Box office report: New releases fall flat; Singham continues to roar!

The three new releases of this Friday fell flat at box office. Rather, it’s Singham and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara that continue to draw crowds.

Gandhi To Hitler, Khap and Bubble Gum -- this Friday’s three new releases -- saw a lukewarm response at box office on the very opening day. Gandhi To Hitler and Khap were expected to attract a few footfalls but failed to do so. Even the critics have panned all the three films. In comparison, the Hollywood releases Cowboys & Angels, The Smurfs and The Tree of Life saw a better response.

On the other hand, Singham completed its first week run at box office with a collection of a little over Rs. 50 crore nett, making the film a superhit. What’s more heartening is that the film continued to hold steady on Friday.

Likewise, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is still attracting movie buffs to theatres. The film rounded off its two-week run at theatres with a collection of Rs. 63.25 crore nett. It is expected to touch the Rs. 80 crore mark by the end of the coming week.

The coming Friday would again see the multiple release of small budget films. The next big release from Bollywood would be Aarakshan on August 12, which will be followed by a long four-day weekend because of two gazetted holidays. The movie is expected to open well.

Rohit Shetty Brings Together Sanju, Sallu on ‘Bigg Boss 5’ Set

Rohit Shetty, dynamic Bollywood director, who hails from the coastal city of Mangalore in Karnataka, is in the news since last week after the release of 'Singham' which is doing extremely well across the country and abroad.

Instead of enjoying his success and relaxing after the working hard on Singham, Shetty is busier than ever. This time it is with the promo shoot of ‘Bigg Boss -5'.

Now he is in the news for bringing two great ‘above 40’ Bollywood actors to the sets for shooting the promo in a Mumbai studio.

Not long ago, people were talking about the spat between these two Bollywood 'bodies' during Dutt's wife Manyata's birthday bash. But they have not shown any differences on the set and have proved that they are still 'Bhai Bhai'. Hats off to Shetty!

Ajay, Sonakshi team up for ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’

The ‘Singham’ star Ajay Devgan, who is currently riding high on the success of his recently released cop saga, has reportedly teamed up with the ‘Dabangg’ girl Sonakshi Sinha for Ashwini Dheer’s ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’.

As per tabloids, Ashwini Dheer’s imminent project ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’, starring Ajay and Sonakshi as the lead pair, is a remake of the Telugu slapstick ‘Maryada Ramanna’.

The film is basically a romantic drama with a high dose of action and thus, besides romancing Sonakshi, the macho hunk Ajay will also be seen delivering some outstanding action-feats in it.

The forthcoming flick ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’, helmed by Ashwini Dheer, will be produced by actor Ajay Devgan and filmmaker NR Pachisia. 

Talking about the lead stars of his next, NR Pachisia told Mumbai Mirror, "It is a fresh pairing. Both Ajay and Sonakshi are intense actors and they will surely create magic on screen.

"Considering it is an action packed love story, we decided to cast a fresh face opposite Ajay. We try to do different things with our projects every time in terms of casting. I am now looking forward to start the film early next year."

Sonakshi was not the first choice for ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’
As Ajay and Sonakshi will be pairing-up for the first time, fans might be eagerly awaiting to catch the duo’s chemistry on-screen.

However, it’s learnt that Sonakshi was not the first choice for SOS. At the outset, Ajay’s ‘Golmaal 3’ co-star Kareena Kapoor was approached for Ashwini Dheer’s venture.

But, as Bebo had a packed date-dairy, she had no other option but to turn down the Ajay-starrer SOS.

Kareena’s hectic to-do list includes Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbai’ sequel, which is to go on floors from Jan. 2012, and her plans to walk down the aisle with beau Saif in Feb next year.

Title ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’ registered under Akshay’s banner

Buzz has it that ‘SOS-Son Of Sardar’, the title of the Ajay-Sonakshi starrer imminent movie, has already been registered under Akshay Kumar’s banner Hari Om Entertainment.

While Ajay has already announced the title of his film, Akshay has also finalized the script for his film with the same title.

Well, who will be giving up the title of their film or in other words who will be changing the title of their film, is a much-talked about affair in the B-town these days.

