Father Geek here presenting another funtastic Asia-AICN Column from the likes of Darius25, pigmon, and AccSpy. As is usual there is a ton of info and many cool pictures, but first this uber uncoolness from that feudal La-La land of the Whine-steins...

Long time reader, first time poster...etc. You get the idea.

Let's cut to the chase shall we? News of this might have already floated to your ears, but if it hasn't, here it is.

According to Heroic Bloodshed , rumor has it that they (Miramax)are not only changing the title to "Kung Fu Soccer", but are also going to cut a whole half hour of it. Along with that, they are going to replace the soundtrack with rap music.

I'm just too shock to comment/complain/bitch about this. I would have prefer to watch this on the big screen, I guess I'll just have watch again on DVD.

You can call me upset...hmmm, CriticHater.

Lest you get tooooo depressed ol' Father Geek has some cooler news for you also today...

daniel1138 here.

Last night (1-23) there was a screening of the Korean action hit SHIRI here in Manhattan with the films director KANG JE-GYU. I won't go on about the film as enough has been said on AICN and others, except to say, If you live in city where it plays and you get a chance to see it , DO SO!

The Samuel Goldwyn (the American dist) company has not touched a thing, no new credits, no rap soundtrack, and best of all, no dubbing! The print we saw was flawless and the sound was top notch.

My only real news is that at a brief Q & A after the film KANG JE-GYU answered a few questions about his future plans. He has taken the 2 years since SHIRI off because he says he needs to make some money because his next project is going to be expensive. He mentioned he has 4 projects currently being developed, another action film, a horror film, but best of all, a Big Budget Sci-Fi Epic, that he says will be very expensive because it will involve several Hollywood stars, no names were mentioned but he implied they were already involved. So keep your eyes on this director, if Ginko Bed and SHIRI are any indication he has talent to spare and in these days of Michael Bay and his countless imitators the action genre could really use a shot in the arm.

make the correction 1138... out

Father Geek back... buuuuuut just long enough to hand you over to Darius at the Bollywood desk of our Asian news office...

Asia-AICN

Hello all, I hope you’ve had a great week. It’s the awards season in progress and we’re back with some news on the Screen Annual Bollywood Awards, the 2002 Filmfare Bollywood Awards, and the HK Film Critics Awards. We also have lots of production news, including info on Suraj Barjatya’s latest, “Aankhen (Eyes)”, “Shanghai Nights”, “Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (Dark Water)” and “Suicide Circle”. We also have pics from “Aankhen (Eyes)”, “Marry a Rich Man!” and “Sure Win”. Now here’s the latest from Asia.

INDIA

- Director Jagmohan Mundra (“Bawandar” – The Sandstorm) is in heavy negotiations with actress Karisma Kapoor to star in his next film, titled “Bardasht (Limit)”. Mundra has finished the script and thinks that the main leading role would fit the actress “perfectly”.

- Actor Javed Jaffrey has joined the cast of director Suraj Barjatya’s “Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon (Prem’s Girlfriend)”. The director is in the midst of shooting the film right now, with some major scenes already filmed. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan (both actors share the same name in the film – Prem), Kareena Kapoor and a really large cast of supporting actors (just like previous Barjatya films). The planned release date is November 2002 but I have a feeling this might get delayed till next year.

- This one’s just a minor tidbit. Karan Johar stated that the much-rumoured Abhishek Bachchan cameo, missing from “Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham (Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sorrow), will be added to the upcoming DVD. It is not yet known whether or not the scene will be incorporated back into the film, or be just available as a deleted scene. In either case, we’ll find out soon enough when the DVD releases sometime this spring (or perhaps summer).

