Hollybollywood

It's so hard to capture the very essence of what makes Goa irresistible, we all know the beaches, the fenny, the laid back lifestyle, but it's the romance, the charisma, the intoxicating feeling of this exotic locale that Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani tries to build into its story line. The Rajkumar Santoshi film, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif is all about fun, romance and feeling good- same things that Goa stands for.

So what's the couple doing in Goa? We heard that Ranbir plays the knight in shining armour as he heads down to Goa to save his lady love Katrina, in the film, who is being held captive there. In his true superman avatar (Prem from the film posters), Ranbir goes in for some must watch action moves and rescues the damsel in distress and rides away on, no not a stallion, but a Enfield Bullet.

This shot, as we are further told, is a prelude to the action and song sequences, while the rest of the film is shot in the quaint town of Ooty, the lovely songs in the film are shot in mystic Turkey. With a striking star cast and picturesque sites, it's definitely one film worth the watch.

So the boxoffice for “This Is It” is stupendous, but this time of year, it’s always fair to ask about a different kind of gold.

Since bowing Tuesday night, Kenny Ortega’s pic about the elaborate Michael Jackson concert rehearsals has been drawing highly favorable critical response in addition to a solid commercial reaction ($2.2m domestically on Tuesday). Critics have praised the pop icon’s dedication and artistry as well as the film’s stylishly executed musical numbers.

Those endorsements have encouraged Sony to consider an awards play, while a number of commentators have painted a what-if scenario on its chances for an Oscar best picture nomination.

The studio is submitting the film for Academy Awards consideration, as all studios do for pretty much any film that opens during the course of the year. While the best picture talk is quiet so far, the field’s expansion to 10 pics and the hybrid film’s clear eligibility in the category could land it in the mix with other dark-horse titles like “The Hangover” — especially if voters are swayed by its phenom status.

The movie’s tech aspects also could put in contention for several below-the-line categories, while some are not counting out Ortega himself on the director front given how his skills are visible more prominently than in most films as we see him choreograph the Jackson concerts.

“This Is It” is not, however, eligible to enter one of the most obvious fields: the Academy Award for best documentary. AMPAS rules state that a pic must conclude weeklong qualifying runs in both New York and Los Angeles before Aug. 31 of the year for which it seeks to be nominated.

The rule is designed to promote theatrical exposure of pics that normally might go quickly to television or DVD, which would present a particular irony, what with the Jackson pic poised to be one of the most successful nonfiction films in recent history.

Careful AMPAS wording is likely to thwart chances of the title track from “This Is It” competing for best original song, with rules stating that songs are “original and written specifically for the motion picture.” Even if Sony could bypass concerns about Paul Anka’s involvement on the song — the studio recently acknowledged the musician would be credited in liner notes for the soundtrack — it would be hard-pressed to argue that a song written for a concert whose rehearsals just happened to be filmed was in fact written “specifically” for a motion picture.

The Golden Globes chances for “This Is it” are dicier.

Sony is thought to be deterred from making a push, as consultants say a bid for the best comedy/musical category could run afoul of several Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. rules.

The group’s bylaws are written to preclude the nomination of docs; indeed, efforts to nominate pics from the likes of Michael Moore have in the past caused a rift in the group and resulted in such plans being shelved.

And the HFPA also has taken a restrictive definition of musicals, saying that the songs have to propel a story forward to qualify. It would take a bit of selective reasoning to argue that the songs in “This Is It” do that.

Most important, the HFPA generally wants to keep the field of films it screens at a manageable level given time constraints and the hew and cry that could come from competitors. “Almost every awards consultant I know who ever had a doc or concert movie and couldn’t get the HFPA to go along with it would scream bloody murder if they qualified this as a musical,” one consultant said.

The Globes board is scheduled to meet in mid-November for the final meeting in which it could conceivably revise the rules for this year.

Maybe the bigger factor is that when it comes to knowing the awards prospects for a concert-rehearsal pic, nobody knows anything. “It’s such an unusual movie, it’s hard to know what the hell awards groups are going to do,” said one industry veteran.

Jessica Biel has signed up for some hard-core premarital nookie.

The actress is attached to star in and produce rookie screenwriter Julia Brownell's original screenplay "F***ing Engaged," a raunchy comedy about a couple who make a pact to have sex every day leading to their wedding so they don't turn into their crusty old parents.

Glen Basner and Aaron Ryder of sales-rep company FilmNation Entertainment ("The Road") are financing and producing.

Brownell developed the script with producers Dan Halsted ("Garden State") and Cameron Bunce, who got Biel and her Iron Ocean Films producing partner Michelle Purple interested. Halsted, Bunce and Purple also will produce.

It is the first script sale for Brownell, who is repped by CAA and Manage-Ment. A playwright from the MFA theater program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she has written "Smart Cookie" and "Fantasy Baseball" for the stage and made the short films "Pizza Boy" and "The Assistant." She also has performed in improv and sketch-comedy groups.

Biel, repped by CAA and Management 360, most recently starred in "Powder Blue," "Easy Virtue" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry." She next appears in "Nailed" and "Valentine's Day," hitting theaters in February.

Iron Ocean also is developing "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "How to Cook Your Daughter."

It's a known fact that when it comes to Salman Khan, he is good when he wants to be good and comes across as plain lazy when he opts to do so. We saw his former self in Wanted where he ate up the screen with his performance. On the other hand, audiences had the misfortune of seeing his opposite persona in Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. So what kind of Salman did Vipul get in London Dreams? After all, for the filmmaker who has only worked with Akshay Kumar as the leading man in each of his films in the past, it was a matter of creating a tuning with someone who is known for his performance varying as per his liking of the project.

