R Madhavan the star of 13B says he came across some scary experiences on the sets of what he is currently shooting. Although generally the number 13 is always associated with evil or some bad luck, actor R Madhavan revealed that there was nothing mysterious about the number 13 or anything.

The actor confesses to strange events taking place on the sets, because every thirteenth day some disaster would occur on the sets. And on the 13th of every month, the weather would act all funky and mess up things so much so that they have had to cancel shoots.

“but I don’t believe in the myths associated with number 13,” says Madhavan.
Although the director has used the number 13 as the movies title, he too admits to not finding any negative connotation attached to it.

“That the number 13 has an evil connotation is a cliche … so I used this cliche to create an element of spook and fear” says director Vikram K. Kumar

13B is the flat number of the director and this struck him while he was writing the scrpt for the film. He apparently went through a sequence of instances when he came across the number 13 constantly. So he took this as a sign and titled the film ‘13B’.

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Although it was highly controversial that whether Dev D deserved the 5 stars that it got, the movie is definitely a commercial success. Numbers don’t lie and the collections of this Anurag Kashyap directed films are out and it is loud and clear that the film is a success.

This film was made on a budget of 6 crores and on its first week opening itself collected 8 crores and above and now in its first second week ending the film has collected more than 10 crores. This is Abhay Deol’s biggest success till date, even though he has made plenty of off-beat films. Also this is simultaneously Anurag Kashyap’s biggest hit till date.

Anurag’s next film is Gulaal, his magnum opus which is in the pipeline for year will release this year. Anurag considers it to be its greatest achievement yet.

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Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the biggest secret of his movie Delhi 6. Abhishek his protagonist has just 11 lines in the movie. Yes it’s true; Abhishek will hardly speak at all in the movie and all that he will say will be summarized in merely 10 lines. After all the blah-blah in his last movie Dostana, Delhi 6 will see Abhishek settling for only expressions as talking is not an option.

Looks like Sonam Kapoor will be doing all the talking here. The film received a standing ovation in New York where it has already released. Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra, the director of the film revealed that “Abhishek is quiet, very quiet in the film”

His character in the film will be more like a silent observer than a commentator. The story will see Abhishek who comes back from New York to get back to his roots. “I think that connected with the audiences in New York.” Says Mehra.

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This is the latest from My Name is Khan. the film will be co-produced by Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies and Dharma Productinos now. All this was Karan’s idea as the filmmaker wanted to share everything with the ace actor. Karan didn’t want to pay Shahrukh the way all the other filmmakers do. Infact he was feeling odd to even pay him in the first place, so they mutually decided on co-producing the film together.

Now the profits from the film will be equally divided between each of them, minus all the payments and liabilities. "I have never felt that our production banners (Red Chillies and Dharma) are different.” Says an ecstatic Karan.

Karan says that he wants to do this movie along with Shahrukh all the way. “it’s fantastic to have Shah Rukh on board as a producer with his expertise.”
Looks like there is a lot to expect from this big budget movie, starring Kajol as well.

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RGV has started shooting for his much hyped media based film ‘Rann’. The film will see how the media, headed by rich corrupt tycoons control the flow of news. This will be the first movie of its kind and will have a very bold take towards its content.

The film will star Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh & Gul Panag to name a few. The film hit the floors about a week back and has still a long way to go.

Gul Panag has been working out daily for the film and reports regularly at 9 am for the shoot.

The movie will be produced by Ghajini producer Madhu Mantena. “I could have basked in the glory of the success of 'Ghajini', but thought it wise to move ahead with other projects," says Mantena.

Says Varma 'I did not call Mantena on board for 'Rann' because of 'Ghajini' success. We always wanted to do a film together. Also, I needed someone to look after the monetary aspects and there could be nobody better than my cousin Madhu.'

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Kareena Kapoor has strongly believed that she belongs to the big league and makes sure she maintains it.

Now there's a buzz that a sequel to 'Race' is coming up.

