Billu Barber Movie Reviews, Story, Trailers, Photos & Wallpapers Gallery

A Krishna-Sudama story in modern setting, ‘Billu Barber’ tells the tale of a village barber and his childhood friend, a superstar. Directed by Priyadarshan , the movie stars Irrfan Khan , Lara Dutta , Asrani , Rajpal Yadav , Om Puri supported by Shahrukh Khan in a brief role.

‘Billu Barber’ is a story of a simple ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. It’s a story set in today's day and age. Bilas Rao Pardesi was living in his village with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two great kids. He is known as Billu (Irrfan Khan), a village barber. Life was bitter sweet...we can say more sweet than bitter.




But his business is running low because he has not been able to upgrade himself according to the changing trends. One day a superstar came into their lives and everything changed. A film unit visits his village to shoot a movie. It stars a superstar Sahir Khan (Shahrukh Khan), who was once Billu's school friend.

All at once, Billu's status in the village changes, and he becomes highly respected. Everyone wants him to meet the superstar. But Billu is unsure, as he feels he cannot match the superstar's status. Besides, he fears that the star may not recognize him. He makes many attempts to meet the star, but fails. After all these hardships, he gives up.

But people think that Billu lied about the relationship with the star and start insulting him. His family and children also gets upset.





Life changed, people changed, friends changed, the village changed but one man did not.... Billu Barber. Will this ordinary man redefine the word ordinary? Will the world see the greatness behind his small existence? And most of all, will life ever be the same for ‘Billu Barber’ again?

The movie has cameo appearances by Kareena Kapoor , Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. ‘Billu Barber’ has music by Pritam and lyrics by Gulzar and Sayeed Quadri. A remake of the Malayalam film ‘Kadha Parayumbol’, this comic movie has been produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

The movie is set to release on 13th February.














Source: apunkachoice

Raaz - The Mystery Continues Movie Reviews, Story, Trailers, Photos & Wallpapers Gallery

A painter has haunting premonitions about a girl he’s never met. A girl whose hidden insecurities come to surface when she is faced with a deadly truth. And a lover who won’t let go of the woman he loves. A mysterious story unravels among these three characters in Raaz - The Mystery Continues . The movie, a Vishesh Films presentation, is not a sequel to Raaz but an entirely new suspense thriller directed by Mohit Suri.

Emraan Hashmi as Prithvi.
A silent brooding artist who expresses all his feelings through what he paints. He has a unique gift that goes beyond his talent as a painter. He can see future. And now he sees Nandita’s future – fearsome and deadly. Can he save her soul?

Kangana Ranaut as Nandita
She is a young, accomplished and independent model. She has found her life in Yash. Behind her self-confident façade lies a woman vulnerable to fear and insecurities. She is about to witness a terrifying struggle for survival. What will survive – she or her fear?

Adhyayan as Yash
Yash is a charismatic and extremely ambitious man. A documentary filmmaker, he aims at dispelling and debunking religious superstitions and paranormal beliefs. His strong commitment to rationality and logic sometimes results in him challenging and taking a stand against existing age-old traditions and myths.

And yet when Nandita, who is closest to his heart, claims to be traumatized by supernatural occurrences, will his belief still hold true?

Synopsis:
A brooding artist Prithvi (Emraan) experiences mysterious and distressing visions about Nandita (Kangana), a woman he has never met, which he paints on a canvas. Intrigued by these visions, Prithvi tracks her down and warns her that these are not merely paintings of her, but accidents waiting to happen.

At first Nandita refuses to believe him and dismisses him as an eccentric stalker. However, the striking resemblance between Prithvi’s paintings and the near-death incidents in her life is hard to ignore. Haunted by a series of deadly and paranormal experiences, her reason crumbles in the face of fear.

Now, one of Prithvi’s paintings has revealed her as dead. The only way she can change her fate is to unravel this mystery with his help, at the risk of alienating herself from her boyfriend, Yash (Adhyayan), a rational and logical man who refuses to believe in Prithvi’s premonitions.

