The Original Fan Boys

Agneepath (1990) Movie Poster

With Agneepath, Bollywood gets its first hit of 2012. Yet, when Karan Johar announced that he would be remaking the Amitabh Bachchan classic, cynical eyebrows were raised (even Mr. Bachchan had expressed his doubts). Now that the film has proved its worth at the box-office windows, remakes of older flop/cult might just become the latest Bollywood trend. As Shirish Kunder rightly pointed out on Twitter.com, “The success of Agneepath may spark the trend of remaking good content that may have been BoxOffice failures at the time due to wrong reasons. Even good content can fail due to various reasons : Ahead of its time, MisCast, MisDirected, Bad release, Lead cast going through bad phase. The original Agneepath I had watched twice in back-to-back shows. For a month after that, I roamed around wearing Kajal in my eyes. The only Hindi film I have watched more than Agneepath was Khuda Gawah in 3 back-to-back shows. I was bowled over by that experience.”

We wonder if any recent Bollywood films have inspired anyone to such lengths of fan-dom (forced Ghajini haircuts not included).

Ghanta Nomination For Anurag Kashyap

That Girl In Yellow Boots Poster

When you take it square in the jaw, you have to learn to take it with grace. Anurag Kashyap showed us how. Now the ‘Ghantas’ (given to the worst films and actors) are definitely not the most enviable awards of the year, and finding yourself nominated is surely not going to make it on your Wikipedia page. But when Anurag Kashyap found that his film, That Girl In Yellow Boots, was nominated for the ‘Worst Holier-than-thou Movie’, not only did he retweet the link to vote for the Ghantas, he even posted that, “Agar mujhe Ghanta Ke liye vote mila to main award lene or baaki sab dene zaroor jaaonga” (If I get voted for the Ghanta, then I will go to receive it as well as give the awards away).

Wedding Party!

Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza at their pre-wedding party.

Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D’souza are to tie the knot soon. While that’s no surprise, what’s interested us more is that Ritesh’s Heyy Babyy buddies – Fardeen Khan and Sajid Khan – threw a party for the soon-to-be-married couple. “Its really overwhelming when someone goes out of their way 2 make u feel special-n M feelin like d king of d world. Fardeen n Saj LOVE U both,” Ritesh tweeted. Wish we had friends like that!

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Shah Rukh Khan: Top Actor of 2011

Shah Rukh Khan in Don 2

Total Number of Votes: 4419

To vote for your favourite actor of 2011, click here.

1. Shah Rukh Khan: 60.1% votes

2. Salman Khan: 21.43% votes

3. Ajay Devgan: 6.26% votes

4. Ranbir Kapoor: 4.18% votes

5. John Abraham: 3.05% votes

Other Bollywood actors with fewer votes are Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Emraan Hashmi and Sunny Deol.

Kareena Kapoor: Best Actress of 2011

Kareena Kapoor in Bodyguard

Total Number of Votes: 2161

To boost up the ranking of your favourite actress, click here.

1. Kareena Kapoor: 34.65% votes

2. Vidya Balan: 25.2% votes

3. Katrina Kaif: 20.47% votes

4. Priyanka Chopra: 10.7% votes

5. Rani Mukerji: 2.69% votes

Other Bollywood actresses with fewer votes are Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Asin, Mahie Gill and Kangana Ranaut.

Don 2: Best Film of 2011

Don 2 movie Ppster

Total Number of Votes: 6759

To vote for your favourite film of 2011, click here.

1. Don 2: 57.96% votes

2. Bodyguard: 12.72% votes

3. Ra.One: 12.45% votes

4. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: 4.91% votes

5. Singham: 4.44% votes

Other Bollywood films with fewer votes are Delhi Belly, The Dirty Picture, Yamla Pagla Deewana, Murder 2, Tanu Weds Manu and Ready.

Chammak Challo: Best Dance Song of 2011

Total Number of Votes: 2808

To vote for your favourite songs of 2011, click here.

1. Chammak Challo (Ra. One): 46.9% votes.

2. Dhinka Chika (Ready): 29.27%.

3. Desi Beat (Bodyguard): 10.22%.

4. Senorita (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara): 3.81% votes.

Other songs with fewer votes are Madhubala (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan), Sadi gali (Tanu Weds Manu), Char baj gaye (F.A.L.T.U.), I hate you(Delhi Belly).

Shah Rukh Khan: Best Action Hero of 2011

Shah Rukh Khan as G.One in Ra.One

Total Number of Votes: 2321

To vote for your favourite action hero of 2011, click here.