Now 'Race' wasn't such a well appreciated film but it did well at the box office. Rumour has it that the directors Abbas-Mastan and the lead heroes are all very eager to come out with its sequel. The movie will be called 'Race 2' and Tips will be producing the sequel too.

Saif Ali Khan is likely to be a part of the film while it's not known whether Anil Kapoor and Akshaye Khanna will be a part of the sequel or not.

Katrina Kaif and Bipasha were the heroines of the movie and Sameera Reddy played a sidey character. But now only Kareena has been signed as a heroine.

Reports suggest that Kareena will be playing Saif's love interest the film too. Though there's a requirement for another heroine nothing is clear as yet. So we don't know whether Katrina and Bips will be back or not.

As it is, Katrina's character along with Akshaye had died in the first 'Race'. So their return seems unlikely.

Now Katrina Kaif wanted to give some competition to Kareena by advertising her multi crore deals just for the sake of it. And the war between Bebo ad Bips was very old until they said they are okay with each other sometime back.

As of now, it seems Kareena has beaten both Bips and Kat once again. Watch this space for more.

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Thousands of voters have spoken, and Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor and cricket star Sreesanth have been crowned the winners of PETA India's annual Sexiest Vegetarians Alive poll.

The online contest was conducted by petaDishoom, PETA India's youth arm. Kapoor and Sreesanth narrowly edged out 2007 winner R Madhavan, model and doctor Aditi Gowitrikar, Pentagram vocalist Vishal Dadlani, film star and Kailasa singer Kailash Kher and many others.

Four-time Filmfare award-winner Kareena Kapoor, who has appeared in more than 31 movies, captured the female title for the second year in a row. Exuberant young fast-pace bowler Sreesanth beat out fellow vegetarian cricket stars Ishant Sharma and Anil Kumble to earn the nod for sexiest male.

Other top contenders include Olympic Bronze Medallist Sushil Kumar; actors Alicia Silverstone, Pamela Anderson, Hansika Motwani, Mallika Sherawat, Mahima Chaudhary and Rajneesh Duggal; musicians Sir Paul McCartney and Moby; and designers Anita Dongre and Hemant Trevedi.

"When you look at the dozens of gorgeous celebrities in this year's poll, there are no bones about it – a vegetarian diet makes you beautiful inside and out", says PETA India's Anuradha Sawhney.

"After all, going vegetarian is the best thing you can do for the animals, the Earth and your health. Plus, everyone knows that there is nothing sexier than someone who exudes both passion and compassion."

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Celina Jaitley says she had a harrowing experience with the airport authorities in New Delhi when she was going through the security check for her morning flight to Mumbai.

In the city for a special Valentine event, Celina Sunday went through body frisking and her belongings being scanned. However, she was shocked after realising that her expensive state of art iPod and Blackberry were scratched while quite a few other things in her bag were broken.

"I agree that authorities there are doing their duty and we too are completely cooperating with the security measures. It is for our own benefit and I understand that we should comply with them.

However, who gives them the right to mishandle things belonging to others? It was heartbreaking to see my stuff in a bad shape. Both my iPod as well as Blackberry have lost their sheen due to callous attitude of men who were doing the scan," Celina told.

Worse, the cops who were apparently responsible for the damage, were found smiling even as Celina was complaining against them.

"These guys don't know how to behave with women. I went up to the officer in charge and all he could say was 'Sorry'? Also, they told me in no uncertain terms that they couldn't repair what was broken. Moreover, the guys who did it were grinning in front of him. What a shame! Someone ought to teach these cops how to behave with women", she said.

It wasn't just the material loss that angered Celina. During the same time, she also saw an old female passenger being pushed around. When she approached the officer in charge, all she got from him was a casual 'sorry'.

Celina is thinking of approaching higher authorities and apprise them about what transpired with her at the airport.

