I have nothing but the greatest contempt for ungrateful people who try to cover up their own miserable failings by blaming everyone but themselves.
Case in point: Kalpana Lajmi.
She directs “Chingari”—or perhaps “directed” is too charitable a term to use when someone creates a celluloid monstrosity on this scale. Even a bloated corpse with a megaphone could have done better.
And then in an [link courtesy: Amit Pandeya] interview to Subhash Jha (who along with Taran Adarsh can be considered to be the “movie reviewer from hell”) , she blames virtually everyone on the sets for the sorry debacle of “Chingari” except herself and Sushmita Sen—the two people who are actually responsible for the sorry mess.
Firstly she cribs that she hasn’t earned a penny from “Chingari”. To which I say—there is some justice left in the world.
I had only Rs.2.30 crore (Rs.23 million) to spend on the film, a part of which came from my romantic lead Anuj Sawhney’s father’s pocket. That’s why he could get away with his obnoxious behaviour. My producer was too new to argue with the father-son pair. I tried getting several other heroes, including Akshaye Khanna, Dino Morea … even Tusshar Kapoor in desperation. They all said they won’t work with me.
Yes Ms. Lajmi. I am sure afflicted as it is with your breast-beating and self-important victim mentality (ooh I am a great female director, yet noone appreciates me), your brain failed to discern the writing on the wall— Tusshar Kapoor rejects your movie. Yes the same man who signed on the dotted line for “Yeh Dil“. But not “Chingaari.”
And since Anuj Sawhney’s dad put up money to flag his son’s youthful indiscretions i.e. desire to be a hero, you should have known the quality of acting you would be getting from Anuj. But no. You expect him to be Ralph Fiennes.
Anuj was given full attention by Sushmita, Mithun-da, Ila and me. But he ruined the role. The postman was meant to be a mini-actor. He was supposed to give a performance every time he read a letter out to a villager. When Anuj reads a self-penned letter to Basanti pretending it’s from someone else, his love for her doesn’t come through at all.
You can’t imagine how hard Sushmita worked on his performance. But this fellow simply froze in front of the camera.
You get what you pay for Ms. Lajmi. That’s called Market. Actually Market is a Manisha Koirala disaster but let’s let that pass.
Before I forget, let me tell everyone that the music director ran away in the middle of the movie. So did the choreographer (Sushmita had to choreograph the dances).
Are we seeing a pattern here?
Then in a Freudian moment, Kalpana Lajmi herself enunciates the reason why the movie tanked.
A lot of people told me that Basanti isn’t Sushmita, it’s Kalpana Lajmi.
Ahem. Would you pay Rs 300 to see Kalpana Lajmi as a femme fatale? I did not think so.
Further on:
I told her (Sushmita) to apply Johnson’s baby lotion to soften her jaw line. She doesn’t look harsh anywhere. She never ever disobeyed me. She’s a genius.
So are you Ms. Lajmi. An evil genius. Johnson’s baby lotion. Just friggin genius.
But then you say something that makes me see red. Red as a baboon’s behind. Red as Jyoti Basu’s heart.
She did something remarkable. She asked me to let her do an entire take without rehearsals. I agreed. When she gobbled up Mithun-da he didn’t know what hit him. That stunned look on his face was real. After the shot, Mithun-da was livid. He called me to a corner and abused me in graphic language. You don’t know what I’ve gone through. Half the time he was drunk. I had put my foot down. He didn’t like it. For the last five days, he didn’t touch a drop. Hence the inconsistent performance……..
Mithun-da came on the sets nonchalantly as someone whom Sush and I admired for years. He never ever imagined Sush was a volcano waiting to erupt. The minute he realized her potential he froze. For the confrontation scene between them my brief to Sush was, ‘The predator becomes the prey, and vice versa’. And she took off… She gave me tonal variations that even the awesome Shabana didn’t give me in ‘Ek Pal’. I made her do unbelievably long shots which pissed off Mithun-da. She completely ate him up.
Possibly the most loud, over-the-top, near-horror movie performance I have seen in a long time gets compared to something done by Shabana Azmi? Even worse, Sushmita eating Mithun-da? Resisting my urge to snigger for obvious reasons, I have to say that on one hand is a triple-time National Award winner (Mithun-da) and on the other hand is a nagging, faux-feminist who wants to be a great-actress but can’t-act-for-all-the-sand-in-the-world [Before my feminist readers go for my jugular, a lady who stuffs her breasts with sand is not a feminist by any stretch]—and guess who gets jealous of whom.
