ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Movies: A drab week of creative bankruptcy

    Movies: A drab week of creative bankruptcy

    MUMBAI: *Baar Baar Dekho meets with universally negative response from viewers. A half-baked idea gone totally haywire which makes watching the film tiring. Besides the story, the execution and length, the casting proved to be the last straw. The chemistry between Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif is non-existent. All that the film earned on the social media was puns galore on its title.

    The film opened with weak collections on Friday grossing just about Rs 6 crore with no significant improvement on Saturday while, on Sunday, the collections dropped, instead, to put together Rs 18.4crore during the opening weekend. The film may face trying times in the day ahead before it completes its first week run.

    *Freaky Ali, a sport-oriented comedy-romance, deals with the sport of golf, a sport alien to layman. The film banking totally on Nawazuddin Siddiqui to play the underdog urchin to excel in an elite sport did not quite manage to draw the crowds, and the sustenance thereafter seemed unlikely.

    The film opened with poor collections as expected and remained that way to end its opening weekend with Rs 6.4 crore. The film may end up with cancelled shows in the days to come for want of footfalls.

    *Akira adds to the list of rejected woman action-‘hero’ films. The protagonist, Sonakshi Sinha, turning to action after a number of romantic roles went against her image. Also, Anurag Kashyap as the main villain was taking the paying public for granted and added to the problems. The film had a below-average opening weekend, and could not add much over the next four days as it concluded its first week with Rs 24.1 crore.

    *Yeh Toh Two Much Ho Gaya, Sunshine Music Tours and Travels and Island City have proved to be disasters.

    *A Flying Jatt has managed to hold on to the second week run though the collections are on a lower side. The film added Rs 1.75 crore in its second week to take its two-week total to Rs 35.5 crore.

    *MohenjoDaro collections have dropped to below Rs 10 lakh in its fourth week making the film one of the biggest disasters in a long time.

    *Rustom collected Rs 2.1 crore in its fourth week to take its four-week total to Rs 123.7 crore.

  • ‘Mukti Bhawan’ wins UNESCO award at Venice International Filmfest

    ‘Mukti Bhawan’ wins UNESCO award at Venice International Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Mukti Bhawan (called as Hotel Salvation) has bagged the UNESCO XXIIIrd Prix “Enrico Fulchignoni” at the Venice International Film Festival.

    The jury said: The award to the film by Shubhashish Bhutiani was being given “for the values finely expressed on the importance of family, time spent together in respect and with love, and those values of human rights which we all share. The maturity and depth of emotions and cinematic vocabulary used to display these belie the young age of the director, and we look forward to seeing many more of his films in the future.”

    The film – which received a 10-minute ovation after its screening at the festival — is a part of the Biennale College-Cinema program at the Venice Film Festival which gives support since 2012 to the young filmmakers to bring their vision to the big screen and, in this case, the effort has borne marvelous fruit.”

    CICT-Unesco Jury comprised Jasmina Boijc (founder and director UNAFF, Stanford University), Pierpaolo Saporito (President of OCCAM, the UN Observatory on Cultural Communication and v.president of CICT-UNESCO, Gabriel Griffin-Hall (Author and Poet), and Eliana Bantchev (CICT-UNESCO General Secretary Delegate).

    In the past, the Prix Enrico Fulchignoni was awarded to, among others: ‘Beasts of No Nation’ by Cary Fukunaga, ‘Miral’ by Julian Schnabel, ‘Land of Plenty’ by Wim Wenders, ‘Tsion, Auto-emancipatie’ by Amos Gitaï or ‘Porto da minha infancia’ by Manoel de Oliveira.

    Three years ago, Shubhashish Bhutiani’s short film Kush had won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.

    The audience in Venice this time was carried away by this universal story of love, redemption and mourning.

    When Daya, a 77 year old man, wakes up from a strange nightmare, he knows his time is up and he must get to Varanasi immediately in the hope of dying there to attain salvation. His dutiful son, Rajiv, is left with no other choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

    The two of them check into Mukti Bhawan/Hotel Salvation, a hotel devoted to people hoping to spend their last days there. Rajiv finds himself having to live and take care of his father for the first time in his life.