"I was not only angry with them for breaking my stuff but for their misbehaviour with other women. They are there to secure us and not to humiliate, insult and manhandle us, especially women. They are misusing the power of uniform everywhere now-a-days. At the end of the day we are paying passengers and they can't break our things, insult us and indulge in indecent behaviour," she said.

Though there wasn't any major showdown at the airport post Celina's outburst, women around her were certainly appreciative about her courage to voice her displeasure.

"True, the women there were thanking me and one of them even said that I did what they couldn't have possibly done in fear.

Well, nice to hear this as a compliment, but my request to all womenfolk out there is - 'Fight for yourself and raise your voice in events like this'. Till the time we don't come out in open and let the authorities know that they are there to help us and not harass us, such shameful things would continue to happen."And here is the rest of it.

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Alfie Patten's girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, 15, gave birth to Maisie Roxanne at the Eastbourne District General Hospital, East Sussex.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the force had looked at the case and decided it was "not in anyone's interests" for a prosecution to take place.

In a statement, police said: "Sussex Police Child Protection Team were aware of a 14-year-old girl that had become pregnant as the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy.

"A joint agency investigation with East Sussex County Council Children's Services has taken place which has considered the needs of both individuals and there will be continued support for these two young people in the future."

Thirteen-year-old Alfie is the latest in a long line of young UK teenagers to become parents.

The news that 4ft Alfie conceived baby Maisie when he was only 12 renewed calls for better sex education for the nation's children.

England has long had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in western Europe.

Jenny Teague, of Dorset, was for many years regarded as the UK's youngest mum giving birth in 1997, aged just 12 to Sasha.

Zoe Hodgson, of Birstall, West Yorkshire, was 12 when she conceived and 13 when she gave birth in 2005 to son Leo, whom she used as inspiration to continue her studies, passing 11 GCSEs.

Edinburgh girl Samantha Robertson conceived her daughter Leigha at 14.

After giving birth and finding life difficult she launched "Sassy Mums" - a website for other young mothers.

Natalie Scanlan, 16, of Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, made national news in 2005 by giving birth to triplets. She went on to feature in a television programme about the nation's youngest parents.

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Bollywood gets mushy on Valentine day…

Kangana Ranaut: "Valentine's Day means pure selfless love from me to everyone I love. My ideal gift would be roses and candles."

Preity Zinta: 'To be able to balance out my crazy schedule so that I've time for those I love. What more can I want this Valentine's Day?

Sammir Dattani: "My affair with the camera began on Valentine's Day. My first screen appearance was for a music video called 'Valentine's Day.' Since then I've made sure every Valentine's Day is special for me."

Manisha Koirala: "I'm spending Valentine's Day with family and friends. I would want everyone to experience love in any and every relationship

Urmila Matondkar: "Valentine's Day is a time to show my friends and family how much they mean to me. The one gift I'm looking for is a gorgeous hunk. But the species seems extinct.

Shilpa Shetty: "I've got my Valentine's Day gift. The IPL. And I've got the man who gifted it to me by my side. What more can I want?

Neil Nitin Mukesh: "For me Valentine's is a day of love and friendship and a day of mending bridges. My ideal gift would be a collective hug from all those friends and family whom I love. And a million kisses from that someone special.

Bipasha Basu: "Valentine's Day is special for all the people I love. I'll tell them how much I love them and prove my love for them with simple gestures. The ideal Valentine gift would be hundreds of red carnations. I know John will get them for me.

Dino Morea: "I want to spend Valentine's Day showing love to everyone who deserves it. We all are so caught up in our routine this is the one day when we can devote to love.

Raima Sen: "I'm single, so the only Valentine gift I can give myself is time with the family."

Neetu Chandra: "This Valentine's Day means a lot to me as I'm partying with my school friends and meeting with my first ever crush, my schoolteacher. And I hope I find my permanent Valentine this year.

Mugdha Godse: "Valentine's Day is just another day for me. I'll be attending a beachside Catholic wedding of a very close friend on Goa's Morjim beach. Chalo apni Valentine nahin kisi aur ki sahi."

