My Blueberry Nights Movie Trailer
At last year’s Cannes My Blueberry Nights, the first English film from 2046’s Kar Wai Wong, drew a memorably tepid critical response, with songstress Norah Jones’s performance taking lots of the heat and sleet. Based on what I’ve heard from friends who have seen it, it has the potential to become the new Across the Universe, dazzling females with its kinetic, trippy color palette and a “go with it” romantic sensibility that inspires repeat viewings and cherished teary exits. I don’t mean to come off sexist, obviously many a male is fond of Wong’s work, but I like to see girls all secret-chatty when some sweet and sour cinema strikes a chord beyond logic. The trailer sort of runs over with semi-cliche longing and gloom, but seen through the film’s magic sunglasses I find myself still anticipating it, finally, almost a year later. And that Natalie Portman…I mean, what an accent.
My Blueberry Nights will be released in North America on February 22nd.
Aishwarya Rai Biography
Aishwarya Rai was born November 1, 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Born in a traditional south Indian family, Aishwarya started modelling at a young age. This green-blue eyed beauty stole ads for many prestigious firms, the ones which brought her into the limelight were the garden sari and the pepsi ad.
Aishwarya Rai is one of the highest-paid actresses in India’s prolific movie industry, the Julia Roberts of the Asian subcontinent. She began modeling at 14, came to fame as the gorgeous new neighbor in Indian Pepsi commercials, and won the Miss World beauty pageant in 1994.
In more than two dozen movies, Rai has never been kissed on screen. It simply isn’t done in Bollywood. Instead, when an on-screen scene reaches that moment, characters typically burst into song-and-dance sequences intended as metaphors for steamy passion. Rai has, however, attempted to broaden her fame by appearing in the English film Bride and Prejudice with Martin Henderson, a comedic singing-and-dancing adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. She has signed to co-star in Singularity with Brendan Fraser in 2005.
So at some point soon, a script may require a smooch instead of a song. “It would definitely be a topic of discussion [in India],†she says. “They’re going to enjoy (the controversy)… In our society, you don’t really see people around the street corner kissing or being extremely or overtly physically demonstrative.â€
Rai is no stranger to controversy, having dated movie star Salman Khan — he is Muslim, she is Hindu. When Rai appeared at an Indian awards ceremony sporting a black eye, there were rumors that Khan had beaten her, but Rai explained otherwise. “For some perverse reason, no one wants to believe me, that I fell down the stairs. First the media calls me the woman of the millennium, a woman of substance. Then how can the same media make me out to be such a doormat? I’m a self-respecting woman, I don’t take nonsense from anyone. No one tries caveman tactics on me. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger can fall and get hurt, so why should I be any different?â€
After they eventually broke up, there were reports that Khan stalked her, and Rai admitted that there “were times when Salman got physical with me.†Her family filed a police complaint against Khan, when he showed up drunk and started pounding on her door and screaming late one night.
Rai made her film debut in 1991′s forgettable Mamagaru . Her other early films included bombs like Iruvar and Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya , and even the Tamil-Telugu hit Jeans which was disastrously received by India’s Hindi audiences. By 1998, critics were carping about Rai’s lack of talent and “three stock wooden expressions.â€
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam , of course, changed everything, and Rai’s spirited performance as the emotionally complex Nandini made her a star instead of a joke. Her other triumphs include Mohabbatein , Chokher Bali , and the epic Devdas.
In 2003, Rai was injured on the set of Khakhi when a driver lost control of his Jeep and ran into Rai, who landed on a cactus.