Rage of Ra.One

Shah Rukh Khan isn’t mincing his words. The actor admits he’s disappointed with the way he feels his film Ra.One was shortchanged by critics. SRK reveals that he was hoping his endeavour to “introduce a new genre to Hindi cinema” would be acknowledged, even if the film itself wasn’t wholeheartedly embraced.

He has said that he finds Indian critics don’t show the same grace towards Indian films (and also make fewer allowances for Indian films) that they do for Hollywood and foreign cinema. Pointing to reviews that praised Andy Serkis for his performance as Captain Haddock in Tintin, and Caesar the monkey in Rise of the Planet of the Apes recently—both achieved through performance-capture technology, in which an actor ‘acts’ out the part, but is rendered on the screen as a different character—Shah Rukh has said the same generosity and enthusiasm isn’t shown locally: “For the actor who played Jaadu the extra-terrestrial in Krrish, for example. Does anyone even know who the actor in that costume was?”

SRK says foreign reviews for Ra.One at least commended the filmmakers’ attempt to introduce “cutting-edge special effects” to Hindi movies, whereas Indian reviews “judged me personally instead of the film”. He also pooh-poohs rumours that his plans to make a sequel have been aborted now. “As soon as I can raise the money and come up with a watertight script, I’ll make a bigger, better sequel,” he threatens.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan have made it clear that there will be no wedding bells until they release Agent Vinod. And given just how many times that film has shifted from its intended release date, industrywallas are joking that fans shouldn’t exactly hold their breath for the nikaah.

According to the latest buzz, Saif’s ambitious home production will be ready for an end February 2012 release. But Eros International, the film’s co-producers, have decided they’re not going to make their oft-repeated mistake of announcing a release date too soon. They’ve figured they’d rather wait until director Sriram Raghavan delivers the final edit before making an official announcement.

Another hiccup in the way of the film’s intended February release is the fact that leading lady Kareena Kapoor already has another film coming out the same month. Her Ek Main Aur Ek Tu opposite Imran Khan is slated to open on 10 February, and industry pundits are of the opinion that there ought to be at least a few weeks inbetween both films.

Moving Agent Vinod further along the calendar isn’t an option, given that March and April are considered relatively slower months because of school exams, followed by the IPL.

The summer is already crowded with other big movies, and shifting the film’s release too far out also means repeating the February conundrum, since Kareena already has her Aamir Khan-starrer Talaash scheduled to open in the first week of June. That doesn’t leave the makers of Agent Vinod with too many options. They’ve zeroed in on February, it appears. If Mr Raghavan stops tinkering with the edit and delivers the picture, that is.

This has-been female star is in no hurry to quell rumours that she’s romantically involved with her close friend, who’s a partner with her in a film production company she started recently. The gentleman in question has been seen by her side at several public occasions recently, and even played co-host at a party she threw for her industry friends to celebrate the opening of her new office.

Film industry sources, however, reveal it’s not the partner-friend that the actress is in a relationship with, but a Pune builder who has close ties with an NCP politico. The story goes that it’s her Pune boyfriend who has invested nearly Rs 80 crore in her new production venture, which has allowed her to buy a residential flat in London, an office in Mumbai, and the expensive designer bags and shoes that she flaunts each time she’s at a public function.

Insiders joke that it’s hard to tell if the actress is hiding her boyfriend because he’s not exactly easy on the eye (poor chap— good enough to financially exploit, but not presentable enough to show off), or because she wants to carry on giving everyone the impression that she’s a self-made woman.