Producer NR Pachisia, as quoted in TOI, said, "I am not aware of this conflict. I'll have to check it out. But I don't to hurt Akshay's sentiments as we are all part of the same industry and we are all family."

Source: TOI

Singham : Movie Review

Starring Ajay Devgn, Prakash Raj, Kajal Aggarwal

Directed by Rohit Shetty

Rating: ** ½

This cop is a killer. He implements the laws applicable to the khaki-vardi with a passion that makes corruption seem like a mosquito that a human repellant can exterminate. His ways are unconventional. And he seethes and fumes when faced with diabolic corruption.

Last we saw, it was Rajeev Khandelwal playing the anti-establishment cop’s role in the brilliant Shaitaan. This time it’s a huge star getting into khakee. Meet Ajay Devgn as Bajirao Singham an honest-to-goodness cop who believes he has been given the law-enforcer’s job and he better take it seriously.

Hurling through a cavalcade of regionally-flush references Singham is the kind of rustic boorish kinetic action thriller where a cleaner social order is seen to be brought about by the power of the fist. Give or take a gun. Or a Devgn.

Devgn playing the one-man army invests the clichéd role with a kind of cultural specificity which allows him the leeway to get verbally regional without losing a pan-India flavour. That’s the magic of mass entertainment cinema that this film celebrates with panoramic verve.

We don’t need to comprehend Marathi to get the powerful subtexts of Devgan’s virulent attack on corruption. Fortunately Devgn isn’t the kind of actor who needs to scream to make himself heard. He effectually offsets Prakash Raj’s theatrical villainy bordering on bigtime hamming.

It is significant that the entire cast comprises Marathi actors, giving to the frenetic rustic proceedings a sense of arrogant chauvinism. Only the villain palayed by Prakash Raj is a South Indian actor of tremendous histrionic range. Give him anything to do. And he does with impassioned concentration.

A lot of the lines that the politician-villain is compelled to utter bordered on self-parody. Chunks of the action and drama are cannibalized from the Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘angry’ series , without the bridled indignance of the central character.

Yes, Singham is frustrated and embittered by the corruption that’s crept into the socio-political system. But he lacks the vitality to transmute the cop’s impotent rage into a potent cinematic language. e don’t feel for his concern for a clean social order. We just wonder whom he will thrash next, and how.

Partly, it is to do with the kind of shallowness that Singham’s love interest portrays. Jaya Bhaduri in Zanjeer and Smita Patil in Ardh Satya made a brief but telling impact on the way the enraged hero looked at the seedy world. Newcomer Kajal Aggarwal is a bundle of shallow take-away expressions, the cinematic equivalent of a home-delivered pizza, without the spicy toppings.

What sustains the narrative’s velocity is Devgn’s uncalculated moves as an action hero. He brings a kind of reckless inevitability into every blow that he delivers on the goons. There are some entertaining supporting performances, Sachin Khedeker as the heroin’e cellphone-fixated father is a hoot.

In all fairness the action sequences (Jai Singh Nijjar) are entertaining and humorous. The fights don’t take themselves seriously.

However the homilies on a need for integrity in the civil services seem like unwanted concessions to self-importance in a film that seems to revel in a kind of free-floating message on how to stay clean in a cesspool of corruption. Yup, Rohit Shetty packs in a punch.

You can’t but smile at the infinite pleasure which the director partakes from the age-old language of commercial Hindi cinema in all its flamboyant glory.

Singham is a cops film with balls.

Ajay Devgn gives action a break

After Singham, Ajay Degvn isn't really concentrating on high flying thrills

Ajay Devgn, who is currently in Bangkok shooting for Sanjay Dutt's Rascals wishes he could be here to see how the audiences are reacting to his film Singham.

It has been learnt that the actor, who returned to action after eight years with this movie, will continue to sport his beefcake look even for his own productions Bol Bachchan by Rohit Shetty and Ashwini Dheer's Hindi remake of Telugu hit Maryada Ramanna, besides Priyadarshan's Tezz.

Ajay plays a wrestler in BB, which he starts shooting with Abhishek Bachchan, late August. He says, "Yes, there are a couple of action sequences, but they falls more in the genre of Golmaal and All The Best as it is a comedy film."