Now as to Mithun-da coming drunk to the sets–totally understandable. No sensible person, far less a God character like Mithun-da, can act in “Chingari” while in full possession of his faculties. It’s just not possible. As for abusing you in filthy language, that was bad I accept.
Incidentally, in a totally unrelated point, there was a dialogue in “Chingari” where Mithun-da says “Manoranjak Kutiya”. I thought that was an original Lajmi line. Even there I seem to be wrong.
Now the climax of Ms. Lajmi’s fulminations.
I am very grateful to Sushmita for breaking the mould as to the way prostitutes are shown in our films. I asked her to let me film two scenes of sexual crudity. She thought about it and trusted me. Even here Mithun-da was very, very difficult. I refused to let him compromise my artistic sensibilities. Sushmita truly went beyond the script even in the crude scenes.
I’ll never stop loving her for what she has given to my film. What Meena Kumari did in ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’, Nargis in ‘Mother India’ and Shabana Azmi in ‘Ankur’, Sushmita has done in ‘Chingari’, and more. And to think she’s only 29. She told me she had become Basanti for five months, and was scared she would ever be Sushmita again.
Ooh the humanity. The gall of this woman to compare Sushmita’s growling/frothing to Meena Kumari’s epic tragic performance or Nargis’s iconic “Mother India”. or Shabana Azmi’s ‘Ankur. And Ms. Lajmi, Sushmita Sen’s birthday is November 19, 1975. I wonder how she is 29 in 2006. Or may be it is Basanti who is 29. Who cares as long as we have sexual crudity.
Here’s the point. Why this ceaseless blame game? Take responsibility dear lady.
In short, your movies are repetitive and follow the same template: tortured woman in the beginning who becomes (literally) Ma Durga/Chandi in the end.
For originality, learn something from Nabh Kumar Raju. This is not the first time my blog has taken notice of this rising star in the Indian movie firmament. His movie “Topless” was one of the few movies even I could not sit through. From a past post:
Let me start by saying that the skin flick “Topless†(tag line: It takes more than guts to reach the top“) is ineligible for this countdown because even I could not get through 30 minutes of this amazing work of art. Directed by one of Bollywood’s greatest avant-garde directors, Nabh Kumar Raju whose portfolio includes “24 X7 Bombay Saloon Unisex†and “Flirt–Mera Dilâ€, “Topless†is about an innocent model who is asked to pose “topless†for an ad campaign but she, according to the promotional material, stands “rock steady†against sacrificing her morals. It takes more than guts to sit through this one.
Nabh Kumar has problems similar to yours—that is inability to get financial backing for experimental movies. But instead of taking money from people and casting their sons and then cribbing about it, he thinks out-of-the-box. For his new movie Hitlist, he thinks beyond the tried-and-tested—rather than approaching criminals for money to finance his movies, he instead casts them as actors !.
Imagine shooting a film where the director does away with the process of writing the dialogues and simply asks the artists, (in this case non-actors), to perform scenes according to their perception. Sounds incredible, doesn’t it but that’s what Nabh Kumar Raju has done in his latest film, HITLIST, which revolves around the detailed planning that goes on in the underworld, before an act of crime is committed. “It is about six criminals who hatch a plan to kill and extort money from the celebrity circuit. The film reveals their modus operandi and how they go about their business in an organized fashion,” Raju reveals.The film has many firsts to its credits including the fact that the six actors, who play the lead roles in the film, are in essence real criminals whom Raju chose from among 3000 names, who had dabbled in the world of crime. “They have all served a jail sentence and have been arrested at some stage or the other under various charges and as expected their performance was realistic to the core,” he smiles, adding that this factor will also attract the audience to the box-office. “I am sure the audiences would want to see real criminals enacting similar roles on the screen, despite the fact that the film has no star attraction,” he says.
Brilliant. No money or time spent on bheja-fry dialogues—total improv. And people who have come out of jail are rather cost-effective (i.e cheap)—unlike Tusshar Kapoor…who merely looks like he is a pickpocket. These people actually are.
And that’s not all. Nowadays people first act as heroes and then go to jail (Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Salman Khan), Nabh Kumar Raju turns the axiom on its head—–taking people who have first gone to jail and then making them into heroes. Kind of maintains the cosmic balance.
