Ok, we got it. Smoking is bad for you. And it’s bad for Shahrukh. In many more ways than one.
from most beloved to angry superstar, to fined and bad-rep superstar. All he needs now for his image is a court order for cigarette smoking. Srk Marlboro Man under fire. It’s a good thing he was in Pune when the guys showed up with the summons, because lately his fuse got short. Maybe that’s also the fault of cigarettes..
Thankfully we live in a free world. If we want to destroy ourselves with our bad habits that’s our prerogative. I hate the fact that Srk is smoking. but I love the fact that, at the end of the day, it’s HIS business. I am surprised. The witch-hunt on smoking is on, even in India, land of the… I don’t want to say lawless, but let’s admit where you can get out of a traffic ticket waving with a 100 rupees bill….
Hey it’s not that cigarettes are outlawed in movies… we see stars smoking in movies ALL THE TIME but dare you light up in REAL LIFE! slap slap slap on your wrist. Bad boy. Don’t do everything you see in the movies. like drinking yourself senseless, using drugs..beating up people, shoot them in the back, crash cars that are in your way while your being chased. Kill kill and kill some more…
In the movies everyone can get away with murder. In real life you light up a cigarette, you leave a hairline scratch on someone’s car while getting out of a tight parking spot and the law comes running after you.
our double standards. BTW, why don’t get other movie stars flak?
check out these guys.. you think they smoke only in bathrooms and where it’s allowed????
I am glad I quit that nasty habit and more and more smoke-free zones are in the works worldwide, but I think smokers should be granted the freedom to choose. Let’s clean up chemical plants, let’s turn our cars green. Let’s reduce our carbon footprint, get rid of plastic packaging, pesticides that seep into our ground water etc and THEN lets go after our smokers :-)
By Bollywood Hungama News Network,May 14, 2012 – 04:17 hrs IST
After playing powerful characters in films like No One Killed Jessica, The Dirty Picture and Kahaani, Vidya Balan is now all set to play a simple housewife in her next film Ghanchakkar.
Ghanchakkar re-unites Vidya Balan with her The Dirty Picture‘co-star Emraan Hashmi. The film produced by UTV is directed by Rajkumar Gupta.
Rajkumar Gupta plans to shoot portions of the film guerilla style with hidden cameras on the streets of Mumbai
If THAT doesn’t get you excited, I mean, the prospect of seeing Vidya paired once again with Emraan Hashmi, with whom she shared great chemistry, apparently, on the set of The Dirty Picture, the name of the director gets ME excited!
Rajkumar Gupta directed Aamir in 2008, a fast-paced thriller with Rajeev Khandelwal. That was a hellofa ride! the precursor of Kahaani… with a great performance by Khandelwal. I can’t wait to see what Gupta is going to do with a comedy (at least that’s what I read somewhere) and such a wonderful actress like Vidya Balan. Again she is going to surprise us with a different take on her. A housewife. I appreciate Vidya’s never-ending search for novel roles. Plus, guerilla style, hidden cams, streets of Mumbai… I love the combo already.
If you haven’t seen Aamir or Kahaani, watch them. You won’t regret it.
Aamir
Kahaani
India’s film industry is on the roll! Innovative scripts, new directors, new concepts. Bollywood is spiraling through transformations on high speed and deserves more credit abroad than it gets. I only hope it doesn’t lose its cherished characteristics on this fast ride.
What’s going on Big Cinemas USA? 10 movies opened on the 25th of May. None of them showed on Long Island. There is one that has popped up all for sudden overnight and you can’t find a review on it, or any mention in any reputable media outlet…Taur Mitran Di. a Punjabi movie. I read up on the Indian film industry but I never heard of this one.
There are a few movies which would be much more appealing, like Arjun for example. That would have been a much better choice since NRI parents want Indian mythology to be part of their kids’ upbringing.
We get a movie like Dangerous Ishq when it’s clear that Ishaqzaade has outperformed it in India. So why can’t we get Ishaqzaade here?
I cannot even count the times that we were deprived of nice Indian movies that had a good opening in India but never made it to NY.
And don’t I loooooove Big Cinemas reward system!!!! I am kidding of course. I have a card that I present when I buy my ticket, and since I see almost every movie that gets released here I am accumulating points and apparently free tickets but I can’t reap the benefits since a movie must have been playing for 10 days before I can redeem the free ticket. But movies are playing rarely longer than a week! so all this card does is make me angry cz it’s basically USELESS!
