The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Bollywood hit ‘Delhi Belly’ causes upset Posted: 16 Jul 2011 02:52 AM PDT
The screwball comedy "Delhi Belly", starring the actor-producer-director's nephew Imran Khan, revolves around three, scruffy, debt-ridden room-mates who unwittingly fall into a life of crime with a mafia boss. The film, which is mainly in English with a profanity-peppered dialogue and toilet humour, had by Monday taken a total of 487.5 million rupees (RM32.78 million) since it opened on July 1, the web site bollywoodhungama.com said. But with India as a whole still a conservative place, not everyone is happy. On Monday protesters stormed a cinema in the western city of Kolhapur, forcing a screening of the film to be cancelled. Another theatre was attacked in the central city of Indore following action by a right-wing Hindu organisation that called for the movie to be banned for having too much abusive and vulgar language. Even in India's more liberal entertainment capital, Mumbai, a complaint was filed in court, accusing Aamir Khan, who has a cameo role, of showing "obscene" acts and outraging and insulting religion or religious beliefs. Industry analysts, however, have said the film has aroused public interest as it was a reflection of young people in modern, urban India. "'Delhi Belly' is on its way to becoming a sort of a cult film for the youth because it speaks the language they speak," said Komal Nahta, who tracks Hindi-language cinema. Pre-publicity focused on a song whose lyrics suggested a popular expletive in northern India, the scatology and the sex scenes of the protagonists. "Many people wanted to go and check the film and find out themselves what was so different in it," said Vinod Mirani, a Bollywood trade analyst. "The curiosity value due to a good marketing plan has worked well." Also named in the court case, which has been adjourned until later this month, are Khan's wife, Kiran Rao, who produced the film, UTV Motion Pictures chief Ronnie Screwvala, director Abhinay Deo and the writer Akshat Verma. "Delhi Belly" has an "A" certificate – allowing only viewers above 18 years old – but some have criticised India's censor board for allowing it through uncut. One outraged critic, fearing for the collapse of traditional values, suggested they had failed in their duty as "the custodian of (the) censor code" and called for the government to axe funding to the regulatory body. "Delhi Belly" used foul words that were becoming "the normal lingo or behaviour of our young professionals," Mohan Siroya wrote on the shadowplayindia.com site. Aamir Khan, whose production company is behind the film, is unperturbed by the criticism and threw a party last week to toast its success. "I am glad the audiences have loved the film and enjoyed it," he said. Verma wrote the film in 1996 but could not find any interest for it, he added. Khan's wife got hold of the script and decided to make it immediately, he said. The 15-year wait indicates how far Hindi-language cinema has come, moving from a time when even kisses between the hero and heroine were censored to one where sexual suggestiveness and even nudity is more accepted. Film critic Taran Adarsh said the involvement of Aamir Khan had undoubtedly helped in its success but so had its innovative script. "It's a shift from what people like these days and from what's been churned out by Bollywood," he said. "We have to respect the opinion of the censors (and) the fact that they've allowed a film like this. It's not stereotypical but it is a bit bolder in terms of its visual content and speaking. I think it's beyond the boundaries." The key test is whether future films with similar content are treated in the same way, he added. – AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Palin biopic now showing in theatre not so near you Posted: 15 Jul 2011 10:26 PM PDT ORANGE (California), July 16 — "The Undefeated," a flattering documentary about Sarah Palin's rise in American politics, opened in a handful of US movie theatres yesterday, drawing die-hard fans of the Tea Party favourite from far away. Distributors put the film in just 10 AMC theatres nationwide, mostly in reliably conservative markets like Dallas, Texas and Orange County in southern California. But if it does well this weekend, it will expand to new and not-so-conservative markets.  Palin greets supporters as she arrives for the premiere of 'The Undefeated' in Pella, Iowa on June 28, 2011. — Reuters pic Fundraising tallies for Palin suggest she needs the help. Her primary fundraising committee brought in a paltry US$1.6 million (RM4.8 million) in the first half of 2011, a fraction of the US$18.25 million Republican front-runner Mitt Romney's presidential committee collected in the second quarter alone. "Run, Sarah, run!" shouted Californian Sherman Roodzant, 64, as the final credits rolled on the 1.10pm showing in a half-filled theatre in Orange. Roodzant drove 240km to see it and said it was worth every mile. "It was awesome," Roodzant said. "It showed her life story and showed what a great American she is and what a great potential leader she is. It made me feel stronger toward her." That kind of fervour is exactly what distributors are banking on. They saw it at the premiere last month in a small town in conservative-leaning Iowa. "I couldn't believe the crowd reaction" in Iowa, said Trevor Drinkwater, CEO of ARC Entertainment, which is handling the film's distribution. "It is a biased crowd, but still." Documentaries, however, are notoriously difficult to market and there is particularly stiff competition this weekend. The final "Harry Potter" instalment is opening in a staggering 4,375 US and Canadian theaters and should break box-office records. Filmmaker Stephen Bannon based the documentary on Palin's memoir "Going Rogue" and uses her readings from that book to narrate a good part of the film. It takes moviegoers from her political infancy as mayor of the Alaskan town of Wasilla to her governorship in Alaska, where she took on Big Oil. Then one day, Palin gets a call from Republican presidential candidate John McCain asking her to be his running mate in 2008. The film takes aim at the wave of criticism Palin faced once the "outsider" arrived on the national political stage. To illustrate the attacks, Bannon shows a pride of lions feasting on a zebra. Towards the end of the film, which features Palin making speeches to the emerging Tea Party movement, the audience in Orange began to clap. Business owner Robert Benson drove 90 minutes to see what he called "a terrific film" that "gives her some gravitas." "I didn't realise how accomplished she was as governor of Alaska," said Benson, who said he would like to see Palin run for the presidency. But Benson acknowledged it was "bizarre" to see a film like this in a commercial movie theatre. "I am amazed it is in 10 theatres," said Benson. "I am amazed that AMC did it. I think, to their credit, it is probably going to work out well for them." Gay Meador, 62, said she was "shocked and ashamed" that the Orange AMC theatre was the only place where "The Undefeated" was showing in her area, let alone California. She will recommend it to friends, and not only ones who are Palin supporters. "There is a midnight showing. ... You can sneak out in the middle of the night so the neighbours don't know where you went," said Meador. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
MUMBAI, July 16 – Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan's new film has been a hit at the box office but has also led to protests and even a court case against its dialogue and content, which critics say is vulgar and offensive.| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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