Satyagrah

To play an anti-corruption crusader on an indefinite strike to protest against scams and corruption, the Big B Amitabh Bachchan has gone an actual near-starvation diet so that the scenes in the film appear authentic. Sources from location in Bhopal say the Big B has ceased to even communicate beyond what’s necessary. However on Wednesday there was an unexpected break in the Big B’s hunger-strike regime for <em>Satyagrah</em> when director Prakash Jha turned 61.

Her role and performance as the unstoppable Naxalite in Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh has won her rave reviews across the board. Anjali Patil is being compared with her namesake Smita Patil and with Seema Biswas in <em>Bandit Queen</em>. Filmmakers show a keen interest in signing Anjali. Prakash Jha has already zeroed in on Anjali as the actress to watch out for. Jha has signed her for a 3-film deal. She will feature prominently in Jha’s next <em>Satyagrah</em>. All the praise, recognition and job offers seem to leave the 23-year old girl from Nasik completely untouched.

Prakash Jha has pulled of the unimaginable. In his next film Satyagrah he has brought together The Big B aka Amitabh Bachchan and Bebo alias Kareena Kapoor. It is no coincidence that the last time they worked together was in Govind Nihalani’s <em>Dev</em> in 2004 where they had no scenes together. Since then every time any project on offer purported to bring the two charismatic actors together was shot down by the one or the other.

It looks like Kareena Kapoor has left behind her days of playing Juliet opposite over-aged Romeos. In Prakash Jha’s Satyagrah though she has a love angle with her co-star Ajay Devgn, there is, in the words of a source, ‘No coochie-cooing, no singing and dancing and no running around trees. It’s a very practical mature kind of relationship that doesn’t follow any of the filmy norms of a romance and a relationship.”