Priyanka Chopra, Tina Ambani at the launch of Novaltis Radiosuregery scanner for tumors in Ambani Hospital on 16th Aug 2009.

Since the way business is happening in Bollywood today with a first week record being created and subsequently broken with every passing week, do you have the same expectations from ‘Kaminey’?

Honestly speaking, I don’t try and expect. Yes, everyone is talking about the film, the reviews have been superb, the vibes are great and the music is doing well. Still, it’s better not to expect much, nahi to baad mein bahaut dukhta hai! I would rather just sit tight and wait for the results.

It has been years since one saw a Bollywood heroine holding a gun in her hand the way you do in ‘Kaminey’

Oh yes, it was fun doing that machine gun scene in the film. It’s not a funny scene though and has a serious angle to it. Since my elder brother is shown as a don, there are lots of gun lying around. So when I had an issue with something, I just pick up one and start aiming. It wasn’t filmy or anything; it came naturally to this character so there wasn’t much convincing that was required for me to do the scene.

Your film clashes with Rumi Jaffery’s ‘Life Partner’, he directed you in ‘God Tussi Great Ho’. When you realized that both the films are coming on the same day, did have you have a chat with him?

No, I didn’t have any chat with him. But then the two films are poles apart. ‘Kaminey’ and ‘Life Partner’ belong to different genres and it’s not really a clash per se. Because of this producers strike, plans went haywire for so many films; otherwise no one plans for a clash with intent. I respect Rumi sir and I am sure he must have made a nice film.

Since its promos were out with Delhi-6, Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminey immediately caught the attention of the cine goers with its highly infectious Dhan Te Nan number and the crazy character introductions. The curiosity and hype began building up rapidly and the wait seemed unending. So till the time I stepped in the trial show of Kaminey my expectations were sky high. Thankfully, Vishal has delivered what he has promised.

Kaminey: Is a modern day masterpiece
Film: Kaminey (2009)
Rating: 4/5
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Amole Gupte, Shiv Subramaniam, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Tenzing Nima, Hrishikesh Joshi and Deb Mukherjee.
Director: Vishal Bharadwaj

The film narrates the tale of twins Charlie (Shahid) and Guddu (Shahid again) who are poles apart in behaviour and lifestyle. While Guddu the good boy works for a NGO and aims to rise the corporate ladder, Charlie believes in taking shortcuts and ‘chota shortcuts’ to achieve his get rich quick dream. Though they haven’t met each other in years, their lives get entangled as both get ended up in major screw up in their personal lives. What happens then on and how many misunderstanding lead to further chaos forms the rest of the plot.

Hereon, revealing anything more about Kaminey would be spoiling a major part of your fun. There are plenty of sequences which will remain forever etched in your cinematic memory right from Guddu and Charlie’s face off to almost every scene featuring Bhope Bhau (Gupte) and Tashi (Tenzing) to the Dhan Te Nan song and the crazy finale. However, the climax appears to long with the endless shooting going on and on between the multiple gangs. And the songs don’t really appear well placed. But these are minor flaws.

Shahid Kapoor delivers a knock out performance in a double role. Most importantly he succeeds in making us believe his two characters are completely different persons. With his dual act he has emerged as the strongest contender of the Best Actor trophy for 2009. Priyanka Chopra outshines all her previous best performances. Her Marathi dialogue delivery is excellent as she has also managed to catch the small nuances perfectly.

Playing Charlie’s idol, Mikhail, Chandan Roy Sanyal’s doped out act is instantly likeable. Marathi stage and cinema actor Hrishikesh Joshi as corrupt cop Lele is good and so is Shiv Subramaniam playing his associate. Back after a long hiatus veteran actor Deb Mukherjee is menacing. Tenzing Nima as Nepali don, Tashi is a hoot. Amongst the crowd of the huge ensemble cast, Amole Gupte manages to create a huge impression with his chilled out Bhau act. His one-liners will have you rolling on the floor laughing.

