Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The release of Madhur Bhandarkar‘s Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji (DTBHJ) has been advanced by two days. Now, the film will release on Republic Day instead of 28 January as originally scheduled.

Kumar Mangat Pathak, the producer of the film, said: “We just thought that this will be a special and a different entertaining treat for our audience on Republic Day. Hence we have advanced the release date.” 

DTBHJ is a romantic comedy starring Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi and Omi Vaidya in the male leads opposite Shruti Hassan, Shazahn Padamsee and Shraddha Das.

It is for the first time that Bhandarkar, who has till yet made realistic, hard hitting films, has ventured into directing a romantic comedy.

Released by Baba Arts, the music in the film is by Pritam and is on T-Series.

MUMBAI: Yamla Pagla Deewana, which was promoted probably as the last hurrah of the family patriarch Dharmendra, manages just about average collections.

With a decent opening, the first weekend ended with Rs 225 million. The movie itself has been sold at the same price as the others in demand. Collections have started dropping further Monday onwards and Yamla Pagla Deewana may settle at being a below average fare.

The other release of the week, Turning 30!!!, is best forgotten. It is a pretentious film aimed at the multiplex auduience but does not really cater to any target segment.

All the other recent releases have been losers including Tees Maar Khan.
 

MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan and Vidya Balan have won the best actor (male and female) awards in the popular category at the Zee Cine Awards 2011, held in Singapore on Friday.

SRK won the award for role of autistic Muslim man in My Name Is Khan, while Balan won for essaying the role of a widow in Ishiqiya.

Meanwhile, Salman Khan starrer Dabangg with nine won the maximum awards in different categories, excluding that in the best actor. Dabangg won Best Film, Best Debut Female for Sonakshi Sinha, Best Debut Director for Abhinav Kashyap, Best Song (Munni Badnaam Hui) and Best Music (Sajid-Wajid) among other awards.

The best actor and best actress awards in the jury section went to Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan both for Guzaarish.

Karan Johar won best Director in the popular section for My Name Is Khan while Vikramaditya Motwane won the jury award for Udaan.

Ranveer Singh got the best debutant male award for his role in Band Baaja Baarat, while Rishi and Neetu Kapoor got Evergreen Couple Award. Shatrughan Sinha was conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award ceremony was high on the star presence. SRK, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Arjun Rampal were all there among others. It will be aired on Zee TV on 30 January at 8 pm.
 

NEW DELHI: The applauded and award-winning biopic “Bose – The Forgotten Hero” will be released as a home video on 23 January which marks the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Produced by Sahara India Pariwar and Sahara Motion Pictures, the film directed by the renowned Shyam Benegal is being released as a home video by Indikino Edutainment in association with Rudraa Entertainment. The film has been specially mastered for the Home Video release and will be available on DVD and VCD at all leading outlets countrywide under the Rudraa Home Video label that is well known for its selection of award-winning films.

Starring the well known character actor Sachin Khedekar as Netaji, the film depicts the last five years of the life of the Indian Independence leader. Starting out at the point where Bose resigns from his position as the president of the Indian National Congress (I.N.C.) to the meeting with Italians by crossing Afghanistan‘s rugged terrains and entering into Europe, his appointment with Adolf Hitler in Berlin, to his inspiring of the Indian P.O.W.s of the ‘Punjab Regiment‘ of the British army for fighting against the British forces in India, to the patriotic speeches, some U-Boat (submarine) scenes and finally the battle in Burma with Japanese emperor Tojo‘s assistance during the Second World War, the film ends with a radio announcement of his death.
 
With music by Oscar award winning composer A. R. Rahman, the film is a testament to India‘s struggle for Independence, and stands out for its scale and magnificence amongst the various films made on India‘s leaders including Attenborough‘s “Gandhi”, Ketan Mehta‘s “Sardar” and Dr. Jabbar Patel‘s “Ambedkar”. The term “Forgotten Hero” in the title is testimony to the fact that people today do not seem to remember that Netaji was the one who came up with the slogan Jai Hind. Netaji chose Rabindranath Tagore’s Jana Gana Mana as his preferred national anthem for the free India he was fighting for, and wanted Hindustani to be the national language. Even while paying ritual obeisance on 23 January each year, people have forgotten all about his real contribution.

