ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Lesser-known facts about Indian cinema in new series on EPIC

    NEW DELHI: A total of 24 lesser-known milestones and creatives of Hindi as well as regional cinema will be the highlight of a new series on Indian cinema on the Epic TV channel.

    Silsila Cinema Ka, an eight-part mini-series, showcases the illustrious history of Indian cinema by laying emphasis on our diverse film industries and many milestones that do not find their space in the sun.

    It lists path breaking stories such as Baburao Patel’s Film India magazine, the heroes of silent cinema besides Dadasaheb Phalke, the early poster painters of Indian cinema, the transition of monochromatic movies to technicolour films and much more.

    In its inaugural week on 23 June, the first series will chronicle The Glorious Silent Era, India’s first feature film Raja Harishchandra and Early Talkie Gems that introduced music, dialogues and sound effects to films.

    This 30-minute series will be telecast every Friday at 9:30 pm with repeat telecast at 11:30 pm.

  • No takers for films sans merit or promotion

    MUMBAI: The drought continues despite a number of new films releasing. The thing is, the films released in last three weeks lacked in face value and promotion. Cinema halls continued with their suicidal approach of sticking to the high admission rates. It does not impact the merit and face value of a film.

    What is happening is that, films have been opening but there are no takers.

    Agreed, a lot of these films have no selling point. But, the worst sufferer was Raabta, a T Series presentation, which was a well promoted film and had a rather high price tag. Sadly, there was no audience at some venue even for its opening show. The film being mediocre or bad comes later when people have seen it and go away with a bad opinion about it.

    Last week saw three more releases in Bank Chor, Phullu, G Kutta Se. While, Phullu, a film on social awareness about women’s issue and, Ge Kutta Se, a gory film about honour killing, were not expected to work commercially, Bank Chor carried some promise, having been released by Yash Raj Films’ alternate banner, Y Films. The problem was, the film had hit the cinema halls out of the blue. It was not afforded even the symbolic promotion to create awareness. Probably because, Y Films was only releasing the film and was not its producer. The outcome has proved to be disastrous.

    *Bank Chor, an attempted comedy fell flat lacking in comedy, face value and promotion. The film had a poor opening with Rs 1.44 crore on day one, could not add much on Saturday collecting Rs 1.66 crore but registered a drop on Sunday with TV channels offering live Badminton, hockey and cricket tournaments where in all three events Indian teams had a lot at stake. The film collected Rs 4.34 crore for its opening weekend.

    *G Kutta Se, a film on honour killing and Phullu, a film about woman’s problem remain also ran.

    *Raabta, a T Series and Dinesh Vijan joint venture, has a poor first week despite good pre-release promotion. Counting on just three characters to carry a poorly written film through, it managed to collect Rs 20.5 crore in its first week.

    *Behen Hogi Teri ended its first week with Rs 2.05 crore.

    *Sachin: A Billion Dreams just about comes to the end of its run as the film adds a mere Rs 1.05 crore in its third week taking its three week tally to Rs 40.9 crore.

    *Hindi Medium continues to hold its own against all odds to add Rs 5.8 crore in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 0.6 billion.

    *Baahubali: The Conclusion (Dubbed) has collected about Rs 2.4 crore in its seventh week taking its seven week total to Rs 4.992.

  • Eros International signs co-production deal with Turkish co Pana Film

    MUMBAI: Eros International Media, a global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, has announced two Indo­-Turkish co-productions with Pana Film, a leading Turkish film studio owned by Turkish actor Necati Sasmaz, known for playing the lead role of Polat Alemdar in Turkey’s television series Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the Wolves).

    With proposed actors from India and Turkey including Sasmaz, both films will be collaborative with shoot venues and crews in both countries and will be made bilingual. Original stories blending Indian and Turkish cultures will be conceptualised and developed by Eros’ in-house writers along with top Turkish writers.

    Eros International chairman Kishore Lulla said, “We are honored to associate with a company such as Pana Film. Following our Indo-China joint production initiatives, we continue to expand the scope of Indian films internationally with our exciting Turkish collaboration. With our similar cultures, we want to tell stories with a mainstream appeal that transcend language and geographical boundaries. We hope our Indo-Turkish productions will pave the way to open one of the significant regions in the world and reach out to fans across the two countries and the MENA (Middle East to North Africa) regions.”

    Sasmaz added, “Pana Film values this exciting partnership with Eros International. Our common goal is to build a cultural bridge between both regions. With our Indian collaboration, we aim to expand our presence and tell new stories that can bring Indian and Turkish audiences together.”

