ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Bollywood releases fail in festive week

    Bollywood releases fail in festive week

    MUMBAI: Chakravyuh, a film made on the Naxal problem by Prakash Jha, could not move the box office or the male audiences despite having a festive release on Dussehra and an extended Eid holiday that followed on the weekend.

    The movie ended its five-day weekend run with Rs 108 million as multiplex audiences could not relate to a theme far away from their world. With a script that offered no scope for romance, music or effective emotions, the film could not find commercial value in the marketplace with a theme that is disturbing many pockets of India which are turning to Maoist philosophy and picking up the guns to protest against class oppression.

    Rush proved a disappointment for Emraan Hashmi fans, evident from the fact that the movie netted an opening weekend of just Rs 25 million. There was nothing to identify with the romantic thrillers that Hashmi is known for.

    Ajab Gazabb Love, though aimed at youth, does not have much to show for its first weekend at the box office as it took home just Rs 47 million.

    Student Of The Year had a smooth first week. With Dussehra holiday working to its advantage, the film collected Rs 465 million in its first week. The collections were steady in the second weekend as the three new releases proved too weak to affect its prospects.

    Shudra The Rising and Janleva 555 were very poor in performance.

    Aiyyaa collected Rs three million in its second week taking its total to Rs 58 milion.

    English Vinglish sustained its momentum and collected 35 million in its third week. The film’s three week tally stood at Rs 339 million.

    OMG Oh My God! continued to hold its own despite many new releases. The film netted Rs 51 million in its fourth week, taking its total collections to Rs 737 million (excluding Eastern circuits).

    Barfi! collected Rs 7.5 million in its sixth week to take its box office collections to Rs 1.08 billion.

  • Indian movies should focus on serious issues

    Indian movies should focus on serious issues

    NEW DELHI: Indian movies should focus on serious social issues. That is what India Against Corruption member Arvind Kejriwal wants and lauds high praise on Prakash Jha‘s ‘Chakravyuh‘.

    “Movies reflect the face of the society. By making a film on such a serious issue, Prakash Jha has shown how dedicated he is towards the issues prevailing in our society,” Kejriwal said.

    ‘Chakravyuh’, starring Arjun Rampal and Abhay Deol in the main roles, is based on Naxalism.

    He added, “I congratulate Prakash Jha and his entire team for giving us a film like ‘Chakravyuh’. The film had real good performances. I wish him great success for the film and want him to keep making such films which showcase the various issues of our society so that the people of India get to know what all is happening in their country.”

  • IDFF to show in Mumbai and Delhi

    IDFF to show in Mumbai and Delhi

    MUMBAI: India‘s only dedicated international digital film festival (IDFF) will now be held in both Mumbai and Delhi. While in Delhi it will be held from 26 January to 1 February, the Mumbai part will be held from 2 to 8 February.

    The 2013 edition, would be attended by celebrities like Naseeruddin Shah, Konkana Sen Sharma, Sudhir Mishra, Irrfan, Zoya Akhtar and Imtiaz Ali along with German film director Werner Herzog and independent filmmaker Jason Kliot.

    The competition has been classified into four categories: student films, fiction, documentary and digital art and animation, a statement from the organisers of the festival stated. The festival will only accept films shot in the digital format as it supports and helms the new age of filmmaking that IDFF stands for, it added.

    Said Festival director Madhureeta Anand, ” IDFF has been a great success in its earlier editions. Last year, we had quality participation from over 60 countries. This time around we are aiming at being even bigger and better and have taken the festival to Mumbai as well. Along with encouraging contemporary filmmaking and modernisation of the creative process, we are keenly looking at involving the audiences in the festival.”

    There will also be a Bring Your Own Film corner, a platform where anyone can present his/her film if they manage to raise a crowd of above 30 people.

    Over the years, the festival has served as a platform for young amateur and professional filmmakers to showcase their talent among a crowd of film enthusiasts as well as an eminent film jury.

  • ‘Miss Lovely’ adjudged best film at MAMI

    ‘Miss Lovely’ adjudged best film at MAMI

    Mumbai: In the newly introduced competition section for Indian feature films called ‘India Gold‘ at the MAMI film festival, director Ashim Ahluwalia‘s Miss Lovely was adjudged as the best film.

    The film also won the Reliance Media Works‘ CreaTech (Creativity & Technology) award. The 14th Mumbai Film Festival organized by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) concluded with an awards ceremony.

    Miss Lovely, a Hindi feature film set in the lower depths of Bombay‘s C grade film industry follows the devastating story of two brothers who produced sleazy horror films in the mid-1980s.

    Hansal Mehta‘s real life drama Shahid won the runner-up award for best film. The special jury award was given to Manjeet Singh for his film Mumbai Cha Raja‘.

