According to One India reports, Salman selflessly reaches out to Hrithik to save the latter’s tattered marriage. So sweet. We all love Salman and Hrithik and of course Suzanne. We don’t want them to break up either. We still want to believe in marriage, afterall. Truly altruistic of Salman. Oh wait!
These twosies are working again on a film together, right? and we hear they are getting along famously. Bang Bang. Snap Snap.
It’s official. It’s a reunion. Bang Bang.
Hrithik returns with Katrina Kaif to the big screen after the mega-successes of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Agneepath with Bang Bang, the remake of Knight and Day (2010, with Cruise-Control and Cameron Diaz)… Outch. I was hoping for something more original…Hey Bollywood, Siddharth Anand, please! not ANOTHER REMAKE!!!
Having blurted that out, sometimes Indian remakes are extraordinarily entertaining. John Abraham and Nana Patekar’s killer chemistry and the pace of Taxi no 9211, the remake of Changing Lanes (starring Ben Affleck and Samuel Jackson) was much more edgy and interesting than the original.
Siddharth Anand has roped in Hollywood’s famous action Conrad Palmisano, who has choreographed and coordinated the beautiful stunts in Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger for his new venture. 
Siddharth is much better known in the romance department. He has directed Anjaana Anjaani (2010), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), TaRaRumPum (2007) okay, a bit of race car drivie here, and Salaam Namaste (2005). I enjoyed all these movies and I am looking forward to his debut in the category ‘action’
It has been already wildly speculated if we will see Hrithik and Katrina liplock in BangBang. Oh, Salman, relax, it’s just acting!! But I hear we’ll be disappointed in this regard. (and I can’t remember Diaz kissing CruiseControl in Knight and Day. Do you?) So we’ll have to see where Siddharth is taking us romantically. One thing is sure: Katrina and Hrithik make a filmi dream-pair! But we can’t say that too loud, Salman might hear us :-)
Am I paranoid or do all the stars who gradually bend towards the half-century mark look stretched and unnatural? is that due to make-up, special effects, surgery, botox? all these nasty little cosmetic enhancement techniques circulating in Hollywood have crept into the lives of our male Bollywood stars. Used to be just steroids pumping up their muscles. and please I don’t want to know what side effects those have…but now all the plumping has invaded facial features, which equates with acting’s kiss of death. As you can’t properly use your muscles anymore, you fail inevitably to convey FEELINGS, likes, dislikes, joy sorrow anger… Faces have turned statuesque. You may think oh this person still looks GOOD for their age, but what happened to the ACTOR?
Salman Khan wrinkles only below his chin, Shahrukh’s face is so stretched that he starts resembling that weird Egyptian pharaoh..what’s his name, Akhenaten.
Salman can jump and fight and dance and love and hate in Dabangg2, never moving one facial muscle.
Aamir, in Talaash, looks like his face was freshly ironed before every shoot. Oh how I wish we could go back to good old times when aging actors developed character and became more interesting in time BECAUSE their faces had trenches, lives fully lived. Their faces had stories to tell. It seemed they grew more complex.
Now everybody’s main focus is erasing time from their features. Sad and silly. I can understand fixing the hairline esthetically and watching out for the weight so you don’t walk around screen all flabby. But godforbid, leave the face alone!!! march into your middle age with your head held high. Dignified. Not plastified.
There should be a law that prohibits actors to get surgically enhanced or photo-shopped.
For heaven’s sake be who you are, like a good old wine aged to perfection in old and smoky barrels of oak. Why to run from time as if it were our enemy? why not embrace every line in our face, testimony of sorrows and joys.
As a general rule, I don’t like sequels. I just don’t. With the exception of James Bond maybe. On the other hand it always makes me happy when somebody scores a blockbuster in Bollyland and ultimately that’s more important than if I like or don’t like a movie. It feeds a lot of people, creates excitement in the industry and the cash flowing. I was happy when Salman had a big bang comeback with Wanted. Because I WANTED him to succeed. ( btw, I enjoyed Wanted more than Dabangg but all the talking about a #3 when the verdict on #2 isn’t even out yet, for some reason makes me weary).
