‘Shuddhi will take time, there may be a change in cast

Says Karan Johar, the reason for the delay being Hrithik's health problem.

Karan Johar's next film Hasee Toh Phasee is lining up for release this Friday and he's upbeat about the Siddharth Malhotra-Parineeti Chopra starrer, which according to him is not a quintessential rom-com. But the film that has been the talking point for the last few weeks is undoubtedly Shuddhi. When will the film roll?

"Shuddhi may take six months, even a year, to go on the floors. We are still working on the schedule. Hrithik Roshan's health issues, which lead to Bang Bang being pushed forward, has had its share of repercussions. Shuddhi stands indefinitely delayed and right now I don't know where it is going," Karan admits.

Buzz is, Deepika Padukone has replaced Kareena Kapoor. 

Karan insists that at the moment it is still Kareena, but the delay could lead to a change in the cast. "I can't expect an actress to wait indefinitely. I feel terrible for Bebo, who is a special friend the sibling I never had," he sighs.

Reportedly one of the reasons for him looking to replace Kareena is the failure of Gori Tere Pyar Mein, which has also led to director Punit Malhotra's exit from Dharma. "Who said Punit is out?" retorts Karan. "His next film is with Dharma and he has already started working on it. The film may have failed but Punit didn't. He had worked harder on Gori Tere Pyar Mein than he did on I Hate Love Storys. If anyone has to take the blame, it's me."

So where did he err? Was it a case of miscasting? "Like you can't analyse success, you shouldn't analyse failure either," Karan philosophises.

Rumour has it that Tarun Mansukhani who had to give up on Dostana 2 after five years is a disheartened man today. Karan says he's taken it upon himself to "re-energise" his team. "We don't operate as a studio, every film director in Dharma is part of the family," he asserts.

But, is it true that after the blockbuster Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ayan Mukerji is getting priority over other Dharma directors? "No. I don't divide and rule. I encourage group love! That's the only way to grow. If you don't delegate and trust, you will live in a bubble and I hate bubbles."  

With the next two weeks, Karan will shift to his new house in Bandra, opposite Excel head honcho's Ritesh Siddhwani's pad.

He is also working on 2 States with Sajid Nadiadwala and collaborating with UTV on the Hindi remake of Vettai. His only unfulfilled ambition is that even at the age of 40, he is yet to make a film with Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. But that may happen too. For now it's being said that he's all set to return to direction with a film starring Ranbir Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra.

"We're still working on the cast but I promise an exciting screenplay," he says cagily. Has Ranbir made way for Aamir or Salman? That time will tell, not Karan!

On his rumoured fallout with SRK...

SRK is a part of Dharma. So what if he hasn't come to my show this season? Koffee with Karan is just a show while SRK is a big part of my life and company. Ditto Aditya Chopra and my dad. They conceived, conceptualised and envisioned this company. Tomorrow if I am asked to wipe the floors of Red Chillies and Yash Raj, I will do so. And I know if I ever need SRK and Adi, they will be there for me."  

Rooting for change

The land is turning fertile for documentary filmmakers in a city dominated by B'wood.

Nine months ago, documentary filmmaker Pavitra Chalam and investment banker-turned filmmaker Akshay Shankar started working on Rooting for Roona. The documentary was on an 18-month old baby diagnosed with Hydrocephalus, a birth defect that led to massive swelling of her head.

Roona's story, first broken by an AFP journalist, caught international attention, and eventually led a leading private hospital to take up her unique case. It was also relentlessly reported by the media, with some even labelling her as "miracle baby." What wasn't written about was what Roona inherently stood for - the apathetic healthcare conditions for millions of under-privileged children in India.

Pavitra and Akshay's documentary focuses on this core issue, with Roona's story as its anchor. The two, along with their crew, have extensively travelled in remote villages in Kerala, UP and Bihar to examine the state of healthcare and build up an initiative to drive a social change through cinema. 

Their film is only half complete and to seek funding as well as 'outreach avenues', the duo were present at Good Pitch. This initiative was originally pioneered at Sundance Institute and it intends to connect "social-justice" filmmaking to philanthropists, campaigners, foundations as well as corporate social responsibility heads of leading companies. It's been introduced in India by Sophy Vsivaram, the chief executive of the Indian Documentary Foundation.

