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The tension over the censoring of Raajneeti is over. But not without some vital scenes featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal getting the chopper. Arjun Rampal's love-making scene with Katrina has been reduced drastically.
Says the director Prakash Jha regretfully, “It was a very aesthetically shot love making scene. Arjun and Katrina are two very beautiful people.And they made love to the camera. The Tribunal felt it was a bit too explicit for a 'UA' audience. I didn't argue.”
However Katrina who had dropped her normal inhibitions for the sake of her role and character is none too pleased with her labour of love-making going to waste.
But the director can breathe easy now.Prakash Jha's week- long battle with the censor board ended on Tuesday with the Tribunal viewing the film and granting it a 'UA' certificate. Jha had challenged the censorboard's decision earlier last week to grant Raajneeti an 'A' certificate with cuts.
Apparently the censorboard had earlier objected to two sequences one showing the rigging of elections by fitting ballot boxes with specially designed gadgets and the other showing a female politician offering sex in exchange for an election ticket.
Jha wouldn't listen to any talk of cuts with the censorboard.
Says Jha, “An 'A' certificate brings on a specific mind-set on the audience. They think the film has sleazy content. So I preferred to let the film be referred to the Tribunal.”
Jha sees the reduction of the Katrina-Ranbir love-making scene as a blow.
“The love scene was absolutely essential. Unlike other directors I had not shot extra footage so that the censors could take away whatever portion they liked.
I had shot the love-making scene exactly the way it was meant to be. I've had to reduce it by half.”
Says Jha, “It's a disappointment to all of us. I've also had to beep out the F… word uttered by Ranbir and Arjun Rampal in two different places in the plot.
Ex-justice Usha Mehra who headed the Tribunal requested me to do away with the f…k word. It didn't make a difference.”
Incidentally several recent Hindi films were plastered with expletives in Hindi and English.
Also Arjun's volatile character in Raajneeti shouts lurid and graphic expletives Hindi at a police officer. These remain intact while the 'f' word is gone.
A hot model from fashion circuit Diana Penty became the latest eye-candy in Bollywood when director Imtiaz Ali's signed her for her next film Rockstar opposite Ranbir kapoor. He was searching for a new face to be cast opposite Ranbir for a while now.
Confirming the news a source told, "There were several rumours about the girl in Imtiaz Ali's film. Imtiaz had almost finalised Anushka Sharma at one point of time. However, he eventually decided that he wanted a new girl for his film and has finally zeroed in on Diana Penty.”
Incidentally, hotties like Katrina, Sonam, Anushka and Kareena were being considered for the role Imtiaz finally decided to cast Penty in his next, who has also done an ad film for a mobile service provider with Ranbir and was in the news when she replaced Deepika as a cosmetic brand's face.
Talking about the film, the source added, "The film is being produced by Ashtavinayaka, which also made 'Jab We Met' with Imtiaz.
'Rockstar' is one of Imtiaz's most ambitious projects. He was initially supposed to make the film with John Abraham and UTV but then he went on to make 'Love Aaj Kal'.
After 'Love Aaj Kal' released, he narrated the subject to Ranbir, who immediately agreed to do the film. Imtiaz had been considering various options for the female lead in 'Rockstar' and finally his wait is over."
Bollywood's latest offering "Rocket Singh - Salesman Of The Year" is going great guns in the US with its review currently the number one most read movie story on the New York Times site.
The Times review, beating stories on the Golden Globe nominations and reviews of all US films, calls "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year," with Ranbir Kapoor "a smart, focused Bollywood movie".
Shimit Amin, "who directed the delightful 'Chak De! India', about a girls' hockey team, dispenses with Bollywood's normal tangle of subplots and mashup of genres", it says. "There's music, but no big production numbers. Even romance is back-burnered. Instead, Mr. Amin sticks to the story at hand."
"Kapoor, a heartthrob who has quickly become a star playing cads, turns in a skilfully understated performance," says the review. "His Harpreet is an old-school hero: solid, righteous, compassionate. You can't help cheering for him."
In an equally flattering review, Film Journal International says: "David-and-Goliath workplace drama from India goes unexpected places, and hits satisfying chords."
The posters for the Bollywood import "promise a workplace satire or a light-hearted employee caper" it says. "Instead we get a sharply observed drama of an honest man trying to survive in the usual business world."
"In the exploding modern India, it's a very American story: How do you succeed in business without really trying to compromise your ethics?"
"Not all Bollywood movies are big, colourful musicals, of course, and this one offers only a couple of plot montages set against songs, it says, "But with uniformly excellent performances-particularly by (Naveen) Kaushik and (Shantanoo) Bhagyaraj as the conflicted and not-so-conflicted antagonists, respectively."
In addition, there is "a no-nonsense pace and storytelling sense by director Shimit Amin, and a truly universal and credible office mise-en-sc?ne, 'Rocket Singh' is instantly accessible to any stateside audience," the Journal adds.
Harpreet Singh, the protagonist, "may be a prisoner of the system, but he can proudly say, 'I am not a number. I am a free market'." it says.