If you want to share your soda with somebody, bring your own cup because those paper cups are COUNTED. god forbid one goes missing!!!
I love Bombay theater in flushing. The staff is so very nice and accommodating but they look seriously depressed. Where is the advertisement to bring more customers to the now renovated theater? A better reward system would bring more customers. If snacks are too expensive people will bring their own snacks.
If you want to write to Big Cinemas USA, good luck. The website has been under maintenance for the last 100 years! us.bigcinemas.com
Altogether, I think, whoever is in charge up there must be pretty incompetent. The American market could be cracked open because Bollywood movies are a lot of fun but at the rate it’s going hopes must be dwindling. Between inadequate subtitling, poor distribution and marketing skills and other stupid mistakes it seems to be truly a Mission Impossible to get Bollywood rolling in the USA.
Thumbs down for all the critics who panned it. I should know better by now and not listening to critics. Is it because I am watching Bollywood movies from a Western perspective, or because I am weird, but I LOVED Department!
It’s a department from your typical good-cop bad-cop, corrupt politician, or in this case, gangster-turned-politician, feuding-dons-narrative. Partly because the camera angles force you out of your comfort zone and turn everything upside down in unison with the characters who switch continuously in their loyalties. At the end you are visually and mentally puzzled and can’t tell right from wrong anymore yourself. As the characters keep emphasizing, only situations keep fluctuating in terms of right or wrong. Illegally legal or legally illegal? Unfortunately there is a component of a disturbingly wishful thinking here, why not create a system that allows us to kill off all the bad guys without giving them legal recourse, in a Gestapo death squad fashion. It also shows you how complicated it could get.
I usually fall asleep during these kind of movies, but Department had me up and interested in the progression of the story from the first to the last moment. Big B as Sarjerao and Sanjay Dutt, as police officer Mahadev, were just marvelous to watch in action, how they can bring to life complex characters with such ease. I also enoyed Rana Daggubati’s performance in his transformation from good, brave and honest cop to kiss my derriere.
Ram Gopal Varma was lucky Sunny Leone pulled out. Nathalia Kaur was sensationally hot. She was ON FIRE! an erupting volcano of sensuality. junglee wild. Her item number was breath-taking. The other songs fell flat. Even though I enjoyed watching Amitabh swinging his leg…:-)
Abhimanyu Singh as DK and Madhu Shalini as Naseer were miscast. Naseer wasn’t sociopathic enough. Kalki Koechlin would have been a better choice for that role.
Vijay Raaz as Sawatya, the don who keeps losing clout, was an asset. some memorable camera shots and light.
I loved the queer cinematography, the exaggerations of the fight scenes. It all added up to be wildly entertaining. from foot fetish to tea-cup fetishism, the unbalanced and shaky camera. I thought it was all very original. I truly enjoyed the movie. And I BET cinematographers will use those ideas and maybe integrate them with more finesse perhaps, but they should take notice and integrate some of these concepts in movies of this genre.
Bombay theater in Flushing had actually a fairly nice showing. Of course 99% were men. I was surprised after these terrible reviews to see anybody show up.
I have one dumb question though for those bravehearts, who actually watched the movie: I don’t know if it might have been lost in translation or set up intentionally, but Who was Mohammed Gauri in all of this. Did I miss the most important point or could this have been
A tool for setting up a possible sequel?
Plot
When police officer Mahadev Bhosale (Sanjay Dutt) is asked by his bosses to form a hit squad to take on the Mumbai underworld, he recruits Shiv Narayan (Rana Daggubati), an honest and brave police officer who had been suspended for an encounter killing.
Together, Mahadev, Shiv and others in the ‘Department’ take on Sawatya’s (Vijay Raaz) gang. Sawatya, in spite of many exhortations by his number two, D.K. (Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh), and D.K.’s feisty girlfriend, Naseer (Madhu Shalini), does not hit back at the police.
There is another rival gang, lead by one Mohammad Gauri.
There is also the gangster-turned-minister, Sarjerao Gaikwad (Amitabh Bachchan), who takes Shiv under his wing after Shiv saves his life at a public rally. Mahadev warns Shiv that Sarjerao is just using him. After a certain turn of events, it is exposed that Mahadev is actually working for Mohammad Gauri and is, at the ganglord’s behest, finishing off Sawatya’s gang.
While Shiv declines to be a part of Mahadev’s corrupt world, and Mahadev agrees to let him be, things start falling apart between the mentor and the apprentice when Shiv starts taking on a sub-gang formed by D.K., under Mahadev’s protection.
