Ali Kazmi, who portrayed his negative side in Jackson Heights and just recently hit the silver screen with Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, will now be lending his voice to an Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt starring Hollywood production. The movie is said to be based on the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
Ali Kazmi, who portrayed his negative side in Jackson Heights and just recently hit the silver screen with Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, will now be lending his voice to an Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt starring Hollywood production. The movie is said to be based on the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
We have to say that Kazmi’s career is going places. He had disappeared from Pakistan’s entertainment scene for several years before making a strong comeback with Jackson Heights and now, the young actor – who is also Sahira and Rahat Kazmi’s son – is on a wave of sorts. He recently finished shooting in the US for director Mehreen Jabbar’s movie Dobara Phir Se; that’s one film we’re really looking forward to. He also appeared in Rohit Jugraj Chauhan’s Sardaar Ji earlier this year. Other than the Hollowood production to which he’s lending his voice, we see the Ajay Devgn directed Shivaay as Kazmi’s next big international project. He’s apparently playing a character called Major Khan in the film, which suggests a war theme.
The Writing on Sam Smith’s Wall
Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s On the
Wall’ is the 24th James Bond title track in the history of the franchise and he’s the first British male singer to sing a Bond track since 1965. And Spectre producer Barbara Broccoli thinks it’s the best one to date. “We couldn’t have picked anybody better,” she admitted in the vlog featurette The Music of Spectre. “The song matches the feeling and the tone of the movie. I think (Sam’s version) will go down as being one of the greatest Bond songs in history.” We don’t think Adele (who won an Academy Award for ‘Skyfall’) or the epic Shirley Bassey would be amused.
There have been incredible artists like Shirley Bassey, Duran Duran and Paul McCartney and Wings on the Bond soundtracks – they are considered the biggest and brassiest hits – and some people (like us) even love the pop-synth vibes of Madonna’s ‘Die Another Day’. So how will SS fare amidst all this competition?
The initial reviews (the song has been released on Spotify) aren’t too great. “‘Writing’s on the Wall’ doesn’t feel anywhere near as striking as ‘Skyfall’, The Guardian reviews. “That may be because it’s essentially offering more of the same, while ‘Skyfall’ felt like a break with the recent past, or it may be because it just isn’t as good a song. The melody doesn’t dig into your brain: you keep expecting it to arrive at a showstopping chorus that never comes.”
The Telegraph echoes that thought as Neil McCormick calls Sam Smith’s song “a monster Bond ballad... paced more like an old Hitchcock film than the helter-skelter adrenaline rush of James Bond movies.”
Chris Rock to host the 2016 Academy Awards
“Welcome to the 77th – and last – Academy Awards,” he joked at the
beginning of his monologue at the 77th Academy Awards that he hosted in 2005. And ten years on, Chris Rock will be back on stage to host the 88th annual Oscars, scheduled to air on February 28, 2016. While people may see this as the Academy’s attempt to introduce diversity at the ceremony (there aren’t expected to be any – if many – African American nominees this year), the likelier reason boils down to one word: ratings.
Rock’s turn as host in 2005 wasn’t especially well-reviewed - although his comedy seemed to play better to TV viewers than the audience in front of him – however, the show did put up strong ratings that year, with 42.1 million viewers tuning in. In the decade since, only the Ellen DeGeneres-hosted 2014 show has drawn a bigger audience. In a nutshell, the Oscars have suffered substantial declines in ratings over the years. And now Chris Rock is back!
The question we need to ask is, do the hosts bear the brunt of the blame (or get most of the credit)? We feel the choice of Best Film nominations is what pulls in the numbers. Popular films and box office hits just tend to garner more interest in the awards. That’s food for thought.
