Unfaithfully yours from B'wood

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br /><img src="/photo/581643.cms" alt="/photo/581643.cms" border="0" /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -6"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="52.0%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">The original Unfaithfuls:</span> Diane Lane & Olivier Martinez.</div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><br />Bollywood can''t help it.With so many makers making so many films, it sure is difficult to be original all the time. ''Inspiration'' is what it needs and in Hollywood films it finds that. Only that sometimes there''s a single source of ''inspiration''. This time, Richard Gere-Diane Lane-Olivier Martinez starrer <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Unfaithful </span>has caught the imagination of the film fraternity.<br /><br /><img src="/photo/581644.cms" alt="/photo/581644.cms" border="0" /></div> <div align="center" style="position:relative; left: -6"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="center" border="1" width="52.0%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" fbfbfb=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Desi unfaithfuls No. 1: </span>Manisha Koirala and Karan Nath in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tum.</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">The Hollywood original revolved around a bored housewife who embarks on a passionate affair. Now see her Indian <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">avtaar </span>in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder, Hawas </span>and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tezaab - the acid of love</span>. Aruna Raje''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Tum </span>too loosely had the same theme though the director choose to go on a tangent. <br /><br />All three films are ready for release though it will be <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hawas </span>that will be first past the post. Releasing next week, the Karan Razdan-directed film stars <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kaliyon Ka Chaman</span> girl Meghna Naidu and models Shawar Ali and Tarun Arora. <br /><br />Coming close on its heels is <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder</span>, starring Mallika Sherawat, Asmit Patel and Erfan Hashmi. "The base for <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hawas''s</span> storyline is picked up from <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Unfaithful</span>," admits producer Rakesh Nahta "but the storyline has been changed completely. An English film can never be copied scene by scene since one needs to change the storyline to suit the Indian audience," he adds. <br /><br />His heroine Meghna Naidu brushes aside the claims that the promos make it seem like a skin flick. "There are only two kissing scenes in the film," she says. <br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="53.0%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/581645.cms" alt="/photo/581645.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Desi Diane No. 3:</span> Meghna Naidu in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Hawas</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">In fact, the southern siren goes a step ahead and says, "it is a film which one can watch with the family. It upholds the institution of marriage." If so, then where is the </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Unfaithful </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">connection?</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"There are some scenes which might be similar to a few in </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Unfaithful </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">but that is a given since the situation in the films is the same." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">director Anurag Basu too offers the same explanation. "I did see the film after </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">was scripted, but our film is different," he says. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">His heroine Mallika Sherawat launches a spirited defence by saying, "In </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">the woman falls only to rise later. This does not happen in </span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Unfaithful</span><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">. So how can the films be similar?" </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">But the common source of ''inspiration'' not withstanding, the makers are busy crying wolf over stolen ideas. </span><br /><br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script><br />"We made a promo and released it last August. The idea was plagiarised by the Bhatts," alleges Razdan. </div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="28.2%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><img src="/photo/581646.cms" alt="/photo/581646.cms" border="0" /></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Desi Diane No. 2:</span> Mallika Sherawat in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Murder</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">v</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Basu responds with "has anyone seen our film to make these claims?" Would the back-to-back release of these films result in cannibalisation of business? While the makers give their ''the best-film-will-win'' line, trade analysts have a different viewpoint. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"The films will run on titillation factor as there are several takers for this kind of graphic exposure," says Indu Mirani. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"They are selling a woman''s body and the excitement is palpable in the theatre when love-making scenes are on," she adds. The trade is hopeful that these films will take a good opening owing to their promos but the last word belongs to Delite theatre manager Raj Kumar Malhotra. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">"The first day belongs to the heroine and her steamy scenes, from the second day it is the director and the script that speaks." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold="">Inspiring stuff, huh! </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-size:="" font-weight:="" bold=""><formid=367815></formid=367815></span></div> </div>