    The festival which began on 31 August concluded today (10 September 2016) and this film was scheduled for three public and delegate screenings on 2 and 3 September apart from one web streaming.

    The 103-minute film stars Adil Hussain (Life of Pi), Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Palomi Ghosh, Navnindra Behl and Anil K Rastogi.

    Also read:

    Huge ovation for Hindi film Mukti Bhawan after world premiere at Venice

    New Hindi film to have world premiere at Venice International Film Festival

  • ‘Mukti Bhawan’ wins UNESCO award at Venice International Filmfest

    ‘Mukti Bhawan’ wins UNESCO award at Venice International Filmfest

    NEW DELHI: Mukti Bhawan (called as Hotel Salvation) has bagged the UNESCO XXIIIrd Prix “Enrico Fulchignoni” at the Venice International Film Festival.

    The jury said: The award to the film by Shubhashish Bhutiani was being given “for the values finely expressed on the importance of family, time spent together in respect and with love, and those values of human rights which we all share. The maturity and depth of emotions and cinematic vocabulary used to display these belie the young age of the director, and we look forward to seeing many more of his films in the future.”

    The film – which received a 10-minute ovation after its screening at the festival — is a part of the Biennale College-Cinema program at the Venice Film Festival which gives support since 2012 to the young filmmakers to bring their vision to the big screen and, in this case, the effort has borne marvelous fruit.”

    CICT-Unesco Jury comprised Jasmina Boijc (founder and director UNAFF, Stanford University), Pierpaolo Saporito (President of OCCAM, the UN Observatory on Cultural Communication and v.president of CICT-UNESCO, Gabriel Griffin-Hall (Author and Poet), and Eliana Bantchev (CICT-UNESCO General Secretary Delegate).

    In the past, the Prix Enrico Fulchignoni was awarded to, among others: ‘Beasts of No Nation’ by Cary Fukunaga, ‘Miral’ by Julian Schnabel, ‘Land of Plenty’ by Wim Wenders, ‘Tsion, Auto-emancipatie’ by Amos Gitaï or ‘Porto da minha infancia’ by Manoel de Oliveira.

    Three years ago, Shubhashish Bhutiani’s short film Kush had won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.

    The audience in Venice this time was carried away by this universal story of love, redemption and mourning.

    When Daya, a 77 year old man, wakes up from a strange nightmare, he knows his time is up and he must get to Varanasi immediately in the hope of dying there to attain salvation. His dutiful son, Rajiv, is left with no other choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

    The two of them check into Mukti Bhawan/Hotel Salvation, a hotel devoted to people hoping to spend their last days there. Rajiv finds himself having to live and take care of his father for the first time in his life.

    The festival which began on 31 August concluded today (10 September 2016) and this film was scheduled for three public and delegate screenings on 2 and 3 September apart from one web streaming.

    The 103-minute film stars Adil Hussain (Life of Pi), Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Palomi Ghosh, Navnindra Behl and Anil K Rastogi.

    Also read:

    Huge ovation for Hindi film Mukti Bhawan after world premiere at Venice

    New Hindi film to have world premiere at Venice International Film Festival

  • Freaky Ali….A slapstick, forced comedy

    Freaky Ali….A slapstick, forced comedy

    We have had some sports films which dealt with the theme of an underdog making it to the victory podium after a lot of struggle and toil besides, of course, the glory and honour of the nation. However, the sport has been the one which our people identify with.

    Freaky Ali is a love sports story. The sport is golf, a sport purely the domain of the rich. It is also about an underdog but not of the usual kind. In fact, he is a kind of character one would not even expect to see anywhere near a golf course.

    Golf is a sport alien to most common people anywhere in the world as it is in India. But, when a film about an independent sport like this is inspired by a Hollywood film, the sport can’t be changed from golf to cricket, a team sport.

    Nawazuddin is a debt collector along with Arbaaz Khan. Nikitin Dheer is their boss. This, Nawaz thinks, is the way to make a fast buck. The duo works for the kind the ‘finance institutions’ that existed not long ago in India to recover monies lent to retail borrowers who were not readily forthcoming with repayments.

    Earlier, in the movie, Nawaz had tried his hand at selling undergarments. But, when it came to the girl he loved the most, his proposal was rejected because of his profession.