Will Natasha risk her love and her life to unravel this mystery? Is there no escape? Are some mysteries better left unsolved, some secrets left uncovered, and some questions left unanswered?

‘Raaz – The Mystery Continues’ is produced by Mukesh Bhatt . The film is set to hit the theatres on January 23, 2009.

Source: apunkachoice

Slumdog Millionaire bags 10 Oscar Nominations

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, has received 10 nominations for Oscars this year.

The film has been nominated in the following categories:
Achievement in Cinematography - Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in Direction - Danny Boyle
Achievement in Film Editing - Chris Dickens
Achievement in Music (Original Score) - A R Rahman
Achievement in Music (Original Song) (Two Nominations) - A R Rahman
Best Motion Picture - Christian Colson
Achievement in Sound Editing - Tom Sayers
Achievement in Sound Mixing - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
Adapted Screenplay - Simon Beaufoy

Indian music composer AR Rahman has bagged three nominations for the Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire; one for Best Original Score and two for Best Song.

Slumdog Millionaire will be competing with the likes The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader that are vying for the Best Motion Picture award.

The cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire were in Mumbai for the premiere of the film. They caught the nomination announcement at the premiere venue via a live video feed to LA. On hearing the announcement the cast and crew present including Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy were overjoyed.

Anil Kapoor, who plays game show host Prem Kumar in the film said, "It is unbelievable. We are so happy it feels like the entire country has been nominated. The film gave India the platform to show the kind of talent India has. Now we must grab the opportunity instead of getting petty and narrow minded."

According to Frieda Pinto, who plays the love interest of the lead protagonist in the film, "The feeling is beyond words. 10 Oscar nominations! It's unbelievable."

"It's unbeleivable...the result, 10 nominations for the film and specially the three for Rahman. He is not here because he is finishing work on his other film, he is working right now," said director Danny Boyle.

Co-director Loveleen Tandon said, "It has really opened new doors for us and I am happy that Slumdog... became the vehicle for it. It is high time that the West woke up to Indian talent."

Irrfan Khan, who plays a police inspector in the film, feels the 10 Oscar nominations the film earned were a like a lottery and exudes confidence in A R Rahman in notching a coveted Academy award. "I am elated. It is unbelievable. I don't know how to react. It is like we have won a lottery," he said.

Diplomat-turned-writer Vikas Swarup said, "I think my book which was adapted into screenplay was nominated for the Oscar because Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy had heightened sensibility as people who loved India and Mumbai and that sensibility also came to the project. Even if they viewed it through the eyes of a 'foreigner', if I may use that word they also viewed us as people who felt greatly connected to Mumbai, the great city and its people."

The film tells the story of a slum kid who participates in popular reality game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) and wins Rs two crore in a bid to win his love interest back.

Slumdog... is based on a novel by Indian diplomat Vikash Swarup and stars Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor and Irrfan Khan in lead among others.

Recently, the film's protagonist Dev Patel won the most promising newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards as well as the Best Young Actor Award at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Nominations for the 81st Academy Awards were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and actor Forest Whitaker.

The 81st Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on 22 February, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

Hugh Jackman will be seen hosting the awards and the same will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Source: NDTV

Slumdog Millionaire Movie Review, Story, Photos & Wallpapers Gallery

Everyday at traffic lights, beaming bazaars and urban slums in India, scores of urchins like Jamal Malik cross our eyes. But seldom does one try to get behind the life of a slumdog or his aspirations.

But Danny Boyle
, Hollywood director, and maker of flicks like Trainspotting, Sunshine and The Beach did just that. And Slumdog Millionaire won four Golden Globes and 10 Oscar nominations for that.

SlumD is the story of a wannabe millionaire. It's the story of the love life of an underdog, an orphaned beggar. And it's also the story of the scathing poverty and hunger that prevails in the urban slums in India, in this case Dharavi, the largest slum colony in Asia.

