ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Monsoon Filmfest: NFDC launches weekly radio programme

    NEW DELHI: In a new initiative to reach out to the people to see meaningful cinema, the National Film Development Corporation has launched a weekly Film Aaj Kal in association with 92.7 Big FM to coincide with its summer Festival of of NFDC Classics.

    The Ground-Activation event – Film Aaj Kal Screenings and Conversations from 15 July to 15 August is aimed at building film communities and empower the viewer.

    92.7 Big FM in ‘Film Aaj Kal’ is aimed at Cinema Education and Awareness programme which has the filmmakers discuss movie classics bringing these films back to the fore.

    The exhibition partners are Harkat Studios in Aram Nagar and G5A Centre for Contemporary Culture at Lower Parel (both, in Mumbai) and the online booking partner is 1018mb.

    Film Aaj Kal is not just about exploring alternative audiences. It’s also about exploring alternate spaces, alternate distribution platforms, and booking and communication platforms.

    The radio show which has already aired six episodes as of 3 July 2017 plays on Sundays on 92.7 Big FM from 4pm to 6pm is hosted by a hugely popular star RJ and cinephile, Siddharth Mishra, and is designed as a series of conversations between filmmakers discussing about the NFDC classics evoking a renewed interest in the films.

    One of the episodes showcased ‘Gaman & Taxi No. 9211’ as films that look at Mumbai through the eyes of a cab driver – both from different eras, in varied styles, addressing different class issues as well – but with an underlying subtext of the immigrant. Another episode was around Salaam Bombay and Chameli – Mira Nair and Sudhir Mishra chatted about the way they approached the Brothel and the Underbelly story.

    ​The programmes broadcast so far:

    1. 28th May – Gaman and Taxi No.9211. Speakers – Muzaffar Ali (telephonic) and Milan Luthria
    2. 4th June – Gandhi and Hey Ram. Speakers – Alyque Padamsee (telephonic) and Kamal Haasan (telephonic)
    3. 11th June – Salaam Bombay and Chameli. Speakers – Mira Nair (telephonic) and Sudhir Mishra
    4. 18th June – Raghu Romeo and Phas Gaye re Obama. Speakers – Rajat Kapoor and Subhash Kapoor
    5. 25th June – Dharavi and Slumdog Millionaire. Speakers – Sudhir Mishra and Saurabh Shukla
    6. 2nd July – Pestonjee and Being Cyrus. Speakers – Vijaya Mehta and Homi Adajania

    This idea is to bring together the community to watch films together and then talk cinema over a glass of Nimbu paani, a cup of tea/coffee or those chutney sandwiches. Film Aaj Kal Screenings and Conversations gives not just the viewers but also the discerning filmmaker and cineastes an opportunity to explore alternate film destinations and also actively engage in conversations around cinema – and not just limit those discussions to a Master-Class or a workshop.

    The current schedule for the event is:

    Venue – Harkat Studios
    ·​15 July​, Sat ​- 7.00 pm – Opening Session & Screening of Om Dar-B-Dar
    ·16 July, Sun – 4.00 PM – Mammo
    ·21 July – Fri – 7.00 PM – Dharavi
    ·22 July – Sat – 12.00 PM – Salaam Bombay
    ·22 July – Sat – 4.00 PM – Gaman
    ·22 July – Sat – 7.30 PM – Mirch Masala
    ·23 July – Sun – 4.00 PM – Jaane bhi do yaaron
    ·30 July – Sun – 12.00 PM – Raghu Romeo

    ​Venue – G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture
    29· July – 4.00 PM – ​Inauguration of the Saeed Akhtar Mirza Retrospective and ​screening of the Opening Film
    ​30· July – 12.00 PM – Arvind Desai ki ajeeb dastaan
    30· July – 4.00 PM – Naseem
    30· July – 6.00 PM – Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro

    NFDC took care to choose alternate exhibition spaces – not the traditional theatres with the hugely expensive box office: HARKAT studios in Aram Nagar for the Suburbian Junta and G5A Centre for Contemporary Culture in Lower Parel for the Townies.

