What was so special about the kannada movie OM?

 It was indeed a special movie, for it was directed by one of the best film makers in the world, Upendra. It was a gangster movie, one of its kind, that wasn't explored in Kannada industry that well till then.

For the sake of the movie, the story that was about underworld mystery, Upendra brought in realistic factor by asking the real-life underworld dons to act in it. Bekkinakannu Rajendra, Korangu Krishna, Tanveer Ahmed, and Jedarahalli Krishna were some of the gangsters who acted in the movie.

• The movie was re-released for a whopping 632 times, which is an All-time record in the history of Indian cinema.
• For 75 times out of the 632 re-releases, the movie ran for more than 100 days.
• In 2015, the TV rights of the movie wa ssold out for a whopping ₹10cr, highest for a Kannada movie (then) even after 20 years of its release.
• The movie collected ₹25cr at the box office, which was the highest for a Kannada movie back then.

The songs of the movie were legendary and the story was quite unique as well. Thanks to the execution, it turned out to be a perfect gangster movie back then.

It's a cult classic movie in Kannada film industry.

Image courtesy - Metrosaga.

Has a movie ever ruined the careers of promising actors and actresses?

 Quite often yes and one actress certainly comes to my mind when it comes to this subject:

Anyone who grew up in the 90s would no doubt remember this promising young actress who was famous for a short brief period of time named Alicia Silverstone.

Yeah that’s her in both pictures but anyways she was a very young actress at the time who made her acting debut in this psychological thriller called The Crush (1993).

Think Fatal Attraction only this time the psychotic dame is a 14 year old girl played by Alicia Silverstone who has an obsessed crush on a guy who’s an adult and way older than she is and is already romancing a grown woman but just like Glenn Close she doesn’t take to being rejected very well and starts to seriously stalk this guy and goes so far as to try to kill him and his girlfriend.

Well the movie didn’t quite get big ratings (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 25 percent) but it did jumpstart Alicia’s career as a promising actress in the 90s who would later on become extremely popular when she starred in the movie Clueless (1995).

A popular teenage flick to where she played a rich, self-centered, teenage drama queen who’s living the highly popular social life with her teenage friends in high school who becomes a matchmaker for this one girl played by late actress Brittany Murphy by giving her a complete makeover only for this girl to become more popular than she is and throughout the movie she pretty much learns that when it comes to love and romance she’s completely CLUELESS. Well the movie became such a popular cult hit and for a short time it became a major franchise to where a TV series spinoff came on shortly after the movie came out which ran for a few seasons. (Unfortunately Alicia did not star in it nor did Brittany Murphy) And girls everywhere thought it was cool to act like those girls in the movie quoting phrases like “Whatever” or “As if” in those extremely sassy ANNOYING tones and the movie itself pretty much made Alicia one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood at the time who pretty much had a promising career ahead of her if it had not been for the fact that she starred in the very abomination known as…….

Batman & Robin (1997)

Yep unfortunately that’s her on the left as Batgirl alongside George Clooney as Batman and Chris O’Donnell as Robin. Well anyone who remembers the 90s would certainly know that this Grade A Disaster of a superhero movie directed by Joel Schumacher who obviously didn’t know anything about Batman was a complete box office flop that would become known as the absolute worst superhero movie ever made that not only sent the first Batman movie series into the grave but completely DESTROYED Alicia’s short lived movie career after her disastrous role as Batgirl. In fact her version of Batgirl was so bad that all these fans went so far as to constantly refer to her as Fatgirl because of her extremely bad costume but that wasn’t her fault because if there’s anyone to blame for everything that was wrong with the movie it’s none other than Joel Schumacher of course. But nevertheless very shortly after the movie BOMBED at the box office bigtime her career went completely downhill and by the 2000s she pretty much completely faded out of sight. At one point though she did try to make a comeback with a TV sitcom on NBC called Miss Match but unfortunately the show was a ratings flop which got canceled after a few episodes and once again she completely faded out of sight so while you may see her every now and then it’s obvious she hasn’t at all made a successful comeback since the 90s ended and Batman & Robin pretty much destroyed her very short lived career which is such a sad shame considering she certainly had a promising career after The Crush & Clueless.

Additional Note: I should also mention that not only did Batman & Robin ruined Alicia Silverstone’s career but also before that movie actor Chris O’Donnell had quite a very promising career going for him as well after starring in these movies in the 90s but after his role as Robin in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin which many fans came to hate his movie career also went straight downhill as well but unlike Alicia he did manage to make a successful comeback with the TV show spinoff NCIS Los Angeles along with LL Cool J who he stars alongside with. So while his movie career may have ended he at least still has a career with a TV show.

What are some of the best Bollywood dialogues we failed to notice?

 I don’t know if you failed to notice, but here are my observations. Here are some well meaning dialogs in which the director tried to make a link with previous or next ones.

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In ‘Ham Aapke Hain Kaun’, when Salman gets a call from an unknown girl during his brother’s marriage, the unknown girl, Madhuri’s friend, says her name ‘Suman’ and tells him that they were in love in previous life. Suman was the lead character in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ played by Bhagyashree i.e Salman’s love interest in the previous movie.

