Yes folks, we finally have a winner!! The debate has been going on for long about who’s going to play the lead role of Rani, essayed by Kangana Ranaut, in the Tamil remake of the Bollywood hit, Queen. The contenders were many including Nayanthara, Hansika, Samantha and Tamannah.

But now we have reports rolling in that Trisha Krishnan has beat them to the punch and has bagged the hugely coveted role!
Queen, which came out earlier this year, was an unexpected hit and was exceptionally well received by the fans and the critics. The story of a young girl, who is ditched by her would be groom the day before the wedding, but instead of breaking down decides to go on her planned honey moon trip alone and in the process gains perspective, captured the hearts of many.

The coming of age story has universal appeal, and for sure, with a few minor tweaks here and there to suit the cultural climate, the Tamil audiences will be find themselves falling in love with the character of the brave young heroine too.

Kangana received much praise for the original performance, with her acting skills being tested in a variety of ways and her coming out on top in the end. The plot itself is a perfect blend of raw drama, lots of effortless humour and a bunch of feel good moments.

Veteran actor and producer Thyagarajan will be the one remaking the movie in Kollywood, and the rest of the cast and crew haven’t been announced yet.

But buckle up Kollywood fans, this is certainly an exciting one coming your way soon..

Keep following Chitramala for more updates!

Director Vikas Bahl was accused of copyright infringement. Writer Abhigyan Jha, who originally wrote a script for the film ‘Phir Zindagi’ in 2006, accused that Vikas has lifted the entire content of his yet to be released film to make it into a movie called Queen.

As per the accusation, the writer claimed that Vikas Bahl was shown the shelved film in 2006 from where he got inspired to make a story of a girl going to her honeymoon alone. While Abhigyan states that some parts alter from his version, few scenes have been directly lifted from Phir Zindagi.

The producer of Phir Zindagi, Parvati Balagopalan, also claimed that they feel betrayed by this act. The miffed Abhigyan has now decided to take the matters into his own hands and take action.

Vikas Bahl, on the other hand, has requested people to first watch his film and then watch Phir Zindagi to compare and then accuse him of the copyrighting assault.
There are more and more such accusations popping up in the recent times, especially with the young film makers who are accused of lifting the content from either somebody’s literary works or older films that have not seen the light of the day in terms of a decent release. Another film that was exposed to this accusation in the recent times was Bhoothnath Returns, where a writer accused the director of the film to have directed lifted the content from his literary works. The story was told as it was written by the writer way before and no prior consent was taken before doing so.

Queen may look like a life changing film for Kangana Ranaut but the talented actress is neither high not distracted with this sudden surge of uprising in her career. When asked as to how she felt about the film catapulting her image to great heights, Kangana was surprisingly calm and unfazed about it all. She stated that she is only trying to make her identity and doesn’t aspire to win “flavor of the season” tag.

“I am a self made person. Whatever i have achieved till date, i have struggled a lot for it” she said.

Kangana, who made a scintillating debut with the film Gangster in 2005, caught the attention of the film critics and the audience with her impeccable performance with the very first film. Her curly hair became the new fashion statement and her voice, a new fad. Then followed films like Woh Lamhe, Life in a Metro, Fashion, Once upon a time in Mumbai and Tanu weds Manu – all seeing the very best of Ranaut. However, its the latest film Queen that set a milestone apart for the actress, collecting about Rs 50 crore at the Box Office, making Kangana one of the finest in Indian Cinema.

Talking about the ‘Queen’ tag given by the audience and the media, Kangana expressed that such a tag is given to different actresses every month, so she doesn’t want any such tag.

Kangana won the coveted National Award for her mind blowing performance in the film Fashion. She will soon be seen playing an interesting role in her next film with an equally interesting title, Revolver Rani.

“I have been struggling from the last eight years and where i have reached today, i am still not the flavor of the season and i don’t aspire to be one. I do my job honestly. I do different kind of work and i am trying to make my own identity” signed off the Queen of hearts.

 

100 years and counting.. Indian Cinema turned 100 last year. While there were some films which are worth forgetting, others have simply left us in awe of the country’c cinematic acumen.
The film industry has evolved itself for the better and so have the audience. The flying cars and big punches have been replaced by some spectacular performances and content-driven scripts. Likewise a different set of actors have caught our attention by delivering some amazing performances.

