Duke-NUS Medical School Join our Online Community and Get our Free Updates & News ! Youtube.com/insidedukenus
To half the world’s population, Akshay Kumar is more famous than Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis put together. Now the Bollywood actor’s fame is about to spread to the west.
Kumar’s latest film, which opens this weekend, marks the first time that Hollywood’s leading stars have appeared alongside their Indian counterparts in a Bollywood blockbuster. Filmed at Universal Studios in LA and starring Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards, Kambakkht Ishq is an example of the growing desire among western actors, companies and financiers for a piece of India’s multi-billion-pound entertainment industry. After all, as Hollywood is fighting off a deep recession, Bollywood is booming.
Kumar already has his next collaboration in the bag. Later this year he will appear alongside Kylie Minogue in Blue. The singer recorded songs for the film, including the title track – all composed by the Tamil musician AR Rahman, who shot to fame after his Oscar success with Slumdog Millionaire.
For Kumar, who is one of Bollywood’s most recognizable heroes, with more than 100 films to date, collaborations between the film industries of the west and the east are set to accelerate. “I presume they must be seeing what is happening in India. They see what Bollywood was two or three years ago and then they see what it is today,” he said. “It has grown a lot and it has the capacity and capability to grow much more. If this collaboration works, then things will start moving towards Hollywood and Bollywood coming together again and again.”
According to a report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers last month, India’s entertainment and media market was worth $ 15bn in 2008. This is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 10.7% to more than $ 25bn by 2013. Bollywood – which has a 3.6 billion fan base around the world, according to the New York Times – is a major part of that industry. It is hardly surprising that Hollywood and others are taking notice.
Last year Disney took a 32% stake in the Indian media company UMP, and George Soros spent $ 100m on a 3% stake in Reliance Entertainment. The Indian entertainment group Eros International already has two joint ventures, one with Lionsgate and another with Sony Entertainment, that will see the two companies develop, produce and distribute Hindi films.
Kishore Lulla, chairman of Eros, said the “cross-pollination” of Bollywood and Hollywood was inevitable. “India’s entertainment industry is growing rapidly – and it will soon be a powerhouse. In a couple of years a Bollywood film might take $ 50m at the box office in India alone,” he said.
Lulla, whose company co-produced Kumar’s latest film, said collaborations worked best when the script allowed Hollywood actors to appear without taking major roles – as Bollywood budgets were significantly lower. In Kambakkht Ishq, Kumar plays a stuntman for Hollywood stars, one of whom is Stallone. Richards, meanwhile, falls in love with the Indian actor.
“Audiences across the globe want to see something different in this world of recession. People want escapism, and Bollywood movies give them that. Indians express themselves loudly,” said Lulla. “Kambakkht Ishq is just the start. A lot of companies have already approached us – they are very interested in Bollywood. I think Slumdog Millionaire was a huge part of that.”
For Kumar, it is an opportunity to meet one of his greatest heroes. Sitting in a plush London hotel, on his way from the US to India, the Bollywood star remembered his days as a waiter in Thailand. “I used to have a small cupboard on which I had a poster of Stallone and one of Sridevi [a Bollywood actress]. I am so fortunate in life that I have had the opportunity not just to shake their hands but to work with them both.”
He had expected Stallone to be “reserved”, but found the opposite. “I thought, what would a Bollywood action hero talk to a Hollywood action hero about when they met? Within a span of two minutes we were talking about the stunts we had done. He was telling me about his knees and I told him that I was doing yoga to help my back, which was broken. He told me that he was not great with heights, but he still did Cliffhanger, and about how careful they are in Hollywood.”
During his acting career Kumar has hauled himself on to a moving plane, clung to it in mid-air and then jumped aboard a hot-air balloon, swum with 40 sharks and leapt from building to building without any safety devices.
Until a few years ago Bollywood had no safety checks and no insurance, Kumar told Stallone. “The man’s face just dropped and he called me a madman,” said the actor, laughing. “Because I told him we used to jump from the fifth or sixth floor on to cardboard boxes and just pray that nothing would happen.”
Kumar admitted he was “terrified” by the stunt in which he leapt from a plane in mid-air. “Let me start the whole thing by calling myself foolish and stupid to do something like that,” he said with a smile. “Trying to catch a running plane, get up on it, attach myself to it, the plane goes up into the air, and then I jump from there into a hot-air balloon and slide inside to save the heroine.”
More recently, when filming Blue, Kumar was diving close to a shipwreck at a depth of 120ft when his head hit something sharp and started to bleed. “There were 35 or 40 sharks there,” he said. “I kept watching them try to bait the sharks away.
“From that depth you are supposed to bring someone up in four or five minutes, but they got me up in 12 seconds because it was so dangerous.”
