The past few animation films may’ve failed to attract eyeballs and footfalls, but that hasn’t deterred Shailendra Singh of Percept Picture Company to promote his new animation film JUMBO aggressively. With voiceovers by Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Dimple Kapadia, Gulshan Grover, Rajpal Yadav and Asrani, JUMBO is not only targeted at kids, but also kids at heart.

“We aren’t targeting the kids only. We’re looking at adults as well. I genuinely feel that there’s a kid in all of us. JUMBO is akin to a Manmohan Desai film with full-on masala for the Indian audiences,” Shailendra informs me. No wonder, Percept has put up massive hoardings across the city to herald its arrival this Christmas.

Will JUMBO prove as successful as HANUMAN? “That’s too early to say, but it has the germs to emerge a success. I’d be glad if this animation film works. I’d be glad if kids in India starting playing with ‘Jumbo’ toys, instead of ‘Spiderman’ and ‘Superman’ toys. Animation films rule the world over and I don’t see a reason why animation wouldn’t work in India,” Shailendra adds

Akshay Kumar’s much awaited ‘Jumbo’ is entertaining and is better than a lot of animation flicks that have hit the cinema screens of late. But unfortunately, the film somewhere falls short on the humour content with just one character, voiced by Rajpal Yadav, being reasonably comic.

The story revolves around a fat and young elephant named Jumbo, who is very fond of frogs and lives in his own fun filled dream world. Although the baby elephant is very happy with his life, but one thing which truly disturbs him is that he is without a father. There were rumours in the elephant community that his father was a coward and had run away from the community. But Jumbo hates to believe the cooked up story about his father, and goes out to set that straight and find his father. Then, Jumbo (Akshay Kumar) enters the human territory.

While staying and interacting with humans, Jumbo learns to distinguish between good and bad. Through the years of separation from his mother (Dimple Kapadia), Jumbo grows up to be a strong and mighty elephant, and finds his lady love in Sonia (Lara Dutta). The king of their province calls for another battle and expectedly Jumbo is chosen as the emperor elephant. While searching for his father, Jumbo comes to know that his father was killed by Bhaktavar (Gulshan Grover) – the rival kingdom’s war elephant. Jumbo now gears up to seek revenge for his father’s murder.

Out of the much talked about voiceovers in the film, Dimple Kapadia and Rajpal Yadav emerged the best. While Dimple is as deep and emotional as a mother, Yadav is funny and energetic in his dialogues. Akshay Kumar plays the narrator in the first half and voices for Jumbo only in the second. However, Gulshan Grover and Rajpal Yadav sound more like celebrities than characters.

‘Jumbo’ is definitely a fun filled treat for all the kids out there. And for the rest, it’s little bland, but isn’t too bad for a watch. Three cheers for this one!

Characters:

Aftab Shivdasani: Michael
Maria’s fiancée who is shit scared of her father. Instead of impressing him, he ends up by embarrassing just about everybody, including himself, by accidentally consuming a drug that makes him wildly delusional, stupidly suicidal and contently tearful!

Tulip Joshi: Maria
She’s defied her wealthy and autocratic father for Michael’s sake. Now she can do nothing but watch haplessly as Michael carries on from one disastrous situation to another in his drug induced state.

Sunil Shetty: Steve
Not too bright, but always wanting to do right, he is the good son who stays with his parents, trying to bring peace between warring wife and mother and now struggling manfully to bring some semblance of dignity to a funeral that’s degenerated into a farce.

Aarti Chhabria: Nancy
She loves her good hearted, but ineffectual husband, but just cannot stand his perfectionist, over critical mother-in-law. She thinks her father-in-law’s death is the best chance she has of getting out of the family house and away from a sharp tongued mother -in -law.

Ashish Chowdhry: Brian
He’s the younger son who’s gone away and gained fame and fortune as a novelist. He is self-centered and indulgent and rarely gives a thought to anybody but himself till he’s confronted with a crisis that can tear the family and his father’s spotless reputation completely.

Sophie Chowdhry: Ayesha
This wannabe model is desperate for a break and willing to go to any lengths to get it. As a result, she finds herself trying to do a steamy seduction number in a house full of astounded mourners.

