An African Election

PARK CITY: Among the many politically charged documentaries showcased at this year's Sundance Film Festival, one of the most gripping is "An African Election," which provides an inside look at the presidential elections in Ghana in December 2008.

Director Jarreth Merz spent part of his childhood in Ghana, so he had a personal motivation for tackling the film. He sought to see if democracy could take hold in a continent prey to many oppressive dictators. Merz's access to both candidates in the election and to many other political insiders lends the film credibility and immediacy. The picture is a natural for public television, with limited theatrical potential, though it's more involving than many documentaries that do get released.

Ghana was one of the first African countries to win its independence in 1957, but over the last five decades, it has followed the pattern of many other African countries, with periods of democracy followed by other periods of fierce military rule. If the country never succumbed to the savage civil wars or humanitarian disasters of several neighboring countries, its stability was always precarious. So the film generates considerable suspense as we see the very tight contest between the ruling New Patriotic Party (the NPP) and the somewhat more left-leaning National Democratic Congress (the NDC). Charges of stolen ballots and the threat of violent uprisings leave the outcome in doubt until the last moments of the film.

Merz and his brother and co-director, Kevin Merz, conduct many revealing interviews with the candidates, election observers, and other leaders in the country. Cinematographer Topher Osborn contributes striking images of both urban and rural locales; voters in the countryside are just as engaged in the election results as their city cousins. Editor Samir Samperisi helps to give the film the rhythm of a good thriller. While the politicians emerge as articulate and thoughtful men, one might wish that the film offered a slightly sharper delineation of distinctions between the two political parties. Perhaps the cooperation of the presidential candidates required a certain respectful timorousness on the part of the director.

Engaging performances lift somber 'Salesman'

PARK CITY: A slow slice of life in tough times interrupted by very bad news, "The Salesman" matches economic downturn with the frozen-over landscape of northern Quebec.

Sensitivity to its subjects and a superb performance by Gilbert Sicotte offer some arthouse value, but this unrepentant downer will have a hard time at the box office.

Sicotte plays Marcel, a gifted car salesman whose easy-sell way with customers makes him unlike fiction's better-known salesmen. Uninterested in retiring despite his advanced age, he spends his little off-duty time taking his daughter and grandson to bingo-hall socials and hockey games.

Marcel's small town is suffering from a paper-plant shutdown whose duration is chronicled periodically with an on-screen tally: 240 days, 252 days, 256 days without work. With fewer shoppers coming in, Marcel and his co-workers languish in their drab cinder-block surroundings, staring through Venetian blinds at a snow-covered lot with too many cars on it.

Writer/director Sebastien Pilote moves at the pace of accumulating ice, lingering on mundane scenes so long that viewers will likely have assumed that's all they're getting when, around two-thirds of the way in, Marcel's humdrum life becomes tragic.

Sicotte is eloquent in his projection of grief, and Pilote captures the performance tenderly. But watching the actor work isn't quite enough reward here. A subplot involving a laid-off factory worker who unwisely succumbed to Marcel's sales pitch adds dramatic interest but feels like a twisting knife, ladling unnecessary sadness onto this already bleak tale

Veteran TV, film actor Khayyam Sarhadi dies

ISLAMABAD: Veteran Pakistani TV and film artist Khayyam Sarhadi died of cardiac arrest on Thursday, Geo News reported.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed grief and sorrow over his sad demise.

In his condolence message, the premier conveyed his heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathies to the members of the bereaved family.

The PM lauded the invaluable contributions of late Khayyam Sarhadi in the field of performing art, saying that his services will be long remembered.

I'm happy to be part of Dhoom: Aamir

Amir Khan is excited to play villain in " Dhoom 3". The superstar Wednesday said "Dhoom" was a great franchise to work in even though he initially didn't think he would fit in.

"I have recently signed 'Dhoom 3'. I liked the script very much. When I had watched 'Dhoom', I liked it a lot. I enjoyed the music and the whole attitude. It's a very fun film. I really liked it. I never thought I would fit in this kind of film," Aamir told reporters at a press meet here.

Victor Acharya, who wrote "Dhoom" and " Dhoom 2" is the writer-director of "Dhoom 3". The earlier installments were directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and starred Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra.

"When I heard the story from Victor, I really enjoyed it. Very well-written script, very enjoyable. It's a great franchise and I am happy to be part of it. I am also looking forward to work with Abhishek and Uday," Aamir said.

"It's true that for the first time I'm doing a negative role, an anti-hero in the mainstream film. I liked my role and all the characters are very well-written. Actually, in between I did another negative role in an offbeat film '1947 Earth'," said Aamir.

This is the second time Aamir is working with Yash Raj Films after "Fanaa" in 2006.

"I have worked with Yash Raj and I have a very comfortable relation with them," he said.

The actor said Victor and producer Aditya Chopra are yet to decide the actress opposite him.

While "Dhoom" starred John Abraham as villain, "Dhoom 2" saw Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai sizzle too.

Victor Acharya's debut "Tashan" (2008) fared badly at the box office but that didn't deter Aamir from signing his film.

"I think he is a very talented director. One shouldn't decide a director's capacity with the fate of any one of his films. I have full faith in him," Aamir said.

Hrithik to get Rs 2 crore per episode on tv

To judge a dance reality show, Hrithik Roshan is reportedly getting Rs 2 crore per episode thereby making him the highest paid celebrity on the small screen.

