ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Indian film ‘I D’ is in competition of Edinburgh Film Festival

    Indian film ‘I D’ is in competition of Edinburgh Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: The Indian film ‘I.D.‘ by Kamal KM is one of the two Asian films competing at the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival this month.

    The Festival being held from 19 to 30 June will also feature Kang Yi-kwan‘s Juvenile Offender from South Korea.

    I.D. has competed at festivals in India and Europe. Produced among others by the Oscar award-winning Resul Pookutty, the film has been filmed by Madhu Neelakandan. It stars Geetanjali Thapa, Murari Kumar, Rukshana Tabassum, Shinjini Raval, and Shashi Sharma among others.

    The 90-minute film in Hindi and English is about Charu and her friends – all their mid-twenties – who share a rented apartment in a sky-rise in Mumbai. One day a labourer comes to paint a soiled wall at her house. Irritated that her flat-mate did not inform her, she asks the man to hurry up. A few minutes later, she finds him unconscious on the floor. Charu, panicked and desperate to do what‘s right, gets entwined in a series of incidents that take her through the city. Anywhere that might lead her to some identity of the man.

    Kang‘s countryman Bong Joon-ho heads the competition jury.

    In addition to Offender the festival is showing five more South Korean films in a tribute to the country, including spy thriller The Berlin File political drama National Security and high-school drama Pluto

    The festival also includes three indie films from the Philippines, including John Torres‘ Lukas The Strange Lukas Nino, four indie films from China, including Zhang Yuan Beijing Flicker and three features from Japan, including Nakata Hideo‘s The Complex.

    The festival opens with Drake Doremus‘ US drama Breath In, starring Australia‘s Guy Pearce, and closes with the world premiere of John McKay‘s Not Another Happy Ending about a young authoress in Glasgow who is suffering from writer‘s block.

    One innovation at this year‘s festival is the introduction of "Film Fest Miles", with which audience members compete for flights. Each film is allocated miles according to the distance to its country of origin, giving Asian film fans a distinct advantage.

  • Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani: Fun, frolic and a bit of love

    Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani: Fun, frolic and a bit of love

    MUMBAI: One of the tried and tested genres of film, acceptable to just about all kind of audience is a feel good love story with music to back it if one knows how to. This ‘how to‘ involves the romance to be plausible, clean and emotional. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is only the second outing for writer-director Ayan Mukerji. His first was a coming of age film, Wake Up Sid, which was also with Ranbir Kapoor. While Kapoor has since done almost a dozen films, Mukerji, to his credit, has not only come of age, he has matured into an accomplished writer-director.

    Producers: Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar.
    Director: Ayan Mukerji.
    Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Kunaal Roy Kapoor, Poorna Jagannathan.

    Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has no side characters, no comedians or villains and no distractions. To make up for all that, it has been shot extensively on pleasant outdoor locales and generally carries a positive flavour throughout. And, during these parts, the film carries that whiff and charm of those Nasir Hussain romances.

    The clique of school backbenchers, Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapoor, decide to go on a track with a group of 25 others when a top ranker, scholarly, bespectacled Deepika Padukone, bored of her bookworm life, decides to join in. She has none of the traits of the three and is an odd one out in the group. They believe in enjoying each moment, something she has never had the inclination or the time to do in pursuit of her studies, earlier for school and now medical. But everybody is enjoying and it does not take her long to join in. The trek outing is all about having fun, drinking, games and bonhomie. There are two one-sided romances happening: Padukone is gradually drawn to the charm and youthfulness of Kapoor while Koechlin loves Aditya; why the latter is indifferent is not known while Kapoor does not agree with the concept of love, marriage and being tied down to one girl or one place.

    The outing is over. Kapoor proceeds to the US with the scholarship he has been offered and takes to travel photography. Just the dream he nourished, roaming places and meeting people. He has no intentions of returning to India, having lost his father, Farooq Shaikh, while having no communication, and has no ties with stepmother, Tanve Azmi. His contact with his friends is almost negligible. He has been busy filling his scrapbook with notes on places he visits. Now, he has been offered a dream posting, an assignment in Paris. That is when he receives a message from Koechlin asking him to attend her wedding, a five day affair in Udaipur.

    The four friends come together again. Koechlin is marrying Kunal Roy Kapoor, Aditya runs a bar which he is about to lose having incurred heavy losses (It seems he is never without alcohol in his hand, and he probably drank up his bar!). Padukone is a doctor running her own clinic and Kapoor, of course, is a TV host of international repute now. Elaborate weddings being a favourite with filmmakers, this part is all about fun and dances and every Indian identifies with it. There is no melodrama but, yes, the buried romance is rekindled in Deepika‘s heart and, unwittingly though, this time Kapoor too succumbs. It is time for the film to head for its happy ending.

