Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Bollywood is now 100% imported

 
Half- foreign, half- Indian heroines won’t do anymore. As Bollywood guns for global identity, the fad is to cast exotic beauties of wholly foreign origin in lead roles.

When Farhan Akhtar mooned over Spanish actress-model Ariadna Cabrol in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, their brief chemistry triggered off a fad.  Bollywood was looking at a new formula-twister when it came to casting and the trend of introducing foreign beauties in entered the next level.

Half-Kashmiri, half-British Katrina Kaif may have kickstarted the fad of importing exotic stunners in Hindi films over the past decade, but the focus is shifting. With Hindi films increasingly getting westernised and gunning for global identity, our very Indian heroes want to romance girls with a 100-per cent foreigner tag.

Ariadna may have had a prop role in the multi-starrer Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, but what is following is a steady inflow of foreign-bred beauties in lead roles. Last week’s crossover comedy Speedy Singhs saw the debut of American-Canadian beauty Camilla Belle, a budding Hollywood actress who starred in 2008’s prehistoric adventure hit, 10,000 BC.  South African model Candice Boucher makes her debut in the spy thriller Aazaan later this month. Half-Czech, half-Pakistani Nargis Fakhri has already created hype over her debut opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar, which releases in November. All this, despite Mexican beauty Barbara Mori’s debut in last year’s Kites flopping. What’s interesting is that girls of purely foreign origin were so far mostly acceptable only in item numbers.


Yana Gupta kickstarted that trend in 2003’s Dum with her Babuji dance. Spanish hottie Mayte Garcia was a hit in the Deedar de number of Dus. Brazilian beauty Bruna Abdalah did the Reham kare jig in Cash while Mariah Gomes raised the temperature with her item dance Neeyat in Teen Patti. That trend is changing now.  Bollywood has come a long way since Raj Kapoor introduced Russian actress Kseniya Ryabinkina in Hindi films in Mera Naam Joker. RK’s decision to cast Kseniya as a trapeze artist in his 1972 opus created hype, but it was a one-off instance that hardly started a trend. This time, the trend seems here to stay.


Celebrity weight loss: Before and after

Look how Sonakshi Sinha has evolved in the past couple of years, and wow!
 
When Kat first entered the Tinsteltown, she was quite a healthy girl. She didn't even look like any distant cousin of Barbie then!
 
Looking at Adnan Sami's before-after images, all we can say is: 'Hats off to his determination'.
 
Zarine's journey from 'Fatrina' to Zarine is something worth appreciating!
 
Don't you think the 'Mean Girl' Lindsay Lohan has gone a bit too far? Thankfully, LiLo herself realised that, and got back into her previous shape soon.
 
Britney's weight woes are quite famous. Like a graph, it goes up, hits rock bottom and goes up again. Britney should learn to keep her emotions at bay.
 
Oprah Winfrey too is quite experienced with experimenting her looks.
 
Was Jennifer Connelly going through some nervous breakdown then? It looks more like a disease than any dietary wonders
 
Have to admit that the chubby 'Bridget Jones' look suits Renee Zellweger more than the svelte look.
 
Did Peter Jackson starve himself to become skinny like this? Truly a 'Lord of the Diet'
 
It seems someone has put some sense into Nicole Richie's head. The painfully thin actress has attained a 'human' figure finally. We appreciate her for that.

Spotted: Rani, Kajol and family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2011: Invasion of the South Indian Hotties

South India, which gave us faces like Aishwarya Rai, Asin, Tabu, Vidya Balan has opened it's bountiful coffers of beauty once again
Taapsee Pannu

Taapsee Pannu recently scored a two-film deal with Viacom Entertainment. Her first, 'Chashme Baddoor', a David Dhawan film will hit theaters in November.

In the let one-one-and-a-half years, Taapsee has starred in 8 films. “All the films that I’ve worked on gave me a lot of scope to perform. There were days when I felt exhausted and worn out, but I guess it’s the love of movies that made me push all my boundaries. I hope to be part of more such films in the future,” Taapsee once even refused a film with Amitabh Bachchan due to date issues.
Nidhi Subbaiah
 
Nidhi is rumored to have been approached for the female lead role in Jazz, making her Bollywood debut, along with another Sandalwood (Karnataka film industry) actor, Diganth Manchale. She got this role after Prachi Desai, originally finalized for the role walked out of the project.

She stated: "It's true that I've been approached for the project. The makers have asked me to block my dates till November and are to send me the script soon. I haven't signed a contract yet, but I can confirm that serious discussions have taken place and it does look like I might do the film," says Nidhi.

She has received other offers as well, many of which she has refused."...I wanted the perfect Bollywood launchpad. This film with Diganth seems just right. The producers had seen Pancharangi, in which Diganth and I co-starred, and noticed that we share a great onscreen chemistry. We'd recently done a look test and the producers found our pairing interesting," says Nidhi.

Piaa Bajpai
 
Piaa Bajpai isn't speaking about her Bollywood debut. "Yes, it's true that I am doing a Bollywood movie. But I am not allowed to talk about it until the announcement is made by the producers…all I can say is it involves one of the big production houses in Bollywood."
Priya Anand

Priya Anand will debut with director Balki of 'Cheeni Kum' and 'Paa' fame.The untitled project will be shot in the US - perfect for a a US raised Priya.
According to a source: "Priya has been approached to star in director Balki's next. She will be leaving to New York with the unit by the end of this month. There's enough meat to her character, which made Priya jump at the offer…. Balki had taken some time to decide on his next film after Paa and it was reported that he would work with Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan again.

However, he had confirmed that he's going ahead with a film that will star Junior Bachchan in the lead before doing a flick with Big B. It's for this film that Priya might have been signed on." In both Cheeni Kum and Paa, the women characters were very strong and were pivotal to the film. This film could also be woman-centric where the leading lady is crucial to the story.

Madhu Shalini
The model-turned-actress has worked in Telugu and Tamil language films. Her Bollywood debut is Ram Gopal Varma's upcoming Department, in which she playsa female gangster. The movie also stars with Amitabh Bachchan,Sanjay Dutt and Rana Daggubati.

Celebs visit Sanjay Dutt's Mata Ki Chowki