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Category: Hindi

  • ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’: Sober Salman, excellent Nawazuddin steal the show

    ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’: Sober Salman, excellent Nawazuddin steal the show

    MUMBAI: Salman Khan turns producer with Bajrangi Bhaijaan and, at the same time, ventures into a different genre away from his usual action films. Salman has been doing action films on a regular basis since Wanted and it has generally worked for him. But, now, especially with a bunch of new generation actors, all with chiselled muscular bodies doing the same, it’s probably time for Salman to take a much needed detour. After all, how much can one differ in every action film? Instead of countering the law of diminishing returns, this film is meant to touch hearts.

     

    Salman is a diehard Lord Hanuman devotee, is clean hearted and swears by Hanumanji that he would never do anything wrong or illegal and would never lie. So much so that people call him Bajrangi, a name he loves. Following the myth, he even bows every time he sees a monkey. His introduction scene comes through a group dance he is performing in the praise of Hanumanji at a local temple in his native town.As he sits down for a glass of water, he sees a six year old girl. Salman offers her water and she gulps it down to the last drop. Realising she could be hungry as well, he orders a paratha for her but she signals for two.

     

    The doll-like girl, Harshaali Malhotra, is speech impaired and,at an elder’s suggestion, is on a visit to the dargah of Nizamuddin Chishti in Delhi from her native town in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Her mother is told that whatever one wishes for at the dargah comes true. Having paid their visit to the dargah, mother and daughter are on their way back to Pakistan on the Samjhauta Express. The train is still on Indian territory and has taken a long halt because of a technical problem. While all others are sleeping, Harshaali spots a lamb near the train, the kind she loved to play with in her native village. She can’t resist the urge to go cuddle it and gets down from the train.

     

    While Harshaali is playing with the lamb, the train starts moving, leaving her behind. Distraught, the girl sees a goods train come to a stop there. She boards it and ends up in Salman’s town. After being fed parathas, she tags on to Salman not willing to leave him. Salman tries various ways to pass the responsibility but fails. He has to return to Delhi where he has shifted after his father passed away and where he lives with his father’s friend, Sharat Saxena. He has no alternative but to take her to Delhi with him.

     

    Sharat has a pretty daughter, Kareena Kapoor. Soon, Kareena falls for Salman’s simple ways. This romance, subtle though, and gradually finding out about where Harshaali hails from takes almost all of first half of the film. It is slow, feels like it is not going anywhere and makes one restless. Since Harshaali can’t speak, Salman reels off names of all the towns in the vicinity. After all, kids get lost in crowded places like a fair or a pilgrimage. Harshaali can’t relate with any city from the names.

     

    Salman, himself a guest in Sharat’s house, is under pressure to find Harshaali’s folks. Salman convinces him that she sould be a Brahmin like both of them looking at how fair she is. When he watches her craving for non-veg food, he assumes she is a Kshatriya.It is during an India-Pakistan one day match the family is watching on TV that they realise Harshalli is from Pakistan.

     

    Failing to find a way to send her to Pakistan on her own, through the embassy or through an agent, he decides to take her home on his own. That is when the film takes a direction and has some better moments. Nawazuddin Siddqui’s entry soon after adds some distraction and interest in the proceedings. A small-time stringer trying to sell his footage to TV channels, almost always unsuccessfully, he picks up the story that a spy, Salman, has crossed over illegally into Pakistan. He shoots Salman as he is escaping from a police station. He also starts following him and listens to Salman’s story as he narrates it to the co-travellers on the bus.

     

    Nawazuddin has had a change of heart realising that Salman is not a spy and has entered the country with noble intentions. He now becomes Salman’s escort helping him along as the police is hot on their trail.When no news channels is willing to accept Nawazuddin’s footage or version of the story, he finally takes recourse to the net, splashing the true story with videos online.

     

    India and Pakistan are uneven enemies but both share similar sentiments and the writer and director use it to come up with an emotional climax. Nawazuddin’s posts on the net spread Salman’s message: ‘Being Human’ giving the film its best moments.