1. Shah Rukh Khan: 62.56% votes

2. Salman Khan: 20.72% votes

3. Ajay Devgan: 10.77% votes

Other actors with fewer votes are John Abraham, Amitabh Bachchan and Eesha Koppikar.

Arjun Rampal: Best Villain of 2011

Arjun Rampal in Ra.One

Total Number of Votes: 1306

Think Prakash Raj is better than Arjun Rampal as the best villain of 2011? Change the results here.

1. Arjun Rampal (Ra.One): 36.86% votes

2. Prakash Raj (Singham): 35.71% votes

3. Prashant Narayanan (Murder 2): 15.56% votes

4. Vidyut Jamwal (Force): 9.04% votes

Other villains with fewer votes are Mahesh Manjrekar in Bodyguard and Prakash Raj in Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap.

Rascals: Worst Film of 2011

Sanjay Dutt in Rascals

Total Number of Votes 1873

Disliked any other film worse than Rascals? Vote here.

1. Rascals: 20.07% votes

2. Chatur Singh Two Star: 19.86% votes

3. Mausam: 10.78% votes

4. Game: 8.38% votes

5. Thank You: 7.69% votes

Other films with fewer votes are Patiala House, 7 Khoon Maaf, Dum Maaro Dum, Always Kabhi Kabhi and Aarakshan.

Vidya Balan: Best Woman-Centric Role

Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture

Total Number of Votes: 780

If you think Katrina Kaif did it better in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, vote here.

1. Vidya Balan (The Dirty Picture): 37.31% votes

2. Katrina Kaif (Mere Brother Ki Dulhan) 31.79% votes

3. Priyanka Chopra (7 Khoon Maaf): 14.62% votes

4. Rani Mukerji & Vidya Balan (No One Killed Jessica): 9.1% votes

Other woman-oriented characters with fewer votes are Kangana Ranaut in Tanu Weds Manu, Gul Panag in Turning 30!!! and Kalki Koechlin in That Girl In Yellow Boots.

Don 2: Best Dialogues In A Film

Total Number of Votes: 1948

If you liked the dialogues of Singham or Bodyguard better, vote here.

1. Don 2: 59.39% votes

2. Bodyguard: 19.56% votes

3. Singham: 10.11% votes

4. The Dirty Picture: 4.11% votes

Other films with fewer votes in this category are Ra.One, Yamla Pagla Deewana and Pyaar Ka Punchnama.

Rani Mukerji & Vidya Balan In No One Killed Jessica

Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji in No One Killed Jessica.

The year started off with Rani Mukerji as the foul-mouthed, trigger-happy journalist in No One Killed Jessica. Vidya Balan, as the brooding, determined sister of Jessica Lal, was her perfect antithesis. In the end, both were winners.

Gul Panag In Turning 30!!!

Gul Panag in Turning 30!!!

After a couple of forgettable roles in the past few years, Gul Panag returned with full fervour as the advertising executive in a midlife crisis. Turning 30!!! may not have garnered the best of responses from the paying public, but Gul’s performance sure did.

Priyanka Chopra In 7 Khoon Maaf

Priyanka Chopra in 7 Khoon Maaf

Is Priyanka Chopra slowing down? After all, she did go from 12 roles in What’s Your Raashee? to only seven in 7 Khoon Maaf! Jokes aside, Piggy Chops did a fabulous job as the romantic, unlucky in love, Sussanna.

Kangana Ranaut In Tanu Weds Manu

Kangana Ranaut in Tanu Weds Manu

She staggered drunkenly in the arms of her Prince Charming, danced with gusto to Kajra mohabbat wala and was on the verge of getting hitched to a goon: how could you not fall for Kangana Ranaut in Tanu Weds Manu!

Kalki Koechlin In That Girl In Yellow Boots

Kalki Koechlin in That Girl in Yellow Boots

Though the film was popular only in the festival circuit, Kalki Koechlin was the woman of the moment for her nuanced performance in That Girl In Yellow Boots.

Katrina Kaif In Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Katrina Kaif in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Falling for two people is no more a taboo in Bollywood, especially if someone as sexy and desirable as Katrina Kaif does it! While betrothed to Ali Zafar, Katrina swooned into the arms of Imran Khan in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. But all is forgiven for this bindaas bride!

