SANJAY DUTT Sentenced to Jail in Mumbai Blasts Case

Sanjay Dutt (Image: bollywoodgo.net) 

One of the Hindi film industry's most talented and prominent actors, Sanjay Dutt, has received the verdict of the Supreme Court, who accuses him of possessing illegal weapons, purchased from the perpetrators of  the 1993 Bombay blasts, a case for which he has already served jail in the past. 

In a case that has dragged on for 18 years and has seen Dutt detained and bailed on several occasions, the recent verdict brings forward the frightening perspective of keeping the star in jail for 5 years. He has been requested by the Court to surrender within 4 weeks.  

The news has seemingly put on hold 4 different films in which Dutt is currently cast: Rajkumar Hirani's "Peekay", Rensil D'Silva's "Unglee" and K. S. Ravikumar's "Policegiri" for which he is currently shooting, as well as Apoorva Lakhia's upcoming film.  

The entertainment industry, as well as his huge fan base, have expressed shock regarding the verdict and have voiced their wishes of strength to the star and his family.

GATTU Review: A Child Conquers the Sky

When a movie without special effects, exotic locations, huge stars and song and dance sequences is released, it tends to be classified in the art film category and is immediately slotted for an intellectual or purely regional audience. Gattu breaks the mould and brings us not only Indian entertainment that will appeal to family audiences but also simple and meaningful cinema.

SPECIAL 26 Review: Thrill is the Word

A Wednesday was the first Indian film I believe I watched in India and without English subtitles. I still remember a friend translating for me the parts I did not fully understand and feeling how the plot was getting entangled and detangled in my brain. Such a stimulating film had me looking forward to acclaimed director Neeraj Pandey's Special 26 (aka Special Chabbis) and I am glad the waiting is over.

While the director might have been facing nervousness this week before the release, one has to say that a trip to the cinema this weekend to watch it is pretty well worth it!

VISHWAROOP and the Voice of Kamal Hassan

Kamal Hassan and Pooja Kumar at media meet in Bombay

Photograph by: Bollywoodhungama.com

India is a democracy that is admired by many a country in the world but when sensibilities in religious or communal groups are easily hurt, the foreign community observes with disarray and realizes how fragile a huge democracy might actually be.

Kamal Hassan's Vishwaroopam has been receiving good reviews from movie critics but has hurt a highly sensitive sector of the Muslim community this past week, thus sadly becoming the reason for a government issued ban on the film's release in the entire state of Tamil Nadu. Negotiations between Hassan's supporters, the government and the film's detractors have however luckily softened the initial protests that made it controversial and the film is set to release in Bombay this Friday, as originally programmed, while it is still banned in UP and Malaysia as we write.

Bollywood Infomercial Sleek: RACE 2 Review

 

Let us quote and interview of Johann Verheem, founder of a weight loss company who became famous overnight due to one of his infomercials: “It's not just that sex sells, but one of the other things very important in direct selling, in infomercials, is that a product looks different enough for someone to stop and watch it.” (Inc. magazine)

Verheem's expert knowledge of "what sells" completely matches my impression of Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla's Race 2, where a score of gorgeous males and females show off their tanned and chiseled bodies and brand clothes in luxurious settings while trying to appear cool by emoting as minimum as possible and handling uncannily humongous sums of money (plus the shroud of Turin!) throughout a plot that unfortunately keeps craving for an ending well before the intermission.