Malaika Arora: "For me Valentine's Day means the freedom for people to express their love without worrying about selfappointed custodians of our precious moral values. The best gift I can think of is, the right for us women to to live our lives how we want without intolerant groups stopping us.

Minissha Lamba: "When you're in love it's Valentine's Day all year round. Am I in love? Who knows a woman's heart? Not even the woman herself."

Tusshar Kapoor: "The day would again remind me I'm single. How about a love life for me this Valentine's Day?

Amrita Arora: "Valentine's Day means nothing to me. Love should be celebrated everyday. Bring on the love !

Chitrangada: "Sorry I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I don't like the idea of being told when to celebrate love.

Ruslaan Mumtaz: "I just broke up with my girlfriend. So my ideal gift would be the sad songs of Himesh Reshammiya.

Koena Mitra: "Everyone loves to be loved. But being single gives me more room to love myself without sharing that space for love with someone else. All the eligible men have been taken away. The rest are not worth considering. I'm enjoying my single status and making the most of it.

Pooja Bedi: "It's horrible to be single on such a romantic day. But my brother Adam is getting married on Valentine's Day. So I'll be happy watching two people in love being united. Dreams do come true on this day. As for myself I'm a hopeless and a HOPEFUL romantic. I'm even in love with the idea of love. The real thing may be around the corner.

Riya Sen: "I want to spend quantity time with my loved ones. No matter where I am I want to be back in time for Valentine's Day to be with my loved ones. That's the greatest gift I can get. Other gifts are fun. But spending time with your loved one is the best gift. For Valentine's I'll be performing at a college festival in Ahmedabad before rushing home.

Celina Jaitly: "Valentine's Day is emotional atyachaar for those who aren't in love. It will remind me that I've been unhappily single for the last three years. At the risk of sounding pompous I want a society rid of all intolerance and prejudice.

Esha Deol: "I'm not answering this one."

Mona Singh: "Valentine's Day celebrates love in every form. It can be love for a parent or sibling. Why must it be seen only as a man-woman thing? No I don't miss love. I get lots of it from my family, sister her children and my friends.

Aaditya Narayan: "Since puberty this is my first Valentine's Day when I'm single. Since I've consciously decided to stay away from love I don't regret it. But I'll miss it really badly on Valentine's Day.

Dia Mirza: "Being single on Valentine's Day is the same as any other day. Love is a feeling that you can't miss. It's omnipresent.

Divya Dutta: "Do I miss love? Not really. Work is great healer of the heart. And I get lots of love and male attention. So what if I don't have a guy this Valentine's Day. I know he'll come

Jiah Khan: "There's too much work. No time to think about love. I miss having my family with me on Valentine's. They're my only true love

Tanushree Dutta: "It's fantastic being single on Valentine's Day. You can choose whom to love for that day."

Arjan Bajwa: "Being single is not a big deal.I'm shooting in Hyderabad so I've no time to miss love. Moreover Valentine's Day is no reason to miss love. To be loved by family and friends all through the year is a blessing. And I've that blessing.

Vatsal Seth: "Whom is one kidding by saying it's great to be single? Valentine's Day and single….man, it sucks! It's like no one being there to wish you on your birthday. Being in love is the most amazing feeling and I definitely miss it.

Adnan Sami: "What a Valentine's Day gift my wife has given me."

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Manyata and Sanjay celebrated their first anniversary. This couple went through a lot of good and bad phase in last year. Manyata recalls few interesting memories of their relationship.

Revealing about their first meeting Manyata says, “We met nine years ago, for six years we were friends and we were seeing each other only for the past three years but nine years is along enough time to know someone enough to know that you want to be with them forever.”

Speaking about the huge 19 year age gap between the two Manyata said “I have always been mature for my age and Sanju has always been a little childish for his age, so it makes no difference now.”

Manyata revealed that though Sanjay has a huge fan following, she had never been a fan of her actor husband.

