Quantum of Solace: A modern idea with a classical feel

Filmed by EON Productions, Quantum of Solace (2008) is James Bond’s 22nd movie and the second for Daniel Craig in the lead role as James Bond. The movie is due to release in UK on October 31, 2008 and it will hit the theaters across North America on November 14. Sequel to Casino Royale (2006), Marc Forster has also directed this movie.

In Quantum of Solace, Bond is pitted against Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), who is a member of Quantum organization. He poses as an environmentalist, but intends to plot a coup d’état in Bolivia for taking control of the nation’s water supply. James Bond is looking to seek revenge for Vesper Lynd’s death. In his journey, he is assisted by the beautiful Camille (Olga Kurylenko). Camille is also looking to kill Greene.

Michael G. Wilson, who also produced Casino Royale, created the plot for Quantum of Solace while they were shooting the first in the series involving Daniel Craig. Neal Purvis, Paul Haggis, Joshua Zetumer and Robert Wade have contributed to the movie’s script.

Idea of Quantum of Solace was taken from a short story of Ian Fleming, For Your Eyes Only, which was released in 1960. However, the Daniel Craig version not expected of containing any elements connected to the original story. Location of the filming has taken place in Italy, Austria, Chile and Panama, while its sets were built in Pinewood Studios. Director Marc Forster aimed for making the film modern and at the same time having a classic feel. There have been fight sequences where antique planes are used. Set Desings of Dennis Gassner seems reminiscent of the work done by Ken Adams’ in early Bond films. However, Forster has rejected the Greene’s grotesque appearance for commenting on hidden nature of corporate villains in this flick.

So, get ready for another thrilling experience with James Bond in Quantum of Solace!

Starring: Daniel Craig, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton

Director: Marc Forster

Body of Lies: Finally, a success for Warner Bros in movies based on ‘War against Terrorism’

Body of Lies, a thriller flick, hit the theaters across United States on October 10, 2008. Ridley Scott, director of Black Hawk Down and American Gangster, has directed the movie. Its story is written by William Monahan and stars Russell Crowe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Golshifteh Farahani (who is from Iran) and Vince Colosimo. Production of the movie has taken place in Morocco and Washington D.C.

The film is based on a David Ignatius’ novel of the same name. It is about a CIA operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who moves to Jordan for tracking a high-ranking terrorist, AJ Salim. Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), manipulative boss of CIA, keeps a tab on Ferris, while Ferris is giving everything to catch his nemesis before it gets too late.

Body of Lies was unsuccessful in its first weekend of release and pulled up only $12.9 million, which is 40% lesser than what was expected. The movie has reportedly cost around $70 million. In its first week with a star-studded cast, analyst expected Body of Lies to be a sure bet in capturing the No. 1 spot in the box office. Instead, it turned up No. 3 behind Beverly Hills Chihuahua from Disney (No. 1 with $17.5 million) and Quarantine from Sony / Screen Gems (No. 2 with $14.2 million). Quarantine made around $2 million more than what was actually spent on the whole venture.

Despite the result, ‘Body of Lies’ has opened better than previous films that were based on war against terrorism, which include the likes of In the Valley of Elah, Lions for Lambs and Rendition, which did well below what was expected by Warner Bros (who has distributed the movie). However, outside United States, the movie has opened reasonably. In Australia, it has landed first with a whooping $2,104,319. Here, it toppled Wall-E from Pixar animation (No. 2) and Beverly Hills Chihuahua (No. 3).

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahani, Oscar Isaac, Simon McBurney

Director: Ridley Scott

Golmaal Returns: Sequel to 2006 blockbuster Golmaal- Movies and Music Review

Golmaal Returns, a sequel to Golmaal (2006), is a Bollywood film that will be released on October 29, 2008. Rohit Shetty, who also directed its sequel, is the Director of this movie. Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and Tusshar Kapoor have reprised their roles from the earlier version. However, Shreyas Talpade is the new entry in the movie. He will be playing the character that was originally done by Sharman Joshi. Apart from Shreyas, the film also has Kareena Kapoor, Celina Jaitley, Anjana Sukhani and Amrita Arora as new addition to its cast. Golman Returns is a remake of ‘Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar’.