  • Phullu…..One for social cause

    India is the flavour of the season. Be it biopics or social messages. The first awkward moment for the family audience was when bra panty underwear ads went online. Long ago, some makers ventured into bridging the gap between communities by depicting inter cast and inter class romance.  The condom ads followed bra panty. But, now, the filmmakers are trying to get into more personal subjects for film themes.

    Sharib Ali Hashmi (Phullu) is a crusader who embarks on a mission to educate and enlighten her village folk about hygiene related solutions. Hashmi, a small village dweller, makes these frequent trips to the city running errands for the women of the village. He also feels more comfortable in the company of women.
    The film deals with the women’s issue about menstruation and the need to use more hygienic sanitary napkins over old cotton rags made of used clothes.
    Hashmi is a village do-gooder looking after the supply of sanitary napkins to the village women. He has no knowledge about women’s problems and knows it only as some female ailment!! He soon learns about the ill effects of using cotton rags by women during their menstruation. He decides to get into making sanitary napkins which can be provided at cheap rates to village women.

    Some domestic drama is thrown in to give the film a semblance of story.

    Rest is trivial. This is not even a theme to make a film on.

    Such social messages are better conveyed on social media or through 30 second TV spots. Because, this feature length film only raises the issue with no effective solution.
     
    Producers: Pushpa Chaudhary, Dr Anmol Kapoor, Kshitij Chaudhary, Raman Kapoor In Association With AmbiAbhi Production 
    Director: AbhishekSaxena.
    Cast: Sharib Ali Hashmi, JyotiiSethi, Nutan Surya.

    Bank Chor….Lacks substance

    Bank Chor, as the title suggest, is an attempt at making a comedy. A comedy, if well made, is a welcome relief at the box office while it also has a long shelf life in the form of DVD or other digital format.

    An amateur bunch of crooks, RiteishDeshmukh, VikramThapa and Bhuvan Arora, forced by circumstances, decide to rob a bank. They target this Bank Of Indians. Once inside the bank, the trio is not quite sure how to go about their job. Riteish is a softy and when he sees that the bank staff as well as the customers inside are nervous, he feels sad for them. He has second thoughts and decides to give up on his plan and surrender to the police which is on the scene by now.

    Now it is time to create some funny moments as well as some thrill by introducing a suspense angle.

    The bank robbery case has been handed over to CBI officer VivekOberoi. This even while the robbery is on and the robbers are inside the bank! He adds to the discomfort of those inside by announcing that there is an undercover cop inside the bank which turns out to be a lie.

    Soon, another angle is added when another, real, bank robber is said to be inside the bank. This twist added to the story, now it is time to add a turn. No fun without twists and turns as the formula goes.

    A few films have been seen before on innocent lads turning crooks to rob a bank though their intentions are honest! Such a film needs artistes with great sense of comedy timing and gags besides funny one-liners. Bank Chor has nothing of these. Music too is a let-down.

    The screenplay is patchy with forced situations loosely built. Direction is below par. While RiteishDeshmukh tries his best, there is not much he can do in the absence of substance.VikramThapa and Bhuvan Arora are fair. VivekOberoi is fair.

    Bank Chor has faced the ‘No audience No show’ situation from the very onset and no miracles are expected in the days to come.

    Producer: Ashish Patil.
    Director: Bumpy.
    Cast: RiteishDeshmukh, VivekOberoi, Rhea Chakraborty, Bhuvan Arora. 

  • Rs-500m film digitisation, sound restoration & software RFPs to be floated in ’17-18

    NEW DELHI: Noting that substantial under-utilisation of funds under the National Film Heritage Mission has reflected in the overall idling of fund in the film sector as a whole during 2016-17, a Parliamentary Committee has asked the information and broadcasting ministry to ensure optimal utilisation of funds during the year 2017-18.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, which also examines issues relating to MIB, stated that special care should be taken to ensure that realistic assessments are made to achieve the physical targets under the scheme so that unhindered implementation takes place in this important activity of the Ministry.

    Expressed concern that even though the Scheme was approved in November 2014, the project had not kicked off due to procedural delay, the Committee asked the Ministry to ensure that the envisaged physical targets are achieved giving a real boost to the proliferation of activities under the Film Sector.

    When questioned, the Ministry informed the Committee that at the commencement of the Plan Scheme, it was assumed that the executive agency for the works like film condition assessment of film reels, preservation, conservation of film reels, and digitization of film reels would be in place during 2016-17.

