Katrina Kaif's Raajneeti party plan has spoiled by Rain

Katrina Kaif was supposed to fly down to Mumbai for a day to attend the Raajneeti success party on Wednesday from Spain, where she is shooting for Zoya Akhtar's Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara, but the actress had to drop her plans because of the inclement weather there.

The Raajneeti team has a lot to celebrate about, but director Prakash Jha wanted no celebration until his lucky mascot Katrina was available.

But Zoya's crew has been facing rough weather ever since they arrived in Spain. Apparently six days of shooting had to be cancelled because of heavy rains. And now they need to quickly make up for lost time since their work permits and visas would expire.

Jha admits that Katrina would be unable to make it to the party.

"They've lost a lot of time because of the rain in Spain. I couldn't dream of having a Raajneeti bash without Katrina. And I had postponed it until her availability. But now it's impossible for Katrina to fly down," Jha said.

Katrina even requested the film's producers and the director to accommodate her absence for less than a day.

Says a source close to Katrina: "Since Prakash Jha was very, very keen to have her down to Mumbai for the bash, and had even made all the arrangements for her flight, Katrina was not willing to give up the idea of attending the function. She offered to be back in less than 24 hours. Katrina was willing to fly to Mumbai, attend the Raajneeti bash on Wednesday and fly out the same night to re-join the ...Dobara team the next morning. But this has not been allowed."

Jha will now record a video message from Katrina and play it at the party. "So she will be with us in spirit if not in person," he said.

Katrina, on the other hand, tried to sound diplomatic and not disappointed. "It is a big day. And the success of Raajneeti is very precious to me. But I can't leave the crew in Spain."

She admits there're lots of unscheduled breaks. Katrina has got one of her sisters, Melissa, to join her in Spain to give her company at break time.

"London is just two hours, so Melissa could join me. Mumbai is in another hemisphere. Flying down is impossible. Please tell Prakashji, mera party baqi raha," she said.

If Raavan(an) and Raajneeti as Epic

When it rains, it pours! That’s what it seems like now. It has been quite a while since any of our great epics have been adapted on screen. And when they happen, they are releasing within a fortnight of each other. First, it was Raajneeti; an adaptation of the Mahabharata and on the 18th it will be Raavanan; adaptation of the Ramayana.

Now, how much of an adaptation are these films; i.e., are they 100% genuine adaptations of the epics, told in a modern setting or are they interpretations of the epics that take a few liberties? This is an attempt to analogize characters in these films with their counterparts in the epics. This is purely imaginative/analytical and is not authoritative information on the film or the epic.

Raajneeti:

The modern Mahabharata. In the film, as in the real epic, the issue is the power to rule. In the epic, the cousins fought over kingdoms while in the movie, the fight is over the authority in a political party.
The Kaurava group:
Unlike the epic, this group does not have 100 brothers. But, the mastermind and lead of them all is there, Duryodhana, which is the character of Virendra played by Manoj Bajpai. Strongly objecting when his father’s younger brother is given the reins of power; scheming the ouster of his cousin from the party and resorting to all kinds of unethical tactics to get the better of them in the elections.

The other main character on the Kaurava side that actually belonged to the Pandava clan by birth is portrayed by Ajay Devgn as Sooraj. Most of you might not have much difficulty in guessing the character from the epic which Sooraj represents; the highly respected Karna; the man who gave more importance to his friendship and loyalty rather than any blood relation. He who chose to stay alongside his ally and friend even at the cost of being killed by his younger brother. The man who always stood true to his word. And he who wears the ‘kundalas’ on his ears. Karna is perhaps the character that has been most earnestly adapted from the Mahabharata into Rajneethi.

The Pandava group:

Here too, unlike in the epic, there aren’t five brothers; only two. Which two brothers are being depicted here?

The elder brother, played by Arjun Rampal, can be considered as Yudhishthira by the virtue of being eldest. But, the characterization does not fully represent Yudhishthira in the way he has been shown in Mahabharata. Yudhishthira is known as the most righteous and just of all the Pandavas. He is also the only Pandava to survive the final trek through the Himalayas. These traits are not associated with the character in the film. Yet, as the eldest and the rightful heir to the throne of power, Arjun Rampal’s character will be that of Yudhishthira. The younger brother, played by Ranbir Kapoor, is no doubt Arjuna. With his razor sharp brain that devises tactics, his proximity to the character of Krishna who is always ready with his advice and his ultimate slaying of Duryodhana and Karna, the character of Arjuna has been faithfully adapted.

Krishna:

One of the most important characters in the Mahabharata; the God who gives moral strength and courage to the Pandavas; Lord Krishna, played by Nana Patekar as Brij Gopal. He constantly advices Arjun about political tactics and at the end tells him to cross the line of ethics when it comes to putting an end to one’s enemy.