Six documentaries dealing with issues as diverse as statelessness along the India-Bangladesh border, child labour in coal mining sites and prejudices against love marriages, were shortlisted in its debut programme and each filmmaker had a seven-minute-slot to make their pitch. The panellists consisted representatives from pharma firms and steel companies to the World Health Organisation, who pledged support, both financial and research-driven with some even ensuring steady mobilisation for the screening of the documentaries.

However, the highlight of the session came towards the end, when members of the audience, moved by the dramatic pitch, volunteered to partake a share of their salaries for the films. Said Akshay Shankar, producer of Rooting for Roona, "An academician from the Pune University promised us 100 per cent assistance in healthcare research while Kirit Pradyot Deb Barman, the King of Tripura donated rupees 3 lakh. A festival patron also committed 30,000 rupees from his monthly savings for all the six films."  

The forum, hosted by the Mumbai International Film Festival, ended on a high note, with each of the six filmmakers, miles ahead from where they had started out. "Now, all we need are centres to screen documentary films. We hope our film reaches as many people so a change on the policy-level can also be initiated."  

PeeCee speaks for the girl child

The actress joins Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez in a documentary.

Priyanka Chopra has lent her voice to the feature film Girl Rising directed by Oscar nominated director, Richard E Robbins.

The actress has provided a voice-over in English and Hindi for the film which highlights nine stories of young women from around the world who have used education to rise above poverty and adversity.

While the Indian story features PeeCee's voice, the film also has voiceovers by Academy Award winning actress Anne Hathaway and pop star Selena Gomez.

A source told Mirror, "Though Priyanka is a globe trekker, she dubbed this movie in India. She saw portions of the documentary and was moved by the stories."

The Indian story has been written by Sooni Taraporewala, the award winning screenwriter of films like Mississipi Masala and Salaam Bombay. 

The source added, "Priyanka has seen the Indian story many times now. She has told her friends to see the film whenever they get the opportunity." 

3 countries, 150 locations, 2 cameramen

When Vikas Bahl called cinematographer Siddharth Diwan to shoot his upcoming film, Queen, Siddharth's apprehensions overpowered his desire to be a part of the Phantom production. Reason?

Nearly half the film had been shot when the film's original DoP, Bobby Singh, died unexpectedly after shooting in over 100 global locations spread over India, Netherlands and France.

"I thought it would be a unique experiment and a learning curve for me," says Siddharth, who has earlier worked on Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani and Michael Winterbottom's Trishna.

Joining the crew halfway through made things a little awkward. "I didn't even know whether to watch the portions already shot. Eventually, I decided to read the script and watched some of the rushes to understand the vibe of the film," he says. 

It helped that Bahl wanted the portions which Siddharth was to shoot to be stylistically different. "Bobby had shot in Amsterdam and Paris, while I was to shoot the film's initial portions in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar," he points out.

While Bobby had worked with a Sony S-65, which gives the film a polished look, Siddharth worked with a camera called Epic Red with promo lenses. "Since I shot the home and the wedding sequences, this camera helped give the scenes a naturalistic, grainy and a more real vibe -- something which the director wanted as it's a film about selfexploration," he explains.

Siddharth also filmed several portions with hand-held cameras. "The actors improvised a lot. To make the dance sequences more natural, there was little or no choreography involved. With just two cameras, I captured intimate moments which weren't rehearsed," he explains.

It was easier to understand the director's vision once he realised that both had been raised in Lajpat Nagar. "So when Vikas spoke about Delhi winters, the marketplace etc, I knew where he was coming from. Usually, I take a month to prep up for a film but with Queen, the cultural connection made it easy."

Bob Dylan is hawking cars

Folk legend Bob Dylan's latest gig is a lengthy Super Bowl advert for automobile gaint Chrysler and his fans are screaming 'Sell Out'.
The man who once sang of Workingman Blues, is now urging Americans to buy cars from the American brand. But ironically, the company now has Italian owners.
In perhaps the most misleading part of the whole advert, the All Along The Watchtower singer says, "So let Germany brew your bear, let Switzerland make your watch, let Asia assemble your phone. We will vuild your car."
The 72-year-old had earlier allowed a cola brand to record a new version of Forever Young with will. i am for a 2009 Super Bowl advert, while in 2007 he appeared in a Cadillac Escalade commercial. He even allowed lingerie company Victoria Secret to use his tune Love Sick in an ad, though the singer claimed he was 'just having fun' on that occasion.

