Hot Priyanka's harmless romance

Hot Priyanka's harmless romance
January 08, 2010 16:23 IST
Tags: Alisha, Chopra, Singapore, Surinder Sahni, Dino Morea
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Comment'I'm just a girl, but with you I feel like a princess. The truth is you're not a loser, I am,' she concludes remorsefully to get the attention of her wronged admirer by broadcasting her emotion-driven speech on multiple iMac screens of a sprawling electronic store.

Yes, Pyaar Impossible is exactly a film like that.

Mushy on the surface but too cordial to tackle the delicate imbalance of its subject -- beautiful girl+ geeky boy=not the ideal recipe for romance or the heartbreakingly exaggerated concept of Prince Charming.

Beauty is subjective, after all. Even the most gorgeous woman is deemed as plastic by some whilst an ordinary face is perceived as exotic. And wearing glasses does not make one a geek or more importantly, ugly. It's an obsolete stereotype, employed timelessly by cinema, which needs to die. It's long-due, seriously.

That out of the way, Pyaar Impossible isn't the kind of sensitive, layered romance between two unlikely individuals to summon such thoughts. It's, in fact, too harmlessly hollow to even think of going in this direction.

Rather it features an experiment wherein Priyanka Chopra's [ Images ] otherwise uber cool Alisha is forced to dress up in a dowdy jersey and cargo shorts, scruffy hair and needless to say a pair of thick glasses -- the kind Johnny Depp [ Images ] wears to look reflective (or maybe he's genuinely too worn out to wear contacts) and fish for a guy's number in Singapore's bustling Clarke Quay.

Though I personally felt she looked great even then, director Jugal Hansraj and writer Uday Chopra [ Images ] refuse to shoot down this hackneyed conditioning -- guys don't make passes at girls who wear glasses.

In Yashraj's -- click here to become a fan -- latest rom-com, everyone's affluent and sticks to a common vocabulary of Shut up, really?' 'Yeah, whatevers,' 'Like, you know? and 'Wow, sweet' as if they were in a Lindsay Lohan [ Images ] high school movie. In the beginning, it's pretty much all that.

Chopra plays Abhay -- the eternal loverboy harbouring secret feelings for the hottest girl in college, Alisha, even seven years after graduation. He's the perpetual good kid who calls daddy (Anupam Kher [ Images ] in the friendly father mold seldom goes wrong, does he?) for advice and goes out of his way to help.

And so, although he's flown from Mumbai [ Images ] to Singapore in search of a fraud (Dino Morea [ Images ] plays a suave fiend in well-tailored suits) who stole his software program, he ends up playing nanny to Alisha's precocious imp of a daughter, Tanya.

At some point you expect things to get a bit grown-up and complicated but they don't. Uday sticks to the format doing a selfless Surinder Sahni stripped off his gullible simplicity and earthy sentimentality. While he's not bad, his earnest smiles appear too laboured for us to give a damn about his underdog's cause or take Priyanka's helpless cries, 'I am divorced, single mother' too seriously especially when the latter, essaying a Public Relations head of a giant software corporation, dresses like a foxy catalogue model. No one wears beachwear to work. Not even in Singapore. Perhaps a Thai tradition? (Watch the movie, you'll know what I mean.)

Does that mean I recommend Pyaar Impossible? Well, like I said it's harmless. You gain nothing. You lose nothing. It's the kind of film, which could get over in five minutes if only Chopra 1 would let Chopra 2 finish his sentence. But no, Chopra 2 takes two and a half good hours to spill the beans leaving you with little besides a super hot Chopra 1 to admire.

Flashing those never-ending gams and a saucy attitude to stylish effect, the sassy actress, captured stunningly in Santosh Thundiyil's lenses, works up a chummy chemistry with her cheerful co-star and plays the modern, yummy mom with spirit, despite her vaguely-sketched character that contradicts between an airhead and realist.

