<![CDATA[io9: Love Story 2050]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/io9.com.png <![CDATA[io9: Love Story 2050]]> http://io9.com/tag/love story 2050 http://io9.com/tag/love story 2050 <![CDATA[ The Top 5 Special Effects Sequences From Bollywood's Time Travel Movie ]]> The transformation of Mumbai into a super-futuristic metropolis, modeled on Shanghai, is just one of the awesome special effects coups in Love Story 2050, the Bollywood time-travel movie that comes out July 4. Director Harry Bajewa listed the top 5 greatest SFX sequences in the movie in an interview with Star Box Office, including robot teddy bears and an energy-blasting fight scene.

The other four awesome special effects sequences, according to Bajewa, include:

The giant airborne fight sequence between Karan (played by Bajewa's son Harman) and Zayesha (Priyanka Chopra), with the actors doing all their own stunts. I'm guessing there's a lot of wirework involved (similar to Hancock, which also substitutes real wirework for CGI flying.) And it looks like it's some kind of video game brought to life.

Boo, the robot teddy bear and Zayesha's best friend. He looks like he's fully animatronic, rather than just CGI. Oscar winner John Cox, who also worked on Babe and The Host, created Boo.

Karan's friend QT, the female robot. Come on, it's a female robot named QT. That's just insane. Boo and QT team up to bring Karan and Zayesha together. And she shares a crazy dance number with Karan:

The huge fight scene between Karan and Dr. Hoshi, the bad guy. Which looks like it's full of CGI, what with the energy balls blasting back and forth and the crazy face-distortions. I would never say no to a huge energy-ball battle in a futuristic metropolis. Especially if it's followed by a big robot dance number. [Star Box Office]

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Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:22:00 PDT Charlie Jane Anders http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5019328&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ What You'll Wear To Dance With Bollywood Robots ]]> Bollywood fashions of the future will include a Henna overdose, heavy eyeliner and a huge evil-looking collar, according to July's Love Story 2050. Why does star Priyanka Chopra's "futuristic makeover" involve looking like an early 80s diva, crossed with Cruella De Vil? But there are tight black leather pants involved as well, so it's a future we can live with. Below the fold, a dozen new stills and a clip of Priyanka's costar Harman Bajewa dancing with robots.

The new stills and wallpapers, mostly come from the movie's new website, which director Harry Bajewa (Harman's dad) says is the most futuristic website they could make. (It has Java!) And here's that awesome dancing clip. I'm still beyond excited for this movie.

[123 Masala and Bollywood Hungama]

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Tue, 27 May 2008 12:25:00 PDT Charlie Jane Anders http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=393469&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Upcoming Events In Lost And Battlestar Are Guaranteed To Piss You Off ]]> morningspoilers2.jpgSigourney Weaver's character in James Cameron's new movie Avatar is based on the most unlikely source possible. And that's not the only movie that has some surprises in store: the Greatest American Hero remake will take some weird liberties with the source material. And Dragonball may commit the ultimate sacrilege. Meanwhile, there are rumors of some developments on Lost and Battlestar Galactica that are guaranteed to upset the fans. All this, plus some hints for Doctor Who, Love Story 2050, Smallville and Star Trek. Your spoiler space begins and ends right here.


Avatar:

Sigourney Weaver dropped a few more hints about Avatar, the 2009 James Cameron movie she's starring in. Her character, Dr. Grace Augustine, isn't too much like Ripley, her character from the Alien movies. Grace would have wanted a normal life, but chose to devote herself to science. She "has an avatar," and is "very involved" in the movie's plot, including action sequences. In fact, says Weaver, "I would say her real life is as an avatar." (It's not clear what Weaver means, but in an earlier treatments of the movie that's been circulating for years and is believed to be genuine, humans use "avatars," alien-human hybrid bodies, to move around on the surface of the planet Pandora.) Weaver also says Grace is a leader. "Someone who gets the job done. Someone very very driven and smart and yet funny." She modeled the character after Cameron himself. [MTV Movies]

Greatest American Hero:

An informed source spilled details on the Greatest American Hero remake now in development. This version of Ralph Hinkley is the most popular teacher at his school, who connects really well with his students. And he doesn't just fly, he also bursts into flames like the Human Torch — which first happens at the worst possible moment, during a school Open Night in the first half of the film. Also, one of Hinkley's students is Josh, the son of his love-interest Pam. And during one scene, Ralph is talking to Pam, and suddenly has uncontrollable itching on the back of his neck, and has to make a mad dash for the boys' room, where he freaks out about the changes he's going through. The movie also includes a bumbling-but-pompous teacher, Harve Lundy, who has his desk on a pedestal overlooking all his students. [Moviehole]

Star Trek:

At a Star Trek convention this past weekend, Zachary "Spock" Quinto hinted that he does have some scenes with the older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and with Spock's parents (Winona Ryder and Ben Cross), as we'd pretty much expected. [Trek Movie]