    The feeling is that the film stretches its length at least by 15 minutes; this becomes more evident as there are just two able artistes to carry it through its 161 minutes marathon duration in Kapoor and Padukone. As the film begins, for some time the proceedings are dull, the Madhur Dixit item number is unnecessary and is not even good. Otherwise, the first half of the film passes smoothly. The second half becomes slow towards the latter portions, as one expects some drama towards the end.

    For positives, the film has a well written script and competent direction from Mukerji. Pritam‘s music is a definite plus with almost all songs having appeal, while Amitabh Bhattacharya has provided perfect lyrics to blend with the theme of the film. Filmed mostly outdoors, between snow-capped mountains and picturesque Udaipur, it makes for a pleasant viewing. Kapoor is getting better with each film; he is a natural. Padukone is a perfect foil and justifies her lovelorn look throughout. Aditya carries on with the glass he picked up in his earlier film; no idea what he would have done with his hands otherwise. Koechlin has a limited range. Kunaal is okay.

    Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has opened reasonably well, especially at multiplexes and, with its positive reports, is sure to get better over the weekend.

  • Festival of films on Kashmir in Mumbai

    Festival of films on Kashmir in Mumbai

    NEW DELHI: ‘Kashmir – Before our Eyes‘, a three-day Festival of films on Kashmir is to be held at the Films Division auditoria in Mumbai from 31 May.

    The festival has been curated by filmmakers Ajay Raina and Pankaj Rishi Kumar and will screen shorts, documentaries and feature films.

    The first date of the Festival is devoted to ‘Roots of the conflict: The nationalist discourse‘ with films like Storm over Kashmir by B D Garga and A Diary of Aggression by N V K Murthy (both made by Films Division), followed by a discussion on the conflict between India and Pakistan vis-?-vis Kashmir.

    The Special India Preview will feature the multi-award winning feature Valley of Saints by Musa Sayeed from the US.

    The second day will be devoted on ‘Paradise: Kashmir then and now‘ with films Before My Eyes by Mani Kaul; Lolaab – A Valley In The Himalayas by Mohiuddin Mirza, and Paradise On A River Of Hell by Abir Bashir Bazaz and Meenu Gaur which got the PSBT Special Recognition for the Third Karachi Film Festival, Pakistan, 2003.

    This will be followed by a discussion in which Moiuddin Mirza, Piyush Shah, Jyoti Swaroop, and Siddhartha Gigoo will take part, moderated by Ajay Raina.

    The same evening, there will be feature on the theme of exile, disappearance, dislocation, The Last Day by Siddhartha Gigoo and the non-fiction Tell them, the tree they had planted has now grown by Ajay Raina which won the MIFF award for PSBT.

    This will be followed by reading from The Garden of Solitude by Siddartha Gigoo.

    Later, the non-fiction Where Have You Hidden My Crescent Moon by Iffat Fatima, Autumn‘s Final Country by Sonia Jabbar, and the feature Bub (Father) by Jyoti Sarup will be screened.

    The last day will see the screening of Jashn-e-Azadi by Sanjay Kak, Pather Chu (The Play is on) by Pankaj Rishi Kumar for PSBT, Apour ti Yapour. Na Jang Na Aman. Yei Chu Talukpeth (Between Border and the fence. On the edge of the map) by Ajay Raina for PSBT and the feature Harud by Aamir Bashir.

  • ‘Dabba’ to be distributed by Sony in North America

    ‘Dabba’ to be distributed by Sony in North America

    NEW DELHI: The Lunchbox (Dabba), which made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival‘s Critics‘ Week section, has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for North America.

    Directed by Ritesh Batra and starring Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, The Lunchbox claimed the audience award in Critics Week.

    International sales are handled by Germany‘s The Match Factory GmbH, which also licensed the film to Happiness Distribution for France.

    The film has already been sold in 20 territories across the globe. It was already pre-sold to five countries. Major international sales include Artificial Eye (UK) and Happiness (France).

    The film has been sold to North America, France, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Baltic, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Mexico, Central America, Brazil and Ex-Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia).

    The film had been pre-sold to Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

    The film was produced by India‘s Sikhya Entertainment and D?r Motion Pictures with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Germany‘s Rohfilm GmbH, France‘s ASAP Films and the US‘s Cine Mosaic.

    The story follows the connection between a widower nearing retirement and a frustrated housewife that is established when Mumbai‘s famously reliable system of lunchbox deliveries goes wrong.

  • Standing ovation for ‘Bombay Talkies’ at Melbourne

    Standing ovation for ‘Bombay Talkies’ at Melbourne

    NEW DELHI: ‘Bombay Talkies‘, the closing film of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IIFM) received a rare honour by receiving a standing ovation by a 600 member strong audience.

