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Category: Hindi

  • Babumoshai Bandookbaaz… Aimless

    Babumoshai Bandookbaaz… Aimless

    Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is another film glorifying the local criminal of the Hindi belt. That they don’t work is a fact, though it fails to deter more such makers. What is worse, the makers don’t care about the time period when the film was based. It jumps at will from 1970s when Kishore Kumar songs ruled the roost on the radio to mobile phone era.

    The babumoshai, a Bengali term of respect while addressing someone, will always remain a mystery in the title of the film which is based in UP!

    The character of Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a sharpshooter, a supari killer, somewhere in UP working for a woman politician, played by Divya Dutta, spewing paan spit and foul words as her trademark. She assigns him to eliminate her detractors as and when required. Nawazuddin kills people at will, roams around freely in town and walks off to his hidden, far away abode. It seems, he makes it a point to kill his targets when witnesses are around.

    While Divya assigns killings to Nawazuddin, her two henchmen envy him. So, there are perpetual undercurrents of backstabbing and betrayals.

    Made to change sides, now Nawazuddin is engaged by another politician, a rival to Divya. Meanwhile, Nawazuddin has met and fallen in love with the character of Bidita Das, who mends footwear but is never shy of using her instruments of trade on men who act funny. Bidita and Nawazuddin hit it off and a sex affair starts (no, it is not a love affair).

    You realize that Nawazuddin is a legend in his field when he comes across his fan claiming to be his disciple, Jatin Goswami, who has turned into a shooter inspired by the stories of Nawazuddin’s exploits. Now, there are multiple angles. You don’t know who are the friends and who are the enemies. Killings take place as a sport. Everybody is betraying the other at whim.

    Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a hackneyed film with no head or tail. It does not even have a single theme. Somebody points a gun, at times pulls a trigger and does not at other times! It tries to vend some ‘steamy’ kissing scenes and sex, as if they were just invented, to poor effect. Also, the film may be about sharpshooters but the bullets they spray rarely ever hit the target!

    The film lacks on scripting, has poor direction and is a let down on all counts. Nawazuddin has an ill-defined role and he only seems to be in a hurry to end his newfound success, with this film coming soon after Munna Michael, where he did a role not meant for him. Bidita Das can’t act. Divya Dutta and the rest are ineffective.

    Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a sham of a movie.

    Producers: Kiran Shyam Shroff, Ashmith Kunder, Kushan Nandy.

    Director: Kushan Nandy.

    Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Das, Divya Dutta, Jatin Goswami, Murli Sharma and Anil George.

  • Eros Worldwide pays off $40 million

    Eros Worldwide pays off $40 million

    BENGALURU: Eros Worldwide FZ LLC, the promoter of Eros International Media Limited has informed the bourses today that it has completed sale of 11,716,850 shares of EIML between April to August 2017 amounting to over $40 million to reduce its revolving credit facility. The company says that with the paydown from sale of shares and internal accruals, the $123 million facility now stands reduced to approximately $45 million. Post this sale and as of date, Eros Worldwide together with Eros Digital Private Limited continues to own 60.47% of EIML.

    Eros International is a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, which co-produces, acquires and distributes Indian language films in multiple formats worldwide.

    At the time of filing of this report, EMIL shares of face value of Rs 10 each, were trading at Rs 174.75, down 3.21 percent from the previous close of Rs 180.55. The share had opened this morning at Rs 181.55.

  • IFFI Preview Committee includes film certification panel members

    IFFI Preview Committee includes film certification panel members

    NEW DELHI: A 40-member preview committee with Vivek Agnihotri as the convenor has been set up to continue the process of shortlisting of films for the International Film Festival of India 2017 being held in November this year.

    Indiantelevision.com had reported yesterday that the preview committee for shortlisting films for IFFI which had already seen around 150 films had also been dissolved. These changes have coincided with Smriti Zubin Irani taking on additional charge of the information and broadcasting ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned.

    The preview committee not merely shortlists films from all entries received, but recommends films for competition section which will then be seen by the International jury, and for the Country Focus section of the Festival.

