What do you do once Nam-e-sake is out and the DVD is long since released? Well, if you’re Kal Penn, you make Harold and Kumar Escape from Gitmo (link makes noise if you open it), but what about the rest of the cast?
Well, Mira Nair is bringing Irfan Khan along to a new project entitled (and I kid you not) Kosher Vegetarian:
The Namesake director Mira Nair is making another movie about intercultural relationships, this time between an Indian guy and a Jewish girl, played by Natalie Portman. In sort of a strange twist, Irfan Khan, who played the father in The Namesake, will play Natalie’s Gujarati boyfriend in the film, tentatively titled Kosher Vegetarian. [Link]
Meanwhile Tabu is opening a Bollywood acting school in London, something that sounds like a Kal Penn film in and of itself:
Bollywood stars Anupam Kher, Urmila Matondkar, Tabu and Boman Irani are opening a “Bollywood Acting School” in London, to train students for a career in Indian cinema. [Link]
I’m just picturing a class of very pasty folks diligently practicing the phrase “Arre o samba!” until they get it right. I imagine the fight instructors stand around saying, “No no no, that’s not nearly fake enough. Your punch needs to pass around 3 feet from his face from the proper Dishoom! Dishoom! fighting technique.”
Clearly your Bollywood knowledge is from 1970’s ๐ else you would have not forgotten the newer Karan Johar masterpieces ๐
Yes, Umber Desi is correct.
Ennis, clearly you didn’t see “Dhoom 2,” with Hrithik Roshan doing acrobatics while speeding through traffic on rollerblades! Today’s bollywood requires men beefed up (possibly with steroids, one suspects), and ladies dolled up to an unprecedented degree. Fights are done with wires, Matrix style. Choreography is hip hop (“raise the roof” is a common move), not disco. No more dishoom, dishoom!
Also, I would have thought Irfan Khan would be way too old to play Natalie Portman’s boyfriend.
So who’s going to take those “acting” classes? White hipsters who are into Bollywood, for a laugh? Eastern Europeans looking to get into the item-number/token white people for parties scenes? Overseas desis who want to put on an extra special show at someone’s shaadi? I bet it’ll turn into a dance school more than an acting one.
To be fair, they point out that there are several bollyflicks shot each year in London and they need actors. The idea is to produce a local pool, probably of desis, who are trained to act in Bollyflix.
Umberdesi – guilty as charged.
Ah, OK. That makes sense, they don’t have to fly over extras that way, and local folks would be thrilled to be in a bollywood movie. But are so many of them really shot in Ing-laand any more? I thought it was too expensive, and New Zealand and SE Asia were more popular.
Sp,
My vote is for Eastern Europeans, if you have been to Bombay recently and gone shopping at Patel Stores near the mount you will know what I am talking about ๐
Ennis,
I don’t think you have missed too much ๐
http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/I/ideasfactory/bollywoodstar/index.html
“apne” may have had some of the greatest lines in film history, “You Dissed Me!!” ๐
Um, does one need any lessons at all to act in a Bollywood film?
Come now, that’s giving the genre waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much credit.
The London acting school is a great idea. The phenotypic ideal for Bollywood casting is white with black hair. There’s only so much of that in the desh and hair dye is cheap
If Bollywood can place Sanjay Dutt opposite heroines more than half his age…..
“The London acting school is a great idea. The phenotypic ideal for Bollywood casting is white with black hair. There’s only so much of that in the desh and hair dye is cheap”
Ealing is brown city!!
I see, this means that the first 10 lessons will be dedicated to getting them to stop adding “innit” after the delivery of each Hindi line
10 รฦรโรยขรขโยฌร ยกรฦรขโฌลกรโรยท Bolly Babe said
If Bollywood can place Amitabh opposite heroines more than 1/4 his age…..
The school is an extension of Anupam Kher’s “The Actor Prepares” program which he runs in several Indian cities.
http://www.actorprepares.net/
Apparently he has plans to soon open branches in Australia, the Middle East, etc. From the few articles I’ve read he’s seeking to get more British Asians involved in Bollywood (along with us white folk who secretly dream of being fillum stars) and to improve the overall quality of acting in Bollywood films. I have to say, of all the Indian actors who could do this, Kher is high up on the list. I love his style, and the passion he seems to have for improving the skills of young actors seems matched only by Naseeruddin Shah. Deepika Padukone is a recent graduate of his program, fyi.
Anyways, it looks fun, if not a bit pricey. It’ll be interesting to follow the careers of some of the people who go through these programs.
Also, I would have thought Irfan Khan would be way too old to play Natalie Portman’s boyfriend. If Bollywood can place Sanjay Dutt opposite heroines more than half his age…..If Bollywood can place Amitabh opposite heroines more than 1/4 his age….
As if Hollywood is putting Harrison Ford, Robert Redford, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn with actress of their ages, well that is the tangential.
Now to Tabu, and her acting school.
First, in Namesake, she was the most famous actress cast – she has had a excellent run in art house Indian cinema and fairly decent in mainstream bollywood movies. So Irfan Khan, and Kal Penn are distant second, third to her in acting resume.