    However, the fund allocation under this Scheme was downsized at budget and revised estimate stages (2016-17) to Rs 300 million and Rs160 million, respectively.

    The Ministry said there was delay in selection of implementing agency and signing of Memorandum of Understanding with the proposed implementing agency due to service charge issue.

    It was informed that major RFPs (request for proposals) for preventive conservation of film reels, digitization of films, 2K/4K picture and sound restoration of landmark feature films and short films, end-to-end IT software, CCTV implementation, etc. are proposed to be floated during 2017-18 for which an allocation of Rs 500 million has been made.

    The Scheme of National Film Heritage Mission aims at restoring films of historical, cultural and aesthetic value and construct archival and preservation facilities.

    It envisages restoration of 1200 feature films and around 1600 short films apart from preventive conservation of more than 1,00,000 film reels and creation of additional storage facilities.

  • Ramzan or Champions Trophy can’t be an excuse for dull period at box office

    With the kind of films being made which find their way to the cinema halls, one can’t blame the dull period at the box office to the fasting month of Ramzan when the Muslim audience keeps away from entertainment or the Championship Trophy 50 over matches being played in England.

    It is more to do with a good film and a bad film. Because, Hindi Medium, which released on 19 May, continued to do excellent business even through its second and third weeks when Ramzan and Championship Trophy, both were already underway. And, Bahubali, a dubbed film, continues with its record breaking spree.

    Last week saw both, 10 new releases and flops each. This Friday, three films released and all three films failed badly. There were no hopes rested on Behen Hogi Teri and Love U Family. But, the trade as well as the exhibitors expected Raabta to help fill the auditoriums for at least four to seven days coming as it does from T Series backing and stars Sushant Singh Rajput, fresh from the success of M S Dhoni: An Untold Story.

    *Raabta is a high cost film and the prudence of such an investment in a next to nil face value film (it stars Sushant Singh, Kriti Sanon, Jim Sarb) with no other cast in support or even to distract one from the tedious goings-on! The choice of the subject, the screenplay and direction were poor beyond comprehension.

    The film opened to poor houses on Friday with some screens having to cancel shows due to lack of audience. As the negative reports spread, it failed to add much on Saturday and Sunday to end its opening weekend with Rs 13.2 crore.

    *Behen Hogi Teri, a film about neighbourhood romance of a UP girl and guy, was not quite the film for the multiplex era. The star cast lacks draw of any kind and the film faced a miserable fate on day one and through the weekend. It managed to put together about one crore for its first three days. The film’s screenings through rest of the week look unlikely.

    *Love U Family was a nonstarter.

    *Dobaara: See Your Evil has managed to cross one crore figure by collecting Rs 1.25 crore in its first week.

    *Hanuman Da’ Damdar (Animation) has collected Rs 1.1 crore in its first week.

    *The other releases of June 2: Dear Maya, A Death In The Gunj, Sweetiee Weds NRI, Mirror Game: Ab Khel Shuru, Flat 211 all fared badly proving to be total loss ventures.

    *Sachin: A Billion Dreams has added Rs 6.35 crroe in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 39.85 crore.

    *Half Girlfriend has collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 54.1 crore (Rs 541 million).

    *Hindi Medium is a super hit for its budget. This much appreciated film has added 11.3 crore in its third week taking its three week tally to Rs 53.9 crore (Rs 539 million).

    *Bahubali (dubbed) has collected Rs 4.7 crore in its sixth week to take its six week total to Rs 496.8 crore.

  • Raabta…..Intolerable

    Reincarnation has worked when it is made around emotional bonds. There have been some memorable films made on reincarnation and there have been some rejected as utter thrash. There are writers in English language like Brian Weiss and Dr Ian Stevenson among others who specialize on reincarnation cases. And, some recent filmmakers have even been inspired by their work weather it suits Indian beliefs or not.

    While the reincarnation films that worked are Madhumati, Mahal, Milan, Neel Kamal, Karan Arjun, there are also those which did not, like Kudrat, Mehbooba, Karz (was okay in Bombay Circuit.).

    Raabta is a reincarnation story which, in this case, is incidental. Because, as the film proceeds, you do think that the same story could have been told even without the reincarnation angle. But, then, the reincarnation theme only gives the luxury of stretching the story to look like a complete screenplay. Also, what is sad is that, instead of keeping the film simple, the makers try to make the film spectacular when they deal with the previous birth and take it to a medieval period. It would make more sense to keep it more identifiable with the audience.