Ajay Devgan and Kareena Kapoor are appearing together in a movie for the first time, since pairing in 2006 blockbuster ‘Omkara’. Though the movie was supposed to be shot in Dubai, its shooting was primarily done in Goa.

Golmaal Returns is about a husband Gopal (Ajay Devgan) trying to convince his wife Ekta (Kareena Kapoor), who is a die hard fan of Ekta Kapoor’s Saas-Bahu serials, that he is not into any extramarital affair. For convincing Ekta, Gopal comes up with a lie, which leads him into more trouble with every moment.

Pritam, who is amongst the leading musicians in the current lot, has composed the songs of Golmaal Returns. The music of ‘Tu Saala Kaam Se Gaya’ and ‘Meow’ has made full justice to Pritam’s style, for which he is popular across the globe. The movie is produced by Dhillin Mehta and Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd will be distributing it across the country.

The Diwali release of ‘Golmaal Returns’ might not work for Rohit Shetty, as the week will also see the arrival of the most anticipated movie, Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’, to the scene. However, its multi-starrer cast, which includes Ajay Devgan & Kareena Kapoor, can work its magic on the global audience, similar to its previous sequel.

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Tusshar Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora, Celina Jaitley, Arshad Warsi and Shreyas Talpade

Director: Rohit Shetty,  

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty

Lyrics: Sameer

Heroes: Why should you not join the Indian Army?

‘Heroes’, which was originally set to be released on June 6, 2008, hit the theaters on October 24, 2008, as a part of a ‘Diwali’ movie extravaganza. Samir Karnik, who directed Vivek Oberoi & Aishwarya Rai starrer ‘Kyun! Ho gaya na’, is the director of the movie. The film stars Sohail Khan, Salman Khan, Sunny Deol, Mithun Chakraborty, Bobby Deol, Preity Zinta, Dino Morea, Amrita Arora and Vatsal Seth. Aseem Arora has written the story of this 20 crore- budget movie, which is going to be released under the banner of Eros Entertainment in India.

Originally ‘Heroes’ was titled ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ (My India is Great). However, the title was changed at a later stage to its current name, as the producer and director wanted to avoid making it sound like a patriotic flick.

‘Heroes’ revolves round a student group, who are studying together in a film-making college. They (Sohail Khan & Vatsal Seth) are sent away for filming a documentary. The topic, which they choose for their documentary, is ‘Why should you not join the Indian Army’. For their project, they go on a long road trip (From Delhi to Chandigarh & then Manali to Ladakh). On the way, they try figuring out the reason why each and every vehicle passing by is having ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ as its logo. Again, they come across several characters related to the Indian Army (in one way or the other) during their journey. All of these characters have a major impact on the life of these two students.

The music of this film has been composed by Sajid-Wajid & Monty. Lyrics (written by Sameer, Rahul B. Seth and Jalees Sherwani) of most of its song, especially ‘Mannata’, have been highly appreciated by everyone.

‘Heroes’ has been one of the most awaited arrivals of the festive season. With a star-studded cast, Samir Karnik will be looking forward to grab the attention of the global audience.

Movie Cast: Salman Khan, Preity Zinta, Sunny Deol, Mithun Chakraborty, Bobby Deol, Sohail Khan, Vatsal Seth, Dino Moreo, Riya Sen, Amrita Arora and Monish Behl

Director: Samir Karnik

Producer: Samir Karnik , Bharat Shah , Vikas Kapoor

Written by: Samir Karnik , Aseem Arora

Fashion: Uncovering the dark side of the Fashion world: Movies and Music Review

Fashion is one of the most the theaters on October 29, 2008. Madhur Bhandarkar, who also came up with ‘Page 3′ and ‘Corporate’, has written and directed the movie. It has the ravishing Priyanka Chopra playing the lead role, with Kangana Ranaut, Arjan Bajwa, Mugdha Godse, Samir Soni and Arbaaz Khan forming the rest of the cast. Under the production of Ronnie Screwvala and UTV Motion Pictures’ banner, Fashion has been scheduled to release on the next day to Diwali, which might give this movie a great opening.Madhur Bhandarkar is known for directing off-beat movies based on issues, which are having an impact on the modern society. Similar to Page 3, Fashion is targeting the entertainment world, especially the fashion industry. He is looking forward to unveil the dark side in the life of girls, who are desperate to be supermodels.