Acting school in London is a very marketable idea – That school is targeted towards likes of Katrina Kaif (a Brit from part Indian ancestory), or even Lisa Ray, or likes Leela Naidu (mixed race, grew in India, and was extremely talented but handful of movies) from yesteryears. There are hazaars of them waiting for right break – from diasporic South Asian ancestory, to be in Bollywood, Tollywood, ………….
Does the school also place you for adoption with a matched Bollywood star so you can get the star-kid boost to your career? It’s just like Angelina Jolie adoptions but with a patronage angle added on.
Irfan Khan is way too old (and unattractive) to credibly play Natalie Portman’s boyfriend. This is a really absurd pairing. Perhaps she plays a blind woman?
Has anyone here seen the Indo-French venture “One Dollar Curry”?
I’d be up for a part in a Bollywood film. Think I’d do quite well actually.
ud be surprised how many older average looking gyuys there r with fly chicks..
17 รยท dfa said
Nooo! I think Irfan Khan is so sexy, no joke. He was the best part of “A Mighty Heart.” (Ok maybe second best…Dan Futterman is gorgeous.)
Kosher Vegetarian, just from the title and the casting, sounds an awful lot like Cheeni Kum. I’ll go see it regardless, I’m too smitten with Mira Nair to miss anything she’s done.
You mean like this???
“Nooo! I think Irfan Khan is so sexy, no joke. He was the best part of “A Mighty Heart.””
Get real. Ifran Khan’s face looks like it’s been used as a punching bag one time too many. His eyes are droopy like he’s about to fall asleep at any moment. He’s old (at least 50). He has a slurred voice. This is sexy?
Kush is right, this is a great business idea and provides a good opportunity for these stars to use their star appeal to make some decent money on the side. I think they will probably have second rung people teaching and will make appearances from time to time. There are enough star struck NRIs, etc who will pay a premium for this.
However, how useful this would be for the students is something I am not so sure about. For mainstream Bollywood, you hardly need any acting skills – Bollywood is not about acting. Good looks, dancing skills and passable acting skills should suffice. For art house stuff you don’t need a Bollywood school, you should go the Lisa Ray route and enroll in a serious acting school. Unless of course the school is going to help provide students with contacts and maybe an entry role. It would be worth it then.
Erm, it does not say anywhere that they are the same age in the script. The casting is probably based of the requirements of the script. And right here if there is at least one woman who finds him attractive, then even if he is not your kind of attractive, it still can be believable enough that a girl falls for him.
22 รยท dfa said
tear
Think what you will…I still find him handsome. ๐
11 รโรยท rudie c Ealing is brown city!! I hear Ealing has some damn good sushi places.
I just discovered you can watch entire movies that have just been released on the net.
Watching Jodha Akbar now. Hritik is gorge! Pathan jeans!
I think it’s time I confess how I despise a lot of Bollywood movies. My skin crawls when I walk into an Indian home with a DISH. And with age, I started despising even some of the 70s movies I tolerated as a little kid. And those Indian TV series – GODDDAAAMN. THey suck. I have liked a few Hindi movies in the past though most of them tend to be the non Bollywood type. The new ones try and fail spectacularly at aping Hollywood. I do not hear anything melodious about the songs and the lyrics, while I cannot follow most of the Hindi ones, have some of the lamest English mixins. Hrithek Roshan looks like he should be auditioning for the next big gay musical(ok, is that redundant). We get it Hrithek. You got big well oiled muscles.
And the editing in Indian movies is some of the worst in the world. Even their slo mos are some of the most amateurish slomos I have seen. They have a lot of second rate DPs. Third rate musical scores(a trait shared with many movies from Asia).
I think Irfan Khan is hot. Very much a thinking woman’s crumpet.
But even so, women are less demanding when it comes to the appearance/age of their boyfriends than the reverse. Desi women particularly. I’m sure everyone here has see their share of large/unattractive desi man-pretty slim wife pairings. Even in cinema – tubby fortysomething Rishi Kapoor and Raj Kapoor before him always got paired with the new young babes. Look at AB now.
I’m a desi girl and I think Irfan Khan is awfully unattractive. The guy who plays Daniel Pearl, on the other hand…
Jodha Akbar was actually quite good.
I watched it for what I usually watch Bollywood films for; the aesthetic experience. In that sense the movie did not disappoint. I never watch a Bollywood film expecting good acting.
What I can’t figure out is why they don’t get someone who knows both hindi and english to do subtitles to these films. I am telling you even the subtitles are crappy only!
Irfan Khan is considered ugly? He seems no different from James Woods type face with less psychotic expressions and Woods got no problems banging chicks on and off film.
With Brits like Upen Patel and Katrina kaif entering bollywood, this is an area that will have demand. Only a few years ago there was a reality show based in the UK searching for a bollywood star (can’t remember the name)which i recall was quite popular i think the acting school will do well and agree with comments in 15. The problems they will face is getting fluent in Hindi so they don’t need so much dubbing.