Kaminey is also an excellent team effort with superb camerawork by Tassaduq Hussein, razor sharp editing by Meghna Manchanda Sen and gritty action by Shyam Kaushal. Vishal Bharadwaj has managed to strike a sixer donning multiple hats as a director, producer, singer, music director, screenplay and dialogue writer. His treatment of Kaminey may be on the lines of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Richie’s caper movies but the stamp of a Vishal Bharadwaj movie seen all over in Omkara is yet again on full display here.

Kaminey is a must watch at any cost. It redefines the rules of Hindi filmmaking and most importantly delivers what it promises. Chances are it may well turn out to be your favourite caper movie ever and wanna watch it again and again.

Also Read:
Shahid, Priyanka at Kaminey press meet
Kaminey is a clean film- Vishal Bhardwwaj
Why ‘Kaminey‘ got an ‘A’ certificate and not ‘Ghajini’?
According to numbers ‘KAMINEY‘ is already Number 1
Vishal Bhardwaj changes Priyanka Chopra for ‘Kaminey‘

Till one fateful rainy night, their lives cross. Charlie gets mixed up in a deathly get rich quick scheme, while Guddu realizes that the love of his life, Sweety, has unwittingly put a price on his head. It’s a dark comic ride there on as the brothers are sucked into a world of drugs, guns and money. Their lives collide head on with the lives of gangsters, rebel soldiers, rogue politicians and crooked cops.
In the middle of this crazy adventure, the brothers have to run to protect themselves, their dreams, their love….
And most importantly, realize that all they have is each other.

“Just imagine, Sweety is someone who comes from a lower middle class family, lives in a chawl and is a college going 22 year old girl. There was no way that we could have justified her as a glamorous personality when her background and upbringing was completely on the contrary”, says Priyanka who would next be seen in 12 different looks for Ashutosh Gowariker directed WHAT’S YOUR RASHEE which arrives late September.

As per Priyanka, there is a certain way in which young college going girls behave and she has adapted those mannerisms to go with the character of Sweety.

“Where is the time for someone so young to be sitting in front of a mirror and get all dolled up”, questions Priyanka who is paired opposite Shahid Kapoor in the film, “Most of such college going girls are usually in so much in hurry. Sweety is just one of them who takes hardly any time in getting dressed him, puts on a ‘choti’, rushes to college and has only one agenda in life- Get a boyfriend! She is content when she gets one!”

Playing a hardcore Maharashtrian girl, it was quite a task for Priyanka to actually put on the mannerisms that go well with her background and upbringing.

“Being a Punjabi, it was really very difficult”, says Priyanka, “I had to work extra hard since I had so many friends belonging to Maharashtra and I had to make them feel proud of me when they see me on screen.”

Since she has been a part of the industry for quite some time now, Priyanka has been put up in Mumbai for 7-8 years now. Was it still such a difficult task considering the fact that one expects a person to have adapted to the atmosphere by now?

“Adapting is one thing and playing someone who belongs to the region is different”, explains Priyanka, “I had to go through 1.5 months of training to get the Maharashtrian milieu and language right. I guess I have done a good enough job though I still look forward to all the feedback coming my way once audiences see me on screen.”

Shahid Kapoor, Vishal Bharadwaj, Priyanka Chopra, Amole Gupte at Kaminey press meet in Cinemax on 6th Aug 2009.

Obvious reasons for Shahid watching the film were figured out as to be- first, he trying to judge whether Imtiaz Ali had managed to recreate the Jab We Met magic, where he was opposite Kareena Kapoor and the second reason was to check out how well Kareena’s boyfriend Saif has performed in his home production.

All said and done this confused couple who are still unaware of their relationship status seem to have always ended up having a good time together.

Piggy Chops states, “I am not only proud but also respect them because they have made women proud.”

But what hurts Priyanka Chopra the most is that still today women are not given the due respect they deserve. “I feel very hurt when some parents tell their daughters that she is not equal to a son. It’s so demeaning and insulting. Even today so many female foeticide are taking place just for the want of a son and so many affluent families are involved in it.”

