BEAUTY - FULL HORROR

It all started with Urmila Matondkar playing a housewife possessed by a spirit in Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot. Since then, playing Ghosts has become an interesting act for our Bollywood actresses. The new age Bollywood horror cinema is moving away from blood & gore and towards good performance & better cinematography to create world class spooky effects. But when we talk of horror films, one name which was synonym with this genre is the Ramsays. Much before Ram Gopal Varmas of the industry, entire generations have grown up getting a gory kick from the Ramsay thrillers. They had an undisputed monopoly in Bollywood when it came to scary flicks. The Ramsay brothers domination was nearly total. When most of the film makers were reluctant of making a horror movie, the Ramsays kept churning out the creepy ‘omelette variety of ghost capers' from their production house year after year. From 'Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neechey', 'Darwaza', 'Hotel', 'Purana Mandir' to the only 3D horror film till date – 'Saamri', their quest for chills was incessant. From fear-provoking loonies trying to scare us, to some of the hottest actresses, doing their bit to build a hair-raising experience, bollywood has come a long way. Be it Urmila Matondkar in Bhoot, Vidya Balan in Bhool Bhulaiya, Adah Sharma in 1920 or Kangana Ranaut in Raaz - The Mystery Continues, the face of ghosts in Bollywood movies has certainly evolved. Maybe the hunks will feel left behind soon and start vying for the bhooth slot!!

E(xams) +E(lections) + I(PL) - BOLLYWOOD = March x April

The exam fever is on!!! Students from class 10 and 12 are bending their backs to prepare for the upcoming board exams. Bollywood too seems to be in exam mode,not wanting to take a chance in these testing times, with very few films releasing and no big-budget film is on the board."March has historically been a lean month. Seldom have big budget movies been released this month. This year, there aren't too many films expected next month too. Distributors are said to be wary of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the forthcoming elections lined up so close to the exam season. The lean season just got leaner!!The current tussle over revenue sharing is not helping the cause. On one side distributors are crying hoarse and on the other the exhibitors (multiplexes) are sticking to their perspective. “The multiplexes are not willing to accept rationalised terms for all films in India like in the rest of the world. In the light of this, the producers-distributors have decided not to market or release any new film set to release April onwards and with the elections and IPL coming, it is going to be tough for theatres”.Amidst all this, last Friday saw the release of three movies -- 13B, Karma Aur Holi and Dhoondte Reh Jaoge. The initial reports are not very encouraging with the response at the ticket counters being lackluster. This trend is expected to continue with the other releases this month. Most of them will have footfalls only in single-screens. The only movie with some hope is 'Aa Dekhen Zara' that has Bipasha Basu in the lead.The industry graph has already taken a dive this year with big budget projects like Chandni Chowk to China, Billu and Delhi-6 tanking on the box-office. Raaz - The Mystery Continues and Dev D have proved once again the unpredictable nature of audience response with their above expectation collections.The films slated for release in March include Gulal, Jai Veeru, Aloo Chat, Firaaq, Ek -- The Power of One, Khalbali -- Fun Unlimited, Barah Anna and Sikandar. But none of these movies have created a hype nor they have got an excellent music response.It looks like the film industry and distributors will have to wait until May for any good omens. Vishal Bhardwaj's Kaminay is tentatively set to release around that period and could be the turning point of the industry’s fortunes. Lets hope that Priyanka Chopra in a de-glam avatar and Shahid Kapir in a double role can do what Chinese, kabotars and barbers could not do!

PIRATES OF ENTERTAINMENT

We have seen Rajnikant at his invincible best in more movies than we can remember. he dodges knives, bites bullets in his mouth, walks out of blasts unscathed, is pushed from mountain tops and he just dusts his trousers and is back again. Try as they might, they just can't get the better of him.
It seems the Indian piracy industry has taken a few lessons from Rajnikant. Bollywood has met its' nemesis in the Rs 50 pirated DVDs, available freely at bakdas (wooden stalls) at railway stations, market corners and pavement stalls across the country. As if that was not bad enough, the pirates have gone beyond borders with their wares getting stacked up in the Indian – run grocery stores overseas.
According to a trade source, "Every Thursday one can get an un released Bollywood film title along with the last four big releases on a pirated video DVD at Mumbai's Crawford Market, Chennai Burma Bazaar, New Delhi's Palika Bazar and many other grey markets across the country.''
No wonder brands like Moser Baer (who sell official DVDs and VCDs of Bollywood titles for as little as Rs 99 and Rs 49) still suffer losses. It is estimated that 25-30% of theatre and home video Bollywood revenues are lost to piracy each year, thanks to the video pirate whose network is so well-oiled.
Sporadic raids, are conducted in Mumbai on and off - where pirated videos worth Rs 1 crore (approx) are recovered, are relatively few and far in between. The industry would ideally like volcano eruption of such raids to make the piracy model unworkable.
While pegging a figure on the actual amount of money lost to piracy maybe be impossible, according to veteran industry sources, Bollywood loses almost Rs 1500 crore to piracy every year.''
And if you thought the target segment for the piracy was limited to those who find the theatre tickets un affordable, think again. Nor is it that the pirated products have a urban penetration alone.
Bollywood can bring down the percentage of flops by at least 50% if piracy, be it in the form of VDC's, DVD's or internet downloads, is controlled.''
Maybe we can call our own Rajni to fight this battle for us!!

YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT FUTURE HOLDS FOR YOU

There were two best of friends. One of them was hare and the other was crow. Though they were best of friends they were very different from each other. But they always complimented each other. Everyone would admire their friendship. Hare was named Hari and crow was named Kalua. Every day Kalua and Hari would spend their most of the free time together. They would have race among themselves or they would just sit and chit chat. Both were fun loving people. Days were going by one day Hari noticed Kalua was very lost and he realized past few days Kalua would be very lost would be in his own world. Hari felt there was something that was bothering Kalua. Hari when got up in the morning thought that he would go ahead and talk to Kalua today and ask him what the matter was. He asked Kalua to meet him in the evening and both went near the lake. It was around evening. Hari first started with his talks about how his day had past and how he had played pranks on everyone. Then after a while he asked Kalua what the matter was and what is happening with him. Kalua hesitated in the beginning but then let his heart out. Kalua could only tell his feelings to Hari. Kalua told him that he had fallen in love with a tortoise and her name was torty. He told him that he had fallen in love with her walk so slowly so cutely she walks. She always has her head down, the way she blushes and smiles when someone talks, even after having something so heavy on her she never cribs. He told Hari that he had fallen in love with everything about her. Hari was happy for Kalua but was confused that was the problem then so he there and there asked what was the problem then and why is he so worried. Kalua then replied the problem is that I am dark people make fun of my color, people make fun of my voice how can I even think of talking to her so I have decided I will let my feelings be with myself and I will never approach her even to be my friend because what if she rejects. Hari asked Kalua so what if she rejects then at least you tried. Kalua tells Hari that I can live with just admiring her but cannot live with her rejection. Hari at that point just smiles and says you never now what future holds for you my dear friend. They both leave the next day Kalua is sitting down near the tree and looking at torty when she just walks to him and says hi Kalua I have been looking at you since many days and I would love to be your friend would you be mine? Kalua is shocked and this is an opportunity he wouldn’t want to miss he tells torty yes and they both go for a date. Hari is standing beside Kalua when all this happens and is just smiling and thinking to himself like I said you never know what future holds for you.