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July 23, 1998
BILLBOARD
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Bollywood on song
We were there when Sanjay tested his lungs at Dharmendra's studio at Juhu, Sunny Super Sound. "Aye Shivani," teed of Sanjay, and the small gathering oohed in pleasure. Well, it wasn't too bad for a beginner. Actually, quite good. Sanjay made mistakes, corrected himself and generally seemed to get the hang of the thing fast. Jatin and Lalit, the composers, even joked that with this kind of showing, they could consider making a musical with him. Aamir's influence is getting around, for Sanjay had apparently rehearsed a great deal for the song. Whatever, there was one heck of applause in the studio when Sanjay finished. And now there's Shah Rukh waiting in the wings too. Now if only someone would give him a song to sing...
Urmila goes international
And there's more ahead -- an Indo-US collaboration that she isn't talking about. Neither, for that matter, is director Ram Gopal Varma. The plan is apparently under wraps because it's a very big project and Varma could fall flat on his face if he first talked, then failed.
Target: Mani RathnamDon't ever tap Mani Rathnam suddenly on the back. The poor man might just jump out of his skin. The director of Roja and Bombay clearly isn't very impressed by the 'Z' category security around him. He's still scared to death. Even at parties, he looks tense, avoiding all the light persiflage that's standard at such dos. And it's nothing to do with work. His Dil Se has shaped up pretty well and Shah Rukh Khan and Mani's pet, Manisha Koirala, have reportedly given fantastic performances in the film, which was earlier called Ladakh -- Ek Kahani. What's bothering Mani are some death threats he's been receiving. And he isn't quite convinced these are empty, for it wasn't so very long ago that someone tossed a bomb at his house. And so he mumbles when spoken to and keeps peeking anxiously over his shoulder...
Pooping parties
Now don't ask why Subhash should throw such a grand party on the 68th birthday of a man whose 60th birthday he didn't even attend. Maybe it was just as an excuse, considering there's little Bollywood has to celebrate about these days. And among the few who weren't present on the occasion were Shah Rukh Khan and Mahima Chaudhary. Subhash had ditched his Pardes duo, who were also to star together in hisTaal. They're just kind of, you know, returning the favour.
Bill and more bills
ABCL had tied up with the company for acquisition of movies and other deals. But by December 1996, it was Rs 9.5 million in arrears. It has also to pay Rs 3 million as interest. The guys at UTV are hoping now that Major Saab is doing okay for itself in the north, they can hope for some moolah.
They love me, they love me not...
The change came after Ajay who was written off after a few flops made some impression with Major Saab. Ahead is his own Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, which releases all over on Friday. There too, we hear, he's done a good job. But even if he makes no impression, he has as his co-star, girlfriend Kajol, who already has one hit this year, Pyar Kiya To Drna Kya and an average performer in Dushman where her acting, at least, was lauded. For now, Ajay has his fingers crossed.
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-- V S Srinivasan | |||||||||||
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