Southern invasion in Bollywood

Kollywood’s reigning
divas have taken over screen space in Mumbai and have even bagged some of the
most talked about films this year.



Genelia D’Souza, Shriya
Saran, Priyamani, Sada, Asin, Shruti Hasan to Trisha are no longer just
headturners seen in the odd commercial on television. From selling cola and
toothpaste to being serenaded by the likes of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay
Kumar is no mean feat.



But then B-town has always had a successful
date with southern beauties — Hema Malini, Vyjayantimala, Rekha and
Sridevi all have not only done Hindi films, but all of them have even ruled the
box-office for years. The new millennium southern stars, Gautami, Rambha, Ramya
and Reema Sen haven’t been quite able to follow up the glorious act of
their predeccesors. But all that’s set to change with the new bubblegum
brigade who speak fluent Hindi and have almost severed their Kollywood roots for
a life and career in Mumbai.



Shriya Saran (her four year old debut,
Shukriya was a failure at BO and led her to Chennai) has done Awarapan, Mission
Istaanbul and claims to have been deluged with scripts in Bollywood. In fact,
Shriya even has a Hollywood film directed by Deepa Mehta in her interesting CV.
She says while both the film industries are the “same” she
doesn’t quite feel different working in mainstream Hindi films. “I
consider the entire film industry as one whole. It’s about working in your
own country,” says Shriya.



But there are slight differences
though. “Down south people are more professional and adjusting. Actors
also tend to learn technicalities of film-making but apart from that it is only
about working in different languages. Flavour, script and concept does change
but it is only because of the languages and local mass,” she says.
Shriya’s playing the lead in

Ek - The
Power of One

with Bobby Deol and Nana Patekar directed by Sangeet Sivam,
Hollywood film

The Other End Of The
Line

by Ashok Amritraj and Deepa Mehta’s What’s
Cooking.



Bubbly Genelia D’souza who’s tasted stardom in
Hyderabad enjoys every bit of her new stardom in Mumbai too. But she gushes
about both, “The working style of both industries is similar. The only
difference is the language.” She is currently shooting for Aneez
Bazmi’s It’s my life and Abbas-Mustan’s


Life Partner

.



Trade analyst
Taran Adarsh feels, “Southern actresses try their luck in Bollywood as it
is a bigger platform. In Bollywood, whoever fits the role, gets the film. But I
must say that Southern actors are more professional and technically
sound.



Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels, “Actors keep shifting base
as per convenience. If I want a fresh face for a film, I wouldn’t mind
casting a southern star. I’d have two advantages – the southern
superstar would be a new face in Mumbai, two she’d be experienced and
talented.”



Those could really be reasons enough for Bollywood
filmmakers signing up these southern stars.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

By Subhash K Jha



Starring: Imran Khan, Genelia


Written & Directed by Abbas Tyrewala


Rating: ***



A blessed week at the movies. If this week we get Harman Baweja as the full filmy package of an all-rounder, we also get Imran Khan…Fesh - faced original and possessing a natural screen presence that immediately connects him with the audience.



Abbas Tyrewala's directorial debut has a certain sparkling spirit, a zest for living life quirk-sized and a certain zing thing about the way the characters look at life and love.



It's not only about the way the characters' exuberant yearnings connect with the audience. It's also about the casual free-flowing downloading of events and dialogues in the narrative that give the characters an edge over other urbane youngsters who have come and gone in the past creating a spirit of lingering joie de vivre.



The bunch of collegians here take their cues from Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai, Rakeysh Mehra's Rang De Basanti and even Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

Echoes from these iconic youth -films fill out the outer edges of the 'cool' canvas creating for the characters at-hand a sense of wondrous and informal perpetuity as they go from humorous heartbreak to sober selfrealization in a plot that accommodates both impulse and pre-meditated thought in a mix that is engaging endearing and fairly original in spite of the derivative echoes.



While the supporting cast of friends are both real and tangible, at the core of this romantic musical are Jai (Irfan Khan) and Aditi (Genelia) who are "best friends" in the coolest sense of the term.

Bantering bum-chums at the surface but sharing a much deeper bond underneath, all their friends can see that the twosome is made for each other.



But they can't.



It's an exceedingly old formula for a romantic comedy given a fresh new spin by a storyteller who picks on moments from ordinary lives and converts them into a celebration of life and love.



Old songs (R.D Burman mainly) and new original music (A.R Rahman) coalesce with the minum fuss while Jai and Aditi's love story goes through several turns and twists until they arrive at that traditional end-game for romantic films: the grand reunion at the airport seconds before the girl is scheduled to take off for good.



The flurry is charming, though a little to selfconsciously designed at times.



Peep underneath. And you see the narration covering a lot of familiar ground.



The freshness lies in the way the characters respond to the familiar material often exceeding the domain created by the script.



Every actor pitches in at just the right volume of vivacity. There are stand-out supporting performances by Naseeruddin Shah (playing the hero Jai's dead father in a portrait), Ratna Pathak (superbly skilled as Jai's mom), Paresh Rawal (flawless as a boorish cop) and Arbaaz and Sohail Khan (as a couple of outlandish cowboys they supplant the believably urbane love story with a touch of the surreal).



Then there's Manjrai Phadnis as the hero's could-be love interest. Living in perpetual denial she thinks her embittered parents (Rajat Kapoor and Kitu Gidwani) actually love each other under the acrimony.



The characters never claim to be extraordinary in their desires. It's their ordinary dreams and down-to-earth desires which give the narration a spirited spin.



And then there are protagonists. Not just young Imran Khan and Genelia. But their friends. Each one played as though the wall dividing the actor from the characters had disappeared.



While Genelia is a natural in most scenes, Imran's unassuming boy-next-door personality lends itself with picture-perfect precision to the mood and tenor of the narration.


Here's a young actor who has a long innings ahead. He doesn't think before he acts.



It's not about how deep he goes into his character. It's more about how much at home he's occupying the space provided by the script.



The same is true of the other actors.



Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na exudes an urbane cool. It's not really trying to be anything. It doesn't have an earthshattering message for the masses.

What it has is an honest story about a bunch of credible characters told in a fashion that's casually trendy and warm.

Manoj Lobo's cinematography and Shan Mohamed's editing assist the director in making this a film that you'd probably like to watch again just to see if you missed out a vital bit of the characters' lives while they were looking for love.

Genelia D'Souza

Genelia reveals the secrets of the sets during the shooting of Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na and why she believes that Imran is already a hit.