    Nawaz lands up on the golf course during one of his loan recovery rounds. Here his boast leads him to try the sport. And, as the film stories can fit in anything, Nawaz surprises all. His latent talent in noticed by a caddie, Asif Basra, who decides to help him hone his skills.

    Abracadabra. Nawaz is now a golf champion of international standards. He is soon doing the professional circuit. He goes on a winning spree much to the discomfiture of his rival Jas Arora. Also, working against Nawaz’s interest is Nikitin, who wants him to lose at any cost.

    With success comes love — Amy Jackson.

    The film loses the battle when it borrows the idea of the sport of golf and an underdog. The comedy is forced instead of emanating naturally from the situations, and falls flat. Direction in the movie is weak to state the least and editing is slack.

    Dialogues in the movie are good at some places, especially the lines written for Nawaz. The cinematography is okay. The songs don’t entertain at all. The qawwali, Ya Ali Murtaza, is the only saving grace.

    Nawaz shines even in this mundane comedy. Arbaaz Khan manages with his limited acting skills. Asif Basra is okay. Amy has too little to do to make a mark. Jackie Shroff plays a cameo to no avail.

    Freaky Ali lacks appeal even for the growing breed of Nawaz fans.

  • Freaky Ali….A slapstick, forced comedy

    Freaky Ali….A slapstick, forced comedy

    We have had some sports films which dealt with the theme of an underdog making it to the victory podium after a lot of struggle and toil besides, of course, the glory and honour of the nation. However, the sport has been the one which our people identify with.

    Freaky Ali is a love sports story. The sport is golf, a sport purely the domain of the rich. It is also about an underdog but not of the usual kind. In fact, he is a kind of character one would not even expect to see anywhere near a golf course.

    Golf is a sport alien to most common people anywhere in the world as it is in India. But, when a film about an independent sport like this is inspired by a Hollywood film, the sport can’t be changed from golf to cricket, a team sport.

    Nawazuddin is a debt collector along with Arbaaz Khan. Nikitin Dheer is their boss. This, Nawaz thinks, is the way to make a fast buck. The duo works for the kind the ‘finance institutions’ that existed not long ago in India to recover monies lent to retail borrowers who were not readily forthcoming with repayments.

    Earlier, in the movie, Nawaz had tried his hand at selling undergarments. But, when it came to the girl he loved the most, his proposal was rejected because of his profession.

    Nawaz lands up on the golf course during one of his loan recovery rounds. Here his boast leads him to try the sport. And, as the film stories can fit in anything, Nawaz surprises all. His latent talent in noticed by a caddie, Asif Basra, who decides to help him hone his skills.

    Abracadabra. Nawaz is now a golf champion of international standards. He is soon doing the professional circuit. He goes on a winning spree much to the discomfiture of his rival Jas Arora. Also, working against Nawaz’s interest is Nikitin, who wants him to lose at any cost.

    With success comes love — Amy Jackson.

    The film loses the battle when it borrows the idea of the sport of golf and an underdog. The comedy is forced instead of emanating naturally from the situations, and falls flat. Direction in the movie is weak to state the least and editing is slack.

    Dialogues in the movie are good at some places, especially the lines written for Nawaz. The cinematography is okay. The songs don’t entertain at all. The qawwali, Ya Ali Murtaza, is the only saving grace.

    Nawaz shines even in this mundane comedy. Arbaaz Khan manages with his limited acting skills. Asif Basra is okay. Amy has too little to do to make a mark. Jackie Shroff plays a cameo to no avail.

    Freaky Ali lacks appeal even for the growing breed of Nawaz fans.

  • Baar Baar Dekho…Akhir Kyon?

    Baar Baar Dekho…Akhir Kyon?

    MUMBAI: Baar Baar Dekho, the debut directorial venture of Nitya Mehra, is a love story that spans over three decades. The makers seem to have found the basic idea from the Hollywood film, Groundhog Day (1995). Here, the idea has been used for a couple about to marry.

    Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif are born in England around the same time and their parents also decide to move back to India almost at the same time. Katrina and Sidharth meet at school and become close pals at eight. Love blossoms as they grow.