Sachin Khedekar, essaying the role of Netaji, is supported by a superb ensemble cast including Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rajit Kapur, Divya Dutta, Ila Arun, Rajpal Yadav, Lalit Tiwari and Arif Zakaria. With noted nationally and internationally feted director, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee and Dadasaheb Phalke award winner Shyam Benegal at the helm, the film also had a stellar team of technicians working on it, including writers Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari, cinematographer Rajan Kothari, editor Sreekar Prasad, sound designer Ashwyn Balsaver, production designer Samir Chanda and costume designer Pia Benegal.

The film has been shot on location in India, Germany, Burma, Uzbekistan recreating how Netaji made his impossible dream come true and bringing to life his incredible journey, his putting together a fighting force, fighting the British, even winning some territory and coming close to actually succeeding!

The film is structured in three parts, named Itmad, Ittefaq and Qurbani after the motto of the Indian National Army. In the first, Bose escapes house arrest and tries to enter Russia through Afghanistan; the second shows his days in Germany, including a meeting with Hitler, and marriage to Emilie Schenkl, the formation of the Azad Hind Fauj made up of Indian prisoners of war in Germany and his journey to Japan in a submarine; the last shows his leadership of the Indian National Army, the battles and that fateful plane trip out of Saigon.

Producers: Nitin Manmohan, Sameer Karnik. Director: Sameer Karnik. Cast: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kulraj Randhawa, Nafisa Ali, Anupam Kher.

MUMBAI: Yamla Pagla Deewana is a trip back into the 60s and 70s cinema; L is for laughter here and L for logic be damned. Since Hindi comedies depend on gags, usually borrowed from foreign films, the trick is to piece them together. This film borrows generously from foreign as well as Hindi films of all hues.

Sunny Deol is a Sikh settled in Canada, living with his wife, mother and kids when he learns that his father and younger brother (Dharmendra and Bobby Deol) are in Benaras and are known con men. Dharmendra has walked out on his wife, Nafisa Ali, with Bobby, the younger of his two sons for no plausible reason – the first signal not to expect sense. He has turned his son also into a petty con man; both eat, drink and womanise together like buddies. Down comes Sunny Deol, wanting to trace his father and brother.

In his pursuit to get his father and brother back, Sunny Deol joins their con team. But that is not what the film is about, though that‘s what you may think! Even while Sunny Deol is working on winning over his people, the younger one spots Kulraj Randhawa, clicking pictures with her camera all over Benaras Ghats and falls for her.

What follows is what the film is supposed to be, a comedy entertainer. The brothers decide to embark, later joined in by the father and others, on the girl‘s ruthless Sikh family which shoots first and asks questions later. Well, what follows is not unseen in many films before.

For a comedy, Yamla Pagla Deewana takes its own time to get down to business; the 70-plus minute first half meanders a lot and, hence, is dull. The post interval part, with 80-plus minute of running time, does have some funny moments and dramatics but those are few and far in-between besides being repetitive. 

The characterisation of actors is comic book brand; except Sunny Deol, all others are caricatures. The film has had its curiosity value because of Dharmendra, and his enthusiasm is overwhelming; wish he had a range and few variations to his role. Sunny Deol is his usual self, a muscled mass, convincing all the way with all that he does. Kulraj Randhawa is a non performer. Bobby Deol leads the hamming brigade with Anumapm Kher following suit. The rest are incidental.

Direction by Samir Karnik is aimless; no restraint on scenes, they just carry on. Editing is poor. Musically, expectedly, the one song that holds the score is the old Laxmikant Pyarelal tune, Main jatt yamala pagala deewana, which is the signature tune as well as the mainstay of the film.

YPD is an average entertainer, which caters to the single screen. It has better prospects in the North.

MUMBAI: South Korea-France film Dooman River/ La Riviere Tumen has won Maharashtra government‘s ‘Best international film‘ award named ‘Prabhat‘ carrying a purse of Rs 1 million on the concluding day of the 9th Pune International Film Festival.

Likewise, the ‘Prabhat‘ best international director award of Rs 500,000 was lapped up by Polish director Borys Lankosz for his film The Reverse. The special jury award was given to Natalie Smirnoff, director of the film Puzzle, a Argentina- France production.