     

    Direction is apt living up to standard set by Kabir Khan with his last couple of films; climax wins the battle for him. The music is not much to hum about. Editing needed to be crisper. Dialogue is claptrap atplaces. Cinematography is good.

     

    Salman Khan brings to the fore his sober side and convinces the viewers with his portrayal of a simple, honest man. Kareena Kapoor does not have a meaty role, yet manages to make her presence felt. Nawazuddin excels. The central character, Harshaali is the casting coup and she manages to deliver as expected. The supporting cast is okay.

     

    Bajrangi Bhaijaan appeals mainly to the gentry and a Salman film being inevitable for masses, also to single screen audience. Releasing worldwide on the Eid weekend with an open two week run, there is no stopping this film at the box office.

     

    Producers: Salman Khan, Kabir Khan, Sunil Lulla

    Director: Kabir Khan

    Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor,Harshaali Malhotra, Nawazuddin Sidiqui, Sharat Saxena, Om Puri (guest artiste), Adnan Sami (cameo)

  • ‘Bahubali’ being prepared for global release; creates box office records

    ‘Bahubali’ being prepared for global release; creates box office records

    NEW DELHI: Vincent Tabaillon, who is renowned for having edited many major Hollywood productions, has begun work on editing Bahubali: The Beginning to make it suitable for international release.

     

    Tabaillon’s earlier credits include Now You See Me, Taken 2 and The Incredible Hulk.

     

    The edited version will be completed by the end of August and will be shown to film festivals, sales agents and distributors with a view to a wide international release. It will be different from the version released on 10 July in India and Diaspora markets.

     

    Arguably India’s most expensive film, Bahubali cost $40 million to make together with its 2016 sequel Bahubali: The Conclusion, according to a report in Variety.com. 

     

    Since release, Bahubali has set new Indian box office records, setting new opening day and opening weekend numbers. The five-day gross worldwide now stands at $33.8 million. It had grossed $25.6 million in its opening weekend, smashing records in the process.

     

    Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni’s Arka Media produced the film, directed by S.S. Rajamouli (Eega, Magadheera), and released it worldwide on some 4,650 screens in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam-language versions. 

     

    The website said the film is also the biggest Indian opener in the US, where it was released across 250 screens and took $4.4 million over the weekend. The film’s per screen average of $17,000 is second only to the mighty $27,000 achieved by Minions.

     

    The report said the opening day record for Shah Rukh Khan’s 2014 release Happy New Year had been $7.1 million, which Bahubali surpassed with $7.8 million.

     

    The record for Indian opening weekend was also held by Happy New Year with $17 million but Bahubali collected $22.8 million.

     

    The Aamir Khan starrer PK retains its record of $120 million for 2014 including strong China, South Korea and US numbers. 

     

    Bahubali will eventually see release in East Asian markets. The vfx-heavy story of brothers in medieval India in conflict over a rich kingdom is of a piece with Tsui Hark, John Woo and Zhang Yimou extravaganzas and should resonate with those audiences.

  • Doordarshan to air tribute to Mukesh in ‘Sapne Surile Sapne’

    Doordarshan to air tribute to Mukesh in ‘Sapne Surile Sapne’

    NEW DELHI: When he passed away suddenly on 27 August, 1976, one of last century’s foremost filmmakers Raj Kapoor had lamented, “I have lost my voice.”

     

    This was because a majority of songs rendered on screen by Kapoor had playback by Mukesh.  

     

    To pay tributes to this legend who was born on 22 July, 1923, Doordarshan will telecast a nine-part series called Sapne Surile Sapne from 21 July primarily featuring a musical programme held earlier this month to honour this Delhi-born singer.

     

    The programme was organized by the Delhi Kendra of Doordarshan in association with the Directorate of Film Festivals on 5 July. The show will be telecast on DD National at 8 am and 4 pm, except on Saturdays and Sundays. It is also scheduled to telecast on DD Bharati at 10 pm the same day.

     

    The programme was attended by Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash,   Information & Broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, Law Commission chairman Justice A.P. Shah, the singer’s son Nitin Mukesh, playback singer Manhar Udhas and other notable guests. 

     

    Nitin Mukesh and Manhar Udhas rendered some selected songs of Mukesh on the stage, thoroughly enthralling the audience. 