    IFFI, which is considered as one of the top ten film festivals of the world will be held from 20 to 28 November at Panaji in Goa.

    The festival is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in collaboration with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) on behalf of the state government.

    A four-day Film Bazaar will also be organized from 20 November by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

    Generally most members of the preview committee are from Delhi as the process of shortlisting takes more than a month and the preview is done at one of the auditoriums in the Sirifort complex in the capital.

    Furthermore, the names of members are not revealed to prevent any external influences.

    However a majority of the members this time are from different parts of the country and this will entail infrastructural arrangements including travel and stay of the members. Only a handful of members are from Delhi.

    The list reveals that the names have been shortlisted on the recommendations of the Central Board of Film Certification and regional certification panels and many are members of CBFC and regional panels. Furthermore, just a few members have exposure to international cinema.

    The Preview Committeee now comprises:

    1.

    Vivek Agnihotri

    2.

    Khalid Mohamed

    3.

    Aarti Bajaj

    4.

    Ramesh Patange

    5.

    Naresh Chander Lal

    6.

    Narendra Kohli

    7.

    Saibal Chatterjee

    8.

    Abhimanyu Singh

    9.

    Bhawana Somaaya

    10.

    Jeevitha Rajasekhar

    11.

    Gautami Tadimalla

    12.

    Nitesh Tiwari

    13.

    G.S. Bhaskar

    14.

    Pallavi Joshi

    15.

    Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

    16.

    Raja Krishna Menon

    17.

    Siddharth Kak

    18.

    Bela Segal

    19.

    Tarun Katial

    20.

    Abhishek Basu

    21.

    Hrishitaa Bhatt

    22.

    Abhishek Jain

    23.

    Santwana Bordoloi

    24.

    Bhaskar Hazarika

    25.

    Pradip Kurbah

    26.

    Dominic Megam Sangma

    27.

    Maipaksana  Haorongbam

    28.

    Zuala Chhangte

    29.

    Dr. Sachidanand Joshi

    30.

    Dr. Bharat Gupt

    31.

    Nirmala Sharma

    32.

    Rathi Vinay Jha

    33.

    Parvathi Menon

    34.

    Rajesh Kumar Singh

    35.

    Anil Rastogi

    36.

    Punit Asthana

    37.

    Ajay Malkani

    38.

    Bhumenjoy Konsam

    39.

    Sangee Dorjee Thongdok

    40.

    Lavlin Thadani

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  • Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    Akshay Kumar’s versatility saves holiday week from dullness

    The flow of new films seems to have tapered down. In the weeks when new films are not meant to be released like during IPL or exams etc, a bunch of small, inconsequential films swarm the cinemas. Even if one or two of them had a merit, they stood no chance because of high admission rates, odd show timings that they were meted out, and the lack of face value of such films.

    Now, when the playtime is open and available, the exhibitors were able to get one Bareilly Ki Barfi besides the other release, Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), which failed to get the footfalls and faced a no audience, no show situation.

    The starving cinema halls had some relief with Akshay Kumar’s Toilet: Ek Prem Katha with an extended Independence Day weekend coinciding. The film raced to the Rs 900 million-figure during these holidays. The film has to meet the target of Rs 1.25 billion and, looking at the weak opposition in the new release, Bareilly Ki Barfi, the Akshay-starrer should sail safe eventually.

    *Bareilly Ki Barfi had some renowned names riding with it. The film boasts of Nitesh Tiwari who wrote and directed the recent blockbuster Dangal, as the writer while Ashwini Iyer Tiwary, who made Nil Battey Sannata, as the director. Both the writer and the director failed to live up to their earlier glory as Bareilly Ki Barfi has none of that spontaneity or laughter expected of their work.

    The film opened with a low Ra 20 million. The Saturday improvement was fair but still on the lower side while Sunday was much better with double the Friday figures. The film ended its opening weekend with a total of Rs 108 million.

