The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Bollywood to make first zombie comedies Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:41 AM PDT MUMBAI, Sept 20 — Bollywood is lurching with arms outstretched into new territory with its first zombie comedies, hoping to replicate the success of a host of light-hearted Hollywood movies about the living dead. "Shaadi of the Dead" (Wedding of the Dead), starring Abhay Deol and up-and-coming female lead Genelia D'Souza, is due for release next year and centres around a zombie invasion at a Punjabi marriage ceremony. The film will be vying for audiences with the Saif Ali Khan vehicle "Go Goa Gone", about a group of youngsters who fight an army of the undead in the Indian resort state of Goa.  Abhay Deol will star in "Shaadi of the Dead" (Wedding of the Dead). — AFP/Relaxnews pic "Shaadi of the Dead" director Navdeep Singh is banking on the novelty value of the genre to suit the changing tastes of younger Indian film audiences now exposed to wider outside influences. "We feel this idea of a zombie film is very fresh," he told AFP. "It will be India's first zombie film. It is something that has never been tried in the Hindi film industry and so we feel it will work." Bollywood may be famous for its stories of idealised love set to song and dance but belief in the supernatural is widespread in India and moviemakers have previously flirted with horror. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Ramsay family directed a string of schlock horror monster films, like "Hotel", "Purana Mandir" (The Old Temple), "Veerana" (Wilderness) and "Purani Haveli" (The Old Mansion). The movies are cult viewing among many Indian film fans. But after the Ramsay brothers' "Bandh Darwaza" (Closed Door) in 1990, the genre all but disappeared, as filmmakers returned to well-worn themes of love and romance. The last decade, however, saw a partial horror revival, as directors began to experiment with different themes, introducing better production values and special effects to the shaky sets and flimsy plots of old. Ram Gopal Verma brought out "Bhoot" (Ghost) and "Darna Mana Hai" (Being Scared Forbidden) in 2003, using more mainstream actors such as Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Shilpa Shetty. Saurab Narang's "Vaastu Shastra" (Possession, 2004), and "Raaz" (Secret, 2002) director Vikram Bhatt's "1920", released in 2008, were well-received. Bhatt also released a 3-D horror film "Haunted" this year. Navdeep Singh admits that in previous years, making a zom-com would be a risk, with most Indian filmmakers pandering to conservative audiences in providing a bread-and-butter diet of strong-jawed heroes and doe-eyed heroines. But he added: "Things have changed a lot now and producers want to take a risk with films on different subjects. And 'Shaadi of the Dead' is one of them because the script of the film has come to me from Siddharth Jain." Jain, widely known as Sid, is an emerging Bollywood filmmaker and entrepreneur who is head of Mumbai-based iRock Films. Earlier this year, he co-produced the paranormal thriller "Ragini MMS", with Ekta Kapoor, whose "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha" (Love, Sex and Betrayal, 2010) was hailed as groundbreaking for of its use of hand-held and security cameras. In preparation for the release of "Shaadi of the Dead", Jain is to publish a graphic novel about zombies in Bollywood. He said in an interview published earlier this year that he was proud to produce India's first zom-com and was already planning a follow-up, "Honeymoon of the Dead", a zombie-based television reality show and website. "It ('Shaadi of the Dead') is going to be an iconic youth film as far as I am concerned and will redefine youth entertainment for this decade in India," he told entertainment.oneindia.in. "It's mad, crazy, romantic, funny, violent and super cool. It's like a two-hour theme park ride." — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Head of Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera resigns Posted: 20 Sep 2011 08:11 AM PDT
"I have decided to move on," the network's director-general Waddah Khanfar said in a resignation note emailed to Al Jazeera staff and also publicised on social media site Twitter. "For some time I have been discussing my desire to step down with the chairman of the board. He has kindly expressed understanding and has accepted my decision." Since it was launched in 1996, Al Jazeera has become the highest-profile satellite news broadcaster in the Middle East. It has frequently had difficulties with Western and Arab governments in a region where governments have traditionally kept tight control over state media. Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari government, aired round-the-clock coverage of uprisings that brought down veteran rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year, and the station promotes itself as a democratic voice in the region. Critics say it is more timid in covering events closer to its Gulf home, and the cameras of its main Arabic channel were notably absent during a month of similar protests in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain which the government crushed in mid-March. Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Lebanon, Ghassan Bin Jiddo, resigned in April, apparently in disagreement over its coverage of the revolts, which have also engulfed Syria and Yemen. Leaked US diplomatic cables described the channel as a tool in Qatari diplomacy. The channel has played an important role in raising the prestige of the small, wealthy Gulf Arab state. — Reuters |
DUBAI, Sept 20 — The head of Arab TV channel Al Jazeera said today he was leaving the network, but gave no reason for his departure at a time when the station's coverage has played an important role in unprecedented protest movements rocking the Arab world.| 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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