Dritharashtra and Pandu:

The younger brother handed over the rein after the elder suffers the stroke is the father of the Pandava side and should thus be Pandu. The elder stroke ridden and paralyzed brother is the father of Virendra (Duryodhana) and should thus be Dritharashtra. Furthermore, he is a silent spectator to all the proceedings from his hospital bed; much like Dritharashtra who was blind and helpless. It also goes without saying that the mother of the Pandava side is Kunti, who is also shown in the film to have given birth to Karna and then set him afloat in the waters of Ganga for their family’s charioteer (car driver) to find him.

Other characters:

There are some characters from the Mahabharata who could not be detected in Raajneeti. Some of them are pivotal characters in the great epic; like the great Bhishmacharya, the wily Shakuni, Dronacharya etc.

Now to the other film and the other great epic; Raavanan and the Ramayana It would be unwise to guess the nature of the characters even before the film releases, especially knowing Mani Ratnam’s style of film making which leaves nothing predictable. But, if Raavanan is indeed an interpretation of the Ramayana, then there are certain things that should be the way we assume.

Raavanan:

The title role of the film, being played by Vikram in Tamil and Abhishek Bachchan in Hindi. There is no doubt about the nature of this character. The extremely powerful, daring asura who kidnaps the wife of Rama. It is obvious that Prithviraj plays Rama in Tamil, while Vikram is Rama in the Hindi version. And, it goes without saying that Aishwarya Rai portrays Sita.

Now, these are the pretty obvious characters. What about the other important characters? Here is a guess.

The trailers have shown Prabhu as a part of the tribal clan, with quite fierce expressions. This leads to thinking that he should be a strong character on the Raavana side. So, we thought (no connection to his physique) that he could be playing the character of Kumbhakarna. While Munna who has also been shown as part of the tribal clan might be Vibhishana, who joins hands with Rama in the end. Priyamani too has been shown as part of the tribal clan and it is being speculated that she could represent Surpanaka. But, it is not clear whether she plays Raavana’s sister, which also leaves the possibility that she could be Mandodari.

Another key actor who has not yet featured in the trailers is Karthik. Going by reports, he plays the role of a forest officer. A wild guess from this small piece of information leads us to three possibilities. Karthik could be any one out of Hanuman, Sugriva or Jatayu.

Is our guess right? Let’s wait and watch.

Raajneeti movie: Two petitions rejected by High Court

The Mumbai High Court yesterday rejected two separate petitions, seeking stay on Prakash Jha’s ‘Raajneeti’.

In one petition, a scriptwriter Yogendra Konkar alleged that the film was based on his own script titled ‘Rajniti: A political saga’. Yogendra’s lawyer said that his script was registered with the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association (IMPAA) in March 2009. Jha’s lawyer Ashish Kamat pointed that ‘Raajneeti’ script was registered in December 2008 and hence there is no way the script could have been plagiarized.

Justice Kathawalla refused to stay the film, saying that the two scripts are different.

In another petition, congress worker Naseem Khan has moved the high court for an interim stay after the sessions court rejected his applications last week. According to Khan, the character played by Katrina Kaif in the film was based on Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi and it defamed her.

Ah... At last the road for a safe release of ‘Raajneeti’ one of the most awaited film for this year is clear.

Raajneeti gets UA certificate after the A certificate

Raajneeti has finally got a UA certificate but not without some vital scenes, including Arjun Rampal and Katrina Kaif's 'aesthetically shot love making scene' that director Prakash Jha says was 'absolutely essential', being edited out.

"It was a very aesthetically shot love making scene. Arjun and Katrina are two very beautiful people. And they made love to the camera. The Tribunal (Film Certification Appellate Tribunal) felt it was a bit too explicit for a ‘UA’ audience. I didn’t argue," Jha said.

Jha’s weeklong battle with the censor board ended on Wednesday with the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal in New Delhi viewing Raajneeti and granting it a ‘UA’ certificate.

The director had challenged the censor board’s decision earlier last week to grant Raajneeti an ‘A’ certificate with cuts.

Jha sees the reduction of the Katrina-Rampal love making scene as a blow.

"The love scene was absolutely essential. Unlike other directors I had not shot extra footage so that the censors could take away whatever portion they liked. I had shot the love making scene exactly the way it was meant to be. I've had to reduce it by half.

"It's a disappointment to all of us. I've also had to beep out the F… word uttered by Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in two different places in the plot. Ex-justice Usha Mehra, who headed the Tribunal, requested me to do away with the F… word. But it didn't make a difference," he said.

Ajay Devgn, Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai too will be seen Raajneeti. Releasing on June 4, the political thriller will be the behind-the-scenes look at politics, strategies behind election campaigns, scandals and much more.

Apparently, the censor board had earlier objected to two sequences - one showing the rigging of elections by fitting ballot boxes with specially designed gadgets and the other showing a female politician offering sex in exchange for an election ticket.