Jamal and Salim, are two brothers living in a Mumbai slum, when an anti-Muslim riot breaks out. Their mother is bludgeoned by the rioteers, leaving the two kids to fend for themselves. The metro city's garbage dumps becomes their living ground, also their livelihood. Till one day they are spotted by a beggary racketeer.

They move in his dwelling. But shortly flee from it, on discovering that kids are blinded to make them more suitable to beggary.

They flee to Agra, and start living a comfortable lifestyle, posing as guides, conning foreign tourists visiting The Taj Mahal, for their top dollar.

The director tries to incorporate each and every mileu of the wonder that is India, in the film - The harsh life of a slum orphan. The familiar site of corrupt Indian policeman scrubbing his pot bellies. The pseudo-American lives of call centre workers. The traffic. The underworld. The prostitutes. The Gods and religious riots. The Bollywood. The revolution of cable TV and mobile phone. And alongwith it the dreams of aspiring one billion Indians.

The film breaks open with the famous reality TV show - Who wants to be a millionaire? And the contestant is none other than Jamal Malik, who has graduated to become a tea vendor in a call centre.

Quizzing him in the hot seat is Anil Kapoor, the show host. Kapoor gives a brilliant performance in the film, even surpassing the real host Amitabh Bachchan of the show Kaun Banega Crorepati?

The movie, thereafter pans between the show, a police station and Jamal's life. In the cast are Freida Pinto, Mumbai based model known for her De Beers and Skoda ads. Pinto is cast as Latika, another orphan and love life of Dev Patel aka Jamal Malik, the slumdog protagonist.

As an 18-year old actor and ex-world Taekwando champion, British born Patel gives a gripping performance, the heart of the film.

Simon Beaufoy beautifully adapts Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A on the screen. While co-director Lavleen Tandan, fills the dialogues with choicest Hindi words to give a real life colour.

Overall, Slumdog Millionaire is a brilliant and entertaining portrayal of a urban slum urchin, who is on the way to bag a jackpot in the TV show.

Considering the fact that over 250 million in India still live below poverty line, the film also gives a shots of urban Indian slum life, which is especially appealing to western audiences. Made with a budget of just $15 million, not even half of Bollywood blockbusters, SlumD, succeeds in strongly conveying its message - no dream is too big.

Source: Economictimes

Slumdog Millionaire isn't poverty porn, says author

NEW DELHI: Diplomat Vikas Swarup, whose novel was used as the basic story of the film Slumdog Millionaire, has an answer to all those crying themselves hoarse about the "negative" portrayal of India: Slums are a reality in India.

Diplomat Vikas Swarup

Swarup, whose 2003 debut novel Q and A, featured slums mainly towards the end, tells STOI the Hollywood-funded, British-made film doesn't depict them as places of "unmitigable despair".

He says on the phone from Pretoria where he is posted as India's deputy high commissioner, "There is nothing negative about the slums as depicted in the film. Slum dwellers are not shown as people wallowing in sorrow. On the contrary, they are trying to make their life better, they have aspirations, dreams and desires. The fact that the slums are giving way to skyscrapers is a reality. In the end, the film is about hope and survival."

Ever the diplomat, Swarup is polite to a fault about the film straying from the original plot of his novel. Q and A was primarily about luck but the film is about destiny. Swarup's book featured an illiterate boy winning the biggest prize on a quiz show because of miraculous good fortune, namely a full and active life having adventures in orphanages and brothels, with gangsters and Bollywood celebrities.

But Swarup is not worried that the film has changed all that. For him the biggest change is in the name of the protagonist, Ram Mohammad Thomas, who becomes Jamal Malik. "Obviously, unlike a book, a film doesn't have the leisure of space to explain all the details. Anyway, a film is a creative interpretation of a director. He can take liberties with the script," Swarup says this without a hint of disappointment in his voice. Instead, he jokes that if all films were true to the books they were based on, why ever would the books be read?

