Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: After dishing out films like Jannat and Tum Mile, director Kunal Deshmukh has been roped in to direct his third directorial venture for Vishesh Films.

The film, titled XXX as of now, is a crime thriller that deals with three parallel stories, all of which depict how sex has become a means to an end – whether to achieve money, love or power in the modern urban lifestyle.

While the script of the film is being written by Ankur Tiwari, the casting is yet to start. Apparently, the director is keen to have the script read by various actors before taking their accent on the dotted lines. The film would be set either in Mumbai or Delhi.

Comments Mahesh Bhatt, “Kunal Deshmukh is making a film which plays hell with the 3P‘s (Parent, Preacher, Politician). It‘s called XXX. It explores our city life!”

MUMBAI: Jenniifer Lynch-directed Hisss hits Indian screens on 22 October but is not releasing in America.

The film was to have a grand release across US theatres on 22 October, along with the desi version. But the producers feel that the film needs to be promoted more in Hollywood.

Producer Govind Menon quips , “We are not releasing it across USA now as we are building up the film a bit. There is some serious promotional work left for us to do.”

The film hits Indian screens in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu this week, while the Malayalam one will come the next week. The English version will release in January 2011

MUMBAI: A bad release strategy has cost both the movie releases of the week dearly.

Aakrosh, a blatant copy of Hollywood classic Mississippi Burning, has been rejected by the audience. The film managed around Rs 75 million over its first weekend and days ahead look even bleaker.

The film is about injustice and killings of backward classes in Bihar. The subject fails to appeal!

The other release, Knock Out, also a lift from a Hollywood film titled Phone Booth and some input from a film titled Liberty Stands Tall, has run out of steam before collecting a meagre Rs 30 million over its first weekend.

Trade persons refuse to comment on these two films, not wanting to add to the misery of those affected.

The week past saw two major releases, Crook and Do Dooni Chaar. While the figures of the latter are not being made available, they being very very poor, Crook has collected around Rs 100 million for the first week. It is a poor show all round!

MUMBAI: Alliance Media & Entertainment Pvt Ltd‘s latest venture Daayen ya Baayen, directed by debutant director Bela Negi, will release on 29 October.

The movie revolves around a school teacher in a remote village in the Himalayas who wins a luxury car in a TV contest. His life spirals into a series of comic conflicts as he tries to match the rest of his life to the glamour of the car, undoing himself completely in the process. When the car is stolen, he sets out on a journey to recover more than just his prized vehicle – his lost dignity.

Commenting on her debut project Negi said, “I belong to this region and have strived to make a film that reflects the particular world view that evolves in one of these small hilly villages that have been neglected by administration for years. Yet I believe that the theme of the film- an individual combating his fears of anonymity and transcending the limited vision of only seeing himself through other people‘s eyes-are universal themes.”

Daayen ya Baayen, mostly shot in Uttarakhand, is produced by Sunil Doshi. The film stars Deepak Dobriyal as the main protagonist.

MUMBAI: Though it didn‘t do wonders at the box-office, Sajid Nadiawala‘s Anjaana Anjaani is still in the news. The two suicidal protagonists in the film, who meet when they are on the verge of suicide, are about to take a plunge in the comic book arena.

The protagonists played by Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra will now feature in a series of comic books describing the adventures of their characters Akash and Kiera.

Nadiadwala has spoken to a leading publishing house which has agreed to the idea. The first graphics have already been prepared and if all goes well, the inaugural comic based on Ranbir and Priyanka‘s characters in Anjaana Anjaani will hit the stands during Diwali.

Avers Nadiadwala, “A lot of us involved with the film felt that the characters that Priyanka and Ranbir play in the film will translate well into comic books. We are in negotiation. But I can‘t really talk about the project until things are finalised.”

Depending upon the success of the comic books, Nadiadwala also wants to make a cartoon version of the Anjaana Anjaani characters for satellite television and internet entitled The Mad Mad Adventures Of Kiera and Akash.

MUMBAI: In an effort to raise awareness about breast cancer, UniGlobe Entertainment Production has produced a docu-drama called 1 A Minute.

