GHAI PICKS UP BRITISH GIRL FOR 'KISNA'

Starring actor Vivek Oberoi in the title role, introduces British actress Antonia Bernath and south Indian dancer Isha Sharwani. The film also stars popular British actors like Michael Maloney, Caroline Lingruish and veteran actress Polly Adams. Other Bollywood stars in the film are Hrishitaa Bhatt, Amrish Puri, Om Puri, Yash Pal Sharma, Shivaji Sattam, Zarina Wahab and Rajat Kapoor.

The $5.48 million film is set in the backdrop of the tumultuous times of 1930s in India when the nationalists rose up against the British, demanding Independence for their motherland.

The film tells the tale of a young Indian Kisna (Vivek) who befriends a British girl Katherine (Antonia) and saves her from an enraged mob of nationalists. Katherine is the young daughter of a ruthless British collector. Kisna decides escort her to the safety of the British High Commission in New Delhi. While traveling together through the heartland of India, a tender attraction develops between Kisna and Katherine. But Kisna is engaged to get married to an Indian girl Luxmi (Isha).

What course the love between Kisna and Katherine takes and what happens to Luxmi, forms the crux of the remaining story.

Kisna will release on January 21 in two versions – Hindi version of 3 hrs and English version of 2 hrs.

Kisna’s kiss chopped in Hindi version

18th Jan 2005 19.40 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh

Vivek Oberoi’s liplock with British actress Antonia Bernath in Kisna will be chopped off from the movie’s Hindi version.

Come Friday, Kisna will hit the theatres worldwide in two versions – a 3-hour Hindi version and a much shorter English version for the international audience.

While the shorter English version will not have as many songs, but it will have something that has been discreetly deleted from the longer Hindi version – the smooch between Vivek Oberoi and Antonia Bernath .

The kiss in the Hindi version of the movie has been deleted to suit the sensibilities of Indian family-going crowd.

Directed by showman Subhash Ghai , Kisna is set in the times of Indian struggle for Independence from the British. The film tells the tale of a mountain boy Kisna who saves a Briton girl from an enraged mob of nationalists and escorts her to the High Commission in New Delhi.

Check out movie preview with photo gallery at Kisna

Kisna's Antonia Bernath dumped studies for Bollywood!

London | January 21, 2005 3:14:36 PM IST

British actress Antonia Bernath, who is making her debut in Bollywood director Subhash Ghai's 'Kisna - the Warrior Poet', cut short her education at Bristol's Old Vic Theatre School in London and came to India to kick-start her acting career.

Playing the lead role in a Hindi movie was, however, no cakewalk for Antonia, as she spent three weeks learning Hindi and taking dance lessons.

"Initially, I was a bit sceptical about how people would respond to me. But I found the Hindi film industry very warm and encouraging. I even had a few offers before the work on Kisna was completed," The BBC quoted Antonia as saying.

The movie, which is set in the bygone era of the British Raj has Antonia playing an army general's daughter who falls madly in love with a rural boy, Kisna.

"I liked the fluid nature of film-making. We improvised quite a lot. At times it felt very chaotic but Mr Ghai was quite clear about what he wanted," said the English beauty. (ANI)

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