Vidya Balan In The Dirty Picture

Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture

Leaving the best for the last, Vidya Balan evoked shock, respect and not to mention a few leery eyes for her role of a sex bomb in The Dirty Picture. For someone to be so daring and talented on-screen, Vidya clearly takes the cake as Silk.

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Business rating: 1/5 star

Star cast: Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah, Gulshan Devaiya, Prashant Prakash.

What’s Good: Kalki Koechlin’s performance; the cinematography.

What’s Bad: The scattered screenplay; the unanswered questions which crop up in the audience’s mind; the shocking story of the film that will keep many away.

Verdict: That Girl In Yellow Boots is for the die-hard fans of Anurag Kashyap films and anybody else who fancies a shocker. However, it will do poor business at the box-office.

Loo break: None really.

Watch or Not?: Watch it for Kalki’s performance. But beware of the X-rated content!

User rating:

Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. and NFDC’s That Girl In Yellow Boots (A) is a shocking tale of a British girl who works at a massage parlour in Bombay, giving customers hand jobs. At the same time, she is looking for her long-lost father, who had abandoned her many years ago.

Ruth (Kalki Koechlin) makes a living in Bombay by giving hand jobs to wrinkled, old customers who come to the shady massage parlour in which she works. It is run by Maya (Puja Sarup), a talkative and carefree woman. She is good at her job and even gets many repeat customers, one of whom is an old man (Naseeruddin Shah). Ruth has a drug-addicted boyfriend, Prashant (Prashant Prakash), who gets into trouble all the time. He demands sex from Ruth but she refuses. She regularly pays bribes to the Indian officials to renew her tourist visa, which doesn’t allow her to work in India.

On the sidelines, Ruth is looking for her father, who had abandoned her family in England many years ago when Ruth was still very young. Ruth’s elder sister, all of 15, had committed suicide as she (the sister) was pregnant with an illegitimate child. All Ruth knows about her father is his name; she doesn’t even know how he looks.

As she gets closer to finding her father, Ruth’s boyfriend gets her into trouble over an attempted robbery where he had tried to steal drugs from Chittiappa  (Gulshan Devaiya), a local gang lord. When he cannot find Prashant, Chittiappa takes money from Ruth and asks her to compensate for the remaining amount due to him by giving him hand jobs.

A few days later, Prashant comes to his senses and chains himself to a window in Ruth’s house in order to cure himself of his drug-addiction. Ruth, in the meantime, starts getting desperate, using her occupation to pave the way to find her father. Does she manage to complete her mission? Who is her father? The rest of the film answers these questions.

That Girl In Yellow Boots Review – Script Analysis

That Girl In Yellow Boots is familiar territory for Anurag Kashyap fans, and they get all that they expect – the shock value, the gritty camerawork and hounding background score. But the story (by Kalki Koechlin and Anurag Kashyap) lacks the punch in spite of the supremely shocking ending. The screenplay (also by Kalki and Anurag) takes too much time to get to the point and the audience is left to piece the story together. Although this must excite a few in the discerning audience, most will be put off by the weird and scattered narrative. Even the scenes where Ruth is giving hand jobs to her customers lose their shock value after some time. A majority of the audience, who will be shocked by the vulgar scenes, will not associate with Ruth’s quest to find her father as they will not agree with the means she utilises to get there. The thinking audience, on the other hand, will wonder about many things that simply go unexplained in the film – why does Ruth work at a massage parlour in Bombay when she can make money by doing any other trade, especially given the fact that she is sickened by what she does? Also, why is she tolerating a boyfriend when she clearly doesn’t love him and confesses as much to him? The simplistic assumption that the audience is supposed to make – that someone’s life can be as messed up as Ruth’s – is simply not enough. The dialogues are good at most places and add to the shock value.

That Girl In Yellow Boots Review – Star Performances

Kalki Koechlin delivers a nuanced performance as the tumultuous Ruth. She uses her eyes and body language to the hilt to express varying emotions. Naseeruddin Shah is alright in a bit role. Prashant Prakash is okay in a few scenes but he irritates otherwise. Gulshan Devaiya does a fabulous job as the foul-mouthed gang lord. He is a delight to watch. Puja Sarup leaves a mark. Shiv Subramaniyam and others offer good support.

That Girl In Yellow Boots Review – Direction & Music

Anurag Kashyap’s direction is appropriate for the script. Naren Chandavarkar’s music (there is one song in the film) forwards the director’s vision. The background score is very good. Rajeev Ravi’s cinematography is edgy.  Editing, by Shweta Venkat Mathew, is crisp. Production design, by Wasiq Khan, is realistic.