Raw deal for Sallu's protégé

Jai Ho might have pleased Daisy Shah but certainly not the other leading lady of the film, Sana Khan.

Sana Khan is perturbed with her big break gone bust and her sorrows started much before the film released.

A friend of the actress told Mirror that Sana was upset about Salman promoting his 'heroine' Daisy Shah while she was completely sidelined.

The former Bigg Boss contestant was nowhere to be seen during the film's promotional spree and was also missing from the film's posters and trailers. 

The 25-year-old actress' woes increased when the film hit theatres on January 24.

"Sana felt short-changed when she saw the film. She had been assured that she would be there throughout the film but she discovered that she had only one scene before the interval and her role had been truncated," said the actress' friend.

"Jai Ho was supposed to be a grand launch for both Daisy and Sana, but while the latter got a lot of attention from the film's hero, Sana got a raw deal," the source added.

The treatment cut deep as Sana had sacrificed a lot for the role, and that included dropping out of the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

"Sana was overjoyed when she was selected as one of the participants. The show could have fetched her a cool Rs 50 lakh. But Salman dissuaded her from taking part in it, pointing out that as his heroine, she should not be over-exposed in a TV show just before her launch. So Sana opted out and today she is rueing the decision," added the source.  

So did she air her grievances to team Jai Ho?

"Sana is small fry in the industry. She feels powerless and is afraid that if she speaks out at the moment, her career may get adversely affected," reasons the source.

And what is Sana doing now? "Nothing much," sighs the friend. "She is waiting for things to happen. Producers have taken notice of her talent and she's getting a few offers. But Salman is yet to officially offer her the second role he had promised. But then you never know, Salman is known to spring surprises."  

SRK back on his feet

Ten days after an unhinged door came crashing and packed him off to a hospital, the indomitable Shah Rukh Khan resumes work today in Chembur for Farah Khan's Happy New Year.

Mirror has learnt that there will be no heavy-duty action or dance sequence and some of the shots have been modified keeping SRK's fragile condition in mind.

The accident which happened on the sets of the same film, left the actor with a fractured shoulder and a torn left knee tendon. The doctor had advised him complete bed rest for a couple of weeks, but SRK has been hobbling around with a cast on his leg and a crutch manacled to his hand. He was last spotted at Ahaana Deol's wedding having a long conversation with the bride's mother Hema Malini.

Now, this is two much!

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone were inseparable at Ahaana Deol's wedding; with the actor going as far as following his ladylove to the loo!

Love makes the world go round and if you are Ranveer Singh, it lands you in some rather awkward places too.

After the well-attended reception of Ahaana Deol and Vaibhav Vohra, the guests headed to the after-party, held at the same hotel. While the reception saw a host of Bollywood celebrities, including the Bachchans and Shah Rukh Khan, the afterparty had only one power-couple in attendance: Ranveer and Deepika Padukone. And they only had eyes for each other.

According to a fellow guest, the duo walked in together post midnight and were inseparable. They almost stole the attention from the newly-weds, with guests queuing up for pictures.

"Deepika was chilling with a couple of friends and Ranveer. While international pop music played, nobody really got in the groove," the guest told Mirror. 

And then something awkward happened.

"The DJ decided to play Badtameez Dil and much to the guests' dissapointment the two did not bother to shake a leg. Was it because the song featured Deepika and her former flame Ranbir?

But then the DJ spun some Ram Leela tracks, followed by numbers from Gunday and Deepika who was in a saree, stepped on the dance floor and busted out some energetic moves. Ranveer's jacket also flew off somewhere and soon his neatly done ponytail had untied itself too," said the source.

The source added that Ranveer kept planting kisses on Dippy's cheeks and the two went on whispering sweet-nothings to each other. But the ultimate act of dedication was yet to come.

The source tells us that when Deepika excused herself to go to the washroom, Ranveer insisted on tagging along too.

He gallantly escorted her and patiently waiting outside, fidgeting with his phone, till she was done. Then the two headed back in and partied till as late as 3 in the morning." 

Pitching in

Director Kiran Rao plays moderator at an event that hopes to create a cultural hub for indie documentaries.

The good people at Good Pitch² are in Mumbai to help six documentary filmmakers form alliances that will fund, distribute and promote their craft. Kiran Rao on coaching talented minds.

Was your decision to present Anand Gandhi's Ship of Theseus a way to cement your stand on promoting independent filmmakers.