    Harkat Studios is a boutique arts studio and a co-working space in the bustling area of Aram Nagar, Andheri West. Harkat has collaborated with numerous brands including Unilever, Walt Disney, UTV, Fox Star Studio (to name a few) to create innovative video content. The studio also hosts live performances, screenings, workshops etc. and has been a popular center for arts and artists coming from the indie space.

    When the quirky Bungalow is not hosting events, the place doubles as a co-working space for independent professionals looking for an Office space. The work and vibe of Harkat Studios suits perfectly with the community building nature and Indie spirit that Film Aaj Kal Screenings and Conversations is seeking to promote for cinephiles.

    G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture is a not-for profit organisation which houses a Blackbox and hosts a range of events and programmes including but not limited to Screenings, Theatre performances, exhibitions and Launch Events. G5A has endeavored to and has slowly emerged as important alternate venue in the Town area of Mumbai as a community space for artists and professionals to work around. G5A. last year, was the venue for the Mumbai chapter of the New York Indian Film Festival which screened curated films followed by discussions with the filmmakers.

    1018mb.com portal evolved from the phenomenon of ‘Four-eyed Monsters’, a 2005 US film which became a financial success and a cult-classic by its innovative distribution strategy of an audience demanding a screening. A film gets screened at a certain city if enough audience pledge viewership for the film. A trick, films like Paranormal Activity have used to great effect. Plus, it’s a revolutionary community building exercise for like-minded cinephiles and geeks.

    Keeping with the concept of community-based screenings and keeping with the times technologically, 1018mb.com is an online ticket booking portal which enables users to create and schedule screenings of films of their choice from the site’s extensive catalogue of films and make available to other like-minded audience to attend.

  • Tubelight figures dampen trade

    The failure of Tubelight has affected exhibition trade in two ways. The main one was that — it did not meet the exhibitors’ expectations as the opening day response was disappointing. Peaking of the film on Eid day and Baasi Eid day did not happen.

    In fact, unlike previous Salman Khan movies, which excelled on two days of Eid festivities, Tubelight registered a drop. While Eid day (Monday) figures were below the opening day figures, the next day showed a drop of as much as 40 per cent.

    The collections went downhill from Tuesday.

    The other way how the cinemas suffered was because, when a big star’s film releases, it is expected to carry on for at least 10 to 14 days. In view of a big film release, no other film wants to come in its shadow due to which the following Friday is kept open or, an inconsequential small film gets some limited shows.

    The cinema halls suffered because of Tubelight even in the week following its release. The only release to follow was Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha, an indulgent film made to launch a family scion, Shiv Darshan, by its producer-director Suneel Darshan.

    The first half of the year 2017 has been disastrous for the exhibition trade. Only one small budget film, Hindi Medium, has worked. Though the film is a big hit in relation to investment, it is not the money-spinner that the cinemas crave.

    The film that saved the day for cinemas is Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Dubbed), South’s gift to exhibitors. Save for these two films besides some English features, it has been a bad first half of the year.

    * Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha met with ‘No audience No Show’ welcome from its day one. The collection figures for the weekend remained below Rs 50 lakh.

    * Tubelight, which entailed big investments from its theatrical distributors, has put them in distress as they are faced with huge losses. The film’s lifetime business is not even expected to match the opening weekend business of Salman Khan’s last two releases, Rustom and Bajrangi Bhaijan! And, this is a huge setback.

    Tubelight ended its first week with a total of Rs 103.7 crore (Rs 1037 million). The second weekend has failed to pull audience registering poor collections of about seven crore (Rs 70 million) rupees.

    * Rest of the recent releases fared poorly.

    * Hindi Medium has come to the end of its good run at the box office.

    * Bahubali 2: The Conclusion just about ends its glorious, record setting run by adding a symbolic Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) in its ninth week.