About his remake of Maryada Ramanna, the bent towards action is less and romance is more. He says, "It's basically a romantic comedy and it's being re-scripted for the wider Hindi film audience."

As for Tezz, the actor maintains, "It's a different kind of movie, so is the treatment of action in it. I hope the audiences like the thrills in this film."

Needless to say, he's very pleased with the response his cop act is evoking from the masses. Trade experts peg the first three-day India collections of Singham, which cost Rs 42 crore to make, at Rs 31 crore.

Kajal misses the promotion of SINGHAM

Kajal Aggarwal, who makes her Bollywood debut opposite Ajay Devgn in the much touted SINGHAM directed by Rohit Shetty has been the talk of the town for a while now.

The pretty actress is a big name down south and her performance in the movie is being highly anticipated by industry people and audiences alike. The actress has been on a tight schedule ever since she got back from Europe where she was shooting for one of her south films.

She has been in and out of the city promoting SINGHAM with the rest of the team on one hand and juggling her shoot for her south movie in Hyderabad in between. Needless to say she has over worked herself with the shooting, interviews, events etc. The actress was supposed to leave for the capital yesterday with the entire SINGHAM team including Rohit and Ajay for the last leg of SINGHAM promotions but fell unwell last minute.

The southern beauty is suffering from high fever and a terrible cough and cold. So much so that she has been advised complete bed rest for a couple of days by her doctor. The actress had to give the visit to Delhi a miss and is terribly upset as she wanted to go all out to promote her first Bollywood film.

When asked about the same, the actress said, "I have been having a great time promoting my film SINGHAM and Delhi being one of my favorite cities, I was really looking forward to going there and interacting with all. Unfortunately, I was down with the flu and my temperature kept rising. I really wanted to be there. Hopefully soon I will be making a trip to the capital."

The actress will fly to Chennai for another shoot once she gets better.

Kajal 'Singham' Agarwal - Punjabi by birth South Indian by choice

South actress Kajal Agarwal, who makes her debut in Bollywood alongside actor Ajay Devgn in yet-to-be released film 'Singham', does not feel insecure over the fact that the male lead is hogging the limelight.

The actress does not feel insecure about Ajay stealing the show in the promos of 'Singham' and says that she had a great time working with the actor.

When asked whether Ajay's presence makes her insecure about her visibility in the film, Kajal says, "Its not the amount of screen space that I have but it is the quality of work that I deliver.

Yes, its an Ajay Devgn film but I will stand out with my performance. I am sure after watching the film people won't stop loving me."

Directed by Rohit Shetty, 'Singham', is an action film. On her experience of working with Ajay, the actress says, "Its better for me to act with Ajay as acting is second nature to him. We have rehearsed together and he is very co-operative.

He does not need rehearsals he gave me very important tips." 'Singham', a remake of 2010 Tamil film of the same name, stars Ajay and Kajal in lead roles.

After having made a name for herself down South, Kajal, says though the reach of Hindi cinema is wider but the south film industry is now going beyond boundaries.

"The reach is bigger in Hindi cinema. The reach is definitely wider in Hindi cinema. But now-a-days south regional cinema is reaching lot of places. Both the industries are equally professional, very punctual, have got good technique, good artists, good stories and scripts, " Kajal said.

"For example my movie 'Magadheera' has been watched by lot of non-Telugu people. I do believe regional barriers are slowly and steadly disappearing which is a very good thing for us, " she said.

Talking about trends in the film industry, Kajal says, "I have noticed is lot of technicians like art directors, choreographers, actress are being shared pan-India. Like lot of south technicians are working for Hindi cinema and vice-versa.

Even actresses and actor are now working or doing films in different languages. I do believe that regional barriers are disappearing now and its now becoming one big Indian industry."

The Mumbai-based actress had reportedly stirred up controversy down South when in an interview she said she does not consider herself as a south Indian actress, as she is Punjabi by birth.

Following which Tamil and Telugu filmmakers issued statements saying they will ban the actress from working in south Indian films.

"I feel very proud that I am a South Indian actress. That industry has given me name, fame and love. I have never said I am not a south Indian actress...I have done 21 movies over there.