    *The other major release, UK-based Gurinder Chadha’s Partition: 1947 (Hindi-Dubbed), an attempt to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the Partition, had little relevance for today’s Indian viewers. A futile attempt, it finds no takers as the film fared poorly at the box office.

    *Toilet Ek Prem Katha thrived on the holiday week. The week had a holiday on Monday in many parts being Janmashtami, a national holiday on Tuesday being the Independence Day and the Parsi New Year holiday on Thursday in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

    The film had opened with fairly decent collections and picked up steam on Saturday and Sunday with the holidays adding handsomely to take the collections on the verge of Rs one billion, the mark it will easily cross during its second weekend. 

    With an opening weekend of Rs 511 million, the film added another Rs 415 million to take its first week tally to Rs 936 crore million.

    *Jab Harry Met Sejal added Rs 41.5 million in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 616.5 million.

    *Mubarakan is struggling to sustain, despite being a fairly entertaining film, and keeps holding out hope in its subsequent weeks which will help cut down its losses. The film collected a decent Rs 54 million taking its four week total to Rs 553 million.

  • IFFI 2017: Noted filmmakers to head steering & technical panels

    IFFI 2017: Noted filmmakers to head steering & technical panels

    NEW DELHI: Renowned filmmakers Jahnu Barua and Nagesh Kukunoor will head the steering and technical committees respectively for the International Film Festival of India 2017 being held in November this year.

    Meanwhile, the preview committee for shortlisting films for IFFI which had already seen around 150 films has also been dissolved, and a new committee is expected soon. These changes have coincided with Smriti Zubin Irani taking on additional charge of the information and broadcasting ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned following his nomination as the vice-president of India.

    The preview not merely shortlists films from all entries received, but recommends films for competition section which will then be seen by the international jury, and for the “Country Focus.”

    IFFI, which is considered as one of the top 10 film festivals of the world, will be held from 20 to 28 November at Panaji (Goa).

    The festival is organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals of the information and broadcasting ministry in collaboration with the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) on behalf of the state government.

    A four-day Film Bazaar will also be organised from 20 November by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

    The members of the Steering Committee are:

    1.      Jahnu Barua (Convener)
    2.      Siddharth Roy Kapur
    3.      Shoojit Sarcar
    4.      Bharat Bala
    5.      Anand Gandhi
    6.      Prasoon Joshi
    7.      Vani Tripathi
    8.   Piyush Pandey
    9.      Shaji N. Karun
    10.  Meren Imchen
    11.  Ashwini Iyer Tiwari
    12.  Director NFDC
    13.  Nagesh Kukunoor – Chairman of Technical Committee

    The Technical Committee comprises:

    1.     Nagesh Kukunoor – Chairman
    2.     NFDC representative
    3.     Sameer Arya
    4.     Director DFF
     5.    Commissioner, Panaji Municipality, Govt of Goa
    6.     Chief Engineer (Elect.), Govt of Goa
     7.    Health Officer, Panaji
     8.   Chief Fire Officer, Goa
     9.   Traffic Commissioner, Panjim, Goa
    10.  Incharge, INOX Theatre, Goa
    11.  Chairman, Kala Academy, Goa
    12.  CEO, ESG, Goa.

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  • Partition: 1947 — Attempt to create nostalgia

    Partition: 1947 — Attempt to create nostalgia

    Suddenly, the flavour of the season as far as filmmaking goes, seems to be India and its history, distant as well as recent. Some films, like Indu Sarkar (the recent film about the emergency era), are made to please the people in high places instead of the moviegoer while the latest one, Partition: 1947, according to its maker Gurinder Chadha is the result of her own family’s ordeal during the partition of the sucontinent.

    Sadly, filmmakers seem to find little in India’s history. Even Hollywood stopped making films on World War II in 1960s save for an odd Dunkirk, released recently. And then, America was the victor in the war and a reason to celebrate it through its films. The partition of India into two countries has nothing that the survivors would like to remember or something that would inspire people. Also, it was done at the whim of the British rulers of India.