In actual fact, Swarup has little reason to complain about Hollywood betraying his book. Slumdog, the film, has made his book a bestseller years after it was published. The film rights were sold even before the book was released.

When Boyle started working on the film, Swarup was shown the first and second draft of the script but didn't have any role to play in the final production of the film. So, when he saw the film in London, it was like "meeting friends whom one had known all one's life but had never seen before."

So, is the original slumdog creator's life any different from before? Swarup, who will be in India for the Mumbai premiere on Thursday, says he is constantly being asked the million-dollar question: are you reaping the profits? And what's the answer: "I have not become a millionaire in real terms," he laughs.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Mithun Da is a classic actor: Akshay Kumar

New Delhi (IANS): After working with Bollywood disco king Mithun Chakraborty in "Chandni Chowk To China", superstar Akshay Kumar says the former is a "classic actor".

"This is the first time I have worked with Mithun Da. He's a classic actor and a very warm human being. It was a pleasure to work with him.

"I used to connect with him as a father figure and it was very touching. I hope the audience feels it too by watching the film," Akshay added.

"Chandni Chowk To China", which also stars Deepika Padukone, released Friday to disappointing reviews.

Jimmy Shergill has no apprehensions in working for small screen

Bollywood actor Jimmy Shergill has no issues shifting gears from the silver to the small screen.

"As long as the kind of work I am being offered is good or even better, I have absolutely no apprehensions about working on the small screen because I'm not jumping the gun and shifting focus to just television," Jimmy told IANS.

The actor, who recently won an award for his performance in "A Wednesday", was offered his TV debut in Zee TV's crime thriller "Monica Mongre" but could not manage the dates for the show.

"I have been getting TV offers but I found this one really interesting. It was a thriller and a mini-series format and required just 10-12 days for shooting. But I couldn't manage the dates," he said.

Film promotion is not my cup of tea: Abhay Deol

Actor Abhay Deol, who is promoting his forthcoming film "Dev D", says he hates promoting a film.

"It's not about the ego, it's not about projecting an image, it's not about being lazy or anything else you might think. The truth is I love making movies, but I just don't have it in me to sell them," Abhay posted on his blog.

"I am an actor, not a salesman, but most people seem to think that the two are one and the same. I find promoting extremely tiring. It basically means I have to answer the same questions a 1,000 times in the span of eight to nine hours," he added.

Source: hindu.com

Akshay Kumar’s award goes to Aamir Khan

After all the drama and exchange of annoyance that took place on stage of an award ceremony recently, it was Akshay Kumar, who saved the show with his kindheartedness. The actor took many by surprise when he refused to accept ‘The Most Popular Actor’ award saying that not him, but Aamir Khan deserved the award for his work in Ghajini.

Our sources say, “Akshay Kumar saw Ghajini in New York when he was there for the premiere of Chandni Chowk to China and was floored by Aamir’s performance and effort. On his return to India from London, Akshay saw Singh Is Kinng in the flight and thought that Aamir’s effort was far more commendable.

Receiving the award Akshay said, “I feel humble that I have won the award for ‘The Most Popular Actor’. I have waited for this award since a long time. However, I recently saw Ghajini and thought that Aamir deserves this award more. I know that Aamir does not accept awards, but I want him to accept this as a symbol of love that people have for him. I want him to enjoy the award as much as I would have done.”

When contacted Akshay Kumar said, “I did something that I genuinely felt. I really do not wish to talk about it.”

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

YRF releases actual figures for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Ever since it's release, there have been different figures being floated around for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. They have oscillated between obscenely high to embarrassingly low but nothing could take away from the fact that this has been the biggest ever success for Yash Raj Films as well as Shahrukh Khan in the recent times if one looks at the ROI (Return on Investment) factor. A blockbuster by all means,Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi now sees an official confirmation from YRF officials who have released the film's real collections. After a three week run and adding up the fourth weekend collections, i.e. till 4th January, the film has made 78 crores net at the Indian box office', comes an official statement from the YRF spokesperson.

