"How many Bollywood horror films actually jolt?" – Sangeeth Sivan

20.02.10 / Bollywood / Author: / Comments: (0)

Sangeeth Sivan

Filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan is pleased that finally he has a horror film to his name. Though he has Sandhya (Jackie Shroff, Raveena Tandon and Ashutosh Rana) ready for close to a decade now, this horror flick has been lying in cans ever since then and never saw the light of the day. While Sangeeth did get recognition from successful films like Kya Kool Hain Hum and Apna Sapna Money Money, he decided to come out of his comfort zone and chose horror as the genre for his first production Click.

“The idea was to jolt people at least twice in those two hours of Click”, says Sangeeth in his trademark animated tone a day after the release of the film, “I am told that people are reacting at just the right junctures and as long as that is happening, I am happy.”

The film hasn’t opened on a positive note at the box office though the reviews have been mostly positive with word of mouth (from whatever number of people who are watching the flick) encouraging.

“For a film belonging to horror genre and that too with relatively newer faces, it is always difficult to get house full boards on the day of the release. I am happy though people are actually talking about the film now. I never intended to make a master piece but instead tell a commercial horror tale that has a definite storyline to boast”, says Sangeeth in defence of the film.

The double twist towards the concluding reels of Click is being much talked about and this is what is expected to entice audience to step inside the theatres. It is one of the newest ways that a story has been ended in a mainstream Bollywood horror film. Leave aside the shock value, it’s the originality in the way Click takes a somersault towards the end that makes one forget the popcorn and SMS-ing and keeps one glued on screen. Really, one couldn’t see that coming.

“That was the entire idea; to tell something which couldn’t be predicted by the audience. With all due respect to some of my counterparts who have ‘horror hits’ to their names, tell me how many of these films actually managed to jolt you? Personally, I wasn’t taken aback in some of these films which have released over the last couple of years”, adds Sangeeth in a matter of fact tone.

In Click, just when one thought that you had cracked it all and got ready for the rolling of end credits come the double twist did make one all wide eyed. Really, these are the moments that make Click stand out from the likes of Phoonk, 1920 and Bhoot which were all good (and successful) in their own way but followed a set pattern. In fact the only similarity (to a little extent) in the end is with the one in Ram Gopal Varma’s Darling but the fact here again is that not many have seen the Fardeen Khan – Esha Deol starrer.

Hoping that word of mouth will succeed in taking Click to some distance, Sangeeth says, “The film should find patronage amongst the college students and youth in general. The feedback that I have received for the film is positive and that is encouraging enough.”

1st ODI: India eves beat Eng by 35 runs

20.02.10 / Cricket / Author: / Comments: (0)

BANGALORE: Captain Jhulan Goswami and
Gouhar Sultana grabbed three wickets each as Indian women thumped world
champions England by 35 runs in the low-scoring first game of five-match ODI
series on Friday.

Pacer Jhulan (3/16) and left-arm spinner Gouhar
(3/36) shared most of the spoils as India defended a modest 199 for five by
bundling out England for 164 in 45 overs.

Earlier, Mithali Raj (62)
and Priyanka Roy’s (69 not out) struck half centuries as India made 199 for five
in 50 overs after electing to bat.

Chasing 200 for a win, England
struggled on a slow-paced M Chinnaswamy stadium deck and managed a meek 164,
giving India their 21st victory in 48 contests.

Needing a little
under four runs an over to record their 26th win over their rivals, England got
off to a poor start when Sarah Taylor was trapped in front by the gangling
Jhulan.

The visitors recovered through a sedate 38-run partnership
between Charlotte Edwards and Ebony Rainford-Brent for the second
wicket.

With runs hard to come by, Edwards chose to break from the
Indian shackles only to see Anagha Deshpande bring off a smart stumping off
Amita Sharma.

England lost their bearings when the industrious Ebony
Rainford-Brent (64) and Lydia Greenway (35) fell in quick succession at 99 and
100.

The rest of the batters had no clue against the guile of Gouhar,
who was arguably the most impressive bowler of the day.

Pacer Rumeli
Dhar chipped in with wickets for 23. Earlier, India recovered from a wobbly 63
for four in the 20th over to reach 199 from their 50 overs thanks to a 100-run
stand for the fifth wicket between Mithali and Priyanka.

Medium
pacers Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Jenny Gunn and Nicola Shaw had put
England by removing the four Indian top order batswomen before Mithali and
Priyanka combined forces to extricate India out of the woods.

The
gritty twosome kept the score card ticking with ones and twos, occasionally
breaching the outfield with a boundary.

Priyanka was the more
aggressive partner, plundering the bowlers whenever they erred in line and
length. She was a picture of confidence, working the ball of the square with
non-challance, playing the medium pacers and spinners with ease. Her 69 was
embellished with six boundaries.

Mithali, around whom the Indian
innings revolved, eventually fell in the 45th over, holing out to Lydia Greenway
at mid-on off skipper Charollete Edwards. She struck two boundaries in her
116-ball stint at the wicket.

India rattled up 36 runs in the batting
power play as Priyanka and Amita Sharma (12 not out) threw their bats around and
ran hard between the wickets.