A lot of people hated it, some liked it, me for example. Unfortunately it did very poorly at the box office. Sorry, RGV. not only did it cost you professional friendships, but it looks like it’s going to be a huge financial loss. For the time being.
I can imagine though that people will warm up to it eventually. The performances were really good and it was a hell of a funny movie. :-)
MUMBAI: As reported by businessofcinema.com, amongst major films, Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘Department’ had replaced Venus’ ‘Tezz’, as the lowest opener of 2012 with first day collections of approximately Rs 25 million ( Rs 2.5 crore) net.
The first week collections showed no improvement. For a film opening in more than 1500 screens, ‘Department’ has seen the lowest first week collections. The total first week collections are in the range of Rs 115 million (Rs 11.50 crore) net.
Making matters worse, the second week has begun on an extremely poor note. On the 8th day, there has been a fall in collections of close to 95%.
Cocktail – releases July 13th, and yes, that’s a Friday :-)
starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Randeep Hooda, Dimple Kapadia, debutante Diana Penty
Not only does the cast looks appealing, the trailer enticing, the story of a love triangle interesting, but reading up on the director
it really wants to make me see this movie: Homi Adajania
Homi Adajania is an Indian film director. His directorial debut Being Cyrus (2005) was an off-beat English-Language psychological drama film. Touted as one of the brilliant emerging directors coming from India, Homi Adajania was also the co-author of Being Cyrus, which was his debut as a director. Also a freelance Writer, one of India’s highest level SCUBA Diving Instructors, an intrepid adventure traveler, Homi Adajania has varied experiences on his plate. Some of his stranger projects have involved taking a fakir to Venice for La Biennale di Venezia and scouting cripples & mutants for a very controversial Italian project. A film “The International Fakir” based on a bizarre true life experience of Homi Adajania’s was made starring Indian filmmaker and actor “Farhan Akhtar” who plays Adajania in the film. He has finished writing the screenplay of his original comedy, Finding Fanny Fernandes and is currently having it written into a novel.
When a film flops, relationships sometimes go the way of the Titanic. Such seems to be the case with Ram Gopal Varma and Sanjay Dutt. Whose fault is it, everyone asks, the film has turned into a nightmare instead of a work of art. Finger pointing begins. And RGV tweets a link of his unabashed interview with the Mumbai Mirror in the aftermath of the dismal opening of his movie Department.
Wouldn’t it be wiser to shut up and take the defeat? It’s just one movie… and occasionally a movie will flop. But from now on, every big actor is going to be afraid to work with RGV for making condescending remarks and blaming Sanjay Dutt for ruining his film. Somehow I am in awe that RGV has the guts to do it, taking the bull by the horns, but life has taught me that this is never a truly good idea – in the long run.
Reading this interview sheds light and explains to me why, at the time, Lamhaa turned out to be mediocre. Instead of focusing on the narrative and emphasizing Kunal Kapoor, who had a key role but got no screen time, it became a boring movie centering monotonously around Sanjay Dutt. Now I am going in full circles hypothesizing, Ahuh! Probably Sanjay Dutt + entourage messed up a potentially good movie there in the same manner, interfering with the director. But be that as it may, for RGV, it seems to me, washing the dirty laundry in public, could spell doom.
Another problem is that Sanjay Dutt’s career is untouchable. He is too good of an actor. He is one of the finest villains there is in Bollywood. As such he has tremendous clout and RGV’s accusations won’t go down well with him. We shall see what the future holds in this saga.
I doubt that Department will ever turn into a cult film like Natural Born Killers. RGV will have to go back to the drawing board and learn from his mistakes. That’s at least how I see it..
On Day 2 of the war of words, RGV hits back with potshots at Dutt and Oberoi and doesn’t spare Bachchan Jr either
Why did you wait for Department’s release to vent your anger and discomfort with Sanjay Dutt and Dharam Oberoi?
It is dangerous to start changing the content and screenplay midway through a film because it is so easy to lose your objectivity. So when they compelled me to do that by using various coercive forces halfway through the film since I was anyway stuck, I had a professional commitment to finish the film and had to wait until now.
Isn’t it a blame game going on after the film crashed?
I am not blaming anyone except myself. The biggest mistake I made was to go to an actor as unprofessional and as unimaginably erratic as Dutt.
There were problems with Sanjay Dutt and co-producer Dharam Oberoi even during the making of the film?