    The character of Sushant Singh Rajput is a compulsive flirt. He is a charmer and ethics or morals are not for him. He is in Belgium where he comes across with the character of Kriti Sanon.

    A romance grows between Rajput and Kriti. Love stories are all same but, what usually works is the chemistry between the leads coupled with melodious music. Here, sadly, that chemistry is not given time to build.

    Love stories need a hurdle in some sort of a villain. Here, the villain is from Sushant and Kirti’s previous birth, a thousand years ago. It was a love story that turned into a love triangle which ended with a tragedy.

    Now, Sushant, Kriti are reincarnated and so is the villain from previous birth, played by Jim Sarbh.

    Jim Sarbh is a liquor baron, who commutes in a personal helicopter and thinks he own all of Europe. There is a belief in filmmaking that to make your hero look like a hero, you need to make your villain strong. In this film, Sushant humiliates and makes fun of Jim soon as they come face to face so the villain’s character becomes a caricature.

    The film passes its first half with only Sushant and Kriti on screen with the only relief being European locations. That makes the first half boring. And, if one thought the first half was boring, the second half when the film goes into flashback of a thousand years ago, it is sheer torture. The fact that the villain, Jim, enters the proceedings adds to the tedium.

    Raabta is a poorly conceived film with equally poor execution. The music is poor and the one popular number, Mera tujhse….., filmed on Deepika and does not help either. The cinematography is competent making for pleasant viewing in the first half while the medieval era camouflaged in darkness is taxing. Editing is poor.

    Counting on just three actors, Rajput, Sanon and Sarbh, is getting rather ambitious since none of the three commands a draw or are known for their histrionics. They fail to carry the film through.

    Raabta is poor in all respects with box office prospects being poor.

    Producers: Dinesh Vijan, Homi Adajania, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar.
    Director: Dinesh Vijan.
    Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon, Jim Sarbh.

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

    MUBAI: After the success of Rustom, Girish Johar has joined KriArj Entertainment, who will be leading its foray into film acquisition for the Indian & overseas markets.

    This association will fully equip team KriArj to not only monetise its own films but will also give them the strength to provide marketing & distribution services to other independent film makers. Additionally, KriArj plans to acquire big films for not only their pan-India distribution but also for the overseas territories.

    A graduate in Economic Honors and an MBA in Marketing and I.T, Girish Johar has worked with leading players like Balaji Motion Pictures, Sony, UTV Disney, PVR & Zee Studios, and has immense experience in marketing, production, exhibition and global distribution of films. During his tenure, he has defined the business and market for films releasing in various languages – Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi. Johar, a young veteran, has an experience of around 20 years in this field and was involved in more than 140 films, in various capacities. Jodhaa Akbar, DevD, A Wednesday, Ragini MMS, The Dirty Picture, Jazbaa, Rustom & many more form part of his repertoire within the industry.

    KriArj has not only taken a strong foothold, within a very short span of time, but have also chalked out major plans for their foray into films acquisition aggressively.

    Fresh from the success of Rustom and the much awaited Toilet-Ek Prem Katha, which is a summer 2017 release with Viacom18, KriArj has announced their association with John Abraham Entertainment for PARMANU The Story of Pokhran with Zee Studios & Kyta Productions , Clean Slate Films PARI (Anushka Sharma’s production banner), Anees Bazmi’s next with TSeries, Fanney Khan starring Anil Kapoor & Aishwarya Rai of a Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra production and also Vishal Bhardwaj’s production. They are also in the final stages for locking other prestigious projects with leading stars, details of which will be announced shortly.

    Confirms Johar: “Films are made with lot of passion, energy & commitment, which I feel, am very lucky to have found in Prernaa Arora & Arjun N. Kapoor, as in their inherent DNAs! Super charged up, at KriArj Entertainment, to make good & economically viable content, not only in Hindi but regional languages too and not only for the BIG screen but Digital too.”

    Says, KriArj chairman Virindrra Arora: “I am confident that Girish Johar’s passion in movies & his experience in business of movies will lead us through to our next stage in expansion. His leadership qualities and strong business acumen is utmost we are confident of. We, all at team KriArj, will not only fuel & streamline our present projects but also our build for our major expansion plans”

  • Nondescript films got much coveted play time

    It is unimaginable. The week had 10 new Indian films releasing along with two foreign films. Yet, it was not the time for the exhibitors to rejoice. These 10 films included a variety from thriller to horror adapted from Hollywood, to a kid’s film.