Well, if Vipul Shah is to be believed, Salman Khan wanted him to drive the entire show and followed his vision while coming up with his own interpretation, as required. Joginder Tuteja catches up with the man who is riding high on the success of four back to back hits - Aankhen, Waqt - Race Against Time, Namastey London, Singh Is Kinng - and is now opening a new chapter in his life with a dramatic romantic musical London Dreams with Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin.

Did you ever worry that from which side of the bed would Salman wake up on the first day of the shoot of London Dreams?
[Laughs] There wasn't anything like that. Once you sign an actor, you know what to expect and how to get that. Also, the fate of any film can be known in the first few hours of the first day of shooting itself. My experience tells me that. You get to know if an actor is trying to be dominating. Or if he doesn't quite turn out to be the person that you were expecting. You also start getting worried about the fact that whether your decision has backfired. Both an actor as well as the director may not be able to pinpoint the exact pain area but yes, the first few hours are very crucial in a relationship.

Given the fact that Salman is going all out for the promotion of London Dreams as well, just as was the case with Wanted, I guess it can be safely assumed that it was a good beginning after all for your relationship with him.
[Smiles] That's true, both of us cracked the essence, spirit and treatment of London Dreams in first 20 minutes itself. I remember the scene that was required to be shot. It featured Salman and Asin in front of a lit up Eiffel Tower. While I was reading the scene to him, he was quietly listening to me. Once I was through, he just said one thing to me which gave me quite a high. Something like this coming from a man who has been a leading man for 20 years now was wonderful.

And what exactly did he say?
He said - 'Vipul, I always believe that if the director can read the scene with absolutely correct pitch and intensity, the actor finds it good to go from there on. So this is the way we would go from here. You read every scene to me and tell me how you want it to be performed. I would then further interpret it and take it on from there.' He was all for the movie from there on.

How did the scene eventually go?
He did it in absolutely the same manner as I had envisaged and came up with a bang-on performance. From there on, we didn't have to discuss anything other than the scenes to follow. The entire shooting from there on went smoothly.

Vipul Shah How about Ajay? He is also quite intense once the camera starts rolling. Do we get to see trademark Ajay intensity?
That's right, you will actually get to see Ajay in the kind of performance for which he was roped in. I also have to highlight another facet of his acting. Since he is also a director, he is very clear about what a filmmaker would be expecting from him. Also, he is technically one of the strongest people I have come across. He knows everything about filmmaking and that reflects in his act. He is very knowledgeable and visualises everything about the scene before coming up with his take. Since I had such experienced men on board, I didn't have to do much explanation for him on a scene to scene basis.

You aren't coming alone though. There is Aladin along with you and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Jail, Aao Wish Karein, Tum Mile, Kurbaan and De Dana Dan following in weeks to come. Isn't that scary?
As I said earlier, it's an unfortunate clogging of films. I still wish to see a silver lining though. See, if there are back to back four-five good films then it only gives audiences some enthusiasm to see more films. They start feeling that since this week's movie was good, let me check out the release of next week. It makes him gain confidence about quality of cinema. However, the moment he catches a bad film, he starts wondering if shelling out money again would be a good idea. This is why I sincerely hope that all the newer movies are good films and they perform well. When Wanted, in spite of being in the running for so many weeks now, is still going strong despite competition, then why can't others too follow suit?

Noida, July 13 (IANS) For Bollywood's original 'dreamgirl' Hema Malini, beauty queen-turned-actress Aishwarya Rai is the only one who deserves the 'dreamgirl' tag among all the new age actresses.

'Whoever is on top is the dreamgirl. I feel it is Aishwarya Rai,' Hema told reporters on being asked who, according to her, deserves to be called the 'dreamgirl' nowadays.

Taking about the hardships an actress has to face, she said: 'An actress' life is the same - nothing has changed. It is what it was even 20 years back. They have to work very hard, make themselves look beautiful and need a lot of dedication to remain at the top,' said Hema, who was in this suburb of the national capital Monday to felicitate winners of supermarket Big Bazaar's 'Meet The Dreamgirl' contest.

Snubbing the whole idea of having a size zero figure, Hema said: 'There's no need (for a size zero figure). I was not a size zero. You must have a flat stomach - not a pot belly - and a nice and beautiful face - at least a tolerable face - and you can be an actress.'

Dressed in a pale yellow, elegant sari, the 60-year-old actress was at her forthright best when asked about her future projects.

'I've signed one or two (films) which are held up because of the financial problems in the whole world. Otherwise I would have finished those two and they would have released by now.'

'One is with Nana Patekar which Deepa Sahi is directing, and the other is with another producer. It is not right to expose everything about a film,' she said.

Another film that Hema is working on is 'Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi' - in which she will play a role based on the life of prominent political figure Vijayaraje Scindia.

Hema, who has delivered hits like 'Seeta Aur Geeta', 'Satte Pe Satta', and 'Sholay' in the past, is also toying with the idea of getting into production and returning to direction after almost 17 years.

'I'm planning to start production. I don't want to say much about it because every time I talk about these things, they never happen. It's my desire to make lovely films because I am an artist and a very creative person,' she said.

'But filmmaking is not a joke...so many things are involved,' she added.

The actress, who had her first stint with direction in 1992 with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Dil Aashna Hai', says she would want to be a liberal producer and not want to impose her ideas on the youth.