    Sidharth is a gifted mathematician while Katrina’s calling is modern art. Their love is boundless and both families are agreeable. It is time to get them to commit to each other and an engagement ceremony takes place. Sidharth is however not sure he wants to get married at that point in time. His first love is mathematics and he wants to prove himself as a math genius all over the world. At the time he was committing to Katrina, his research paper to Cambridge has been appreciated and he is invited to join the faculty.

    While Sidharth is a middleclass man who believes in making it big on his own, his would-be father-in-law, Ram Kapoor, gifts him a car and a plush flat. This puts him off further. He has an argument with Katrina to the extent that he offends her. To escape things happening around him, he hits the bottle.

    His future travel with wife Katrina is what most of this film is about. Sidharth’s life revolves round his job with little or no time for the family. His mind is so taken up by research, he is unable to connect well with his children when he meets them after gaps. Katrina expresses her displeasure with what is happening to her family life. And, to Sidharth’s discomfort, Kapoor moves in with the family to provide support to Katrina.

    Sidharth’s time with his family is like a long lost relative coming back after ages. On one occasion, he is called when his mother dies. There, he realizes that his divorced wife Katrina has remarried!

    Baar Baar Dekho is a kind of long-winding sermon to men and women planning marriage, and life thereafter. There is just about everything that is going wrong with the film. It starts with the scripting which jumps from one point to another failing to keep the audience informed.
    Sidharth’s ‘amnesia’ is least convincing. The film is beyond the director’s control soon after it takes off. The futuristic approach with communication, be it cell phone or computer, serves no purpose; even the makeup of the aged phase of the actors looks amateur.

    The film has some good songs playing in the background but don’t register as one is trying to figure out the events in the story. The popular number, Kala chashma…., is left for the end titles by which time the viewer has lost the will to stay back. Editing is sorely missing. The only thing that works for the film is the visuals. It is a beautifully shot film.
    Baar Baar Dekho is a grossly disappointing film.

    Producers: Karan Johar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar

    Director: Nitya Mehra

    Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, Sarika, Ram Kapoor

  • Baar Baar Dekho…Akhir Kyon?

    Baar Baar Dekho…Akhir Kyon?

    MUMBAI: Baar Baar Dekho, the debut directorial venture of Nitya Mehra, is a love story that spans over three decades. The makers seem to have found the basic idea from the Hollywood film, Groundhog Day (1995). Here, the idea has been used for a couple about to marry.

    Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif are born in England around the same time and their parents also decide to move back to India almost at the same time. Katrina and Sidharth meet at school and become close pals at eight. Love blossoms as they grow.

    Sidharth is a gifted mathematician while Katrina’s calling is modern art. Their love is boundless and both families are agreeable. It is time to get them to commit to each other and an engagement ceremony takes place. Sidharth is however not sure he wants to get married at that point in time. His first love is mathematics and he wants to prove himself as a math genius all over the world. At the time he was committing to Katrina, his research paper to Cambridge has been appreciated and he is invited to join the faculty.

    While Sidharth is a middleclass man who believes in making it big on his own, his would-be father-in-law, Ram Kapoor, gifts him a car and a plush flat. This puts him off further. He has an argument with Katrina to the extent that he offends her. To escape things happening around him, he hits the bottle.

    His future travel with wife Katrina is what most of this film is about. Sidharth’s life revolves round his job with little or no time for the family. His mind is so taken up by research, he is unable to connect well with his children when he meets them after gaps. Katrina expresses her displeasure with what is happening to her family life. And, to Sidharth’s discomfort, Kapoor moves in with the family to provide support to Katrina.

    Sidharth’s time with his family is like a long lost relative coming back after ages. On one occasion, he is called when his mother dies. There, he realizes that his divorced wife Katrina has remarried!

    Baar Baar Dekho is a kind of long-winding sermon to men and women planning marriage, and life thereafter. There is just about everything that is going wrong with the film. It starts with the scripting which jumps from one point to another failing to keep the audience informed.
    Sidharth’s ‘amnesia’ is least convincing. The film is beyond the director’s control soon after it takes off. The futuristic approach with communication, be it cell phone or computer, serves no purpose; even the makeup of the aged phase of the actors looks amateur.