Javed Jaffrey: Carlos
Henpecked by wife, bullied by all, he’s expected to do all the hard and dirty work. He does it too, muttering under his breath and watching helplessly when the credit is taken by somebody else!

Kim Sharma: Jenny
Carlos’ suspicious wife who’s so convinced that her husband is cheating on her, that she’s taken to following him around wherever he goes and eavesdropping on him whenever he talks.

Chunky Pandey: Harry
Maria’s good for nothing brother is as jolly as a junkie can be. It’s thanks to him that hallucinogenic drugs get into a bottle marked Relaxo and get consumed by the unlikeliest of people!

Prem Chopra: Uncle Murphy
He may be an invalid, bound to his wheelchair but his abuses are extremely robust as are the painful prods from his cane. Woe betide anybody who dare cross him or try to care for him. The consequences can be dreadful to say the least.

Rajpal Yadav: Andrew
Last but not the least he’s the joker in the pack, the cat among the pigeons. His small size belies his larger intentions and the kinky secrets he has up his sleeve are enough to bring the lately deceased Douglas Lazarus’ sons to their knees.

Synopsis

So, what can happen at a funeral? Even, if it’s the funeral of Daddy Cool Douglas Lazarus? It’s in Goa, tears, sad speeches, melancholia… right? Wrong! When… The coffin makers deliver the wrong body.

Good Son Steven Lazarus (Suniel Shetty), an aspiring writer tries to give his father a decent funeral by delivering a eulogy…that includes a description of the rivers of Goa. Having flown in first class younger brother Brian (Ashish Chowdhry), suave, successful and much admired writer from Mumbai, not ready to share responsibility for his mother, saying “He barely has money to support himself and his dogs.” A rather “comfortable” estate agent Pinto (Vijay Patkar) tries to close a house deal for Nancy (Aarti Chabria) Steven’s wife who is trying to get away from her mother-in-law Mrs. Lazarus (Suhasini Mulay) , who though just bereaved, lives up to her title admirably.

A prospective groom Michael (Aftab Shivdasani) to a cousin, Maria (Tulip Joshi), nervous about meeting father-in-law to be (Naseer Abdullah ) comes in completely spaced out because of a hallucinogenic drug given to him out of Maria’s junkie brother Harry’s (Chunky Pandey) bottle of “Relaxo.”

A knife-wielding suspicious Jenny (Kim Sharma) finds her husband Carlos (Javed Jaffrey) pleading forgiveness from the red- hot model Ayesha (Sophie Chodhry). While the model, told to bestow her favours on a man in a black suit, in order to feature in an ad film, finds herself in a room full of potential employers.

A repulsive spit on hands and flick back hair, Roadside Romeo kind of aspiring boyfriend, Jim (Vrajesh Hirjee) thinks that even a funeral is an opportunity to impress Maria.

A doddering old Uncle Murphy (Prem Chopra) in a wheelchair believes in practicing “rapchick” to get the girls…

And then enters a “Blackmailer” Andrew (Rajpal Yadav) who has a scandalous secret about the deceased Douglas “Daddy Cool” Lazarus (Sharat Saxena).

So what does happen is complete melange of madness, chaos, and a laugh a minute! So is it a ‘fun’eral? Or should we say the fun is real?

Percept Picture Company’s animation caper “Jumbo”, might be a film under children’s content category, but it aims to give tough competition to Aamir Khan’s much-awaited film “Ghajini”, releasing on the same date.

“We have purposely pitched ‘Jumbo’ against ‘Ghajini’ because we feel that our film has the ability to stand against a big commercial film,” said Shailendra M. Singh, managing director of Percept Picture Company.

“This film is a pure Bollywood potboiler just like a Manmohan Desai movie. The film is entirely around relationships and emotions,” he said.

“Jumbo” that is scheduled to release December 25 is an animation film where the protagonist, an elephant, sets out in search of his parents.

Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Dimple Kapadia, Rajpal Yadav, Gulshan Grover and Asrani are some of the voices behind the animated characters.

Singh explained that even though it was a task making Akshay dub for the title lead character, especially after a hit like “Singh Is Kinng”, the actor was always the original choice for the voice over.

Although the recent time has seen a spurt in animation flicks like “Hanuman”, “Bal Ganesha” and “Roadside Romeo” among others, Singh maintains that children’s content is not considered a priority in India.