Kumar said it was a pleasure to work with Kylie Minogue on the film. “I like the way she adapted herself to Bollywood,” he said. “She is such a huge star – loved by everyone. But she came there and she did exactly what she was told by the director. If she was asked to turn up at 7am in full make-up, then at 6.45am she was there, ready, on set.”
The actor has also worked with Snoop Dogg, who had been “dying to wear a pugdi [turban]” and dance to the Indian songs when he recorded the title track and a music video for the film Singh is Kinng.
“It is further testament to the fact that Indian cinema is establishing ever stronger links with the mainstream. It was brilliant that someone of Snoop Dogg’s calibre wanted to be involved in this project. And he was just as proud to sing, dance and look like an Indian as I am, bless him,” said Kumar. Calling it a day to remember, the actor described Snoop Dogg as a legend: “He’s so chilled and laid-back, a complete family guy. He even brought his uncle to cook chicken for absolutely everyone on set.”
In the future the actor, who used to be a martial arts teacher, would like the chance to work with another of his heroes, Jackie Chan.
Back in India, it is to Kumar that millions of young boys look up. He believes that celebrities should not complain about the attention from fans and the media. “You did everything for attention – when you get it, how can you run away from it? I enjoy a lovely life. I get first-class tickets to move around, sometimes maybe private planes, I get to go to the best places with my family – and I work hard for it.”
He also spends a lot of time and money indulging in his latest hobby, park our, or free running. He is so into the sport, which involves jumping from one point to another, that instead of selling an old house he converted the entire place into a parkour gym, with rods, ropes and climbing areas. “My wife got upset,” he admitted. “She said: ‘Stupid, sell the house.’ But I really love that gym.”
For now, the actor is hoping that merging Bollywood and Hollywood in his latest project will be a success. “This is a typical masala Bollywood film, full of songs, colours, emotions,” he said. “When you say something is masala you mean it has all the ingredients: action, comedy and romance.”
Indian films are “one tone higher”, according to Kumar, with brighter colors and stronger emotions. If someone is crying, they are a little more hysterical, if someone is angry, they shout a little louder, and if someone is happy, they smile a little wider. That’s the difference between Bollywood and Hollywood.
http://www.choiceboll.blogspot.com/2010/09/bollywood-actress-backless-avatar.html
Duke-NUS Medical School Join our Online Community and Get our Free Updates & News ! Youtube.com/insidedukenus
To half the world’s population, Akshay Kumar is more famous than Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis put together. Now the Bollywood actor’s fame is about to spread to the west.
Kumar’s latest film, which opens this weekend, marks the first time that Hollywood’s leading stars have appeared alongside their Indian counterparts in a Bollywood blockbuster. Filmed at Universal Studios in LA and starring Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards, Kambakkht Ishq is an example of the growing desire among western actors, companies and financiers for a piece of India’s multi-billion-pound entertainment industry. After all, as Hollywood is fighting off a deep recession, Bollywood is booming.
Kumar already has his next collaboration in the bag. Later this year he will appear alongside Kylie Minogue in Blue. The singer recorded songs for the film, including the title track – all composed by the Tamil musician AR Rahman, who shot to fame after his Oscar success with Slumdog Millionaire.
For Kumar, who is one of Bollywood’s most recognizable heroes, with more than 100 films to date, collaborations between the film industries of the west and the east are set to accelerate. “I presume they must be seeing what is happening in India. They see what Bollywood was two or three years ago and then they see what it is today,” he said. “It has grown a lot and it has the capacity and capability to grow much more. If this collaboration works, then things will start moving towards Hollywood and Bollywood coming together again and again.”
According to a report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers last month, India’s entertainment and media market was worth $ 15bn in 2008. This is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 10.7% to more than $ 25bn by 2013. Bollywood – which has a 3.6 billion fan base around the world, according to the New York Times – is a major part of that industry. It is hardly surprising that Hollywood and others are taking notice.
Last year Disney took a 32% stake in the Indian media company UMP, and George Soros spent $ 100m on a 3% stake in Reliance Entertainment. The Indian entertainment group Eros International already has two joint ventures, one with Lionsgate and another with Sony Entertainment, that will see the two companies develop, produce and distribute Hindi films.
Kishore Lulla, chairman of Eros, said the “cross-pollination” of Bollywood and Hollywood was inevitable. “India’s entertainment industry is growing rapidly – and it will soon be a powerhouse. In a couple of years a Bollywood film might take $ 50m at the box office in India alone,” he said.
Lulla, whose company co-produced Kumar’s latest film, said collaborations worked best when the script allowed Hollywood actors to appear without taking major roles – as Bollywood budgets were significantly lower. In Kambakkht Ishq, Kumar plays a stuntman for Hollywood stars, one of whom is Stallone. Richards, meanwhile, falls in love with the Indian actor.