If you, Ms. Kalpana Lajmi take lessons in originality and cost-cutting from Nabh Kumar Raju, you definitely should also learn something from the humility and loyalty of one of India’s greatest directors: TLV Prasad. If Lord Rama had Hanumana as his chela, then Lord Mithun has TLV Prasad.
From his website:
My Achievements
I take pleasure in achieving as a director to do so many number of films with the same hero (Mithun Chakraborthy) and I wish to continue my success with him for number of films.
His very words. He has created a record for directing the same hero (Mithun-da) for 22 movies [6 more in production]. And this is not an idle boast. He has a certificate from Opendar Chanana (General Secretary, Indian Film Directors Association) over here that supports his claim.
And what movies they are: the creme de la creme of world cinema: Jallad, Jurmana, Sikandar Sarak Ka, Chandal, Dada, Hitler (still banned in Israel).
He even got an entry in the Limca Book of Records with 26 Mithun-da movies. Now that’s loyalty and good taste for you.
And just to show that Mr. TLV Prasad is not a one-trick pony, he has launched a line of movies with the female-Mithun: Payal Rohatgi as the central figure of veneration. The movie names also flow through in an alliterative cadence: Tauba Tauba, Mazaa Mazaa, Gharam Gharam, Darling Darling and GudGudi.
Unlike perennially-short-of-cash Ms Lajmi, TLV has been blessed by the Lord for his loyalty. Check out his shooting stills from London. [Though it does looks a bit like the back of Mithun-da’s Monarch hotel]—this man is going places. (I think this is the shooting for “Naughty Boy”)
As for Ms. Lajmi, please do remember that loyalty and originality pays. God does exist. Even though he sometimes goofs up —Kiran More, Anne Coulter and Shabnam Hashmi for instance. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t watching.
And rewarding the good and punishing the naughty.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
Big thing on TCP to say first comment 😉 so i am trying to continue the tradition. It is like a first day first show.
Anyway, the lady is overrated and while I haven’t seen the movie, your review gave a good idea of what it would be like. I saw a couple of clips of the movie and the only purpose seems to be showing of Mithunda and Sush’s chest..no need to say what is more attractive, but that’s where the focus is. And about the part where Sush doesnt look harsh anywhere, at the expense of sounding cheap – aeeyyy…woh harsh crude look hi to humko bhaa gaya 🙂 But “Manoranjak Kutiya” is the best. I am dying to hear Mithunda say that 🙂
Just hilarious, Arnab. Too good.
Nice to see you back in the sarcasm-mode after a few serious posts.
A very very warm welcome back !!!
A lot of people told me that Basanti isn’t Sushmita, it’s Kalpana Lajmi.
”Ahem. Would you pay Rs 300 to see Kalpana Lajmi as a femme fatale? I did not think so.”
LOL !!! Even the thought of imagining Kalpana Lajmi as Basanti make my stomach ache with laughing. 🙂 OHHHMYGAAWWWWWDDDD , I just can’t stop laughing….I feel tears rolling down my cheeks….. 🙂
Tusshar Kapoor rejects your movie. Yes the same man who signed on the dotted line for “Yeh Dil“. But not “Chingaari.â€
Seriously…..it’s high time Kalpana did some soul-searching within herself and came to terms with some sort of self-realization. She has to know very clearly exactly what she is and what she deserves.
The Nabh Kumar Raju part was, indeed, very interestingly funny as well.
The TLV Prasad & Mithun Chakraborty combo, indeed, has given us the creme de la creme of world cinema: Jallad, Jurmana, Sikandar Sarak Ka, Chandal, Dada, Hitler (still banned in Israel). 🙂
So funny you are. 🙂
BTW I didn’t know that Hitler was still banned in israel. Thanks for the invaluable KT. 🙂
LMAO.
Simply incredible. The lady has lost her marbles.