Faran Tahir (who plays the terrorist Raza in Iron Man) also plays Captain Rabu in the new Star Trek movie. He's a new character to Trek, and all Tahir can tell us is his character is the captain of a ship that we've never seen before, and is "one of the good guys." [The Deadbolt]

Iron Man:

That cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as one-eyed, cigar-chomping superspy Nick Fury? Definitely not in the movie. We think. [Starpulse]

Dragonball:

Dragonball producer Tim Van Rellim says our hero Goku dies at the end of the first movie, or the beginning of the second. And Goku's death sets up the storyline of the second film, which they're hoping to start shooting by early next year. [Dragon Ball Movie Blog]

Battlestar Galactica:

Here are some higher res versions of those promo photos we already showed you, from next week's episode. It certainly looks as though some of these pictures take place at Cally's funeral. And President Roslin has a wig: Someone claims to have seen the next four Battlestar Galactica episodes, and offers a ton of spoilers. Grain of salt required, as always. Tyrol "doesn't suspect" Tory of involvement in Cally's death. (Does that mean Tory is involved, and it's not just suicide?) Tyrol feels guilty, but also decides he never really loved Cally because she was too whiny. It also sounds as though Cally, before she dies, admits to Doc Cottle that it's weird that she "basically proposed" to Tyrol after he beat her up.

Baltar's one-god cult grows, and he has a "Jesus overthrowing the money lenders" moment. Tigh gets Six and his dead wife Ellen mixed up. In a mutiny, Sam shoots Felix Gaeta in the leg, and it may have to be amputated. Also, a Six and an Eight die. And so does Seelix. (Noooo!)

Also, Kara keeps getting lost on the way back to Earth, which annoys her crew more and more. And then she picks up a "hitchhiker" — Leoben, who's in a tough scrape after a battle with the other faction of Cylons. Leoben's ship's hybrid tells Starbuck that Three will lead the humans to the Five, who came from the Thirteen (i.e. the thirteenth colony, Earth?). And the Hybrid says Starbuck will lead everyone to their death. [Television Without Pity]

Love Story 2050:

Love Story 2050, the Bollywood time-travel romance that we're all dying to see, takes place in the present for the first half. It's only in the second half that we visit the future, says director Harry Bajewa. [DNA India]

Lost:

The twelfth episode of the current Lost season, "There's No Place Like Home," is rumored to revolve around Claire. And the show is currently filming a funeral which takes place in the future, probably from that episode. At the funeral, Hurley, Sayid and (probably) Jack are there. The funeral appears to be for a "staid older gentleman" — probably Christian Shephard, Jack's dad/boss. Hurley is with a young woman (maybe his old crush Starla) and she's carrying a baby (Aaron?). It looks as though Sayid is with his old flame Nadia, who's not dead yet in this timeframe. (Sayid attends Nadia's funeral in episode nine.) Here are a couple of photos. [Spoilers Lost]lostfuneralz.jpg
The next episode, April 24, features an "amazing death sequence," which may be related to the return of the smoke monster. Also, the upcoming Claire storyline may be related to actress Emilie de Ravin's new contract. [Ausiello Report]

Stargate: Atlantis:

In the eighth episode of Stargate: Atlantis season five, "Tracker," Ronon, McKay and Keller visit a world where the Wraith have recently arrived. The Wraith turn out to be pursuing a "Runner," a warrior tagged with a homing device so the Wraith can hunt him/her for sport. The Runner, named Kiryk, takes Keller prisoner and leads her to a 10-year-old girl who needs medical attention. Kiryk is surprised to hear that Ronon used to be a Runner, but isn't one any more. Meanwhile, Ronon and McKay have to evacuate a village into nearby caves, with the help of a man named Erran. [Gateworld]

Smallville:

In the 150th episode of Smallville, airing May 1, Kara sends Clark a message from Krypton in the past, warning that Brainiac wants to kill Clark as a baby, so the grown-up (sort of) Clark won't foil his plans in the present. Clark is torn, because he thinks maybe the world would be a better place if he hadn't been there. So his dad, Jor-El, arranges for him to see what life would be like without him: Lex is President of the U.S., Kara was raised by the Luthors, Jonathan Kent is alive, Lana is happily married, and Chloe and Lois are reporters. [KryptonSite]

Doctor Who:

Next year's Doctor Who specials may include a story featuring Winston Churchill and the Daleks. [Doctor Who Forum]

The following quotes appear in this Saturday's Doctor Who episode "Planet of the Ood," except that instead of annoying asterisks, they have actual words:
"Do you like milk and sugar?"
"The ****** must be broken, so that we can ****."
"Very observant, ginger."
"I think your **** must *** soon. Every **** must ***."
"We don't just ***** the Ood, we make them ******."
"That thing about the bees is odd." [Planet Gallifrey]

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Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:00:00 PDT Charlie Jane Anders http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=380200&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ 2050's Mumbai Looks Like Dubai + Shanghai ]]> A pair of lovers step into a time machine, and find themselves in the glittery Mumbai of the year 2050, which includes flying cars, holograms, sex robots and Indian ninjas. There will be a lot more kickboxing 42 years from now — and probably quite a few spontaneous song-and-dance numbers as well. We've been excited for Bollywood's Love Story 2050 for months, and we're even more excited after seeing this trailer, which showcases an unfinished version of the movie's big-budget special effects. The movie comes out this summer, at which point we'll be dancing in the aisles.