Trailer of the first one rocked:
So I checked out the soundtrack to see if it gives any indication of what’s to come and neither trailer nor soundtrack left me tingling with anticipation. All very deja-vu. Perhaps I should get hypnotized before the movie to erase all recollection of former Salman heroes and kahanis to sit through it open-minded.
Well, Dagabaaz is a pretty song and Sonakshi is such eye-candy. Hard to resist her.
Sorry, but sequels are for the lazies. Unless there is a progression of a character or something terribly interesting you were waiting for at the end of number 1, then just progress to greener pastures. As always though, I hope I will be positively surprised, the miracle of a fabulous sequel which leaves me yearning for more.
Thankfully for the film industry I am not indicative. Just look at the success of the Twilight series (which I ditched after #2), or the Pirates of the Caribbean, (which I also ditched after #2), but if the Godfather can’t pull it off then I doubt anybody can. I am just tired of being sent to watch rehashes. but maybe I am just tired because it’s 2 am. Tomorrow I will have to rewrite the whole blog. With a more positive spin.
Let’s see what the reviews will be like and the audiences’ reaction and see the glass half full instead of 2 am empty.
Okay, now that I am awake, just to clarify, I don’t want to diss Salman bhai’s movie beforehand, because the guy is larger than life and I love his little chutzpah smile. What would Bollywood be without him! Unthinkable! So my sequel phobia won’t overrule my love for Salman Khan. If he wants to hit us with one, two or three banggs won’t matter all that much. He is Bollywood’s heartbeat and should keep on ticking.
I hope Ek Tha Tiger keeps going strong at the box office. The action-packed, romantic thriller takes you on a highly entertaining roller-coast ride through several continents. The stunts are just magnificent, Bollywood action movies are getting better and better. I loved this movie! I would say hiring Hollywood’s stunt coordinator Conrad Palmisano has paid off gloriously. Same can be said about Aseem Mishra, whose cinematography is borderline poetic.
The foreign locations were awesome, especially Istanbul and Havana, Cuba.
Ranvir Shorey, as secret service agent looked great with beard and slightly threatening. You could never be sure if he didn’t work both sides.. He created some moments of good suspense. I liked him and wish they had given him more screen-time and his role a bit more complexity and substance.
The soundtrack was very nice too. Of the songs, I liked Laapata and Mashallah best.
I am not surprised at 200 crore. It’s a great family entertainer. Even grandma will like it. Just make sure she sits far enough not to get dizzy..
Part of the box office success of Ek Tha Tiger hinges undoubtedly on Salman & Katrina’s chemistry, which is plain undeniable and makes you wonder where these two are headed relationship-wise. They make a fabulous couple, not just on screen but they look right together. Let’s talk about body language. It seems that Katrina’s role as ISI secret service agent Zoya, served two purposes, one to showcase how good she looks on a high speed chase, who thought she had it in her, and secondly it appears like the perfect platform to woo her back from Salman’s point of view. “Oh Kat, It’s part of the role that you should lay down on me.. that I nibble on your ear, dance a waltz with you..and hold you tight n whisper in your ear..” and you can see Katrina looking at him as if she were saying “oh yeah? so are we in character now..??” He is wooing her with his eyes in every single scene, 99% convinced that he got her back, and not just on tiger track. The question Katrina will have to answer.. should she stay or should she go.
Salman, aka RAW secret service agent Tiger is asking himself on and off screen the same question, but it looks like he has made up his mind.. No wonder, Katrina looks sexier than ever! Round in all the right places but muscular and healthy, just wonderful to look at. This woman is beautiful even without any make-up, as she dared to show us in a rare glimpse of her beauty ‘au naturel’ – that was gutsy! and btw, heads up for her stylist and costume designers. From innocent to femme fatale, wearing a traditional Pakistani dress, she looks stunning in whatever she wears!
The movie is a bit heavy on romance for being a thriller and action movie, but, let’s say, I don’t hold it against them. :-)
Well done. Shabash! Salman Khan, your charm and charisma never fails. This movie will turn into another Salman classic and I bet it’s not the last time we get to see Zoya and Manish. calls for an encore.
btw, if you are interested in reading about the real Tiger, Ravinder Kaushik, the ending of his story slightly differed:
.. not exactly a James Bond story, sailing into the sunset with a pretty girl. No, Ravinder was caught and jailed in Pakistan, tortured. He eventually died in jail.