  • NextGen 3D screens in Kota takes PVR tally to 587 screens in 51 cities

    MUMBAI: PVR Cinemas, cinema exhibition chain, has announced the launch of its first three-screen multiplex  at Cine Mall, Kota. The newly launched PVR property  will redefine the cinema experience in the city with its luxurious and comfortable interiors along with state of the art sound and projection  technology.  With  this  launch, PVR’s screen count  in  Rajasthan stands at  seven screens in  two properties,  augmenting  its  presence in  the  Northern  Region of  the  country  to  197  screens in  46 properties.

    PVR  claims to now   operate the   largest  multiplex  network  with   587 screens at  128 properties in 51 cities

    Spread across an area of 30,000 sq ft with a seating capacity of 828 seats, the brand new multiplex will be city’s first cinema with  recliners  and next generation  3D technology. It also offers an exceptional digital movie experience with 7.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and 2K projection systems providing the best cinema watching experience to the customers.

    Speaking on the occasion, PVR Cinemas CEO Gautam Dutta said, “The new cinema in the city will deliver best in class services just like our properties in Delhi or Mumbai. We hope to receive an overwhelming response from the people of Kota and strive to provide them world class cinema watching experience.”

    Besides its unique interiors  and a wide range of F&B; the cinema is also equipped with Quick Tix facility, an instant ticketing solution that gives an added convenience to the customers. Furthermore, patrons can also avail the facility of redeeming PVR gift cards and privilege cards at the cinema.

    At the launch of the cinema, E- City Bioscope Entertainment MD Abhishek Bansal said, “Our association with PVR Cinemas has been wonderful since inception and our team seamlessly interacted with different departments of PVR at various stages of this project in the most pleasant, efficient and professional manner.

    Also Read :

    KriArj gets into film acquisition & distribution, hires veteran Girish Johar

    Miraj Cinemas adds four multiplexes in 15 days, inches closer to ‘100’ plan

    Panvel Mumbai to get its first PVR multiplex

    PVR opens three screen multiplex in Kolhapur

  • Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Bruno and Juliet’ added on Royal Stag platform

    NEW DELHI: ‘Bruno and Juliet’, presented by Imtiaz Ali, and written & directed by Khawar Jamsheed, the latest addition to the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, depicts an unusual friendship and an unspoken love between two adorable dogs, Bruno and Juliet.

    A St. Bernard raised within the safe walls of a big house, Bruno yearns for the world outside seeking freedom. In the other hand, lovable street dog Juliet, with no one to call her own, roams the streets in search of love. The two ultimately find companionship with each other. The film is a heart-melting story of two souls who desire to be together while everyone tries to separate them, inspired by Imtiaz Ali’s take on love.

    With this film, renowned filmmaker, Imtiaz Ali joins the club of eminent Bollywood personalities who are now associated with Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films platform. Having signed a 3-film association, Imtiaz promises to deliver some original shorts with the platform, beginning with the charming story of Bruno and Juliet.

    Over the last three years, the platform Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has gained immense popularity and has become one of the most credible and celebrated short films platform in India.

    It has released some of the most prodigious and award winning short films which truly reflect originality, imagination and perfection such as ‘Ahalya’, ‘Interior Café – Night’, ‘Ouch’, ‘Chutney’, ‘That Gusty Morning’, ‘Mumbai Varanasi Express’, ‘Khool Aali Chithi’ and ‘The School Bag.’

    Pernod Ricard India assistant VP – marketing Raja Banerji said “Imtiaz represents new age Bollywood Filmmaking. Such partnerships are a testimony to the accelerated growth and success the platform has witnessed in the last 2 years. In line with the brand’s objective of make it perfect, we have always believed well-known Bollywood directors with their exclusive work will motivate aspiring directors to create original content for the platform in the future”

    Themed on the philosophy of “Make it Perfect”, The Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a platform for aspiring directors to feature along with mainstream Bollywood directors while still chasing their creative energy to create a niche for themselves in the industry. The platform gives a credible stage to the storytellers to showcase their artistic creativity and reach out to their target audience through the digital world.

     Ali said, “Bruno and Juliet is an unconventional love story of characters that are Dogs. The film explores the basic need of two lovers to unite, only in this film the lovers are dogs. Associating with Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is certainly an incredible platform for aspiring filmmakers who want to explore their creative freedom.”