    The Festival also honoured veteran actress Waheeda Rehman with the Lifetime Achievement Award for an Indian personality. She was presented the award by noted filmmaker and MAMI chairman Shyam Benegal. “I am thrilled to receive this award from MAMI. I dedicate it to the directors, producers, co-actors, technicians who have been a part of this journey with me,” the actress remarked after accepting the honour,” the actress averred.

    Meanwhile, in the International Competition category for the first feature films of directors, AquY Alla (Here And There) was recognised as the best film. Dwight Henry got the best actor award for Beasts of the Southern Wild while the best actress award was given to Julia Garner for Electrick Children.

    The jury award of technical excellence was awarded to Pankaj Kumar for Ship Of Theseus while Musa Sayeed was given the special jury award for the film ‘Valley Of Saints. In the Celebrate Age category, Night Boats was adjudged the best film while ‘The Delay‘ was the runner-up. ‘Ping Pong received a special mention trophy by jury.

  • Oscar winning director Ang Lee to visit India for ‘Life Of Pi’

    Oscar winning director Ang Lee to visit India for ‘Life Of Pi’

    NEW DELHI: Academy Award Winning Director Ang Lee is coming to India as part of a grand promotional tour for 20th Century Fox’s Oscar buzz generating festive release ‘Life Of Pi’ directed by him.

    Fox Star Studios have earlier hosted eminent personalities such as Danny Boyle, Hugh Jackman and Titanic‘s Jon Landau in India.

    India will be the first country to be visited by Lee – the film has an Indian angle since it stars Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.

    Lee will also be presenting exclusive and unseen 20 minutes of the film in stunning 3D to media and prominent Bollywood personalities to showcase the extraordinary experience of watching the celebrated novel come to life onscreen.

    The man behind some of the most prestigious and acclaimed films such as Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film), Hulk (2003), and Brokeback Mountain (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director), Ang Lee will visit Mumbai and Chennai along with David Lee (Co-Producer of Life Of Pi), main lead and debutante Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Irrfan Khan.

    Fox Star Studios CEO Vijay Singh said, “Ang is scheduled to arrive in India on 28 October 2012 for a two-city Mumbai-Chennai visit where he will also showcase exclusive visuals from the film for a select audience. This visit will also kick start the extravagant scale of activities planned, building on the excitement and anticipation that has been growing for ‘Life of Pi‘ since its trailer launch. Not only is it a stunning showcase of the immense acting talent and breathtaking locales of our country, it is also one of those rare works of cinema that transcends boundaries with its universal appeal.”

    ‘Life of Pi’ 3D release is scheduled on 23 November in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

    The film showcases stunning scenes with Sharma, and veterans Tabu and Khan in the film along with breathtakingly vibrant colours of Pondicherry and Munnar where the film was extensively shot.

    From the Oscar winning director, Life of Pi 3D is the visually stunning tale of a boy who is adrift at sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger after his family is drowned in a shipwreck. The Indian appeal of Ang Lee’s magnum opus is visible with every scene of the film right from the star cast to the locales and magical elements that combine to make this a special festive treat for fans!

    The theatrical promo also featured the Indian stars, and the trailer immediately went viral with laudatory reactions pouring in on various social networking sites.

    The film centers on Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) who is raised in Pondicherry India with his family who run a zoo. They decide to immigrate to Canada, taking their animals along with them and set off on a huge freighter ship, steaming from India across the Pacific. But a terrible storm destroys the ship. The family and most of the animals perish. Pi survives, stranded on a lifeboat with several animals. Ultimately it is just Pi and a Bengal tiger who miraculously survive 227 days at sea.

    Lee has shot ‘Life of Pi’ in 3D, utilising groundbreaking techniques to capture the story’s epic scope. India had much to rejoice when Lee chose 17-year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma to essay the role of Pi. Sharma lives with his mathematician parents in Delhi. He has no previous acting experience and was cast following an extensive, months-long search. Over 3000 young men auditioned for the part.

    Not only is the film a global platform of Indian talent with its cast and crew, but some of India’s most scenic spots were tapped for the film, a first of its kind for a Hollywood film. Amidst racks of fabulous saris and colorful fabrics, many of which were used for the vibrant market scenes filmed in Pondicherry, India, where Pi spent his early years, there is a rich multicultural depth to the movie. One can see the countryside of Southern India in the hillside town of Munnar along with the French elegance of Pondicherry on 3D!

    The film is based on Yann Martel’s book, one of the biggest publishing events of the past decade. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide and continues to sell over 1,000 copies per week and has won the prestigious Mann Booker Prize, and was a New York Times bestseller for over a year.

  • India, Spain ink pact for movie co-production

    India, Spain ink pact for movie co-production

    NEW DELHI: India and Spain have signed an agreement which among other things provides opportunities for both the countries to pool their creative, artistic, technical, financial and marketing resources to co-produce films.

