The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:28 PM PST Want to catch Don 2 for free? Film distributor Antenna Entertainments is giving away 50 pairs of tickets to the screening of Shah Rukh Khan's latest action thriller at KL Odeon. To win free passes to the movie, answer the following questions: 1. Who is the director of Don 2? 2. Who is the local actor who has a role in Don 2? 3. Complete this slogan in 15 words or less: "I can't wait to watch Don 2 because _____________. Email your answers, together with your full name, NRIC number and contact number to don2malaysia@yahoo.com with the subject "DON 2 TICKET GIVEAWAY" by midnight, Dec 19, 2011. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:27 PM PST Bollywood director Farhan Akhtar found that he just couldn't stay away from continuing the story of Don. NOTHING puts the pressure on a director like making the sequel to a hugely successful movie. When that sequel also happens to have Bollywood's biggest star in it, you can practically feel the heat being turned up. Director Farhan Akhtar, however, sounded cool as a cucumber during a recent phone interview for the release of action thriller Don 2, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2006's Don, which sees Shah Rukh Khan returning to take on the titular role. "The movie has to be different, people don't want to watch the same film again," says the 37-year-old director, who has also written the screenplay for the movie. "We've definitely upped the ante on this one. This is from the action film genre, but based on my sensibility of how it should be." Of course, Farhan has been through this before: Don itself was a remake of a 1978 classic Bollywood hit starring none other than the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, and the pressure on the filmmaker to match up to its hype was tremendous. Luckily, the remake turned out to be a great hit. Bringing together Farhan's stylish direction and a slick performance as the bad guy from Shah Rukh, Don won both critical acclaim and fan appreciation for putting a thoroughly modern spin on a classic, and the ingenious twist at the end shocked even the most jaded filmgoers. But one wonders, why would Farhan put himself through this arduous process again? "Don deserved a sequel for a couple of reasons," he explains. "One, is my fascination with the character. Second, was just the general, very vocal, curiousity people had about the first movie. Everyone kept asking, 'What is Don going to do next?' and 'How can you just leave us hanging?' "All this got me thinking about what a sequel could be like. A very interesting plot developed from there, and now, here we are." Widely acknowledged as a discerning director, Farhan's filmography certainly makes up with quality what it lacks in length. Debuting as a director in 2001 with the superhit Dil Chahta Hai (which bagged a National Film Award), he went on to direct the critically-acclaimed Lakshya (2004) and then Don. He is also a respected actor in his own right, having starred in films like Rock On! and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Don 2 will be his first directing stint in five years. Picking up where the first movie left off, Don 2 follows the exploits of international criminal Don, who, having conquered the Asian underworld, sets his eyes on European domination. Hot on his heels are the international law enforcement agencies and underworld bosses. As the action shifts from Kuala Lumpur to Berlin, Don has to avoid both assassination and arrest to ensure his daring plan succeeds. The film's trailer shows Shah Rukh in several new guises, including a scruffy, long-haired look while he is imprisoned. Boasting action-packed sequences, plenty of style, and a smouldering Shah Rukh, Don 2 looks set to live up to its predecessor. The film also sees the return of many cast members, including Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri and Boman Irani, while Lara Dutta and Kunal Kapoor have been added to the already glitzy cast list. Malaysian fans will be happy to know that, like the first movie, several key sequences are set here, too. "We shot in the prison in Malacca, and a few locations in Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. Don ended in Malaysia, so this one follows it up by beginning there," says Farhan, who spent about two months shooting here earlier this year with Shah Rukh and other cast members. Malaysians can also look forward to seeing local actor Ady Putra, known for his turns in Haq and Histeria, play a role in Don 2. Farhan points out that the first movie's success can be both a blessing and a curse. "With the first film being so successful, people go to the sequel expecting something new and exciting, but at the same time, they are expecting something to happen at the end of the movie like it did in the first one. "When you're writing the script, this is already a handicap. So the challenge was, how do you write a story, and still give them a payoff at the end that is unexpected?" He added, however, that reuniting with the cast was an enjoyable experience. "It was nice to work with characters that were already established, but create a whole new world for them. Everyone was very excited to work on the sequel. There is a lot of action in the movie, so they've all put in a lot of effort and hard work to make sure it is done at the level we want." With the excitement building as Don 2's release nears, Farhan is not letting himself get hot under the collar. "I think we've managed to achieve what we set out to do. At the advance screenings we've had, everyone's been completely taken in by the way the story unfolds, and by what happens with Don by the end of the film," he says. > Don 2 opens nationwide on Dec 23. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:25 PM PST The movie adaptation of Stieg Larsson's book The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo puts Sweden in the spotlight. VIOLENCE, a sexually abused heroine and the forbidding wintry landscape of director David Fincher's new The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film may alter any pre-conceived notions of Sweden as a socialist paradise. Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard, who plays the corporate executive of a family firm with a terrible secret, said that although the film explores a very fictional dark side of society its portrayal of feminine strength was particularly Swedish. "Such a strong female hero as we have in this film and such a soft male hero as we have in this film, I think that is typical Swedish,'' he told reporters when he hit the red carpet for the Stockholm premiere of the Hollywood version of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's best-selling thriller. Sweden is known for its cradle-to-grave welfare system and Ikea department stores. The film and books paint another picture, more in tune with its bleak and cold winters and a dark side found in a number of Swedish crime novels that have taken the publishing world by storm in the last decade. Skarsgard said foreigners in general did not know much about the small Scandinavian country and hoped that Sweden would not be too associated with the crime wave genre that has put Swedish Noir at the top of the modern world's literary map. "I hope they don't think that the way Sweden is portrayed in those books and films is the way Sweden is, because it is still a very peaceful and lovely and very nice country to live in,'' he said. The film received solid early reviews and critics especially praised Rooney Mara's appearance as the fearless sexual abuse survivor and punkish computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. Mara said it was essential that much of the film was made in Sweden. "Some people questioned why we came to Sweden to make the film and why we did not just make our American version in America but I don't think you can really tell the story without telling it in Sweden. I think it is a very Swedish story, I think all the characters are very Swedish,'' she said. In the story, Salander teams up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist in search of a killer. Blomkvist is played by British actor Daniel Craig, best known for the role of James Bond. "What it tells about Sweden for me is that there is a huge story-telling tradition here and it is a sort of dark tale, something that we can all relate to in Northern Europe. They have worldwide mass appeal it seems,'' Craig said. Dragon Tattoo is the first of the late Larsson's best-selling Millennium trilogy of books, which has sold more than 60 million copies in 48 countries worldwide. Helena Lindblad, a film critic at the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, said the huge success of the books and the films had opened the world market for other Scandinavian authors and actors, for example Noomi Rapace who played Salander in the Swedish adaption of the trilogy for the screen. "This success of Stieg Larsson's is definitely the icebreaker. It is quite unreal and has opened doors for Swedish Crime or Swedish Noir or whatever you want to call it and that it has become a term associated with these films and books,'' Lindblad, who attended the Swedish premiere on Tuesday, said. Lindblad said she really liked the film. And though remakes in general were "not particularly exciting'' cinematically, director Fincher, added qualities, not the least visually. She also said the interaction between the main characters was stronger in the Hollywood adaption than in the Swedish original. She said Fincher captured Sweden in an excellent way. Salvador Munoz, a fan who was celebrity spotting at the premiere, said that Fincher could add "more of Stieg Larsson-darkness'' to the film. He said Evil was Fincher's signature. "It is man's other side, the dark side of people. He portrays it so well,'' Munoz said. > The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is slated to open in Malaysia next February. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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