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Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:00:00 PDT Charlie Jane Anders http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=373613&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Another Bollywood Scifi Classic In The Making ]]> Indian mega-star Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) wants to produce the company's most expensive movie ever, an untitled science fiction film about kids whose wishes start coming true. Khan, the star of international hit Om Shanti Om, was supposed to produce and star in S. Shankar's Robot, but bailed on the project. Now he wants to make his own movie to top upcoming Bollywood epics like Time Machine, Love Story 2050 and Robot.

SRK's movie will start shooting towards the end of the year, and in the meantime he'll be asking the world's greatest special effects technicians to help make it the greatest effects movie of all time. He tells Variety, "It will madcap, over the top. I want it to be as beautiful as Spider-Man in terms of effects." The movie will be about kids who wish for bad things, but "get a reality check when they come true." SRK reportedly jumped ship from Robot because he felt its storyline, about a companion robot that turns deadly, wasn't realistic enough.

Hollywood hasn't courted SRK yet, and he says he's waiting for the right opportunity for his quirky persona:

I'm waiting for someone like Steven Spielberg or James Cameron or some other great person like Ang Lee to make a film a film about a brown, thin, scrawny Indian guy who doesn't speak English too well. If they ever have a character like that and Google it, I'm sure they'll find me... Seriously, it would have to be character-specific. I'd love to do an action-comic film like Chris Rock and Jackie Chan.

[Variety]

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Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:40:07 PST Charlie Jane Anders http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=354733&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Five Bollywood Science Fiction Movies You Should Know ]]> Bollywood song-and-dance meets robots and aliens. How can that not rule? If Shekhar Kapur's Time Machine finally gets made, it'll be part of a bold new wave of Bollywood science fiction. Including Indian superhero Krrish, fighting a motorcycle gang in the clip above. We have full details on Krrish and four other awesome Bollywood scifi movies.

Mr. India (1987). A cheesy sci-fi comedy with song-and-dance numbers. Arun discovers his scientist dad created a special wristband that turns the wearer invisible. He uses this to stop the mad genius Mogambo, who wants to take over India. (Mogambo's evil schemes weirdly include cutting off Arun's line of credit at the grocery store, but also launching nuclear missiles at India.) Here's a clip that shows Mogambo's evil lair and his giant gold epaulets:



Kol... Mil Gaya (2003).
Maybe the most famous Bollywood science fiction film ever. An ET-esque alien named Jadoo befriends a mentally challenged boy and cures him. But then it turns out the alien's spaceship crash actually killed the kid's father. Here's one of the song-and-dance sequences involving Jadoo (wearing an orange hoodie and bling around his neck.) The little Kraftwerk sample gets bonus points:
Krrish (2006) is a quasi-sequel to Kol... Mil Gaya, about a small-town kid who gets superpowers and fights evil. It uses many of the superhero conventions, including the secret identity and the nosy girl reporter.

We're anxiously awaiting 2008's Love Story 2050, which takes place partly in a dark future Mumbai and partly in the present day. The future Mumbai will be mostly CGI, but the film will also feature an animatronic character, a robot named Boo. And lead actor Harman Bajewa learned Parkour, the art of jumping from rooftop to rooftop, for the movie.

Also fervently awaited: S. Shankar's Robot, starring South India's darling Rajnikanth. It'll have a billion-rupee budget and tons of special effects. It's the story of a scientist who creates a robot companion for his disabled child. But the robot goes berserk and starts killing people. Like robots always do.


India hasn't produced much original science fiction in the past, but there are two reasons why India will rule the genre in the future. First, India is ground zero for computer animation and special effects. There were only 27,000 professionals working in computer animation in India in 2001, but there will be 300,000 people in the industry in 2008. Also, Bollywood films have always had extensive "fantasy sequences" where realism suddenly goes out the window and bizarre stunts happen. Just imagine if some of that same cinematic language gets applied to science fiction.

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Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:30:07 PST charliejane http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=350271&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ A Bollywood Time Travel Movie ]]> The director of Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth movies could soon be reconstructing a bunch of historical eras, all at once. Shekhar Kapur is finally going to finish his abortive early 90s film Time Machine, with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. He's also working on another new Bollywood film about a futuristic Mumbai, which will be his most expensive film yet. (We're still dying to see the future Mumbai in Harman Bajewa's Love Story 2050, coming this spring.) [Bollyspice]

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Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:00:07 PST charliejane http://io9.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=350263&view=rss&microfeed=true