Directed by Namrata Singh Gujral, the film has been made in association with Priya Dutt‘s Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust (NDMCT). A part of the profits from each ticket sale of the film that releases on 29 October will be donated to NDMCT.

Incidentally, Dutt has lost two members of her family to cancer. Her mother, Nargis Dutt, succumbed to pancreatic cancer while her sister-in-law Richa Sharma survived cancer but eventually passed away because of a brain tumour.

Dutt says that instead of being depressed, she came out of the incidents a stronger person. “Richa was only in her 30s when she passed away,” Dutt reminisces. “She was one of the strongest women I knew. She was beautiful, but cancer treatment had made her look unrecognizable. Even then, she‘d laugh and joke about the disease, rather than be upset. And she survived the cancer and went on to live for five more years after that.

“That‘s also the message of the film,” she adds. “It‘s easy to give up and die, but if you are positive, and if you fight, you can actually survive cancer. It‘s all in the mind.”

Dutt recalls that it was different when her mother passed away. “I was only 13 at that time, too young to deal with it,” she reminisces. “It was a difficult time because we were seeing our mother in a different light, since she was so sick. Yet, our father kept us strong after her death, because he chose to fight the disease by starting NDMCT.”

Narrated by Kelly McGillis, 1 A Minute stars international actors like Lisa Ray, Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Etheridge, Barbara Mori and director Gujral all of whom have survived cancer.

MUMBAI: Supriya Bambawale has joined Cinemax India as marketing head. She will report to CEO Sunil Punjabi.

Bambawale has an overall experience of 15 years and has worked with brands like The Vanity Case Group, Animax, DQ Entertainment, Buena Vista India and A.C Nielsen Research. 

Comments Punjabi, “Supriya has enough experience working for harsh brands in the fields of research, films and television. With this kind of experience, we are confident that she will bring new impetus in the area of multiplex marketing, gaming and branding.”
 

MUMBAI: The National film award won by Sivan directed Malayalam children‘s film Kesu has been stayed by the Kerala High Court. A bench of Justice Antony Dominic, through an interim order, stayed the National film award for Kesu but directed that all other awards can be given to the film.

The stay was granted in connection with a petition filed by filmmaker Majid Gulistan whose children‘s film Chithrakuzhal was rejected by the regional jury. 

Said N. Nandakumara Menon, counsel for Gulistan, “The court accepted the argument that Kesu was a remake of an earlier film Pularvattom which won the state award in 2001.

A film which is a remake of an earlier film should not be considered for the national award, the petitioner claimed.

Sivan is the father of film personalities like Santosh, Sangeeth and Sanjeev. Gulistan also pleaded that Sivan‘s film should not get the national award because Sivan‘s son Sanjeev was a member of the regional jury. He alleged his film was intentionally blocked by Sanjeev so that his father‘s film could go to the national jury.
 

MUMBAI: After releasing a spate of successful films, Fox Star Studios India is set to end 2010 with a few mega releases.

The studio’s first offering would be Tony Scott‘s action film Unstoppable that will hit the theatres on 26 November. The film stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine and trails a rail company‘s frantic efforts to prevent an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying combustible liquids and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. The film would be dubbed in Hindi as well.

December marks the return of one of the biggest franchises of recent times – The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treder. The movie will be up for release on 10 of December in 3D. The release would be one of the biggest Hollywood releases ever in India, with around 1000 plus prints across multiple languages including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Eventually ending the year would be 3D live-action family adventure Gulliver‘s Travels, based on the 18th century novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift. Directed by Rob Letterman, the film will release on 31 December.
 

MUMBAI: Encouraged by the immense response that her film Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai garnered, producer Ekta Kapoor has once again approached director Milan Luthria and Ajay Devgn to team up for her next film. 

The next film, titled A Dirty Picture, is a story about a controversial actress who after a titillating career ended up in the porn industry. The makers have confirmed Vidya Balan to enact the principal role, while Luthria is keen to cast Devgn for the main lead. Two more male characters are in the process of finalisation.

The film will start rolling in February next year.