Bollywood VIEWS!!!

The numbers are in for the last three years and the list of top actors in Bollywood is out…

Here are the Top 12. Feel free to comment.

1. Aamir Khan: Occupies the top slot with just three films – Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and 3 Idiots. Also called ‘God’ in industry circles today because of his overpowering star status and his penchant for good scripts and marketing wizardry. With a combined domestic nett collection (after tax) of Rs 377 crore and counting (3 Idiots is still making money), he ranks way ahead of Shah Rukh Khan, with a per film net collection average of Rs 125.83 crore.

2. Shah Rukh Khan: Falls way behind Aamir with a collection average of Rs 77.67 crore. The films under consideration? Chak De, Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi that collected around Rs 233 crore.

3. Hrithik Roshan’s three year haul of Rs 214 crore gets him close to Shah Rukh with a per film nett collection average of Rs 71.33 crore.

The others in the order of importance include: Akshay Kumar (average nett collection of Rs 43.82 crore), Saif Ali Khan (Rs 36.71 cr), Ranbir Kapoor (Rs 34.30 cr), Salman Khan (Rs 29.93 cr), Abhishek Bachchan (Rs 30.13 cr), John Abraham (Rs 26.30 cr), Shahid Kapoor (Rs 28.40 cr), Imran Khan (Rs 33 cr) and Ajay Devgan (Rs 25.63 cr).

3 Idiots is continuing its dream run. Realistic, funny and with an accent on thinking out of the box, the film deserves all the moolah it’s making. At last count, the Indian box office collections stood at Rs 185 crore after tax. A box office record, making it an all-time blockbuster, even beating the likes of Ghajini, Gadar and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun.

While it’s hard to pin point reasons for its monumental success, some of the reasons for its fantastic opening include:

1. Aamir Khan’s marketing wizardry: In industry circles, he is being called ‘god’ and a marketing maverick. With good reason. The way he disguised himself and played tricks on the ‘aam junta’ and celebrities alike made many heads turn and filled so many column spaces in newspapers and sound bytes on TV channels.

2. The script is king and with a director like Rajkumar Hirani of Munnabhai fame, the story could relate to just about anyone, class and caste no bar. It was as much a multiplex film as it was a single screen film. As much a success in urban and rural areas.

3. The casting was apt. Everyone did their job well. From eccentric professor Boman Irani to the room boy to Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan to even Kareena Kapoor. Very few films have the best cast and crew. Sample this one. It had No 1 director Hirani; No 1 actor Aamir; No 1 actress Kareena and No 1 producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

4. Ladyluck is on Aamir’s side for the last two years. Sample Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and now 3 Idiots. Everything he touches turns to gold. Midas touch!

Katrina Kaif is suffering from low haemoglobin count, vitamin deficiency, and is to now undergo a minor surgery.

Sources say it’s over work. But then, no one died of work, you ask? Well, that’s true. But people do suffer like she is undergoing right now…

I remember meeting her after a fashion show in Bangalore. Needed a few sound bytes from her. There she was sitting on the portico towards the rear door. I sidled up to her, only to find her crestfallen face. She cited fever and I asked her to take care of herself and left her alone. That was even before she had set foot in Bollywood.

And that was also the last time I spoke to her. She was as hard working as she is now… No wonder, luck follows her everywhere. Atta gal!

Posted by Wordmobi

The Chetan Bhagat controversy shows up two facts. That writers are getting a raw deal, even if it happens to be a famous author.

Two, the greed of filmmakers like Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who doesn’t want to part with the moolah… he has paid a piddling Rs 11 lakh and made over Rs 140 crore and counting.

Please send flowers to Chopra and ask him to get well soon.

Posted by Wordmobi

3 Idiots is breaking as many records as it is making new. And now, its second weekend nett earnings odd Rs 34.5 crore is more than the first weekend gross of all the major movies.And word is out in industry circles that Aamir is god at the Indian box office.Kudos, Aamir. Kudos, Rajkumar Hirani. You do the industry proud.

If there is a film with a deeply moveable message and entertaining at the same time, it has to be 3 Idiots in 2009. The film rocks. While many say the second half is not as good as the first half, it’s rubbish. The film doesn’t fail to entertain you and keep you glued to the screen.

The film’s USP lies in its heart-touching dialogues and the ‘munnabhai’ moments that instantly connect with you. Ten minutes through the film, and you know it’s more than the ticket’s worth.

Aamir is at his ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ best while Madhavan, Sharman and Kareena lend their supporting touch to anchor the film. But the two people to watch out for are Aamir and Boman Irani. Agreed, he is repeating his Munnabhai act, but his clashes with Aamir are to watch out for. Not to mention, the ‘balatkar’ speech by ’silencer’, Aamir’s mugpot classmate.

With this film, Aamir has beaten his Ghajini’s box office performance, and in some circuits doubled it. So far, the film has raked in Rs 80 crore in India alone. Add another Rs 40 crore from overseas, and the total goes up to a staggering Rs 120 crore worldwide. Making 3I an all-time blockbuster! The film deserves this and more as the ensuing weeks will show…

Take a bow, director Rajkumar Hirani. Aal Iss Well with your film!

Wonder what’s working for Aamir Khan… Last Christmas, Ghajini shattered all box office records.

And this Xmas, 3 Idiots has shattered Ghajini’s record too.

The film grossed Rs 93 crore worldwide on its first weekend and did better on Monday than Saturday.

This is unheard of, unimaginable and unforeseen.

