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December 16, 1998
BILLBOARD
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Those were the days
Every film she has starred in has flopped. Oh yes, the critics raved, the front-benchers admired, but those who didn't step into the theatres preferred to stay away. But Mani Rathnam's Iruvar, Shankar's Jeans and Rahul Rawail's Aur Pyar Ho Gaya were gone long before they made any impression. Any wonder then that she is looking forward to Rishi Kapoor's Aa Ab Laut Chalein to bring her out of the woods? There are other films in her kitty yet but Aishwarya isn't too sure how they'll do; AALC is what she's placing her bets on. But it's long road Ash has travelled, and it's been getting lonelier all the time.
Hope springs eternal and all that rot
Akshaye Khanna and that new gal, Jyotika, seem to have done a good job, some thanks being due to a great cameraman too. It might even have helped Akshaye, who like Ash, is on shaky ground right now if he hadn't followed it up with the abysmal Kudrat, Urmila or no Urmila. So now, again like Ash, he awaits the release of Aa Ab Laut Chalein. But that's still a few months away... Ink is thicker than greasepaint
The girl made waves after her roles in Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, Begum Sumroo and, just ahead lies a juicy role in Bombay Boys. But the shoots were over long ago and she hasn't involved herself in any other movie. The cause was apparently this masterpiece in the making. Tara'd better watch out. The arty, intellectual woman doesn't go down too well with Bollywood producers. So the brighter she tries to prove herself the dimmer's her star likely to become. Killing the messenger
The incident we mention regarding this chesty girl involved the time Raj Kumar Santoshi's China-Gate was being released. The neighbours started, then sighed as the familiar screams rent the air at Arshee Complex at Yari Road. Mamta, they noted, was blowing her pretty lid again. And whenever that happened, only a gag and a straitjacket that could help bring peace back into the locality. Happens a man from Santoshi's office came to deliver a few passes for the film at the request of Mamta's mother. But Mamta was upset that Santoshi had given Urmila more prominence in the film and that he had nearly slashed her own role out of the film. And she wasn't going to bite her lower lip, look hurt, and make the messenger cringe guiltily. Not Mamta. The rich flow of invective impressed even the local goons, who till then had prided themselves on their extensive and colourful vocabulary. For Mamta at her worst is at her scatological best. Of course, it could be that she had some beer before... Why, did you ask? Oh, didn't you know what Mamta did a few years ago after she had two glasses of beer on an international flight?...
The unkindest cut
The progressives on the side of Democracy may have had no complaints with the board for releasing these films, but Manoj Kumar isn't all that impressed with the censors after the way they dealt with his Jai Hind The Pride. The film was stuck up with the censors for a long time. Then the censor board gave his film a U/A certificate. Manoj mumbled but made no vocal complaint. Then the trailer of his film was accorded an 'A' certificate. And then Mr Bharat broke loose. "How can they explain this. Am I showing anything more in my trailers that what I did in my film. How come I got two different certificates for the same film," he asked, all injured innocence. Ah, it must have been an X-rated catchline he put in then.
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-- V S Srinivasan | |||||||||||
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