Bollywood News [16 March 2008]

[.BZU.]

Love Story 2050 trailer with Race
The trend of trailers being attached to big films continues. The latest to get a boost in the theaters months ahead of release is Harman Baweja's big epic star-launch Love Story 2050.

The film's slickly-cut trailer which has among other things, Priyanka Chopra in two different avatars and looks, Harman's rock-happy wizkid dancing and loads and loads of FX?all within a few minutes?will be seen with Abbas-Mustan's racy Race from March 21.

The trailer has been put together by the father-son duo (Harry- Harman). Harman is personally ensuring that the trailer goes to all the centers with Race. "In fact, Harman has also closely collaborated in the scripting of Love Story 2050 and just might take credit for co-scripting."

Samsung Telecommunication appoints Aamir as its brand ambassador:
Samsung telecommunications India (STI), a design and technology leader in the Indian mobile market, today, announced the appointment of actor Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador for Samsung mobile phones in India.

Announcing Aamir Khan as Samsung's ambassador for mobile phones, stated Mr. H. B. Lee, president & CEO, Samsung southwest Asia headquarters, "The Samsung brand stands for qualities of innovation, change, discovery, self-expression, and excellence in performance. And these very same qualities are epitomized by Aamir Khan, whose quality and depth of work as well as versatility as an actor, have made him a much loved and respected actor in India today. We are indeed very proud and privileged to have him as our brand ambassador."

The company plans to leverage Aamir in its brand advertising as well as product advertising for mobile phones. In sync with its thrust on introducing innovative products, Samsung today announced its new brand positioning for Samsung mobiles, which is reflected in its new, spunky, tagline - 'next is what ?' being used in all its communication material for mobiles .

Living up to its promise of 'next is what?', Samsung today announced the launch of five new, sleek and stylish Samsung mobile phones that exemplify cutting edge technology and design innovation. The new handset range targets consumers across the multimedia (imaging and music), business lifestyle, and popular segments.

Priyanka Chopra parts way with Pepsi :
A lot has been written about Priyanka Chopra not being the Bollywood face of Pepsi any longer. The electronic media has been going ballistic about how Priyanka has been 'ousted' from her cola status.

"Wrong!" says a very close friend of the actress. "Priyanka just couldn't agree with the price that was being offered. The Pepsi people wanted her to work for the same fee again that they paid her earlier. Priyanka naturally wanted to re-negotiate her deal. When the company didn't budge, she opted out."

Adds the friend, "Priyanka is plush with endorsement assignments. In fact, she's at this very moment shooting an ad with Saif Ali Khan in Bangkok.
I want to do a film for kids" - Emraan Hashmi :
While Emraan Hashmi was romancing around the trees (or can one say, balconies of
high-rise buildings?) with his heroines, there was a steady base of fans being built over the years. So what's new in that? Well, what came as a surprise to Emraan himself was the fact that his fan base didn't just comprise of young girls and boys but even small kids.

"Imagine being told by kids as young as 7/8/9 years old that they have liked me in my films,? exclaims Emraan in mock amusement, "I was like - where have you seen me dear? Most of the films I have done have primarily dealt with adult subjects! Hence, it surprised me that there are kids out there who claim to have been 'appreciating' my act. God!" When and where did he come across this newfound fan base? "It was in the 'Chote Ustad' reality show where I was a guest. Kids came to me and started talking to me about Awarapan, Gangster, and even my debut film, Footpath. I guess satellite channels and DVDs are really helping awareness grow in these kids. To think about it, so many of these kids would not have even started talking when my Footpath released," jokes Emraan.

So what is he planning to gift back to the young ones considering the appreciation he is garnering? It can't be more kissing on the screen, right? Laughs Emraan, "Of course not, it cannot be that. I would have to do something different." Getting serious, he says, "I am quite serious about doing a film which appeals to children. And by a film for children, I do not necessarily want to equate it to a kiddie-kiddie film. It has to have a universal subject though with a heart in place for children." Is it the Taare Zameen Par factor, which has given him an added confidence on experimenting with something like this? "It is, it is", says Emraan promptly, "Of course it helps to see the market growing in such a way that films like these are not just being made and released well but also becoming blockbusters. If a film entertains and yet has a message that makes one learn, why not make more of such films?"

Considering the kind of films, he has done in the past, though there have been numerous hits, won't it be difficult to be going for an image shift? "You are forgetting that I have played a father on screen very recently,? states Emraan, "In 'The Train' I had a daughter though that angle did have a miniscule part to play in the narrative. In any case, it won't be wrong to say that it is the script which drives an image." And how is he going ahead in his endeavor to do a children's film? "I am going through a lot of scripts and may soon be narrowing down on one as well. May be in a few months time, I should be having something rolling soon too!"

Till then, kids can enjoy listening (and seeing) his 'Bheege Honth Tere' (Murder), 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' (Aashiq Banaya Aapne), 'Jhalak Dikhla Ja' (Aksar) and 'Jawani Diwani' (Jawani Diwani) amongst many other Emraan hits!

Parents, are you watching?!