When asked how she relates to Sanjay as an actor, she quickly replied “The day I start relating to Sanjay Dutt as an actor, I don't think so my marriage will work. I relate to him as a person. Ki subah uthke mujhe autograph nahin lena hai, nashta banana hai”

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Here comes her best friend’s wedding and Kareena is all set for it.

And why not? We heard Bebo will be Ammu’s bridesmaid. Now all gearing up for Amrita’s marriage, Kareena is trying to take out time from her tight schedule to help bride.

It is believed that Kareena made rounds at the best stores and checked out with the B- town fashion designers to design wedding gown.

Finally the responsibility has been given to fashion designer Ashley Rebello, who is in Paris to get the fabric needed to design the bridal gown.

According to a close friend of Amrita’s church wedding will happen on 4th, Nikaah on 6th and a Mehendi ceremony on 5th.

It is believed that Salman’s sister Alvira will be hosting Mehendi Ceremony at Salman’s house. “Though Bebo is extremely busy shooting for her films, she will be with Amrita in all these functions.”

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He re-engages with the outside world, hoping that the new book will restore his reputation and also reconcile him with his estranged wife, Maya.

Fate has other plans for Roy, when his briefcase gets exchanged at a cyber café with a similar briefcase containing a large sum of money. Roy looses the only copy of his new manuscript, while Mohan, the cyber café manager, comes under pressure from mob bosses to recover the lost money.

In the midst of growing despair about the lost manuscript, Roy is reconciled with his three year old son through a scheming housemaid.

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The film revolves around the infamous sealing issue that had been a hot issue in India's capital city, Delhi in 2007-08. It tells the story of Sandip Kapur (Manoj Bajpai) who heads an advertising agency.

He is already facing a demanding life when to add more trouble to his life his agency is sealed by the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Sandip fails to reinstate his company, despite his attempts and efforts. Eventually, he finds himself alone on the road, along with his team.

Now desperately wanting to re-establish his agency, Sandip opts for 'Jugaadbaazi', a technique that people nowadays believe in more than anything else.

What it all leads to and how he succeeds in getting together the property dealers, power brokers, politicians and senior officers involved into it forms the rest of this satirical comedy.

Anand Kumar who made a flop debut with Delhi Heights (2007) makes a solid comeback with an interesting comedy which makes you laugh out loud and yet make you think.

Once again basing his film Delhi just like his debut film, Anand makes a sincere attempt to unfold the real situation that prevailed in Delhi when MCD's sealing drive was underway.

Shot mostly in Delhi and Gurgaon, the film has tried to give a realistic scenario of the sealing drive. Anand also succeeds in showing the true never-say-die attitude of the Delhiites.

The dialogues are extremely funny at places and the narration technique of the maker is good too. What also make the film more fun is the characterizations. The only weak department of the film is the music.

Manoj Bajpai doing a comic role is a revelation. He shows he is as good doing funny roles as he is in intense ones. Hrishita Bhatt playing the female lead doesn't have much to do but she looks pretty nonetheless.

Vijay Raaz brings the hall down with his antics and brings a smile on your face whenever he comes onscreen. Sanjay Mishra is another actor who is simply hilarious in the film.

Jugaad is a harmless entertainer and though it may not be another Khosla Ka Ghosla it is one of those rare good satirical comedies made in Bollywood. Definately a better option than watching those mindless comedies that have been regularly hitting the screens off late.

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Katrina is calling for justice and goes on to say at an election rally, "Abhi hamari mehendi ka rang bhi nahi utra tha ki use berahmi se ujad diya gaya! " The crowd responds by saying, "Indu behen zindabad."

Well, don't be confused, Katrina has not joined any political party, rather she is playing a role of a political leader 'Indu Pratap' in Prakash Jha's film 'Rajneeti'.

Influenced by Bollywood's glamorous actress Katrina Kaif's 'speech', locals felt that if the actress was given a ticket in the upcoming general elections from Bhopal seat her victory would be sure shot.