Elaborating on one of the incident the actress says, “Recently there was this shocking incident where a girl child was found on the streets of South Mumbai. They had abandoned her after her birth.”

Priyanka also insists about the importance to educate the girl child in our country. “I feel every girl should be educated and stand on her own feet. It’s high time for people realized that a girl can, is and will be stronger than boys. It is very important that a girl is educated and is self dependent. Only then will she be able to raise a better family and in turn a better society.”

Not many know that Priyanka in her own way has been trying to educate girls from the poor family. “I try and buy books for my maids children or pay their fees so that their girls are educated. I think by doing such small amends we can educate the girl child of our country,” she concludes.

Piggy Chops her self is one of the excellent example of a woman power. Great going girl…

“But I have no regrets” says Priyanka. “Whenever I lose out on something, I always get something good to look forward to. There were times when things have not happened, but at the end of the day I got something better. I don’t regret not doing those films. I am okay with rejections, but I cannot handle failures,” she says.

The actress who has had a string of flops right from Love Story 2050 to Drona doesn’t regret doing them. She states, “I worked hard on these films and trained myself in martial arts. For Love story I coloured my hair red. It was a big disappointment that these films did not work. I experimented for my roles. Can you believe it, I have not taken a holiday for the last six years? I have put in so much work,” Priyanka reveals.

With What’s your Raashee on the anvil of release, Priyanka must certainly be on tenterhooks now!

Priyanka Chopra, Mugdha Godse, Madhur Bhandarkar, Neil Mukesh, Aanchal Kumar, Nethra Raghuraman, Ashok Pandit at Mugdha Godse_s birthday bash on 26th July 2009.

Priyanka Chopra, Aryan Vaid at J Hamstead fashion show in NSC Goregaon on 15th July 2009.

Sources inform that just after the story of their recent split was out, Priyanka and Shahid were seen having cosy lunch at a restaurant very close to their residence in Versova, Mumbai. In fact Priyanka Chopra’s brother was also seen accompanying them. Later the same night the two of them were spotted having dinner at China House.

Another source further reveals that the two of them are very much together. The stories of their split up are base less. They have been seen together seen having dinner together often. Their relationship began during the shooting of their film Kaminey. Shahid saved her face from being injured when they both slipped and fell from a scooter. Shahid had extended his hand and buffered her face before the fall.

According to Priyanka’s friends, it was like a Mills and Boon romance for Priyanka. Soon the two neighbours, who live in the same building, became close friends. Their friendship turned to love only a few months ago.

The festival’s highest honour and main prize is the “Jin Jue” award. It is a symbol of the traditional orient culture, is an ancient Chinese wine container which has a uniquely beautiful shape and a gracefully antique style. Priyanka Chopra was the first Indian actor to be presented with this honour on an international platform for her contribution to cinema.

Says Priyanka Chopra, “I feel very privileged to receive this honor from the Shanghai International Film Festival. As an actor, it is very encouraging to be recognized for your work. For me, an award such as this on such a big international platform gives me an opportunity to present India and our cinema to the world.”

Priyanka was very excited about receiving the award which is the highest honor of the SIFF and was equally excited about her visit to China. She is however hugely disappointed that she was not be able to be there due to a very sudden relapse of a serious stomach infection and was advised by doctors against travelling.

The SIFF is held each year for last 10 years and attracts every year a range of well known international actors and actresses and is the Asian Film Industries mega event of the year. Some of the renowned celebrities who were also present at this year’s ceremony were Isabelle Hupert, Quincy Jones. Ewan Mc Gregor, Michael Rosenberg (Director the Reader), Stephen Daldry, Karen Mok, Lucelia Santos amongst others.

