Desi makeover for Bollywood

Dabangg 2 is in, Race 2 is out:

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Sonakshi with Salman Khan in Dabangg

She is a one hit wonder. Flagging off her career in the record breaking Dabangg starring opposite Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha is riding high on success and flooded with film offers.

The Bollywood’s newbie was in Sri Lanka last week for a photo shoot for L’Officiel India magazine in Sigiriya. She also spoke about her experience in Sri Lanka to CNN. A half- hour programme on Sonakshi’s photo shoot in the historic city will be telecast on the channel. This includes interviews with L’Officiel editor Ami Patel and Sri Lankan born designer Dinesh Chandrasena. All operations and local production was handled by Event Concept with key strategic partners Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lankan Airlines, Ayura, Taj Samudra and Hameedias.

The Dabangg star who essayed the role of a village belle with perfection bagged a number of awards with her debut. These include the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut 2011, IIFA Star Debut Award Female 2011 and many others.

She still sports the nose-ring which she donned in Dabangg at most events. Though Hindi movie buffs recall the nose-ring donned by Preity Zinta in Veer Zara, Sonakshi bring back the fad even in her next movie, Rowdy Rathore.

At a time when fitness frenzy amounts up to the size zero actresses, Sonakshi’s entrance turns a new chapter to Hindi cinema in which curves outshine skinny avatars. However the 24-year-old underwent the battle of the bulge a couple of years back when she lost 30 kilos to turn from a rolly-polly couch potato who survived on junk food, to the slim and trim upcoming face of Bollywood.

“Someone said that the charm of the old world heroine is back. The size zero trend is finally over. After watching me in the promo of Dabangg Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan told me that I could actually act. Such words were very encouraging,” said the actress who had consistently been compared to Reena Roy for her desi looks.

She does admit that she is a total foodie and does not refrain herself from indulging in food. Rather she works it off at the gym to maintain her hourglass figure. “Salman had promised me that he will give me a break if I lose weight. So I started working hard. It took me two years to get into shape and he fulfilled his promise. He was very particular about my gym routine and pushed me into it as I was very lazy and lethargic,” she confessed. It is reported that the duo will start shooting for their next movie Dagbangg 2 in March 2012. Though it is Abhinav Kashyap who directed the predecessor, the sequel will be directed by producer Arbaaz Khan. The original cast: Salman, Sonakshi and Sonu Sood will not be changed but the scenes will shift to a larger city, possibly Mumbai.

Her quintessential Indian features brighten when she talks of her future projects. Her next is Rowdy Rathore opposite Akshey Kumar. She will also be seen with Akshay in the fantasy adventure Joker, the third 3D Hindi film in India.

Hindi action comedy Kick, the remake of the Telugu film of the same name stars Sonakshi with Salman and Son of Sardar will see her opposite Ajay Devgan. However she recently opted out of Abbas Mustan’s Race 2 due to date problems. Not so long ago Sonakshi was quoted saying that she looking forward to changing into the glam doll look for the film. However since Race 2 shooting moved onto to June, she had to choose between an image makeover and the Salman Khan project. She chose the latter.

Queried if she is ok with the age gap between herself and her heroes Sonakshi said that it does not feel that way when you get into the character in the story.

“They are fun and easy to get along with and have loads of experience. I can learn a lot from them. They are some of the biggest stars in the country so why should I complain?” she smiled.

With a number of biggies in her kitty, Sonakshi relates that she is not part of the number game.

“I believe that everyone has something to offer. They embody their own charm and have something new and different to give. I don’t believe in competition,” she quipped. Most people believe that star kids born with a silver spoon in their mouth have things easy with instant stardom. So does she see herself carrying her father, yesteryear actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha’s, legacy forward?

“There are pros and cons in being a star kid. For my brother, Luv, Sadiyaan wasn’t a successful launch. So it’s easy for some, and tough for others. It’s true that our parents have been in the industry for a long time and they have contacts but the audience has a lot more expectations from you,” she said.

However she firmly believes that there is no substitute to discipline. She is known for her punctuality on the sets and is well rehearsed in her lines.

Rumours of her link-up with newbie Ranveer Singh have been the talk of B-town a few weeks back. It is even reported that model turned actress Anushka Sharma is miffed with her because of the romantic liaison. She shrugs aside those details saying that she is no longer disturbed by hearsay. .Her solution is to turn a deaf ear and carry on with her work.

Speaking about her visit to Sri Lanka Sonakshi said that she had always felt at home in country because of its picturesque environs, sunny climate and friendly aura. She had been to Sri Lanka before and strode up the ramp at the 2010 IIFA Fashion Show with her Dabangg co-star, Salman.

“That is when Dabangg actually began to take shape. I could never forget my visit because of that. It will always be dear to my heart,” she concluded.

Super Six tunes on audio

The 12 scintillating songs in Udara Palliyaguruge’s maiden movie Super Six was launched in audio format at a special gathering held at Hotel Continental recently.

