Rowdy Rathore: New Year New Look

Vintage is to Hindi cinema, as LBD is to a fashionista. That seems to be the current fad. Hand-painted and super -bright, the second poster of Rowdy Rathore sticks to the theme and is all the better for it. It is eye-catching and don't miss the timely 'Naya Saal Naya Maal' tagline.

The brains behind poster art in the industry seem to have gone for the overall impact rather than focus on specifics. The lead pair poses in a stance that graces umpteen Hindi film posters. Even, thriller Don 2 had one of these. 

This minor cliche aside, the funky colours make sure that the reader gives it a second dekko. The shades used to highlight the macho in Akshay's character and the blush in Sonakshi's character give it the depth that the rest of the creative doesn't allow. 

The vintage theme that began with the first creative looks likely to continue. It will be interesting to see the variations and of course, the taglines. 

What would you like to see next ? And what do you think of the vintage look ? Do drop me a line. 

Rowdy Rathore directed by Prabhudeva and co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures & SLB Films, is slated to hit the theatres on June 15, 2012

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu - First Look and Theatrical Trailor

Hindi cinema's long-term relationship with star studded Diwali dhamakas and glitzlily packaged Christmas goodies is well-documented. Of late there's been a Khan, or well, another Khan  luring you into spending your money at the multiplexes. The logic: Holiday cheer gets even the stingiest of families to loosen their purse strings. That probably explains why tripe like Blue, Main Aur Mrs. Khanna and Ra.One hitting theatres during festive season. The producers obviously hoped that the sub standard quality of the movies would go unnoticed, courtesy the happy occasion. 

Slowly but surely, Valentine's Day brouhaha is marking it's date in the Bollywood release calendar. It's a celebration for a lot of guileless youth who use this day not only to express their amorous feelings to each other but also  to commemorate them. Watching a date movie is a thing to do, just like buying cards, soft toys or flowers is. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, arriving around the 'season of hearts' is catering exactly to this audience. The ones who know every trick in the 'contemporary-lovers' category of date movies and STILL wouldn't mind watching it a thousand times again on screen ! The entire premise of opposites attract, (Jab We Met, Anjaana Anjaani, Break Ke Baad, to name a few), a drunken mistake of a marriage (What Happens In Vegas, Ross and Rachel in F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Hangover) and then falling head over heels for a person you simply can't stand - this film has got all of it. The theatrical trailor makes no bones about it. 

It opens with a brief montage edited vintage style of how couples did it (got married, I mean) in the black and white era and quickly goes into a shot of Kareena Kapoor and Imran Khan in what is obviously a divorce lawyer's room. A voice, presumably the lawyer's asks them whether their marriage is a mistake. Both reply in the affirmative. While Kareena's character is cheerfully answering, Imran Khan's character maintains a solemn, unsmiling face. The rest of the promo is glimpses into how diametrically opposite  their characters are, the circumstances that led to the drunken marriage and a few shots  showing their eventually increasing affinity towards each other. Most of it focuses on the couple's chemistry, which is also one of the key pegs of this film's promotional campaign. The trailor is a mish mash of the banter between these two starkly different individuals. 

The trailor has all the trimmings of a Karan Johar work - colours, scale, an international landscape and a pair of good-looking leads. But the dialogues aren't as chuckle inducing as one would expect of this genre. It manages to hold your attention with the words 'sex' and 'bum' being uttered in casual conversation. These are clearly emphasized to enhance the positioning of the film as a take on  contemporary relationships. 

While the trailor hits theatres today with The Dirty Picture, there is a front-page article in Bombay Times and a full-page ad in HT Cafe. 

While the article primarily focuses on the fresh pairing of Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, there is also a mention of how Imran is the youngest Khan to be paired with Kareena. Kareena has played leading lady opposite all the Khans, and this is another angle that the film makers are using to their benefit. 

The poster is  a breezy one, in keeping with the theme of the film. The look is fun, the colours are young and the enlarged pink frames add to the funky quotient. That the two of them see life differently is portrayed by the  their contrasting facial expressions. Kareena seems to be more open and almost flirting with life, while Imran seems petrified and a little confused.

It promises to be an extensive campaign, but with the content being an easy draw for the younger sections of the audience - this film may not need to pull out the stops for the initial set of movie goers. 

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, directed by Shakun Batra and co-produced by Dharma Productions and UTV Motion Pictures, is slated to release on February 10th, 2011.