     

    The selection of other participants for the show was done by auditions after wide publicity on Doordarshan. Hundreds of people from different parts of the country came to Doordarshan Delhi’s studios at Mandi House to participate in the auditions. The aspirants included all strata of people from painters to vegetable sellers and from tea vendors to rickshaw pullers.  

     

    The auditions were judged by a panel of judges including Delhi Police special commissioner of traffic Muktesh Chander, who is an established and talented flautist, Ghazal singer and composer Jitender Singh, Sufi singer Mahendra Pal and semi classical singer Pradeep Pallavi including others. 

     

    The orchestra for the programme series was the ‘Do-Re-Me Orchestra’ conducted by Satish Popli. 

     

    Doordarshan Delhi also utilized the services and expertise of singer Gururaj from Bangalore who has been helping to coordinate and manage the orchestra for the Delhi shows on the lines of the shows done in DDK Bangalore. 

     

    The musical tribute was inaugurated by Udhas along with Nitin and Namrata Mukesh. Law and Justice Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Justice Shah were the special guests for the evening along with chief guests Surya Prakash, Julka and Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyaya. Former Test cricketer and legendary leg spinner B.S. Chandrashekar, who is an ardent Mukesh fan, was the guest of honour along with Dr Rajeev Shrivastav biographer of Mukesh and Doordarshan DG C. Lalrosanga. 

     

    The first programme in the musical tribute series produced by Delhi Doordarshan was   Tum Mujhe Yun Bhul Na Paoge on the legendary Mohammed Rafi and was recorded in FICCI auditorium on 26 July 2014. This was followed by Smarananjali, a special musical tribute to our Martyrs on 30 September 2014 at the Siri Fort Auditorium.  Gaate Raha Mera Dil dedicated to Kishore Kumar was then organized at the Manekshaw Auditorium, Delhi Cantt on 30 November 2014. This was followed by Tujhko Chalna Hoga, a tribute show for Manna Dey at Siri Fort Auditorium on 12 April 2015. 

     

    The Delhi Kendra of Doordarshan has been planning and recording musical evenings and telecasting them as a series coinciding with important dates in the life of music legends. 

     

    The programmes are being produced in fulfilment of Doordarshan’s role as a Public Service Broadcaster and in order to improve its image, encourage new talent, strengthen Doordarshan’s viewership base. These efforts are part of Delhi Doordarshan’s strategy to reach out to the people, provide them a platform to showcase their talent.

     

    The idea for these shows emanated from DDK Bangalore’s popular music show series Madura Madura Vee Manjula Gana and is the brain child of Doordarshan additional director general Mahesh Joshi who is now based in Delhi. Joshi feels that in today’s changed scenario, where the public has more than 500 channels to choose from, special efforts are required from Doordarshan to remain in the public eye. He believes Doordarshan has to become Samik Darshan and reach out to the hearts and minds of people.

  • Sunil Subramani’s ‘Fuddu’ slated for release later this year

    Sunil Subramani’s ‘Fuddu’ slated for release later this year

    NEW DELHI: The Hindi film Fuddu, which became controversial late last year for its title but received accolades from foreign delegates at the Film Bazaar of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), is expected to release later this year.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, the film’s director Sunil Subramani said that the film had been liked by international delegates who had come to the IFFI in November last year. 

     

    Fuddu was also screened at the Jagran Film Festival this year to a packed house, Subramani said.

     

    A comedy produced under the banner of Mahima Productions, the film revolves around the character Mohan played by Shubham who comes from Benares and is disturbed to see how people live in cramped houses in Mumbai city. His entire world tilts upside down when his wife leaves him for reasons, which are untrue. His family too discards him and disrespects him.  

     

    Fuddu is an emotional film with a pinch of humour about how a man tackles such a situation. The film is directed by Sunil Subramani, who was an associate of Anurag Basu for 17 years. 

     

    The film stars Shubham, Swati Kapoor who is a known face in Punjabi cinema, Dilip Merala, Pradeep Gupta, Paritosh Sand and Pawan Kumar Sharma who has also written the script of the film, among others. The film has been produced by Pradeep Gupta and has music by Rana Majumdar.

