Category: Hindi

PANAJI: Balaji Motion Pictures has roped in former UTV Motion Pictures associate vice president Girish Johar as head of distribution.

Additionally, Johar will also head the acquisition of content for the company.

Johar, who will be joining the company next week, will be reporting to Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Tanuj Garg.

Confirming Johar‘s appointment, Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Tanuj Garg said, ” Yes, he is joining us from 1 December.”

Prior to joining UTV, Johar worked with companies like Sony Pictures and PVR

PANAJI: The IFFI this year has ten films in a section called Cannes Kaleidoscope. The films include those from countries like Hungary, Germany, UK, France, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, Mexico and Belgium.

The films are Des filles en noir (Young Girls In Black) by Jean Paul Civeyrac; Somos Lo Que Hay (We Are What We Are) by Sabina Guzzanti; Outrage by Takeshi Kitano; Route Irish by Ken Loach; Certified Copy by Abbas Kiarostami; A Screaming Man by Mahamat Saleh Haroun; The Tree by Julie Bertucelli; The City Below by Christoph Hochhäusler; Adrienn Pal by Agnes Cocsis; and Film Socialism by Jean Lun Godard.

PANAJI: Makers of films that have been selected for the Indian Panorama want the government to help them find ways to distribute and market these films.

They feel that showing the films in various Indian festivals or special Panorama festivals is not enough as this does not fetch any money for the filmmaker to encourage him to make more films.

Speaking at the Open Forum on ‘New Faces in the Indian Panorama’ organised by the Federation of Film Societies in India in collaboration with Directorate of Film Festivals and the Entertainment Society of Goa, former Festival Director Malati Sahay said the Indian Panorama had been the USP of IFFI since it was started in 1978. It had succeeded in encouraging many new filmmakers to come to the fore and had, therefore, created a pool of talent.

But she agreed that it needed better marketing than IFFI or the DFF showing it in other parts of the country and other regional festivals picking up some of the films. At the same time, she said marketing itself was a science that filmmakers must master if they had to remain in the field. Filmmakers should also explore newer formats since digital technology had thrown up new formats.

Gajendra Ahire whose film ‘Pail Tesundaram’ is in the Panorama, said Marathi cinema had seen a new resurgence over the past six to seven years and several new filmmakers had come into the field after ‘Shwaas’. But he regretted that very few had come back with new films fit enough for the Panorama. He said sending DVDs for Panorama selections was risky as piracy was a major threat, and so 35 mm prints should be sent.

Samrita Sunil, who has acted in ‘Kaal Chilambu’, said her films had been coming in the Panorama for the past four years, but she was attending the Festival for the first time. Her co-actor Vineet said the real challenge lay in finding good scripts by new filmmakers. The Indian Panorama may not be successful commercially, but gave good exposure.

Premlal, debutante director of the Malayalam film ‘Atmakatha’ on visually impaired persons, said his film was aimed at showing that even the disabled can live positive and normal lives. He agreed that releasing subtitled prints all over the country was an option that could be explored. Answering a question about his main lead Srinivasan, he said the veteran writer-director-actor had not interfered in his style and only remained an actor on the sets.

Wellknown filmmaker M R Rajan and others regretted that Doordarshan was no longer telecasting Panorama films, but was informed that Lok Sabha TV was doing so, although it paid very little.

FFSI General Secretary U Radhakrishnan said the National Films Development Corporation (NFDC) should make sub-titled prints for distribution all over the country and overseas.

Others who were present included ‘Atmakatha’ producer Santosh Pavithram and ‘Kaal Chilambu’ director M T Annoor.

Producer: Kunal Kohli Director: Danish Aslam Cast: Imran Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sharmila Tagore, navin Nischol, Lillette Dubey, Shahana Goswami, Yudhistir Urs

MUMBAI: Break Ke Baad is a love story, a love story of self inflicted miseries, of whims and fancies!

This girl starts making her overtures to this boy with a chocolate smeared face in childhood. They grow up watching cinema, which is convenient, since the boy’s father owns a cinema hall.

The girl grows up to be a cigar smoking, beer and booze guzzling, doing weird antics Deepika Padukone, while the boy grows up to be Imran Khan. Both have been a pair for 10 years (which they never let you forget in the process of reminding each other) and are besotted with each other. But there comes a storm in the tea cup as Deepika declares that she is on her way to Australia to pursue a course in Mass Media.

The course would seem to be all practical since all she is seen doing is partying with a mass of people, mostly unknown and one morning even waking up with a stranger by her side in the same bed after one such revelry. That is when her beau, Imran, decides to drop in having promised never to give up on her.