Listed below is the list of awards that Priyanka has received in 2009:

1. Star Screen Awards (Best Actress, Fashion)

2. Lions Club Gold Awards (Best Actress, Fashion)

3. Stardust Awards (Best Actress, Fashion)

4. 10th FICCI Frames 2009 (Contribution to Entertainment)

5. Filmfare Awards (Best Actress, Fashion)

6. Cineblitz Award (Best Actress, Fashion)

7. IIFA Award (Best Actress, fashion)

8. NDTV Profit Car & Bike Awards (Brand Ambassador of the Year)

9. Nielson Box Office Award (Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema) presented during the 3rd Annual Asian Film Awards Film Awards held in Hong Kong

10. Shanghai International Film Festival, Jin Jue Award (Outstanding Contribution to Cinema)

While the actress has withdrawn into a dignified silence she has told friends that Gowariker who’s currently directing her in What’s Your Raashee said what he felt and that she holds no grudges.

Too private and dignified a person to speak against anyone Priyanka has apparently made up her mind to finish her work on Raashee and move on quietly.

Says a source, “It’s not a good time for Priyanka. Shayad usski raashee achchi nahin hai, pun intended. What’s Your Raashee is the toughest role of her career. Priyanka not only had to enact twelve parts she also had to assemble all twelve parts on the screen together for the climax. It sapped her. She even fainted on the sets. And now after having won every single popular award for Fashion it’s a shame that she was publicly told that she didn’t deserve the award, and that too from her own director. Anyway Priyanka is a professional. She hasn’t allowed her breakup with Hurman to affect her on-screen chemistry with him. She won’t let this incident sour her. In fact she jokingly told a friend she hopes to be back at the awards with Raashee.”

Fashion director Madhur Bhandarkar is far more openly vocal. “I’m shocked by what Ashutosh had to say. We’re friends and I admire his work. More than us, our wives are very close friends. If he felt this way he should’ve shared it with me and Priyanka, not spoilt the golden moment for her on stage. Priyanka got every popular award. Doesn’t that prove she deserves it?”

What shocked Madhur more was the fact that the criticism came from Priyanka’s own director. “He’s working in What’s Your Raashee with Priyanka. That’s what makes his outburst more baffling and contradictory.”

Gowariker seems to have rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way the awards function.

One of the hosts for the evening says, “After Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh did their skits on Anil Kapoor and the best films of the year Ashutosh Gowariker stormed back -stage and gave Boman and Riteish a firing. What’s his problem, yaar? Who appointed him the industry’s resident MNS?”

Kangana Ranaut, Hrithik Roshan,Suzanne Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Mugdha Godse, Dino Morea, Shabana Azmi, Tanvi Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Parsoon Joshi, Rakesh Roshan, Vinay Pathak, Sonu Sood, Abbas Mastan arrive at Mumbai Airport from IIFA, Macau on 14th June 2009.

Jodhaa Akbar bags top honours at The 10th IDEA IIFA Awards announced at the CotaiArena, The Venetian Macao 12000 gather to witness the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema.

Macau, June 14, 2009: The tenth year of IIFA surpassed all expectations with a spectacular show that saw epic movie Jodhaa Akbar bag most of the top Awards. The film won the coveted Best Picture Award, while Ashutosh Gowarikar won the award for Best Director and Hrithik Roshan for Best Actor for Jodhaa Akbar. Celebrating a decade of magic, the IDEA IIFA Awards show was held at the Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel, that played host to the three day Videocon IIFA Weekend.

Priyanka Chopra won the Award for Best Actress for her much acclaimed role in Fashion, while her co-star Kangana Ranawat won the Award for her performance as supporting female actor. Arjun Rampal came out victorious for Best Male performance in a supporting role for Rock On. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by IIFA Brand Ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan to Rajesh Khanna, who received a standing ovation from the packed arena.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Award for best performance in a comic role for his hilarious character in Dostana, while Akshaye Khanna won for Best performance in a negative role for Race. Neeraj Pandey’s powerful film, ‘A Wednesday’ won the Award for Best Story.