“Children’s content is not a priority in our country. However, we want to change this scenario. In my view ‘Jumbo’ is not just an animation film, which deserves to be only in the children film category. I want it to be in the general film category, viewed by people of all ages,” said Singh, who has plans to rope in cricketer Yuvraj Singh as the Punjabi voice of “Jumbo”.

The film, which is dedicated by Akshay to his six-year-old son Aarav will have a special screening at his place before it formerly hits the screens.

khalbali

While shooting near a poolside in Bangkok for their forthcoming film Khalbali, the cast and the crew were constantly distracted by a group of topless women relaxing there. “Director Ajay Chandok was shooting a song there,” a source said.

“The women weren’t conscious of the people around. But no matter how hard the crew tried to ignore the sight, it was not possible for them to concentrate on the work,” the source added.

Khalbali stars Nikhil Dwivedi, Chunky Pandey, Rajpal Yadav, Shruti Seth and Johny Lever, apart from others

Now that you all know RGV is getting busier with his next big release Rann – A News Story…what’s new huh? We’ll tell you. Remember RGV saying that Rann will be a high voltage drama and then the speculation about the starcast in the biggie? So if Aamir Khan decided to unveil the first look of his film Ghajini on Diwali day, RGV has decided to unveil the principal starcast of Rann after the D-day, and as usual, Bollywood Hungama brings you the exclusive list of the who’s who of Bollywood featuring in Rann and their character sketches.

Harshvardhan Malik
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan

The founder of the first ever private news channel in the country INDIA 24/7, the Harvard-educated Harshvardhan Malik is India’s most respected media personality. He is a hardcore upholder of journalistic ethics. No wonder his Channel is battling for survival!

Jay Malik
Cast: Sudeep

A go-getter and highly aggressive and ambitious son of Harshvardhan Malik, Jay looks at his feather’s news channel purely as a business enterprise that must make profits to justify its existence. He hates that his competition is doing better than him.

Purab Shastri
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh

Armed with a degree in journalism, Purab Shastri truly believes that the media should be the check point for the people of a country, and therefore, it should report news, instead of manufacturing news. Purab’s thinking sets him apart from most youngsters of this country. While everyone is chasing their individual dreams, Purab aggressively wants to work towards a better India. Needless to say, a clash between Purab and the powers-that-be looks inevitable. It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong!

Mohan Pandey
Cast: Paresh Rawal

It is every politician’s dream to become the Prime Minister of his country. To that extent, the leader of the opposition Mohan Pandey is no different from his contemporaries. The only difference being – if the need arises, Pandey can and will kill to get the coveted chair.

Amrish Kakkar
Cast: Mohnish Behl

Amrish Kakkar was the first to have the VISION and the foresight to realize that even the business of delivering NEWS can be made ENTERTAINING. Amrish therefore can be safely held singularly responsible for taking the television news industry to the dogs, or to the heights, depending on how you see it. His channel is no less than a shady brothel, the content that is NEWS is no less than a cheap hooker, and Amrish Kakkar – the most powerful pimp around.

Nalini Kashyap
Cast: Manisha Koirala

Nalini Kashyap is the programming head of Harshvardhan Malik’s news channel, INDIA 24/7. Having been in the industry for long enough, she has developed a practical view of how things operate here. And this comes in direct conflict with what her boss, Harshvardhan Malik, thinks. Juggling the cut-throat world outside with the idealistic universe of her boss, Nalini Kashyap has her job cut out.

Naveen Shankalya
Cast: Rajat Kapoor

Naveen Shankalya, apart from being the son-in-law of Harshvardhan Malik, is also one of the topmost industrialists of the country. Despite this, he is the most insecure man on earth, and won’t rest till he becomes the number one industrialist in the country. His best buddy Mohan Pandey becoming the Prime Minister of India will surely help his cause.

Nandita Sharma
Cast: Gul Panag

The assistant of an ad filmmaker, Nandita Sharma someday hopes to bag an independent feature film. She is in a live-in relationship with her boyfriend Purab. Nandita is smart, educated, and intelligent. She is also highly indifferent to what’s happening in the country, and first thinks about herself and her man, before anything or anybody else. On both counts, she represents the youth of India.