Lifting the veil, Jha told reporters here today that the people had heard Katrina's address in a 'rally' during the shooting of the film and they were of the opinion that the Bollywood beauty would win if she contested election from Bhopal.

Admitting that she had no interest in politics, Katrina, who was present in the press conference, said ''though politics is an interesting subject, but neither I understand it properly nor I have any interest in politics. But I could not reject Mr Jha's offer to play the role in the movie.'' Jha said he was seeking an honest and innocent person and Katrina met those expectations.

To a query, Jha clarified the story of the film had nothing to do with Congress president Sonia Gandhi's life. There have been media reports that the movie was based on the life and career of Sonia Gandhi and that the character played by Katrina bears an uncanny resemblance to her.

Talking about 'Rajneeti', Jha, who contested last general elections as an Independent from Bettiah seat in Bihar and lost to Rashtrya Janata Dal candidate Raghunath Jha, said he had gone through all sorts of experiences in the world's largest democracy and planned to make a film on the subject.

''After having full preparations, I began the shooting of this film in this 'City of Lakes'. The major portion of the shooting will be held in Bhopal and the shooting is expected to be completed by the end of this year,'' he said.

According to film sources the Rs 70 crore budget film is an ambitious project of Jha.

Apart from Katrina, Ajay Devgan, Arjun Rampal, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai are the other stars in this multi-starrer film, the sources added.

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Michelle Obama is in Vogue. Literally. As President Obama deals with crises on various fronts, the first lady follows tradition and steps into the March issue of Vogue, on stands in New York and Los Angeles Feb. 17. The magazine has photographed nearly every new first lady since Lou Hoover in 1929. Bess Truman is the only first lady since that has not appeared in Vogue, and Jackie Kennedy opted for a drawing by René Bouche. Only Hillary Clinton and Obama have made the cover. Wearing a magenta silk dress by inaugural gown designer Jason Wu on the cover, Michelle Obama’s image is captured by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, who also shot inside photographs for the article by Andre Leon Talley, who discloses that he is a “passionate supporter” and “volunteered in the campaign trenches.” And while other friends and supporters emphasize Obama’s priorities as far as daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, and her desire to make the White House more inclusive, the first lady talks about those ideals when it comes to fashion. “First and foremost, I wear what I love,” she says. “That’s what women have to focus on: what makes them happy and what makes them feel comfortable and beautiful. If I can have any impact, I want women to feel good about themselves and have fun with fashion.” Vogue notes that Obama’s “lithe frame — an uncommon figure for an American First Lady” and her leanings toward new names in American design, such as Wu and Isabel Toledo, who created the lemongrass ensemble she wore at the swearing-in, have prompted some to dub her the “new Jackie Kennedy.” Vogue insists that Obama’s style is more “pragmatism, not glamour.” When she wore the black cardigan over the Narciso Rodriguez dress during the president’s Nov. 4 acceptance speech in Chicago’s Grant Park, she received some harsh criticism. “I’m not going to pretend that I don’t care about it,” she says. “But I also have to be very practical. In the end, someone will always not like what you wear. … I was cold; I needed that sweater!”

OMG, I love her. She deffo has the right kind of style and altho some of her outfits have drawn criticism, I think that she generally gets it right. While I contend that a woman as intelligent and as accomplished as Michelle Obama should FIRST be lauded for her talents, I absolutely understand why so many people are to taken with her sense of style as well. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a faboo First Lady in the White House like Michelle :) After the jump, check out a couple other photos of Michelle Obama from this new issue of Vogue magazine …

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That was fast. Bar Refaeli made the cover of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue which hits newsstands today. The news was announced last night on Letterman, and word on the street is Leonardo DiCaprio was silently campaigning for Bar to get the coveted cover. Sometimes he just likes to remind the world he bangs hot women. To which I say, how many trees died making this issue, Mr. Environmentalist? I'm pretty sure the pages of SI aren't made of love and pixie dust.