The Sant Tukaram Best Marathi Feature Film award of Rs 500,000 was given to the film Baboo Band Baaja by Rajesh Pinjani. Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) student Tathagata Singha bagged the PIFF special award of Rs 25,000 for direction.

ALT Entertainment & Friday Filmworks‘ first Marathi film, Taaryanche Bait won two top honours. While Shailesh Dupare, Sourabh Bhave and Kiran Yadnyopavit walked away with the award for the best script, Sachin Khedekar‘s portrayal of a father caught in a dilemma won him the best actor award.

Giving his concluding speech, PIFF director Jabbar Patel said, “Next year, we are going to introduce Indian cinema competition award in which first or second film of the Indian director will be eligible for the competition. Forty films from PIFF will be sent to the first Yashwant International festival which will held in Mumbai later this month.‘‘

Minister of state for cultural affairs Faujia Khan, who was the chief guest of the evening, said: “PIFF is the only award function, the state government involves itself with and government takes lots of efforts to encourage Marathi films.‘‘
 

MUMBAI: Deepa Mehta‘s adaptation of Salman Rushdie‘s Midnight‘s Children has a new name. Now it will be titled Winds of Change.

The prize-winning novel tells the story of the events before and after Independence and partition of India.

Starring Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi and Soha Ali Khan, the film is due to release in Sri Lanka next month.
 

MUMBAI: Indian born British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha is set to roll out DreamWorks Animation’s animated musical Monkeys of Bollywood. The Bollywood-style animated musical, set in Mumbai, revolves around two monkeys who try to stop an ancient demon from conquering the world. 

The Bend it like Beckham director will work on the film along with her producer husband Paul Berges on the film inspired by ‘Ramayana‘. Earlier, Chadha and Berges have teamed for films including Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice.

The animation studio has also roped in A R Rahman and lyricist Schwartz for the project. Music maestro A R Rahman and Indian-origin British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha are all set to work together on an animated musical about monkeys.

MUMBAI: The Enlighten Film Festival is going to hold Kabir Festival from 14 to 23 January across diverse venues in Mumbai where five musical documentaries made by Shabnam Virmani would be screened.

The seven-day festival will be held in various schools and colleges to drive home the message of Kabir in today‘s youth. The last three days of the festival will have multiple events at different locations, all open to the public on first-come-first-served basis.

The documentaries that will be screened in the festival are Had-Anhad (that looks into the politics of religion on both sides of the border between India and Pakistan); Chalo Hamara Des (story of two individuals, folk singer Prahlad Tipaniya and North American scholar Linda Hess, who despite their different backgrounds come together to search for the country of Kabir).

The third documentary, Koi Sunta Hai, interweaves the oral folk traditions of Kabir in central India with the intensely personal narrative of the late classical singer Kumar Gandharva while the fourth, Kabira Khada Bazar Mein, raises questions about organised religion and investigates the ironies between the secular nature of Kabir and the sacralization of Kabir by the Kabir Panth.

Among the last three, Do Din ke Mela is a musical about the songs of a Dalit community in Gujarat that draws inspirations from Sufi traditions of Kabir and Shah Abdul Lateef Koi Sunta Hai and Chalo Hamare De.

Besides the screening of the documentaries, the festival will involve talks and discussions by prominent speakers and live music concerts by folk and classical singers from different parts of India.
 

MUMBAI: Aiming to bring together voices from across the globe on issues regarding disability, the eighth edition of the ‘We Care Film Festival‘ will go underway in the capital on 15 January.

The festival will be launched by Brotherhood, the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan (UNIC), Unesco, the National Trust, which functions under the ministry of social justice and empowerment, and the Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT).

With 67 entries from countries like US, Britain, Canada, Israel, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Australia and Nepal besides India, the festival will travel across 25 venues in India and four South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan in five months.

Some of the places where the festival will be held in India are the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), AYJ National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped and SNDT Women‘s University in Mumbai, Tezpur University in Assam and Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal University, in Karnataka.

Said an organiser of the festival, “The festival‘s uniqueness lies in the fact that the audience watches and rates each film through a participatory rating process. This approach goes a long way in familiarising people with persons living with disabilities and also encourages filmmakers to tell their stories in an effective yet engaging manner.”

The festival will culminate in May.