Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: Aamir Khan‘s Peepli Live will be premiered at this year‘s Melbourne International Film Festival on 6 August.

The festival, which will run from 22 July to 7 August, will feature Peepli Live in a special category called ‘Not Quite Bollywood‘. The festival will screen films from over 50 countries over a period of 17 days.

A satire on the farmers‘ suicides and subsequent media and political response, Peepli Live is the first Bollywood film that has been featured in the competing section of the Sundance Film Festival to be held from 15 July.

The Anusha Rizvi film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghubir Yadav, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Malaika Shenoy.
 

MUMBAI: After the release of Milenge Milenge, Boney Kapoor has set his eyes on three sequels – Mr India, Wanted and No Entry.

All the three films will start rolling out next year after the release of the Nana Patekar-Harman Joshi- Genelia D‘souza starrer It‘s My Life.

While the details of the sequels of Mr India and Wanted are not known, it is said that Kapoor‘s son Arjun will make his debut as the young Mr India.

No Entry 2, on the other hand, would be an Indianised version of the Hollywood hit Hangover. All the lead actors like Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan and Fardeen Khan have double roles with them playing fathers and sons.

MUMBAI: The Saif Ali Khan- Deepika Padukone starrer Love Aaj Kal is being remade in Telugu.

Directed by Jayanth Paranji, who also directed Munnabhai MBBS in Telugu, the film will have Pawan Kalyan essaying Saif Ali Khan‘s role while Ileana D‘cruz will play that of Deepika Padukone.

But sadly, Rishi Kapoor will not be seen in the film. His role of the sprightly old Sardar will be played by Paresh Rawal.

The plot of the film, however, will undergo a few changes. Paranji admits that though the essence of the story will be the same, the film will be a different take on Love Aaj Kal.

Unlike the Imtiaz Ali film in which Rishi Kapoor narrates the story of his younger days, Paresh will tell the story of a friend of his.

MUMBAI: Controversy doesn’t seem to elude director Rahul Dholakia. Earlier it was with Parzania, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika, as interested people agitated against the film claiming that it was biased and supported a particular community.

Now it is Lamhaa that is drawing attention as the film is banned in the Middle East for its sensitive content. The film questions when the citizens of Kashmir will stop being terrorized – all in the name of politics.

A film set in Kashmir, Lamhaa is partially a love story between an army officer (Sanjay Dutt) and a girl (Bipasha Basu) set in Kashmir. The film depicts the undercurrent turmoil in the valley.

Producer Bunty Walia is confused as to why the film has been banned in the Middle East and can’t figure out the possible reason for this action. “This news has really dampened my spirits. The region is a huge market for Bollywood films these days and we could suffer a huge setback because of this ban. More than that, I am sad that the audience there can‘t see the film,’” Walia remarks.

MUMBAI: 13 is said to be an unlucky number and Friday the 13th has always been thought to be a day of occult, supernatural, horror and evil. If one has to dig deep in the history of the date, it will come out that Friday has been treated as an unlucky day since the 14th century.

One cannot just say whether these are facts or a myth but Hollywood filmmakers took fair advantage of the inauspicious day and make several films in the horror genre including the most popular Friday the 13th.

And to break the jinx comes Rupali Aum Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.‘s Help, the first Indian horror film to release on Friday the 13th in the month of August.

Help is a supernatural horror that draws upon the story of a malevolent spirit that refuses to leave the human world. Protagonist Vic (Bobby Deol) is a successful horror film director in Bollywood and is married to Pia (Mugdha Godse). 

In the midst of marital problems, Pia and Vic have to rush Mauritius to visit Pia‘s ailing father little knowing that there‘s something ancient and dark that remains still, hidden and silent in the old house where Pia grew up.

It can only wait, having been concealed in the shadows for years and all it wants to do is to strike again! As the darkness spreads, things start to get worse and the spirit tries to annihilate everything.