Fashion is about Megha Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) and her dreams of becoming a top supermodel. On her way, she comes across two other top models, Shonali (Kangana Ranaut) & Janet (Mugdha Godse), who are completely different from one another. The story hangs around these 3 characters and how life makes it difficult for them in achieving their goals. Through them, Madhur Bhandarkar has tried to reveal the compromises you have to give for being a supermodel.

You are surely going to love Salim Sulaiman’s music in Fashion. Songs, which include ‘Fashion ka Jalwa’ & ‘Mar Jaawan’, are already topping most music charts across the country.

I am sure that a Madhur Bhandarkar fan will not be disappointed with Fashion, as this 135 minutes movie will give him everything that he expects from the director. Even, characters of Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut have been tipped to be the best that they ever played.

So, enjoy Diwali by witnessing another epic cinema from Madhur Bhandarkar (Fashion) in your nearest multiplex!

More Info :

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Kangna Ranaut, Arbaaz Khan, Harsh Chhaya, Madhur Bhandarkar, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Neil Nitin Mukesh

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Music: Salim-Sulaiman

Screenplay: Madhur Bhandarkar, ajay monga, Anuradha Tiwari

Lyrics: Irfan Siddique, Sandeep Nath

Story Writer: Ajay monga

Roadside Romeo: Movies and Music Review

Roadside Romeo is a computer-animated film, the first one  of its kind in Bollywood. The movie has been written & directed by Jugal Hansraj, who previously acted in hit films including Mohabbatein (2000) & Salaam Namaste (2005). It is his directorial debut and will be looking for the same response as he got from his role in his first Bollywood film, the Naseruddin Shah starrer ‘Masoom’. Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra have produced this film.

Under the coalition of Yash Raj Films (India) and Walt Disney Pictures (US), Roadside Romeo hit the theaters in India & US on October 24, 2008. Voice for the characters in the movie has been given by popular names of Bollywood, which include Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey. This is the first time that Kareena & Saif have appeared in an animated production.

Title character of the flick, Roadside Romeo (voiced by Saif Ali Khan), is a dog living in the streets of Mumbai. The movie revolves around his life and how he tries to win the love of Laila (voiced by Kareena Kapoor) fending of challenges thrown at him by Charlie Anna (voiced by Javed Jaffrey), who also loves her, and his men. Roadside Romeo has utilized the state-of-the-art animation technology. It has been produced entirely in India and features music, romance, songs and dance number similar to other projects from Yash Raj Films.

Compositions of Salim Sulaiman (Music) and Jaideep Sahni (Lyrics) are good and have received good reviews from everyone. The success of this 95-minute animated flick, which has been made on a budget of $7 million, is going to spring in high hopes amongst other directors, who are looking to come up with animated ventures in Bollywood. Jugal Hansraj is also keeping his fingers crossed with the performance of this movie in its first weekend, as it has been released during the ‘Diwali’ festival in India.

More Info

Casts : Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Javed Jaffrey

Producer : Aditya Chopra

Director : Jugal Hansraj

Singers : Kunal Ganjawala, K K, Sunidhi Chauhan, Saif Ali Khan, Sudesh Bhosle, Naresh Kamat.

Shoot on Sight: Movies and Music Review

After receiving high appreciation in various film festivals across the globe, ‘Shoot On Sight’ finally hit the Indian Theaters on October 17, 2008. The film is directed by Jag (Jagmohan) Mundhra. It is produced by Arun Govil, who was popular in the early 90s for his role as Rama in Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana. Shoot On Sight has been globally distributed and marketed by Aron Govil Productions Inc.

