1. Priyanka In Paris
Priyanka Chopra simply knows how to get it right. Every time. The Baywatch star is currently in Paris, soaking up the sun and chilling with the likes of iconic fashion designer Giorgio Armani, Hollywood stars Kate Winslet, and Sophia Loren among others.
The actor front-lined the Paris Fashion Week and left no doubt that no matter what her film’s box office results are, she has made it big in the east as well as the west.
Check out her Paris diary.
An Armani dress? Check. Paris Fashion Week? Check. Holding hands with Mr Giorgio Armani? Double check.
Oh, and throw in some legendary Hollywood stars as well.
2. Let’s Have the Last Word On Why Salman Khan’s Tubelight Failed
Quite oddly, in the revenge flick Mom, Ma’am Sridevi, portraying a biology schoolteacher, attempts to define six-pack abs to her students. Points she – and the camera zooms in dutifully – to a poster of a shirtless Salman Khan. Ouch. Would Ma’am have still waxed eloquent on the Khan’s body Gibraltar, in the wake of the no-show at the cash counters of Tubelight? Doubtful.
The image has always been the thing for the Bollywood mainstream mughals. Tinker with yesteryear’s ‘angry young man’ syndrome of Amitabh Bachchan or the arms-akimbo romantic balladeering of Shah Rukh Khan, and there’s a hair-pin bend ahead. Drive with caution.
For sure, conceded that entrenched images do become a drag. As it happens, though, a redesigned superstar requires expert gear shifts – or genius scripting – which Kabir Khan did carry off with elan, thank you very much to Bajrangi Bhaijaan. The backdrop of the ongoing Indo-Pak conflict served as a topical backdrop. And the innocent, buttoned-up 50-year-old virgin romancing a Kareena Kapoor did emit the sparks of an experiment conducted in a school chemistry lab.
Enough recalled perhaps. So let’s drop the comparisons between Bajrangi Bhaijaan which clicked big-time and Tubelight which didn’t. Just before I leave Bajrangi Bhaijaan, though, let me point out a curious similarity. In both the Kabir Khan movies, the hero’s father is a joke, dropping dead as if the old codger was a piece of timber. In one, the pitaji is so shocked that his Bajrangi beta has actually passed his school (or was it college?) exams that presto there he is, transported to the pearly gates.
And in Tubelight, the father drinks himself to death and drives off a cliff, a tragedy dispensed within a split-second shot. As for the mother figure – the traditional source of the emotional tear-ducts– tchah, who needs to see born-again Nirupa Roys? Salman Khan doesn’t need his elders and betters, to unlock your tear-ducts.
3. In Pics: Birthday Boy Ranveer Singh Takes Deepika Out For a Drive
Ranveer Singh turned 32 on 6 July and the actor gifted himself a brand new set of wheels. We spotted a very delighted Ranveer rolling out his new matte white Aston Martin (is that a Rapide S?) which comes with a price tag of about Rs 3.30 crore.
He later took his co-star, Deepika Padukone out for a spin in his new car.
Check out pictures of Ranveer and his hot new acquisition.
4. In Pics: Nawazuddin Takes Dancing Lessons From Tiger Shroff
Tiger Shroff and Nawazuddin Siddiqui arrived on the sets of Lil Champs to promote their upcoming film, Munna Michael.
While Tiger is an accomplished dancer, it was fun to watch the non-dancer, Nawaz take centre stage. Take a look:
5. Women Are Not Equal Citizens: Alankrita Shrivastava
As the “lady-oriented” film of the year, Lipstick Under My Burkha has been creating a huge storm (in the minds of CBFC personnel chiefly). The film is set to release at last on 21 July. So we caught up with director Alankrita Shrivastava to talk about everything from her view on representing diversity in our movies to being a woman artist in India to the film’s international release.
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