    The Audio visual Co-production Agreement has been signed to improve cooperation between the two countries in this sector. The agreement was signed between Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and Jose Garcia Margallo Y. Marfil, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Kingdom of Spain.

    The agreement establishes a legal framework for relations regarding cooperation between the two countries in the audio visual field thereby facilitating the development of the audio visual industry. The framework for co production includes feature films, documentary and animation films.

    The co-production would provide an opportunity to create and showcase ‘soft power’ of our country. It would also lead to generation of employment among artistic, technical as well as non-technical personnel engaged in the arena of film production including post-production and its marketing, thus adding to the country’s GDP. The utilisation of Indian locales for shooting raises the visibility/ prospects of India as a preferred film shooting destination across the globe. It will also lead to inflow of foreign exchange into the country and transparent funding of film production.

    Currently, as part of the initiative, the Government has signed co-production agreements with Italy (2005), the United Kingdom (2005), Germany (2007), Brazil (2007), France (2010), and New Zealand (2011).

  • Rush: No need to rush to the theatres for it

    Rush: No need to rush to the theatres for it

    MUMBAI: Films on media are a genre that provides some scope since electronic media has mushroomed and the competition is killing. Rush is one such film. However, the story the makers of Rush have chosen is not new.

    Emraan Hashmi is a TV news reporter who is ambitious and wants to make it big but with honesty. That is his self created hurdle and one that costs him his job. He plans to down a couple of drinks before he even starts contemplating his next move. His love life is always in trouble and now this. But, the word spreads fast and even before he can gulp his drink, his phone rings with an offer he can‘t decline.

    Hashmi is not given much time to reflect and has to meet up Neha Dhupia immediately. Dhupia represents a TV channel owned by Aditya Pancholi; she is the facilitator and fixer for Pancholi and her offer includes all that Hashmi has dreamt of: a BMW, a multimillion pay packet and a luxurious apartment besides the attraction of heading the crime news channel Pancholi owns. Hashmi‘s job is to be the first to flash all crime news before other channels even reach the scene and for that he is assured the channel has a computer programme that can intercept phone calls of the police control rooms in 44 cities across India! Hashmi thinks this to be unethical but in addition to the lucrative offer, a little sweet talk from Pancholi convinces him to go ahead.

    Hashmi has a lover but to create scope for a couple of songs, a little flirting, some real some imaginary, has been planted in the script without dwelling on who is seducing who! Guess what, a picture of Hashmi and Dhupia coo-chi cooing makes it to a newspaper front page too! Since when did newspapers start printing about romance of news reporters? Well, that was just to add some drama between Hashmi and his woman, Sagarika Ghatge.

    It is now time to unfold the secret behind the channel‘s lead in reporting crimes before others and the reason behind Hashmi‘s big package. The reason is not simple as Pancholi had explained: a programme that intercepts police calls. It is something very sinister or so it was supposed to be, had the plot been developed properly and dramatically. Hashmi discovers that the channel and its mafia affiliates are the ones who ‘create‘ these news; they commit the crimes and the channels is already present to cover them.

    The idea is rather farfetched in an era when all the channels don‘t really succeed or survive because of TRPs; sucking up to politicians or other such lot is enough. And, who cares for petty crime news anymore? To add to the woes, the narration is straight sans excitement and the climax is lame. The film has some good songs. Performances are generally lacklustre. Hashmi is okay. Pancholi does not bother with expressions. Dhupia has little of substance to do. Ghatge has nothing to do.

    Rush is utterly forgettable.

  • Edinburgh Napier University honours Sharmila Tagore

    Edinburgh Napier University honours Sharmila Tagore

    MUMBAI: The Edinburgh Napier University has presented veteran yesteryear actress Sharmila Tagore with an Honorary Doctorate of Arts for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.

    “Sharmila has had an astonishing career and her films are enjoyed all over the world. She is an excellent ambassador for Indian culture and at the same time, through her various charity endeavours, is a strong advocate for the educational rights of children in India,” Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University professor Dame Joan Stringer has been quoted to have said.

    The actress, who is the great grand-niece of Noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore, joined leading figures from the world of foreign affairs, education and almost 1000 students at the ceremony to collect the award.

    With a glittering career spanning six decades, Sharmila has won National Film Awards and Filmfare awards for her performances in films like Apur Sansar, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, Aradhana and Amar Prem.

    “It is indeed a privilege to be conferred an Honorary Degree by Edinburgh Napier University. It recognises the significant influence of Indian Cinema on the global cultural arena and the small role that I have played in its history. As we celebrate a hundred years of Indian Cinema, this is both a happy and humbling moment,” said Sharmila Tagore while accepting her Doctorate.

