Bollywood Adda

Director Kabir Khan's New York, based on extensive research conducted by the filmmaker himself, brazenly accuses the FBI of illegally detaining hundreds of Muslims suspected to have terrorist links post 9/11 and of putting them through extreme forms of torture, only to release months later when no evidence against them could be gathered that many of them were innocent.

Surprising then, that the same film's basic premise involves the FBI itself waiting and watching and monitoring – but never arresting or even probing – a very serious terror suspect who they have ample dope on. It's not until he's planted bombs all across the FBI headquarters that they swing into action.

In another instance, a lady who works as a human rights activist, merrily goes about her life knowing full well her husband's involved in terrorist activities, but doesn't confront him, hoping he'll have a change of heart eventually.

It's holes like these that make New York a tiresome watch.

Omar, an Indian immigrant in the Big Apple (played by Neil Nitin Mukesh), is picked up by the FBI and threatened to be detained as a terror suspect unless he agrees to help them investigate an old college buddy of his, Sam (played by John Abraham).

Confident that Sam is innocent, Omar reluctantly goes along with the plan, and hence reconnects with Sam and his wife Maya (played by Katrina Kaif), who Omar nursed a crush on way back in college. Torn between his affection for Sam who appears perfectly clean, and the commitment he made to FBI officer Roshan (played by Irrfan Khan) who's convinced Sam is hiding a dirty secret, Omar ends up stumbling into a shocking truth that leaves all their lives forever altered.

New York has its heart in the right place and its intentions are entirely honorable. The film wants to take up the issue of innocent people who sometimes turn to crime or terrorism as revenge against unlawful detention. It's a relevant issue no doubt, but because the film is constructed from such a sloppy script, that point is lost under all the creative liberties and convenient short-cuts that the screenplay takes.

Source:ibnlive.com

Life is supposedly one long party when you’re based in Miami. Aki Narula, however, discovered that life on pristine beaches can also mean a lot of hard work. The designer, who has dressed up actors John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol and a handful of others (only Priyanka Chopra’s costumes have been done by Manish Malhotra) for Tarun Mansukhani’s film ‘Dostana’ that releases this Friday, got his brief for the film approved in half an hour, when he met the director and producer Karan Johar in Mumbai last November.
But when he landed in Miami for a recce in early January, he knew he was in for a mad ride. “There’s a very Cuban, Mexican feel to Miami, particularly with its cosmopolitan crowd, its white sands and clear blue skies. Since the characters in the film are based there, imbibing the local culture was important. Translating that mood to clothes was quite a task,” he says.

In the movie, Abraham plays a fashion photographer and Bachchan a male nurse, while Bobby Deol is an urban sophisticate. So while Deol goes around in more formal clothing— slim Louis Vuitton suits and Dolce Gabbana jackets, the other two have a more casual style.

“Choosing clothes for John was easy. He’s in shorts for most of the movie and all you ladies are in for a treat with his toned body on display,” smiles Aki. “I gave him a lot of tees with social messages on them. I made Abhishek wear all sorts of bright colours, from oranges to greens to reds and pinks with low-waisted jeans and cargo pants,” says Narula, who has been styling for Bachchan junior since his Bunty Aur Babli days.

In fact, Narula experimented a fair bit with Bachchan’s outfit, apart from making him wear colour. “Even though this movie is aimed for an urban crowd, I always believe that a trend should be able to cut across masses, like the shirt kurtis in Bunty Aur Babli that became such a rage after the movie.”

“Most of the shirts that Abhishek wears in ‘Dostana’ have collars that are 30 inches long, and reach his knees. A friend of mine was telling me he has already seen replicas on Carter Road!” says Narula. Shooting was a whole lot of fun too. “John would be ready in a jiffy while the other two took their time getting dressed for the shot. So John would laugh his head off all the while and irritate them," he grins.

Post Dostana, Narula’s appointment diary is choc-a-bloc with assignments. Up next is Aditya Chopra’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and Renzil D’ silva’s debut film with Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Viveik Oberoi. He is also doing the costumes for Kareena Kapoor for her next project, ‘Kambaqt Ishq’. For now though, look out for the dandies.

source:screenindia.com

After portraying many romantic roles on silver screen, Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham is now all set to mesmerise audience with his role as an angel in a Pakistani music album.
The music album Koi Aanay Wala Hai by famous Pakistani rock band 'Strings' will feature the actor as an angel who falls in love with a beautiful girl after seeing her in trouble on earth and decides to become human to be with her forever.

"When Bilal came to me with the concept of an angel, we decided only John could do justice with the role because he possesses the similar kind of personality we required for this character," said band member Faisal Kapadia.

Shot in the beautiful locations of Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, John will be seen doing some extraordinary flying stunts in the getup of an angel with wings.

"John became a very dear friend when we were working for Zinda. We decided to team up with John for Koi Aanay Wala Hai and he is perfect for the role," Faisal says.

When asked about the concept of Album, Faisal said, "When we gave the title Koi Aanay Wala Hai, both of us wanted to make the video reflecting the concept. All the songs in the album revolve around the story of an angel.”

It has been a long break of four years for 'Strings' to come up with this album but the duo are confident for the success of the album and promise that their latest album will become a chartbuster too.

"We toured a lot during this time to perform in concerts. These four years have been very great for us. Now, we are back with lot of energy," Faisal explains about their disappearance from the music scene.

"It is our best work so far and we have worked very hard for one and half years on it. The effort has been very satisfying and we are confident that 'Strings' fans will love Koi Aanay Wala Hai," says Faisal.

'Inspired by the contemporary British rock and music of 60s and 70s, this indipop video Album has eight energetic tracks composed by Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood.

Koi Aanay Wala Hai is being released in India by Sony BMG on May 12th, which is hoping the album to create a sensation in India.

"The music and the video are exceptional. We are sure of a great response to this album," says Shridhar Subramaniam, Managing Director of Soni BMG.

'Strings' is one of the few Pakistani bands to achieve international fame besides Junoon and Vital Sings. Band members Faisal and Bilal are well known names in India for the hits like Dhaani and Najanay Kyu. The duo have also worked in films like Zinda and Shootout At Lokhandwala.

'Strings' has seen many ups and downs in its long journey. The band had started with four college students Bilal, Faisal, Rafiq, Kareem in 1990. But the band broke up after their second album, Strings 2 in 1992.

Years later, Bilal and Faisal came back together to reorganise the band to achieve international success for hit albums like Duur and Dhaani.