The movie, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri among others, has a fictional story and is based on the ‘Operation Kratos’. Operation Kratos was London police’s ’shoot-to-kill’ policy, which they applied on suspected suicide bombers, who they caught after July 7, 2005 bombings in London.

Tariq Ali (Naseeruddin Shah) is a Muslim police officer in the Scotland Yard. He is a Lahore born British citizen, who is married to an English woman and has 2 children. Ali constantly remains distrusted by his colleagues in the Scotland Yard, despite being associated to the Metropolitan Police for a long time. He is asked to hunt down suspected suicide bombers against July 7’s London bombings backdrop. Things get more complicated for Ali when he finds out that an innocent Muslim boy has been killed by an armed police officer on Underground.

Cast in ‘Shoot On Sight’ includes Sadie Frost, Gulshan Grover, Cloudia Swann and Brian Cox apart from Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. This film is another issue-oriented project from Jag Mundhra, who has also directed Nanditas starrer ‘Bawander’ and Aishwarya Rai & Naveen Andrew starrer ‘Provoked’. The movie first premiered in 4th Dubai Film Festival on December 2007. It received great appreciation when it got screened in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival by American World Pictures on May 14, 2008.

The movie is not expected of grossing much from the Box Office this weekend for its slow and off-beat theme, but it is sure to be one of those eye-openers for the Indian audience.

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi, Om Puri, Stephen Greif

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Greta Scacchi, Om Puri, Stephen Greif, Ralph Ineson, Gulshan Grover, Laila Rouass, Mikaal Zulfikaar, Sadie Frost, Brian Cox

Director: Jag Mundhra
Screenwriter: Carl Austin
Producer: Aron Govil
Composer: John Altman

Max Payne: Movie based on the popular 2001 video game

For a film based purely on video game, there is a dearth of action in Max Payne. Yes, there’s always complain from our end with such movies having only action, but no sequence. However, this has gone completely in the reverse direction except the fact that the substance is still missing. The movie stopped in between and now seems a one-dimensional detective noir rather than being a shoot-em-up thriller.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) takes the needed break from his duties of talking to animals for playing the main character, who is a police detective in New York City. Three years back, his wife and baby were murdered by 3 assailants. One of them escaped and never got identified, whereas the other two died. Now, Max works in cold case bureau, usually pushing papers around the clock and tries to focus himself on his primary objective: Finding the person who was responsible in killing his family.

The movie also stars Olga Kurylenko, Mila Kunis, Chris ‘Ludacris’, Beau Bridges and Amauro Naulasco. It’s only in the final ten minutes of the movie, after innumerable lurching twists in the plot and unsatisfactory explanation, when you finally come across gunfight and vengeance that you have come to see including the super-slow-motion action sequences, which is common in the Max Payne game.

Max Payne, $35 million movie, had a good start in the box office this week. The movie is expected to have a high opening By Director John Moore.

Karz: Remake of an 80s classic-Movie Music and songs Review

Himesh Reshammiya is back again with his new venture ‘Karz’, remake of the 1980 Subhash Ghai’s blockbuster of the same name. Directed by Satish Kaushik and released under the banner of T-Series Limited, the movie is all set to have a worldwide release on October 17, 2008. Himesh Reshammiya will be acting alongside Anna Kumar and Urmila Mantodkar (playing the role of a vamp) in the movie.

Karz is a story of Ravi Verma, who gets murdered by his wife Kamini (Urmila Mantodkar) on the day of their marriage. Ravi is reborn as young Monty Oberoi (Himesh Reshammiya), who is a popular singer and heartthrob of the nation. Images from his previous life continue to haunt Monty, even when he is fully awake. He decides to revisit the place, where the incident took place, only to uncover an old murder mystery and save Ravi’s family from Kamini’s wrath.