Let down once again by a script that doesn't live up to her potential, Priyanka, to her credit, overcomes the dull spaces and predictable moments with her vibrant presence and coquettish enthusiasm

Saif Kareena Romance Fuels Buzz for 'Kurbaan'

All eyes are now on Rensil D'Silva's 'Kurbaan', which is all set to release soon. The buzz surrounding the movie has mostly to do with its lead pair, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, who have been romantically cast opposite each other for the first time. They have done films like 'Tashan' and 'LOC' before this, but have never been cast opposite each other.

'Kurbaan' will be the first film where the real life lovers will also play reel life lovers. But unlike most Hindi films, the romance in this movie is not the frivolous kind but instead is intense and emotional, something which made the actors draw out from within themselves, emotions and feelings, which perhaps lay buried deep within. The film also stars Vivek Oberoi and its promos also manage to convey the intense mood of the movie. 'Kurbaan' has been written by Rensil and is set in the United States, against a backdrop of terrorism. It seems that story is about the protagonists who turn to terrorism after a series of unfortunate incidents that happen to them. But Rensil is very sure that he is not glorifying terrorism and that is what made Saif accept the role. He was bowled over by the script and which is why both he and Kareena agreed to do the movie. The couple will next be seen together in Saif's home production, 'Agent Vinod'. In fact, that is the only film which Saif will be working on for a while. Kareena, on the other hand, will be busy with the shooting of 'Stepmother' as well. She will also be awaiting the release of Raju Hirani's '3 Idiots' which has her starring opposite Aamir Khan for the first time.

Salman, Kareena romance on 125th floor of a hotel! (Snippets)

Salman, Kareena romance on 125th floor of a hotel! (Snippets)

New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor romanced on the 125th floor of a hotel in Melbourne for their forthcoming romantic movie 'Main Aurr Mrs Khanna'.

'Usually the Australian government doesn't allow such film shootings to take place in the Realto hotel, that too on the 125th floor. But when they found out that it was none other than Salman and Kareena who were going to shoot there, they readily agreed,' said a source.

'The view from the 125th floor was breathtaking and overlooked nearly the whole of Melbourne. Most of the romantic scenes between Salman and Kareena have been shot here since the location was important to the scene,' added the source.

Releasing Oct 16, 'Main Aurr Mrs Khanna' is directed by first-time director Prem Soni.

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'Aladin' is the buzz word for Riteish

Riteish Deshmukh is going an extra mile to promote his forthcoming film 'Aladin' - he wears T-shirts with an 'A' embroidered on them for all the promotional events.

'Riteish has got the 'A' of 'Aladin' stitched on several of his t-shirts and vests and makes it a point to wear them at every event relating to the film or during his interactions with the press,' said a source.

Even director Sujoy Ghosh was impressed with Riteish's enthusiasm to promote the film.

'When I met Riteish for the music launch of the film, he was wearing a blue pullover with 'A' on it. I told him it looked very cool and he replied that he's got a whole collection of such t-shirts. That's the kind of passion an actor can have for his work,' he said

In this contemporary take on the classic fairy tale, Riteish will be seen along with Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez. The film is slated for release Oct 30.

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Rituparna Sengupta caught in Singapore earthquake

Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta was in Singapore when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Sumatra Island last week.

Singapore is just about 500 kilometres away from Sumatra. Thus, at the time of the earthquake, Rituparna felt the strong tremors and her house started shaking.

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Govinda wants to play variety of roles, loses weight

Comedy king Govinda feels that he should try his hand in other genres as well and is working on his physique for the same. He has already shed 30 kg.

'I am losing weight and making physique to do different cinema... it's just that I am not publicising because then if I am not able to do good after it, then I'll be criticised,' Govinda told IANS.

'I've lost about 30 kg in the last one-and-half years. I've quit dinner and I am eating light. Sometimes I even skip the lunch and my family has been very supportive, especially my wife Sunita,' he added.

The actor has been associated with comic capers, the last being 'Do Knot Disturb' that released Oct 2.