ITV

Category: Hindi

  • …bites the bullet

    …bites the bullet

    MUMBAI: The tendency of filmmakers from the North and other Hindi speaking regions is to opt for a subject with a local flavour typical to their home turf. Tigmanshu Dhulia does just that. In Bullett Raja he creates an oft-seen UP drama about guns and goons and politician puppeteers. This is the region where either the other person is your enemy or he is a prospective backstabber. Like in all such films, the educated youth is unable to find jobs so they take to guns and join the underworld.  Not long ago, such films fitted in a slot described as B Grade films, and also enjoyed the patronage of masses; the gentry were usually oblivious of such fare. What worked for such films was that their budgets were sensible. Now when big bucks are spent, the cast and promotion had better guarantee an initial to secure the investment and guard a lot of reputations.

    Saif is Raja Mishra, a Brahmin from Lucknow looking for a decent job when he gets into trouble with a bunch of goons. He fights his way through while on the run. He spots a baraat and blends in with the crowd, landing up at Sharat Saxena’s house where he meets and befriends Jimmy Shergill. The occasion is Saxena’s daughter’s wedding, an excuse for the performance of something like a mujra performed by Mahie Gill, through which Shergill and Saif clink glasses of alcohol and strengthening their friendship further. 

    Producer: Rahul Mittra, Nitin Tej Ahuja, Tigmanshu Dhulia.
    Director: Tagmanshu Dhulia.
    Cast: : Saif Ali Khan, SonakshiSinha, Vidyut Jamwal,
    Jimmy Sheirgill, Gulshan Grover, Raj Babbar, Mahie
    Gill (sp App), Chunky Pandey, Ravi Kissen, Vishwajeet Pradhan,
    Sharat Saxena, Vipin Sharma.

    Mahie Gill notices Saif ogling her and is game for a fling. As the pair move towards the woods for some privacy, Saif eavesdrops on a conspiracy to raid the Saxena house by surprise and kill everybody present. The conspirer is Chunky Pandey, who has been brought up by Saxena as one of his own. He has now joined Saxena’s rival, Vishwajeet Pradhan.

    Saif feels he owes allegiance to the Saxena household and to Shergill for the shelter he got there. He rushes to alert them. The Saxena clan is ready for the gunfight; Saif and Shergill form a formidable team as they shoot one raider after the other while also covering each other. The fight gets over and Saxena is impressed by the duo’s heroics and Saif’s in particular since he had nothing to do with the family. Saxena asks them to join his gang where he will be rewarded well as against a job outside. Their desires to stay within law and find a job notwithstanding, both finally give in and take to guns for Saxena. They take refuge in jail while things blow over, where they meet a very influential prisoner, Vipin Sharma, who is always on one of his multiple cell phones.He is a fixer and wheeler-dealer for local politicians, Raj Babbar being a prime one.

    Babbar is the most powerful politician in the region and on Vipin’s suggestion he takes Saif and Shergill under his wing. Now they shoot for him. Babbar asks them to attend a fundraising pre-election conference headed by Gulshan Grover, who is described as Kuber, the Lord of Wealth. The duo rubs Grover the wrong way and he in turn insults and humiliates them. The pair decide to take revenge. They barge into a hotel room where Grover has planned a casting couch session for a film he is financing. The aspirant is Sonakshi Sinha who is offering to kiss Grover on the cheek because that is as far as she will go when the duo arrive. They kidnap Grover and later release him for five crore rupees.

    A bit late in the film but it is time for some romantic light moments between Saif and Sonakshi. Luckily, both take no time to say ‘I Love You’ to each other with Gill as a bystander. In celebration, they fly to Mumbai, sing a song and return to base and back to business. A very angry Grover is waiting for them as he wants revenge for what they did to him. Grover has also sought the services of Ravi Kissen, a sharpshooter who can shoot somebody dead from 100 yards. They catch Shergill alone with Sonakshi in the house. It is time for Shergill to die so that Saif can justify the title Bullett Raja as well as find the motive to wipe out all enemies. The second half is left to Saif to carry on his shoulders.