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Rihanna’s injuries — allegedly caused by Chris Brown — are surfacing. TMZ.com cites law enforcement sources who claim the “Disturbia” singer had two “huge contusions,” a bloody lip and bloody nose following an incident Sunday morning. One of the insiders described Rihanna’s condition as looking like, quote, “she was growing devil horns.” Nineteen-year-old singer Chris Brown, Rihanna’s rumored boyfriend, was booked on a felony charge of making criminal threats. He was released after posting 50-thousand-dollars bail. TMZ reports a domestic violence charge could be added if the District Attorney decides to file a case against Brown.

Rihanna and Chris Brown were both scheduled to perform at Sunday night’s GRAMMY Awards. They pulled out following the alleged assault, which took place just after midnight Sunday morning. Police said the pair had an argument in Brown’s car before Rihanna emerged with visible injuries and identified Brown as the attacker.

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Vijay Shekhawat (Hurman) a Jaisalmer boy after a lot of struggle manages to fulfill his father's (Anupam Kher) dream of making it to the Indian cricket team.

With a great debut he wins not just fans but a lot of endorsement deals and lucrative contracts. Success begins to spoil and distancing him from his lady love (Amrita Rao) back home.

Blinded by success and the taste of the high society life he losses both focus and form. He is then understandably dumped by the selectors. Following which, his father gets a heart attack.

Vijay then decides to mend his mistakes and fight his way back to the team. In final match, despite a severe head injury he manages to get India a near impossible win.

A sports film is always crippled with a same storyline that of a underdog, his rise then fall and subsequent rise back to gain the impossible victory. This film is no different. But one expects atleast some sense of creativity wherein the interest is kept alive throughout.

Twenty minutes into the film and one somehow senses whats in store. So full of cliches and melodrama is the film that sometimes you begin to wonder did the makers intend to take the viewers for a ride.

If the melodrama was intended to bring in that emotional connect with the audience then the writer-director have clearly failed as throughout the film the emotional impact is clearly missing.

Also nowhere does the lead character's passion for the game comes across. Also one fails to understand the need of Hurman's character using swear words for his opponents.

Wear is your sporting spirit dude is what we wish to ask him! His character therefore fails to evoke any sympathy from the audience. The biggest high point of sports films are games shown in the film.

But here they are biggest drawbacks. Not only there are just a very few games but also what are shown are simply thanda! There is total lack of edge of the seat excitement which was very much needed.

Also homework by the makers is clearly lacking if they intended to show the 'real' behind the scenes happenings of the cricket match for example the dressing room interactions etc. Just putting in famous national-international cricketing names don't necessarily give the film authenticity.

One feels really sad for Hurman Baweja whose tremendous hard work is noticeable in every single scene but is mightily let down by a pathetic script and listless direction by debutante Ajitpal Mangat.

Amrita Rao reprises her typical simple small town girl act for the nth time. She looks very pretty though. Anupam Kher after a point of time starts grating on your nerves with his screeching overmelodramatic act. Gulshan Grover is just about okay.

The music doesn't really register any impact as there are no full songs as well. The Balla Utha number mostly keeps playing in the background during the match sequences. But thankfully the songs are less.

The film is a complete let down in many departments and instead of wasting time on this film it is a better option to watch a re-run of any Indian cricket team match on TV or best spend your time watching the current India v/s Sri Lanka one day series.

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Fiery unforgettably unstoppable in her self-worth…Paro, now transposed to Punjab (gawd, yeh ladki kahan-kahan jayegi?!) knows her Devdas just back from England wants some quality sex.

As determined as ever, she cycles to the nearest surgarcane fields with a bulky bedroll tied to the carrier, spreads it,and herself, out for her foreign-returned lover-boy…

That image of the super-determined Paro cycling to sex in the fields, compounded with that brilliantly shot sequence where she explodes her bitterness frustration and anger by pressing down on a handpump as thought it were a….never mind!...qualify as two of the most astutely achieved images of literature- on- cinema in recent Bollywood memory.