“Audiences across the globe want to see something different in this world of recession. People want escapism, and Bollywood movies give them that. Indians express themselves loudly,” said Lulla. “Kambakkht Ishq is just the start. A lot of companies have already approached us – they are very interested in Bollywood. I think Slumdog Millionaire was a huge part of that.”
For Kumar, it is an opportunity to meet one of his greatest heroes. Sitting in a plush London hotel, on his way from the US to India, the Bollywood star remembered his days as a waiter in Thailand. “I used to have a small cupboard on which I had a poster of Stallone and one of Sridevi [a Bollywood actress]. I am so fortunate in life that I have had the opportunity not just to shake their hands but to work with them both.”
He had expected Stallone to be “reserved”, but found the opposite. “I thought, what would a Bollywood action hero talk to a Hollywood action hero about when they met? Within a span of two minutes we were talking about the stunts we had done. He was telling me about his knees and I told him that I was doing yoga to help my back, which was broken. He told me that he was not great with heights, but he still did Cliffhanger, and about how careful they are in Hollywood.”
During his acting career Kumar has hauled himself on to a moving plane, clung to it in mid-air and then jumped aboard a hot-air balloon, swum with 40 sharks and leapt from building to building without any safety devices.
Until a few years ago Bollywood had no safety checks and no insurance, Kumar told Stallone. “The man’s face just dropped and he called me a madman,” said the actor, laughing. “Because I told him we used to jump from the fifth or sixth floor on to cardboard boxes and just pray that nothing would happen.”
Kumar admitted he was “terrified” by the stunt in which he leapt from a plane in mid-air. “Let me start the whole thing by calling myself foolish and stupid to do something like that,” he said with a smile. “Trying to catch a running plane, get up on it, attach myself to it, the plane goes up into the air, and then I jump from there into a hot-air balloon and slide inside to save the heroine.”
More recently, when filming Blue, Kumar was diving close to a shipwreck at a depth of 120ft when his head hit something sharp and started to bleed. “There were 35 or 40 sharks there,” he said. “I kept watching them try to bait the sharks away.
“From that depth you are supposed to bring someone up in four or five minutes, but they got me up in 12 seconds because it was so dangerous.”
Kumar said it was a pleasure to work with Kylie Minogue on the film. “I like the way she adapted herself to Bollywood,” he said. “She is such a huge star – loved by everyone. But she came there and she did exactly what she was told by the director. If she was asked to turn up at 7am in full make-up, then at 6.45am she was there, ready, on set.”
The actor has also worked with Snoop Dogg, who had been “dying to wear a pugdi [turban]” and dance to the Indian songs when he recorded the title track and a music video for the film Singh is Kinng.
“It is further testament to the fact that Indian cinema is establishing ever stronger links with the mainstream. It was brilliant that someone of Snoop Dogg’s calibre wanted to be involved in this project. And he was just as proud to sing, dance and look like an Indian as I am, bless him,” said Kumar. Calling it a day to remember, the actor described Snoop Dogg as a legend: “He’s so chilled and laid-back, a complete family guy. He even brought his uncle to cook chicken for absolutely everyone on set.”
In the future the actor, who used to be a martial arts teacher, would like the chance to work with another of his heroes, Jackie Chan.
Back in India, it is to Kumar that millions of young boys look up. He believes that celebrities should not complain about the attention from fans and the media. “You did everything for attention – when you get it, how can you run away from it? I enjoy a lovely life. I get first-class tickets to move around, sometimes maybe private planes, I get to go to the best places with my family – and I work hard for it.”
He also spends a lot of time and money indulging in his latest hobby, park our, or free running. He is so into the sport, which involves jumping from one point to another, that instead of selling an old house he converted the entire place into a parkour gym, with rods, ropes and climbing areas. “My wife got upset,” he admitted. “She said: ‘Stupid, sell the house.’ But I really love that gym.”
For now, the actor is hoping that merging Bollywood and Hollywood in his latest project will be a success. “This is a typical masala Bollywood film, full of songs, colours, emotions,” he said. “When you say something is masala you mean it has all the ingredients: action, comedy and romance.”
Indian films are “one tone higher”, according to Kumar, with brighter colors and stronger emotions. If someone is crying, they are a little more hysterical, if someone is angry, they shout a little louder, and if someone is happy, they smile a little wider. That’s the difference between Bollywood and Hollywood.