    But Saif can’t carry on a film that has no story, only people planning and plotting against others. To liven up things, Vidyut Jamwal is introduced in the story. Jamwal has already proved his prowess in martial arts with his earlier outing on the big screen and here, in measured doses, it is fun to watch him in action. He and Saif also plan and plot but only for the sake of creating an opening for the sequel!

    UP-Bihar background with totally local issues and flavour don’t appeal. Even an interesting film like Sehar had not worked. They offer nothing novel in their local bahubalis and gun wielding goons. Bullett Raja lacks romance, emotion, music and drama. It becomes monotonous as somebody or the other is trigger happy at all times. If this was Dhulia’s idea of a full-fledged commercial film, he is about half a century behind. The trick now is to cater to a mixed audience of multiplexes, single screen, overseas and satellite. If first two are drawn, a film is safe and rest is assured. Dhulia’s creative touch is missing here. Music fails to prop up the film. Photography is good. The film can be trimmed a little. Despite so many enmities, the dialogue is uninspiring; real fights are provoked by cutting edge dialogue and keep the audience along. The film was somewhat interesting till Saif and Shergill operate as a pair but loses steam thereafter except when Jamwal makes an entry.

    Saif looks very un-UP like but he does okay. Shergill brightens up the goings on while he is around. Jamwal is good in a brief role. While Babbar, Grover, Saxena, Pradhan and Ravi Kisan stay true to their respective images, Pandey is a misfit. Vipin Sharma is sincere as ever. Sonakshi Sinha is ready to burst at seams and contributes nothing to the film.

    Bullet Raja has had a weak opening, failing to manage a draw even at single screens. It faces poor prospects at the box office.

  • Miss Lovely set for India, US release

    Miss Lovely set for India, US release

    MUMBAI: Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely was one of the most critically acclaimed films at the international festivals in 2012. It was premiered at Cannes in Un Certain Regard in 2012 and won best film in the India Gold competition at last year’s Mumbai Film Festival.

     

    But as is the case with most independent films, Miss Lovely too was grappling to find a space in the theatres. However, the film is up for a January release in India through a start-up distributor Easel Films and Eagle Movies.

     

    Easel is the brainchild of distributor executive Abhishek Gautam and filmmakers Bikramjit Gupta, Atanu Mukherjee and Pooja Gupte. “We hope to release across 200-300 screens,” said Abhishek Gautam in a release.

     

    “As a team we want to focus on distributing independent cinema in India,” he added.

     

    Meanwhile, former IFC Films executive Ryan Werner and distribution agency Required Viewing are working on the US release of Miss Lovely, which is scheduled for March 2014. Cinetic Media’s FilmBuff is handling digital distribution for North America.

  • Get a little fishy on World Aids Day

    Get a little fishy on World Aids Day

    MUMBAI: In sync with the theme of its upcoming rip roaring comedy, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures’ What The Fish is planning a promotion with a twist.

     

    The cast of the movie will come out on the streets to promote safe sex among young adults 29 November, 2013. While Dimple Kapadia, who has a prominent role in the movie, will be a part of the campaign that will be carried out Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, other actors including Manjot Singh, Manu Rishi, Anand Tewari starring in the film will take the responsibility to distribute the free Kamasutra MTV Hardwear condoms.

     

    The film is set in Delhi and revolves around the theme of many crazy things that can happen when parents take a vacation and leave behind their kids giving them an opportunity to party.

     

    The two important characters in the film are ‘masi’ played by Dimple Kapadia and ‘mishti’ — the fish.

     

    The current campaign is an extension to some of the comic elements used in the film. Keeping its quirky theme in mind, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures is trying to create enough buzz with its distinctive activities.