The problems were innumerable, ranging from Dutt’s coming late to last-minute cancellation of shoots and schedules to erratically wanting to change the content of scenes in the name of creative discussions that are not to be confused with mindless interference. Aamir and me had creative differences during Rangeela but I didn’t pay heed to the mistakes he pointed out. Despite Rangeela becoming a blockbuster, when I saw the film much later, I felt I had gotten away with the mistakes that he had pointed out. I genuinely believe Rangeela would have been a bigger hit had I listened to Aamir. The difference being Aamir’s suggestions and observations came from a long and intense deliberation on his part and not like Dutt who was blurting out without thinking, encouraged by the likes of Dharam who pander to him for their personal benefits.
You have said Dutt forced you to drop Kangana from the film and also interfered in the screen play?
Yes. Dharam told me Sanjay wanted Kangana to be dropped and since it’s a predominantly male-dominated action film, I didn’t want to make an issue. I also wish Sanjay Dutt realises what Dharam talks behind his back and for his sake, I hope he distances himself from Oberoi before it is too late.
What difference would Kangana have made to your film?
It’s not about the difference and like I said, that’s the reason I didn’t make an issue. It’s about the way Dutt behaved.
Apparently, Dutt had concerns about the cameras you were using? Not only him, even Amitji and Rana had but when they saw the quality of the film, they were happy and they spoke about it in the media too. In fact, Amitji spoke about it as the future of cinema even after the release and the reviews. The problem wasn’t about using the cameras but the way they were used in terms rapid panning, some unseen angles and some deliberately jerky moments. However, these were hardly eight to 10 shots in the film. Otherwise, usage of these cameras is prevalent the world over, including in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire.
Apparently, Dharam made additional money. Did he take a commission for casting Sanjay Dutt that was over and above his payment? I wouldn’t like to comment on that but I guess, the concerned people know.
And while you’ve said with respect to Department that you don’t make films for critics, we’d like to ask you whether you don’t make films for the box office either?
Why would any director, be it me or Sriram Raghavan or Ashutosh Gowariker, want to make a film that doesn’t work? Why would I want all my time and effort to be wasted? Whether anyone believes it or not, I work with the same passion on every film. Only, I seem to have more bad films simply because I make more number of films.
On Monday night, you sent a message to Abhishek Bachchan saying, “You brought this disease into my life by recommending Sanjay Dutt”. Comment.
No messages happened between Abhishek and me with regard to this but the truth is that when Abhishek was supposed to do Rana’s role, it was he who convinced me about Dutt against my better judgement. Later on, he couldn’t do the film and I was left with Dutt. So I definitely blame Abhishek for making me go through this though it was unintentional on his part.
While you’ve made landmark films, people say you’ve lost focus. Comment.
Since everyone has a mouth, everyone will have an opinion. The people who work with me know how focused I am and so I would advise people who are not concerned with me to rather focus on themselves instead of focusing on my focus.
No other film industry can brag about item numbers, as a matter of fact they don’t have them. And if you ask what’s an item number or an item girl, then you haven’t seen a Bollywood movie. Item girls, item songs, are traditional elements in Indian films.
Unrelated to the storyline of the movie, an attractive super sexy girl will appear, in a nightclub setting or dancing in the streets, around a fire, you name it, where she will perform an item number, a single song sequence.
Bollywood has elevated the item number to an art form.
Do you have a moment? :-) then check these out…
and who doesn’t remember Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai..
Chaiya Chaiya from Dil Se
Preity Zinta in Mein Aur Mrs. Khanna
Katrina Kaif in Agneepath
In the early day of Indian film courtesans used to perform these numbers, but over the years item numbers have become reputable, in fact so reputable that even our greatest Bollywood actresses and hunks perform them now, like Shahrukh Khan, Shahid, Hrithik.
what’s the verdict going to be at the Box Office for this new cinematic venture? :-)
Since Akki has an established fan base, especially when it comes to action movies, people will come to see it but my gut feeling is, after watching the trailer and some of the songs, that it might sizzle out in single screen theaters. I hope I am wrong because I desperately want my Akshay Kumar back in high demand.
