Love Sex Aur Dhokha gets adult certificate

Dibakar Banerjee’s much talked-about Love Sex Aur Dhokha went before the censor board recently. The controversial love scene showing a bare-backed girl on top of a man, making love, has been told to be blurred on screen.

In other words, Dibakar’s couple will be seen by the audience making love as two blurred figures.

The director, already miffed and mired in what he sees as unnecessary controversy, refuses to be enraged even if so many recent Hindi films have had graphic love-making scenes. As for the female bare back during a love-making scene, the censors liberally allowed that in Rensil D’Silva’s Kurbaan just recently!

Says Dibakar, “We had submitted a DVD of the film to the Censor Board so they’d recommend cuts in advance and avoid delays. The censor preview recommendation suggests that we blur the sex scene. We were told this scene was too graphic and needed tempering. There’s no way the censors could allow the love-making scene. We’ve clearly been told that even before the film is submitted for censoring.”

When asked how bare-backed love-making scenes have been allowed by the censors recently and how the one in Love Sex Aur Dhokha (LSD) has been asked to tone down even before the film is submitted to the censors, the director chooses to smile mysteriously.

“I’ve been, in principle, against the film being perceived as a voyeur’s delight. Love Sex Aur Dhokha is not about sex sex and sex. Those who expect that will turn away disappointed.”

However, in another more radical cut, all reference to caste in a love story between a low-caste boy and a high-caste girl has been removed by the Censor Board. This has infuriated Dibakar. Says the director, “This completely changes the perspective of my story since now the caste-challenged love story is turned into a poor-boy-rich-girl romance. This is not what I intended.”

Also, the song “Tu Nangi Acchhi Lagti Hai”, which was modified on the audio cd to “Tu Gandi Achchi Lagti Hai”, has now been similarly modified in the film also.

Says Dibakar, “But no complaints. Considering the controversial content, my film got away easily with little cuts and an ‘Adults’ certificate.”

Mallika Sherawat opposite Pitt and Clooney?

It seems like all the efforts put in by Mallika Sherawat are finally reaping some profit. All the efforts that she put in to fit into Hollywood have not gone unnoticed somehow. Apart from bagging one cameo here and another there she had not been able to do much. But the rumour has it that finally Mallika Sherawat might just get an offer to work opposite George Clooney and Brad Pit.



The latest buzz is that Anil Ambani is busy pursuing the takeover of MGM and pursuing both George Clooney and Brad Pitt to be a part of his projects. He is co-producing with Brad’s production house a movie called Plan B, which is a sci-fi film apart from films being directed by Steven Spielberg. For these films Anil is looking to sign on established Hollywood names. The film in question is based on social issue and the auditioning has already begun. It is for this film that hot bod Mallika Sherawat, who is currently in the US, is being considered. Sherawat would be meeting the casting agents soon next week. Read more about Mallika Sherawat's horoscope.

Striker Movie Review

Some stories seem very interesting on paper. You get hooked, perhaps captivated. But there are times when these stories lose sheen when translated on celluloid. As a storyteller, you need to have the convincing power to keep the viewer hooked. Also, you ought to know when and how to conclude the story. Like they say, never stretch a story beyond a point.



Striker, directed by Chandan Arora, falters because the story doesn't arrest your attention in entirety and also, it seems like a never-ending ride, even though the running time is approx. 2 hours. Frankly, the story overstays its welcome.


Cinema is all about narrating stories and Chandan Arora makes a sincere attempt to narrate one in Striker, but the multiple tracks and layers in the film act as a spoilsport. The screenplay is patchy and the focus shifts from one episode to another constantly. It's not sacrilegious to have multiple tracks in a film, but you need to conclude each track before the actual story reaches its culmination. Clearly, the screenplay writing lets Striker down.

Also, the subject material is very Mumbai-centric and therefore, will appeal to a miniscule audience. Final word? The Striker doesn't strike! Set in a Mumbai ghetto in the mid 80s, Surya [Siddharth] grows up with few luxuries. Poor health
keeps him away from school often and that is when his elder brother, Chandrakant [Anoop Soni], introduces him to carrom.

Hopes for a job in Dubai replaces the passion for carrom as Surya grows into a young man. Duped by a bogus overseas employment agency, Surya loses his hard earned money he had saved for going to Dubai. Surya is forced to cross paths with Jaleel [Aditya Pancholi]. Reintroduced to carrom by his childhood friend Zaid [Ankur Vikal], Surya starts playing again. Being robbed of his hard earned money by the same man who had caused misery for many families, Surya decides to take on Jaleel on his turf.

First things first. Even though Striker attempts to narrate the story of a carrom player, depicting the highs and lows in his life, the question is, does it have recall value after the show has concluded? The game of carrom being used for gambling may sound interesting and Chandan Arora should've stuck to the core issue, instead of drifting into multi-tracks.

Like, for instance, the romance - between Siddharth and his neighbour - is concluded abruptly. The girl disappears suddenly after her father spots Siddharth and her in the train. But pray why? Naah, no explanations are offered. Ditto for Anupam Kher's character. He seems hell-bent on putting an end to Aditya Pancholi's reign of terror, but when Kher comes face to face with Pancholi, all he does is play an intermediary between Pancholi and his arch rival, whom Pancholi assumes had betrayed him.

The track between Siddharth and Padma Priya, a fisher woman, seems forced in the screenplay. Even the finale - the death of his sister [Vidya Malvade] and brother-in-law during communal riots and the subsequent fight-to-finish with Pancholi - looks unreal, when the film seems to be following a realistic pattern.

Chandan Arora's choice of the story is right, but the erratic screenplay writing will cost him dear. However, there's no denying that he has handled a number of individualistic scenes well. The music [multiple music composers] is soothing. P.S. Vinod's cinematography is perfect.

Siddharth is as natural as natural can be. He is superb. Aditya Pancholi looks noxious and enacts his part just too wonderfully. Anupam Kher does an okay job, partly because his character is not well-defined. Padma Priya looks confident. Ankur Vikal does very well. Seema Biswas gets into the skin of the character. Vidya Malvade doesn't get much scope. Anoop Soni is perfect. The actress playing Noorie is passable. On the whole, Striker lacks a solid script to strike a chord.