It wasn't a statement. That was the first time I decided to present a film because I was moved by it. Before that I didn't believe that I could do much. But Aamir (Khan) and Anand believed in me and made me see that I could bring a certain appeal and take a film to the theatres and the audience. 

How did you get involved with Good Pitch²?

I love watching documentary films. Sophy Vsivaraman brought Good Pitch² to India. We met a couple of times to discuss the panellists. I bounced off some names and made some connections for the event.

How does it work?

Filmmakers apply for the event through the website. They have to upload a video of themselves. Once they are selected for a particular venue (previous sessions have been in New York, Chicago, Taipei), they invite panellists to sit in for a session. The films are at various stages of production. Some filmmaker who have put in their own money need funding partners to complete the shooting. Others need distribution channels. We hope to build these bridges through the pitch.

Who can be a panellist?

Amnesty International, Ernest and Young, Ford Foundation as well as independents make up the panel which changes for each film. There are panellists who have been invited because they have a direct connect to the cause mentioned in the documentary and some who are simply interested in good cinema. At previous Pitch meets, we had audience members walk up to the microphone and say "I'd like to share my contact with the filmmakers. Hope they help"  

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Public speaking, each filmmaker has seven minutes to sell his idea to the audience and the panellists. This includes playing the trailer. While filmmakers are able to communicate with a large audience through their films, speaking in front of 200 guests can be daunting. We met at my house for three days to finetune their ideas.

You called yourself a catalyst. What is your role?

In the case of Ship of Theseus, the catalyst was an enabler. Here she is the pivot around which we can connect different spokes just by being involved. As a moderator, my job is to protect the filmmakers and suggest connections for him.

Are our audience ready for indie films?

Definitely! They are smaller in numbers but they exist and are proactive. The films are essentially human stories. A newspaper might report an incident but I only feel connected when I see a face or a name. That is what these documentaries offer. We need a space to access these films as well. 

Could mainstream star power help?

Stars could become bigger than the film but they could bring about a change by backing the project.

Are multiplexes possible venues?

We need a cultural space that we can work in. Nandan used to be that space in Kolkata. Maybe have a cafe attached to the theatre because you should be able to meet and converse with the filmmaker.

I wanted to catch Kamal Swaroop's Om Dar-Ba-Dar in the theatre but it was there for only a week in an afternoon show. Since I have a baby I missed it.

Urban audiences spend a large chunk of their time commuting, sitting at work or at home near a computer. Pay Per View is catching on.

So you think we are moving online?

I don't think we can ever replace a theatre. Every film aker dreams of a darkened theatre where the curtain draws and the credits roll. I would want to start 10 such culture centres. Let's look at Mumbai's real estate realistically and move forward steadily.
 
SELLING CELLULOID

17 NOT REQUIRED INDIANS: (Soniya Kirpalani) 17 Indians were sentenced to death for murdering a man. They would have ended up as statistics, but for a family members and well wishers pressuring for a a fair trial

BORDER WITHIN BORDER: (Debanjan Sengupta and Subhadeep Ghosh) Both India and Bangladesh deny Kofur, an illiterate brickmaker the fundamental right of citizenship

DRIVING WITH SELVI: (Elisa Paloschi) The story of a young woman who escapes an abusive child marriage to become Karnataka's first female taxi driver

LOVE COMMANDOS: (Miriam Lyons and John Stack) The Love Commandos rescue young women from being murdered by their families and help them marry the men they love

FIREFLIES IN THE ABYSS: (Chandrasekhar Reddy) Ten-year-old Sooraj, works in a 'rat-hole' mine, burrowing into narrow tunnels to scratch coal out of hard rock

ROOTING FOR ROONA: (Pavitra Chalam, Akshay Shankar, Jyolsna Balakrishnan, Ananya Roy and Ashwin Chalam) Roona is a one-anda-half year-old girl in Tripura who suffers from Hydrocephalus, a birth defect caused by a build-up of fluid in the brain   

Flipping through Mr India’s Calendar

Twenty-seven years later, the clamorous refrain, "Calendar khana do", still rings in Satish Kaushik's ears. He vividly recalls filming Mr India with a bunch of mischievous kids, which included Aftab Shivdasani, Karan Nath and Ahmed Khan, whom he had to chase with a stick every day to round up for a shoot.