- The website for director Vipul Shah’s “Aankhen (Eyes)” is now up and I advice all of you to take a look. The film looks like a cool M:I-type thriller with Amitabh Bachchan playing a disgruntled employee scheming to rob a bank with the help of three blind men (Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, and Paresh Rawal). The film opens on April 5 but you can get a brief glimpse right here: Check It Out Here

Here’s an AWESOME poster of the film: Just Click

Amitabh Bachchan in an action role after a LONG time!!: Click

Akshay Kumar doesn’t look so blind here: See him Now

Neither does Arjun Rampal: Go Here

Sushmita Sen in leather: Click Now

- Here are the results of the 8th Annual Screen Awards, which took place last week in Bombay (or Mumbai if you wish). Basically, the winners were scattered all over the place and no film emerged victorious. I would say that K3G was robbed and Lagaan is a little TOO hyped. It was nice to see Sunny winning for Gadar rather than Aamir winning for Lagaan. Kajol deservedly won Best Actress for K3G, but I’m a little disappointed that Karisma Kapoor didn’t win. Her performance in Zubeidaa was one of the finest female performances (in Bollywood) EVER!! And yeah, Akshay Kumar WAS best villain, not Manoj Bajpai. Oh well, there’s always the Filmfare Awards (look at the next item)

Winners of the 8th Screen Awards are...

• BEST FILM – LAGAAN (The Tax)
• BEST ACTOR - SUNNY DEOL for Gadar
• BEST ACTRESS - KAJOL for Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham (Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sorrow)
• BEST DIRECTOR - ASHUTOSH GOWARIKAR for Lagaan
• LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - SHAMMI KAPOOR
• ASIAN PAINTS JODI NO 1 (Best Couple Award) – SHAHRUKH KHAN and KAJOL for K3G
• BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING/PARALLEL ROLE - SAIF ALI KHAN for Dil Chahta Hai (Desires of the Heart)
• BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING/PARALLEL ROLE - RAVEENA TANDON for Aks (Reflection)
• BEST PERFORMANCE IN A NEGATIVE ROLE - MANOJ BAJPAI for Aks
• SHOWMAN OF THE MILLENIUM - RAJ KAPOOR
• MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER (MALE) - ARJUN RAMPAL Pyar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat (Love, Romance and Desire), Deewanapan (Foolishness), Moksh (Salvation)
• MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER (FEMALE) - GRACY SINGH for Lagaan
• BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (Male) - SONU NIGAM for Tanhayee... / Dil Chahta Hai
• BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (Female) - ASHA BHOSLE for Radha kaise na jale.../ Lagaan
• BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR - SHANKAR, EHSAAN, LOY for Dil Chahta Hai
• BEST BACKGROUND SCORE - RANJIT BAROT
• BEST LYRICS - JAVED AKHTAR for (Jaane kyon log pyar.../ Dil Chahta Hai)
• BEST STORY - MADHUR BHANDARKAR for Chandni Bar
• BEST SCREENPLAY - ASHUTOSH GOWARIKAR, KUMAR DAVE, SANJAY DAYMA for Lagaan
• BEST DIALOGUE - FARHAN AKHTAR for Dil Chahta Hai
• BEST EDITING - BALLU SALUJA for Lagaan
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD - FARHAN AKHTAR for Dil Chahta Hai
• SPECIAL JURY AWARD - AKSHAYE KHANNA for Dil Chahta Hai
• BEST PUBLICITY DESIGN - SIMRIT BRAR & Glamour Design Studio for Aks
• BEST FILM (MARATHI) - DEVAKI
• BEST DIRECTOR (MARATHI) - MILIND UKEY for Devaki
• BEST ACTOR (MARATHI) - KISHORE KADAM for Dhyasa Parva
• BEST ACTRESS (MARATHI) - PADMINI KOLHAPURE for Chimni Pakhare

- Keeping up with the awards season, nominations for the 2002 Filmfare Awards were also announced last week. This is the most glamourous (and commercial) of all the Bollywood awards, hence the absence of many artistic films. Nonetheless, all the usual suspects are here. My only hope is that K3G gets some major awards (why include Asoka as Best Film??) and that Akshay Kumar gets the Best Villain award. He DESERVES it (even more than Bajpai or Urmila)!! Also, the best actress category is the most heated one of all as nearly every single actress is deserving of the title. Again, Karisma deserves it while Amisha, Tabu and Kajol were excellent in their respective roles aswell.

