'I put my foot down sometimes'
Actor Salman Khan has been delivering back-to-back hits in the Hindi film industry — and it seems that the star has made it a point to make the final call when it comes to his films, to ensure this. He says after the failure of his 2010 film Veer, he makes sure the final cuts of all of his films have his approval. He feels an actor's involvement in the creative processes helps sometimes.
"When I put my foot down sometimes, I hope I am not taking advantage of my stardom — that's a big guilt. Eventually, what the audience first sees is me in the poster — so I will be held responsible for everything," Salman says. "So, we also have to see that in just being polite, the film doesn't go for a toss. Aamir (Khan) does it very correctly. Now, I have started making it clear right in the beginning. I make sure that the final cut goes with my approval. After Veer, I have started doing this," he adds.
Salman, who wrote the story for Veer, admits he wasn't satisfied with the final product that the film turned out to be.
"I was not happy with Veer when they showed me the film. I cut down the film to one hour and 55 minutes, and eventually they released the film as a two hour and 30-minute film — which is not a done thing. They thought they will get away with that, but they didn't and I was very upset because I wrote its script. The scale of the film was very big. So one hour and 55 minutes was a perfect length for it. Till the time it is interesting, it is fine, but the film has to hold (the audience)," he says.
Impressed by a hard-hitting film
Actor Manoj Bajpai admits that he is in awe of director Hansal Mehta's latest film, Shahid. What's more, he is sure it will be well received by the audience.
"Hansal Mehta's Shahid will shake and shock many in the audience next year. Proud of you (Hansal Mehta). Lucky to know you as a friend," Manoj tweets in praise.
Hansal has made many films before like Jayante, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and Chhal, which did not create a stir at the box office. Shahid is based on the true story of Shahid Azmi, a 32-year-old lawyer.
Co-produced by Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga and Sunil Bohra, the film features actor Raj Kumar Yadav playing the role of Shahid Azmi.
'Can't trust India to keep my Oscar safe'
India's first Oscar statuette, which was won by costume designer Bhanu Athaiya at the 55th Annual Academy Awards in 1983 for her work in Lord Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi', has made its way back to its original home — the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Los Angeles.
"I do not trust anyone in India to keep it. If Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medal could be stolen from Santiniketan, what is the guarantee my trophy would be safe? In India, no one values such things and we lack a tradition of maintaining our heritage and things pertaining to our culture," Athaiya says, explaining her decision
to do so.
Maharaja Features
Some criticism for Saif
Saif Ali Khan might have impressed his detractors, critics and audiences with his variety of roles — and it's no secret that his begum Kareena can't seem to stop gushing about him — but if there's one person he hasn't quite managed to sway with his performances, it is his own mother, Sharmila Tagore.
A source close to Saif says that when Sharmila watched his last film, 'Cocktail', she told him he was "charming, confident and felt the character".
But just when Saif was beginning to feel good, she added, "But you've done much better work in the past". Coming from his mom, Saif, of course, took this statement in his stride.
Defending his latest venture
Ram Gopal Varma, who has been making a film on the 26/11 attacks, admits that initially, he had never intended to make a film on the touchy topic. He had visited the Taj soon after the terrible incident, but he candidly says that he did not do so with the aim of making a movie.
"Now, after all these years, after the whole truth has been uncovered by the investigators and by the virtue of an extensive knowledge, I have gathered from various sources about the actual truth behind those attacks — from both authorised and eye-witness accounts. I developed a desire to film the actual story of those attacks," he says.
He has come under a lot of criticism for making a film on such a touchy topic, but the director feels this is unwarranted. He explains that he's spent a lot of time researching the incident and doesn't think people should take this move in the wrong way.
"Would I have cast Riteish as a terrorist or a cop at a time when no one — including the police — knew what or who was behind the attacks? I was a member of a group of nearly 30 people that were only allowed into restricted areas. I went to the Taj at that time because of my curiosity to witness a scene of an unprecedented happening and happened to be with close friend Riteish. Riteish himself did not know that anybody would read meanings into this act and his father, Vilasraoji, did not even know that I was in the group. It is understandable that during those traumatic moments, the various concerned would feel a strong sense of indignation on such seemingly callous and selfish behaviour," he states.