Maybe she
I have some personal grievance to air against Miss Oh-So-Misunderstood Lajmi , since you have penned a post on this. I had a date after a long time a few days back and with my hormones miraculously resonating with my date’s emotions , I sought a place which was dark, comfy and suitable for our deeply intellectual pursuits. So we bought tickets for Chingaari at a multiplex since we were promised absolute privacy with only a few people opting to see it ( maybe another reason was the other movies were house-full …..this being a weekend day) . And what do i get? My gf cribbing about the quality of the movie and its crudeness and pathetic performances , all the while engrossed in analyzing the movie while I kept forgetting all my rehearsed lines amidst her cribs and Sush’s (or was it Kalpana’s) discourses. Yes I felt so helpless , unable that I was to salvage any bit of respect for Mithun-da along with witnessing the crumbling of all my castles carefully constructed after consulting alll the guides on “geek’s dos and donts for dating”. Thus I lost my window of opportunity and also the window (well Chingaari didn’t reflect favourably of my tastes as she said). Thanks Miss Lajmi. you are da true feminist. May the wrath of Mithun the God rain upon thee !
Sorry for the incomplete comment. Continuing:
Maybe she thinks she churns out masterpieces every time. Never heard anyone blasting the audience like this.
And Sush eating Mithun. Hell, 3 time National Award winner Mithunda who used to run an alternate film industry on his own. Too many pegs of vodka, I tell you.
Awww, let up on Sushmita Sen, you guys. Admittedly a horrible film, this, but she hasn’t gone around saying she ‘ate up’ Mithun. And besides, normally her movies are rather watchable, you know.
Kalpana Lajmi on the other hand is a different kettle of fish and I don’t mind anybody saying it.
Wish somebody’d give me that kind of money to make a play instead. I can promise earnings.
Oh, and shameless plug here: Theatrician’s staging Pinter’s The Homecoming at Gyan Manch today. Those in Calcutta and interested, do come.
(Thanks, Greatbong!)
Hilarious. You are always at your best in movie related topics.
Enjoyed. Thanks.
Prabhuji ki jai ho ! It revolted the holy crap in my large intestines to see the Lajmi female bitching about my bhagwaan on Musicindiaonline. Thanks for taking up the holy cause GB.
Aap ko Prabhuji ki ashirwaad prapt ho !
Manoranjak Greatbong!!
No offence ment 🙂
Where is YNot?
She had Rs.2.30 crore (Rs.23 million) to spend on the film and you think there is god.
When she compared Sush’s rants to Mina Kumari’s performance in SBG, her uncle (a certain Mr. Dutt) silently turned in his grave. Also the rumors are Ms. Azmi has started planning a noisy demonstration against the Lazmi-Sen conspiracy to dominate the offbeat feminist socio-politically astute Indian art film scene.
She told me she had become Basanti for five months, and was scared she would ever be Sushmita again
A couple of weekends ago during a post-screening Q&A session with William Macy, one young journalist gushed about his performance in Edmond and asked him how difficult it was for him to become such a complex character. Macy, in his customary polite and calm manner, said he had always thought that the idea of becoming a character is a load of bull because acting to him was purely technical – if an actor becomes a character, they are no longer an actor – they are psychotic and need help. The face of the deflated journalist was worth the price of the ticket.
jyoti babu’s heart isn’t THAT red anymore … it’s become distinctly yellow these days … apparently due to an overdose of Chivas Regal the last few years 🙂
Mayb she should b in the ‘hitlist’ cast…… Crimes against humanity!!!!!
this is totally insane.
U want to earn cheap publicty by targetting oh so gr8 draktor Ms. Lajmi.
U dont have any artistik sense.
U praise TLV, oh gaawd what else I can xpekt from u
😉
keep it up
BTW, man say anything sush is much better than aish, aish is fat. yukkk!!
Kalpana Lajmi, gloried hack, actually has the guts to defend this horror of a film? That too after reusing her last plot (Daman) in a different scenario? And insulting Mithunda in the bargain? And saying Sushmita is better than Shabana?
Curses on her! May she rot in hell, punished for all eternity, forced to listen to Bhupen Hazarika’s cracked voice playing in a loop in her left ear, and Mithunda’s howl “Heeeeeeeeeeeey Shaaaaaaaaaaala” in her right; all the while watching Sushmita smooch Anuj Shawney for multiple takes sitting in the front row of a deserted cinema!!!
May she never get near a camera again…
And here I thought Basanti was Hema Malini……
(you have to agree that the most famous Basanti in Hindi movies comes from Ramgarh) 😉
Sush eating Mithun????? Brrrrr……
She isn’t fir to be a devdasi at the altar of ‘The Man’.
Say, do you know where Greg Chappell has been lately? Haven’t heard a word from him; not even a chu on India’s stunning performace.
i read thru this again … where on earth do you get this kinda stuff on TLV, Nabh Kumar Raju, etc … hats off to you 🙂
Hmmmm…. my comments get auto deleted?????
