Ranbir Kapoor & team Rockstar makes NMIMS students go berserk!

India’s heartthrob and Rockstar Ranbir Kapoor recently made the MBA students of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai go crazy with an exciting interaction held at the college! Organized by NDTV, host Vikram Thapa led a friendly discussion with a huge live audience of college students and Team Rockstar: Ranbir Kapoor, Director Imtiaz Ali, Nargis Fakhri and voice of Rockstar: singer Mohit Chauhan in the magnificent campus auditorium.

What they didn’t anticipate was the frenzy they generated! Upon hearing that the stars have arrived at NMIMS, the news spread like wildfire and the students from neighboring colleges such as UPG, Mithibai, etc also gathered on the roads to catch a glimpse, creating lots of chaos and traffic!

Once inside NMIMS, the stars found the auditorium was fully packed, with students even sitting on the floor and thousands had thronged the hall to catch a glimpse of Team Rockstar! The students asked many interesting questions on the film and in general, and most could not resist from going up to the stage to get a hug from Ranbir! The rockstar then took a guitar in his hands and led the way for a great fun filled jamming session with Mohit Chauhan and the students. The entire crowd mobbed the team all the way to their cars, beseeching the team for autographs and photos!
Well, looks it was definitely one amazing interaction never to be forgotten by the students!

Rockstar hits UK cinemas 11.11.11

Mtiaz Ali brings Kashmiri wedding rituals onscreen with Rockstar!

Director Imtiaz Ali has gone to great lengths to make sure everything shown in Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision and Eros International's Rockstar is as authentic as possible. The buzz is that for the first time ever on screen a Kashmiri Pandit wedding will be shown, with all its rituals and traditions!

During the recce, Imtiaz had asked the line producer to make him meet a Kashmiri Pandit family in order to maintain authenticity. His house was located in a small hindu settlement in Srinagar and the team went all the way to his house, sat for 3 hours with his wife over tea to understand all the nitty gritties of kashmiri weddings. Great care was taken to make sure everything that would appear on screen was completely accurate and as real as possible!

They then walked to the very popular Kheer Bhawani temple, met the priest and watched his own daughter's wedding video to have a visual understanding of the rituals. The designers Manish Malhotra and Akki Narula roamed around the streets for hours to get the traditional attire perfect to the T.

Right from the way food is served in the tram (copper plates) to the traditional Dejhor which is Kashmiri jewellery worn in the ears (symbol of a married woman) along with the shaneel fyran (velvet dress/outfit), the intricate henna pattern and the tarang (cap) the girl wears during the wedding rituals, etc, were painstakingly researched for the shoot.

In fact, during the shoot, the locals who were part of the scene were given full freedom to inform Imtiaz if something was going wrong and wasn’t part of the tradition!

Rockstar hits UK cinemas 11.11.11

ROCKSTAR team in Ahmedabad!

Bollywood’s ‘Rockstar’ Ranbir Kapoor sent crowds in Ahmedabad in a frenzy as he visited several ‘dandiya’ venues on October 2nd along with co-star Nargis Fakhri for the promotions of their upcoming film ‘Rockstar’ directed by Imtiaz Ali.

This was Nargis’ first major public appearance and she was looking stunning, dressed in a beautiful traditional 'ghaghra choli' for the event. Ranbir too, looked impressive in his black kurta. Both the stars made a dramatic entry on a hydraulic crane amidst a thunderous applause. They even greeted the crowds in Gujarati and performed some ‘garba & dandiya’ moves on stage!
Directed by Imtiaz Ali, ‘ROCKSTAR’ is produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision & Eros International and revolves around a Delhi boy (Ranbir) who resents the fact that he has no pain in his life. He has realized that all great musicians have had a painful life. In order to get his heart broken, he proposes to the most sought-after girl in Delhi University.

The story of ‘Rockstar’ is the seven years of the boy’s life and relationship with the girl at the end of which he does become a huge musical star, but his heart also gets broken...

The soundtrack of the film has been composed by musical genius AR Rahman.

Rockstar hits UK cinemas 11.11.11.

Why does a Rockstar need a telephone when you have Skype?

Rahman records with Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist in LA; Imtiaz participates through Skype

AR Rahman and Imtiaz Ali have put in their heart and soul to create some memorable music for their upcoming film ‘Rockstar’ produced by Shree Ashtavinayak & Eros International.