    The film has some good songs playing in the background but don’t register as one is trying to figure out the events in the story. The popular number, Kala chashma…., is left for the end titles by which time the viewer has lost the will to stay back. Editing is sorely missing. The only thing that works for the film is the visuals. It is a beautifully shot film.
    Baar Baar Dekho is a grossly disappointing film.

    Producers: Karan Johar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar

    Director: Nitya Mehra

    Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, Sarika, Ram Kapoor

  • India to sign film co-production pacts with BRICS members

    India to sign film co-production pacts with BRICS members

    NEW DELHI: A specially-curated BRICS section would form a part of the International Film Festival of India from this year. It would become a regular feature in the future editions. The BRICS Film Festival was held in the capital from 2 to 6 September 2016.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiaih Naidu said the government was actively considering signing co-production agreements with Russia and South Africa to promote India as a filming destination, taking the process forward after having signed similar agreements with Brazil and China.

    At the festival, 20 films were screened in the competition section, four from each country. The opening film at the festival saw the World Premiere of the Malayalam movie “Veeram” by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair starring Kunal Kapoor. The closing film was the Chinese “Skiptrace” starring Jackie Chan directed by Renny Harlin. It is an action-comedy, which revolves round a Chinese detective who teams up with an American Gambler to catch a Chinese criminal.

    Speaking at the closing of the first BRICS Film Festival, the minister also proposed setting up of institutional mechanisms for regular collaboration between film archives of the member-countries as it would ensure exchange of information on preservation of film heritage. He said that BRICS countries could explore the possibility of having a formal mechanism for student exchange programmes among the leading film institutes.

    Naidu said the new-age cinema from the BRICS nations spoke to a wider audience with socially relevant themes, and filmmakers were not afraid of communicating in the way they desired. This inspired young film makers to make films that were not only entertaining but also enlightening. As a powerful medium, it sent across the right message that could counter the negativity emerging from acts of terrorism worldwide. Films awakened national consciousness and helped in channelizing energies of the youth in social reconstruction and nation-building.

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was also present at the event where awards were given away to award-winning films.

    Naidu said the diverse topography of India offers a variety of locales for shooting of films round the year. In addition to this, India is home to one of the most vibrant and highly-skilled film professionals.

    BRICS film directors should take this opportunity to explore possibilities for shooting their films in India. The government has taken several steps to create a conducive environment for shooting. One such step is setting up of a Film Facilitation Office under the National Film Development Corporation.

    Kannada movie “Thithi” was awarded the Best Film, while the Special Jury prize was awarded to “Between Valleys” from Brazil. Huo Jianqi from China was adjudged the Best Director for “Xuan Chang”. Thabo Rametsi from South Africa was awarded the Best Actor (Male) award for “Kalushi (The story of Solomon Mahlangu)” and Yulia Peresild from Russia was awarded the Best Actor (Female) award for “Battle for Sevastopol”. The jury also recommended Special Mention awards to the films “Songs of the Phoenix” from China and “14+” from Russia.

    The festival showcased an amalgamation of culture, films, song and dance, and food of the member-countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Exclusive cuisine from all the nations was also available at the Food Court at the venue. A Craft Fair was also organized at the Siri Fort auditorium complex with all member-countries putting up stalls with souvenirs and other properties for sale.

    Beyond films, the festival also had spectacular performances by the Chengdu Performing Arts Theatre (China), Theatre Leningrad Centre Dreams (Russia) and MBZ Music Production (South Africa). The closing ceremony also saw the release of the first BRICS Film Festival Scroll, which was presented to representatives from China. It was announced that China will host the next version of the BRICS Film Festival in Chengdu.

    Meanwhile, the Deputy Director General of Film Bureau of China Zhou Jiandong said that China produces almost 650 to 700 feature films annually. The box office collection was $ 6.8 billion last year and the urban accumulative attendance was 1.26 billion. The Chinese delegation comprised 40 members. The cast and crew from the competing movies of China shared their stories, ideas and experiences in a press gathering.

    Members included Huo Jianqi, Director of ‘Xuan Zang’, China Film Cooperation Limited Vice President Zhou Baolin who is the co-producer of ‘Xuan Zang’, Wu Yuan Yuan who is the scriptwriter of ‘Go Away Mr. Tumor’, and Wu Yan Yan who produced, ‘Songs of the Phoenix’.