Shiva (Akshay Kumar) is a small time conman in love with Priya (Sonakshi Sinha), a pretty girl whom he met at a wedding he wasn’t invited to. Into this picture perfect world enters six year old Neha who inexplicably believes Shiva to be her dad! And if this wasn’t bad enough, Shiva also becomes the object of a series of life threatening attacks by a gang of deadly criminals who seem to know something he doesn’t. While trying desperately to save his life and love, Shiva stumbles upon a deadly secret. A secret that will take him to a small town in Bihar; a town terrorized by a ruthless politician and the mafia he controls; a town whose inhabitants only hope for redemption is …
This movie is considered Akshay’s comeback vehicle into the genre of action movies. As much as I love Akshay in action movies, I somehow worry about this one. It gives off some 80s vibes, none of the songs I have listened to makes me want to listen to them again. And I can’t figure out if this is going to be a comedy or an action movie. A parody of an action movie or the real thing. But hey, why bury it before its release? It could be a surprise hit! I wish it for him and the rest of the crew!
We shall see. Meanwhile I am happy to have Akshay back in action. I just love watching him, he can bring to life mummies with his killer smile.
I loved him in Desi Boyz and that was a great comeback for him already.
Just keep the man working, Bollywood! :-) We love the guy.
…and you thought, Interior Design, right? Relax, she might still decorate your luxury penthouse. The politics I talk about is marital politics. Several articles mention that Gauri has not been seen in public at her husband’s side for quite a long time now, everyone is scratching their heads.. Can it be attributed to Srk misbehaving and cursing in public? smoking in public? slapping B figures in BW Tinseltown? is it now SRK against the world, as some call it and does that world include Gauri?
Not to appear in public together could be interpreted as a symptom of marital discord. Should we care? of course we care. As for me, Shahrukh is my first Bollywood love. When I discovered BW I watched ALL of his movies (even though I started cheating after that mission was accomplished, you can call me now a BW nymphomaniac). So whenever Srk gets press, may that be positive or negative, my ears become star trekky pointy and my radars slide out and zoom zoom hover hover over the various Indian media outlets. So now I am starting to ask myself… Hey, Boss, Kya Hua, Shahrukhie, what’s going on…
Once again, we don’t know what happened exactly at Wankhede Stadium. But does it really matter? We see photos of an enraged Srk, with veins popping. My goodness, what anger! It’s not important what it was that enraged him, it’s the fact that he is so out of control and makes me wonder what’s going on with him. Maybe there is some marital friction. Gauri staying away from public outings at his side. Is he so easily inflammable lately BECAUSE there is trouble at home? because his last movies weren’t lovingly embraced by the public? a marital or career-related slump?
The key to all questions can be found with Gauri. She is a lovely woman and she keeps her mouth shut, but all these little scandals must get to her. Maybe it’s her way of trying to veer him back into her direction using marital politics. Hey, Mr. Superstar, she is saying… you let me go alone to Hrithik Roshan’s birthday bash, you didn’t come to Ritesh and Genelia’s wedding, you barricade yourself with Priyanka in your trailer to vent about ME, to talk about US? We go to a party and you start slapping guests? Enough. Go to your cricket matches alone. I just went all these years to do YOU a favor…This kind of thing plays out every day in relationships. If you don’t do this, I won’t do that.
This is what I call marital politics. And after years of being a poster wife we see Gauri waving the red flag and stepping on the barricades all for sudden. Marriage is a hard thing for any mortal. Imagine how hard it must be when you have everything in life you could wish for, money and fame to do anything you want? We all agree that things get particularly tough when you either have nothing or you have too much.
But apart from that, most of married life is negotiating. It’s politics. Tit for Tat. M.I.A? We might be seeing Gauri just playing her trump cards.
I cheer for Gauri. Do your luxury penthouses, but sit the hubby down and tell him to behave. No more angry explosions. Can we adore someone who throws tantrums? and I don’t care how justified they might be… In public, Be dignified. We want to look up to stars, not down. It’s disillusioning.
It’s the public who creates their stars, enables them to lead those glitzy life styles. Somehow they owe us. At least some good behavior! That’s not much too much to ask for. Is it?
I hope Gauri throws in her political clout and gets him back on page One.
I don’t want to see this star loosing his luster and turn into a red dwarf. I love my little star. I want him to be bright and shining.
YRF Entertainment announces its next film starring Nicole Kidman
MUMBAI: YRF Entertainment CEO Uday Chopra has announced he is joining forces with Pierre-Ange Le Pogam of Stone Angels to produce and finance the upcoming Nicole Kidman vehicle, “Grace of Monaco”.
The film, to be directed by Olivier Dahan (“La Vie En Rose”), starts production this fall in South of France. YRF Entertainment’s development head, Jonathan Reiman, will serve as executive producer, along with the film’s writer, Arash Amel. Inferno is currently selling foreign rights to the film at the Cannes Film Festival.
