Reliance Big Entertainment has inked a 1.5 billion $ deal with Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks SKG to set up a new age DreamWorks studio. The studio, to be based in Los Angeles, will produce 6 films per year for the next 6 years and the rights for all these films across platforms such as theatres, DTH, television, DVD’s will remain with Reliance.

As per the deal, DreamWorks will become a 50:50 joint venture of Spielberg, current DreamWorks chief executive Stacey Sinder and the Anil Ambani owned Reliance Big Entertainment.

This coming together of one of the biggest conglomerates in India and the most popular director in the West (Steven Spielberg) is surely a ‘Big’ step for Indian cinema.

By now its common knowledge that superstar Akshay Kumar was recently signed as the brand ambassador for Levi’s 501. He even walked the ramp for them with international models at an event earlier this week in Mumbai.

Now comes a piece of news stating that the Khiladi of Bollywood will be soon seen in India’s first collaborative advertisement. The ad, for Levi’s company, will be directed, scripted, and performed by the winners of a contest conducted by Levi Strauss India. The contest will be run on a special website where young contestants will be asked to write in their concepts for the ad. They can also upload videos and files of their previous work or narrate a story or incident to illustrate why they should be picked. Winners, chosen jointly by Akshay Kumar and Levi’s, will begin working on the ad in November this year. These winners will perform various roles, such as writing the script, developing the music and background, directing the ad and acting in it alongside Akshay Kumar. Levi’s India will be the producer and the ad will be released some time in December 2008.

Levi Strauss India director-marketing Shyam Sukhramani said, “We’re giving youngsters an open platform to do an ad with Akshay. The ads announcing the contest will be aired on TV starting August 27. We will also promote it through the outdoor and Internet medium and through our 200 stores across the country.”

Must say youngsters across the country would do anything to get up, close and personal with their favorite Bollywood idol.

Apparently, a sequence involving Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar and cameraman Peter Zuccarni required a ship to be blasted. Utmost precautions had been taken, and Sanjay, Akshay and the cameraman were 50 feet underwater filming the sequence. But even with such extreme care being taken, due to the underwater conditions, the blast went a little out of control!

It was a harrowing moment for the entire team, but luckily the cameraman used his presence of mind and got Sanju Baba, Akki and himself out of trouble quickly. Back on shore, the actors thanked their stars for such a narrow escape.

With an impressive star-cast comprising of Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif and Zayed Khan along with some spectacular stunts and breathtaking underwater sequences, Blue is certainly one film to look forward to.

“Akshay had a fierce cold while dubbing. There was no way we could postpone. So we used his nasal voice and Akshay even added a line in the dialogue about his character having a terrible zukaam“

The Friday agitations by the Students Sikh Federation about the ‘wrong’ depiction of Sikhs at a theatre in Amritsar has left producer Vipul Shah agitated

“My film has grossed 46-48 crore rupees over the first weekend. That’s more than Om Shanti Om and Welcome which had the highest opening so far. So obviously the film has been liked. I can’t please every single Sikh. Who are these agitators? This is nothing but a shortcut to fame. The boys of the Sikh Youth Federation must’ve thought that when the Delhi Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee protested, Akshay rushed to Delhi. In Amritsar they must’ve thought this is their way of getting Akshay into Amritsar. Surely there’re easier ways of getting stars’ attention. And Akshay couldn’t spend one year moving from city to city appeasing the imagined hurt of self-appointed champions of the Sikh community. These are people who don’t respect the opinion the highest authorities of their community who’ve said there’s nothing objectionable in Singh Is Kinng. All the important and powerful bodies of the Sikh community cleared the film. What were these boys on Friday protesting about? They said they hadn’t even seen the film. They just said it was an insult to Sikhism. But in what way?”

Vipul feels there are professional protestors who jump up in protest against any culture-specific cinema. “They feel somehow their culture will be threatened when on the contrary, culture-specific films like Jodhaa-Akbar and Singh Is Kinng pay a homage to the people and culture of a community.”

On Friday 300 Sikhs saw Singh Is Kinng at Cinemax in Mumbai. “They were dancing the Bhangra with dhols after the screening. They told a news channel that this was the first film in 70 years of Indian cinema that had done justice to the Sikh community. What more endorsement for our motives can there be?”

