Here’s a first look at the sets of Saawariya, undoubtedly one of the most awaited movies of 2007. Saawriya has been directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and is being produced by Sony Pictures India.

This movie marks Sony Pictures’ foray into Bollywood which is the world’s largest movie industry in terms of the number of movies (big or small budget) it turns up in a year.  Incidentally, it is also the debut vehicle for star kids : Ranvir Kapoor, son of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, and Sonam who is the daughter of Anil Kapoor.

The film is slated for an Eid/Diwali release.

Well, this morning I saw the episode of Koffee with Karan with Shahrukh Khan and Farah Khan and Deepika Padukone. They discussed many things with Om Shanti Om (directed by Farah Khan and starring Shahrukh Khan) being one of them.

Now the premise of the movie, as discussed by the director and star as well as by (me) seeing the trailer of the movie, is that Shahrukh plays an movie star in the 1970s and he returns later in 2007 as an incarnation. The movie looks interesting and I can’t wait to get to the movie theater to watch it as soon as it releases.

With Bollywood going Global, how would it be that the Global competition didn’t eventually make it’s way into Bollywood? Well, here it is. After Sony Pictures India announced their first Hindi-language movie Saawariya with Award winning director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it is the turn of Warner Bros. Entertainment India to announce their first Hindi-language movie, in  collaboration with Ramesh Sippy Entertainment and Orion Pictures, starring Akshay Kumar and is titled “Made In China”.

The film, which is to be directed by Nikhil Advani (of Kal Ho Naa Ho and Salaam-e-Ishq fame), has Akshay playing a small time Mumbai cook who gets mistaken for a martial arts expert. The film also stars model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone.

The film will be the first Indian movie to be shot in China.

This article carries more information on this and the general trend of Hollywood Studios moving into Bollywood.

Ok, here is the latest update on Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. The characters in the movie have been rechristened as follows:

• Gabbar Singh is now Babban Singh (played by Amitabh Bachchan)
• Thakur is now Narsimha (played by Mohanlal)
• Veeru is now Heero (played by Ajay Devgan)
• Jai is now Raj (played by newcomer, Prashant Raj)
• Basanti is now Ghungroo (played by Nisha Kothari)
• Radha is now Durga Devi (played by Sushmita Sen)
• Sambha is now Tambhe (played by Sushant Singh)

So, there you have it. This is an update to my previous article, Ram Gopal Varma’s Aag: A Preview . And yes, the Tonga driven by the famous “Dhanno” is now a motor-driven Auto Rickshaw!

The movie is coming to theaters across India on 31st August 2007.

Well, there we have it! Salman Bhaiya has done it again. Sallu bhai has delivered the first true super hit movie of the year. (I know, Aap Kaa Surroor is a Big Hit but it started losing business after the initial opening it received.)

To aid him in his Bollywood Boxoffice conquest this time, was seasoned Govinda. He may have left the stage for politics but it really feels good to see him back in action.

(Image courtesy: www.sawf.org)

About the movie, this one is a rehashed desi version of our very own Will Smith starrer, Hitch. Salman plays the role inspired from Dr. Hitch

The story goes like this: Govinda has fallen for his boss, the very beautiful and gorgeous looking, Katrina Kaif. The trouble is, this match seems quite far fetched and add to the mix our Raja Bhaiya’s shyness and inability to express his love to her. Enter our macho-man, Salman Bhaiya (as Prem). He helps Govinda in wooing his ladylove and falls in love with Lara.

So you can call it a typical David Dhawan film complete with all the confusions and rehashes and mindless entertainment. It is ringing the cash registers all over India and in the end, that is all that matters!

(Image courtesy: The Telegraph)
This year has so far been quite below expectations what with two big-budget Yash Raj movies failing at the box office and our capped-caper, Himesh saving the box office from a total slump with his romantic-thriller, Aap Kaa Surroor.

The year had opened well with the Abhishek Bachchan starrer, Guru. But after that flops started lining up for the cinemas.

Read another review of the movie (external link)

It seems our filmmakers are certainly short on original ideas. They don’t seem to be ashamed of getting inspired by (read copying from) foreign movies.