Best Film

• Asoka
• Dil Chahta Hai
• Gadar-Ek Prem Katha
• Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham
• Lagaan

Best Director

• Anil Sharma (Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)
• Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan)
• Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai)
• Karan Johar (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Santosh Sivan (Asoka)

Best Actor

• Aamir Khan (Dil Chahta Hai)
• Aamir Khan (Lagaan)
• Amitabh Bachchan (Aks)
• Shahrukh Khan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Sunny Deol (Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)

Best Actress

• Amisha Patel (Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)
• Kajol (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Kareena Kapoor (Asoka)
• Karisma Kapoor (Zubeidaa)
• Tabu (Chandni Bar)

Best Actor in a supporting role

• Ajay Devgan (Lajja - Shame)
• Akshaye Khanna (Dil Chahta Hai)
• Amitabh Bachchan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Hrithik Roshan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Jackie Shroff (Yaadein - Memories)

Best Actress in a supporting role

• Jaya Bachchan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Kareena Kapoor (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Madhuri (Lajja)
• Preity Zinta (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke – Secretly and Quietly)
• Rekha (Lajja)

Best Performance in a comic role

• Govinda (Jodi No.1 – Duo No. 1)
• Govinda (Kyo Kii...Main Jhuth Nahi Bolta – Because I Don’t Lie)
• Johny Lever (Ajnabee – The Stranger)
• Paresh Rawal (Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar – This is Our House)
• Saif Ali Khan (Dil Chahta Hai)

Best Performance in a villainous role

• Aftaab Shivdasani (Kasoor - Fault)
• Akshay Kumar (Ajnabee)
• Amrish Puri (Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)
• Manoj Bajpai (Aks)
• Urmila Matondkar (Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya – Love, What Have You Done)

Best Music

• Anu Malik (Mujhe Kuchh Kehna Hai – I Have Something To Say)
• A.R. Rahman (Lagaan)
• Jatin-Lalit & Others (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Dil Chahta Hai)
• Uttam Singh (Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)

Best Lyrics

• Anand Bakshi (Udja kale kawan...Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)
• Anil Pandey (Suraj hua maddham...Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham)
• Javed Akhtar (Mitwa...Lagaan)
• Javed Akhtar (Radha kaise na jale...Lagaan)
• Sameer (Title song...Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

Best Male Playback Singer

• Adnan Sami (Mehbooba mehbooba...Ajnabee)
• Shaan (Koi kahe kehta rahe...Dil Chahta Hai)
• Sonu Nigam (Suraj hua maddham...Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
• Udit Narayan (Mitwa...Lagaan)
• Udit Narayan (Udja kale kawan...Gadar-Ek Prem Katha)

Best Female Playback Singer

• Alka Yagnik (Jaane kyon...Dil Chahta Hai)
• Alka Yagnik (O re chhori...Lagaan)
• Alka Yagnik (San sanana...Asoka)
• Kavita Krishnamoorthy (Dheeme dheeme...Zubeidaa)
• Vasundhara Das (Rabba rabba...Aks)

- Last week’s new release was director Kuku Kohli’s “Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa (Romantic Heart)”, starring Karan Johar, Jividha Sharma, Aditya Pancholi, and Rajat Bedi. After flopping with his debut film, “Paagalpan (Craziness)”, Karan Nath is again attempting to woo the audience with his second film and become one of the next “big” action heroes. Of course the romantic elements are included aswell. The plot is nothing spectacular – Karan and Pooja (Nath and Jividha) meet and fall in love while the girl’s brother (Rajat Bedi) is a criminal with some terrorist friends. After a few songs and some dramatic scenes, Pooja boards an airplane hijacked by terrorists (unknowingly masterminded by her own brother). Karan manages to get on the plane and single-handedly rescues all the civilians, making the big terrorist leader fuming for revenge. Some pretty decent action scenes follow before the plot is finally resolved. As you can tell, there is a lot going in the story and the audience was left confused at times. The film could have followed the romance story or the high jacking plot or the revenge angle, but decides to combine all three into a 150-minute film. While this doesn’t work for the film plot-wise, it does somehow ensures that the audience is never bored. I was pretty excited during the film yet it left my mind a couple hours later. Karan Nath is ok in his second film, yet he obviously can’t act that well – yet!! He’s standard in the actions department – but I would rather see Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt or even Salman Khan in an action-oriented role than this guy. Jividha Sharma is a newcomer and she looks it – her dialogue delivery is pretty bad and her range of emotions isn’t that broad either. Aditya Pancholi looks tired and was not entire convincing as the terrorist boss. The songs were pretty decent (especially the title song) while the action scenes were adequately portrayed. They weren’t jaw-dropping excellent but there was some cool stuff in there. As stated before, the script is very decently paced and at the very least, the time passes by very quickly. All in all, “Yeh Dil Aashiqanaa” is just an average B-movie with some ok action scenes. A DVD-rental would make for an adequate viewing experience.

