The King of Bollywood's new look

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/853843.cms" alt="/photo/853843.cms" border="0" /></div> <div class="Normal"><br />To say that Om Puri is going places is resorting to a cliché. For an actor who has appeared in more than a 100 Hindi films and numerous international ventures <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(The City of Joy, The Mystic Masseur, East is East, Wolf)</span> his USP since his 1976 debut in Ghasiram Kotwal has been his powerful acting and realistic depiction of characters.<br /><br />Come 24th September and the thespian actor will be making a bid to become The King of Bollywood.<br /><br />Riding on the wave of a spoof venture that takes a dig at tinsel town, Puri will be hogging a lot of 35mm space in a Bollywood commercial venture.<br /><br />For someone who has been synonymous with New Age cinema and pushed to being an honest cop <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(Dev)</span> or a source of comic relief <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">(Bollywood Calling)</span>, this could be his moment of reckoning in hero space.<br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"></div> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/853851.cms" alt="/photo/853851.cms" border="0" /></div> <div class="Normal">Talent aplenty, the 54-year-old FTII graduate is agog about <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">The King of Bollywood</span>. From wearing jazzy costumes to sporting Elvis-Presley inspired long sideburns to romancing Brit leggy model Sophie Dahl, Puri has had a blast.<br /><br />From Kundan Shah''s madcap comedy <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron</span> in 1983 to a ‘chatting nineteen to the dozen’ type secretary in Kamala Hassan’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chachi 420</span>, it has been a long journey. <br /><br />And, once again, Puri is walking on the sands of comedy, cast in the burlesque pattern to hone his witty skills, coming soon after a sharp display of comic fervour in Nagesh Kukunoor''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bollywood Calling</span>.<br /><br />Directed by former advertising professional Piyush Jha, the satire essays the quirks and idiosyncrasies that comprise the big bad world of Bollywood.<br /><br />Compared to Kunkunoor’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bollywood Calling</span>, where Puri acted the part of a struggling producer, Jha’s flick is episodic tales. <br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"></div> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/853853.cms" alt="/photo/853853.cms" border="0" /><br /></div> <div class="Normal">Karan Kumar (Puri), bets known as KK is a famous movie star who is caught up in his own notions of grandeur to notice that his USP has taken a beating. <br /><br />In his heydays, he was the top star in Bollywood, the eponymous The <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">King of Bollywood</span>, a title that has been embedded in his psyche. Consequently, the title has spurred KK to nurture grand notions about himself and he refuses to fight time warp, even as he remains a mere silhouette of his former self. <br /><br />Then comes in leggy beauty Crystal Chaurasia, with a mission. The NRI documentary filmmaker, whose childhood favourite hero used to be KK (her grandmother used to show her videos of KK’s films as sleep-inducers at bedtime), enters Mumbai from UK to film a documentary on the life and times of KK.<br /><br />Eventually, KK realizes that he is past his prime and fuelled by the urging of his "secretary" Ratnesh Goyal, he tries to convince his son Rahul (25) to be launched as a hero, in order to keep the flame burning. <br /><br />Although Rahul is averse to Bollywood and has no intentions of becoming an actor, Crystal''s presence triggers off KK''s latent ambition and starts a chain of events that wobble on the edge of comic chaos. <br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div class="Normal"></div> <div class="Normal" style="" text-align:="" center=""><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/853860.cms" alt="/photo/853860.cms" border="0" /><br /></div> <div class="Normal">For someone who has shared space with international names like Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson, Sam Neill and Patrick Swayze, Jha’s comedy will be a reassurance that Bollywood gives one of its finest comic figures his long standing due. <br /><br />With the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in his kitty, Puri really couldn’t feel more bothered about recognition. <br /><br />But for someone of his caliber, a smiling box office would only be an added goodie. It would also be a premium for all the song-and-dance routine, very unlike Puri that he has undertaken for this dig on Bollywood.</div> </div>