The fact that the movie could be based on a real life spy makes it even more interesting. But it could mean, godforbid, a DELAY?!!! I am already so psyched about this movie and have been for a long time that the thought of having to wait is killing me!! Maybe I should relax. After watching Bollywood movies for seven years now I should know better. There has been always SOMETHING jeopardizing a major movie release. .. I can understand the family members wanting to read the script or see the movie first, but hey, even if it should be modeled after Ravindra Kaushik, they could object to ANYTHING and they could be also CLUELESS… when family members claim to know specifics about an XYZ famous relative, it usually turns out they know NOTHING! I know fathers who have been in wars, they never ever talk about those experiences! I know soldiers who worked on special missions. Even the family members know better than asking questions!! So, dear Kaushiks, get over it. Let the movie talk… :-)
Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger has landed in trouble. The nephew of real life spy Late Ravindra Kaushik, sent a legal notice to the producers of the movie saying that he wants to see the film before release, as according to him Salman’s character has a striking resemblance with Ravindra Kaushik…..Talking to a leading daily Vikram Vashishtha, nephew of Late Ravindra Kaushik said, “He (Ravindra Kaushik) was my maternal uncle who was with the Research Analysis Wing (RAW). Born on April 11, 1952 in Sriganganagar, he also did his graduation from there. He displayed his talent at national level dramatic meet in Lucknow, which was also witnessed by some officials of the intelligence wing (RAW). He was contacted and offered job for the secret intelligence in Pakistan
Later he was sent to Pakistan for the purpose.”
The promos of Ek Tha Tiger bear striking resemblance to Kaushik’s experiences in Pakistan and, therefore his family has sought legal help to have a look at the original script or view the film before it releases.
India has come a long way what concerns credible action scenes. I used to laugh at action sequences that were accompanied by somewhat childish sound effects and I always felt bad for these poor gutsy stuntmen who took a beating and/or were thrown around sets. Let’s face it, they belong to Bollywood’s great many unsung heroes. I wonder sometimes what kind of health issues they have to face as they are getting older. A-listers can afford good medical care, physio-therapy and the likes, but what about all the side-kicks who put their lives on line for a few bucks…. do you ever wonder? but that’s besides the point.
Lately the quality of action scenes in BW movies has gone ten notches up. Special effects are getting increasingly better and are much more sophisticated, which might take the edge of some of the more dangerous stunts. Ding dong sound effects have been also pretty much abolished and are mostly used now in masala movies that cater to the 80s styles.
When it comes to action sequences in Bollywood movies now, I am not laughing ANYMORE. I go….WOWWWW!
Salman Khan, who discovered in the last few years (after a couple of flops in the BW romance department) that people prefer to see him as a macho hero, fighting, the more the better, with just a dash of romance (to get the ladies excited), has honed his action skills in Wanted (2008), Dabangg (2010), Ready (2011) and Bodyguard (2011).
In better physical shape than ever (even if he has battled quite a few injuries!) Sallu has surprised us with lots of impressive action scenes and in Ek Tha Tiger, which hits the theaters next month, he will pull out all the stops.
Salman’s call to arms has brought together a whole team of stunt experts from camp Hollywood and Bollywood. Whether for scenes in hand-to-hand combat or for the various chase sequences he has recruited an elite stunt director from Hollywood: Conrad Palmisano from Rambo, Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour..nm0003886
Stunt coordinator is Markos Rounthwaite, who worked on the Bourne Ultimatum and Ironman. nm0745775
Kabir Khan, Ek Tha Tiger’s director stated that stuntmen and action crew were pulled together from 12 different countries. The action scenes were filmed across various continents: India, Turkey, Iraq, Cuba and Ireland. He is confident that this movie will redefine the idea of action movies in Bollywood.
Kabir Khan wrote and directed one of my favorite BW movies, Kabul Express (2006) and directed the movie New York (2009). He wrote the screenplay for Ek Tha Tiger and directed it.
love that song. Katrina, sultry sexy as always. can’t wait for the movie
I like Salman but sometimes I wish he would just shut up. Case in point this last incident. A homeless person got run over and killed. The car was driven by the chauffeur of Sohail Khan, Salman’s brother. The vehicle was registered in the name of Arbaaz Khan, an older Khan brother. From what I understand this was a hit and run case, not the first one involving the mighty Khans.