HK / CHINA

Here’s the weekly report from “AccSpy”:

- "Shaolin Soccer" (Kung Fu Soccer) won the Best Picture trophy effortlessly in this year's HK Film Critics Society Awards. Lau Ching Wan won Best Actor for his comedic performance in "La Brassiere". Also for a comedy, Sammi Cheng won her first Best Actress award for the title character in "Wu Yen". Sammi Cheng has beaten out Gigi Leung in "La Brassiere" by just one vote for the win. Ann Hui got Best Director for her supernatural thriller "Visible Secret", while DJ GCGooBi won Best Screenplay for her adaptation of her own radio drama "Merry-Go-Round".

And here's a list of the recommended films of the year (besides "Shaolin Soccer"):

• Visible Secret
• Lan Yu
• July Rhapsody (Men at Forty)
• Legend of Zu
• From the Queen to the Chief Executive
• My Life As McDull
• Running out of Time 2
• Merry-Go-Round

- It's an old news but I would mention it here anyway: Singapore actress and singer Fenn Wong has been cast as Jackie Chan's sister in "Shanghai Knights".

Here's a glimpse of her: Catch a Peek Here

One more pic: Click Here

- Here's some pics from 3 Chinese New Year films opening in Feb, including Sammi Cheng and Richie Yen's "Marry a Rich Man", Andy Lau’s ensemble con-comedy "Sure Win!" and the Tony Leung-Faye Wong period comedy.

Director Vincent Kuk fulfilled Sammi's childhood dream by making her a princess: Just Go Here Now

The cast of the Wong Kar-wai-produced, Jeff Lau-directed period comedy - (from left) Vikki Zhao, Faye Wong, Rebecca Pan and Zhang Zhun: See Them Here

Gigi Leung and Andy Lau in "Sure Win!": Click

- "Black Hawk Down" opened in HK during the same weekend as in US and finished at the top with $3.5 mil HKD over four days. "Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone" and "Second Time Around" fell one spot each to no. 2 and no.3. Nick Cheung's biopic drama "Time 4 Hope" debuted at no.6.

JAPAN

Here is the latest report from “Pigmon”:

- A modern horror masterpiece will be remade in Hollywood. Former Fox president,Bill Mechanic has bought the rights to remake “Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (Dark Water)” which opened nationally in Japan this past weekend. It will be produced by Disney (Dimension Films).

- "Suicide Circle" directed by Shion Sono

I missed “Suicide Circle” when it was showing at last year's Tokyo Fantastic Film Festival but I finally had a chance to view it last week. A weird horror thriller directed by Shion Sono, the plot flows the investigation of a group suicide in which 54 students lose their lives. We view the film through the eyes of two cops (Ryo Ishibase and Masatoshi Nagase) as they follow a string of clues leading to a conspiracy involving a demonic rock band and the Internet. It’s weird, but still very fun in a cultish kind-of way. The acting is decent but the film is very suspenseful AND violent. Be sure to check it out when it makes it round the festival circuits later this year.

- The “WXIII Patlabor 3" anime has been completed. This time, instead of Mamoru Oshii, we get Fumihiko Takayama ("Gundam 0080") as the director for this successful series.

- Shociku films have announced their production plan for this year. They will produce 8 major films, with 5 being in the Period/Samurai genre I expect “7/7 Koga Ninpou Tyo” to be a really great Ninja film.

Anyway, here the list:

• "Tasogare Seibei"
• "Kishin Teikoku"
• “Hakkiyoden”
• “7/7Koga Ninpou Tyo"
• "Renai Shashin"
• "Hoshinojin"
• "Turibaka Nisshi13"
• "Ingiyogishiden"

We have now reached the end of this week's column. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@rogers.com. See you all next week.

Darius25