That Girl In Yellow Boots Review – Verdict

On the whole, That Girl In Yellow Boots will win critical acclaim and the love of a section of the audience but will be shunned by the majority of the paying public.

That Girl In Yellow Boots Trailer

What: Director Anurag Kashyap and his wife, actor Kalki Koechlin, were heading for the premiere of their film, That Girl In Yellow Boots, in New York.

When: 22 August 2011

Where: Mumbai

Gulshan Devaiyah and Kalki Koechlin promote That Girl In Yellow Boots.

Kalki Koechlin and Gulshan Devaiyah played their characters, Ruth and Chityappa, and performed an excellent skit at a bookstore in Mumbai. The entire skit was purely based on improvisation. Director Anurag Kashyap revealed, “This is how the movie was woven, and taken forward. We all would meet up at my house, and start practicing the scene, and each one of us, including the assistant directors, would give their inputs on improvising the scene and giving it a push in the right direction.”

Though Kalki has written the screenplay, she would rather share credit with her husband, Anurag. She said, “The main idea of this story was initiated by Anurag. I just elaborated it. In fact we both have co-written the script.”

Gulshan Devaiya, Anurag Kashyap, Kalki Koechlin & Pooja promote That Girl In Yellow Boots.

Talking about the difficulties involved in making the film, Anurag revealed that people around him discouraged him from making this movie saying that this would be sort of a career suicide for him. He even had to borrow money on a daily basis to ensure that this film sees the light of the day. It also happens to Anurag’s first movie that will receive a worldwide release!

That Girl In Yellow Boots will walk into a theatre near you on 2 September.

Anurag Kashyap

It’s been more than four months since Anurag Kashyap’s married his long-time girlfriend Kalki Koechlin, but the filmmaker is yet to take a break for a nice romantic honeymoon. Instead, he was busy braving the dust and heat of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa for his next film, Gangs Of Wasseypur. Kashyap is also awaiting his first worldwide release, That Girl In Yellow Boots.

No Censor For Yellow Boots

So how did That Girl In Yellow Boots come about? “It’s Kalki’s story,” he says. “A couple of years ago there was a new report about a German girl who came to India in search of her father. That inspired me and I decided to write the story of That Girl In Yellow Boots with Kalki (who also stars in the film). After she finished the script work began. I had decided to produce and direct it anyway,” he says with a grin.

One look at my movie and they don’t want to distribute it.

Almost all of Kashyap’s films get stalled at some point during their making, but mention that to him and he just shrugs. After the roadblocks he hit with Black Friday, No Smoking, Dev D and Gulaal Kashyap seems to have adapted himself to the reality that he will have to move on to making other films, while at the same time, trying to secure the release of his older ones.

So did the censor board play spoilsport this time too? “No, they passed it with an ‘A’ certificate, as usual. It was getting all the distributors to agree on a common release date that took so much time.” In the meantime, Kashyap showcased TGIYB at film festivals around the world.

I lend my name as producer just for the sake of it. I don’t invest any money.

Yet, now that the film is finally up for release, the irritation in his voice is palpable. “Audiences have changed, filmmakers have changed, it’s only the distributors who don’t want to change. One look at my movie and they don’t want to distribute it. They still want big stars and big names. What they don’t understand is the fact that small films won’t get great openings but they make up for it over time. Look at Udaan (a film that he produced). Udaan didn’t have a big opening but it managed to make money over time and through home video.”

The Kanjoos Producer

Producing films seems to be Kashyap’s new forte, with his productions like Aamir, Udaan and Shaitan having seen the light of the day. He dismisses his producer tag with a wave of the hand, “I lend my name as producer just for the sake of it. I just tell whether a film should be made or not, I don’t invest any money.” Is he a choosy producer? “I only have two conditions. It should be a small budget project and it should be original.”

Sounds simple enough, but what does he think of himself as a producer? “I’m the most kanjoos (miserly) producer!” he laughs, “I never pay my directors.” Before you can shoot another question, he says matter-of-factly, “I’ve never gotten paid for my films. That’s why producers love to work with me.” So how does he earn his bread-and-butter? “I earn my money from outside,” he says mysteriously. Outside? “I make advertisements, do endorsements, write scripts…” he trails off. He almost sounds like an artist who has taken up a part-time job to fulfil his ambitions, but you know that filmmaking is more than that for this director. He’s promoting TGIYB, directing Gangs Of Wasseypur, working on Bombay Velvet all at the same time.