    Lord Mountbatten (Huge Bonneville), the last Viceroy is despatched to India to oversee handing over the reign of India to its own people, freeing it after the British entered India almost 200 years ago and actually ruled it for over a century. As one knows, handing over freedom was not a simple process as there was also the problem of two religious groups at loggerheads and the Muslims wanting their own country carved out of India. Also, Mountbatten was not the final authority as the shots were called from his masters in London.

    The partition plans were already put in place by then PM Winston Churchill in 1945 and there was little left for Mountbatten to do.

    Though there is a symbolic romance between a Muslim girl played by Huma Qureshi and the Hindu boy, Manish Dayal who become the victims of partition, the film is more about the happenings in Delhi. For the migration of people due to partition, the film uses mostly archival footage.

    This may be Gurinder Chadha’s most ambitious film yet, but it does not quite grip the viewer. If the partition was planned in the high offices of London, the Indian leaders, squabbling among themselves, had little say or showed any inclination. And, if the highlight of the film is that Mountbatten was manipulated, it is hardly an attraction anymore to watch the film.

    Producers: Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha, Deepak Nayar.

    Director: Gurinder Chadha.

    Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, Michael Gambon, Simon Callow, Om Puri, Roberta Taylor as Miss Reading, Tanveer Ghani, Simon Williams as Archibald Wavell

  • Bareilly Ki Barfi — Insipid

    Bareilly Ki Barfi — Insipid

    Small town Uttar Pradesh love stories are the in thing, quite a few having worked at the box office to varied degrees of success. Last week’s release Toilet- Ek Prem Katha, was one such film. The advantage with basing a film in this region is that the subject can take all the liberties it wants, the making is economical and, the major attraction is the subsidy doled out to films shot in the state of UP.

    Bareilly Ki Barfi is inspired from a French movie, translated in English as The Ingredients Of Love. It raises some expectations as it comes from the pen of Nitesh Tiwary, who wrote and directed the much acclaimed film Chillar Party; and the blockbuster, Dangal. The director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwary, herself has the film, Nil Battey Sannata to her credit.

    Despite these names on the roster, Bareilly Ki Barfi is a typical love story, rather a love triangle, created by the protagonist Ayushmann Khurrana, with evil designs to win the love of a girl, Kriti Sanon, whom he could have won over easily anyway.

    Kriti is a tomboy kind of girl in the laidback town of Bareilly, the only daughter of Pankaj Tripathi and Seema Pahwa. Pankaj, a sweet shop owner, has always treated her as the son he wished for. He borrows a cigarette from her when he needs one, lets her be on her own, and has full faith in her decisions.

    Kriti is romantic, loves break dance and English movies. She just seems to have been born in a wrong place. However, that does not deter her from living life by her own rules. But her lifestyle carries a price tag. She is rejected by all suitors when it comes to marriage proposals.

    Fed up of rejections by her suitors and taunts of her mother, Kriti decides to run away from home when, at the railway station, looking for a cheap read, she picks up a book titled Bareilly Ki Barfi. To her surprise, the girl described as barfi is her alter ego, with the same traits and characteristics. Thinking that the girl in the book is her, Kriti gives up eloping and returns home to look for the book’s author.

    The book, as it turns out, is the offshoot of Ayushmann’s failed love. He loved a girl who had all the fun with him but when it came marrying, she went along with her parents’ choice. Devastated, he writes the book but, fearing the backlash of his family, picks on a weakling, Rajkumar Rao, to credit as the author.

    Kriti wants to now meet Rajkumar who has so aptly scripted her life in a book. Ayushmann, who has fallen for Kriti but cannot confess to being the author of the book, agrees to be her conduit delivering Kriti’s letters to Rajkumar and his replies to her.

    Ultimately, Ayushmann decides to call Rajkumar back, plans to discredit him in the eyes of Kriti so that she is out of his spell.

    Whatever interest the film generates is in the second half after the entry of Rajkumar on the scene. The love triangle so developed turns into a battle of wits between Ayushmann and Rajkumar. But, Kriti is the one who rolls the dice.

