers feel that it’s a bad omen. To prevent him from departing, they poison him and he accepts their justification. Final result – Boddhidharman is buried in China and so is buried is his realms across the century.
Centuries later, Subha (Shruthi Haasan) is working on an experiment based on DNA Recombinant Technology. Her motto is bringing back the pre-existed qualities of Boddhidharman in his present lineage, who is none other than Aravind (Suriya) working as an artist in circus. But sooner the officials of Chinese Government assign Dong Lee (Johny Tri Nguyen) to assassinate Subha to stop her from assignment. Well, it’s not only this mission he is moving down to Chennai, but to start off ‘Operation Red’, which is a dangerous mission that will cost the lives of innocent souls. What happens next is a series of encounters among these three characters – Aravind, Subha and Dong Lee.
The basic concept of the film is something new for the audiences of Tamil Nadu, but the treatment of screenplay doesn’t make it engrossing. The first half of the film has unwanted sequences and the songs are nowhere closer to the film. The pace picks up only during second half and the last 25mins of this film is extraordinary.
Technically, the cinematography by Ravi K Chandran is the over the top and background score by Harris Jayaraj is below average.
On the whole, ‘7 Aum Arivu’ has very little interesting moments, but doesn’t have a screenplay to keep the audiences intact over the show. We can say, it’s a disappointment from A.R. Murugadoss and only Suriya carries the film on his shoulders.
Oh Ringa Ringa a humming and tribal overtones and Mun Andhi tracks kicks off all previous
records and sets new records..
Performance :
Surya amazes the audience with his performance as circus artiste and Bodhi Dharman
Shruthi as research student gets a meaty role in the film to perform and show her skill sets of acting
Johnny Tri Ngyen as baddie jells into the character steals the show
Director A.R.Murugadoss`s immense research is shown in every frame
Cinematography by Ravi K Chandran captures the pulse of Chinese village
Rajeevan`s art direction is a highlight to the movie
Anthony`s editing could have been more gripping
Harris Jayaraj musical tunes are good but doesnt fall closer to the movie
Verdict: '7aaum Arivu' comes with a different concept but fails to hold the grip of the story
Rating-3/5
ISHAQZAADE (MOVIE PREVIEW)
Cast & crew
Banner
Yash Raj Films
Status
Under Production
Color
C
Release Date
2012
LanguageHindi
Genre
Romance
Producer
Aditya Chopra
Director
Habib Faisal
Star Cast
Arjun Kapoor
Parineeti Chopra
Lyricist
Kausar Munir
Music Director
Amit Trivedi
Cinematography
Hemant Chaturvedi
Choreography
Chinni Prakash
Rekha Chinni Prakash
Action
Sham Kaushal
Editor
Aarti Bajaj
Story / Writer
Habib Faisal
If we sum total each of the alphabets in Ishaqzaade, it comes out to be =9+1+8+1+8+8+1+1+4+5 =1. Now if we see the sums of Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, it comes out to be =1+9+1+3+5 and 2+1+7+6+6+9 =5 and =7+1+9+9+5+5+5+2+9 and 3+8+6+7+9+1 =5. Now if we sum total 2012 (year in which the movie Ishaqzaade will be released) it comes out to be =2+0+1+2 =5.
So, the numerological predictions for the movie come out to:
- Ishaqzaade is going to be a successful movie and will benefit both Arjun and Parineeti.
- The year 2012 is going to be very beneficial for both of the debutantes - Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. Not only their works in the movie would be welcomed but their pair will also be regarded as a superhit pair in the coming times.
- Their are VERY high chances that their relationship goes to a next level – that too in the year 2012.
- Both of them will be flooded with offers after their debut movie Ishaqzaade.
My Friend Pinto (MOVIE REVIEW)
| Directed by | Raaghav Dar |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Sanjay Leela Bhansali Ronnie Screwvala |
| Screenplay by | Raaghav Dar |
| Story by | Raaghav Dar |
| Starring | Prateik Babbar Kalki Koechlin Arjun Mathur Shruti Seth Makrand Deshpande Raj Zutshi Divya Dutta |
| Music by | Ajay-Atul |
| Editing by | Shan Mohammed Dipika Kalra |
| Distributed by | SLB Films UTV Motion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 14, 2011 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
His world revolves around a doting mother, a passion for music and the memories of a childhood friend, Sameer, who left Goa for Mumbai many years ago and hasn’t replied to his frequent letters ever since.
Pinto’s talent for music is only matched by his knack for finding trouble in the unlikeliest of places often resulting in the most outlandish and hilarious situations. When Pinto’s idyllic world is shattered by the sudden demise of his mother he decides to head to Mumbai in search of the only friend he knows.
Will Pinto find Sameer or will trouble find him first? Will Pinto and his crazy antics survive the big bad city or more importantly, will Mumbai survive a phenomenon called Pinto?
REVIEW:
After his mother's death, he chooses to visit Mumbai to meet his childhood best friend Sameer. This is his vacation before he fulfills his mother's last wish of becoming a priest. Over the years, Sameer has drifted from Pinto and is therefore not exactly overjoyed at seeing Pinto suddenly land up in Mumbai.
What happens next is Pinto's encounters with a string of weird characters .... a drunk actress, a gambler, the twins ajay-vijay out on a mission, the street urchins who urge him to save a puppy and tactfully steal his wallet. In the midst of this roller-coaster ride he tries to help a damsel (Kalki) with her luggage and messes it up further due to which she misses her train and tries to end her life .... only to be saved by Pinto !
All of them end up at pub for new years eve and what follows is a hilarious, compelling climax. The best part of the movie is the climax !
Inspite of being a light hearted comedy with good performances and a heart warming story, I'm not sure if the audience will want to be-friend "My friend Pinto" !
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