    "We could not have wished for a better closing night movie than Bombay Talkies, making its Australian debut only three days after receiving a gala screening in Cannes. The response to the screening has been beyond expectation" said IFFM festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.

    An anthology of four short films by four of India‘s most exciting directors – Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar – Bombay Talkies was the icing on the cake for the festival‘s own celebrations of 100 years of Indian cinema, and the packed audience loved it.

    "That was incredible. We saw aspects of India we rarely see, and could identify with every story," said one fan. "It was a real eye-opener about India, and Indian cinema. The gay kiss was refreshing to see too! And the film extremely confronting, especially coming from a mainstream film maker like Karan Johar", said Leima Popal who is an avid Bollywood fan.

    Following a long standing ovation, Aussies could be heard singing the Bombay Talkies song on their way out.

  • Amit Trivedi relives the 50s with Lootera’s music

    Amit Trivedi relives the 50s with Lootera’s music

    MUMBAI: Amit Trivedi had to adapt to the 50s format while composing the music of Lootera.

    Vikramaditya Motwane‘s Lootera is a film based in the 50s era. Evidently it was important to get the look and feel of the era correct in the film.

    It has been a huge struggle for the creators to revive the look of the era due to the rampant commercialisation over the years. "The makers have done a lot of research and gone great lengths to get the sets, the look, feel and character sketches etched out perfectly", says a source associated with the film.

    One of the key aspects for the film was also the music. "The music in general sets the tone for the film and hence the makers were keen to have the composition, like the music of the old era. They were adamant to have music which is melodious and lyrical. The format of the music was top priority and they kept telling music director Amit Trivedi umpteenth number of times that the music needs to reflect that the film belongs to the Golden Era", adds the source.

  • Acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passes away at 49

    Acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh passes away at 49

    NEW DELHI: Noted filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who was expected to take on the mantle oficons like Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak in West Bengal, died early this morning of cardiac arrest at his south Kolkata residence.

    Winner of 12 national and some international awards, the 49-year-old Ghosh was suffering from pancreatitis and died of heart attack at 7.30 am, his family said.

    Ghosh had gained international fame for films like Dahan (1997),‘Asukh(1999), Chokher Bali (2003), Raincoat (2004), Bariwali (1999),Antarmahal (2005), Noukadubi (2010), and The Last Lear ((2007), all of which won him several awards.

    Born on 31 August 1963 in Kolkata, Ghosh was fortunate that both his parents were related to films, his father being a documentary film maker. He completed his schooling from South Point High School, and pursued economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

    Rituparno started his career in advertising. He had first gained fame for his direction of a children‘s film ‘Hirer Angti‘ in 1994 and his film ‘Unishe April‘ won him a national award in 1995.

    He won the National film award for Best Director for his Bengali film Abohoman starring Jishu Sengupta, Ananya Chatterjee, Dipankar Dey and Mamata Shankar. He made his first screen presence in an Oriya film Katha Deithilli Ma Ku which is directed by Himanshu Parija and released in 2003.

    He hosted two celebrity chat shows, namely Ebong Rituporno on ETV Bangla and Ghosh and co. on Star Jalsha. He also was the scriptwriter of Gaaner Opare.

    His film Just another Love Story in 2009 received rave reviews all over the world. He later made Kashmakash in 2011. His last films were Chitrangada in Bengali in which he also acted, and Sunglass in Hindi, both in 2012. In both Just another Love Story and Memories in March, he reprised the role of a homosexual.

    In fact, he never hid the complexities about his sexuality and said he wanted to live his life on his terms.

    Talking to indiantelevision.com over telephone, thespian Soumitra Chatterjee said he was too shocked to say anything. He said the nation had lost a very promising film director at a very early age.

    Eminent filmmaker Buddhadeb Das Gupta, speaking over the phone in Mumbai, said he had known Ghosh as a young man coming to his house with his father, and had also helped him when he turned filmmaker. He was therefore very saddened by the death. As a tribute, Das Gupta said Ghosh always lived life the way he wanted, without caring about what society would say.

    West Bengal State Commerce and Industry minister Partha Chatterjee visited his home in the morning.

    I&B minister Manish Tewari has condoled the untimely death of Ghosh.

    In his condolence message, Tewari said, "I am deeply shocked by the tragic and premature death of Ghosh. He was a creative genius who gave a new dimension to film making with every film that he was associated with. His films always left a deep imprint on minds of the audiences who were captivated by the honest portrayal of human emotions. Cinema has lost a visionary, as Ghosh was always innovative and bold in undertaking new themes for his films. His death has left a void which will be very difficult to fill.”

