..

to hold, nurture or to spice up (the story lines and movie plots). B-Town's screen moms usually fit certain slots - the impoverished and helpless mom had to sew clothes for the neighbours to make the ends meet; the fiery mom could challenge the Supreme and pray for her child's well-being; she would also meticulously knead aloo parathas and whip up kheer.

Some moms often became the bone of contention between son and his 'modern' wife. The screen ma could also urge her son to avenge his father's death.

Or if she was given a choice between picking the right over the wrong, the Bollywood mom could also shoot her errant son. The mother's character was a favourite fixture in Bollywood films until recently.

Mehboob Khan's masterpiece Mother India, was among the first films that glorified a mom on screen without making her a martyr ( Nargis). Durga Khote as the supportive mom in Mughal-E-Azam gave a new meaning to her role.

Sulochana; for whom Rajendra Kumar sings Meri Duniya Hai Tere Aanchal Mai, vivacious Dina Pathak in Khoobsurat to Golmaal - there have been women who have immortalised mothers on 35 mm. On Mother's Day, here's a flashback of all those special moms from Hindi films.

Jaya Bachchan in K3G As a designer chiffon sari clad mom, dripping pearls, flashing a warm smile as she firmly held the puja thali, Jaya Bachchan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G), was also blessed with an uncanny ability to sense the presence of her son from miles away. Throughout the long family drama, she remains the quiet cardboard figure until she steals the thunder in the last frame.

Nirupa Roy in Deewar She was one actress you could always visualise as Bollywood's eternal maa. Nirupa Roy in her trademark white cotton sari and a huge bindi on her forehead was the self-righteous mom in the iconic Deewar , who tried her level best to bring her erring son from the path of evil and failed.

She was the woman for whom Shashi Kapoor said, Mere Paas Maa Hai . Even when she was helpless, she didn't compromise on her ideals.

Though she was a filmi character, Nirupa managed to etch a place for herself in the hearts of many. Rakhee in Karan Arjun Rakhee Gulzar has proved her mettle as mom many times over, but among her most memorable shots as mom was when she turned into the long suffering ma in-waiting of Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Arjun .

Her signature one-liner Mere Karan Arjun Ayenge went on to become the butt of jokes, but she was excellent as always. Vidya Balan in Paa Playing ma to Amitabh Bachchan isn't really a 30-something's dream, but Vidya Balan took up a role delivered a game-changing performance in Paa .

Essaying the role of an independent and fun mom who was an anchor for her son Auro suffering from Projeria (in the film), Vidya proved why it's important for every child to have a friend in a mom. Tisca Chopra in TZP One role and Tisca Chopra was on a roll! Tisca caught everyone's eyes in Taare Zameen Par as the untiring Indian mom who can turn the world upside down for her child.

As the affectionate mom who gives succour to her dyslexic child Ishan, she was indeed a treat to watch. Just the kind of urban mom, every kid loves to have! Zohra Sehgal in Cheeni Kam Who said 80 year old moms can't be fun? Zohra Sehgal as the fun loving mom full of joie de vivre in R Balkrishnan's Cheeni Kam had more spunk than her sullen celebrity chef son (played by Amitabh Bachchan).

She might have had a small role in the film, but as the woman who tries to teach her grumpy single 60 year old son to live life, Zohra was a rare bundle of energy. Rekha In Koi Mill Gaya May be you don't think of Rekha at first when you think of Bollywood mothers, or vice-versa.

But we certainly remember her doing a white sari act and adamantly saving her son (Hrithik Roshan) from an extra terrestrial in Koi..

. Mil Gaya .

In this Bollywood version of Spielberg's E.T.

, she was in fact the flavour Bollywood. FYI: Rakesh Roshan was very hesitant to ask the glam-diva to play a mother on the first place, reportedly he tricked her into hearing the script casually.

Result: Rekha commanded, no one but she'd play the role. Reema in Maine Pyaar Kiya Reema changed perception of the eternal earth mom in Bollywood with a vengeance.

She was Salman Khan's favourite screen mom, a role that she slipped into naturally into with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya. She was also among the first screen mothers to have jet black hair and looked young and chirpy enough to be her son's friend in MPK.

Her portrayal as the silk sari clad mom with her hair neatly tied in chignon, was pretty convincing in her role play. Farida Jalal in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge A talented character actress, Farida Jalal was the epitome of the typical urban Indian mother in Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge .

She lets her daughter (played by Kajol) live a dream and stands by as a strong support when she's needed. For this all-compassing role that was written with care and executed with brilliance, she also won accolades and awards.

Kirron Kher in Rang De Basanti As the new-age Nirupa Roy for Bollywood, Kirron Kher stole the thunder as Aamir Khan's funny and feisty mom in Raykesh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti. As the motormouth dhaba owner who prays for her son's well-being (for which she ties her two fingers with a dhaaga) she also provides him silent strength to stand up against evil.

You rock! Ratna Pathak Shah in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na Ratna Pathak Shah was a revelation in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na as the paranoid yet liberated single mom who worked as a social activist (and also vented her angst to her late hubby hanging from a photo frame from time to time complaining about her son) in Imran Khan's debut flick, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. A role that was smartly sketched, unfortunately she didn't have too many memorable scenes, although she did make an impact anyway! (less)

Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide. That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle.

They then start developing feelings for each other..

. In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them.

Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide.

That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle. They then start developing feelings for each other.

..

In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them. Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.

Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide. That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle.

They then start developing feelings for each other..

. In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them.

Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide.

That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle. They then start developing feelings for each other.

..

In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them. Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.

Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide. That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle.

They then start developing feelings for each other..

. In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them.

Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide.

That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle. They then start developing feelings for each other.

..

In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them. Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.

Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide. That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle.

They then start developing feelings for each other..

. In the original script there were some intimate scenes between Abhishek and Aishwarya, but Mani Ratnam decided to do away with them.

Why? Because he did not want to upset anyone's sensibilities, since the film is a modern-day take on the epic Ramayana.Ravana takes off when Aishwarya's husband humiliates Abhishek's sister and the latter commits suicide.

That's when Abhishek abducts Ash and takes her to the jungle. They then start developing feelings for each other (less)

He admits to being initially scared to be part of the Hindi version of director Mani Ratnam's Raavan but says his co-star Aishwarya Rai's brilliant performance in the Tamil venture boosted his confidence. "Initially, I was very scared because I had this mental block.

What kept me going was that Ash didn't know Tamil and she was doing so well," said Vikram in an interview. "Had I been only doing the Hindi version, I would have been really worried.

But it is also in Tamil and everyone made me feel quite comfortable," he added. Vikram is perhaps the first actor who is doing a film in two different languages and playing two different characters in them.

In the Hindi version he will be seen in the positive role as Aishwarya's husband while in Tamil he will play Beera, a negative character being essayed by Abhishek in the Hindi version. "No one in the world has done the same film in two languages and with a different role.

I think that was something that got me hooked," said Vikram. "For many days I had to shoot simultaneously in both the languages.

It was amazing. I would do a sequence then I would go and change the make-up, take out all the dirt and blood, put another design of dirt and blood and do a sequence for the second language.

Usually make-up takes an hour, but for this film here I had to get ready in 10 minutes to finish the fight sequences," said Vikram. Reports say Raavan is a modern interpretation of the epic "Ramayana".

Commenting on that, Vikram said "every film has taken something from the epic". "It's not Ramayana.

When you see the film, you may find the main character is like Rama. But the way he (Ratnam) has designed it, the perspective is totally different.

"Whatever film has been made so far, they have something from 'Ramayana'. So when you will see the film, you might find parallels.

I think it's very contemporary. He (Ratnam) just wanted to experiment," said Vikram.

Vikram said he had been wanting to work with Ratnam for a long time. "We had been planning to work together for the last couple of years, but it didn't happen.

The dates didn't match, scripts didn't work out. Finally, for this he called me," he said.

Asked whether he would cast a spell on Bollywood, he said: "I guess forgetting everything and coming here (Bollywood) and working would have bothered me. They called me and I really liked the script.

..

"I, of course, loved the thought that my audience was going to be much larger. There are lots of people who watch my films.

Now those who don't speak Tamil even they will watch my films. That's something that excites me.

" A co-production of Madras Talkies and Reliance Big Pictures, the much awaited "Raavan" is scheduled for a June 18 release (less)

Set to go on floors in April 2011, it will be shot in New Delhi, London and Spain. Says Saif, "I was waiting for a script as contemporary and relevant as this is to come my way and it has been worth the wait.

