Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Aamir Khan has scored a hat trick as far as the Oscars are concerned. His Peepli Live has been chosen as India‘s official entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language film category.

“We chose Peepli Live for its stark portrayal of the state of Indian farmers and the vibrant depiction of the media in our country,” said Film Federation of India chairperson L Suresh.

It may be noted that there were as many as 27 films in the running for the coveted nomination. In fact, a Tamil film Angadi Theru was also in the running and the two – Peepli Live and Angadi Theru – were very close.

Incidentally, Khan‘s two other earlier films, Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par, were also chosen in the same category for the Oscar awards. An Indian film has never won the Best Foreign Language film Oscar award but Lagaan, Salaam Bombay and Mother India were shortlisted for taking a shot at the coveted prize.
 

MUMBAI: Manoj Kumar will be felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year‘s 12th Mumbai Film Festival.

In the past, the producer-actor-director has received awards such as the Padma Shri Award, Phalke Ratna Award, Best Director Award, Best Actor Award aming others for his exceptional contribution to Indian Cinema. 

But this year, the 12th Mumbai Film Festival takes a proud step towards honouring Manoj Kumar with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his valuable contribution.
Said director of MAMI V Narayanan, “His contribution to Indian cinema is considerable. No Independence Day is complete without songs from his films. We will confer the award on Manoj Kumar. It will be presented to him at the award function on 28 October.”

Manoj Kumar is best known as ‘Bharat‘ Kumar for his patriotic roles and exceptional work in films like Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim and Kranti.

MUMBAI: After four decades, the external affairs ministry has decided to lift the ban on the Satyajit Ray documentary, Sikkim, made in 1971 and allowed the film for public screening.

But there‘s a hitch. The original negative has withered away. But a print has been partly restored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

“If we can acquire the print from the Academy, we can formally release the film here in India,” asserts Sandip Ray, director-son of Satyajit Ray.

The film had been commissioned by the last Chogyal (king) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, and his American-born wife Hope Cooke. “It was actually the Chogyal‘s American wife who wanted Ray to make a documentary on Sikkim,” avers Sandip.

However, when the film was completed after “being shot for three different seasons”, the Chogyal was upset about some of the candid reality portrayed in it. It included the Sikkim‘s poor alongside the grandeur of the royalty. In one of his shots. Ray, for instance, showed the poor scrambling for leftover food dumped behind the palace after a grand royal dinner.

When the royal couple viewed the film in Kolkata for the first time, they were unhappy about such shots and ordered cuts, says Sandip. “Baba (My father) was “unhappy with the final cut,” he sighs.

After Sikkim was merged with India in 1975, it was still considered a sensitive region and the Centre decided to ban the film that was commissioned by the monarchy as a result of which there was no screening of the film in India.

Now after 40 years the external affairs ministry has lifted the ban and allowed the film to be screened.

Sandip recollects that he had seen the restored copy a few years ago at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in France and has called for the copy. He hopes to acquire a copy and screen it on his father‘s 90th birth anniversary on 2 May next year.

MUMBAI: Tushaar Kapoor, the son of Jeetendra, has decided to turn producer. He will soon flag off his production company, Tushaar Kapoor Motion Pictures.

Kapoor will initially produce two films. The first, to be directed by Sagar Bellary, will be titled Double Jhol in which the actor will play a double role. The second, directed by S.Manasvi, will be a romantic comedy.

Says Kapoor, “Besides making my films, I will produce a couple of films along with Balaji Telefilms for emotional reasons.”

It is interesting to note that this will be the third production house from the house of Kapoors, the first two being Balaji Telefilms and its wholly owned subsidiary, Balaji Motion Pictures.
 

MUMBAI: Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghose will soon sign Richard Gere for his next bilingual (Hindi-English) film, Lala.

The Indo-Italian project, set in the backdrop of Narmada Bachao Andolan, is the story of an Indian village boy who tries hard to survive in Mumbai until his chance encounter with an European author.

Richard Gere will play the author‘s role. The shooting of the film will be held in Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai and France or Italy.