Vipul admits his guilt on the beard issue. “We admit Akshay’s beard should’ve been longer. We added a scene where Akshay says he made a mistake by trimming his beard. And in the video with Snoop Dogg during the end titles he comes with a full beard, albeit a false one. It’d have taken Akshay two years to grow a natural beard. We had told the Shirmoni Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee that the beard would be false, and they had agreed”

Vipul wants a law whereby freedom of expressions cannot be curbed. “The final authority on right and wrong in a film should be the censor board. Once the censors approve, all protests should be crushed with iron hands. Otherwise all of us should just fold up our production houses. I’m not disrespecting Sikh sentiments. So please stop hounding me for nothing.”

Vipul Shah couldn’t be in a happier place. “The opening of Singh Is Kinng has been incredible. Business everywhere has been thundering. But I can only rest easy after the first two weeks. I’m glad that in spite of being a comedy, Singh Is Kinng isn’t vulgar. I gave my director Anees Bazmi the freedom to do what he likes. I only wanted him to tell a morally correct story. I didn’t want to flinch while watching it with my sons.”

Even as the nation’s favourite pass time has now become to pull apart actress Vidya Balan for her dressing sense, the actress says she herself isn’t bothered at all. In fact speaking about the pressures of looking or being a particular size in Bollywood doesn’t affect her at all.

“As far as I am concerned I think I owe a certain amount to the audiences because I am an actor – a known person but that is as far as my role in a film is concerned or as far as my responsibility as an actor comes in. But once the cameras go off then I am not Vidya the actor but Vidya the person. And as far as that is concerned I am very comfortable in my own skin,” she says matter of fact.

The actress will soon be seen in Kismat Konnection after a gap of one and half year. But in that time the actress has constantly faced a barrage of comments regarding her weight and fashion sense.

“The problem with me is that I am too comfortable in my own skin… and none of this affects me. As far as I am concerned I am my director’s actor and the audiences’ who pays for my tickets and that’s that. Just because someone else thinks something… bolne do yaar… it doesn’t matter,” she laughs it off, “I have never believed in the numbers game. For three years I did films back to back and then I took a break. Now I have Kismat Konnection but I have never wanted to be a part of that rat race or project that fake image. I can never be something that I am not.”

But the criticism has been vicious on many occasions. Hasn’t that upset her ever?

“No…I won’t say never. And all my emotions would often reflect on my face when I had just started out. But while filming Munnabhai I learnt something invaluable from Baba (Sanjay Dutt). The man was going through hell at that time but as soon as Raju said action he was the character. He was munnabhai and we never saw his worries or stress on his face. And I have taken that and learnt to disconnect myself from the world. Now I don’t let what I feel come up on my face… I guess you can say I’m now a better actor than I was before!” she signs off.

“I was sick of kissing on screen,” the 28-year-old actor said during a news conference in New Delhi to promote “Awarapan”. “I was being typecast as a kisser. Thankfully, I’m not kissing anyone in this film.

“When I used to see myself kissing on screen, I did not feel good myself and I can understand what the audience must have felt. There was a time when people came up to me and said that our kids love you but they cannot go to see your films.”
He added: “I wanted to break this stereotyping of myself and I took a risk in ‘Awarapan’ by not doing all that I was previously related to. This film marks the second phase of Emraan Hashmi.”

This is how the break-up of collections over the opening weekend (Friday-Sunday) in some of the major markets looks:

UK – 50,000 pounds
US – 35,000 dollars
Abu Dhabi – 400,000 dirhams

The figures are also notable due to the fact that Jannat was released at barely 21 prints in UK. Even though Tashan was released at far greater number of prints, its opening day collections stood at 30000 pounds in the country. On the other hand Jannat’s first day collections were an impressive 15000 pounds.

Says an industry insider, “This pretty much tells the growing equity of Emraan Hashmi over the years. His Awarapan may not have worked last year but for perhaps the first time ever in his career, his performance was ‘respected’. Internationally, too, Emraan has started making a big impression which is pretty much apparent from the way Jannat has opened.”

In comparisons with Tashan, “While the film boasted of stars like Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, it sunk in a big way and didn’t take an opening which was anticipated from a movie of this grandeur. On the other hand a small film like Jannat has sprung a huge surprise and defied all speculations/calculations to turn into a huge success.”

Traditionally Bhatt films have hardly been released overseas, let alone making a huge impression there. Jannat seems to have reversed their fortunes.

“Pretty much so”, says the expert, “In fact the kind of opening which the film has taken is on par with that of John Abraham’s biggest opener there – Taxi No. 9211. UK is certainly not Bhatts market which clearly indicates that the film has worked primarily on Emraan’s name.”