  • IndiaCast signs multi-year agreement with Spuul

    IndiaCast signs multi-year agreement with Spuul

    MUMBAI: Over 60 percent current and upcoming Hindi and regional movies from the library of Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Colors and Eenadu Television will now be available for worldwide streaming on one of the most popular online streaming service for Indian movies and TV shows- Spuul; IndiaCast media distribution Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between TV18 and Viacom18 has signed a multi-year worldwide agreement with the online service.

    Starting this week, movie buffs can enjoy latest and evergreen blockbusters such as Inkaar, Oh My God and Jab We Met along with several regional hits such as Samanyudu, on their computers and mobile devices, with Spuul. Upcoming new releases in 2013 will also be available for worldwide streaming on Spuul as they are released in the market.

    Spuul CEO India Prakash Ramchandani says: "Spuul is proud to offer Viacom18‘s successful and award-winning films to our fast growing user base", commenting further, he says, "We are constantly working to expand our range of great Indian movies, in different languages, so that users always find something appealing to watch."

    Spuul was founded by seasoned entrepreneurs including Sudesh Iyer, founder of Sony Entertainment TV, and S. Mohan, founder of Palo Alto-based Accellion, buUuk and a number of other technology and venture companies and offers Specials that are pay-per-view movies and a Premium monthly subscription option.

    Online video is seeing a dramatic growth, with 3.7 million videos consumed every month in India according to comScore Inc. With such an attractive online viewership, Spuul offers the producers the required global reach creating new avenues for not just small budget movies but also new blockbusters.

    Speaking on the tie up with Spuul,IndiaCast group CEO Anuj Gandhi says: "The association between IndiaCast and Spuul acts as a value addition for both the parties. Watching movies online lets the viewer‘s exercise this option at their own convenience. Spuul has a huge base of film and TV enthusiasts who now with this association will be able to choose from IndiaCast‘s plethora of commercial and regional movies, enriching the viewer experience."

    Other IndiaCast movies on Spuul include Blood Money, Bitoo Boss, Golmaal Returns & Aiyya, regional titles dubbed in Hindi such as Vishwa – The He Man, Ek Sirfarosh – The Brave Heart and select Telegu films such as Simhadri and Me Sreyobhilashi – now available to stream immediately on all pcs, iOS and Android mobile devices.

  • Indian filmmaker Susi Ganesh honoured by Maryland Governor

    Indian filmmaker Susi Ganesh honoured by Maryland Governor

    NEW DELHI: Susi Ganesh, the director of Shortcut Romeo, has received a special honour from Maryland Governor Martin O‘Malley for his contribution to Indian cinema.

    Ganesh and his team were in New York to promote Shortcut Romeo after screening the movie and walking the red carpet at Cannes Film Festival along with actress Ameesha Patel and Puja Gupta.

    Ganeshan has directed some award winning movies in Tamil such as Virumbukiren, Five Star, Thiruttu Payale and Kanthaswamy.

    Recalling his 15 years of service and hard work to promote Indian movies especially Tamil and now Hindi, the Governor said, "The State of Maryland is proud to bestow the honour for his contribution to the entertainment industry."

    The award and the replica of great seal of the state of Maryland was presented by Dr. Rajan Natarajan, deputy secretary in the state of Maryland and one of the high-ranking Indian-American political appointees.

    Shortcut Romeo is a remake of Ganesh‘s super hit Tamil film ‘Thiruttu Payale‘, produced by Manjari Susi Ganesh. It also features Neil Nitin Mukesh, and will be released on 21 June.

  • Ishkq In Paris fails to impress at the BO, Aashiqui 2 still going strong

    Ishkq In Paris fails to impress at the BO, Aashiqui 2 still going strong

    MUMBAI: Preity Zinta‘s debut production venture combined with her aspirations to make a comeback in a lead with Ishkq In Paris, which finally saw a release, had no takers. The film has barely managed to cross the one crore mark for its opening weekend.

    Zindagi 50 50 and Hum Hain Rahi Car Ke fail to find an audience, nothing surprising.

    The Arjun Kapoor starrer Aurangzeb, which completed its first week with approximately 19 crore, went on to take its tally to 22.24 crore for ten days.

    The zombie comedy starring Kunal Khemu, Vir Das and Saif Ali Khan – Go Goa Gone collects 4.65 crore in its second week taking its two week total to 23.15 crore.

    Dharma Production‘s Gippi collects 45 lakh in second week to take its two week total to 3.85 crore.

    Shootout At Wadala is just about reaching the end of its run. The film has collected about three crore in its third week, taking its total collections to 48 crore.

    Bombay Talkies has collected 45 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to 8.1 crore.

    The animation adventure Chhota Bheem And The Throne Of Bali has added 75 lakh in its third week, taking its three week total to 4.25 crore.

    Aashiqui 2 continues to hold its sway at the box office. With collections of 7.5 crore in its fourth week, the total for four now stands at 71.15 crore. Clearly consolidating its collections and commanding a super-hit status.