"An ‘A’ certificate brings on a specific mindset on the audience. They think the film has sleazy content. So I preferred to let the film be referred to the Tribunal," said Jha.

Also Arjun's volatile character in Raajneeti shouts lurid and graphic expletives Hindi at a police officer. These remain intact while the 'f' word is gone.

Several recent Hindi films like Omkara and Ishqiya were plastered with expletives but got away at the censors with an A certificate.

Katrina will play an army recruit

Media reports hinted that Katrina Kaif will start work on her first production venture after the release of her political thriller Raajneeti, but her spokesperson says that the reports are not true.

"Katrina is just going over details and is in talks regarding her debut production but nothing has been finalised as of now," says the star's spokesperson.

There were also reports that Katrina will play an army recruit in it.

"There is no truth to the news that Katrina will be playing an army recruit. It is too soon to talk about it as nothing as been finalised as of now," said a source close to the actress.

"When the time comes an announcement will be made about her debut production project. As of now Katrina is just in talks and toying with ideas," added the source.

Katrina Kaif says Actresses are not friends

Katrina Kaif, who is all set to make a splash in her upcoming flim ’Raajneeti’, says her mentor-turned-boyfriend Salman Khan was always sure of her doing well and making a mark for herself in the tinsel town.

On co-stars, she said, "Akshay and I complement each other well."Katrina feels that finding good friends was a very difficult task in the film industry. "It’s a reality, actresses are forced to accept. You can be friends with a director and he may not take you in his next film. You may find people who you counted on, not standing by you during your low phase. One has to be careful on what basis you are building your friendships," she said.

On vibes she shares with other top Bollywood actresses, Katrina says, "Actresses are not friends because there is no time. We are too much into each other’s space to be friends, but I am cordial with Preity Zinta, Kareena and Priyanka and we hang out whenever we meet."

Katrina said she started working at a very young age. "I am aware that I have to figure my path from here as an individual and as a woman, about the decisions I have to take in life."

To a question on her comments that she would get married in two years, Katrina said, "I don’t know why I said that. It’s said that man proposes and god disposes. I may have this lovely plan but who knows two years from now we may be sitting in this same room discussing a new film or my wedding."

The actress said it was just a thought.. "Waking up with a silly dream in my head."

On her accented Hindi posing a bit of a problem, the actress said, "Every one speaks with an accent. For ’Raajneeti’, I wanted to erase the accent during dubbing especially for difficult words. Even Arjun Rampal did not know the meaning of the word Aadyashakti which I knew."

Katrina said even though it has not been stated in clear terms, her character in the film, which is a rich, spoilt brat, has probably studied abroad."Apart from guiding me, Salman had confidence in me. He is not the person to say that because he is friendly with you. He will say it genuinely," said Katrina.

The 25-year-old actress feels that it was her destiny that she came into the Hindi film industry and succeeded. She has many people to thank for her soaring career here."There are too many people whom I can call my godfather. I am grateful and indebted to them. Even Akshay Kumar took a risk in working with me initially," she said.

"He did not know me at all. He was at crossroads of his career. When he did ’Namastey London’, people thought he had gone insane. Nobody is going to damage or destroy himself to help somebody else. Salman and Akshay believed in me and that is my good fortune and destiny," she said.

Katrina says the fact that her earlier films did well at the box office was a "miracle", helping her weave the success story.

"Had those films failed, nobody could have done anything for me. I don’t think I would have got a second chance if the movies bombed," she said.

The actress is appalled at how the media romantically links everyone with anyone.

"By doing this, media is discounting its own credibility. It is not possible to have so many link ups. This is the film industry and not a dating industry. One cannot be that fickle. We also have morals. Our professions may be different..Even an infatuation does not change that fast," she said apparently referring to her rumoured relationship with co-star Ranbir Kapoor.

Also, Katrina does not believe that on screen chemistry between two co-stars makes a film work.

"It is the film that works. I and Salman worked in ’Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ and ’Partner’ which were successes, but ’Yuvvraj’ crashed," she pointed out.

Katrina Kaif and Ranbir to spread political awareness

Taking a clue from ‘3 Idiots’, Bollywood heart throbs Katrina and Ranbir will be visiting campuses all over India to discuss on youth and politics as a promotional campaign for their forthcoming flick ‘Raajneeti’.

Yesterday they visited the Indian Institute Of Management (IIM) in Bangalore where the film was shot for an inter-face with students on the subject of Youth & Politics.

Director Prakash Jha who accompanied Katrina and Ranbir will be there to give them inputs wherever they go.

It’s believed Ranbir is very serious and will be doing his homework before visiting any place while Katrina is taking it as a learning experience.

The plan is to take Ranbir and Katrina to various campuses in select cities and to discuss issues related to the country’s politics with the youth through rallies and talk shows. The whole exercise will be telecast on Star News, the media partner of the film.