    No major film is released during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. Once upon a time, these film lovers made a major film going population. However, the things have changed since the advent of multiplexes.

    Yet, this year, the fasting month also coincides with the Champions Trophy 2017 being played in UK where the eight major cricket playing nations are participating. And, cricket has long replaced films as the most popular medium of entertainment.

    In this event, small, nondescript films got their much coveted play time at the cinema halls which, otherwise, is rationed out to them as gap fillers during shows when the footfall is scarce.

    *To start with, A Death In The Gunj boasted of a familiar star cast. It starred Om Puri, Tanuja along with Ranvir Shorey, Tillotomma Shome, Kalki Koechlin alongwith lesser known but talented names such as Gulshan Devaiyah and Vikrant Massey. The film was directed by yet another well-known name, Konkona Sensharma. What failed the film was its sadistic idea for a story and poor promotion. There was no awareness about the film. As a result, the film failed to attract footfalls.

    *The other noticeable film was Dear Maya if only for it being a comeback film for the yesteryear star, Manisha Koirala. It was a feeble attempt, concentrating at the limited histrionics of Koirala again, with nil promotion. The result was disastrous.

    *The animation film, Hanuman Da’ Damdaar was one more film trying to cash in on the childhood exploits of Hanuman (the other popular character being childhood stories of Ganesh). Here, Hanuman was made to mouth today slangs through the voice of Salman Khan. The film also boasted of voices of Raveena Tandon, Javed Akhtar, Makrand Deshpande and Kunal Khemu. This kind of stuff works in Hollywood. Here, in India, it has yet to work. The film was lost in the crowd.

    *The other releases were Sweetiee Weds NRI, Dobaara- See Your Evil (which boasted of a Hollywood film adaptation), Bachche Kachche Sachche), Lakme, Little Sholay, Mirror Game-Ab Khel Shuru, Black Future, etc were all losers.

    *Sachin: A Billion Dreams, coming as it did in the footsteps of another cricketer biopic, M K Dhoni: An Untold Story, failed to make a mark. It turned out to be just a dull documentary. The film depicted Sachin, the cricketing legend, as a man full of self-pity, whining about his struggles rather than success. The film failed to be an example for the new generation

    The film, which collected Rs. 23.4 crore for first three days, managed to finish its first week with just another 10 crore accounting for its first week total of Rs. 33.5 crore. . The film’s second weekend is not encouraging.

    *Hallf Girlfriend does little to improve its lot as the film manages to add Rs. 8.1 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs. 52.9 crore. The film still stands to lose on Indian domestic market.

    *Hindi Medium goes on to become a mini budget major hit. The film matched its first week collections by almost 80% which is a rare feat. The film collected 19.1 crore in its second week, the film took its two week total to Rs. 42.6 crore.

    *Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (Hindi-Dubbed) is not yet fading away. The film added Rs. 12.2 crore in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs. 492.1 crore.

  • Hanuman Da’ Damdaar….Kid stuff

    Hanuman and Ganesh seem to be the most popular figures / gods for Indian animation filmmakers. Also, among them, the favourite theme is the two idols’ childhood because that allows a maker to spin any convenient story around them.

    Also, dealing with one character keeps budgets in control unlike making an animated Ramayana or Mahabharata.

    For any such animated film, its claim to fame is which all renowned film actors lent their voice, to dub for the animated characters. Hanuman Da’ Damdaar boasts of quite a celebrity list landing its voice to the animated characters.

    The little Hanuman is back from one more dangerous adventure after which a curfew is imposed on him. He can’t leave home. But, you can’t keep Hanuman down for long, and off he is on another adventure. He is now the mighty Hanuman the myth about him has told us all along.

    There was a lineup of such animation films a few years ago and the flooding did not help anybody’s cause. Hanuman Da’ Damdaar tries to be different in that it is some renowned film personalities giving voice to the animated characters. They include Salman Khan, Javed Akhtar, Raveena Tandon, Makarand Deshpande, Hussain Dalal and Kunal Kemmu.

    The film also takes the contemporary language today’s youth use in its efforts to add humour.

    The film boasts of good animation generally while music is also a help. Where it lacks is in content as it has nothing exciting to tell or add to match the persona of the legend, Hanuman, from earlier such attempts.

    Producers: Ashutosh Shah, Taher Shabbir, Ruchi Narain.

    Direction: Ruchi Narain.

    Cast/Voice: Salman Khan, Javed Akhtar, Raveena Tandon, Makarand Deshpande, Hussain Dalal and Kunal Kemmu.