After taking a stupendous opening at the box office,Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi has managed to stay on quite well at the box office in spite of Ghajini mania. In the week when Ghajini was busy creating records that really went over the ceiling, the Shahrukh Khan starrer managed to hold itself well and got more than 9 crores added to it's total. Now with 78 crores already in it's kitty and few more days to go before another biggie Chandni Chowk To China strikes, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is all set to comfortably surpass the 80 crore mark.

While it seemed a little uncertain before the release of Ghajini that whether Om Shanti Om record of 86 crores would be crossed, it now looks like a possibility, though a distant one at that. It's a wait and watch situation from here on!

Source: entertainment.oneindia.in

Ghajini to hit Pakistan theaters tomorrow

Karachi (PTI): Amid escalating tension between New Delhi and Islamabad over Mumbai terror attacks, Bollywood will live up to its reputation of bridging the barriers as Aamir Khan's Ghajini will hit theaters in Pakistan on Friday.

"Ghajini has been cleared by the censors and we are anticipating it to be a big hit in Pakistan as it is Aamir's first release in theaters in the country," well-known distributor and exhibitor Nadeem Mandviwalla said.

After initial fears that the strained relations between the two countries would also affect the cultural ties, the Pakistani Government has approved the release of the film, which is setting records at the box office in India after its release on December 25, 2008.

Ghajini, which will be the first Indian film released in Pakistan after the November 26 incident, will be shown in four theaters in Karachi and all of them are reporting very good advance ticket sales, an employee of Nishat Cinema, Kamran, said.

"Although, the advertising build up for the film has been low key due to the conditions but still people are keen on watching it on the big screen," he said.

People were anticipating that Bollywood superstars Shahrukh Khan's Rab Ne Bana di Jodi and Aamir's Ghajini would be released simultaneously in both the countries but the Mumbai incident had spoiled all such plans, Mandviwalla said.

He said exhibitors were hopeful that the Government would also clear the widely anticipated Chandni Chowk to China for release later this month.

The cinema theater business has picked up dramatically in Pakistan since the Government lifted a 42-year-old ban on screening of Indian films in cinema halls in late 2007 with several films going on to rake in millions for the stakeholders.

Source: hindu.com

Bollywood gears up for big budget releases in 2009

Powered by the success of two movies featuring the two leading Khans -- Shah Rukh and Aamir -- at the fag end of the year 2008, Bollywood has stepped into the New Year with lots of hopes on an array of big-budget movies to set the box office on fire.

Three Bengali films by internationally acclaimed directors Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Rituparno Ghosh are also slated for release in 2009. While Dasgupta comes up with "Janala", Ghosh will give us "Kalponik" and "Abohoman".

The strong ticket collection of Shah Rukh-starrer "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" and "Ghajini", which sees Aamir in the lead role, in the last two months of the previous year has ushered in strong optimism in the industry which hopes to be back on its feet soon after liquidity crunch hit the Bollywood in the second half of 2008.

The first six months of the New Year will have nearly a dozen big-budget multi-starrer movies lining up Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan.

The year begins with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone's "Chandni Chowk to China" which is an action comedy about a naive cook from Delhi's Chandni Chowk locality who is mistaken for a reincarnation of an ancient peasant warrior by residents of a village in China.

Akshay Kumar's recent releases are estimated to have earned more than Rs 500 crore at the box office and also plays lead roles in two more movies to be released this year -- "Kambakth Ishq" opposite Kareena Kapoor and "Blue".

One of the most anticipated Bollywood films of 2009 will be Shah Rukh's home production "Billu Barber", a remake of a hit Malayalam movie, and Karan Johar's "My Name is Khan". Both films will star Shah Rukh.

Directed by Priyadarshan, "Billu Barber", which also stars Irrfan Khan and Lara Dutta, will be seen with keen interest by Shah Rukh's fans to find out if the actor's magic works as Tamil film industry super star Rajnikanth's remake of the same film last year failed to click at the box office.