The cast, crew and some of the key members of the cinema field graced the occasion in which the Super Six theatrical trailer and website were also launched. Seasoned director Sumithra Peries was the chief guest of the event.

Speaking at the event compere and lyricist Kelum Srimal said that Super Six is one of the local films with the highest number of songs embedded into its story. The record with the highest number of songs in a Sri Lakan film is for Sada Sulang which has 18 songs. A bulk of Super Six’s songs were penned by Nilar N Cassim while Nandana Wickramage, Ajith Kumarasiri, Kelum Srimal and Udara Palliyaguruge too wrote some of the other songs.

Sons of top music directors Sarath Dassanayake and Patrick Denipitiya handled the music for the movie. They are Ranga Dasanayake and Mahesh Denipitiya. Ajith Kumarasiri too set the song Thol Pethi Gawala Balamuda to music.

“The tunes had to soot the atmosphere and character traits. Since the movie is set to hit India there needs to be an Indian atmosphere in the melodies,” Mahesh explained the challenges that he and the music team faced in composing the tracks.

Rookantha Gunatileke, Uresha Ravihari , Shihan Mihianga, Deva de Silva, Surendra Perera, Sanka Dineth, Ros Alagiyawanna, shanika Wanigasekara, Ajith Kumarasiri, Janaka Withanage, Jaya Sri’s Rohitha and Rohan and himesha Manupriya rendered their voices for the songs.

“Making a commercial movie is no walk in the park. You need to look into many aspects so that there will be less fingers pointing your way once the audience sees the finished product. I would not have been possible for us to come all this way without veterans like Lester James Peries and Sumithra Peries. They made way for Sri Lankan cinema. Directors like Udayakantha Warnasuriya protected the essence of the movies that the past directors brought about. Jackson Anthony opened the doors to a new era projecting that there is an audience for quality big budget movies,” director Palliyaguruge said.

Jackson Anthony noted that the script is the most important feature in a film.

“This is the aspect that needs to be developed. We have listened to the tracks and seen some of the stills. Now all that is left is for us the see the story of the production and make a judgment,” he said also adding that the other directors in the ‘Udayakanthas’ in the industry should revive themselves as well as more ‘Palliyaguruges’ need to be added to the industry. Super Six producers R Sadesh Kumar and Srimathi Kumar, lyricists Ranga Dasanayake and Nandana Wickramage also spoke at the event.

Here comes Ra.One

Shahrukh Khan’s Ra.One creates many record in Bollywood before release on October 26. Ra.One’s television broadcasting rights had been sold to Star India for a record sum of 40 crore (US$8.92 million), surpassing the previous record of 3 Idiots for 33 crore (US$7.36 million). The film’s music rights were bought by T-Series for 15 crore (US$3.35 million) whilst the distribution rights were acquired by Eros Entertainment for 77 crore (US$17.17 million).

According to Shahrukh Khan Ra.One is his childhood fantasy for which he has put down all his money and hard work. Ra.One is the biggest film that has ever been made in Bollywood – both in terms of marketing and pricing.

It is a science fiction superhero film written and directed by Anubhav Sinha, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. It also stars Shahana Goswami, Dalip Tahil and Chinese-American actor Tom Wu in supporting roles, along with Rajinikanth, Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra in guest appearances.

The film is jointly produced by Eros International and Khan’s production company, Red Chillies Entertainment . It is now set to have a worldwide release during the Diwali weekend. It is its dubbed versions in Tamil, Telug, English and German. Ra.One is currently India’s most expensive film to date and will be released in both 2D and 3D formats across 3,500 screens worldwide.

The soundtrack of Ra.One was composed by Vishal-Shekhar whilst the lyrics were penned by Atahar Panchi, Vishal Dadlani and Kumaar. Director Anubhav Sinha announced that the soundtrack would also feature two songs recorded by Senegalese American R&B singer Akon.

The movie will be the first to be screened at the newly refurbished Majestic cinema, Colombo. It will open doors to the public from October 26, equipped with new carpets and new seats imported from India. It is a CEL release.

The NFC cinema courses

National Film Corporation is enrolling students for their cinema courses: cinema diploma and certificate course.

The diploma course will be conducted on weekends for a year from 9 am to 4 pm. It teaches the students the basics of the industry in the first six months. The second stage of the course comprises of classes aimed at film directing, editing, script writing, cinematography and reviews.

Students will be interviewed on their knowledge for the exam and they will have to either make a short film or present a written thesis.

Those who have passes their GCE A\L examinations or cinema certificate course holders can apply for the diploma course.

The cinema certificate course will be held on Fridays from 9 am to 4 pm. The lectures will be conducted on basics on cinema along with film screenings. Those who have passed their GCE O\Ls can apply for this course.

The courses will begin on January 2012. The applications are available at the NFC till October 28 from 9 am to 3.30 pm on week days. The closing date of applications is on November 18.

For more details call 0112585721.