The story is romantic, funny and has a great balance of drama and entertainment. I've wanted to do a love story with a modern sensibility and treatment.

" About working with Deepika again, the actor-producer says, "I'm looking forward to my pairing again. She has a fantastic role and I think she has grown impressively since Love Aaj Kal and will handle it very well.

" Like Imtiaz's earlier movies Socha Na Tha , Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal they all delve into relationships the writer-director's script explores the various choices of life. As Adajania puts it, "It's a similar space from where Love Aaj Kal left off and then it roller-coasters from there.

" Deepika, who considers Saif her favourite co-star feels she hasn't played shades of a character like this before. "To find a script like this, which is edgy and quirky, had an instant connect for me.

It also marks the reunion of the Love Aaj Kal team, with Saif, Dinoo (Dinesh Vijan) and me. I'm very excited to be working with Saif again, and I hope we can recreate the magic of Love Aaj Kal once again.

" Dinesh maintains, "Saif and I have always wanted to develop projects of diverse genres and stories we believe in. We want to take our time and create content that today's well-exposed audience might like.

Imtiaz has given us a beautiful story." (less)

Set to go on floors in April 2011, it will be shot in New Delhi, London and Spain.Says Saif, "I was waiting for a script as contemporary and relevant as this is to come my way and it has been worth the wait.

The story is romantic, funny and has a great balance of drama and entertainment. I've wanted to do a love story with a modern sensibility and treatment.

"About working with Deepika again, the actor-producer says, "I'm looking forward to my pairing again. She has a fantastic role and I think she has grown impressively since Love Aaj Kal and will handle it very well.

"Like Imtiaz's earlier movies Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal they all delve into relationships the writer-director's script explores the various choices of life. As Adajania puts it, "It's a similar space from where Love Aaj Kal left off and then it roller-coasters from there.

"Deepika, who considers Saif her favourite co-star feels she hasn't played shades of a character like this before. "To find a script like this, which is edgy and quirky, had an instant connect for me.

It also marks the reunion of the LAK team, with Saif, Dinoo (Dinesh Vijan) and me. I'm very excited to be working with Saif again, and I hope we can recreate the magic of Love Aaj Kal once again.

"Dinesh maintains, "At Illuminati, Saif and I have always wanted to develop projects of diverse genres and stories we believe in. We want to take our time and create content that today's well-exposed audience might like.

Imtiaz has given us a beautiful story." (less)

Set to go on floors in April 2011, it will be shot in New Delhi, London and Spain. Says Saif, "I was waiting for a script as contemporary and relevant as this is to come my way and it has been worth the wait.

The story is romantic, funny and has a great balance of drama and entertainment. I've wanted to do a love story with a modern sensibility and treatment.

" About working with Deepika again, the actor-producer says, "I'm looking forward to my pairing again. She has a fantastic role and I think she has grown impressively since Love Aaj Kal and will handle it very well.

" Like Imtiaz's earlier movies Socha Na Tha , Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal they all delve into relationships the writer-director's script explores the various choices of life. As Adajania puts it, "It's a similar space from where Love Aaj Kal left off and then it roller-coasters from there.

" Deepika, who considers Saif her favourite co-star feels she hasn't played shades of a character like this before. "To find a script like this, which is edgy and quirky, had an instant connect for me.

It also marks the reunion of the Love Aaj Kal team, with Saif, Dinoo (Dinesh Vijan) and me. I'm very excited to be working with Saif again, and I hope we can recreate the magic of Love Aaj Kal once again.

" Dinesh maintains, "Saif and I have always wanted to develop projects of diverse genres and stories we believe in. We want to take our time and create content that today's well-exposed audience might like.

Imtiaz has given us a beautiful story." (less)

Later he played the main lead in Mithun Chakraborty starrer, Don Muthuswami which sadly also tankked miserably. Coming to his business tycoon character in Chehra, Mohit says that Garv Dhanvant Rai is an absolutely positive character, who comes across this physically challenged girl Bandhani, who is ready to face the world with full confidence, ?I fall in love with her seeing her never die attitude.

The problems we face as we come together constitute the thriller element. The USP of our show is that such a genre has been never tried before.

There is no sas bahu drama or kitchen politics. We will also do not have murder or horror, as the story unfolds the audiences will get to understand the suspense part.

