Category: Hindi

MUMBAI: The Taj Enlighten Film Society has organised ‘The Satyajit Ray Festival‘, that would showcase films of the great master who changed the face of World cinema.

Beginning 2nd May, that happens to be the 89th birth anniversary of the filmmaker, the Taj Enlighten Film Society will screen Ray‘s films namely Agantuk (The Stranger), Jalsaghar (The Music Room) and Charulata (The Lonely Wife) every Sunday at 10 am at Cinemax, Metro Big Cinemas and NCPA. The festival ends on 16 May.

Presented by Brooke Bond Taj Mahal, the festival will recreate Ray‘s magic on the silver screen for all the filmmaker‘s fans and film enthusiasts. Directors of various backgrounds from across the country will discuss his outstanding contribution to the world of cinema after every film.

The festival will also provide movie fans a rare opportunity to experience some of cinema‘s greatest works as they were meant to be seen – on the big screen.
 

MUMBAI: The Hindi version of Rakesh Roshan‘s Kites is releasing on 21 May while its English edition will release a week later on 28 May.

The Hindi version has a running time of 2 hours and the English just 90 minutes.

Kites is a story of love that goes beyond barriers, boundaries and cultures. It takes two lovers on a thrilling journey filled with precious moments – and unexpected betrayal.

While debutante Barbara Mori acts as a Spanish speaking girl, Hrithik Roshan plays her Salsa teacher who can‘t speak a word of Spanish.

MUMBAI: Split Image Pictures‘ Hisss that stars Mallika Sherawat in the role of a snake woman will have its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival due next month.
Directed by Jennifer Lynch, the film stars Irrfan Khan, Divya Dutta and American character actor Jeff Doucette. It is produced by Govind Menon and Vikram Singh Lamba.

The film is in the post-production stage for the last several months.
 

MUMBAI: Mahesh Bhatt is set to direct a film on Chandrashekhar Prasad, the student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who was shot dead in 1997 while addressing a gathering in Siwan, Bihar.

Chandu, being produced by Dubai-based Irfan Izhar, will star Imran Zahid, an ex-Delhi University student.

Avers Bhatt on making a film on such a topic, “I have been looking for a pithy topic to make a film on. And when these people came to me, I immediately felt that this is just the film to make in this age and time, when we‘re giving so much importance to real life heroes – those who‘ve been shaped by the tools of virtual media.

“When you have such brave people in places like JNU, then we know that something is right somewhere. He came from that section of society where the real India comes from – where people suffer, dream and die. And yet, he was fearless. He gave student politics a standing. And the fact that he was killed while trying to clean up Indian politics says a lot about how successful he was in his endeavour.”

The film is likely to go on the floors in six months and will be shot at JNU.
 

MUMBAI: Anil Kapoor Films Company and PVR Pictures‘ much awaited Abhay Deol-Sonam Kapoor starrer Aisha will release on 9 August.

The film, an adaptation of Jane Austen‘s famous novel ‘Emma‘, is being produced by Ajay Bijli, Sanjeev K Bijli and Rhea Kapoor and is being directed by Rajshree Ojha.

While Austen‘s Emma was set in 19th century rural England, Aisha is based in present times in the country‘s capital Delhi.

Besides Abhay and Sonam, the film also stars Cyrus Sahukar and Ira Dubey.

MUMBAI: Ever since Whistling Woods International (WWI) introduced the ‘Short Course Unit’ this year, noted Greek producer James P Mimikos is back to the WWI campus for an intensive week-long workshop with students who have opted for ‘Film Production”.

Drawing upon his extensive experience in international co-productions, Mimikos laid emphasis on the skills required by the students as producers – from the development process right up to the post-production of a film project.

Says Mimikos, “Enough thought needs to be given even at the development stage about the potential of the film to bring in audiences and also match the budget. The task of a producer is to deliver a film on time and on budget.” 

WWI’s ‘Short Course Unit’ has also conceptualised a workshop on ‘Fundamentals of Motion Picture Pre-production Skills‘ that will stress upon the importance of planning at the pre-production stage of a film project.

The workshop, which is aimed at line producers, executive producers and also assistant directors, will involve systematic working on a script, keeping in mind the time, the budget and also the quality of the film.
 

MUMBAI: Eros International is set to release the DVD of Veer that will be incorporated with an audio description (AD). This makes the Salman Khan-starrer to be the first film in India to have an AD track in Hindi on its DVD.