     

    Viacom 18 Motion Pictures head or marketing and operations, Rudrarup Datta says that since it’s a small-budget film made in just Rs three crore, the team’s effort is promote it as creatively as it can. “We want to stand-out with the campaigns that we are planning. We want people to react with ‘what the fish’ when they come across any of our campaigns,” he says.

     

    In one of the earlier activities, the team placed fish bowls with several fish sellers branded with the film’s title, What the fish to create a buzz among the buyers who come to purchase fish. In other, they distributed fish bowls with a joint, condoms and marbles to media people. This time, the pack of the condoms has the tagline – ‘better use a condom than going what the fish’.

     

    Viacom18 Motion Pictures has always been known for its innovative marketing campaigns and with this film they want to prove that once again. Datta says that they are spending almost two-and-a-half crore on the overall promotional activity of the film.

     

    What The Fish is directed by Gurmmeet Singh and is slated for release on 13 December, 2013

  • Krrish 3 continues its strong run; others struggle to make a mark

    Krrish 3 continues its strong run; others struggle to make a mark

    MUMBAI: Sunny Deol’s action film, Singh Saab The Great is old wine in a plastic bottle. With so much use of Punjabi language, it could well have been a Punjabi film due to which it loses out on patronage in South and East India while limiting it in other parts. The film’s appeal is only limited to single screens. The movie collected Rs 14.2 crore for its opening weekend which is not very encouraging.

     

    Gori Tere Pyar Mein – the second flick featuring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan together – has failed to attract the audience from day one and failing to improve even on Saturday and Sunday. A poorly conceived and executed film, it draws neither youth nor the compulsive moviegoer. The film has managed a poor Rs 7.8 crore for its opening weekend.

     

    Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela crossed one more hurdle in UP as there were objections to the film’s title by certain people following which a court had stopped its screening in the state of UP. There were no shows on Friday and Saturday (22 and 23 November) in UP. The producer gave the film a new title, G-K.R.R, for UP and availed of the Censor Certificate following which the screening resumed from Sunday (24 November) onwards. The film has collected Rs 69.7 crore for its first week.

     

    Rajjo has proved to be a futile exercise with the film barley managing to collect Rs 1.65 crore in its first week.
    Krrish 3 has added Rs 8.5 crore for its third week taking its three week total to Rs 171.8 crore.

  • Endemol India partners with Fox Star Studios on a movie

    Endemol India partners with Fox Star Studios on a movie

    MUMBAI: Endemol India has collaborated with Fox Star Studios for an emotional thriller, Traffic. This marks the foray of Endemol into the Hindi film industry and will be produced under the banner “Eyedentity Motion Pictures” – the film arm of Endemol India.

     

    Traffic, the Hindi adaptation of the critically acclaimed Malayalam blockbuster will release on 7 March, 2014. Based on a true life incident the film marks the coming together of an ensemble cast of Manoj Bajpai and Jimmy Shergill in the lead roles along with Bengali superstar Prosenjit, Parambrata (of Kaahani fame), Divya Dutta, Kitu Gidwani and Sachin Khedekar playing pivotal roles. The film will also see the debut of talented young actor Amol Parasher and Vishal Singh in critical roles.

     

    Endemol India MD and CEO Deepak Dhar said, “With Traffic, Endemol enters the Hindi film sphere and we are fortunate to have partnered with Fox Star Studios for such an incredible script that involves a diverse mix of characters caught in an unlikely situation. Brought to life by a brilliant screenplay that pits together all the characters in a race against time, the incredible casting is bound to keep the audiences hooked till the end.”

     

    Directed by national award winning film maker Rajesh Pillai, who also directed the original in Malayalam, the movie showcases a high voltage drama and a battle against time when stakes run high and life is in danger. What sets Traffic apart from other films is the fact that as an emotional thriller, it will also introduce the audiences to an altogether new genre of entertainment.

     

    Traffic has been adapted in Hindi by Suresh Nair with music by Mithoon.