Aamir’s got 10 years of experience. I’ve been here for just two years.

How does he plan to promote TGIYB, considering that promoting a movie has become almost as important as making it? “I don’t know anything about promotion,” he says and points to the PR person sitting next to him. That’s why I’ve given it (the promotion) to them. I know how to make movies, I’ll do just that. Jisko jo aata hai, wo wohi karey. Only people like Aamir (Khan) can do that (multi-task). Aamir’s got 10 years of experience as a producer behind him. I’ve been here for just two years. Maybe eight years later…”

Epic In The Making?

Then why doesn’t Anurag take any big stars in his film? Is it their choice or his? “I don’t work with big actors because I don’t want others telling me what to do. Actors have an image and they don’t have the balls to change it. Except maybe Aamir (Khan). If they (the actors) tell me what to do, I’ll just throw them off the sets!” he laughs. “But the producers won’t allow me to do that… I just want to make films the way I want them.”

Shooting for Gangs Of Wasseypur is underway, and this is probably Anurag’s largest film so far. It is also literally the longest – 180 minutes long – and it will be made in two parts. “The length of the movie is not a problem because it’s one single story. I knew the film is going to be this long. But when you have a story to tell,” he explains.

But what matters in the end: box-office success, critical acclaim or awards…? Anurag doesn’t even wait for the question to finish. “If people knew which film works or does not work, every film would be a Sholay. I only want to make good films,” he says before he signs off.

Following ‘Delhi Belly’, the festival will go on to showcase works of independent filmmakers, including Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots and Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya. Singer and film composer Raghu Dixit will perform before the closing night film Autograph on July 12.

The Festival covers a wide range of themes and issues from family dramas, coming-of age tales to twisted, urban teen-romance. Uniting these films is a new more assured Indian cool, experimenting with cinematic styles, sexual liberality, new technology and influenced by themes both East and West, which has helped new Indian cinema win favour with the young in-crowd in super cities like Mumbai, as well as with connoisseurs of world cinema across the globe.

Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Festival Director comments, “In addition to showing great movies, we also aim to help get these films talked about and screened more broadly in cinemas in the UK, in the same way that Iranian cinema has been. London of course has a huge Asian audience for these movies, but many non-Asian Brits would also like to find out more about the 1.2 billion strong India of today, and cinema is a great way to do this.”

Watch More: Udaan Movie Stills

Commenting on this occasion, Vikramaditya Motwane said, “Asia Pacific Screen Awards is considered to be the Oscars of the East, and is the most prestigious awards platform in the APAC region. With ‘Udaan’ being nominated in the Best Children’s Feature Film category, we couldn’t be more ecstatic that the young audiences and the jury from the Asia Pacific region have loved and appreciated the movie like the audiences in other major markets.”

Read More: Udaan Movie Review

The trend of Indian films doing well in international film festivals, before and after their release, is picking up. Earlier, Anurag Kashyap’s thriller That Girl in Yellow Boots was chosen to open the seventh annual South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) in New York. The movie has already won critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the Venice Film Festival. Aamir Khan’s Peepli Live has been screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival in the U.S.

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards will be held in Australia on 2nd December, 2010.

An actor of French descent, Kalki is no stranger to explicit scenes. She played a schoolgirl-turned-multilingual prostitute, Chandramukhi, in her debut film, Dev D. Her portrayal of Chanda also won her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2009.

Directed by Anurag Kashyap, ‘That Girl In Yellow Boots’ has been scripted by Kalki herself. The film revolves around Ruth’s (played by Kalki) search for her father. Desperation drives her to work at a massage parlour where she struggles to find her independence and space.

- By Koimoi.com Team

Anurag Kashyap’s film That Girl In Yellow Boots is creating a buzz for some of its explicit scenes that has been making rounds on the internet. The film starring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah has been applauded at the Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.

It was a momentous scene when Rajnikanth and Chiranjeevi shared stage at the audio release of the former’s Endhiran. With these two biggies on stage, Aishwarya Rai was least missed!

The Teen Choice Awards was a typical high-school event with almost everyone bagging awards! And yes, Robert Pattinson, Megan Fox, Kristen Stewart were among the ‘lucky’ winners.

- By Koimoi.com Team

Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots has been selected for the 67th Venice Film Festival. It will be held from September 1 to 11 in Venice. The film will also be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, co-produced by the NFDC, stars Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah and Prashant Prakash.

By Koimoi Team