Firstly she cribs that she hasn’t earned a penny from “Chingariâ€. To which I say—there is some justice left in the world.
I’ll say! I’m all for proto-feminist (female) directors getting the limelight — pure entertainment, if nothing else — but I do object to mindless blabberbots hogging airtime when they could be re-airing Kajra Re instead.
But is Sush really all that bad? She has issues with her age, true, but that apart I quite like her–she’s got presence, y’know? (not in Chingaari. Just the promos turned me off. Kintu generally). Also, despite the ire, the Arnab-sting seems to be somewhat gentle in this post: what have you been using on your sarcastic faculties, Johnson’s baby lotion? 🙂
You dont like Sushmita? I admire her for the fact that shes single and has made the decision to adopt 2 kids. I think its a brave decision.
“Or may be it is Basanti who is 29. Who cares as long as we have sexual crudity.”
The key point. If she concentrated on the sexual crudity more, probably Chingari would have done better on box office. 😉
bangabandhu is at his best on movie related topics.
Recommendation mr 100%
nuff sed
Do the communist know about Ms Lajmi defaming another great bong (this time it is for Prabhuji)???
Great post GB…
Just like you, I was appalled when I read Ms. Lajmi’s interviews. Not only has she rehashed her earlier film, Daman, in a new bottle and tried to lure audiences with the sexual crudity bait, she has had the audacity to blame everyone involved with the film when the audiences didn’t like the taste of her concoction!
If by her own account, her cast and crew deserted and abused her, shouldn’t she work on brushing up her personality and directorial credibility so she can command the respect a director deserves instead of passing the buck? Let alone Tushar Kapoor, it won’t be long before even Hemant Birje refuses to work with her should she continue the way she has! 🙂
I haven’t mustered enough courage to watch Chingari yet, but I always thought Sushmita was an adequate actress and had loads of screen presence. If she has messed up royally in the film, we know who to blame, right?
@The Comic Project: 🙂 “Overrated”—boy you can say that again.
@Dev: Thank you….and yes Hitler is banned in Isreal but only on aesthetic grounds.
@Dhananjay: Marbles? She had them ever? I think Ms Lajmi is on something even stronger than rum. Its called fermented bullshit. And shes full of it.
@Cipher: You took your girlfriend to see “Chingari”…oh sweet heaven. Heartfelt condolences.
@Sue: She went around saying Mithun-da fondled her inappropriately and then denied having said so.
@Subhendu: Thanks
@Mithunrulz: Dhanyabad.
@An Ideal Boy: No offence taken.
@Dipanjan: Beautiful anecdote…sums up everything brilliantly.
@Bonatellis: And a few degrees of green—with envy.
@Rahul: Truly. Incidentally, the spam catcher catches comments with 2 or more links and a whole lot of exclamations. It didn’t delete your comment—only put it in the moderated queue.
@Kumar: Ash is fat ! Did you really mean that?
@Shan: Amen.
@Bongopondit: Or the Basanti in Rang De Basanti. PJ.
@K: Aha now thats KL’s next movie idea.
@Rani: As I wrote on Bonatellis’s post, he is possibly wearing one of De Bono’s hats–perhaps the dunce’s cap.
@Rimi: Bloated corpse with a megaphone isnt strong enough…whew.
@ND: How does that have anything to do with her hamming? I find her to be insincere—talking about how every woman is beautiful in her own way blah blah and then getting implants herself. I also find her sing-song voice, eyelid fluttering and most of all her self-composed poetry infuriating.
@JD: Perhaps just on sexuality minus the crudity.
@Anon: Do tell us the context of this picture?
@Amit: No I dont think they know…time for morchas.
@Mystic Margarita: Yes we know who to blame. We sure do.
Poojya Prabhuji,
Forgive Ms Lajmi, for she REALLY knows not what she does/says/quotes.
Example,
“She told me she had become Basanti for five months, and was scared she would ever be Sushmita again. ”
Err… shouldn’t that be “NEVER be Sushmita again” ?!!! Or was the Basanti alter-ego that likeable to all and sundry that she never wanted to get out of it?
(Unless it’s a typo by Mr Jha. But then I wanted to nit-pick anyways. 🙂 )
Greatbong, where the HELL do you get Nabh Kumar Raju’s movies in the US OF A?!