Anurag Kashyap at last sheds his obstinate inaccessibility as a filmmaker. More a homage to Sanjay Leela Bhansali than litterateur Saratchandra Chatterjee's Devdas, Kashyap's Dev D is that deep liberating lascivious luscious provocative tantalizing and tragic view of tragic hedonism, ruinous selfindulgence and vain miscommunication that Saratchandra barely thought about but couldn't articulate.

Kashyap's Devdas is a raunchy renegade, a bastard of the first order who thinks of only selfgratification.

And his task is made easier by the two women who come into his life in this splendidly tragi-comic subversion of a timeless novel that said, defeatism is heroic. But only when compounded by the ability to confront your weaknesses headlong.

As Dev D, Abhay Patel, that big-little hero of the outré cinema, is crass and wounded, vain and vicious, stupid and sensitive.

The contradictions pulsate and nourish the narrative making it a ripe and riveting drama of disorientation and dissociation where the protagonist's failings are defined more by physical appetites (sexual and otherwise) than metaphysical longings.

In telling a timeless story of selfseeking arrogance Anurag Kashyap manages to build a spiral of contemporary themes.

The Chandramukhi sections where the innocent school girl gets trapped into a quagmire of campus sleaze and finally ends up as a sex worker is hertwrenching in its portrait of the contemporary moral crisis that threatens to tear our civilized society limb by limb.

Kashyap pays some delectable tributes to Sanjay Bhansali's Devdas, not only in the outstanding sets and art decoration (Sukanta Panigrahi) and the super-smouldering-and-evocative cinematography (Rajeev Ravi) but also in the way kitsch is converted into a cool neo-classic currency.

The dialogues (Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane) have a constantly quirky and cutting edge. Check out the long boudoir piece where Chanda wonders aloud to Dev why people are so coy about calling a a sex worker a randi.

The words and visuals are not for the squeamish. Indeed the film's most glorious accomplishment is that it succeeds in simultaneously being sluttish and sublime.

The principal characters seem to be scoffing and saluting Saratchandra's novel while forging a totally unexplored territory for the three tormented misfits whose malfunctional destiny makes them bitter and angry but never repulsive to the spectator.

Anurag Kashyap shoots the drama of the damned on locations that echo the protagonist's inner state.

The open-aired Punjabi prelude progresses painlessly into a pained and claustrophobic psychedelic stroble-lit nightmare that includes three male pub performers who pop up willy-nilly to sing on Dev's plunge into a hellish self-pity.

Kafka would recognize and Saratchandra would probably reject the world that Kashyap's Devdas enters.

Would Saratchandra Chatterjee, Bimal Roy or Sanjay Leela Bhansali smile at Anurag Kashyap's backhanded warm and revisionist look at the life love and heartbreaks of Hindi literature's ultimate loser?

Abhay Deol plays Devdas with a wry cynicism suggesting both disgust and longing for a social system that rejects him as much he rejects it.

Kashyap's two prized finds are his 'Paro' Mahie Gill and 'Chanda' Kalki Koechlin. Mahie plays Paro with a blend of pride and resignation, fire and pathos, bringing to the part a rare and undefinable solidity. How does she compare with Suchitra Sen or Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Paro? Who's comparing?!!

Kalki as the schoolgirl-turned-whore plays her character stripped of all selfpity. Not that she enjoys being what she is. But this Chandramukhi isn't apologetic about the place that life has put her in.

Anurag Kashyap's Dev D is a harsh but sensitive take on an age-old material, done with a sense of spiraling pit-in-the-stomach vertiginous momentum that's not quite lost even as the protagonist loses his way in a maze of selfindulgence.

Watch the film to see with what tongue-in-cheek temerity form is wedded to content without the director wavering in his determination to take cinema into regions that have nothing to do with convention.

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