" Remind him of the failure of Antariksh and Don and Mohit justifies, ?the former was children show. It was a modern version of Ramayana hence did not click.

Possibly people don?t look at the epic as story, they have rather have a spiritual approach to it. But yet it was quite popular among the kids.

Later a full length feature film on the same concept and name was also made, which become a hit?. About Don he says, ?The audiences don?t want to accept something different and our film was not run of the mill, i.

e. it was normal comedy?.

He also believed that the timing of the release may not have been proper for the multiplexes then were releasing some big ticket films. But all said and done, "I have no regrets for doing that film, for after the shooting I received a phone call from my childhood superstar, Mithun praising my work.

? He does not think that he has down graded himself by doing Chehra after Don.? The script of Chehra was good that I had to say yes.

Plus today times have changed, the idiot box is no longer regarded as the poorer cousin of the big screen. Don?t film star come on tv to promote their films?, he questions?.

But having said even after doing Chhera, he stills harbor ambitions of returning to the big screen, ?There is no such division as TV and film more.? But don?t you fear that you will be typecast doing TV? "No I am not Rajiv Khandelwal, Aamna Sharif doing films after rocking the small screen, right?" says Mohit (less)

India, the next destination for animation outsourcing India the next big animation Hub How many times have you read this, felt proud and thought at the same time if this is the case, why did we have to put up with the kind of animated movies that released recently that completely contradicts the above statements. "The Indian animation industry today stands at Rs 12 billion, and is projected to grow to Rs 42 billion by 2009", reports the FICCI website.

It‘s certain we won‘t be able to reach this target, if we see the kind of stuff that has been released recently. Our story telling in animated movies seems to be stuck to mythology and epics.

Whenever I hear about an animated movie releasing, without even giving it a thought I take it to be another take on Ramayan, Ganesha or some other age old character. Take the last 3 animated films that have been released recently.

‘Dashavatar‘, ‘Ghatothkhach‘ and ‘Hanuman Returns‘ which was itself a sequel to the earlier ‘Hanuman‘. Also ‘My friend Ganesha‘ which released somewhere in between all this was partly animated.

Now I don‘t know what you think, but after all this I think that I see some lack of original story telling. ‘Dashavatar‘s animation seemed to be the best of the lot, but it seemed like picking up the best from the worst.

The story was again old and jaded and primarily targeted towards children. They tried to bring out some unknown characters like ‘Parshuram‘ while giving less content to Ram and Krishna.

‘Ghatothkhach‘ was severely panned by critics for its shoddy animation and is a classic example of how children are taken for granted. The lack of storyline, changing graphics throughout the movie and the character not being so popular harmed the movie a lot.

A lot was expected of ‘Hanuman Returns‘ directed by Anurag Kashyap, since it was a sequel to the earlier ‘Hanuman‘ made two years ago. The film was funny in bits and seemed like a fresh take at a mythological character by giving it a modern twist and showing computers in Heaven, but the animation still faltered here n there.

Reminds me of the anime version of Ramayana, called ‘The Legend of Prince Ram‘ which was more interesting and better in animation than any of the above. And now we have the upcoming horror of images called ICY n SPICY touted as India‘s first 3D mainstream animation film.

One look at the website and the images and you will want to close your child‘s eyes standing besides you to keep him away from such juvenile animation. In a hurry the creators seemed to have created something in Microsoft paint and given it a cheap 3D twist.

Who and why anyone would produce would such talentless egoistic trip is beyond The Bitch‘s comprehension. And to top it up, their PR Company seems to be working overtime with articles about ‘ICY N SPICY‘ flooding all media.

Even the D in their 3D has been flicked up from Disney‘s. God save Indian Animation.

This year marks one hundred years since the first animated film in the world. ‘Fantasmagorie‘, a two-minute hand-drawn film by Emile Cohl, was screened in a Paris theatre in August 1908.

100 years and still we have to put up with crap like ‘ICY n SPICY‘.In mainstream films too the quality of animation leaves a lot to be desired.

The recently released ‘Thoda pyar, thoda magic‘ can serve as an example. Though ‘Taare Zameen Par‘ excelled in this department too, as it did in all the other areas.

