We Are Family is a remake of the Susan Sarandon-Julia Roberts starrer, Stepmom.

The storyline revolves around a divorcee mother who is suffering from cancer and has to accept another woman in her husband and children’s lives. The desi adaptation stars Kareena as the stepmom, played by Julia Roberts in the original movie. Kajol plays Sarandon’s role of the ex-wife and Arjun Rampal plays the role of Ed Harris.

The film is distributed by Hollywood studio Columbia Tristar and co-produced by UTV.

Sajda (full video) – The first single of the Bollywood film – My Name is Khan, which marks the comeback of the successful box office pair – Kajol, Sharukh Khan and Karan Johar. Music composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The music in stores on 7th Jan 2010 and film scheduled to release on 12th Feb 2010.

Aamir has uploaded three videos on youtube showing his stay and interaction with the locals in Varanasi in a disguised avatar…Aamir appears as a lower middle class gentleman trying to find his mom’s native village. Watch him in the 3 videos below.

Aamir Khan in Varanasi Part 1


Aamir Khan in Varanasi Part 2

Aamir Khan in Varanasi Part 3

Aamir Khan in Varanasi Part 4

Aamir Khan in Varanasi Part 5

As you can see Aamir’s make up is brilliant and his tobacco stained teeth are a class apart. And the way he talks with the locals, like he is one of their own, simply endears him to all.

You can find out more about this contest and the various clues on this website: http://idiotsacademy.zapak.com/arg/index.php

Also read: 3 idiots may end Bollywood’s sour 2009

Update: Aamir has updated his facebook on status saying “Varanasi was most enriching.”

3 idiots poster

Its been a sad year for the Hindi film industry as there have been virtually no blockbuster hits this year. In fact a majority of the films have either flopped or done average business. Of course, the quality of movies is largely to blame for that. Be it ‘Blue’ or ‘De Dhana Dhan‘, it seems the producers and directors are hell bent on insulting our intelligence. I have heard good reviews about ‘Paa’, I hope it really is a good movie and if so should churn out good moolah for ABCL.

Coming back to the point. 3 idiots – a movie directed by Rajkumar Hirani and featuring Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareen Kapoor in the lead roles is making waves in India, and rightly so.

The reasons for the excitement about this film is not too hard to grasp. Firsty, its directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who has a 100% success rate and is known to write strong scripts. Although 3 idiots is loosely based on the novel ‘5 Point Someone‘, the script is very different and has been written by Hirani with two of his associates.

Secondly, its got Aamir Khan aka Mr Perfectionist in it. Aamir is reknowned for being choosy about the scripts of movies he decides to do. And his instincts are nearly always right. Aamir has come a long way from QSQT days. I think his acting really matured from Sarfarosh onwards, and he has tried to improve his near perfect performances with every passing film. The fact that he does only one film a year or less makes the viewers eagerly await his films, and therefore he is the main trumpcard for the producer and the film.

Thirdly, the story looks fresh and realistic as we see from the trailers. College life in Hindi films has never been displayed in a real manner except by Rajkumar Hirani himself when he accurately depicted the going ons in a medical college in Munnabhai MBBS. Karan’s Johar’s college in Kuch Kuch Hota is too much of a good fantasy while the films of the early 90s depicted colleges as romance zones and nothing else. Engineering students will be particularly excited this time to see how their lot has been portrayed in Hirani’s latest.

Most people already know that Aamir Khan has a profile on facebook by the name of Pucca idiot. However he is unable to add any more friends (he already has 5000) so he has created a fan page by the name of Aamir Khan the Pucca Idiot. Join it if you want. Most people though are unaware that the film’s producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra is also on facebook and accepts friend requests from fans. Here’s the link to Mr Vinod Chopra’s facebook profile.

Don’t forget to check out the official 3 idiots teaser trailer.

What has also changed is the way we watch movies or the kind of medium we use to watch movies. As a 24 year old, I remember watching movies from early to mid 90’s on ZEE CINEMA. Cable TV had still not penetrated the small towns of India. I used to wait for summer vacations to catch my favorite movies. Doordarshan provided the entertainment quota for Friday nights and Sunday evenings with the its movie offerings.

Later on, Cable TV penetrated into the small towns, the number of movie channels increased and there was a lot of more variety (only in terms of number of movies to be watched, not in terms of content). I think I have watched most of 50’s, 60’s, 70’s “hits” on all these channels over the years.

As I started my graduation in engineering, English movies became my new-found flavour. I did not have a clue about Martin Scorcese, Tarantino and the rest of the Brat Pack. This was the time I got exposed to the very best of Hollywood cinema, and understood the reason, why Hollywood rules the worldwide movie scene.

n a few years I began my foray into the Bangalore suchitra film society, where I realized that there is cinema beyond Bollywood and Hollywood. I watched a lot of European stuff in suchitra auditorium. I have attended various national and international film festivals in Bangalore and it’s really great to interact with fellow movies buffs. I can say that I am totally hooked to this unique style of filmmaking. Its been a long journey from “Amar Akbar Anthony” to “Four Women” and I hope to continue upwards on this path.