    ‘Xuan Zang’ was co-produced by China and EROS Entertainment, India. “We hope that after the success of this movie, more Chinese filmmakers will be interested in working with their Indian counterparts. With such collaborations, we will be able to bring more Indian movies to China,” Baolin said. Jianqui said the story was common to both, India and China, as it deals with the topic of Buddhism.

    The story of ‘Go Away Mr. Tumor’ is not only limited to China, but depicts universal optimistic spirit, said Yuan. Last year, this movie was showcased in film festivals of North America and Australia owing of its universal subject. She added that Indian movies inspire her a lot. She watched ‘3 idiots’ and learned that a film can be entertaining as well as educating.

    Yan Yan was happy that a non-commercial movie also received a huge audience applause. Her movie ‘Song of Phoenix’ was running successfully in theatres for two months, and it gave her a lot of hope that such cinema was appreciated by the young audience.

    In a separate exchange, delegates from South Africa expressed hope that very soon member-countries will co-produce films on various interesting topics and enhance bilateral relations. The delegation said talks at the highest level of governments are progressing well and will soon give a final shape to joint cooperation in the field of cinema.

    The cast and crew from the competing films of South Africa shared their stories, ideas and experiences. Present at the conference were Sallas de Jager, Director of ‘Free State’; Director Mandla Dube along with Associate producer Lerato Louise Montoedi of ‘Kalushi: The Story of Soloman Mahlangu’; Thapelo Mokoena, Actor of ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ and Paul Egan, Producer of ‘Tess’.

    Jager said ‘Free State’ was shot two years ago and involved people from South Africa and India. It was a privilege for him to write the story, portraying the essence of a forbidden love story. The film represents the relation between parents and children. He noted that working with the Indian crew was a great learning experience.

    ‘Free State’ showcases the story of Jeanette, who is a beautiful open-minded law student. During her summer holiday with her father in the Free State, a random act of kindness by an attractive Indian sprouts an unexpected love affair. Secret meetings follow, since it was against the law at the time to have an inter-racial relationship. As the film progresses, their secret comes out and hell breaks loose.

    Dube said ‘Kalushi’ was shot eight years ago and had been screened at various film festivals including Cannes, and loved by the people of Edinburgh, South Africa, Zanzibar and London.

    Lerato Louise added that the idea of making this movie came from a stage play. The movie portrays the story of a young liberator who fought for the country. The story of Solomon relates to the connection of South Africa and India, as the lawyer of Kalushi was an Indian.

    Thapelo Mokoena said ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ revolved round a woman and is one of the three romantic comedy movies produced by the black community. He added that the film is more than just a struggle story of the past.

    ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ is the story of Gugu, a woman who rejects love before it can get too close to rock her from a self-imposed exile from love. But, to find bliss with the right guy she must first realize that no man is created equal.

    Paul Egan said the shooting of ‘Tess’ was completed in June 2016 and the audience outside South Africa witnessed it for the first time at this festival. The quality and precision of movies from the other countries screened at BRICS were extremely inspiring and that they were learning quite a lot from them, he added.

  • India to sign film co-production pacts with BRICS members

    India to sign film co-production pacts with BRICS members

    NEW DELHI: A specially-curated BRICS section would form a part of the International Film Festival of India from this year. It would become a regular feature in the future editions. The BRICS Film Festival was held in the capital from 2 to 6 September 2016.

    Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiaih Naidu said the government was actively considering signing co-production agreements with Russia and South Africa to promote India as a filming destination, taking the process forward after having signed similar agreements with Brazil and China.

    At the festival, 20 films were screened in the competition section, four from each country. The opening film at the festival saw the World Premiere of the Malayalam movie “Veeram” by Jayaraj Rajasekharan Nair starring Kunal Kapoor. The closing film was the Chinese “Skiptrace” starring Jackie Chan directed by Renny Harlin. It is an action-comedy, which revolves round a Chinese detective who teams up with an American Gambler to catch a Chinese criminal.