    The honour comes just months after the University‘s Institute for Creative Industries opened The Scottish Centre for Tagore Studies (ScoTs), the first centre of its kind in the UK.

    ScoTs promotes Indian culture, education, philosophy, art and literature by highlighting the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.

  • Mukta Arts announces three film projects

    Mukta Arts announces three film projects

    MUMBAI: Subhash Ghai‘s Mukta Arts, a leading production house, announced three film projects on the occasion of its 34th anniversary on Wednesday.

    The first film Ishq De Maare is a romantic comedy with Dharmendra and his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, all sharing the screen again after the success of Yamla Pagla Deewana. The second film is Apna Sapna Cash Money, a sequel to Apna Sapna Money Money. The third will be Kaanchi, written and directed by Ghai himself.

    Ghai said, “I see Mukta coming back to its shining glory very soon with the launch of these three interesting projects. Three more films will follow early next year with big stars and Mukta will be rolling again. We are moving forward with our experiences and a new, revamped team of professional across education, exhibition, distribution and software production,” he added.

    The production house is best known for its outstanding track records of hit films — from the blockbusters directed by Ghai himself including Karz, Hero, Karma, Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Khalnayak, Pardes and Taal, to films produced by the company including Aitraaz, Iqbal, and Apna Sapna Money Money among others.

  • Chakravyuh: A let down from Jha

    Chakravyuh: A let down from Jha

    MUMBAI: In 1973 Hrishikesh Mukherjee made Namak Haraam, an adaptation of the English film Becket (1964) an all time classic. Namak Haraam was a classic of its time too and since then, every filmmaker worth his salt has dreamt of making his own version of Becket. While many toyed with the idea, no one could put together a script worth half a Becket. Now that Namak Haraam and Becket are faded from memory and unknown to today‘s generation, Prakash Jha has taken the plunge. His latest offering, Chakravyuh, is a rehash of the great classic.

    Earlier, Jha took liberties with three classics: the epic tome, The Mahabharat; the all time Hollywood classic, The Godfather; and Shyam Benegal‘s classic, Kalyug, to make his Raajneeti. This time he tries Becket at his own peril. The film is woven around the Naxal problem in India vs corrupt politicians and trigger-happy policemen. In that, the police have a carte blanche: kill a Naxal when you see one, rape his woman to complete the ‘justice‘. That is how Chakravyuh proceeds.

    Arjun Rampal and Abhay Deol are bum chums. Rampal is one born with the proverbial silver spoon but he uses that spoon to feed his poor, no-background friend, Abhay Deol. No footage or effort is wasted on establishing their friendship, how it happened or the depth of it. The director says that they are great friends who will waste their life on each other so you accept it; period.

    When Rampal joins the police academy (since when did rich boys chose this profession?) he forces his pal Deol to join too. Also in the academy is Esha Gupta, Rampal‘s lady love. They both qualify but Deol is a rebel and is rusticated for attacking an officer. After that, he vanishes from the scene for the next seven years while Rampal and Gupta pass out with flying colours. As the film begins, they are married; he is a super cop now and she heads the intelligence wing! She is in police uniform at all times; he is inevitably in mufti and riding an SUV. That is about as much glamour as you can afford in this kind of a film.

    Rampal and his police keep falling prey to same old ploy where an ‘informer‘ plants the Naxals‘ whereabouts, the police attack and are picked off like sitting ducks by the Naxals. Rampal is hit by a bullet and that is when his bum chum, Deol, suggests he penetrate the Naxals as a police mole to help Rampal defeat them. Deol, having joined the Naxals to help his pal destroy the movement, soon starts empathising with the Naxals‘ problems. He realises that they are the ones denied justice. He takes up the cause of the discriminated and goes on to become their protagonist at the cost of alienating his friend and benefactor, Rampal.

    The equations have changed, friends have become foes. But, sadly, the film has lost its plot by now. There are encounters between the police and the Naxals and the process goes on and on. This film has no story to tell really. From script to execution, everything about it is poor; include the star cast to that which has no draw. What is a principled, educated policeman like Rampal doing protecting his corrupt masters, the politicians? How does the title fit in?

    The cast of Chakravyuh reads like the maker‘s office roll call, consisting mainly of Jha‘s regular faces. It does not matter if they don‘t really fill the bill. Of his main players, Rampal, Deol and Gupta, none has a well-defined role. The only one who steals a march is the little known Anjali Patil. Om Puri and Manoj Bajpayee don‘t help much because of their sketchy characters. And it is high time Murali Sharma changed his expressions and mannerisms. The music is a letdown and the film offers nothing in the name of entertainment.

    Prakash Jha‘s story, screenplay, direction and the very idea of making this film fails to justify why anyone will pay 200 to 300 rupees to watch it.

    Chakravyuh is poor beyond redemption.