The music director has roped in Orianthi Panagaris, Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist for a song titled ‘Saadda Haq’ in the film’s soundtrack.

While working on ‘Saadda Haq’, the team (Rahman, Imtiaz, Irshad & Mohit Chauhan) agreed that they needed a fantastic lead guitarist to justify the tempo and the lyrics of the song. A source from the team says, “While Rahman and Imtiaz had shortlisted several Indian and international musicians, they had Orianthi on the top of their list; given her incredible body of work and her huge international success.”

Rahman checked with his agent in LA and even met up with Orianthi during one of his work visits there. He made her listen to the rough track and she absolutely loved it.  Rahman immediately contacted Imtiaz and soon the Director was online, video chatting with Rahman & Orianthi from Mumbai.

“The Director had a long discussion with Orianthi on Skype; briefing her about the film’s story and the song’s relevance. Orianthi who was sitting with Rahman in LA immediately played some tunes that she felt could work well for the song. They (Imtiaz & Rahman) loved it and so Orianthi was on board!” the source adds.

A few days later, Rahman recorded Orianthi playing the guitar for ‘Saadda Haq’ in his LA studio. The process took 6 long hours, while Imtiaz witnessed the entire session through Skype!

Rockstar hits UK cinemas 11.11.11.

Team ‘Rockstar’ pays a special tribute at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

Actor Ranbir Kapoor and director Imtiaz Ali visited Delhi’s famous Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah on Monday to seek blessings of the musical saints for their upcoming film ‘Rockstar’ produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd and Eros International.

The duo was accompanied by Mohit Chauhan, who is the 'voice of Jordan' (Ranbir's character) in the film.

The Dargah, that is believed to be the originating source of qawwali, holds a very special place for the ‘Rockstar’ team. Director Imtiaz Ali often frequented the Nizamuddin Dargah during the shooting of the film that stars Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri. Ranbir too, stayed there for a couple of days while shooting for the qawwali scene in the film that features the Dargah. AR Rahman (the film’s music director) too, has often expressed his reverence for the place.

Arriving around 9pm, the team first offered the special ‘chaadar’ at the tomb of Amir Khusro, a noted musician, scholar & poet, also known to be the ‘father of qawwali’.

They then proceeded to join the famous Qawwals of the Dargah to celebrate the conclusion of the highly popular 4 day ‘Urs of Hazrat Amir Khusro’ that is held every year.

Ranbir Kapoor and Mohit Chauhan also performed on ‘Kun Faaya Kun’ – a qawwali from the film. While Ranbir played the guitar by himself, Mohit sung the soulful number in his voice.

After an enchanting qawwali session that went on for about an hour, the ‘Rockstar’ team proceeded to interact with the media gathered at the venue.
‘Rockstar’ is one of the most highly anticipated movies this year and has already generated a lot of buzz. After two back-to-back hits, Director Imtiaz Ali is back with yet another love story set in a musical backdrop.

Rockstar hits UK cinemas 11.11.11.

Nargis’ encounter with Rishi & Neetu Kapoor!

Nargis Fakhri is one of the most talked about debutants in Bollywoood today. After all, she’s making her big screen debut opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Imtiaz Ali’s ROCKSTAR.

But not many people knew her when she had just begun filming with Ranbir. That’s when she found herself in a rather funny situation with her co-star’s parents.

The team had just commenced shooting in Delhi and Ranbir’s parents, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, had come to visit the team on the sets. They were staying at the same hotel where Ranbir, Nargis and the other crew were put up.

Incidentally, Rishi and Neetu Kapoor were catching up with Imtiaz in the hotel lobby on arrival when they spotted a beautiful girl sitting across the hall, talking to someone. They were so captivated by her ethereal beauty and good looks that they immediately drew Imtiaz’s attention towards the girl and exclaimed that such a pretty girl should consider making a career in Bollywood. Imitiaz chuckled, telling Rishi and Neetu that she is indeed making her debut in Bollywood, and that too opposite their son Ranbir! That’s when the Kapoor couple realised that the girl sitting in front of them was Nargis Fakhri! An amused Imitaz immediately called Nargis over and introduced her to the senior actors.

Later when the incident was told to Ranbir, they all shared a good laugh over it!

ROCKSTAR hits UK cinemas 11th November 11, 2011.

Ranbir faces the other side of the camera!