    The wirter & director Khawar Jamsheed known Line Producer of Kashmir for his work in films like Haider, Rockstar, Highway and Bajrangi Bhaijaan etc said, “Bruno and Juliet is very special to me. It is about an unlikely friendship between two unlikely protagonists. I used to observe dogs in my neighbourhood closely and found their friendship very fascinating. So, I picked up my camera and started following the dogs filming them for 22 days. The Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films truly encourages and motivates filmmakers to exhibit their work perfectly.”

    Royal stag Barrel Select Large Short Films (LSF) is a portal that is the hub of Indian short films. It gives the audience the window to enjoy short films made by large directors. It gives aspiring film makers a platform to showcase their short films with original ideas. Films from LSF has made big in Filmfare with three of its film made in in final shortlist. Chutney a LSF release has won 2 Filmfare awards. In recent times, Platform has been built on identified core attribute of RSBS – ‘Make it Perfect” and targeting a more refined and evolved RSBS audience.

  • Ek Haseena Thi …..lacks substance

     

    Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha is the second go at launching of Shiv Darshan, son of veteran filmmaker, Suneel Darshan.

    The junior Darshan made his debut with Karle Pyaar Karle (2014), a home production directed by Rajesh Pandey. The film did not work and, this time, Darshan takes it upon himself to give the junior another chance.

    The theme of the film is not easy to fathom. The character played by Darshan jr was in love with a girl in an earlier birth. His wish not fulfilled, and therefore his soul (atma) is now all over. It turns out that the girl he loved earlier was a total lookalike of the character of Natasha Fernandez who owns a palatial house in Europe. It’s not a coincidence since Fernandez is the earlier one’s granddaughter.

    Fernandez has plans to marry her childhood love, played by Upen Patel. But, Patel seems to have different plans altogether.

    The film also discusses if the ghosts really exist? The conclusion is they don’t. So what is Darshan’s junior’s claim to being an ‘atma’ all about?

    The film is an outcome of poor storyline which shows on the scripting. There is nothing of substance. In this event, despite his past records of successes, Suneel Darshan fails to do justice as the director. The directors’ favourite music director, Nadeem, is roped in to provide the music for this film but there is nothing in the songs that make them hummable.

    The cinematography does justice to the beautiful Wales locations where the film was shot.

    Despite being his second film, Shiv Darshan shows no improvement. Fernandez can’t act. Upen Patel is not known for histrionics.  Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deeewana Tha has nothing going for it.

     

    Producer/ Director: Suneel Darshan.

    Cast: Shiv Darshan, Natasha Fernandez and Upen Patel.

  • Kahaani 2 producer free to choose digital distributor, says CCI, K Sera Sera offers ‘no comment’

    NEW DELHI: A film producer has the right to choose his own digital cinema provider, and there is nothing “unreasonable or anti-competitive” in keeping out other providers, the Competition Competotion of India has held.

    Rejecting an objection by K Sera Sera, a four-member bench comprising chairperson Devender Kumar Sikri and members S L Bunker, Sudhir Mittal and U C Nahata said there was no contravention of Sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act 2002, on part of the producers of Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani2 for entering into an agreement with two digital media service providers exclusively for the distribution of their movie. Indiantelevision.com reached out to K Sera Sera, and its media relations agency said they have no comment to offer.

    In a nine-page order, the CCI found nothing wrong with the agreement between the producers Pen Movies, UFO Moviez India and Real Image Media Technologies, after examining facts put on record by the informant K Sera Sera’s lawyer Rachit Batra and producer’s counsel Rishi Agarwala, appearing on behalf of Naik Naik & Co.

    The Commission said the producer of a movie/ content manufacturer, availing the services of digital cinema providers as a consumer, has the right to decide the digital cinema service providers of its choice to distribute its movies. K Sera Sera informed the Commission that the producers had entered into this “anti-competitive arrangement/ agreement” with a view to limit/ control the release of movie Kahaani 2.

    It had been alleged by K Sera Sera that the producers had provided the contents of its earlier movies for release through K Sera Sera’s technology on several occasions in the past. However, they had refused K Sera Sera to supply the content of movie Kahaani 2. 