     

    Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh added, “We are excited to have partnered with Endemol India as they debut in the Indian film industry. Traffic comes with tremendous credentials – National award winning director plus commercial & critical success in Malayalam – it promises to be an emotionally thrilling experience! At Fox Star Studios, our endeavour has been to support path breaking entertaining cinema. We believe in the story of Traffic and that it must be told to a wide audience. Audiences today are seeking new and distinctive content and we continue to strive to deliver films that capture the imagination. The film is the first up on our slate for 2014 that will feature mega productions, massy entertainers and clutter breaking films.”

  • Big B praises Richa Chadda

    Big B praises Richa Chadda

    MUMBAI: She has wowed the audience back-to-back with her distinctive performances. Now, actor Richa Chadda has won another admirer in Amitabh Bachchan, who not only liked her performance in Goliyon in Rasleela Ram-Leela but also sent across a handwritten note congratulating her on her performance.

     

    Chadda, who portrayed the character of Raseela Bhabhi in the film has always been applauded by the industry for her work, so much so that she took away the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Debut) for her performance in Gangs of Wasseypur.

     

    However, happy with the recent compliment from the shahensha Chadda said, “Amitabhji has met me earlier and has always been generous with praise and has told me he liked my works. For Ram-Leela, he sent me a note and a bouquet of flowers which is a huge deal for me since one can only dream about such a thing.”

  • Ram-Leela to open Marrakech International Film Fest

    Ram-Leela to open Marrakech International Film Fest

    MUMBAI: Eros International and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela starring Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh will open the 13th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival on 29 November, 2013. Director/producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and actor Deepika Padukone will be at the festival during the opening ceremony.

     

    And that isn’t all! Apart from being the first Bollywood film this year to be opening an international festival, the film will also be screened for the festival’s jury, some of the biggest names in world cinema including Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Patricia Clarkson of The Untouchables and Shutter Island fame, Oscar and Bafta award winner Marion Cottilard who starred in Inception and The Dark Knight Rises and Anurag Kashyap from home turf who has always gone on to say that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the finest filmmakers in the country.

  • 2014, a year of spy films?

    2014, a year of spy films?

    MUMBAI:However, it seems it’s going to change soon with a line-up of many detective movies in the coming year. So while we have Dibakar Banerjee’s highly anticipated spy thriller, Byomkesh Bakshi starring Sushant Singh Rajput and actress-turned-producer Dia Mirza’s Bobby Jasoos with Vidya Balan in the lead produced under her banner Born Free Entertainment, we also have a detective film for kids Jagga Jasoos with Ranbir Kapoor playing a 17-year-old. And not just this, there’s a franchise in the offering too – the Rajshri banner led by Kavita Barjatya with Samrat & Co starring Rajeev Khandelwal has announced a franchise of detective films.

     

    Samrat & Co that is set for release on 1 May, 2014 aims to target India’s young audiences with the very nuances of crime solving, human nature and the world of standalone private investigators will be presented on the big screen.

     

    The filmmakers seem to be investing some precious time in developing the detective characters. Dibakar Banerjee has been quoted as saying that the idea of an urban sleuth simply does not exist in the Indian popular culture and the Hindi film viewers have been watching recycled imitation that combine James Bond with a Sherlock Holmes and thus he is giving full-time in the development of his detective character.

     

    Even for Samrat & Co., it’s learnt that Kaushik Ghatak, the director of the film along with the producers is spending a lot of time on the lead character so that the storyline can be fleshed out well.

     

    It seems finally Indian filmmakers are taking a different route and experimenting with newer ideas.

  • Bullet Raja takes the comic route

    Bullet Raja takes the comic route

    MUMBAI: He is a big comic book buff and it was just apt to launch one before the release of Chote Nawab’s upcoming release Bullet Raja. Interestingly, after the marketing team of Bullet Raja launched a graphic novel series built around the protagonist of the film in the digital space, Saif Ali Khan suggested the launch of a comic book as well.