Since the film deals with the Narmada valley issue, it is being said that activist Medha Patkar might play a cameo in the film.

Ghose‘s last Hindi film was Yatra while his next Bengali film, Moner Manush, is set for release soon.
 

MUMBAI: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea against the title of Aamir Khan‘s upcoming film Dhobi Ghat and penalised Vinod Kumar Kanojia, the petitioner for frivolous lawsuit.

The Court rejected the petition, stating that Dhobi Ghat is a geographical description of a place and is not offensive.

The High Court bench of Chief Justice Dipak Nisra and Justice Manmohan found no merit in the petition and imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner and asked him to deposit the same with the National Blind Relief Association.
 
In his petition, Kanojia, who heads the Hindustan Kanojia Organisation of dhobis, claimed that the title of the film may lead to caste division. He sought from the Court a change of the film‘s title before it was released in theatres. He had also requested the Censor Board to assess the film‘s title in order to avoid caste division.

Dhobi Ghat is about four people who are separated by class and language but are drawn into compelling relationships.

MUMBAI: The standoff between Arbaaz Khan Productions (AKP) and the manufacturers of Zandu Balm has come to an end.

Says Khan in a statement, “It‘s all been amicably sorted out of court, thanks to ad-man Prahlad Kakkad. He knew both parties very well and initiated discussions.”

AKP has decided to have a tie-up with the company and Malaika Arora who mouthed the Munni track in Dabangg will be the company’s brand ambassador.

Arora has become the beneficiary of the settlement between her husband‘s production company and a brand named in the Munni track.

Kakkad is expected to shoot the first balm ad with Malaika soon.

Statistics say that the business of the balm company doubled since the song came on air.
 

MUMBAI: Akshay Kumar has signed up Hollywood comedian Russell Peters to star in his first international movie project.

The shooting of Break Away, a cross-cultural comedy drama set in India and Canada, started this week under the banner of Hari Om Entertainment. 

Kumar‘s dream project, being made in collaboration with the Canadian government and First Take Entertainment, Polytechnique RP and Whizbang Films, will have actors from Canada and the majority of the shooting will be done in that country.

It may be noted that Emily Van Camp was considered to play the leading lady, but has now been replaced by Camilla Belle.

Directed by Robert Liberman, the film has Canadian born Vinay Virmani in the lead.
 

MUMBAI: Aamir Khan’s Dhobi Ghat, directed by his wife Kiran Rao, has got into legal hassles of creating caste division in the dhobi community.

Hindustan Kanojia Organisation of Dhobis chairman Vinod Kumar Kanojia has approached the Delhi High Court and demanded a change of title before it releases in theatres later this year.

The chairman has requested the Censor Board to review the film’s title so that it does not encourage caste division in society. “The film has been given the name to hurt the feelings of the community, which is highly condemned. It could have been given some other name,” Kanojia stated in his petition.

“The community has been notified as scheduled caste in the Constitution and calling any person by its name is a punishable offence. The film’s title is violating fundamental rights of the community and it must be restrained by the court,” Kanojia added.

The court is likely to hear the matter on Wednesday.
 

MUMBAI: Eros International Media‘s (EIML) Rs 3.5-billion initial public offering (IPO) has been oversubscribed 26.51 times, demonstrating investor interest in the most profitable Indian movie company.

The company received bids for 491.87 million shares, as compared to 18.55 million shares on offer. The IPO price band was set at Rs 158-Rs 175 per share.

The qualified institutional investors reserved portion got subscribed 25.79 times. Non institutional and retail investors‘ segments got subscribed 73.40 times and 11.95 times respectively. 

EIML, the pure play movie company, had roped in nine anchor investors ahead of the issue allotting 3.6 million shares at Rs 165 per share. The anchor investors included Citigroup, The India Fund, IDFC Mutual Fund, Lloyd George Investment Management, Indus Capital Adviser and Lockheed Martin Corp.

The company intends to use Rs 2.8 billion from the proceeds of the issue to acquire and co-produce Indian film rights, primarily Hindi films, as also Tamil and other regional language films. The surplus amount will be used towards general corporate purposes including meeting future growth requirements.