Looks like Papa Roshan is going to have more on his hand when he releases his son Hrithik Roshan’s (BTW, he’s one of my fav actors) “international” movie, co-starring Barbara Mori: Kites. Kites is directed by Anurag Basu and has music composed by Rajesh Roshan.

The other day, I was listening to a song from the movie called, “Tum Bhi Ho Wahi” and as soon as I heard the opening portion, it came to my mind that the music seemed familiar from some foreign tune. It turns out that my hunch was right. The song is “inspired” by (or shall I say lifted from) a song whose samples were used by Akon in his hit song “Lonely“. The song is Bobby Vinton’s Mr. Lonely.

Oh, Bollywood! Where is Thy Brain? Stop this kind of lifting or inspiration that may embarrass us all as Indians.

Over the past couple of months, whenever I heard Black Eyed Peas’ Don’t Phunk With My Heart I felt it sounded familiar. Finally I came to realize the source of the similarity. It seems that Black Eyed Peas’ song is “inspired” from Asha Bhosle’s chart-topper, “Ye Mera Dil” from the Amitabh Bachchan starrer, “DON” (1978).

At first I thought it is just a coincidence but then I noticed that the song’s entire opening notes are similar to Ye Mera Dil’s opening.

Now, if you are music expert, you can realize that this cannot be a mere coincidence.

Anyway, I am not complaining. Just noting that inspiration exists not only in Bollywood but also in Hollywood or generically in other parts of the world as well.

You are welcome to correct me if you think I am wrong.

I couldn’t believe it myself! The fact that Music Videos could be made up to a whopping US$ 13 Million is above my level of understanding. In India, you could make a whole movie in all that moolah! Anyway, I came across this list while I was reading about the BSB or the Backstreet Boys on Wikipedia and to my amusement found that their video, “Larger Than Life“, stood at #5 on the list of the Most Expensive Music Videos Ever Made. I loved that song and the video all the more and to find it at #5 is exciting. To watch the video, go to this link on the official BSB channel on youtube.

Anyway, I love the BSB and they are on tour for there brand new album called “This Is Us”. I hope to get a copy of the album pretty soon. Best of Luck to you BSB!!!

Talking about movies always makes me feel excited! Every time I watch a movie or even strike a conversation about the latest flick with a friend, I find myself engrossed in the excitement.

I remember the time (about three months, I guess) before Ram Gopal Varma’s Aag was released into theaters, I was all the more excited about Amitabh Bachchan playing the character of “Gabbar” which had been made an iconic bad guy by the late Amjad Khan. By the team the crescendo of hype was reached amongst all the controversies involving everything from the plot device to the title of the movie to the names characters in the movie, I stayed faithful to the remake’s cause just because of Mr. Amitabh. He was the biggest star and had taken up a huge challenge. But when the time of release came and judging from the promos, I found the end product looked nothing like the original or even what it had set out to do. Everything about the movie had changed, not to mention the character names! This resulted in Aag becoming the biggest dud of that year! How I regretted the fact that this movie got made and actually made it to the theaters.

There are millions like me whose expectations are met with duds and so when I found this great article showcasing the biggest duds or flops of the decade churned out from Bollywood, I decide to share it with you!

Read the article and drop your comments and thoughts about what you think a director/producer should do if they can’t do justice to a cause?

As per reports, Johnny Depp is having second thoughts in returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as (the now famous) Captain Jack Sparrow. I must say that this is the very franchise that shot Johnny to fame six years ago. Wonder what he has in his mind?

Well, the new Pirates movie is set to be the first in a new trilogy of movies. Let us hope that Johnny finally reprises his role rather than sit out on another fun-tastic adventure in the Caribbean. What say guys?

Pradeep Sarkar of ‘Parineeta’ fame is all set to direct his next for Yash Raj Films starring Deepika Padukone and Neil Nitin Mukesh. The pairing of the two stars will be totally fresh and it will interesting to see what the film is going to be all about!

Read the full story here.

So, first half of 2009 is already behind us and now it’s that time of the year again when we sit and look at the movies which have grossed and have been hits with the audience this year.

I have pulled a rough top five list of Movies based on their total gross in India until 14th July 2009 from Indiafm.com which gives us the following results:

I will try to update the above list as and when more movies overtake any of the movies listed above.

For the millions and millions of fans of the one & only King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, here’s a neat fact sheet which I am sure fans would love to know (and many may already know most of them, I’m sure).

Go To: Facts About Michael Jackson

For someone like me who literally grew up on Micheal Jackson’s music ever since I first started listening to English songs in my junior high school, I was totally devastated when I heard about the sad & untimely passing away of MJ this morning.

For me it was like a bolt from the blue. I mean here was one star who truly belonged to the whole world. He was for me the ultimate music factory. His numbers are evergreen and playable at all times. I have his songs with me. They are always going to be with me. A world legend in the true sense of the word, he was unfairly hounded and dogged all this life by people who wanted to make a quick buck and the media as well.

America should realize that they should stop putting the celebrities under the microscope lest they loose all of them in this manner.

Nobody can ever come close to this man. He was and will always be the true “King Of Pop”. Let people think whatever they might want, but to a true fan like me, I will remember him as a man who gave the world some of the most cherished songs/albums ever to have been made.

Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009).

My heart and soul and all my thoughts are with all the family, friends, fans and well-wishers of yours. God bless you.

Here’s a tribute to Jackson: The Life and Times of Michael Jackson

Last Friday was blank. Except for a few low budgets non Producer’s association affiliated releases, no big releases lined up at your nearest multiplex. The reason? The Producer’s strike protesting against the revenue sharing model with the multiplexes. Single screens remain unaffected by this. Producers are demanding a fair revenue share from the multiplexes while the plexes are not even agreeing to review the current model.

This has put our industry in a state of limbo. This means that for the many weeks to come, there ain’t going to be any big release to the theaters!

So much for the relief people used to get. Let us wait and see what this brings us to.