To commemorate the last decade in Indian Cinema, the Videocon IIFA Golden Decade Honors were instituted and presented at the Idea IIFA Awards. The Male Star of the Decade went to Shah Rukh Khan, while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won in the female category. Movie of the decade went to Lagaan, with Rakesh Roshan winning Director of the decade and the talented AR Rahman won the award for Music of the decade. The star debut of the year was awarded to Asin and Farhan Akhtar. The IIFA and Green globe Foundation presented an Award to Rahul Bose for his contribution to creating awareness on global warming.

Other categories that featured Jodhaa Akbar wins were Music Direction by AR Rahman, and Javed Akhtar and Javed Ali for Best Lyrics and Best Playback Singer (Male) respectively for the hit song, Jashan-e-Baharaa from Jodhaa Akbar.

The action packed show had stellar performances by Sonam Kapoor, jacky Bhagnani, Bipasha Basu, Anoushka Sharma, Govinda, Riteish Deshmukh and Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, as well as an impromptu Antakshri session which Amitabh Bachchan concluded.

This electrifying awards presentation ceremony will be beamed to a global audience and reach out to more than 500 million households on STAR TV, IDEA IIFA Awards broadcast partner. The 10th IDEA IIFA Awards ceremony will be telecast on Star TV on July 5th, 2009.

The Winners for the IDEA IIFA Awards 2009 are as follows:
CategoryWinners
Best Background Score AwardA R Rahman (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best DialogueMano Rishil (Oye Lucky)
Best EditingBallu Saluja (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best Art DirectionNitin Chandrakant Desai (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best Costume AwardNeeta Lulla (Jodha Akbar)
Best Make-upMadhav Kadam (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best PictureJodhaa Akbar
Best ScreenplayNeerai Pandey (A Wednesday Short and Sweet)
Best StoryNeeraj Pandey – A Wednesday
LyricsJaved Akhtar – Jashan-e-Baharaa (Jodhaa Akbar)
Music DirectionA.R. Rahman – Jodhaa Akbar
Performance in a Comic RoleAbhishek Bachchan – Dostana
Performance in a Negative RoleAkshaye Khanna – Race
Playback Singer (Female)Shreya Ghoshal – Teri Ore (Singh Is King)
Playback Singer (Male)Javed Ali – Jashan-e-Baharaa (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best Sound Re-editing Leslie Fernandes (Race)
Sound RecordingResul Pookutty & Amrit (Ghajini)
Best ActionPeter Steins & Stun Siva (Ghajini)
Special Effects AwardsGhajini
Sounding Recording AwardRock On !!
IDEA Style ICON Award (Female)Bipasha Basu
IDEA Style Icon Award (Male)Hrithik Roshan
Debutant Star Female AwardAsin – Ghajini
Debutant Star Male AwardFarhan Akhtar – Rock On
Best DirectorAshutosh Gowariker – Jodhaa Akbar
Performance in a Supporting Role (Female)Kangana Ranawat – Fashion
Performance in a Supporting Role (Male)Arjun Rampal – Rock On !!
Performance in a Leading Role (Female)Priyanka Chopra – Fashion
Performance in a Leading Role (Male)Hrithik Roshan – Jodhaa Akbar

Videocon Music of Decade AwardA.R. Rahman
Videocon Star of Decade (Female)Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Videocon Star of Decade (Male)Shahrukh Khan
Videocon Movie of the DecadeLagaan
Videocon Director of Decade AwardRakesh Roshan

The handsome hunk is busy with his commitment of Ken Ghosh flick. On the other side the vivacious actress is busy shooting in Singapore for Yash Raj movie Pyar Impossible.

“Priyanka was very eager to perform on the song from Kaminey but due to her prior commitments to Yash Raj, she won’t be performing this year,” says a person close to Priyanka.

It was also reported that PC will be giving a miss to the Awards. “Well she was but then she decided to attend the function and return back to her shoot later. She doesn’t have time to rehearse and perform but will be attending the awards,” concludes the source.

By the way, no one cares about his first showbiz girlfriend Hrishita Bhatt anyway! She ain’t no star after all!