Himesh has a huge task in hand of doing justice to the role played by Rishi Kapoor, which was highly praised by critics more than a couple of decades back. Again, it will be difficult for him to recreate the same magic through his music and voice that the combination of Laxmikant Pyarelal and Kishore Kumar had on the global audience. Even the concept of reincarnation might not receive the same response from the audience, as it did in the early 80s. Henceforth, Director Satish Kaushik along with Producers Bhushan & Inder Kumar has their tasks cut out for them. All eyes would also be on Anna Kumar, daughter of Producer Inder Kumar, who will be making her debut in the movie as the lead, opposite to Himesh. She will be playing the role of Tina Munim from the 80s classic.

With the release of the movie only a week away, everyone will be having their fingers crossed for its box office report. With one flop already under his belt in Aap Ka Saroor, Himesh will be hoping that this film gives him the needed launching pad for his acting career.

 

More Info 

Star Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Himesh Reshammiya, Gulshan Grover, Danny Denzongpa, Rohini Hattangadi, Shweta Kumar, Bakhtiyaar Irani, Dino Morea, Raj Babbar, Asrani, Himani Shivpuri

Director : Satish Kaushik

Producer : Krishan Kumar, Bhushan Kumar

Singers : Himesh Reshammiya, Sunidhi Chauhan, Harshdeep Kaur, Tulsi Kumar, Shreya Ghosal

Music : Himesh Reshammiya

Songs

Lut Jaaon Lut Jaaon

Hari Om

Tandoori Nights

Soniye Je Tere

Dhoom Tere Ishq Ki

Sisak Sisak Ke

Tere Bin Chain Na Aave

Masha Allah

Ek Haseena Thi

Hello: Movies and Music Review

Hello: Great Concept, Poor Performances

Hello, produced and directed by Atul Agnihotri, hit the theaters on October 10, 2008. The film based on the bestseller from Chetan Bhagat ‘One night @ the Call Center’ was one of the eagerly awaited films of the year.

‘Hello’ has Sharman Joshi, Sohail Khan, Gul Panag, Isha Koppikar, Sharat Saxena and Amrita Arora playing the lead roles. There is also the presence of Arbaaz Khan, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in small cameos. After watching the movies, critics believed that none of characters were able to have the same impact, as the book had on the mind of the readers.
The story of ‘Hello’ is purely based on what happens during a night at the call center. After a performance, Salman Khan (in his own name) is confronted by a mysterious lady (Katrina), who wants to tell him an exciting story only if he promises to make a film on it. On his agreement, she tells him the story of six call center executives: Shyam (Sharman), Varun (Sohail), Priyanka (Gul), Radhika (Amrita), Esha (Isha) and Military Uncle (Sharat) and how they receive a phone call from God on a rainy night that changes their life forever. All this happens after each of their personal lives have already been devastated by a storm.

Although the concept of the movie was good, yet it missed out on some breakthrough performances. None of the characters were able to portray the true image of the characters, as they were penned by Chetan Bhagat. Again, the music of ‘Hello’ from Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Sajid and Wajid didn’t perform well as per expectation. Barring some funny instances, the movie lacked good dialogues.
Just a day after its release, ‘Hello’ is yet to receive a positive response from the audience. Only time will tell, if the movie is going to receive similar accolades as the book.

Starring: Sohail Khan, Sharman Joshi, Isha Kopikar, Gul Panag, Amrita Arora, Dilip Tahil, Suresh Menon, Sharat Saxena, Arbaaz Khan, Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif

Music: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Sajid, Wajid

Director: Atul Agnihotri

Producer: Atul Agnihotri

Written by: Chetan Bhagat

Singers: Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan , Daler Mehndi, Zubeen Garg, Sadhana Sargam, Wajid , Suzie. Q, Ishq Bector, Herchelle , Merlin , Tim , Shafqat Amanat Ali, Sonu Nigam

Hello Songs

Bang Bang Bang
Caravan
Hello Party Mix
Hello Title Track
Karle Baby Dance Wance
Mitwa Re
Rab Ka Banda
Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai
Dil Mere Tu Deewana Hai - Ii
Har Subah Buhat Yaad Aata Hai

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