Hi arnab,
I am quite intrigued by your post – A) because I think there is way too much sarcasm and bitterness than humour ( justified) and that when you wrote it you were way too much pissed off to care whether there is humour or dripping sarcasm and B) because after a long time I am seeing a good, clean (for the lack of a better word) rant from you.
I think that sushmita sen is a faux feminist, a pretentious obnoxious individual and a allround pain in the ass – and a highly opportunistic overrated moron! her diamonds and love for newyork and greed for the camera now make me retch. Kyunki main jhoot nahin bolta, Main Hoon na, Filhal and now chingaari..man this chick knows how to pick the crappiest of films!
you want a good actress – look at two of the most underrated ones – Urmila ( bhoot, Ek hasina thi, maine gandhi ko nahin mara) and Tabu ( chandni bar, maqbool – need I say more)
kalpana lajmi is worse…she is one of those who live a lie– in her case she thinks that she has creativity. wotta B****
As for mithun, I have seen tahader katha and also personally met him at occasions ( yes, its true…I shook hands with him)and believe me there is a lot of genuity in the man compared to the crap thats written about him ( not by you of course). he is a damn good actor – and there is much more to him than TLV prasad.
So kalpana lajmi and ms sen should shut the ***k up…make a good movie or stop bitchin and moaning!
and chingari is the worst insult to prostitutes..and sushmita sen has done the worst prostitute act ever! want to see prostitutes – see mausam, mandi, giddh, chandni bar but puhleeessss not this crap!
YOURFAN writes: @GB: Readers who have been complaining about lack of humorous posts in your blog must be happy and satisfied now.
After reading lines like “Nowadays people first act as heroes and then go to jail (Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Salman Khan)â€, I think why can’t I think of that – it was there all along – why didn’t it come to me. The answer is that is why you are GB and I am Yourfan!
It is. I just so desperately wanted to put in ‘have you been using Johnson’s baby lotion…?’ so desperately somewhere in my comment! See, I have a reputation of bitichiness to keep up myself. 😉
Excellent post Arnab (maybe I should have waited some more before making my last comment). One of the best qualities of posts like this is that it exposes the amusing antics of “so bad its good” film makers in the most entertaining way possible.
i simply dont get a chance to watch movies much, so i enjoy all your reviews all the more.
will you please review movies like lagaan, dil chahta hai, black, paheli, parineeta, bend it like beckham, dil de chuke sanam,to give us another hilarious pov ?
How dare this woman question Mithun Da’s acting prowess?
All kidding aside, I do not believe that a mature person like Mithun who has been in the business for so many years and worked with all kinds of directors can act so unprofessionally. Frankly, I believe she is lying.
P.S: T.L.V Prasad rocks.
What a bitch
btw still waiting for you post on Rang De Basanti
bloated corpse
cosmic balance
justice
u really r a genius [ u use johnson products ?]
and at last u noticed taran !
BTW i feel anyone cud b better than Sohail or tusshar even Anuj.
everyone ran away but u stayed thats wat defines genius.
but ‘topless’ must b something if even u cud not stay.
Lajmi definitely is something…..u looked at her Twice.
and was there a script to go beyond ?atleast nabh kumar is more transparent in that aspect.
how can u get away with mere mention of ‘Market’?
if gory garish and trishul is her idea of a pros lajmi shud go and see Mandi .
The [pretentious ]diva cum woman of substance that Sush is ,wat happens to that substance when she signs up for such ghastly scripts?
Your blog really is an exotic location !
Arnab,
“and yes Hitler is banned in Isreal but only on aesthetic grounds.”
…. Got the joke :).
Hitler in Israel is banned because of its Title, not the content….isn’t it?
I wonder, though, if TLV Prasad movies also have worldwide premiere and release.
However, it reminded me of that old joke of Aussies getting offended as there was no mention of Allan Border in the movie Border and hence they made a movie called Gavaskar with nothing about Sunil Gavaskar in it. 🙂
Man..GB….that was super. the best line was:
“Now as to Mithun-da coming drunk to the sets–totally understandable. No sensible person, far less a God character like Mithun-da, can act in “Chingari†while in full possession of his faculties. It’s just not possible.”
Reminds me of a friend in college who used to say ” 2 hr seminar without dope…impossible.”