When the news broke, I read Salman’s statement. Of course he tried to shield the chauffeur, afterall, he is their employee and naturally Salman, who was not in the vehicle and thus not at fault, tried to deflect culpability and downplayed the responsibility of the driver in this incident (also to keep his name out of trouble, let’s face it..).
I don’t know about India, but what I learned in driving school is that if a pedestrian gets hurt it’s ALWAYS the fault of the DRIVER. We are behind the wheel of a fast moving vehicle and thus 100% responsible for safety of vulnerable pedestrians. Yes, it might have been an unfortunate accident, as Salman calls it, but in India people drive recklessly, let’s face it. Every time I have to cross a street in India I am saying a prayer. So Salman keeps talking about poor visibility. (By the way, why is Salman doing all the talking and not the chauffeur himself?)
The driver said he thought it was a plastic bag. Well, looks like there was a person under the plastic bag… did the driver stop when he realized it was bumpy? Wouldn’t you check what it was you drove over? Did he stop to collect the body and take him or her to the nearest hospital? I wonder…. in that case I would accept Salman coming out in defense of his driver, ahem, Sohail’s driver!
But no, the first statement I read, coming out of Salman’s mouth… We are NOT responsible for the death of the woman who died (later I read it was a 70 yr old homeless man) BECAUSE she was SHUNNED by her family. EXCUSE ME??????
Oh, if it was a woman who was a runaway, maybe from the brutality of her environment, it’s a lesser human being? I read the word “pavement dweller”… Well, Hello!!! What they call pavement dwellers don’t have two legs, two arms, a head like us and a heart so wounded you, Salman, cannot even IMAGINE in your dreams because you are living grand and in luxury. People who live on the streets don’t have feelings? Don’t they have worries and hopes just like the rest of the world? Only because it’s a homeless person you can treat them like dirt? Salman can count his blessings that his karma had not taken an unfortunate turn and ended HIM being up homeless. And HE should be talking!!! with his record. Didn’t he kill a homeless person 10 years back in a hit and run?
Where is the compassion? the caste system is so deeply entrenched in India, that people are still not able to see beyond it. Yes, sleeping near a road is not recommended and yes, do it at your own risk. But if you take a life, may that be an accident, you cannot free yourself of all responsibility. You have to do the right thing. And the Khans should show some damn compassion and not make statements as Hey, that was a scumbag, a runaway, who had it coming! The right thing to do would have been to acknowledge the human loss.
This was somebody’s daughter or mother or wife…. and if it wasn’t a woman (btw, this life was so little worth that the press didn’t bother to determine who the heck it was, a man or a woman..) it might have been a father, a grandfather, THAT THING, huddling under a plastic bag, sleeping under the sky, no roof to claim his own. Somebody desperate enough to sleep next to a street, a highway…
The Khans could have said something nice about the victim and commited to building a homeless shelter, because today it happened to their chauffeur but yesterday it happened to them. They have the money. Find out about the family and offer them your condolences, even if they live in a goddamn hut. Try to do good. Find out about the person, their circumstances. This kind of example is what I would like to see, not trying to deflect culpability and shield the driver in an attempt of “Khan clan” damage control.
And that’s my five cents on this whole case. Well, this comes just as I was enjoying a scandal-free Bollywood moment in history.
Once upon a time a tiger came along with the name of Salman Khan. He wasn’t the only tiger in the jungle, but that’s a whole different story.
Ek Tha Tiger promises to be action-packed. Agent Salman aka Tiger fights bravely alongside his tiger-lilly, Katrina Kaif, who regretfully isn’t included in the trailer, against malicious forces, but we are sure he will prevail unscathed and heroically, just as the teaser suggests :-)
Bon Appetit. I mean, bon appetizer.
Movie opens, when?… august 17th???? whoa. that feels like NEXT YEAR!!!
Directed by Kabir Khan, who brought us New York and Kabul Express (really good movie!)
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