    Looking at the film, save for the background of Bareilly, it has nothing small town about it. All the characters are well versed with the life as it is lived in metros. They dress, think and act like any other city dweller. The screenplay is okay. The direction remains in the parameters set by the writing. Production values are average while technically, the film is just about passable. Musically, the film has one popular number in Sweety tera drama….. The film has no high moments as it maintains its set mediocre narration throughout.

    The film scores on casting; Pankaj Tripathi, Rajkumar Rao excel while Seema Pahwa makes her presence felt. Ayushmann Khurrana is good.

    Bareilly Ki Barfi is a contrived romcom that fails to tickle.

    Producers: Vineet Jain, Renu Ravi Chopra.

    Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari.

    Cast: Rajkumar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahwa

  • Toilet — Ek Prem Katha may spring a surprise

    MUMBAI: Unlikely as it may seem, Akshay Kumar’s Toilet Ek Prem Katha may be on its way to spring a surprise at the box office. In fact, the process started from day two after its release as the film’s collections took huge jump on Saturday followed by another leap on Sunday.

    The film, which is meant to be a love story about an overage small town UP native, Akshay Kumar, mildly uncouth but street smart, and, Bhumi Pednekar, an educated younger girl up to date with the trends, takes a turn to propagate the need for personal toilets for every home.

    The film promotes the prime minister Narendra Modi’s campaign against open defecating. The last 50 minutes of the film are meant to educate and inform the people, mainly of the hinterland, about privacy for women when it comes to call of nature.

    That the film has gradually found favour with the multiplex audience can be attributed to the popularity of Akshay Kumar. He has been sincere and worked hard to promote the purpose of the film.

    *Most recent films, including big star films like Tubelight and Jab Harry Met Sejal, have met with poor response with below par opening day collection. Toilet Ek Prem Katha did quite well on that count collecting over almost Rs 120 million on day one despite its theme.

    The film enjoyed the advantage of a longer weekend but, while most films fail to rise on the Saturday following its opening day, Toilet Ek Prem Katha, took a massive leap with the collection jumping to Rs 170 million. The figures on Sunday were even better as the film collected over Rs 210 million to end its opening weekend with an impressive Rs 511 million. Things can get only better with a couple of more public holidays to follow during the week.

    The film needs to reach its target of approx Rs 1.25 billion.

    *Jab Harry Met Sejal faces rejection from day one. Having collected 53.7 crore in its first week, it slides badly as its week two takes off. The film’s shows had to be cancelled for lack of audience at many screens. The film manages to add Rs 38 million in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 575 million.

    *Mubarakan collected Rs 464 million over its first two weeks has collected about Rs 35 million in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 499 million.

  • CBFC reconstituted, majority from film & theatre fraternity

    NEW DELHI: After bringing in the adman and lyricist Prasoon Joshi and showing filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani the door, the Central Board of Film Certification has been reconstituted — with the entry of the actress Vidya Balan and the renowned filmmaker T S Nagabharana, among other.

    The 12 members brought in include — the filmmaker and Padma Shri recipient Naresh Chandra Lal from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, known for his film ‘Gandhi – the Mahatma’ — which spread the message of clean environment and cleanliness, and the renowned director Vivek Agnihotri.

    An official announcement said the Board was being reconstituted under section 3(1) of the Cinematograph Act 1952 read with rule 3 of the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules 1983.
    The new members join with immediate effect for a period of three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

    Other members include the Tamil and Telugu actresses Gautami Tadimalla and Jeevitha Rajasekhar, the Bharatya Janata Party activist and actress Vani Tripati Tikoo, the theatre director Waman Kendre who headed the National School of Drama in Delhi, and the film and television dialogue writer Mihir Bhuta.

    The renowned Shillong-based author and concert pianist Neil Herbert Nongkynrih, Padma Shri awardee and Hindi author Narendra Kohli, and the ideologue of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Ramesh Patange who edits the Marathi weekly ‘Vivek’ have also been appointed to the Board.