In Australia, two more characters are added for distraction and break the monotony. Looking at them, you would not believe the media about treatment meted out to Indians in this country; these two live as if they own the country!

Our hero, Imran, good for nothing otherwise, is somehow a culinary expert and can juggle up some fancy Indian food. Soon, in league with the ‘native’ Indian duo, he owns two and half restaurants. Fed up of Imran wanting answers for all her activities, Deepika thinks of him as a hindrance in her life and seeks to break off. The break referred to in the title is this one. But there is no break, neither for Deepika nor the viewer. Imran is omnipresent and Deepika swings between yes and no.

The script has major drawback in that it has no variations, no twists and turns, no real villain in the form of either circumstances or human form. And resting the burden of carrying the film on their shoulders proves too much for Imran and Deepika. Music is no help. Dialogue is subtly witty. Direction is average.

Performance-wise, Imran is casual, no demonstration of histrionics, yet. Deepika’s character is that who enjoys life, drinking, smoking, dancing, calling her mother Sharmila Tagore by her first name and generally gallivanting; thankfully, that does not call for any acting talent at all. Of the supporting cast, Lillette Dubey is good. Sharmila Tagore has scant little to do while Navin Nischol, Shahana Goswami and Yudhistir Urs don’t contribute much.

Break Ke Baad is a love story without soul and does not touch you anywhere except your pocket.

MUMBAI: The Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union, having more than 35,000 members, has called upon both the State and Central Governments to enforce the implementation of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

The Act that was made applicable to cine workers and cinema and theatre workers (Regulation of Employees Act) was never enforced.

In a petition to the government, the union has said that cine workers belong to the economically and marginalised sector of the Society and the entertainment industry. They work for 15 to 18 hours a day all through the month and are bereft of any social life.

Says Ranga Rao Chougule, General Secretary of the Union, ” We have called upon the government to include our workers within the ambit of various flagship schemes instituted for the unorganised sector such as the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act 2008.”

Thunders Prem Singh Thakur, senior vice president of the Union, “You see, we are in the same sector as are the dock workers. You are well aware that they had gone on an indefinite strike after which the government bowed to their demands. We have, on the other hand, always been cooperative and have never protested.

“Keeping quite doesn‘t mean that we don‘t have a voice. Now is the time to raise our voice. We will wait till the end of the year and if we see a complete silence on the part of the governments concerned, we will go on strike that will affect all cinema activities throughout the country. “

Members of the The Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union include lightmen, spotboys ( production boys). carpenters, moulders, tapists and crane operators among various other trade craftsmen.

The Union has also called upon the government to make a provision for providing affordable housing to the workers as in the case of beedi and mine workers.

The petition has been sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, labour and employment minister Malikarjun Kharge, the chief minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chauhan and all members of Parliament.
 

PANAJI: Continuing the series on ‘Moments with the Maestros’ for the second year, the Films Division is this year showcasing 22 select documentaries on eminent dancers of the country.

Veteran dance gurus Sitara Devi, Birju Maharaj and Sonal Mansingh were feted by Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat to mark the opening of the section ‘Dancing Feet’ at the ongoing 41st International Film Festival of India. The four-day documentary film festival on Indian classical dances and gurus is being held till 27 November at the Black Box in Kala Academy. Division Director General Kuldeep Sinha was also present on the occasion.

“Dancing Feet” offers connoisseurs of dance from India and abroad glimpses of important classical dances like the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Kathak, Mohiniattam and Manipuri through biographical films on dancers.

Some of the dancers on whom films made by the Division are being shown include Sitara Devi, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sonal Mansingh, Padma Subramaniam, Raja & Radha Reddy, Uma Sharma, kanak Rele, and Mallika Sarabhai.

These dancers are expected to attend the screenings and take part in question-answer sessions, apart from discussions on their art forms.

PANAJI: India and its film industry will be the centre of attraction at the 64th edition of the prestigious Locarno International film festival in August next year.
‘Open Doors‘, the co-production lab of the Swiss festival, will focus on India and help independent filmmakers find new opportunities.

According to its artistic director Olivier Pere, and Nadia Dresti, head of Locarno‘s Industry Office, a total of 12 Indian screenwriters have participated, and been able to present their work-in-progress to a range of film professionals from all over the world in the last two editions of the Festival.

Open Doors 2011 is the result of a two-year collaboration with the Film Bazaar India/Goa Festival‘s Screenwriters‘ Lab and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

“Everybody knows that India outpaces the world in film production, releasing around 1,300 films every year. But these figures can be misleading. The strength of commercial production, concentrated in the four main linguistic regions, should not make us lose sight of the many talented filmmakers across the country who are finding it very hard to express themselves through independent circuits. The next edition of Open Doors will give voice to those artists,” said Pere.