    It had also been claimed that representatives of the producers circulated “a discriminatory dictat to various distributors, bookers and theatres stating that they would rule the digital cinema service market and kill the business of other digital cinema service providers such as the informant”.

    Thus, the informant K Sera Sera requested the commission to inter alia impose penalties on the producers for entering into anti-competitive agreement and direct them to discontinue their present practice of refusal to deal with the informant. However, lawyers of the producers enclosed copies of a news article dated 11 January 2017, regarding an FIR filed by the film production house of movie Force 2, Viacom18, against the informant (K Sera Sera) for online piracy. 

    The news article had reported that the movie Force 2 was released on 18 November 2016, and the pirated version of the movie was available in full length on various websites for unauthorised download and streaming soon after.

    It was reported that Viacom18 had developed an internal security mechanism, in the form of unique identifiers for each copy of the said film, before the digital content packages (DCPs) were distributed to the digital integrators in order to tackle the menace of online piracy and to identify the source of leak, if any. Investigations conducted by Viacom18 revealed that pirated copies had originated from the copy that was sent to the informant for digital integration.

    The commission observed: “Section 3(5)(i)(a) of the Competition Act clearly provides that application of Section 3 shall not restrict the right of any person to impose reasonable conditions as may be necessary for protecting any of its rights conferred upon under the Copyright Act, 1957.”

    It added that the decision of the producers to refuse to exhibit their movies through the Informant’s digital service, “with whom producers have had issues of piracy earlier, appear to be taken as a precautionary step to prevent any loss due to piracy…. It may be noted that the very objective of competition law is to protect the interest of consumers and the process of of competition. It is not concerned with the harm to the competitors unless that also leads to harm to the consumers. Thus, the Commission is of the view that the alleged conduct of the producers in refusing to provide the content of the movie ‘Kahaani-2’ to the Informant does not appear to be unreasonable and anti-competitive.”

    Also Read:

    Viacom18, Star India & B4U win case against pirated streaming in US

    ‘Force 2’ piracy: Viacom18 registers FIR; KSS blames it on a theatre

  • Tubelight distributors may incur losses

    Salman Khan and Eid, an unbeatable combination that usually guaranteed Rs 200 to 300 crore (Rs 2k million — Rs 3k million) business. And, Eid release date is blocked the day a major star film is launched. There are other few dates in a year that assure a grand opening to a big film paving the way for high business prospects. But, Eid release has a distinct advantage coming as it does after a month of fasting during the pious month of Ramzan during which the Muslims abstain from any form of entertainment and mainly watching films.

    This year, the first half has been unpredictably bad when it comes to quality of films and resultant box office performance. No major hits, no big star releases to save the situation. One exception was Hindi Medium which, in recovery to budget respect, can be called a blockbuster.

    Salman Khan has had such a huge following at the box office during his second innings which started with his film Wanted, an entertainer from his was a taken. In his last two films, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Rustom, he played an underdog, a simpleton. But, one who rises when challenged.

    Playing simpleton was fine, this time, with Tubelight, he stretched it a bit too far deciding to play an imbecile; he tried to replace an eight year old of the original film, Little Boy, on which Tubelight is based! As it turned out, the Salman fans and moviegoers felt cheated and Tubelight is turning out to be the most abused Salman film ever.

    The film has been sold at a huge price for all India theatrical rights. The main distributor, NH Studioz, have divided their risk by selling off major circuits retaining only parts of Bombay Circuit. All these distributors stand to incur losses eventually.

    The money paying moviegoer has his/her own perception and was not wrong when Tubelight opened to half the patronage compared to earlier Salman+ festival releases.

    The opening day collections hovered around Rs 20 crore accounting for the opening weekend of Rs 63.8 crore. The negative reports that the film has generated over first three days, the film is not expected to benefit much from Eid holiday at the box office.

    *Bank Chor, which took an opening weekend of Rs 4.34 crore, ended its first week with a total of Rs 7.1 crore.

    *Phullu and G Kutta SE have had a disastrous week at the box office.