Now Vic and Pia must race against time to find out the secret which will save their lives. Will their love gather the strength to survive the malevolent spirit or will they witness the most horrifying truths of their lives

MUMBAI: The Pakistani Censor Board has not cleared Walkwater Media‘s Tere Bin Laden to release in Pakistan over fears of terrorist attacks.

The Board decided not to clear the film because it has Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden as a central character. The Censor Board vice chairman Masood Elahi told the media there was no justification for releasing the film in Pakistan under the present circumstances.

The federal Culture Secretary is authorised to allow the exhibition of the film under special powers bestowed on him, Elahi said. 

Lead player and Pakistani distributor Zafar had formed a new company to distribute the movie in Pakistan. Due to sensitivities linked with the title and fears about a reaction from Taliban and other militant groups, distributors had drawn up plans to drop ‘Laden‘ from the film‘s title and release it as Tere Bin in the country.

Expressing his disappointment at the Censor Board‘s ruling, Zafar has appealed to Pakistani authorities to review the decision saying that there was nothing controversial in the film.

The film is scheduled to release worldwide on 16 July.
 

MUMBAI: Knight and Day has romped in Rs 75 million in its first weekend, recording the third highest opening for a Hollywood movie.

The Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz starrer trails behind Clash of The Titans and Prince of Persia. It, however, performed better than Hindi movies Red Alert, Milenge Milenge and The Last Airbender that released during the week.

For Knight and Day, the biggest draw came from Delhi-UP and East Punjab territory.

While Knight and Day was released in English and Hindi respectively with 270 prints, Clash Of The Titans and Prince of Persia released with 700 plus prints and 600 plus prints respectively in Tamil and Telugu besides English.

Said Fox Star Studios India CEO Vijay Singh, “Not only is the Tom
Cruise-Cameron Diaz pair a huge crowd puller; the film‘s exciting blend of action and comedy has also been highly appreciated by audiences across the country. With the strong word-of-mouth promotions going on for the film, we are expecting a further surge in the collections for the week ahead.”

MUMBAI: In their search for varied content, Indian filmmakers are rushing to a new theme: political leaders.

Anil K Sharma has started work on a film based on Hitler which he has titled as Dear Friend Hitler. Then there is Walkwater Media‘s Tere Bin Laden that is releasing this week.

Karanvir RK‘s Kaytee Movies is now producing a film, Gandhi Ki Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aanaa, that is based on Gandhiji and Kasturba‘s love story. The film will be helmed by debutant Pranav Dhivar.

A modern-day take on Gandhij‘s love story with his wife, the film deals with their emotional and unspoken love story done in good humour. “I am not dealing with any kind of history here,” cofirms Dhivar.

The film that has Karanvir playing the role of Gandhiji will go on the floors on 15 August and will be shot extensively in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat.
 

MUMBAI: The Hindi version of The Italian Job that has Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead will be filmed in New Zealand towards the end of the year.

“We‘re going to Indianise The Italian Job and want to make it better than the original,” said director duo Abbas-Mustan.

The film will be shot in Auckland and Wellington with Auckland‘s Viaduct Basin targeted for the big car chase scenes. A 90 to 100-strong crew from India will fly down for about 50 days of shooting, a New Zealand tourism statement said.

The original version of The Italian Job had Michael Caine in the lead while its 2003 remake with Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Donald Sutherland also went on to be a commercial success.

Just a few days ago, it was announced that Om Vaidya was selected to play one of the leads of the film.

MUMBAI: Thirty years after their appearance in B R Chopra’s Insaaf Ka Tarazu made in 1980, Zeenat Aman and Raj Babbar have reunited in director Raja Bundela‘s upcoming film Dil To Deewana Hai. 

The film is due for release on 27 August.

Aman plays a single parent Malaysian woman. Apart from Aman and Babbar, the film marks the debut of Aamir Khan‘‘s brother Hyder Ali and popular South Indian actress Sadaa into Hindi cinema.

Dil To Deewana Hai is the story about people who migrated from India to different parts of the world by sacrificing their family and culture and their return after a period of 15 to 20 years.