Three Indian experts will work with the Festival on the ‘Open Doors‘ 2011 programne: Sunil Doshi, Meenakshi Shedde, and Uma Da Cunha.

The main objective of ‘Open Doors‘ is to assist the directors and producers of the selected projects to find co-production partners, particularly in Europe, and to complete their films.

The final short-listed applicants will be invited to participate in the co-production lab to take place during the 64th edition of the Festival del film Locarno, beginning from 3 August next year. Filmmakers can submit their films through the website, www.pardo.ch
 

PANAJI: Odisha Information and Public Relations Minister Prafulla Samal today expressed the need to create a strong exhibition sector in the state and wanted the central government, banks and the National Film Development Corporation to come forward to help in this direction.

Samal said everything would be done by the state government to promote Odiya cinema in the state.

Samal was speaking after inaugurating the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Odiya cinema at the ongoing International Film Festival of India. The first Odiya film was produced by Mohan Sunder Dev Goswami in 1934. 

Festival Director noted that around 35 films are produced annually in Odiya. He expressed the hope that as in case of cinema from south India, the native population will come forward to support Odiya films.

Veteran actress Gloria Mahapatra, noted Director Neerad Mahapatra, A. K. Bir, and Prashant Nand were felicitated on the occasion.

Apart from the opening film ‘Adi Mimamsa’, five films will be screened in this section.

PANAJI: One needs not just courage and conviction to make a film but a passion that will sustain him even after years of struggle have passed.

This was the general consensus at a discussion on ‘Student Cinema: New Risk takers, Courage and conviction’ organised by the Federation of Film Societies of India in coordination with the organisers of the 41st International Film Festival of India.

The animated discussion in which Directorate of Film Festivals Joint Director Shankar Mohan was the moderator had several teachers and students of cinema interacting on what sustains an upcoming filmmaker.

In his remarks, FFSI President H N Narahari Rao said that new technologies including digitalisation had made it possible for young filmmakers to take the risk of making films and ‘the horizon is seamless’. He referred to several short film festivals in the country which accepted entries from students.

Mohan, who holds additional charge of Director of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, said the passion may remain but young filmmakers must sustain the courage and conviction as well. Mohan said almost 90 per cent of the technicians in Bollywood were from the FTII and so those doing technical courses need not be afraid of finding jobs.

Amresh Chakraburtty, who teaches at the SRFTII, quoted Bresson who had said filmmaking was like a battlefield and said one needed courage to take a three-year course before one could call himself or herself a filmmaker. He later said both FTII and SRFTII were holding festivals of student films.

D G Livingstone who teaches at the Chennai Film School said parental support was also important, while Akash who studies in the School said the reach test of courage was after doing the course.

Samimitra Das of the SRFTII said the filmmaker is his own first audience and this gives him the courage to sustain as a filmmaker. Sometimes convincing parents is only one part of the struggle. What is needed is the conviction to dream and fulfil that dream.

Sandeep Chatterjee from Chennai said the time had come for young filmmakers to take the craft to the next level with new avenues opening up.

Filmmaker Haoban Pabam Kumar (formerly of the SRFTII) whose film ‘Mr India’ was shown here said his experience at the Institute had taught him to grapple with problems relating to filmmaking.

The discussion that followed threw up various views. Some of those in the audience said funding continued to be a problem, while others said students lacked the courage to touch untapped subjects.

MUMBAI: Vinay Shukla, who made his earlier film inspired by the life of Santokben Jadeja, the lady who headed an underworld enterprise in areas of Porbander, is ready with another hard-hitting story of a man-woman relationship in his upcoming Mirch due for release on 10 December.

Mirch is structured like a square with a cross-section of four squares within it. Each square represents one season, has a different colour palette and contains a story complete in itself with a witty twist in the end. The stories run the course of time; from ancient India to today‘s India. 

The first story has been sourced from the ancient Sanskrit classic, the Panchtantra; the source of the second story is the 14th century Italian classic, the ‘Decameron,‘ by Boccaccio. Inspiration for the third story comes from another ancient Italian story. The rest of the stories are penned by Shukla.

Says Shukla, “One character in the film says, ‘my grandmother used to say that when the mind is in a dilemma, one should listen to stories: stories are a treasure trove of wisdom.‘ Another character, at another point, declares that stories are magic. I believe that a civilization dies when it stops telling stories.”

Mirch stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Raima Sen, Boman Irani, Shreyas Talpade, Rajpal Yadav and Shahana Goswami among others.