shekar kapur Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Watch This: Nicole Kidman and Rubina Ali for Schweppes
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Nicole Kidman », Trailers and Clips »
Maybe it's a strange question, but: Whatever happened to Nicole Kidman? Now I'm only partly kidding when I say that, because if you look at the woman who appears in this fancy new commercial for Schweppes, she bears no resemblance to the plucky redhead who wowed us in flicks like Flirting and Dead Calm. The 'Gossips' like to blame the current state of the Aussie actress on Botox or sometimes it's the 'curse of Tom Cruise', but really, I'd love to know when did Ms. Kidman turn into the porcelain faced robot we now see before us? Now before you get all offended, keep in my mind that I actually quite like Kidman as an actress, and despite Australia's failings as a film, at least Kidman was showing some signs of life; signs that have long disappeared in this glamorous soda ad.
The commercial was directed by Elizabeth's Shekar Kapur and produced by Ridley Scott, and Kidman has been transported to an Indian palace alongside Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali and Bollywood star Argun Rampal. As for the commercial, well, I'll give Kapur some credit if he was taking a gentle shot at Kidman's 2004 Chanel ad (Kidman famously pocketed $12 million to star in that commercial), since the two are almost identical. But if he's not, then what you end up with is a bit of a mess with beautiful set design -- and I'm not even getting into the implications of the 'colonial exoticism' of Indian culture that drips from every frame.
Richard Branson gets animated
Filed under: Animation », Deals », Newsstand »
Virgin kingpin Richard Branson is taking his
outrageously successful entrepreneurship to the film industry, taking aim at the Asian market with a pair of ventures
based in Bangalore, India. The first, Virgin Comics, is just what it sounds like: a comic book company, with a
"focus on creating original titles and characters that blend Eastern and Western mythologies." Virgin's first
efforts, which include a a series created by John Woo, are due out later this year. The second company, called Virgin
Animation, will have the task of taking the characters and stories of the Comics group and turning them into animated
films.To say that the team behind the companies is an odd group is an understatement: in addition to Branson, the company's creative director is Gotham Chopra, the son of self-help guru Deepak Chopra (who, based on some reports, is also involved), and filmmaker Shekar Kapur (Bandit Queen, Elizabeth) is responsible for "providing creative content" to the early Comics offerings.
Given Branson's history of jumping into industries at just the right time, this is a promising project. It'll be interesting to watch its progress - and, hopefully to see the results, if they ever make it to the US.
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