And yes…this bongobondhu thing is mad fun. :))
Hi arnab,
I think u should be writting moview reviews of kalpana lajmi’s movies. send this to her—she willl get a new person to accuse after accussing so many people for the failure of her movie.
She will say that for people like u, my moviews are nt workin. Ha…ha..ha..ha..ha
very good post
always find them interesting.
Tauba Tauba, Mazaa Mazaa, Gharam Gharam, Darling Darling and GudGudi.
salutations to the ingenuity and ofcourse thanx to u for discovering and conveying this info!
Uh well… see, I’m not really a huge Mithun fan (now don’t banish me from the site!). What I’m saying is, the Sen did withdraw earlier comments. And you know how often comments are imagined into being. See, if for no other reason than Sushmita Sen is too media-savvy to say things like that. It’s not like she needs publicity so bad.
What I’m trying to say, in my meandering little way, is let us focus our ire on Lajmi. Who stirred up all the rubbish. And kept adding to it. I don’t really follow star ‘quotes’ in a big way unless the actor/person being quoted has a history of saying things like that and has been shown on screen saying such stuff. Can’t trust the gossip rags.
@Tapan: Excellent observation—that Freudian/typo thing. As to Nabhkumar movies, there is a pay site called Bollygrounds which sometimes has mercy on us and uploads movies of true masters.
@Sophocles: You shook hands with him ! You are truly blessed. Praise the lord. And yes KL’s posturing, groaning and over-the-top hyperbole totally pissed me off.
@Yourfan: Thank you, thank you….
@Rimi: And so you do…
@Debashish: Thank you
@Swati: Definitely shall revisit the classics…
@Anil: I believe she is lying too. Leave aside the sniggers, one of the reasons people like TLV Prasad cast Mithun again and again is because of his professionalism—he doesnt ask questions, no nakhras, just comes and delivers. Cant visualize him drunk on the sets.
@Kamal: Coming up..
@Varsha: No currently not using Johnson products…my cheek lines are soft in themselves. My blog becoming an exotic location—-aha ! And those alliterative movies: a must see.
@Dev: 🙂
@yourfan2: Totally understand that….of course being very anti-drug myself I took the easy option out: bunking classes and playing cricket on the JU grounds.
@Diana: Send this to her? Then open my door to find a raving lunatic woman shaking her head, frothing at the mouth and then doing a crazy jig before she skewers me with a trishul. No way !
@Sue: To be honest, even Sush has given interviews where she has given us lines like :” the acting was exhausting” and “I became Basanti” and “after the shot was over, I burst into tears” (Okay that I understand). I honestly liked her when she first came onto the scene—-but even before “Chingari’ was released some of her self-adulatory interviews left a bitter taste in my mouth. Also honest to God I think her poetry sucks.
KL: “I truly feel conflicted. Should I just give up making films I believe in and became an escapist filmmaker?”
It’s better she becomes only the first part ie: escapist (far from the “maddening her” crowd).
Man this post was so funny! References to Nabh Kumar Raju took it to a completely celestial level.
A question, do u guys seriously think Mithun is a good actor?
Greatbong, I have decided not to have anything to say about la Sen anymore. Everything else I took in my stride, but poetry???
Greatbong, Apologies for my ignorance but didn’t get this one: Why do you call Subhash Jha and Taran Adarsh movie reviewers from hell?
if am allowed to comment to another comment
@avantika
donno about subhash jha, but taran adarash is surely a reviewer from hell. he’s not a movie reviewer he’s a baniya.
Actually, you can add Komal Nahata’s name to the list of Moview Reviewers From Hell.
@EMC3: Yes maybe she should.
@Sue: You like Sushmita’s poetry? You do?
@Avantika: Because 1) they sometimes give away the ending
2) they don’t know what films are
3) blissfully unaware of aesthetics
4) I suspect are “biased” reviewers—swayed by considerations not apparent.
@Sriram: True
@Sam: My mistake. Totally forgot. Of course.
Read this one after a long time..with all the changes you have made to your site was just figuring out how easy/difficult it is going to be to retrieve vintage stuff like this from the archives…not exactly user friendly!!
Actually Biswajit, there is absolutely no difference between now and the way you would retrieve this article in the old site. The only thing is that rather than having a long long list of archives and categories in the side-bar (which as the blog keeps getting older keeps getting longer), the archives have their own page. And this page is linked from the sidebar. I fail to see how that has led to user-unfriendliness.