The speculations started after they were spotted hanging out together at parties and many other occasions. In fact even when Priyanka was hospitalized, Shahid was spotted like the caring lover.

Though they never came out in the open like how Shahid in his naughty lovey dovey days was seen allegedly clicked kissing Kareena at a pub, many are sure they are a couple.

Shahid and Piggy Chops haven’t confirm anything and are enjoying life instead. But now it seems they are finally ready to do some ‘khullam khulla pyar’.

The Café Bitch heard Shahid say, “Priyanka and I are good friends. However, people have been jumping the gun. If we take our relationship further, I may talk about it; but people are in a rush to link us together.”

Well, that’s means Sasha is not denying his thing for Piggy Chops.

As for the girl herself, she spoke out against Shahid’s strong headed ex Bebo recently and shooed off her and beau Saif’s allegations that Sasha is using their name to publicize ‘Kaminay’.

She hit back by saying it was a great piece of work by Vishal Bharadwaj with a good story/ cast/ production house and doesn’t need anyone’s support or help.

Awww…hit Kareena where it hurts, huh?

But that’s talking like a caring lady love.

The Café- Bitch is quite sure that something’s brewing between the two. This sure is going to be an interesting love story, until of course both go separate ways. If the beginning and middle is so damn interesting, the end sure would be.

Watch this space for more.

Yash Raj Films has launched the website of its forthcoming movie called Pyaar Impossible, which stars Priyanka Chopra and Uday Chopra in the lead. The website, which was launched by Priyanka, will have regular day to day updates about the film. The website is from the point of view of the character Abhay played by Uday Chopra.

Priyanka Chopra launched the website of movie Pyaar Impossible in Yash Raj Studios on 12th May 2009 . Priyanka Chopra launched the website for Yash Raj Films’ forthcoming movie – PYAAR IMPOSSIBLE – yesterday at YRF Studios. Uday Chopra had left for the next shooting schedule of the film and hence could not be present at the press conference had a special message on video for all.

Jugal Hansraj directs Uday Chopra and Priyanka Chopra in this romantic comedy which went on floors this April and is due to release towards the end of the year.

Pyaar Impossible is the story of Abhay and Alisha – Abhay who is a nerdy, awkward, socially challenged and bespectacled geek and Alisha who is the epitome of beauty that any man would willingly rip his heart out for!

And when these two worlds collide you get:

1 Beauty + 1 Geek = Pyaar Impossible!

To find out if Abhay and Alisha can ever come together log on to the exclusive “Pyaar Impossible” movie website at www.pyaarimpossible.in

Starting today you can catch fresh videos and the latest pictures with loads of behind-the-scenes moments on this first of its kind website.

So log onto www.pyaarimpossible.in now and don’t forget to get your daily dose of Pyaar Impossible!

Priyanka launched the website of her romantic comedy film – www.pyaarimpossible.in and then speaking about her role in the film said, “I play the beauty and Uday plays the geek. But in real life, when I was in school-college I was very geeky.”

During the media interaction a journalist asked her reaction to the recent comments made by Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan that their names were being unnecessarily dragged for publicizing her forthcoming film Kaminey with her ‘good friend’ Shahid Kapoor. Priyanka like a true loyal ‘good friend’ gave a fitting reply to Kareena (she was Shahid’s ex girlfriend remember) and Saif’s accusations made in a Mumbai tabloid few days back.

Priyanka said, “Kaminey is directed by Vishal Bharadwaj whose directorial credentials don’t need any introduction and it is produced by UTV which is amongst the best production houses in the country today. I have seen the film and I feel it’s a brilliant piece of work. All those who will see the film will definitely love it. We as the team of Kaminey are extremely well equipped and capable of publicizing the film and don’t require any outside help for the same.”

Few days back Kareena and Saif had reportedly claimed that their names were needlessly dragged to gain publicity for his films by Shahid. Kareena was in fact quoted stating, “Shahid should move on.”