Yasmin Hussain
Cast: Raima Sen

An ex-model, and fiancée of Jay Malik, Yasmin watches TV, reads gossip columns, and for most part, takes everything that is dished out to her, AT FACE VALUE. She does not understand the intricacies of power games, and hidden motivations behind actions of people. The resources at her disposal to know what is true and what is not, are limited. She is not innocent, and she is not clever either. Yasmin therefore epitomizes the ‘common man’.

Anand Prakash Trivedi
Cast: Rajpal Yadav

A creative editor, Anand Prakash Trivedi has a knack for sensationalizing even in the driest story and making it sound like the story of the decade with super catchy headlines. More than any filmmaker, he makes far better movies. Only, he calls them NEWS.

Well, looking at the starcast of RGV’s Rann, one can say that this in itself is a ‘breaking news

Hastey Hastey Audio Songs

Starring : Jimmy Shergill, Nisha Rawal, Rajpal Yadav
Music : Anu Malik
Director : Toony
Producer : Ashutosh Bajpai, Shivaram Kumar

Film: ‘Krazzy 4′
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav, Juhi Chawla, Suresh Menon, Rajat Kapoor
Director: Jaideep Sen

‘Krazzy 4′ is a refreshing if not riveting change from the risque-driven, innuendo-laden comedies that have recently infested our theatres.

Stand-up comedian Suresh Menon, playing one of four psychologically disturbed protagonists, utters barely one word in the film.

‘Kidnap!’ he stammers to tell his associates that the sweet doctor Juhi Chawla has been whisked away by baddies, who look like they could do with a spot of training in crime management.

‘Krazzy 4′ has a point to make under the barrage of burlesque. And it’s all done in good spirit. Cinematographer Ajit Bhat shoots the streets and crowded places of Mumbai to signify the sense of freedom that the four heroes feel even in the claustrophobic atmosphere outside the confines of their world within stonewalls.

So who’s the crazy one? The guy (Rajpal Yadav) who thinks we’re still living in the era of Gandhian freedom fighters? Or the guy (Rajat Kapoor) who gets his sweet wife kidnapped for political gains?

Good question. And adeptly handled by debutant director Jaideep Sen as long as the audience doesn’t ask too many questions about the logistics of four men and a jalopy joyride into intrigue, adventure and crime.

Sen, with ample help from writer Ashwani Dheer, knows precisely which frontiers to open to ensure the comedy doesn’t slip into farce. The initial scenes introducing the characters are well executed. And if the pace doesn’t slacken it’s because the actors wouldn’t let it.

Each of the four main actors invest a certain something beyond the precincts of parody to their characters. Irrfan Khan as the literate cleanliness freak, Arshad Warsi as the inmate with an anger-management problem, Yadav caught in Gandhian time warp and Menon as the tongue-tied repressed vagrant, invest a definite direction to the wacky goings-on.

If you persuade a cine buff to choose one from the foursome it would have to be Rajpal who’s by now the maestro of mirthful manoeuvrings. Watch him give his patriotic mouthfuls to several scumbags in the plot. Rajpal brings the house down.

Agreed some of the plotting and narrative transitions lack finesse. But when have mainstream Hindi films been known for extravagant bouts of finesse?

The narrative packs in some seriously satirical and sensitive moments. Check out Arshad’s scene with his prospective father-in-law – it’s a superbly scripted encounter.

Or that isolated incident of pathos when the hygiene maniac Irrfan repositions the bindi on his wife’s head.

Such moments, delicately drawn and deftly defined get drowned in the din of devilish merrymakers on a rampage.

‘Krazzy 4′ moves from one wacky adventure to another without sacrificing the sub-linear message on the definition of normal behaviour in a social structure that has lost all its sense of proportion and is hurling into mayhem and anarchy.

Laughter is the only medicine. ‘Krazzy 4′ isn’t quite the tonic for our wounded souls. But you can’t help but giggle at the goings-on.

On the film’s controversial item songs – Shah Rukh moves. Hrithik glides. And yes, Irrfan Khan tries to wipe Rakhi Sawant’s tattoo clean in her item song.

That’s where the laughter of the lewd is dispersed in the innocence of the ‘mad’. ‘Krazzy 4′ isn’t Milos Forman’s ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’.

Priyadarshan did that in ‘Kyun Ki’.