I do enjoy a certain position over there which is fabulous and why will I say that, " Kajal said. 'Singham' is all set to hit cinema houses on July 22.

Action replay in the forthcoming film Singham

Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty recreate fight scenes from Amar Akbar Anthony and Zanjeer, complete with the dialogues in the forthcoming film Singham. 

Rohit Shetty who paid a tribute to the 70s in his last, Golmaal 3 with Mithun Chakraborty’s character is all set to take his 70’s inspiration a step further in his next.

The Ajay Devgn—Kajal Aggarwal starrer Singham, Shetty has not just drawn inspiration but entire fight sequences from 70’s blockbusters Amar Akbar Anthony and Zanjeer.

Ajay Devgn who plays a angry young cop named Bajirao Singham in the film titled after his character, will be seen enacting the same cuts and chops and mouthing the same dialogues in the film.

A source revealed, “The famous scene from Amar Akbar Anthony between Vinod Khanna a cop and Amitabh Bachchan the goon has been re-enacted in Singham.

This scene from Singham (above) is inspired by the famous Vinod Khanna-Amitabh Bachchan fight sequence in Amar Akbar Anthony  (below)

The scene has Vinod Khanna unbuttoning his police uniform to beat up Amitabh. In Singham, Ajay Devgn who plays a cop, does the same to Ravi Beasant. In fact, the dialogue between Ajay and Ravi are similar to the ones between Vinod and Amitabh.”

And that’s not all. “There is a scene similar to a scene from the 1973 hit Zanjeer as well. The scene where Pran walks into a police station and tries to sit on a chair, which Amitabh Bachchan kicks away and says, ‘Jab tak baithne ko kahaa na jaaye, tab tak chup chaap khade raho,’ has been re-created in Singham. In this film, the scene has been picturised on Ajay Devgn and Marathi actor Ashok Samarth,” added the source.

Seems like Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn are all set to recreate the 70s magic on screen with Singham. “Rohit wanted to pay a tribute to the 70’s and also to the original angry young man of Indian cinema, Mr Amitabh Bachchan,” said the source.


When contacted, the official spokesperson from the film confirmed the existence of the scenes in Singham and added, “They are used as a tribute to the films of 70’s.

Rohit and Ajay have grown up watching these films. These are iconic scenes and we have tried to pay them a tribute through our film.

Salman in awe of Ajay's toned body

Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan, who is known for his toned physique, is amazed to see Ajay Devgan's fit body in his upcoming flick "Singham".

"Oye teri !!! Baap re baap. Superb ajay's body is looking. Too good (sic)" Salman posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Directed by Rohit Shetty, "Singham" casts Ajay Devgn and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles. The film is a remake of the successful 2010 Tamil film by the same name.

Ajay plays a cop named Bajirao Singham in the film, which is scheduled for a July 22 release.

Kajal's proud of being a South Indian actress

Actress Kajal Aggarwal is amazed by the reports about her South Indian film career. Kajal, who makes her Bollywood debut with Singham, has no plans to quit South Indian films and settle in Bollywood completely.

In her recent interview she explained about the reports that hurt her fans' feelings. I never said I don't consider myself a South Indian actress, I very much do. I am proud to be a South Indian actress. That's where I started out from. I am what I am today thanks to South. My loyalty definitely lies with South, declared the actress reacting on the rumours spread about her.

The actress also clarified that Bollywood won't make her shift focus from South films and she will continue doing them. Kajal informed that she was in Germany shooting for a Telugu film Dhada when these rumours started.

Speaking about relocating to Bombay the actress said, I live in Bombay so there's no question of shifting base when I am from Bombay. She also informed about her forthcoming film which includes Puri Jagannath's Telugu film The Businessman where she will be seen opposite Mahesh Babu.

Apart from that she has signed a Tamil action film Maatran opposite Suriya. Her Telugu film Dhada stars Nag Chaitanya in lead role.

'Shoot in Goa, get tax relief'

Rohit Shetty and Ajay Devgn on the sets of Singham

In a bid to promote Goa as a film shooting destination, the state government is working on a tax relief scheme which aims to refund entertainment tax back to filmmakers, an official said Thursday.
"What it (scheme) envisages is that the tax which the filmmakers have to incur on say film shoots in terms of accommodation and travel can be refunded to some extent. All that the filmmaker will have to do is submit bills," said Dilip Borkar, member of Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) formed by the state government for the promotion of films.