     

    The idea was soon worked upon and the film’s team finally launched the comic book titled The Legend of Bullett Raja recently. The event was a high-octane affair with almost the entire team including Saif Ali Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Shergill, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ravi Kissen, Gulshan Grover, Chunkey Pandey among others present at the event.

     

    The lead actors of the film entertained the audiences as they broke in to impromptu jigs as soon as the songs of the film started playing.

     

    Besides the comic book, the audiences were also introduced to highly entertaining and exciting dialogues from the film.

  • Single screen saab

    Single screen saab

    MUMBAI: Anil Sharma’s Singh Saab The Great may as well have been a Punjabi film: much of the dialogue and songs are in Punjabi. This follows a week after Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s almost-Gujarati Ram-Leela, which had dialogue with Gujarati blend and just about every song and background songs taken from Gujarati folk music. If this is these makers’ idea of being different, they are succeeding only in limiting their audience. As for the rest, Sharma tries to cash in on Sunny Deol’s “dhai kilo haath” which now, with time, weighs three and half kilos, which he uses to take on hundreds of goons let loose on him by the villain, Prakash Raj. It is a simple story: Sunny is an honest government servant and Prakash Raj is a despotic evil man. Take it or leave it.

    Sunny Deol is a Sikh gentleman who descends on village after village and town after town to cleanse them of villains, corruption and other such evils. But one day a journalist, Amrita Rao, barges into his office and starts accusing him of hiding from the law in the guise of a Sardar without having completed his 18 year jail sentence, which he was given along with five of his colleagues. That is the cue; you know a flashback is coming. So Sunny, who usually flares up with fury at the slightest provocation, goes soft on this TV reporter and decides to tell her all.

    Sunny is the usual oft-transferred collector who is posted to a town where Prakash’s writ runs large, unchallenged. Because like all such bad men of recent era, he controls enough MLAs and MPs to topple the local government! However, Sunny turns out to be a tough ‘un-government-servant’ kind of guy. While he is dispatching Prakash off with disdain, the latter dares to threaten to harm his sister, meriting a resounding slap from Sunny. That is reason enough for Prakash not to use his clout and get Sunny transferred of town but to let him be and use his guile to harm him and his family on a regular basis. Guile is something Sunny’s brawn is no match for.

    Producer: Anuj Sharma, Sangeeta Ahir.
    Director: Anil Sharma.
    Cast: Sunny Deol, Amrita Rao, Urvashi Rautela, Prakash Raj, Shahbaz Khan, Johny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma.

    The problem is that the fear of the villain vanishes in the very first encounter between the two, when Sunny slaps him. Whatever a writer or director does to resurrect his villainous nature after that does not help: he can have hundreds of his goons kill women or harass them to teach Sunny a lesson but he does not seem threatening. A villain has to be built till the end, preferably larger than the hero so that as much as the hero, even the viewer wants him punished! But if a maker has not learnt that in over three decades in filmmaking, it is too late.

    The film is a poorly conceived and executed and any claims (though it may read so in the titles) to story, screenplay and direction are not substantiated. Just filling up frames with crowds does not make an extravaganza. And what is with all the Punjabi dialogue and music? Who are they catering to—even Punjabi films have come of age and rate much better than Singh Saab The Great.(Not to mention they cost much less.) Music, even if Punjabi, is routine. Editing and photography both look uninspired. Action has been seen alike in many South remakes recently.

    Sunny Deol plays himself, the character he has been playing since his debut; mostly looking angry and trading punches. Amrita Rao’s fascination for the widower Sunny is rather too cliché. Urvashi Rautela as a many years younger wife leaves no mark. Prakash Raj matches Sunny in his consistency at villainy since his Hindi debut; the least he could do is vary his expressions.

    Singh Saab The Great, is an old fashioned mass film with appeal for single screen patrons with its best prospects being in the North.