(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The IIFA Awards have become the biggest event of Bollywood in recent times. This time it was held in New York and all the bigwigs of the industry were present. But what overshadowed the news emanating from there was a joke that became a huge controversy.
Karan Johar and Saif Ali Khan were hosting the event. When Varun Dhawan got the best comic actor award for his role in Dishoom, he came up to receive it. Saif then told him that Varun was there because of his father. Varun replied that Saif was there because of his mother. Saif's mother Sharmila Tagore and Varun's father David Dhawan are both industry veterans. Then Karan said that he was there because of his father, one more Bollywood insider, the late Yash Johar. And then all of them together shouted, ‘Nepotism Rocks'.
This little skit was in the context of Kangana Ranaut telling Karan to his face during an appearance in his television chat show that he was a flagbearer of nepotism in Bollywood. At IIFA, the three even made a snide remark about Kangana using a line in a song that alluded to her name to say that she spoke too much. The joke wasn't taken with much laughter outside the venue and soon the three found themselves under a barrage of criticism for distasteful humour. Soon enough all three of them were making apologies.
Saif sent a text message to Kangana regretting what he had said. In an interview he said Kangana had understood. Varun put up a tweet that said, ‘I express my apology and regret .. I am extremely sorry if I have offended or hurt anyone with that act.' Karan too apologised and said that this was not something that gelled with his upbringing.
But then he went on to put up a lengthy blog post that seemed to subtly defend his position on nepotism which was that it might get a step in but to survive real talent was necessary. He wrote, ‘We're not NGOs! We are businesses with bottom lines and budgets. And tomorrow if I want to launch Shah Rukh Khan's son because he's Shah Rukh Khan's son and I believe I can gain from it, why won't I? I run a company, it's a balance of commerce and art, and both matter.'
Meanwhile Kangana made news in another way when she had a nasty accident on the sets of a movie she was shooting for. A sword being used in the scene apparently cuts her between the brows by mistake. But she is said to be recovering now.
Weighty role
Shraddha Kapoor has so far stayed within a narrow range of roles, mostly in keeping with the Bollywood trope of the heroine playing the second fiddle. Her last few movies haven't worked well and so that brings a dilemma to any star — how to reinvent oneself to make a fresh space for themselves.
This might explain Shraddha taking on a role that many would say does not fit into her profile at all. She is the central character in the biopic of the gangster Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena, in the movie by the same name.
The trailer of the movie is out and it shows Shraddha looking markedly different from how people have been seeing her so far. She has added on a lot of weight to play what is essentially a middle aged somewhat unglamorous character. What is interesting is that different media reports had different numbers on how much she gained to play the role. One said she put on eight kilos and another said she gained 17 kilos. This might be because the publicity wing of the movie didn't decide on what number to put out and so were giving whatever came to their mind. Shraddha herself said at an event that she had gained nine kilos, which is probably the real number.
Director's choice
Dabanng has been a franchise that has been professionally very lucrative for Salman Khan and his family. The first movie was directed by Abhinav Kashyap. Then he had a falling out with the Khans and so Salman's brother Arbaaz directed Dabanng 2. And, while it was thought that the movie might not do well in his hands, it went on to be an even bigger blockbuster than the first one. But then, when Dabanng 3 was being contemplated, Arbaaz said that he wouldn't be directing it. That was a curious thing to do for someone who had proven himself.
There was the question of who it would be and they might have finally zoomed in on a director to helm the project. It will apparently be Sabbir Khan whose movie Munna Michael has just been released. Earlier he had directed Heropanti, which was big hit. Both had starred Tiger Shroff. Sabbir is said to have known the Khan family and Salman for many decades now and that should help. But he has not confirmed that he has been finalised, only that he is among the probables.
Another flop
Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan started their careers at almost the same time, swiftly rose to stardom with a number of hits and then Imran took a nosedive with flop after flop while Ranbir continued to make the box office sing.
At that time, he had looked unassailable and even touted to be the next superstar on the horizon. But now it seems he is catching up with Imran. Ranbir has been doing poorly since almost four years. His last big hit was Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in 2013.
After that they have all been average fares or flops. Jagga Jasoos, his latest movie which he was even co-producing, hasn't bucked this trend. After a week, it has collected just over Rs40 crore in the box office, which firmly puts it in flop territory considering the cost of the project.
His future now rests on the Sanjay Dutt biopic being directed by Rajkumar Hirani. If that too flops, then it just might be a slow descent to nowhere like Imran.
One of the fallouts of Jagga Jasoos flopping is said to be Ranbir and its director Anurag Basu not being on good terms anymore. Apparently Basu went overboard on costs while shooting and while that might have been overlooked if the movie had made money, a loss making project just emphasises the cost of self-indulgence.
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