"As Shekhar Kapur's associate director that was my job and the kids were always up to some prank," he laughs, remembering the bungalow they had erected at Versova Village. "There were rooms for the kids equipped with TV and a garden at the back where they could play inbetween shots. We even hired teachers for them so they wouldn't fall back on their studies." 

Kaushik recalls working on the script with Javed Akhtar. "There was a character of a cook and while fleshing him out, I recalled one of my father's distributors whose sentences inevitably began or ended with the word 'calendar' for no logical reason. And an amused Javed saab suggested we name our cook Calendar," he says.

Later, while working on Calendar's look, Kaushik remembered a character in a popular Pakistani serial of the'80s, Aangan Teda. Akbar, played by Salim Nasir, was a classical dancer before he was hired as a domestic help by a retired civil servant which explained his effiminate ways. "We decided to incorporate Akbar's effeminate side but instead of a kurtapyjama, Javed saab decided to give Calendar a more westernised wardrobe complete with a cap and suspenders," says Kaushik, admitting that as the associate director he pushed himself as a actor for the role.

His interaction with the kids brings back fond memories with one exception, the explosion that brings about Tina's premature end. Kaushik says that there were long deliberations on whether they should kill off the sweetest of the kids till Akhtar reasoned that it was necessary to make the audience really hate Mogambo.

"Do you know that Mogambo was to be played by Anupam Kher?" asks Kaushik. "But when we got him into costume him and screen tested him, everyone felt he looked more funny than ferocious. Then I had the enviable task of telling my old buddy that he was out of the film. We eventually signed a more menacing Amrish Puri as the comic book villain of Mr India and the rest, as they say is history." 

Death of The Master

1967-2014

Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the leading actors of his generation and winner of an Academy Award for his title role in the film Capote, was found dead on Sunday morning on the bathroom floor of his West Village apartment. The actor had a hypodermic needle stuck in his left arm and bags of heroin strewn about his home, law enforcement sources said.

Hoffman, 46, was discovered unresponsive by police responding to a 911 call, and Emergency Medical Service workers declared him dead at the scene, New York City police said in a statement. An investigation was under way.

The Manhattan apartment was littered with empty bags of a deadly type of heroin, it has been claimed.

According to officials, investigators have found eight bags - branded 'Ace of Spades' and 'Ace of Hearts' - inside the fourth-floor apartment.

They usually contain a lethal mixture of heroin laced with fentanyl - an opiate used to soothe the pain of cancer patients.

The unusual brand names are among hundreds of stamps used by drug distribution crews to mark products, according to CNN. However, they haven't been seen in New York since 2008.

The discovery has sparked speculation that the Oscar award-winning actor may have died after injecting the lethal concoction, according to a police source. The heroin - variously labelled as 'Bud ice', 'Income tax' and 'Theraflu' - has been linked to more than 100 deaths from coast to coast.

Hoffman, who is survived by three children with his partner Mimi O'Donnell, had detailed his struggles with substance abuse in the past.

Last year it was reported he had fallen off the wagon 23 years after he first quit booze and drugs, fearing his substance abuse would kill him.

The Boogie Nights star left a clinic on the east coast of America in May last year where he had spent 10 days being treated.  

Hoffman started using prescription drugs in 2012 before moving on to heroin.

Although insisting he only used the class A drug for a week he said he realised he needed help and checked himself into rehab. Born in upstate New York near Rochester, Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for the 2005 biographical film Capote, in which he played writer Truman Capote. He also received three Academy Award nominations as best supporting actor, for The Master in 2013, Doubt in 2009 and Charlie Wilson's War in 2008.

After more than a dozen earlier roles, Hoffman burst onto the film scene in 1997's Boogie Nights, in which he played a lovelorn gay man in a movie about the porn industry that helped make Mark Wahlberg a star.

Hoffman appeared in blockbusters such as Twister and The Hunger Games series. But he was more often associated with the independent film world for his portrayals of often disturbing and complex characters in such films as Happiness, in which he played an obscene phone caller, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Hoffman could also play nice, as in his portrayal of an angelic nurse in Magnolia. Other noteworthy films included Moneyball, The Savages, Cold Mountain and Scent of a Woman, one of his earliest films, which garnered its star, Al Pacino, an Oscar.

Hoffman also frequently appeared on Broadway, earning Tony award nominations for his role as the main character Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, and for his parts in Long Day's Journey Into Night and True West.