Despite what most think about bollywood is very popular (and well known in desi and non desi circles) in the UK and so i’m willing to see what stars are made with this school.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/bollywood/article1420095.ece
i think the show was called ‘bollywood idol’
I clearly need to move to the UK as the US cannot handle my MIND-BLOWING acting
ennis, while on topic check out today’s washington post article on bollywood:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/08/AR2008030802679.html
Cross over films are always in making from past but never an Indian actors get the deserved recognition.I hope that Irfan does not come in same queue of unused actors like naseer & ompuri at international stage.Best of luck to him to break this curse. Regarding film institute,It does not become an academy to develop stars not actors.Boman irani and anupam kher has theatrical background;This might help joining batches.
I think some of you need to school yourselves on Indian Cinema before assuming what a bollywood school curriculam might entail. Its an insult to those who take their art seriously like Nassiudin Shan, Om Puri, Manoj Bajpai etc.. Please dont confuse them with melodramatic Shah Rukh Khans and Salman Khans of indian cinema. Not only that, I think Indian cinema produces some of the best cinematography which a lot of hollywood movies lack. I’m not saying all indian movies are great, but for what its worth, there are those who take it seriously and are making millions of them. So its not a joke. And yet in the same breath some of you sit on the edge of your seat hopin’ Hirtik Roshan crosses over to hollywood, “cus dAt wOulD bE jUst aWesOme LoLzers!!!” Typical ABCDs, always switching sides whenever its convienent. “Confused Desis” is very appropriate to some of you commenting on this site. I read and laugh at some of your predictable responses.
Can’t believe the number of people beating up on Irfan Khan for his age. Amardeep, you too? Khan’s not yet 46, Portman is almost 27. That’s not that huge of a difference.
What struck me from Irfan Khan’s roles in Mighty Heart and Namesake is the range in character types as well as the range in age he played so convincingly. Let’s remember that this is the movies, not real life! It’s not who you are, but who you can be convincingly made to look like, and can then also convincingly play, that matters. He’s the tough talking Karachi cop leading the invesigation, having people beaten up, extracting confessions, etc, a reassuring presence conveying that someone is going after the bad guys – in Mighty Heart. He’s also the intellectual type, shy, going through four decades of life in Namesake.
It’s easier for an older person to be made to look younger in the movies than the reverse. Today, with lighting, makeup, angles, selective digital editing, what have you, any number of things are possible. The older person can easily look younger. But for actors of equal ability, it is much harder for a younger actor to play someone older convincingly than the other way round, if only because the older person knows what it is like to have been younger!
The other interesting thing is both of them are well known to native (Israeli for Portman) as well as diasporic audiences, so the authenticity, credibility, even fidelity in the representation that is desired – is there in spades – for both. Mira Nair explained how she negatived Bollywood actors in favor of Kal Penn in Namesake, for this reason. I say Khan-Portman are a dream team for any movie titled ‘Kosher Vegetarian’.
Watched “Metro” last night on internet.
Irfan Khan played “Monto” opposite the young Shruti, played by Konkona Sen Sharma, though his character was 38 in the film, her’s 28 or 29.
Another one of those “alternative” films they call “parallel cinema” in India – directed by a Bengali, of course – Anuraj Basu.
Konkona and her mom have come out with a number of them.
Sorry, that’s “Monty”.
LOL.
Now I’m watching “Mumbai Salsa” on the net.
Just love how you can watch movies for free!
Anyway, another “off Bollywood” film about professional twenty somethings in Bombay and their sex lives – or at least their talks about them – blind folds, threesomes, etc.
I’m shocked!
LOL – this movie!
It’s got an American woman in it representing the new wave of Indian woman cliches and her Indian co-worker representing the old Indian uncle at age 27 wonly!
“one night sit”….
Oh my GAAWD, as Ash would say.
I guess this film was meant to shock the Nagpur and Meerut walla types into the 21st century.
I have only one thing to say about picking Irfan Khan to play lead against Natalie Portman : “Was Paresh Raval not available?? “
Yes, PG, India is really backward.
Dont confuse a million colors for great cinematography. There has been great cinematography in mainstream indian movies from time to time, but such occasions are rare. THat famous Guru Dutt movie (Pyaasa?) was a very good example. Lagaan did a decent job, but i cant tell how good because of the mediocre DVD mastering most Indian movies goes through.
And the editing in Bollywood movies is downright atrocious. I watched part of Dhoom 2. A total joke in every aspect.
Did anyone here not see Closer? Portman has made a career acting alongside older guys. Well except for the Star Wars movies.
And this is nothing next to the kissing scene between Kingsley and one of those olsen twins in some upcoming movie.
Watched THE DARJEELING LIMITED lastnight. Irfan was in that too. Stupid movie.
I just threw up a little bit in my mouth at the idea of Irfan Khan and Natalie Portman being romantically/sexually involved. (And yes, the same holds true for any craggy oldster who gets a hot young chick.) IK is a fantastic actor, but he is NOT, NOT, NOT hot.
who r u to judge what makes ppl happy…