Kudos, Aamir! Congrats, Rajkumar Hirani!

Progeria derives from a Greek word meaning premature ageing.

It is the subject of a film to be released on December 4th, starring 67 year old actor Amitabh Bachchan who plays a thirteen year old son of Abhishek Bachchan called Amol and concentrates on their loving relationship. It was a cosmetic exercise, more difficult than many others, particularly for such a well known actor and a brave decision to accept the part.

There have only been 100 cases registered, worldwide.

An interesting comparison with a recent (American ) film in 2008 can be made about both cultures considering the same subject almost simultaneously; film makers are always searching for new off-beat subjects.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a story in reverse where the son is born old, and suffering from Progeria, grows older in years but progressively younger in appearance until he  sheds his former self, falls in love. Of course, it helps that Brad Pitt  grows into the beautiful young man!

The producers have to sell it! Button won Oscars, now lets see what Paa can do.

Contributed by Barbara Turner

Since I found Ranbir Kapoor’s Wake Up Sid to be truly wonderful, I had some hope that Ajab Prem Ki… will atleast be decent. Also, it was directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi whose previous claim to comical fame was Andaz Apna Apna way back in 1994.

Alas, I was so wrong. With time, there is erosion of talent for Santoshi. Not only has he lost his comical touch, he is nowhere in the top five directors of Bollywood. After Barsaat (1995), most of his action thrillers have been flops or have done just about average business like Khakee and The Legend of Bhagat Singh. Pity that when he tried to change the genre to be more successful, he falls head first.

So what doesn’t work for APKGK? Well, everything. If you still continue to watch the film, it’s only because of Ranbir. Even the presence of Katrina doesn’t seem to work because their chemistry is nothing to drool about. The laughs are few and far between. The dialogues only make you cry. The story is pointless and is least engaging. The songs are as lack lustre. The result is a boring film that is best avoided. Go to watch Jail instead. Atleast, it is directed by hat-trick hit filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar (remember Page 3, Corporate, Traffic Signal, Fashion, Chandni Bar?).

Ho. Hum.

Twitter has become the next best thing after Orkut, Facebook and Linkedin. If some Facebook users have become more active on Twitter, it goes to show that the new 140-character format has worked too well.

What’s more, even celebrities from Bollywood have hopped on the bandwagon. Here are the most popular among them:

Gul Panag (twitter ID: gulpanag): This former Miss India is the hot flavour on Twitter. So good was she with her regular Twitter updates that Lakme asked her to tweet about their Indian Fashion Week Live. If you are looking at a regular tweeter, she is the most regular.

Karan Johar (kjohar25): From tweets like, ‘at srk’s to decide so many things…many decisions to take on MNIK!!’ to ‘love making movies…i feel blessed to be in this profession…just felt like saying it!!’ and ‘from one film to another…its going to be a crazy zone….marketing movies is tougher than making them!!’, you Karan is speaking straight from the heart, mind and soul.
Imran Khan (1mranKhan): He talks about what he’s listening to, work, and more work. From his recent post, he has no personal life, really. Read this: ‘FINALLY wrapped. Actually that’s not fair, I’ve had far longer days, my record is 22 hours shooting non stop! But it was a good day. Happy.’

Aamir Khan (Aamir_Khan): Though he hasn’t been tweeting since Aug 3, 2009, he has over 17,000 followers. Some of his  posts include: ‘I don’t usually give much importance what I am wearing, so I’ll stay away from that discussion’ and ‘Federer finally wins the French Open. Am so happy for him. Sampras says he is the best ever tennis player in history.’

Lara Dutta (DuttaLara): She writes regularly, if not daily like Gul Panag. Here is her latest tweet: ‘Finally got a chance to watch Wake Up Sid! Theatre still packed even after these many weeks! Ranbir is very easy on the eye! :-)’

Sonam Kapoor (sonamakapoor): From work-related tweets like ‘okay first day of shoot over, and it went off really really well(touchwood) punit is a dream to work with and imran is a real cutie’ to personal tidbits like ‘lying in bed, and reading is the best thing in the world.. reading jim corbet’s the man eating leopard of redraprayag’, Sonam keeps her fans well informed.

Priyanka Chopra (priyankachopra): From philosophical stuff like ‘the mind is a magician; it can make heaven out of hell and sadly hell out of heaven!’ to the mundane like ‘Been going to the gym lately soooo tired.. But gotta be up and energetic for Ma gurl!!!! Happy birthday @parineetichopra ! Love u!!’, Priyanka shares her life with all and sundry.

Konkana Sen (konkonas): From plain and simple updates like ‘Ranvir did up my page… glad you liked the pic guys, its from filmfare’ to ‘worked for two days straight with no sleep! But had a super Diwali party last night :-)’, Konkana does know how to keep her fans sated.

Mahesh Bhat (MaheshNBhatt): He is Bollywood’s Deepak Chopra with most of his tweets keeping to the philosophical domain. Sample of his tweets: ‘My brother says: You can’t make a good deal with a bad person.A bad person is a bad person.He will never make a good deal’; ‘Anyone who is not me is the other.The other is someone who lives in a different skin envelope.But if you get into his heart he is U.’; ‘Why r the streets of mumbai so crowded? Asks my impatient friend.Because u and me are on it.I said.We always blame the other.’ If these tweets were to be taken as they are in a book form, you could sell them and make some good money. It’s worth the buy. Mahesh, are you reading this?