His Guzaarish and Kites might have gone down the drain at the box-office but Hrithik Roshan still enjoys exceptional star power. The actor will soon be making his debut on the small screen as a celebrity judge for a dance reality show for which he is reportedly being paid a bomb. While some might believe that it is too early for Hrithik to venture into TV, the offer is so luring that anyone would give in.

With dance reality shows being a big hit on the small screen, the channel Star Plus is coming up with a show of its own called Just Dance. Contestants on this show will not be restricted to India but will come from across the world. And who better than Hrithik Roshan who is known to dancing skills to judge the show! The promos are currently being shot and the show shall start sometime in mid 2011.

If sources are to be believed Hrithik Roshan is being paid Rs 2 crore per episode. This is more that Akshay Kumar who was paid around Rs 1.75 crore per episode and Amitabh Bachchan who was paid Rs 1.5 crore per episode to host their shows. Hrithik has surpassed them all to take the number one position for the highest paid celebrity on the small screen.

I have moved on Deepika tells Katrina

In the past Karan Johar's parties have seen some of the most inconceivable patch-ups in Bollywood. Last year at his birthday bash, Aishwarya and Shah Rukh mended their differences. And that's just one of the many instances.

KJo's last bash on Tuesday night post his Filmfare win for Best Director, turned out to be another patch-up venue. But this one, no one had ever imagined would happen.

Deepika and Katrina ended their ongoing cold war and Deepika made the first move.

The two B-Town divas got a lot of stares when they started talking at the party; even more so because their respective 'good friends' Siddhartha Mallya and Ranbir Kapoor were standing comfortably far apart.

Deepika broke the ice. Says an eyewitness, "Deepika walked up to Katrina and told her, 'Let bygones be bygones. Jo ho gaya so ho gaya. I hold nothing against you. I don't blame anybody.

I have moved on in life and am in a very happy space now'." And how did Katrina react? Revealed the witness, "Katrina was a bit surprised, but she quickly gathered herself and told Deepika, 'Oh, that's fine.


I am very happy that you spoke to me. The load is off my chest'." After that, Deepika and Katrina were apparently extremely comfortable with each other in the party.

The two actresses have not been on talking terms for more than two years. Before this, they had crossed paths on several occasions but had ignored each other completely.

The friction between the two girls started in December 2008. Reportedly, Deepika had heard from her sources about Ranbir's alleged growing proximity to Katrina on and off the sets of Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

This was when the crew of the film was shooting for two months in Goa. Deepika headed to Goa immediately and when Katrina saw her, she was shocked.

Katrina had even told a friend then, "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her on the sets of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. And sure enough she stayed for quite some time in Goa."

That was the last straw for Deepika as far as her relationship with Ranbir was concerned. After Deepika returned from Goa, things were never the same between Ranbir and her again.

A few days ago, Deepika made a jibe at Katrina on Karan's show Kofffee With Karan, when she said that she would like to see Katrina's passport.

If sources are to be believed, Karan wanted Deepika and Katrina to star in Dostana 2. In the light of the recent developments, KJo's dream may just materialize.

'Sanctum' a soggy underwater excursion

LOS ANGELES: "What could possibly go wrong diving in caves?" asks one of the newer members of an underwater expedition through one of the world's most breathtaking but least accessible cave systems.

She's about to find out the hard way, along with the rest of her ill-fated team, when a violent South Pacific storm cuts off their only known exit in the subterranean 3D adventure, "Sanctum."

Despite being presented by James Cameron and inspired by a real-life incident experienced by caver and co-scripter Andrew Wight, the thriller proves to be a considerably less harrowing experience than it might have been.

Banal dialogue, over-modulated performances and melodramatic scoring combine forces to sink the stirringly photographed proceedings quicker than that treacherous flash flood.

While Cameron's name and the mid-winter promise of an exotic 3D locale could give the $30 million production an initial boost, the only blue characters to be found here are the ones with hypothermia.

Set in the South Pacific's Esa'ala caves but actually filmed off Queenland's Gold Coast as well as in South Australian caves, the picture concerns the not necessarily unified efforts of the assembled crew, led by seasoned, headstrong master diver Frank (Richard Roxburgh), to find an alternate escape route.

Among those who aren't so great at taking orders are Frank's estranged 17-year-old son, Josh (Rhys Wakefield), an obnoxious American financier (Ioan Gruffudd) and his inexperienced girlfriend (Alice Parkinson).

With time quickly running out in their water-logged labyrinth, the dwindling crew members must either follow Frank's lead or come up with their own survival plan.

It's admittedly hard not to think of "127 Hours" while watching "Sanctum" unfold.

But where the Danny Boyle film created unbearable tension through an economy of dialogue and skilled filmmaking, Alister Grierson's second feature effort (after 2006's fact-based war story, "Kokoda") suffers from a talky script and thematics that play out more like "The Poseidon Adventure" minus the camp guilty pleasure aspect.

The film does best in its quieter sequences, where there's an undeniable ethereal beauty in Jules O'Loughlin's underwater photography, especially when the occasional shaft of light is pressed into stirring high relief by the same Cameron/Pace Fusion 3D Camera System utilized for "Avatar."

Unfortunately that spell is constantly being broken by either the forced dialogue (credited to Wight and John Garvin) or composer David Hirschfelder's heavy symphonics, which are just too outsized for those tight, claustrophobic spaces.