Rajat Kapoor Movies
Two stars find their paths rising and falling within the Bollywood studio system in this nostalgic musical drama from director and screenwriter Sudhir Mishra. It's the mid-Fifties, and Nikhat (Soha Ali Khan) is a lovely young woman who dreams of a career in the movies. When Nikhat meets Prem Kumar (Rajat Kapoor), a well-known actor whose career is starting to go into decline, he helps her land a small role in a film, and soon Nikhat becomes the protégé of studio chief Khosa (Saurabh Shukla). As Nikhat rises to sudden fame, another new face becomes a force to be reckoned with at the studio -- Zafar (Shiney Ahuja), a successful and well-respected playwright who discovers he has a knack for writing movie scripts. After penning a handful of hits, Zafar becomes an important director, with his close friend Shyamol (Vinay Pathak) as his right-hand man. As the studio's leading actress and best director, Zafar and Nikhat become Bollywood royalty, and it surprises no one when the two fall in love. However, in the grand tradition of show biz romances, Zafar and Nikhat's relationship runs into a rough patch when she becomes an alcoholic and he falls from favor with Khosa and his associates. Khoya Khoya Chand (aka Lost Moon) received its American premiere at the 2008 Palm Springs Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shiney Ahuja, Soha Ali Khan, (more)
- 2007
Mixed Doubles star Ranvir Shorey stars as an actor seduced into the notorious Indian underworld after being approached to impersonate a major crime kingpin in modern-day Mumbai. Much like the hundred of thousands of other aspiring actors hoping to strike it big in Bollywood, our ambitious protagonist is used to playing small, insignificant parts. But this actor possesses one unique trait that the rest of his fellow-actors do not - he's the spitting image of a major mafia heavy. Now forced to assume the persona of a wanted man with a fearsome reputation, the actor greets his challenge with Oscar-winning ambition. But his new existence is based entirely on a lie, and while the situations he becomes involved with are merely comical at first, they quickly take a hard turn into far more deadly territory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Naseeruddin Shah, Ranvir Shorey, (more)
- 2007
Rajat Kapoor and Vinay Pathak star in director Sagar Ballary's outrageous tale of an arrogant music industry executive whose plan to bring an idiot to dinner goes hilariously awry. Ranjeet Thadani may be handsome and wealthy, but he's also an insufferable jerk who's grown decidedly bored as of late. In order to keep things interesting, Ranjeet and the rest of his friends host a weekly dinner in which one person brings along a complete moron for the entertainment of the others. This week Ranjeet has hit the jackpot: His guest Bharat Bhushan is an imbecile of epic proportions, and will no doubt prove a valuable source of entertainment for the evening. Unfortunately, Ranjeet injures his back on the evening of the dinner, forcing him to spend the evening alone with Bharat. Now, as Bharat does his best to help his new "friend" win back his wife, Ranjeet once-comfortable life becomes an endless series of small scale disasters. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rajat Kapoor, Sarika, (more)
Madhur Bhandarkar's take-no-prisoners social drama Corporate embarks on a searing, scathing journey into the dark recesses of the Indian business realm. The picture hones in on white collar executive Vinay Seghal, president and director of the Sehgal Group of Industries, determined to trounce Dharmesh Marwah (Raj Babbar), his opponent in a marketing rivalry. While the former high-roller takes full advantage of shady business deals and prays to his god for deific assistance, the latter employs a more pragmatic approach, enlisting the services of female executive Nishigandha Dasgupta (Bipasha Basu) and her cutthroat task force to sabotage Marwah. Thus begins a battle of wills with no regard for ethic or morality and no empathy for whatever victims happen to fall into the line of fire. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bipasha Basu, Kay Kay Menon, (more)
Following up on her controversial erotic drama Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, Mira Nair directs this charming family drama about a very chaotic Indian wedding. Lalit Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) is a wealthy father who is trying to see that his daughter Aditi's wedding goes off without a hitch. Though familiar with Western ways, he has little patience with them and is dead set on seeing the nuptials done properly and traditionally. Disillusioned with her long time relationship with Vikram -- a man who is almost twice her age -- Aditi (Vasundhara Das) suddenly agrees to submit to an arranged marriage with Hemant, an engineer from Houston. Yet as the ceremony nears, she gets cold feet and returns to see her former lover -- even though it could spell disaster for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Aditi's comely 17-year-old cousin Ayesha is coming to terms with her blossoming sexuality and has her sights set on Rahul, another relative who is a college student in Australia. Then there is Rai -- also Aditi's cousin -- who has a shocking revelation to make. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. At Venice, Monsoon Wedding won the prestigious Golden Lion award. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, (more)