  • ‘Baahubali’ win hearts at the box office

    ‘Baahubali’ win hearts at the box office

    MUMBAI: Special effects and quality of sound design have worked for Baahubali (dubbed) in the Hindi belt too where normally South actors and dubbed versions are not readily accepted. The audience seems to notice little else as the many glitches in the movie have not mattered to the viewers. The film collected a decent Rs 4 crore plus on the opening day and improving it over the next two days to end its opening weekend with a reasonable Rs 20.15 crore.

     

    On the other hand, I Love NY, a dated film starring Sunny Deol and Kangana Ranaut, was an effort to cash in on Ranaut’s recent popularity following a few hits. The film, which was almost written off by the investors themselves, was not accepted by moviegoers either.

     

    I Love NY was released without much fanfare or promotion but only proved that not releasing it at all would have been more economical. The film’s collections on all three day in its first weekend remained poor failing to cross the Rs 1 crore mark on any day. It ended its weekend with figures of Rs 1.55 crore.

     

    Guddu Rangeela has proved to be a loser. Having collected a little over Rs 5 crore for its first weekend, the film has barely managed to add another Rs 2 crore plus to account for its first week figure of Rs 7.75 crore.

     

    Second Hand Husband proves to be loser with a poor weekend and a poorer follow up through rest of its first week to collect a just Rs 2.6 crore.

     

    Bezubaan Ishq is a total loss plus experiment as the film manages to collect barely Rs 2.55 crore against an investment of Rs 18 crore.

     

    Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho adds Rs 7 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 1.47 crore.

     

    ABCD2 holds well in its third week to collect Rs 7.2 crore and taking its three week total to Rs 103.25 crore.

     

    Hamari Adhuri Kahani collects Rs 25 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 32.55 crore.

     

    Tanu Weds Manu Returns collects Rs 75 lakh in its seventh week to take its seven week tally to Rs 152.71 crore.

  • ‘Bahubali’: Visual appeal overrides script

    ‘Bahubali’: Visual appeal overrides script

    MUMBAI: Telugu filmmaker, SS Rajamouli is known for his numerous hit films. He is also known for his penchant for special effects. Indeed, two of his films, Magadheera and Eaga, have won National Awards for Best Special Effects. Rajamouli’s latest film, Bahubali, is a very ambitious venture shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil and dubbed in Malayalam and Hindi. 

    The film is a fantasy that reminds one of Hollywood classics like Ben Hur, Spartacus, Ten Commandments and such. Closer home, it has its roots in epics like Mahabharat: it is about family politics, intrigues, betrayals and revenge. 

    Bahubali is a two part film. As the first installment releases today, the ‘saga’ will continue and conclude in its second part in April 2016.

    The story is a bit confusing as it unfolds. First you try to figure out who is playing who since the cast is all South based. Then you join the dots on relations and later the plot. However, you are kept occupied with wonderland kind of locations created with some imaginative special effects. But, the expertise does not prevent the film from giving it an artificial look, pleasant as it may look.

    There is a kingdom, which was ruled by Prabhas. After his death, Nasser wants infant son Rana Daggubati be the heir to the throne, but Ramya Krishnan, Nasser’s wife, wants to play it fair and puts Prabhas’ infant too in the succession race (also played by Prabhas). She decrees that of both the infants, the one who excels in all aspects of bravery and warfare, will be the next king. 

    Prabhas has been brought up by the childless Rohini. He was found by her people on the river bank. What worries Rohini is that Prabhas is always curious about what exists beyond the grand waterfalls around his abode. He makes attempts to breach them on a regular basis. One day, he finds a mask that has fallen from the mountains from where the waterfalls emerge. This convinces him that there are people across the waterfalls and upon the hills. This inspires Prabhas to reach there and soon he does everything that a film hero is supposed to do: fall in love, kill hundreds of people single handed, go into flashback, identify his enemies, and decide to wait till part two of this ambitious ‘saga’ to get even! 

