Videsh

“Do our desires have such power that they can enter our lives in human form,” wonders the battered protagonist of Videsh at the movie’s end.

Reminds me of Hermann Hesse, the Nobel-winning author who, in a prologue to one of his books, muses about the challenge of writing about non-existent things: “The fact that serious and conscientious men treat them as existing things brings them a step closer to existence…” Something like this happens to Chand ( Preity Zinta ) in Deepa Mehta’s film Videsh

Akshay-Priyanka may pair again!

Akshay Kumar is set to play another romantic-comic role in director Priyadarshan’s next film.

Priyadarshan seems to have an endless stock of entertainment inside him. One after the other he keeps making movies that blend comedy with romance and suspense. And the director has become fond of actor Akshay Kumar too.

8x10 Tasveer

Akshay plays Jai Puri, a thirty-plus man who has a unique supernatural gift to see into the past of dead people by touching an object belonging to them or by seeing their photos.

His family, friends and even he at times is skeptical of this power. But Jai manages to eke out a living in this land so steeped in belief of the supernatural.

Ayesha Takia plays Jai’s wife and also the breadwinner of the family. She grudgingly believes in her husband’s powers.

Jai is not on talking terms with his father Jatin Puri (Benjamin Gilani), who is an oil baron, living a lavish life of luxury and fame. Jai never wished to follow his father’s profession but nonetheless loved him deep within.

Sharmila Tagore plays Jai’s mother Savitri, a woman torn between her husband and son. She sincerely wishes her son to return to the family fold.

A personal tragedy provokes Jai to use his supernatural powers to unravel a mystery that seems impenetrable to an ordinary mind. But Jai’s mind is not ordinary.

The film has Akshay Kumar doing some death-defying stunts. In one scene he jumps off the edge of a high cliff and lands into water. The stunt was shot with the help of safety cables.

In another stunt, Akshay, tied with chains, sinks underwater where he can’t use his arms to swim back to the surface. It’s almost a Houdini kind of stunt where Akshay unshackles himself.

Director Nagesh Kukunoor describes ‘8x10 Tasveer’ as an action thriller. Apparently, Akshay and Nagesh had their differences in the initial days of shooting but soon they got used to each other’s style of working.

‘8x10 Tasveer’ is written by Kukunoor and has music by Salim-Suleiman and Bohemia.

The film is produced by Percept Picture Company.

‘8x10 Tasveer’ is set for release on April 3, 2009.

Jani Dushman

It is difficult to do justice to horror films in Bollywood with the lack of documentation and material available on the subject. Therefore, this article has been written almost entirely on the basis of memory. As a result there will be certain oversights but the idea is to pay some kind of homage to a genre that has managed to maintain its niche in India's massive film industry.

The earliest 'horror' films in Indian cinema revolved around themes of reincarnation and rebirth. Basically they were the typical old-fashioned ghost story. The attempt was not to scare as much as to give the love story a new dimension. The most famous is probably Kamaal (Pakeezah) Amrohi's debut film, Mahal. Starring Madhubala and Ashok Kumar the film is a complicated ghost story, which sees Ashok Kumar moving into an abandoned mansion with a tragic history. It is also immortalised by Madhubala's beauty and Lata Mangeshkar's first major hit song 'Ayega Aanewala'. Atmospherically photographed in the German expressionist style appropriately by the German cameraman Joseph Wirsching the film is heralded as an all time classic.

Barah Aana (2009) (story)

After Bas Yun Hi, Barah Aana is Raja Menon’s second movie. It is one of those movies with a lot of potential that has not been exploited fully. The story’s a good one, so is the cast but the narration is unimpressive, until the second half when it actually takes off.

The opening scene has Shukla (Naseeruddin Shah) running through some woods huffing and puffing, with three thugs chasing him and we find out he’s actually dead, atleast on paper. Then the story begins.

Shukla (Naseeruddin Shah), a chauffeur; Aman (Arjun Mathur), a waiter and Yadav (Vijay Raaz), a watchman are all roommates in Dharavi. Shukla and Yadav are abused by their employers while Aman is in love with a drug peddler Kate (Violante Palcido) and fends off advances by Rani (Tanishta Chatterjee). So what separates them from getting respect? Money. So they extort money for a kidnapping they never planned and this leads to more kidnappings and more money. And like all good plans it goes all wrong. So, how is it fixed? Money.

Naseeruddin Shah is the stoic types who never says a word, but still manages to say it all, as he puts up with all the insults by his employer and finally loses it. Vijay Raaz is fabulous. His transition from a watchman to a kidnapper with money to burn is natural and convincing. Arjun Mathur is so-so.