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In Andaaz Apna Apna, Salman says that he has watched Sholay multiple times, when Aamir and he decide to toss the coin. In reply Aamir Khan mocks him and says it’s written by his father. Sholay was actually written by Salman’s father Salim Khan.

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In Gangs of Wasseypur - Part II, Nawazuddin offers one of his captives to become his informant. In return, he would give him full goat instead of of mutton pieces. And guess what, he does the same.

Which famous Kannada movie actors have acted in Malayalam movies and vice versa?

 Shruti

This kannadiga actress has acted in few couple of movies in Malayalam like oral matram, swantham Malavika, CI Mahadevan 5 Adi 4 inch etc. However she was known for her portrayal as Dr. Ambili in Kottaram veetile apputten opposite Jayaram.

Sudha Rani

This Karnataka state award winning actress has acted only in one movie opposite Jayaram in Adythekanmani. This movie was a big blockbuster and remade into Hindi as beti number 1. The actress was loved by Malayalee audiences for her natural beauty and good acting skills. But we Malayalees were not lucky to have her back in Malayalam movies.

Sumalatha

There is no introduction needed for sumalatha in Mollywood. She has acted in multiple Malayalam movies and wooed the audiences with her acting and natural beauty. Her most popular character was Clara from thoovanthumbikal. Her pairing with superstars Mohanlal & Mammooty was always appreciated by the audience.

Madhoo Shah

Madhoo or Madhubala is technically not a kannadiga as she is from a Tamil family but ever since her comeback she has been part of sandalwood industry with good characters. Madhoo has acted in movies like Yoddha, Nilgiri, Ottayalpattalam, Ennod Ishtam koodamo. All these movies were blockbusters of the time. Her pairing with Mukesh is one of my personal favourite onscreen couples of Mollywood.

Nikki Galrani

Nikki has played multiple movies in Malayalam. Her most popular movie was Vellimoonga. She is quite perfect for playing Christian characters in Malayalam movies. Nikki herself accepted that she is loved a lot by Malayalee audiences.

Soundarya

Soundarya has acted in two Malayalam movies. Had she been alive she would have been doing many Malayalam movies as she was quite perfect to play a natural Malayalee women onscreen.

Sanjana Galrani

Sister of Nikki Galrani has acted in movies like The king & commissioner, Casanova etc. However unlike her sister Sanjana was unnoticed by the audience as the movies she has acted was not a big commercial hits.

Vedika Kumar

Vedika has acted in movies like Sringaravelan, Cousins, James and Alice, Welcome to Central Jail etc. her most popular roles was that Alice from James and Alice.

Madhavi

Madhavi though born in a Telugu family has made a name of her own in both Kannada and Malayalam movie industry. Her most famous role is from Akashadhoothu where she played a single parent who is a blood cancer patient who wanted to keep her children safe before her death.

Parul Yadav

Parul though is a North Indian, she is a popular actress in sandalwood industry now; she started her film career from Malayalam. Her debut movie was Krithyam opposite Prithviraj. She also acted in a crime thriller Black Dalia. She didn’t became a popular actress in Malayalam as the movies she acted were flops.

Shraddha Srinath

This Kannada Filmfare winning actress started her film career from Malayalam. Her debut was a Malayalam movie named Kohinoor. She played a parallel lead in this movie. This movie was a flop.

Vinaya Prasad

Vinaya has acted in multiple Malayalam movies in her career. She is popularly known as Sridevi from Manichitrathazhu. She also played lead roles in Malayalam TV industry. She still acts in Malayalam movies as supporting actress.

Meghna Raj

Meghna raj has acted in multiple Malayalam movies of which most popular characters of her are from the movies Beautiful & Memories.

Veteran actresses like Bharati, Jayanti etc has acted in multiple Malayalam movies.

Now actresses who have acted in sandalwood industry from Malayalam:

Sitara

Sitara has acted only in Kannada movies continually for 7 years and has been part of good movies.

Bhavana

Bhavana is another malayee actress who had made her own name in sandalwood industry.

Nitya Menon

Nitya though her parents are malayees she has been born and bought up in Bangalore. She has done few good movies in Kannada.

Actresses like Parvathy Thiruvottu, Prayaga Martin, Chippy, Navya Nair, Gopika, Divya Unni, Nayantara, Meera Jasmine, Mamta Mohandas, Vani Vishwanath, Vijaya Lakshmi has acted in Kannada movies.

Kannada actors like Ananth Nag, Vishnuvardhanan, Ambareesh has acted in Malayalam movies which is mentioned by others so I am not repeating here. Mohanlal & Mammooty too acted in Kannada movies.

How realistic is the movie Armageddon?

 It's really really unrealistic from the beginning.

Armageddon (1998 film)

A asteroid the size of Texas is headed towards earth, instead of nuking it directly from earth they decided to drill it.

Instead of sending astronauts, they send oil drillers because apparently it is easier to turn oil drillers into astronauts than the other way around.