The clay animation at the beginning of the movie which was used for the first time in a Bollywood film was par excellence. Dhimant Vyas the man behind it has been a happy man after that.

Also on the brighter side we have ‘Roadside Romeo‘ produced by Yashraj and written and directed by Mr. Fair and Lovely Jugal Hansraj.

The trailers seem to be promising and since Disney is co-producing it, we hope to expect some minimum quality standards. I‘m almost waiting with bated breath for this movie to come out.

According to reports at least 80 Indian full-length animated feature films are being planned by domestic studios and if even 15 of them hit the screens, it would be a big achievement. Lets hope, purely for our entertainment that this really happens!! (less)

People do enjoy such things. I guess it is more entertaining.

But there is nothing wrong with our friendship. I will remain Shah Rukh's friend till I die and I hope this is the case with him as well," Farah told PTI in an interview.

The choreographer-turned-director, who returns behind the camera after a gap of almost three years for Tees Maar Khan , says she could not wait for a year to start the movie with Shah Rukh being busy with home production Ra.One .

"We had this amazing script. We could not wait for a year.

Shirish (Farah's husband) has already directed Akshay in Jaan-E-Mann . We found that Akshay was perfect for the role, so we decided to go ahead with the movie," said Farah.

What is her reaction to rumours, predicting the end of one of the most famous friendships in Bollywood? "I have read a lot about the end of my friendship with Shah Rukh. It is funny initially but after sometime you start getting irritated," said the 45-year-old director.

Interestingly, Farah was seen in a cameo playing the role of a director who picks up a new star instead of Shah Rukh in Milap Zaveri's debut Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai ? Was it an attempt from her side to take on the rumours? "We shot those segments one and half years ago when we had not even planned Tees Maar Khan . So, I blame Milap for what is happening now," said Farah, adding, "Thank God, both Shah Rukh and I have a sense of humour and look up at the funny side of things.

" The director had announced another film with Shah Rukh post the success of Om Shanti Om [ Images ] in 2007 but it seems Happy New Year is not happening for the time being. "I had written some part of the story but it was taking too much time and then my daughter tore up the script.

I don't use computer to write my script. It was a very modern and contemporary story but nothing is happening on it as of now," she said.

Farah has completed some 40 per cent of Tees Maar Khan and is planning to release it during Christmas. The film has been produced by husband Shirish Kunder and Akshay, who is paired opposite Katrina Kaif [ Images ] in the movie.

The director, who is known for making full on masala films, says her next film will be equally entertaining. "I don't want to make a serious, boring films because that is not what I enjoy personally.

This story is very entertaining and intelligent. And if by making a certain type of cinema I have created a brand for myself nothing like it because not many people have a brand name," said Farah.

Copyright 2010 PTI. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent (less)

To have won a National Award in 1998 the best female-category for Rituparno Ghosh's Dahan, where she played Romita, a newly-wed who becomes the victim of sexual assault, explains it all for this epitome of talent. And now, this actor is all set with her forthcoming film Love Khichdi to release this Friday, which she says is the beginning of her career in mainstream cinema, although she has already done a couple of films in the same league.

In an interview, Rituparna SenGupta talks at length about her character and future plans to make it big in B- Town. Shed some light on your character in the film? My character is of a Bengali girl who is an independent personality.

She has got her own principles and doesn?t compromise on anything for them. She is modern, yet an introvert who knows where to draw the line.

She runs a bookshop in a hotel where she happens to meet a guy whom she starts falling for. However, she eventually loses interest as she discovers the personality of guy, and her interest level is less than the guy?s interest.

Have you ever experienced such attention in your real-life? Yes, loads (blushes), since the school times. I was stalked by a guy, who would bunk his classes, just to give me a greeting card.

He would wait throughout the day just to get one glimpse of me. He never dared to approach me though and once when I confronted him he confessed his feelings for me.

Another one was my teacher in painting classes, he had to resign, but the fear of losing me gave him a reason to change the decision and he too actually confessed his feelings to me. But I was a teenager, a kid?those were funny days.

Why this sudden inclination towards main-stream cinema and up-beat roles like in Love Khichdi when you busy doing unconventional roles? Be it realistic or main-stream, I personally feel Indian cinema is going through a sea of change. The films have become script-driven and after doing unconventional, in other words realistic cinema, I have a desire to explore main-stream too (less)