    South makers are known to extensively try to work on technical wizardry while not forgetting Indian emotions of which maa- beta emotions are the most prevalent. A la Karan Arjun, where Rakhee keeps averring, ‘Mere Karan Arjun aayenge’, here Prabhas’ screen mother, Anushka  Shetty, is convinced, ‘Mera baahubali aayega’ for over 25 years! She is also made up to look like Rakhee of Karan Arjun. 

    The nostalgia value in Baahubali is that it takes you back to many past films worth watching again! 

    The script takes a backseat in this visual enterprise. The director is so obsessed with technique that he lets numerous glitches pass where a sleeveless wear turns to full sleeves and vice versa and forehead tikkas keep changing colours and so on. 

    Musically, for the Hindi audience, the film has one melodious song. What stands out in the film is music composer MM Kreem’s orchestration and the sound design. Production values are of high order. Dialogue is routine while in such a film verbal battles mean a lot to the viewers. Editing needed to be crisper. Background score in good. 

    Not much to say about the performances as the film is more about visuals, effects and ambition. However, Tamannah is impressive.

    Dubbed films with South actors find little favour with Hindi film audience and the response to Bahubali will taper down as it moves northwards.

    Producers: Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad, Devineni.
    Direction: SS Rajamouli.

    Cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Nasser.     

    ‘I Love NY’: Forced comedy

    The title is a bit confusing as you don’t quite know if it means “I Love New Year” or “I Love New York” as it is set in the American city on New Year’s Eve. The film was shot in the US in the days when shooting there was the in thing. What’s more, though the movie has been in the cans for about five years, it sports the look of a film that was made fifty years ago. 

    The romance is between Sunny Deol and Kangana Ranaut and the age difference between the two is about 35 years! At the time when it was shot, neither was Kangana the star she is today nor was Sunny the star he was two decades back! So, Kangana’s recent success is the reason the producers, T-Series, finally decided to venture into releasing the film to public. It is a written off investment being presented for encashment in any case!

    The directors, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru are known for their success with directing videos for TV and have also choreographed some film songs. However, they have not been lucky or so proficient in directing movies. Their last film, Lucky: No Time For Love, released a decade back, failed despite having Salman Khan in the lead. 

    Sunny Deol and Kangana Ranaut end up together though they are from different cities – Chicago and New York. It is new year’s eve and this is a one night story. Though both have their own priorities when it comes to relationships, they eventually end up falling in love.

    This is a romantic comedy, the kind Sunny is not quite cut out for. Kangana does okay but here the emphasis seems to be more on Sunny. The director duo is not in their element here. With little known supporting cast, the film has no distractions. 

    It has opened to a very poor response with shows being cancelled due to lack of minimum mandatory number of audience needed to screen a film.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar.
    Directors: Vinay Sapru, Radhika Rao.
    Cast: Sunny Deol, Kangana Ranaut. 

  • Ayushmann Khurrana tots over 2 million Twitter followers

    Ayushmann Khurrana tots over 2 million Twitter followers

    MUMBAI: He’s down to earth, likeable and has a natural sense of humour. Ayushmann Khurrana, as radio host, compere, singer and actor, entertains effortlessly. Which is why despite living life low key, he has over two million fans following him on Twitter.

     

    Khurrana is popular because he speaks pretty much on everything on the micro blogging site. His comments on matters that interest everyone are both funny and insightful. Live commentary on sports, music or cinema, he tackles conversations with a not so serious take. Khurrana also has fans and admirers interacting with him regularly on subjects beyond his films. He curates articles that others in the industry tend to shy away from.

     

    He interacts with his fans and shares his opinions with them like a regular guy next door. The human element makes him easy to relate to, and has organically increased his following without a lot of film publicity driven chatter.

     

    In his own words, Khurrana chooses the non-typical, less explored path. He makes his film choices and his life choices instinctively. And as his growing Twitter following shows, his fans more than love his simple and honest approach.

  • Rajpal Yadav would like to portray former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri

    Rajpal Yadav would like to portray former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri

    NEW DELHI: Actor Rajpal Yadav, who has acted in about 150 films so far of which majority were comedy, said he would love to portray Lal Bahadur Shastri if given the chance.