    *Raabta, a convoluted insipid love story added Rs 2.05 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 22.55 crore.

    *Hindi Medium is a super hit vis a vis its making cost. The film continues to pull audience even in its fifth week and adds Rs 3.6 crore to take its five week tally to Rs 63.3 crore.

    *Bahubali has collected Rs 1.5 crore in its eighth week taking its eight week total to Rs 500.7 crore.

  • Eros & Lokmat host Shroff show as precursor to Munna Michael release in July

    MUMBAI: Lokmat, a regional language newspaper in Maharashtra and Goa, hosted a first of its kind musical and dance concert in Pune on 25 June 2017.

    On the occasion of the 8th death anniversary of the pop legend Michael Jackson, today’s youth sensation and Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff performed a tribute to this dance icon. Lokmat with Eros International created this special tribute based on life of a dancer from upcoming movie Munna Michael, produced by Eros International & Viki Rajani’s Next Gen Films, directed by Sabbir Khan, Munna Michael starring Tiger Shroff, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and debutante Nidhhi Agerwal, will release on the 21 July, 2017.

    Lokmat Media is a multi-platform media company with interests in a diversified portfolio of publishing, broadcast, digital, entertainment, community and social verticals.

    A Lokmat release claimed that more than 5000 people across all age-groups gathered to watch this event which saw also the performance of MJ 5, a popular dance troupe. Lokmat also gave platform to other aspiring groups and solo dancers to perform their best on MJ songs on the occasion.

    The audience was enthralled by Tiger’s performance on MJ’s famous tracks like “Billie Jean” and “Smooth Criminal” and special appearance by Nidhhi Agerwal the lead actor of the movie.

    The actor also grooved on the tracks of his upcoming movie Munna Michael with his co-star Nidhhi Agerwal.

    Speaking on the occasion, Tiger Shroff said, “I thank Lokmat and Eros entertainment for giving me this opportunity to perform on this platform. Michael Jackson is my inspiration and I started my dancing career watching his dance moves.”

  • Five Indian films to be screened at Hollywood CineFest

    NEW DELHI: Indian films After Ever After by Rakesh Kumar has been selected for the Hollywood International CineFest being held this month.

    In addition, Akshay Prem Vyas’s debut feature Kaaya (Hindi) and Nilesh Batra’s Rainbow Fields (Asamese) are competing in the Best Feature (Foreign) category. The festival, scheduled to be held on Saturday and Sunday, at AMC Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, received over 400 submissions.

    The lineup includes World Premieres of After Ever After & Easy Money and the North America Premieres of Before The Fall (Cambodia’s entry to 2017 Oscars) & Sam Heughan’s Emulsion.

    In Rakesh Kumar’s debut feature After Ever After, the protagonist, Nik Patel struggles to cope with the terminal illness of his nine-year-old daughter. A chance encounter with an Alzheimer patient helps him come to terms with the harsh realities of life.

    Based on his personal experiences, the film is a story of human endurance against insurmountable odds. Rakesh Kumar was born in the northern state of Bihar and, for him, life never was a fairytale — as we understand it.

    “All human beings are born fighters and true fighters pick up the sword even when defeat is nearly certain,” Rakesh said.

    The 2017 line up includes films from America, UK, India, France,China, South Korea, Cambodia and Hong Kong.

    Hollywood International CineFest was founded with the goal of connecting independent film-makers with distributors.

  • Tubelight…. Betrays fans’ faith

    Tubelight is a slang used generally to refer to a person who is a slow-starter, takes time in grasping matters like jokes or a simple statement. In the film, Tubelight, Salman Khan’s character, is described as such by one and all because nothing seems to get into his head. But, as the story unfolds, it belies its own title because, Salman is not just a slow-starter: he is a non-starter. Nothing gets into his mind.

    Based on the Hollywood film, Little Boy (2015), it is a period film in that the story takes place during World War II. A young boy of eight and his father share an amazing love for each other. The father has to join the troops to fight the war in place of his older son. The boy, attached to his father, will do anything, go to any length so that the war comes to an end so that his father can come back.