  • Toilet: Ek Prem Katha … Part fun, part sermon

    With little choice of genres left for films after themes like family social, horror and mythology were taken away by TV channels, filmmakers have to find variations in what they are left with: romance, action and comedy.

    Toilet Ek Prem Katha is a small town love story, and a love story needs a villain in some form. Unless the coming together of two lovers is met with some hindrances causing anxiety among the viewers, it remains incomplete. In this film, the villain that becomes the cause of separation between two lovers is a tradition that stops the villagers from creating the facility of toilets within the house.

    The character of Akshay Kumar is a small town lad who is well past his marriageable age due to the superstitions of his father played by Sudhir Pandey, a pandit, who is convinced that the character of Akshay’s marriage will fail since he has a negative influence of planet Mars on his horoscope and that his wife will have to have two thumbs in her palm if the marriage has to work. Pandey gets rid of half the ill effects of horoscope by getting Akshay married to a buffalo cow. Now all that remains to be made sure for Akshay to enjoy a blissful married life is to find a girl with two thumbs!

    But, fate ordains otherwise. While travelling on a railway shuttle, Akshay comes across Bhumi Pedenkar and both get into an argument over toilet manners. There is little in common between the two as Akshay’s character is a 12th-standard pass while Bhumi is a university topper. Her small family of four keeps pace with times while Akshay’s father, who dominates his life, lives in past. Akshay is 37 while Bhumi is a student.

    However, all these do not deter Akshay from falling in love with Bhumi. He starts chasing her till, like it happens in such love stories; Bhumi too is attracted to Akshay. The families agree to the match. While Bhumi’s family has no reservations, to deceive Pandey, Akshay gets an artificial extra thumb fitted on Bhumi’s hand.

    It is all lovey dovey for Akshay and Bhumi. But at the first dawn post-marriage a bunch of women come to call Bhumi to join them. Called Lota Gang, the women are on their way to far off fields for their daily ablutions.Having been brought up in a house with all the comforts, Bhumi cannot cope with this situation. She demands that a toilet be built within the house.

    While Akshay is trying to convince Pandey, he and Bhumi find ways to make things comfortable for her. Akshay comes up with what is called Jugaad, an ad hoc arrangement, each day so Bhumi need not go to fields. One of them is to take her to the local railway station where a particular train stops for seven minutes during which she is supposed to finish her business. Once, Akshay even steals a portable toilet. And, finally he builds one in his house only for it to be broken down by Pandey and other village folk.

    The film now shifts to the campaign run by the present government which aims to build toilet facility for every individual or community. However, the climax is the same as many such films about crusades the corruption in government departments, the involvement of the media and so on. What is different but inspired from real life incidents is the married woman leaving her husband and home because it does it not have a toilet.

    Having taken up the issue of toilets and the lack of it, the film takes too long to touch the crusade against a certain class’s mindset that prevent them from installing this basic facility in the house. Towards the end, especially in the last 50 minutes or so, it becomes preachy. The proceedings should have been crisper.

    The direction is fair. While the first half offers some entertainment, the later part has only little of it. The film has one song that works for it in Gori tu latth maar…. as it has visual appeal. Production values are average.

    The film scores on casting. Akshay Kumar is good as a confident small town lad. Bhumi Pednekar is convincing. Divyendu Sharma, Anupam Kher, Sudhir Pandey and Rajesh Sharma support well.

    Toilet Ek Prem Katha has average merit but is expected to enjoy a huge weekend from Saturday till Tuesday, and again a restricted holiday to follow for the Parsi New Year on 17th. This should help the film reach its target.

    Producers: Aruna Bhatia, Shital Bhatia, Prernaa Arora, Arjun N. Kapoor, Hitesh Thakkar.

    Director: Shree Narayan Singh.

    Cast: Akshay Kumar, Bhumi Pednekar, . Divyendu Sharma, Anupam  Kher, Sudhir Pandey and Rajesh Sharma.