Filmmakers can thus recover a part of the taxes, Borkar said. The rebate under the proposed scheme would go well up to 50 percent, he added.

Goa, which hosts the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) annually, has been home to several high budget film shoots in recent times like Vikram Bhatt's " Murder 2", Rohan Sippy's "Dum Maaro Dum" and Rohit Shetty's yet to be released " Singham".

When contacted, ESG chief executive officer Manoj Srivastava said the scheme was currently under consideration of the government.

"Our aim is to help lure filmmakers and investment into the state. Currently it is under the consideration of the Goa government. The scheme is still at the proposal stage and is subject to government approval and it is too early to speak about it," Srivastava said.

Salman should do Magadheera remake: Kajal

Kajal Aggarwal believes all her Telugu films have fabulous remake value and Salman Khan is the best choice for Magadheera's Hindi remake.

Kajal Aggarwal is an addition to the growing list of actresses, who are born and brought up in Mumbai, but have made a successful career in South Indian cinema. She will be seen opposite Ajay Devgn in the upcoming action flick Singham . In an exclusive conversation with Gaurav Malani , she speaks about both, Bollywood and South cinema and how she wants all of her Telugu films to be remade in Hindi.

Wasn't (Ash-Vivek starrer) Kyun Ho Gaya Na your debut film!
I did Kyun Ho Gaya Na when I was in the ninth grade! I was still a kid then. So I would consider Singham as my Hindi debut. At that time acting was never on my mind and education was a priority. I wanted to pursue MBA but I strongly believe in destiny, which I guess, had different plans for me.

After Telugu films, was Bollywood the next obvious step?
I never strategized my career as such. I never planned that I wanted to start in Hindi films after working in a certain number of Telugu films. I am lucky that things have been naturally falling into place so far.

Were Singham makers particularly looking for a South actress for this Tamil remake?
Not really! Rohit Shetty wanted a fresh face for the film but also with an acting background to her. They did not have time to teach anybody. When they saw my film Magadheera , which is a huge hit in South, they felt that I was perfect for the part in Singham .

Considering it's a male-dominated action flick, how much scope do you have?
There is also a sweet romantic story attached to Singham . Though I have a short role in Singham , it is an important part. I do not believe that the screen-space allotted to a character would define their acting ability. And I personally believe that even if the role is short, the impact that the character makes in that time is more important.

Ajay Devgn is known to be a prank-master. Did you fall prey of his jokes?
Ajay is a wonderful actor and pulled a prank on me on the first day itself. I was asked to scream for a scene and later I realized the camera wasn't rolling at all. But I think it was a nice way to break the ice.

What is that one thing you learnt from Ajay Devgn?
The ability to get into the character once the scene rolls and cut-off from it when the director says cut. The ease with which he does that is remarkable.

Which is a better film – the Hindi or the Tamil Singham ?
It is unfair to say that any version is better than the other. But I do think there have been changes made in the Hindi version which would suit the Hindi audience sensibilities. While the female lead (Anushka Shetty) in the original was a Tamil character, we have changed her into a Goan Maharashtrian in Hindi.

How comfortable were you with the Hindi language?
I am born and brought up in Mumbai, so Hindi and Marathi come very easily to me.

In that case how comfortable were you with Telugu language when you started in South?
Initially I had to work very hard over the language but now, after 4 years of experience, I am quite fluent with it. I am still learning Tamil though.

Would you want any of your South films to be remade in Bollywood?
All my films have fabulous remake value but I don't have a say in this. It's more of a director's call. But if you ask me, I would want all my South films to be remade in Hindi.

If Magadheera was to be remade in Hindi, which Bollywood hero can pull off the character?
The male lead in Magadheera has a lot of heroism in terms of his attitude and body language. Many Bollywood actors have the potential to play the lead in Magadheera . Choosing one is difficult but I guess Salman would suit the role best.

Post Singham what would be your focus – Hindi or Telugu cinema?
I would want to strike a balance. While my loyalties remain in South cinema, since I started out there, I would want to work in Hindi films as well.