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Showing posts with the label underworld

JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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The Rise & Fall of Mamta Kulkarni

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The controversy  Circa 1993, the popular gossip magazine stardust splashed a young starlet posing topless on its cover. Whispers turned into loud catcalls, everyone within and outside the Bollywood industry was talking about the bold and upcoming Mamta Kulkarni who dared to cover her bare assets with her delicate arms. She became an overnight star and flooded with film offers from A list producers.  Kulkarni belonged to a middle class maharashtrian Brahmin family and had indulged in small time modelling assignments in early 90s. She even acted in a B grade movie called Mera Dil Tere Liye(1992) which bombed badly and went unnoticed. So the sensational cover on stardust did wonders for Mamta that her debut movie couldn’t.  The rise and stardom  She had a string of box office hits like Tiranga(1993), Aashiq Awara(1993), Waqt Hamara Hai(1993), Bhookamp(1993), Betaaj Badshah(1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi(1995) and the blockbuster Karan Arjun(1995) which was the second highes...
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FLASHBACK# No one killed Divya Bharti?

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The millennials today may not even know there existed a star called Divya Bharti who was hailed as the rising sensation of the early 90s, a blooming life nipped in the bud ! Revisiting the life and times of an actress who showed immense star appeal and promise only to be snatched away by a cruel turn of destiny.  With her family, brother Kunal, mother Mita and father Om Prakash (1992)  Born in 1974, Divya was raised in Bombay and film actors Sharman Joshi and Farhan Akhtar were her school batch mates till standard tenth. While her classmates pursued higher studies, Divya’s ambitious mother pushed her in the glamorous world of films, at 15 she started acting in Telugu films. Bobilli Raja(1990) was a blockbuster and Divya became a much sought after teen sensation down south. It wasn’t long before Bollywood producers started making a beeline for Divya to sign the dotted line for them.  A still photograph from her Movie magazine shoot (1993)  She was signed on and uncere...
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MUSIC MOGUL GULSHAN KUMAR REVISITED

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Gulshan Kumar with Nadeem Shrawan  Every 90s grown up would remember the moon faced ever smiling Gulshan Kumar who would appear in devotional videos on music channels. He had what one could term an meteoric rise and eventual tragic end. Revisiting a man who defied all Bollywood norms and emerged as an undisputed music mogul notwithstanding the politics and crab mentality prevailing in the industry.  Gulshan with daughter Tulsi  Would you believe Gulshan was a small time obscure fruit seller in the DaryaGanj area of Delhi in his struggling years? His unbeatable devotion to music and the divine prompted him to move to Bombay and plan a meticulous strategy to build an music empire. A smooth operator, Gulshan started his music label Super cassette industries aka Tseries focusing on aggressive marketing. In fact his rise can well be an eminent case study for management students.  With HMV monopolising the music market in the 80s it was unthinkable to breakthrough but Gul...
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GANGSTER’s MOLLS : shortcut to fame?

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GANGSTER’s MOLLS : shortcut to fame?  Do we hear of the underworld nexus in Bollywood these days? Not much, unless the screaming out of his lungs Arnab Goswami occasionally blaming dreaded don Dawood Ibrahim for sushant singh rajputs death ! That’s like an occasional instance.  There was a time when Bollywood starlets got embroiled into the dirty world of gangsters, from 1972-2002 thirty years and seven beautiful Bollywood damsels were linked to horrifying underworld gangsters, here’s a brief recollection of the ‘seven wonders’  Sona : almost everyone knew about the infamous Haji Mastan’s infatuation for the late actor Madhubala, now there were far too many admirers then and even today. So it wasn’t a surprise when he fell head over heels in love with a budding starlet Sona who’d an uncanny resemblance to the late Venus of Indian cinema. Sona’s only notable film was Kachche Dhaage(1973) and the affair and subsequent nikaah with Mastaan put a permanent end to her acting c...
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DRUGS, LIES AND BOLLYWOOD

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DRUGS, LIES AND BOLLYWOOD After the suspicious death of a celebrated young star, a Pandora’s box got opened reluctantly though. Drugs turned out to be the most abused word found circulating on media channels. While some blame Bollywood there were others who preferred shielding the image by claiming Thali mein chhed karte ho blah blah blah.  Though eminent film stars turned politicians Jaya Bhaduri and Ravi Kissen were at loggerheads over the issue with the former claiming there is no drug nexus in Bollywood and the latter defending that there was no drug issue earlier and it’s only started now. I disagree with both. Bollywood has been dirtied by the drug invasion long ago, most specifically would be 70’s. There’s no record prior to that. If you read the late Protima Bedi’s tell all autobiography she’s boldly mentioned how she along with her then husband Kabir Bedi and a bunch of friends including Bollywood stars would go to their shack on the Juhu beach and smoke weed.  In 19...
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