UK-based Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has worked with Eros International to achieve this after its research among blind or partially-sighted people of Asian origin in the UK and India. The research found out that over 70 per cent of respondents were more likely to watch Bollywood films if AD in Hindi was provided.

Says Eros International Head of International distribution Pranab Kapadia, “We are extremely excited to join hands with RNIB and present the first-of-its- kind film DVD with Veer having AD for the blind or partially-sighted fans of Indian cinema. We strongly believe in our social responsibility and this is our humble attempt in initiating a step that we believe will benefit consumers largely.” 

Observes RNIB Director of International Affairs Stephen King, “RNIB has worked with the Bollywood industry to bring the benefits of audio description to new audiences. The decision by Eros to include audio description on its DVD release is momentous, transforming the experience of blind and partially-sighted Bollywood fans watching films at home, not just in the UK but internationally. Our research tells us that fans want AD on Bollywood films and RNIB hopes that other distributors will follow the lead of Eros.”

The AD track for Veer has been produced at Red Bee Media Limited which has offices in UK, Australia, France, Spain and Germany.

Eros International is also exploring the possibility of making DVDs of evergreen classics such as Sholay, Waqt and Devdas for the blind and partially-sighted audiences across the world.

RNIB‘s campaign for AD has resulted in several major distributors of Hollywood films releasing their DVDs with an AD track in the UK.

Veer DVD will hit stores on 24 April.

MUMBAI: Percept Pictures has rescheduled the release date for its forthcoming film Bumm Bumm Bole.

Directed by Priyadarshan, the film will now hit the screens on 14 May, a week after the original release plan.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Percept Picture Company joint managing director Shailendra Singh says, You see our film was to release with Gurinder Chaddha‘s It‘s A Wonderful Afterlife and YRF‘s Badmaash Company. We found that Bumm Bumm Bole would get lost among the other two films. Hence we shifted to the 14 May slot, since that week there are no other releases. It would augur well for the family audience to enter and have a look at Bumm Bumm Bole.”

The film has Darsheel Safary, Atul Kulkarni, Ziah Vastani and Rituparna Sengupta in the cast.

Since the pivotal essence of Bumm Bumm Bole is a unique brother-sister relationship, the director has carved out the innocent and poignant story of two siblings and the dilemmas they face in life and how they fight their way to overcome it.

Being a kids film, brands associated with the film are Pantaloon, Adidas, Hansaplast, Pogo, Bright Outdoor, T.Series Toy for Joy, Oberoi Mall, Sea Cod, Rangeela, Future Generalli and Big Oye.
 

MUMBAI: Bunty Walia‘s Lamhaa, directed by Rahul Dholakia and starring Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Kunal Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Shenaaz, is scheduled to release on 16 July.

The film is a story about an army man, played by Sanjay Dutt, and his love interest, played by Bipasha Basu, in the midst of the various issues that Kashmir had faced for years.

Lamhaa is award-winning filmmaker Rahul Dholakia‘s second film after his first Parzania won critical acclaim. It is a sensitive film and just like Parzania that centred on the angst of the people in a terror-stricken place, Lamhaa deals about these issues.

Since Lamhaa is depicted in Kashmir, the government went out of its way to ensure that there was no untoward incident when the filming was on.

The film was shot across three schedules in 75 days. While two schedules were held in Kashmir for 25 days, the third one was held in Mumbai for 50 days.
 

MUMBAI: Marathi film Baangdya that centers around the plight of widows of farmers will have its world premiere at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival that goes underway from 12 to 23 May.

Baangdya, shot entirely in black and white, brings forth the colourless life of farmers’ widows in India.

Said director Kedar Jape, “It‘s a great feeling that my first film has been selected for the world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. This is an acknowledgement to my cast and crew who worked hard to make this film possible.”

Baangdya revolves around a small village girl Chingi who loves to play with bangles. She finds out that her father had committed suicide and her mother is also on her way to do the same. The film tracks the girl‘s struggle to save her only parent and in the process reality about farmers is revealed.

‘Farmer suicide is a burning and socially relevant issue. These people suffer a lot and my film is an effort to create awareness about their plight not only at the domestic level but also at a global platform. This is a cause which is very close to my heart. I feel that through Cannes it will get represented all over the world,‘ Jape declares.

Talking about how tough it was to raise funds for the film Jape says, “I discussed my story idea with many people across the globe. Many of them responded positively by contributing small amounts. I am happy for those who supported me and showed their trust in me.”

Jape plans to take Baangdya that features Maithili Kadam, Madhugandha Kulkarni, Manoj Aacharya, and Hitendra Upasni to other film festivals as well.