The movie tells the story of efforts by the late Princess Grace of Monaco (the former Grace Kelly, played by Nicole Kidman) to make peace between her adopted country and France. Grace, just 33 years old and having just given up an acting career to become Monaco’s First Lady, maneuvered through a political minefield to resolve the situation, as detailed in the film.
The project is the latest move by YRF Entertainment, a Beverly Hills-based production and financing company that is a subsidiary of Indian studio Yash Raj Films, to develop, finance, and produce English language films for the U.S. and global market. Both Uday Chopra and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam are particularly pleased to be teaming up to bring “Grace of Monaco” to the big- screen.
Chopra says, “‘Grace of Monaco’ is the kind of movie that has a perfect blend of talent and sensibility that YRF Entertainment is proud to be a part of. We look forward to a great partnership with Olivier and Pierre-Ange.”
Le Pogam says, “When I first read the script written by Arash Amel, I thought it was a great story to tell, with a lot of artistic, historical and emotional potential. This is why I invited Olivier Dahan to become the director because he has this artistic vision. When Olivier and I met with Nicole Kidman for the first time, we felt immediately she was the right artist to portray Princess Grace. When I then met with Uday, I had the same feeling after our conversation. He was obviously the right partner because of his beautiful vision of the movie. We are very proud and enthusiastic to be sharing the experience of working together with YRF.”
YRF Entertainment is currently also overseeing post-production on Peter Glanz’s upcoming comedic feature, “The Longest Week”, starring Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde, and has a slate of films in development.
Director/ Writer Olivier Dahan, who brought us La Vie En Rose, is an interesting character, multi-talented. Check him out here: #Director
Nicole Kidman seems to be a good choice for the role of Grace Kelly, even though it’s hard to find someone who will do Grace justice. She was so incredibly gentle, Kidman has a few rough edges in comparison. I see more of Naomi Watts when I look at pictures..but both are great actors.
Grace of Monaco’s story was a fairy tale. I am so glad it’s being told. We know her best perhaps as Grace Kelly here in the US, where we remember her by Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief, where she gave indelible performances. She was introduced to Prince Rainier during the filming of To Catch a Thief. And there were rumors that Cary Grant had fallen for her as well. She chose Monaco over L.A. and who can blame her? :-) This movie seems to center around her life as Princess of Monaco, though.
Arash Amel wrote the script. I couldn’t find out much about him except that he is on twitter @ arashamel and that he has been working on different scripts.Besides Grace of Monaco he’s written the screenplay for I am Legend 2 and The Expatriate. I am sure he has been cooling his heels elsewhere before writing for the Big League but let’s go ahead and ask him how he got those gigs :-)
Uday Chopra, son of Aditya Chopra, and now CEO of YRF Entertainment could be the driving force behind setting sails for the Mediterranean Sea, where he will be joining forces with another European filmi powerhouse. Pierre Ange Le Pogam.
If we want to look a little bit behind the scenes we find an interesting bit of information about Pierre-Ange Le Pogam.
Pierre-Ange Le Pogam: In January of 2011, Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp announced the departure of co-founder and longtime Besson associate Pierre-Ange Le Pogam. Le Pogam then set up his own production, finance and distribution outfit, Stone Angels. Now, the company has Nabil Ayouch’s God’s Horses in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Before starting Europa with Besson, Le Pogam was a longtime Gaumont exec during a period in which the studio put out such pics as Besson’s The Big Blue and The Fifth Element and Francis Veber’s hit The Dinner Game. Le Pogam honed his producing skills while partnered with Besson at Europa on such films as Taken and Tommy Lee Jones’ The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada. He now has projects in the hopper that include Grace Of Monaco starring Nicole Kidman and sold by Inferno and he’s co-producing upcoming French comedy Like Brothers starring rising talent Pierre Niney. Le Pogam also has a small role in that film, continuing his taste for dabbling in front of the camera. His other acting credits include Besson’s Subway, Cédric Klapish’s Ni Pour, Ni Contre (Bien Au Contraire) and more recently Eric Lartigau’s L’Homme Qui Voulait Vivre Sa Vie. The first film he’ll release under the new Stone Angels banner is David Cronenberg’s competition pic Cosmopolis.
Altogether it seems a great move again by Uday Chopra and YRF Entertainment. They are taking a calculated risk but are working with top talent. Good luck with this ambitious new project. I love to see India’s film industry breaching out, fanning into the West. One can learn from the other. New opportunities, new markets. C’est magnifique.
thebollywoodaddict 