Movie Review: Johnny Gaddaar (2007) - Aiswarya Rai

Cast: Dharmendra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Rimi Sen, Zakir Hussain, Vinay Pathak, Daya Shetty, Ashwini Kalsekar
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Jhamu Sugandh
Music Director: Vishal-Shekhar
Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni, Hardkaur, Nilesh Mishra

Not a typical whodunit in the literal sense of the word, Johnny Gaddaar is an interesting mix of greed, betrayal, corruption, love, desperation and murder.

After watching over a dozen thrillers sinking at the box office this year, it is hearty to see a suspense thriller like Johnny Gaddaar excel in true sense of cinematic pleasure. Director Sriram Raghavan has seen to it that Johnny Gaddaar stands on its feet with a crisp storyline perfected with the unpredictable twists and turns of the fictitious concept.

The best thing about of this thriller is that the suspense is opened right in the beginning. It is all for the viewers to know who the traitor is but the other gang members in the film are unaware of the cheat mind.

The movie basically revolves around a gang of five men, Sheshadri (Dharmendra) playing the eldest and Vikram (Neil) playing the youngest. They face a bright prospect of making a fortune through what seems to be a simple exchange of contraband for money on a train.

Vikram plans to escape with the entire fortune by double crossing with his partners. Vikram’s intention is to disappear with the entire money to an unknown city with his love Mini (Rimi Sen). The movie starts getting its real self when Vikram gets into murdering the members of gang, unintentionally though. The final shot which is fired leaves you gasping for breathe.

It is a sheer delight to watch the black shadows of crookedness and wicked mind playing a game.

Globetrotting Bachchans - Aiswarya Rai

B-Town’s The Unforgettable Tour is finally on course, amidst buzz about which stars came on board, their skyrocketing fees (and demands) and the mind-boggling logistics involved in what is being described as ‘a mother of all stage shows’.

Wizcraft, the organisers of the show, have finally chalked out the details.

As reported ‘Bachchan and bachcha to go on world tour’, (HiTLIST, November 2, 2006), Wizcraft pulled off a casting coup of sorts by getting Bachchans Sr & Jr together for live shows across the globe.

The Unforgettable Tour now consists of the Bachchans (Amitabh, Abhishek as well as Aishwarya — who has insisted on the Bachchan surname for the tour), Akshay Kumar, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta and Riteish Deshmukh.

City hopping

Says Sabbas Joseph of Wizcraft, “The tour was always on course. When it comes to the Bachchans, it is like family for us. Abhishek and Aishwarya announced the tour in Toronto. The first leg of The Unforgettable kicks off from July to August 2008.”

It is learnt that it will first cover 10 US cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles. Then it moves to Vancouver and Toronto in Canada before hitting UK and Europe. The second leg is slated for November-December 2008, and will take them to Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Dubai, Doha and Cairo.

Joseph adds, “The Unforgettable Tour will prove to be a paradigm shift in such concerts. It is just not a song-dance gala that one normally sees at such shows. We are making it both an audio and visual experience aided with technology. It will be a 360-degree turn in entertainment.”

It is learnt that the first tour has received bids from multiple promoters and is almost sold out.

Time off

Incidentally, Bachchan Sr is the brand ambassador for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, the brainchild of Wizcraft. The IIFA awards are held annually in different countries to celebrate Indian cinema. The Unforgettable Tour was also unveiled at the IIFA awards in Yorkshire in June.

It is learnt that the Bachchans are taking time off from their shooting schedules next year for the tour. For several years, Wizcraft has been organising stage shows across the world with Bollywood and international stars.

Says Joseph, “In fact, the making of The Unforgettable Tour and the behind the scenes happenings will be as exciting as the show and we will air this at a later stage.

The stars will be city hopping with 10-12 shows at a stretch.” It is also learnt that there is a possibility that there could be a concert in India as part of The Unforgettable series. “May be, why not?” says Joseph.

Aswarya Rai - Rani Mukerji War!!

The cold war between Aishwarya Rai, the gorgeous beauty of bollywood and Rani Mukerji has further intensified after Ash remarked rudely about the powder and paint makeup of Rani on the sets of Yash Raj Films’ ‘ Laga Chunri Mein Daag’ in Switzerland. Rani Mukerji is so miffed with the Bachchan bahu that this cold war may lead to a break up in her relation with the Bachchans for ever.

As a source present on the sets of Yash Raj Films reveals, ‘ Rani Mukerji may be maintaining a dignified silence but she is extremely hurt. Firstly, Jayaji completely ignored her on the sets. Secondly, Ash was extremely rude to her during our Switzerland schedule. Rani is maintaining silence only because of Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. She is very fond of them and does not want to hurt them.’

In fact, Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukerji were very good friends during their early days in the industry and Rani would consult the Miss World on the matters of her looks and commercials. But it all changed for the worse when Rani Mukerji replaced Aishwarya Rai in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chalte Chalte. Aishwarya Rai took this as a betrayal on the part of her bosom friend Rani, and cold war began.

But in reality, Aishwarya Rai was replaced by Shah Rukh Khan from his film as Salman Khan would come on the sets of the film and disturb shooting of King Khan, which the professional Khan found difficult to ignore or tolerate. He removed the root cause of Salman Khan coming on the sets by ousting Aishwarya from his movie, and taking Rani in her place. But Ash viewed this as the mean mechanism on the part of Rani Mukerji.

The war had further intensified between the two actresses when Rani was not invited to the wedding of Abhishek Bachchan due to perhaps Aishwarya Rai’s objections. Apparently, Aishwarya did not want anyone to come to wedding whose name had been linked in the past with Abhishek Bachchan,and Rani Mukerji- Abhishek Bachchan combination had already become popular after Mani Rathnam’s Yuva and Shaad Ali’s Bunty aur Babli.

Perhaps Aishwarya Rai is not so happy about Rani having a good rapport with Abhishek Bachchan even after marriage. It may be recalled that Abhishek Bachchan and Rani are working together in Laga Chunri Mein Daag and they are said to be having a sparkling chemistry between them during the shootings.