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Singh Is Kinng mania unfolds in April

Singh Is Kinng, among the most keenly anticipated titles of 2008, will reveal its first look on Baisakhi, April 13. The Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer releases worldwide on August 8.

From Vipul Shah & Anees Bazmee, the hit makers of Namastey London, Waqt, No Entry and Welcome, Singh Is Kinng is a whopper of an action comedy about an adorable bumpkin from Punjab who ends up in Australia in a zany situation that he had never imagined.

The minute-long teaser of Singh Is Kinng, which will reveal superstar Akshay Kumar's stylish new Sikh get-up, will play across television channels from the following Sunday. The trailer will also play in cinemas worldwide from April 25, along with Tashan.

Singh Is Kinng is an Indian Films - Studio 18 release.

Johnny Depp to do an item number in Shantaram

Item numbers may just have risen a notch higher. After all, it's not everyday that we see Johnny Depp gyrating to one!If things go as planned, Depp may perform an item number for Mira Nair's Shantaram.When we asked the film's music director, Vishal Bhardwaj, about this, he exclaimed, "I pray and hope! Doing an item number for Johnny Depp will be a pleasure!"

Even though the film is not yet on the floors, its music has been decided.

We will have two Sufi songs and one item number in Shantaram," Bhardwaj informs us.

Shantaram, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, is based on Gregory David Roberts' bestseller on his life on Mumbai's streets.

Amitabh, Shatrughan reunite on screen!

Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha will reunite on screen after 26 years. The last time we saw them together was in Yash Chopra's Kaala Patthar.
Now, Yaar Meri Zindagi, which releases this month, will feature both actors in pivotal roles. And in case you are wondering why you haven't heard of the casting coup in this film before, the reason is Yaar Meri Zindagi has been lying in the cans for 37 years!
The shooting of Yaar Meri Zindagi started in 1971 when the actors were still relative newcomers in the industry. Due to several obstacles, including finances, distribution and lack of dates, the film did not get released.
The film also stars Sharda, Sudha Chandran, Ranjeet and Iftikhar, and has music scored by the late R D Burman. It has been produced and directed by debutant Ashok Gupta.
Yaar Meri Zindagi is about friendship between a rich and a poor man and the subsequent crack later on -- a subject that has been explored umpteen times by Bollywood in the 1970s.
Though the verdict of this film on the box office is a foregone conclusion, nevertheless the dynamic jodi of Amitabh and Shatrughan would be a treat for their fans.

Saif-Kareena to wed, post Tashan?

The latest bit of rumour that we heard on April Fool's Day is that Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan plan to wed after their film, Tashan, releases on April 25. And no, this is not a joke, insist all.
Kareena is quoted as having told Zee News that she will get married 'very soon,' adding, 'So maybe, post the release of Tashan this month, you all can see us wedded.'
Incidentally, it was on the sets of Tashan that the two fell in love, and they have been inseparable ever since. To prove his prove Saif even got her name tattooed on his arm.
The actress also told Zee News that there was nothing wrong with getting married at the peak of her career, especially after the success of Jab We Met.
'I didn't say I'd stop working after marriage,' she is quoted to have told Zee News. "Today, I've already reached the Rs 3.5 crore package, and I hope to work and earn more in the coming years.'
So will we hear wedding bells soon? Let's wait and watch.

Mallika adds oomph to Mughal-E-Azam

If you have been wondering what Mallika Sherawat has been up to, the actress has been busy putting on Madhubala's shoes for her new film, Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam. But writer-director Sanjay Chhel says that his new film is not a remake or a spoof of K Asif's classic. In fact, it's a black comedy, costarring Paresh Rawal, Rahul Bose, Kay Kay Menon and Pavan Malhotra.
Chhel, who has directed films like Khoobsurat (1999) and Kya Dil Ne Kaha (2002), talks about his upcoming, Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam.
Why did you wait six years before you took up Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam? My last film Kya Dil Ne Kaha, with Tusshar Kapoor and Esha Deol, did not do well, and that made it difficult for me to get a foothold as a director. But I decided I would only do a film that would appeal to me. I did get offers from banners like Subhash Ghai's Mukta Arts but I was not inspired by the stories. So I waited. I was doing well as a writer. I have spent over 20 years writing movies. Age was on my side so I thought I should wait for the right opportunity.

Review : One Two Three

Let's start with a simple litmus test to see if you will enjoy One Two Three:

Do you think adding an 's' to all things English and making them plural (as in, Suneils Shettys, yous understands?) is a singularly brilliant gag? If you do, then this is your movie of the year.

If not, then you're best advised to leave this B-grade farce alone and pretend it never existed. It's all right, you won't have to try too hard -- I bet the actors are doing the same thing themselves.

Why make a film like this, so obviously bad it hurts?

It's scary to think of who made it. Ashwani Dheer, who did some fine -- albeit occasionally repetitive -- funny work with television's Office Office directs this monstrosity, bringing along a couple of the show's actors but none of its wit.

The prolific Kumar Mangat co-produces the film, which brings to mind the nightmarish thought that a poster for this hideous thing could actually, accurately, carry a 'From the producer of Omkara' tag. Aargh.

Somewhere, Dheer and his gang decided to play the old mistaken-identity game, and placed three diverse characters together in the same hotel and waited for obvious chaos to ensue. Unfortunately, beyond a weak two-para summation of the premise, not much else seems to have been written -- which is why the pained gags set up in the first few scenes by narrator Irrfan Khan continue to play out, again and again, right to the very climax.

Even that aforementioned 's' bit is something audiences have tired of, having seen it by now in both Saawariya  and Om Shanti Om -- and it's not as if it worked at all in either of those movies.

The first Laxmi Narain is Tusshar Kapoor, a bhai-to-be with justifiable reasons for matricide, out to get his first kill. The second LN is a moronically indecisive Suneil Shetty, out to buy a vintage car for his boss. The third LN is undergarment seller Paresh Rawal, out to get designs and move into 'lingeries,' we're told.

Alongside these buffoons are rival dons Manoj Pahwa and Mukesh Tiwari, the latter far higher up than even a bhai, his cohorts calling him 'Papa.' Yup, it's that kind of movie. Oh and when these two appear on screen, the background score, in its misguided attempt to be cool, tries to be casually profane and turns out to be simply embarrassing.

Speaking of wince-provoking, there are the obligatory bunch of bimbettes. Neetu Chandra, playing a tough Jat cop with revolting taste in men, is the only one who keeps her clothes on while car salesgirl Sameera Reddy hesitatingly decides to strip to sell Esha Deol's car. Somewhere in the mix is Tanishaa, a girl who owes her film career to her neckline, even as Deol herself goes all Tamil in her trilled affection for the Mumbai underworld, going into the undergarment business because it too has the 'under' prefix to it. I kid you not.

And so the madness drags on. And on. As said, each gag is stretched far beyond its sell-by date, with a simple bag-swapping routine taking almost 20 minutes, and Shetty and Sanjay Mishra continuing to persist with the imbecilic routines they started the movie with.

Tusshar Kapoor isn't obnoxiously bad, while Mukesh Tiwari actually does quite okay � a mammoth achievement in this scriptless film.

It's as if you gave the Great Indian Laughter Challenge contestants a camera crew and asked them to make a movie. Sure it'd have some basic comic-sketch idea and maybe even funny dialogues, but try watching it beyond 15 minutes. I dare you.

Rating: