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Showing posts from June, 2017

Will Jagga Jasoos Be Ranbir Kapoor’s First And Last Film As A Producer? by Suhel Johar

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  Ranbir Kapoor, the actor is on a high these days but what about Ranbir Kapoor, the producer? Ranbir, who was going through a lean phase as an actor was back in the reckoning after Ae Dil Hai Mushkil broke his dry spell at the box-office, plans to focus his energies on his acting career. Yes, reportedly Ranbir Kapoor is tired of the duties of a producer after just one attempt. It was with great fanfare that Ranbir launched Picture Shuru Production with his Barfi! director Anurag Basu. They announced Jagga Jasoos as their first project and it took them almost four years to get the film ready to hit theatres. According to sources, Anurag’s constant retakes and rescheduling tired out Ranbir, who now wants to simply act without worrying about locations, finances and other aspects of film production. The film went over-budget after Anurag re-shot a major portion of the film. Ranbir’s mother Neetu Singh has reportedly stated that her star son has decided to put produ

Ajay Devgn To Play Baba Ramdev In Biopic On The Quirky Yoga Guru? by Suhel Johar

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  There was a buzz that Ajay Devgn will be producing a television show based on Baba Ramdev's life. However, it seems now that the project has gone through a few changes. Devgn might be seen playing Ramdev in the biopic after Vikrant snubbed his nose at the thought of going back to television, Devgn, who was to produce the story, has taken it back to the board. Massey had been approached for the role and had started prepping for it, too. He was scheduled to meet Ramdev and pick up his mannerisms during the course of their interaction. However, the A Death in the Gunj star backed out of the project as he was not too keen on doing television after having ventured into films. The numerous controversies surrounding the yoga guru, his Patanjali business empire, and his turbulent tryst with politics could lend a lot of colour to the biopic, if it is made. Devgn, who owns the production company is keen on bringing the yogi's life to the forefront. Talks of doing a biopic

Recipe - Tandoori Surmai (King Fish) by Suhel Johar

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Ingredients   4-5 Surmai fillet 3 tbsp ginger and garlic paste 3 inch ginger (chopped) 3 pc chilli (ground) A few coriander stems 2 tbsp turmeric powder 2 tbsp chilli powder 2 tbsp mustard paste 1 tbsp red chilli paste 2 tbsp Kashmir chilli 1 tbsp yoghurt 1 medium sized lime juice Salt to taste 2 tbsp oil Method Clean the fillet and cut into chunks of equal size, with skin on. Keep aside. Mix all the listed ingredients in a large bowl. Infuse all ingredients with oil. Apply this marinade to the fish chunks. Keep it aside for 30 minutes. Skewer the marinated fish chunks an inch apart. Roast in a moderate oven until cooked or shallow fry on a pan.   Here's what you do to give the Fish a Coal Smoke (tandoor) flavour   •Take a piece of charcoal (just one will suffice). •Place that on your gas burner and heat it •With the help of metal tongs, just keep rotating it on the flame •Wait till it becomes red hot •While thi

Movie Review – Tubelight by Suhel Johar

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Tubelight Fails To Light Up Salman Khan’s Eid release has now become one of the much awaited Bollywood events each year. So continuing the trend set by Wanted (2009 ), Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard ( 2011), Kick (2014 ), Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and Sultan (2016), Salman Khan’s Tubelight hit the theatres today. As the opening credits will tell you, the movie is based on the 2015 American war film by Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, ‘ Little Boy’ . Tubelight revolves around the bromance between Laxman Singh Bisht (Salman Khan) and his brother Bharat Singh Bisht (Sohail Khan) against the backdrop of the infamous Indo-China war of 1962. Laxman Singh Bisht who is also known as Tubelight due to his slow sensibilities. Laxman’s world comes crashing down, when Indo-China war breaks out and Bharat gets drafted into the Army. A helpless Bharat leaves a devastated Laxman behind. News from the border only worsens, as the tension continues to escalate. Seeing the

Movie Review- Bank Chor by Suhel Johar

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  Bank Chor Is A Stupid Heist Film    Some movies make you think and awaken your senses, while some put you to sleep. Some make you cry while some just entertain you. But most of them are so inane that they want you to keep your mind out of the cinema hall. Y- Films’ Bank Chor falls in the last category.   A comic caper Bank Chor, tells the story of a Maharashtrian guy Champak Chandrakant Chiplunkar(Riteish Deshmukh), a simple Marathi manoos who along with his two idiot friends   from Delhi, Genda (Vikram Thapa) and Gulab (Bhuvan Arora) picks the worst day possible to rob a bank. They capture a bunch of hostages including a high-strung housewife, a hyper chef, a possibly undercover cop, Baba Sehgal and many more. Now, enter the CBI officer Amjad Khan (Vivek Oberoi), who shoots first and interrogates later. And a mad media circus outside led by fashion journo turned crime reporter Gayatri Ganguly aka Gaga played by Rhea Chakraborty. Everything goes awry once they enter t

Interview – Sharib Ali Hashmi by Suhel Johar

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“My Career As An Actor Can Be Divided Into Two Phases – Pre Filmistaan and Post Filmistaan” – Sharib Ali Hashmi As a journalist I may have interviewed some of the biggest personalities of Bollywood in the past but no interview was as difficult as this one. For the simple reason that the interviewee happens to be my kid brother, Sharib Ali Hashmi. A self made actor who first made his presence felt in a bit role in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and later in Yash Chopra’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan . And then came Nitin Kakkar’s Filmistaan , a film that made Bollywood as well as the general public acknowledge his immense talent as an actor. It was such a proud moment for me to see his performance in Filmistaan that at the end of the screening we both just hugged and cried over each other’s shoulders. Probably missing our late father, journalist   Z.A.Johar, who was no more there to share the significance of the occasion. Anyway, Sharib has just had his latest film Phullu releas

Movie Review – Phullu by Suhel Johar

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Phullu Dares To Go Where No Other Man Has Gone Before. Films on social issues and female issues are often taken as a subject to create awareness or convey a message. But a natural and regular phenomenon that every girl on the planet goes through ‘the menstrual cycle’ or in simpler words ‘ monthly periods’ has never been considered as a topic of discussion let alone making a film on it. In the country where such topics are still considered taboo, a film based on it was something beyond imagination. In that sense the team of Phullu deserves a pat on their back for daring to pick up an untold taboo topic and give us our very first film that openly talks about the women issues related to menses. Unfortunately, Ambi Abhi Production’s Phullu arrives without much promotion whatsoever and to add to that the film has been granted an Adults only certificate. That would have a telling effect on its box office performance as targeted promotion could have actually helped its cause.

Movie Review - Behen Hogi Teri by Suhel Johar

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    Behen Hogi Teri Is An Inane Rom-Com That Fails To Impress     Behen Hogi Teri , the first on-screen outing of Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Haasan, doesn’t live up to the expectations. Since Rajkummar Rao took a break from his serious roles to do a light-hearted rom-com, Behen Hogi Teri was an anticipated film, but it failed to strike a chord. the film was scheduled for a worldwide release on May 26, 2017, but release was pushed ahead to June 9, 2017 due to some production issues.    As evident from the trailer, the film is set in Lucknow and tells the story of Gattu, who falls in love with his neighbour Binny. Now, since Gattu and Binny are neighbours, a romance between them is a far-sighted dream as they are ‘supposed’ to behave like siblings.   Despite being juvenile and casual in life, Gattu ends up winning over Binny and their love life bloosoms. Things turn upside down when Gattu's best friend Bhure drops Binny on his bike and Gattu's father see's it.

Movie Review – Raabta by Suhel Johar

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  Raabta Is Listless And Disappointing. Wikipedia lists over 144 films based on the concept of reincarnation and therefore the principle premise of Maddock Films’ Raabta is not something that is any longer a surprise. In fact, the film is an assortment of several reincarnation films of the past, and even shamelessly borrows from the extremely popular series – Game Of Thrones , so much that it uses its names too. Raabta marks an unsuccessful directorial debut of Dinesh Vijan, who has in the past produced several films including Love Aaj Kal , Cocktail , Finding Fanny, Agent Vinod, Go Goa Gone, Badlapur and Hindi Medium . In 2017, one doubts if there would be anyone who believes in the previous life and reincarnation to reunite with your lost love? The whole idea sounds so silly to even make a film with this tried and done with formula. Unarguably, Dinesh Vijan with Raabta has come up with the cheesiest and most clichéd love story that doubles up as a yawn fest. With a

Recipe - Crispy Onion Rings by Suhel Johar

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Ingredients  1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices    1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour    1 tsp baking powder    1 tsp salt    1 egg   1 cup milk, or as needed    Salt to taste    Oil for frying Method: Mix egg, oil, and milk on low speed of mixer for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Coat onions in flour. Heat the oil in a wok. Dip the floured rings into the batter to coat. The coating should cling very well. Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with seasoning salt and serve with Mayonaise Garlic Paste Dip. Mayonaise Garlic Paste Dip Method: Whisk mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon oil (Preferably Olive oil) in small bowl to blend. Season with salt and pepper.  

Recipe - Poha by Suhel Johar

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Ingredients: 2 cups Poha (flattened rice) 1 potato, chopped small 2 tbsps ghee 1 onion, chopped fine 1/4 cup groundnuts (raw peanuts) 1/2 tsp turmeric (just enough to color the rice) 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 5 inch dry coconut Lemon juice, to taste 2 cups water Salt and pepper     Method     Soak the poha in water and set aside. In a large round.bottomed frying pan, heat the ghee till very hot. Add mustard seeds, onion, potato and groundnuts. When the mustard seeds are tender, cover with water and cook till potato and groundnuts are tender. Drain off any excess water from the soaked rice. Add the turmeric to the poha till it’s a nice golden yellow. Add the poha to the frying pan and mix with the potato.onion mixture until hot. Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to your taste. Garnish with dry grated cocunut. Serve with Coconut Coriander Chutney (Optional).   Coconut Coriander Chutney Ingredients :   1 cup  freshly grated coconut 1 medium sized Onion chopped 5 gr