     

    Yadav denied that he played in meaningless comedies, adding that Indian films in general always have a message to convey even if it is a comedy film. He also said he had played negative roles in around 20 films.

     

    Yadav was in the capital with actors Neha Pawar and Sanjana Singh, and producer Bharat Bansal in connection with his latest film ‘Thoda Lutf Thoda Ishq’ releasing tomorrow.

     

    Speaking specifically about his forthcoming film, he said the message was that humans attempt too many things at the same time instead of settling down to something and taking it seriously.

     

    He described the actor as a horse on whom the director rides to steer him to a particular direction.

     

    He was happy that the film was shot in Uttar Pradesh. This was not merely because he belongs to that state, but he felt that the state had a lot to offer to filmmakers and the state government was also offering help in this.

     

    Both Neha Pawar and Sanjana Singh said they had felt nervous initially working with Yadav, but he soon put them at ease.

     

    Pawar said, “This is a comedy film and it was really great working with Rajpal Yadav.”

     

    Singh shared an incident during the shoot saying, “When I gave a good shot, Rajpal asked everyone to clap for me.”

     

    Bansal said people do not tend to take Yadav seriously but he not only teaches values to his friends in the film, but also taught a lot to his accompanying crew during the shooting of the film.

     

    The film has been directed by Sachin Gupta and also stars Hitesh Tejwani, Sanjay Mishra, Rakesh Bedi, and Bhavita Anand. The music is by Vikram Khajuria.

  • ‘ABCD 2’ continues to rise at the BO

    ‘ABCD 2’ continues to rise at the BO

    MUMBAI: Guddu Rangeela, coming from the same director of Jolly LLB, Subhash Kapoor, which was much appreciated and did well at the box office, proves to be a dud. Rather than a solid script, the film looked more like an attempt to cash in on the goodwill of the past film using Arshad Warsi again as a talisman.

     

    Warsi may be a good performer but what use is a performer without a well-defined role or a script that holds? The film remained in the Rs one crore plus range through its first weekend to collect Rs 5.1 crore in its first three days.

     

    Second Hand Husband, counting totally on Dharmendra to impact its box office, fails badly. With rest of the cast being inconsequential and the film having nothing in the name of a cogent story or script, the film just does not work. The movie hardly makes an impact at the box office remaining far short of a crore mark on any of its weekend days. The movie has collected Rs 1.85 crore for its opening three days.

     

    BezubanIshq struggles through a legal hurdle and change of distributor before it finally sees the arc light. The film, budgeted at Rs 5 crore initially, finally reaches the cinemas at a cost of Rs 18 crore to face a disastrous fate. 

     

    Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho fares poorly. Catering to no particular set of audience, the film manages to collect a poor Rs 1.4 crore in its first week.

     

    ABCD 2 holds strongly in its second week backed by youth audience and finding favour with the elite multiplex crowd. The film has added a healthy Rs 24.9 crore taking its two week total to Rs 96.05 crore.

     

    Hamari Adhuri Kahani drops to a meager Rs 1.35 crore in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 32.3 crore.

     

    Dil Dhadakne Do adds Rs 1.45 crore in its fourth week taking its four week total to Rs 75.1 crore.

     

    Tanu Weds Manu continues to regale the audience in its sixth week. The film collects Rs 1.8 crore to take its six week total to Rs 151.42 crore. 

  • Sony Music releases single #MeraNaamMary teaser from ‘Brothers’

    Sony Music releases single #MeraNaamMary teaser from ‘Brothers’

    MUMBAI: Music composer duo Ajay-Atul have created magic again with #MeraNaamMary from Karan Malhotra’s forthcoming action-drama Brothers.

     

    The song is by sung by Chinmayi Sripada, choreographed by Ganesh Acharya and penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The full song video will go live on 9 July at 11:30am.

     

    The film is an official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film Warrior. After Agneepath, this is the second time the team of – Dharma Productions, Sony Music, Karan Malhotra, Ajay-Atul and Amitabh Bhattacharya will be working together.

     

    Produced by Dharma Productions, Lionsgate Films and Endemol India, the film is set to release on 14 August 2015.