Here are 10 Hindi movies that you must watch before you die!

1. Mughal-e-azam
One of the most expensive films of Hindi cinema, ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ is considered as one of the milestone films in the history of Indian cinema.

2. Sholay
The impact of the movie was such that every single character of the movie is remembered till date. ‘Kitne aadmi the’ became the most popular dialogue of Bollywood for years to come..The movie broke every box office record back then!

3. Deewar
“Mere pass maa hai” is enough to tell you how famous and thrilling this movie was!

4. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge
Who knew that the way he spreads his arms to call for his lady-love would go on to become a rage for decades to come? The Swiss locales, the farmlands of Punjab and a melodramatic plot. DDLJ had all the ingredients of a masala movie in it making it the epitome of Romance in Bollywood!

5. Lagaan
Story of a small village where the system of ‘Lagaan’ is scrapped over a cricket match. The highly addictive Cricket-Cinema combo ensured this movie was a roaring success!

6. Swades
One of SRK’s best! A must watch.

7. Dil Chahta Hai
Story of three friends which became the movie of the decade! A cult-movie,indeed!

8. Gangs of Wasseypur
Anurag Kashyap with his Tarantino-style direction grabbed all the attention! ‘Keh ke Lenge’ became the coolest line around. Hindi cinema will never be the same again!

9. Kahaani
A pregnant-woman looking out for her missing husband! Vidya Balan ‘delivered’ a stellar performance. The twists and turns in the plot definitely puts this in the Top 5 Thrillers of Bollywood!

10. Queen
You’ve heard enough praises of this one already. And if you haven’t yet been to the theatres to experience the magic, god you so desperately need to go watch Kangana!

Rang de basanti, Munna bhai MBBS, My name is Khan, Mother India, Hera Pheri, A Wednesday, Udaan would be the next.

While I’ve tried and compiled the most, the list may differ according to individual tastes.

Enjoy the Bollywood ride!

Sometimes, even if an already seen story is told in a distinctive style, you would tend to say that the new one is a coincidence rather than a copy. Queen also has resemblance to two good films of 2012, but is unique is its own way.

Rani (Kangana Ranaut) is a simple homely girl in Delhi pursuing Home Science. Vijay (Raj Kummar Rao) is head over heels in love with her and she eventually falls to him. Vijay moves to London, but returns as a changed man who feels that the Salwar Kameez clad Rani doesn’t match to his status anymore. When the pre-wedding celebrations are in full swing, Vijay breaks the marriage.  Rani is broken and she decides to go to Paris to get some respite from the heart-break. Her experiences in the new found world and how she deals with the broken marriage forms the rest of the story.

The scenes in the first half of remind of Cocktail and you cannot stop relating the equation of Kangana-Lisa Haydon to Diana Penty – Deepika.  The plot is also similar. However, Vikas Bahl has written the role of Rani in a very raw and natural way which connects much better. The second half reminds us of another movie of 2012 again, and that’s English Vinglish.  We have the sweet international friends the protagonist finds in the new country. Here also, we have one gora hitting on her. However, again the writing of the role comes to the rescue making it different by the things taking a natural flow.

The first and foremost thing one would talk about once you exit the hall is Kangana’s performance.  She is phenomenal as Rani. The transformation from the naivety to wisdom is so gradual and subtle, and that requires great skill.  Rani’s resilience is inspiring for many women, to say the least.  Lisa Haydon gets a substantial role unlike Rascals which even had Kangana doing noting but wearing sleazy outfits. All these talented actors need is good roles, which they got through Queen. Raj Kummar Rao plays the self-flattering and the hypocrite so well that you even start hating him.

Some scenes are extremely well-written conveying a lot symbolically.  For example, at a coffee shop when Vijay tells Rani that he is going to break the marriage, she gets panicky and rubs her hands against the cell-phone. When she exits, he brushes the mehendi particles off from the table.  A handful of some more such impressive scenes made it more intriguing.

However, apart from the frequent resemblances to Cocktail and English Vinglish, the other drawback is the pace. The movie crawls at a pace of a tortoise, with hardly the story moving forward.  Amit Trivedi’s music and Bobby’s camera work are adequate.

Queen is a definitely a one-time watch for Kangana’s performance and a must watch for women to get inspired from Rani’s resilience.