That's completely ridiculous because it takes years to become a astronaut and less time to become oil drillers.

Another ridiculous thing is exploding a nuke on the surface. It wouldn't work because a asteroid the size of Texas is too big to even vaporize.

A better solution is to send a payload containing Tsar Bomba. The powerful nuke in existence.It is 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

Nuke near the asteroid to push it slightly so it's trajectory misses earth. There is nothing else we can do other than changing it's trajectory.

What movie franchise would not exist if it were not up to one actor or actress?

 Terminator.

Matrix.

Fast and Furious.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

Iron Man.

Captain America.

The Boys.

John Wick.

Alien.

Superman.

Deadpool.

The Mummy.

Mission Impossible.

Jumanji.

Venom.

Which Akshay Kumar movie flopped in the 90s but were actually good?

 Akshay Kumar did some Good films in the 90’s which unfortunately didn't fare well at the box office. Particularly between 1997–99 he gave a dozen flops. One of his most unfortunate flop was the 1999 film Sangharsh.

Sangharsh is a remake of Oscar winning film The Silence of the Lambs, with Akshay Kumar and Preity Zinta in the lead roles and Ashutosh Rana in the negative role. Akshay Kumar plays a scientist unjustly put behind bars and Preity Zinta a police officer who are trying to stop an evil man from killing children for his occult practices. Both Akshay and Preity are very convincing in their performances but it is Ashutosh Rana who will give chills down your spine. There is a scene in the film where Preity goes to capture him but he dons a female getup and makes a frightening noice. It will scare your soul for ages.

The music for such a dark film is surprisingly good. Two songs are on the top of my playlist. Mujhe Raat din bas mujhe chahti ho and pahli pahli baar baliye. The music is soothing and could be heard indefinite number of times.

Unfortunately the film released when Akshay was going through a bad patch and despite getting good reviews and a Filmfare Best Villain award for Ashutosh Rana the film failed at the box office. This film is one of the most underrated film and performance of Akshay Kumar.

Which is the most ridiculous story of a Bollywood movie ever?

 When they throw a Khan, a Roshan and The Bachchan at us, no one really gives a damn to the plot, just in case if one does, they bring in Ms. Lata Mangeshkar with lines like,“meri saason mein tu hai samaayaa” (you reside in my soul ) and that is how Bollywood makes ‘logic’ look like the 5th gear in a Maruti 800!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the movie you all love :

Kabhi khushi….kabhi ghum

Amitabh Bachchan a.k.a Yash Raichand happens to own a godforsaken mansion with acres of land suffused in green grass at some place near ‘chandini chowk’ with an entire helipad of his own! I don’t really remember spotting one at the ‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’ in Delhi.

Can you blame him for being mad at his ‘adopted’ son for randomly marrying a poorly educated girl from chandini chowk? Should you?

Rahul, hailing from a country where aunties recognize you after 20 years (No problem if they saw you as a fetus or a zygote the last time), doesn’t recognize his own doggone brother, who somehow transformed from what looked like ‘a premature Bappi Lehri’ to ‘a Bradley Cooper’ . I know movies are about things being unreal but you cannot make fun of puberty just like that!

Not to forget, Rahul lets this Bradley Cooper stay at his home when he clearly knows that his wife’s sister dresses a little too provocatively.

Not so smart Rahul, you are adopted indeed!

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Image source: Google.

What are some of the best Bollywood movie posters you have seen and why?

 This one deserves a special mention.

PARINDA:

At first instance you will not find anything special in it. Ever thought why the movie was named Parinda? I watched it when the film released and that time I was under the impression that as it had a scene where Anil Kapoor's friends Anupam Kher is killed in Kabootar Khana (a circle point in Mumbai) surrounded by pigeons, it's named Parinda as it was a very important scene in

aspect to the storyline. But one day I just looked at the cassette cover and noticed something. The pigeon shown in the poster is set as target. Pigeon being a symbol of peace, the idea behind it was to show that peace is at target and that's Parinda was all about. Sheer excellence of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and his team to represent the subject of the film.

AASHIQUI :

This poster played an important part in the success of the film. It generated curiosity about the faces covered by the jacket. The music was a smash hit before the release of the film.

Revealing the faces of Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal would not have given the buzz to the movie to such great extent. Both had normal looks and therefore covering their faces and generating curiosity was a good move indeed.

MOHABBATEIN:

The poster gives us a clear idea about the fight between the antagonist and the protagonist and between them, as the name suggests, tender love is ready to blossom.

HEROINE:

Kareena Kapoor as Heroine but the poster could have been much better if the tags behind “EXPOSED" and “CAUGHT" were not repeated. Some other related tags like “GLAMOUR", “SCANDALS”, “FAME" etc would have covered the entire concept.

DEVDAS:

We all are familiar about the tragic story of Devdas. On one side there is Paro who was Shahrukh's childhood love and on the other side there is Chandramukhi who loved Devdas. Between them is Devdas who finds the “bottle" that ruins his life.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google