"Billu Barber" is the story of friendship between a top film star played by Shah Rukh, and a common man played by Irrfan, and is set for release in the first quarter of 2009.

Aamir Khan too will be in spotlight with Rajkumar Hirani's "3 Idiots", which is based on writer Chetan Bhagat's bestseller English novel "Five Point Someone", and "Dhobi Ghat". In "Dhobi Ghat" that marks the directorial debut of the actor's wife Kiran Rao, Aamir plays the role of a painter. Hirani's film sees Kareena as the heroine.

Besides, Aamir has his home production "Delhi Belly" featuring his nephew Imran who had made his debut last year with successful "Jaane Tu Ya Jaaney Na".

Salman, who had a bad spell in 2008 at the box office, will try his luck this year in "Main Aur Mrs Khanna" opposited Kareena and in "London Dreams" with Ajay Devgan and newcomer Telugu actress Asin who shot into limelight with her Hindi film debut in Aamir-starrer "Ghajini".

Abshishek, whose performance in "Dostana" last year earned good reviews, features in Rakyesh Om Prakash Mehra's "Delhi 6" and Hrithik appears in his home production "Kites" and Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut "Luck by Chance".

Besides the big budget movies, there is this year Ashutosh Gowariker's "What's Your Rashee" in which actress Priyanka Chopra is reportedly playing 12 roles depicting as many star signs.

Buoyed by the success of his debut as an actor in "Rock On" last year, filmmaker Farhan Akhtar is appearing again on the screen in his sister Zoya-directed "Luck By Chance" which is expected to hit the screens on January 30.

The plot of the film is centred on Bollywood and how people from different walks of life go to Mumbai to make it big in an industry where luck often plays a bigger role than hard work. Produced and distributed by Big Pictures, the movie also features Juhi Chawla, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia.

Source: thedailystar.net

'Luck by Chance' is a slice of bollywood life: Zoya Akhtar

Mumbai , Jan 6 ' Luck By Chance&aposis a contemporary tale set in bollywood - a world desperate to escape its own reality, debutante director Zoya Akhtar has said.

Zoya, who directs her brother and actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar in her debut venture, said her film was about a slice of bollywood life in which luck plays a huge role.

"Here, notions of superstition, fate and destiny underline every life as grand desires and opportunities converge to form strange patterns,"she told reporters.

Zoya said the world of cinema was about fantasy sellers and a devoted audience."The insane love for cinema mixed with the eccentric notion of divinity and archaic beliefs are contradictions that keep this world spinning,"she added.

On characters in the film, that releases on January 30, Zoya said, Sona, played by Konkana Sen Sharma, arrives in Mumbai wide-eyed and ambitious with dreams of becoming a filmstar.

Vikram (Farhan), has just moved to the city, leaving behind the comforts of his parents&aposhome in Delhi. He is a mover, used to getting what he wants and smart enough to know when to manipulate, she said.

Sona begins to enjoy Vikram&aposs attention and affection and they develop a romantic relationship.

Rishi Kapoor plays Rolly, a superstitious and successful producer while Hrithik Roshan dons the role of a superstar, Zoya said.

The wheels of fate spin favorably for Vikram, as he is called in for an audition and uses this opportunity to the fullest, she added.

Source: indopia.in

I hope to win some awards this year: Shah Rukh Khan

Actor Shah Rukh Khan shares with us the things he's planned, what he hopes for, and things that'll make him very happy.

"I have many New Year resolutions. Like... to work hard, get better physical health, and make more people smile through my work.

"I have hopes as well... I hope Knight Riders wins the IPL, my film 'Billu Barber' does well, I hope I am able to make all the films that I want to happen.

"May the kids learn a new thing or two this year... hope they are healthy and positive about the world they live in... I hope that my friends have happiness surrounding them...

"Of course, I hope to win some awards this year, take some holidays with my children... just them and me. And generally give and forgive... like a King... not get and forget God...

"May all who suffered in 2008 find a positive ray of light in the New Year... "

Source: movies.indiatimes.com