Rani Mukerji was born on March 21st, 1978, into a Bengali family in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her family is a film-oriented family. Her father is Ram Mukerji, a retired film director, producer and writer. He was also one of the founders of Filmistan Studios. Her mother Krishna Mukerji was a playback singer. Her brother Raja Mukerji is a producer turned director. Debashree Roy, award winning Bengali actress is Rani’s maternal aunt. Actresses Kajol and Tanisha, daughter of actress Tanuja, are Rani’s cousins. Ayaan Mukerji, director of WAKE UP SID (2009) is also her cousin.
Rani Mukherji is versatile bollywood actress. Following is her personal life.
Name: Rani Mukherjee, Rani Mukerji
Born: 21st March, 1978
Occupation: Actress
Years Active: 1997- Present
Rani studied at Maneckji Cooper High School in Juhu, Mumbai. She later went to Mithibai College. Rani Mukerji is a trained Odissi dancer. She has three homes in Mumbai. She bought a bungalow in Juhu in mid- 2005. Twinkle Khanna and Suzzane Roshan have done the interiors of this house.
Rani has changed the English transliteration of her surname Mukherjee to Mukerji, because it is spelt that way on her passport.
Career
Late 1990′s – 2002
Rani made a cameo in her father Raja Mukerji’s BIYER PHOOL in 1992. Her debut film as a lead actress was in 1997, in RAJA KI AAYEGI BARAAT. She was paired opposite Shadaab Khan, son of late actor, Amjad Khan. The film failed miserably at the box office but Rani’s performance didn’t go unnoticed. She was a natural, when it came to acting. She received a Special Jury Recognition at the Star Screen Awards.
After the dismissal performance of her first movie, Rani went back to college to study. But she returned in 1998, with the hit movie GHULAM, alongside Aamir Khan. Aamir Khan romanced her in the famous song ‘Aati kya Khandala?’ and she became known as the Khandala girl. She became quite popular with the masses after that.
In 1998, she acted in Karan Johar’s directorial debut ‘ KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI’. She was cast in a supporting role as Shah Rukh Khan’s love interest in the first half. The movie had Kajol in the lead. KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI was one of the biggest Bollywood hits of its time, successful in India as well as overseas. Rani won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
After the initial success Rani got several film offers throughout early 2000′s. Her last movies in the 1990′s were Mehndi (1999) and Hello Brother (1999). Both the films failed at the box office. She also did a special appearance in song from MANN (1999), opposite Aamir Khan.
Her first film in 2000 was BADAL, opposite Bobby Deol. It was one of the highest grossing films of 2000, but the critics disapproved. In 2000, she also acted in other unsuccessful films like the controversial HEY RAAM, opposite Kamal Hassan, HADH KAR DI AAPNE, opposite Govinda, BICHHOO, opposite Bobby Deol, HAR DIL JO PYAAR KAREGA, starring Salman Khan and Preity Zinta and KAHIN PYAAR NA HO JAYE, opposite Salman Khan. Even though, HAR DIL JO PYAR KAREGA was average film Rani was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.
In 2001, Rani did four films. CHORI CHORI CHUPKE CHUPKE , opposite Salman Khan and BAS ITNA SA KHWAAB HAI, opposite Abhishek Bachchan failed to succeed at the box office. Her next film was NAYAK: THE REAL HERO, opposite Anil Kapoor. Rani’s performance in the film, as a village girl, was well appreciated. Her last release of 2001 was KABHI Khushi Kabhie Gham, where she did a cameo. The film was a super hit.
In 2002, Rani acted in PYAR DIWANA HOTA HAI, opposite Govinda. The movie was a failure. Her next was MUJSHE DOSTI KAROGE, alongside Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor. The film was Kunal Kohli’s directorial debut. But the movie didn’t live up to its expectations.
Next, Rani acted in SAATHIYA (2002), one of he best performances till date and a super hit film. She was paired opposite Vivek Oberoi. The movie was Shaad Ali’s directorial debut. Rani won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for this film. She was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her last release in 2002 was CHALO ISHQ LADAYE, opposite Govinda. The film failed to succeed at the box office.
2003 – 2006
In 2003, Rani was paired opposite Shah Rukh Khan in CHALTE CHALTE. It was an average movie. The movie’s story was similar to that of SAATHIYA and Rani’s new look for the film and her acting was highly appreciated. She was nominated for the second Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Her next films in 2003 were CHORI CHORI, opposite Ajay Devgn, CALCUTTA MAIL, opposite Anil Kapoor, and multi-starrer LOC Kargil opposite Ajay Devgn. These three films did not perform well at the box office. At this time she also made a special appearance in the song ‘Mahi ve’, from KAL HO NAA HO (2003).
Riddhi Mehta is editor of http://www.bollywoodchaska.com/content/rani_mukherjee-162/. She has over 3 years writing experience for bollywood movies. She says whatever she feels. She is not worried how bollywood will react to her views.
select: More Actress Articles