    Tubelight has followed Little Boy almost scene to scene and in the setting but takes the liberty to change the characters and relationships. In place of the father-son, Tubelight is about the bond between brothers. These liberties prove hard to live up to as the film proceeds.

    Salman Khan, living in Kumaon in Uttarakhand in north India, is a halfwit who is slow to react to things. He is lonely and the butt of jokes of the whole town. That is till his mother delivers a son, and Salman now has a younger brother. Sohail Khan, though younger, protects Salman from all the bullies. The brothers become inseparable and complement each other.

    The peaceful town suddenly comes alive as trouble is brewing on the north-east frontier and war with China looks inevitable. The army visits the town to appeal for recruits. A patriotic fervour takes over and a lot of young boys volunteer. Salman, for his slow take on everything, is rejected while Sohail makes the cut.

    The film takes about 30 minutes from the start till now, which is when the real story is set to begin; that of Salman pining for his brother and looking for the ways to end the war so that Sohail can be brought back. This time taken to depict the undying bond between the brothers has not quite worked on the viewer.

    While he was a child, Mahatma Gandhi had visited Kumaon and given a mantra to Salman, that if you have faith in yourself, you can make mountains move. This mantra is put to test when a magician, played by Shah Rukh Khan, visits the town. He needs a volunteer from the audience for a magic trick. Salman is the chosen volunteer and he has to use his self-belief to move a soda bottle put on a table. The feat only adds to Salman’s belief in what Gandhiji had said.

    Then, there is also Om Puri, who gives tenets of Gandhiji to Salman to follow if he wants to be successful in bringing his brother back.

    While Salman’s self-belief is being honed, a Chinese family of two, a young widow, Zhu Zhu, and her little son, Matin Rey Tangu, move into Kumaon. Having arrived from Calcutta, they settle in a distant cottage. Sceptical at first that the Chinese had invaded Kumaon, Salman decides to follow Gandhiji’s advice and makes friends with Matin and later with Zhu Zhu. No matter that the whole town hates these two Chinese just for being Chinese.

    If all this sounds mundane and not like a story, that is because that is how it is. There is no movement, the film is at a standstill as Salman goes around proving his self-belief, spending time with the Chinese, inquiring about his brother with the army man, played by Yashpal Sharma, time and again, and getting ridiculed by the townsfolk.

    Even while concluding the film, the director chooses to stretch things by adding unnecessary melodrama.

    Tubelight starts with a wrong film as inspiration. The idea of superimposing Salman in place of an innocent young boy of eight in the WW II era braving all tests so that his father could return from the war backfires. Just making him an imbecile to fit into an eight year old’s character is not a sane idea.

    The direction is poor with glitches galore. Borrowing an American film is fine, but also following the same sets is not. Kumaon town of 50s and 60s with English signboards on shops, bakery, Softy vending machine, direct dialling telephones is taking things for granted. War scenes are not convincing. While the war is being fought across Ladakh, half the army seems to be stationed in Kumaon, busy giggling!

    Musically, the film has two decent numbers in Naachmerijaan….and Radio song. Dialogue is mundane. Set designing is patchy ad editing is poor. Cinematography complements the scenic location.

    Salman Khan tries his best but this just is not his film, he disappoints his fans. Sohail Khan is still a non-actor. Sharma and Isha Talwar are okay. Zeeshan Ayub is the villain without a cause.

    Zhu Zhu is good. Om Puri and Matin Rey are the only bright spots.

    Tubelight offers none of the regular Salman feature like action, songs, comic situations, the things that make his films work. This film counts only on emotions which, sadly, are forced and fail to touch the viewer. Unreasonably high priced, Tubelight has little going for it despite Eid week.

    Producers: Salma Khan, Salman Khan.

    Director: Kabir Khan.

    Cast: Salman Khan, Matin Rey Tangu, Om Puri, Sohail Khan, Yashpal Sharma, IshaTalwar, Mohammed ZeeshanAyub, Zhu Zhu, Brijendra Kala, Shah Rukh Khan (Sp. Appearance).