Actor Ranbir Kapoor found himself on the other side of the camera when he had to briefly step into Imtiaz Ali's shoes as the director of a small sequence in his own film.
The actor, who had assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali as an assistant director for ‘Black’ before starting his acting career, once again found himself with the camera during a shoot for Rockstar.

Director Imtiaz Ali and team were shooting a complicated concert sequence in Verona, Italy with a crowd of almost 1000 people. The on-ground shots required a great deal of coordination and Imtiaz also required aerial shots of the same crowds. However, there was a problem – Imtiaz could not be in two places at the same time and he required every member of his team on the ground with him.

That's when Imtiaz asked Ranbir to step him. Says a source from the direction team, “Imtiaz has always encouraged Ranbir with his goals, even gifting him a viewfinder for his birthday. However there were many complications in this shoot. Firstly, Ranbir has a great fear of heights and this required him to look down from an open chopper thousands of feet above the ground. Secondly there would be no Indian crew, no camera attendant, just Ranbir and a foreign DOP.”

Despite these challenges, Ranbir managed to do a great job. “He confidently went on the chopper and got the perfect shots; which are all in the film for us to see.” the source adds.

Bravo, Ranbir!

Rocking into UK cinemas November 11, 2011.

Ranbir sings to a special audience!

 With Ranbir being scared on the back of a motorbike to the release of the trailer, now he is playing for sex workers in a scene in his upcoming film, Rockstar.

The workers at Mumbai’s biggest red light area in Grant Road couldn’t have asked for a better treat than having Ranbir Kapoor sing for them!

Kapoor’s upcoming film ‘Rockstar’ features a scene depicting Ranbir playing the guitar and singing to an audience of sex workers. And Director Imtiaz Ali was keen on shooting at an actual brothel instead of creating a set and using junior artists.

On the day of the shoot, the women were excited about meeting the star but were also nervous about the shoot. They welcomed the crew and also served the local breakfast of ‘chai and pav’. After a short introduction session and some light hearted conversation, they commenced shooting where Ranbir, surrounded by a big group of sex workers is playing the guitar and singing for them. The actor, who had taken extensive guitar lessons to prepare for his role in the film, actually played it live and even sang the verses himself, leaving his audience captivated!

A crew member says, “They (the sex workers) were very shy initially. They were reluctant about coming in front of the camera….but Imtiaz and Ranbir spent some time talking to them and created a comfortable environment after which we commenced shooting. Once the shoot was over, some of them even took pictures with Ranbir and requested for autographs; and Ranbir happily obliged. They wished Ranbir & Imtiaz good luck for the film’s success.”

Rockstar releases in cinemas worldwide on 11th Nov 2011.

Rockstar gets a trailer

The last time I had information aobut this film was a piece about Ranbir Kapoor being scared to death on the back of a motorbike. Now we've just been sent a set of posters (just click any of them to get a bigger version) and the trailer.

A Delhi boy resents the fact that he has no pain in his life. He has realized that all great Musicians have had a painful life. In order to get his heart broken, he proposes to the most sought-after girl in Delhi University.

The story of ‘Rockstar’ is the seven years of the boy’s life and relationship with the girl at the end of which he does become a huge musical star, but his heart also gets broken.

ROCKSTAR hits UK cinemas November 11, 2011

Ranbir’s bike scare on the sets of Rockstar!

Hearthrob Ranbir Kapoor had the fright of his life when he had to shoot a bike sequence with newbie Nargis Fakhri for ‘Rockstar’. Because he was required to ride pillion with Nargis who had just learnt how to ride a motorbike barely half an hour ago!

Apparently, Director Imtiaz wanted to shoot a sequence involving Nargis riding a bike with Ranbir sitting behind. Since Nargis had never ridden one, Imtiaz asked his team to teach Nargis.

To everyone’s surprise, after just half an hour of practice, Nargis claimed that she could manage riding and was ready for the shot. Ranbir however, expressed his concern, wondering how Nargis could learn riding a bike in just 30 minutes! But the crew members all backed Nargis and said that she had indeed picked up really fast and was ready to shoot. That’s when poor Ranbir started praying for his life!

Everyone present couldn’t help but chuckle at Ranbir’s obvious reluctance. However, once the shoot commenced, Ranbir realized that Nargis was indeed a fast learner and was handling the bike quite comfortably. That’s when he relaxed and eventually enjoyed his short spin with Nargis!

Rockstar releases on November 11, 2011.