The two sides face each other on Sunday
for the second ODI at the same venue.

Asia begins 2011 World Cup countdown

20.02.10 / Cricket / Author: / Comments: (0)

NEW DELHI: The International Cricket
Council on Friday marked a year’s countdown to the World Cup by promising a
successful event in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The 14-nation
showpiece event, held every four years, opens on February 19, 2011 with India
taking on Bangladesh at the Mirpur stadium near Dhaka.

“I believe
it will be one of the great sporting occasions of our time,” ICC chief executive
Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.

“Given the passion the
subcontinent has for cricket and the tremendous commitment shown so far by the
hosts, everyone is even more thrilled and convinced that it will be another
successful World Cup.”

The 43-day tournament will be played across
13 venues in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and ends with the final at the
under-renovation Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on April 2.

Pakistan,
the fourth Test-playing nation in Asia, were removed as co-hosts due to security
concerns in the volatile nation.

Tournament director Ratnakat
Shetty of India said preparations were in full swing in all three countries.

“All three co-hosts are fully geared to host the event,” said
Shetty. “A lot of energy, effort and investment is being pumped into improving
the infrastructure in the various stadia.”

Australia, looking for
their fourth successive World Cup title, showed their prowess by winning the
Champions Trophy in South Africa last year.

“Over the past six
months, we’ve developed a versatile squad which has experienced success in all
conditions,” the ICC statement quoted Australian captain Ricky Ponting as
saying.

“One of the strengths of the team during this time has been
the depth and quality of players we’ve been able to call on.

“There’s a lot of hard work to be done before the World Cup but I’m
confident we’ll arrive in the subcontinent well-prepared to win a fourth
straight title.”

The other teams in the fray will be England, South
Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Zimbabwe, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Kenya.

An ‘idiot’ does not play for 13 years: Bhajji

20.02.10 / Cricket / Author: / Comments: (0)

NEW DELHI: Seasoned off-spinner
Harbhajan Singh on Friday lambasted his detractors for questioning his ability,
saying a bowler who has taken more than 350 wickets in a 13-year career could
not possibly be “dumb or an idiot”.

Harbhajan, who was instrumental
in India’s dramatic win over South Africa in the second Test on Thursday, feels
coming among the top 10 bowlers in ICC rankings itself speaks a lot in his
favour.

“We are neither dumb, nor idiots. The idiots don’t play 13
years for their country. Nor do they claim 350 Test wickets during their
career,” fumed Harbhajan, who picked five for 59 at the Eden Garden.

“Critics have a job to do. I respect it, however, I can make a few
points for their benefit. Can a bowler, who often has been in ICC’s list of top
10 bowlers during the last two years be that bad and that stupid?” Harbhajan
said.

Harbhajan, who made his Test debut in 1998 against Australia,
also considers the “straighter” deliveries as one of the effective weapons in
his armoury and said it should not be seen as “inability” of the bowler to turn
the ball.

“When a left-arm spinner bowls a straighter delivery, you
credit him with one. Why a slider from an off-spinner is viewed as his inability
to spin it?” asked Harbhajan, whose one such delivery dismissed Morne Morkel in
the dying moments yesterday”, he said.

“I bowl onto the stumps
occasionally because on those wickets where ball does a little, you need to
create angles for bowled and lbw decisions to come into the play. If the batsmen
can use their feet, why you do not credit a bowler for not allowing a batsman to
use his feet?” Harbhajan said.

The 29-year-old bowler also feels it
was nothing but consistent performance which has helped India climb on top of
the ICC Test ranking.

“Can the number one Test ranking be achieved
overnight? Is it not a reflection of sustained progress achieved by the Team
India over the last two years?

“Just as the critics have a job to
do, we also have a job to keep India’s tricolour flying. We know what our
success means to millions of fans across the world and we are prepared to walk
on the fire to bring honour and glory to the country,” he added.

The spinner said that critics should put the interest of Indian
cricket before everything.

“Everyone must keep the interest of
Indian cricket as a priority. There is no reason to get personal, this success
is as much for us as it is for our critics.”

On India’s victory, he
said: “Let this moment be dedicated to those fans who stay all nights, travel
miles, bear hardships and have all the affections for the welfare of Indian
cricket.

“Let it be a promise on our part that we would only treat
this moment as just the beginning,” Harbhajan said.

Aamir Khan withdraws his resignation on Kapil Sibal’s request

20.02.10 / Bollywood / Author: / Comments: (0)

After all the hype and hoopla, Aamir Khan has finally withdrawn his resignation from the HRD ministry in lieu of the recent controversy regarding the altercation between him and renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar. Aamir reconsidered his decision only after the intervention of the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

Aamir, in his letter to Sibal, said, “I have given a lot of thought to your request to take back my resignation and be a part of my committee. I have also read the letter of the other members have written to you reiterating their faith in me. The amendment to the Copyright Act (of 1957) is an extremely important process, indeed historic. In light of the above, I take back my resignation.”

Sibal had told Aamir to reconsider his decision after he quit from the panel earlier this week.