    Speaking at the closing of the first BRICS Film Festival, the minister also proposed setting up of institutional mechanisms for regular collaboration between film archives of the member-countries as it would ensure exchange of information on preservation of film heritage. He said that BRICS countries could explore the possibility of having a formal mechanism for student exchange programmes among the leading film institutes.

    Naidu said the new-age cinema from the BRICS nations spoke to a wider audience with socially relevant themes, and filmmakers were not afraid of communicating in the way they desired. This inspired young film makers to make films that were not only entertaining but also enlightening. As a powerful medium, it sent across the right message that could counter the negativity emerging from acts of terrorism worldwide. Films awakened national consciousness and helped in channelizing energies of the youth in social reconstruction and nation-building.

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore was also present at the event where awards were given away to award-winning films.

    Naidu said the diverse topography of India offers a variety of locales for shooting of films round the year. In addition to this, India is home to one of the most vibrant and highly-skilled film professionals.

    BRICS film directors should take this opportunity to explore possibilities for shooting their films in India. The government has taken several steps to create a conducive environment for shooting. One such step is setting up of a Film Facilitation Office under the National Film Development Corporation.

    Kannada movie “Thithi” was awarded the Best Film, while the Special Jury prize was awarded to “Between Valleys” from Brazil. Huo Jianqi from China was adjudged the Best Director for “Xuan Chang”. Thabo Rametsi from South Africa was awarded the Best Actor (Male) award for “Kalushi (The story of Solomon Mahlangu)” and Yulia Peresild from Russia was awarded the Best Actor (Female) award for “Battle for Sevastopol”. The jury also recommended Special Mention awards to the films “Songs of the Phoenix” from China and “14+” from Russia.

    The festival showcased an amalgamation of culture, films, song and dance, and food of the member-countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Exclusive cuisine from all the nations was also available at the Food Court at the venue. A Craft Fair was also organized at the Siri Fort auditorium complex with all member-countries putting up stalls with souvenirs and other properties for sale.

    Beyond films, the festival also had spectacular performances by the Chengdu Performing Arts Theatre (China), Theatre Leningrad Centre Dreams (Russia) and MBZ Music Production (South Africa). The closing ceremony also saw the release of the first BRICS Film Festival Scroll, which was presented to representatives from China. It was announced that China will host the next version of the BRICS Film Festival in Chengdu.

    Meanwhile, the Deputy Director General of Film Bureau of China Zhou Jiandong said that China produces almost 650 to 700 feature films annually. The box office collection was $ 6.8 billion last year and the urban accumulative attendance was 1.26 billion. The Chinese delegation comprised 40 members. The cast and crew from the competing movies of China shared their stories, ideas and experiences in a press gathering.

    Members included Huo Jianqi, Director of ‘Xuan Zang’, China Film Cooperation Limited Vice President Zhou Baolin who is the co-producer of ‘Xuan Zang’, Wu Yuan Yuan who is the scriptwriter of ‘Go Away Mr. Tumor’, and Wu Yan Yan who produced, ‘Songs of the Phoenix’.

    ‘Xuan Zang’ was co-produced by China and EROS Entertainment, India. “We hope that after the success of this movie, more Chinese filmmakers will be interested in working with their Indian counterparts. With such collaborations, we will be able to bring more Indian movies to China,” Baolin said. Jianqui said the story was common to both, India and China, as it deals with the topic of Buddhism.

    The story of ‘Go Away Mr. Tumor’ is not only limited to China, but depicts universal optimistic spirit, said Yuan. Last year, this movie was showcased in film festivals of North America and Australia owing of its universal subject. She added that Indian movies inspire her a lot. She watched ‘3 idiots’ and learned that a film can be entertaining as well as educating.

    Yan Yan was happy that a non-commercial movie also received a huge audience applause. Her movie ‘Song of Phoenix’ was running successfully in theatres for two months, and it gave her a lot of hope that such cinema was appreciated by the young audience.

    In a separate exchange, delegates from South Africa expressed hope that very soon member-countries will co-produce films on various interesting topics and enhance bilateral relations. The delegation said talks at the highest level of governments are progressing well and will soon give a final shape to joint cooperation in the field of cinema.

    The cast and crew from the competing films of South Africa shared their stories, ideas and experiences. Present at the conference were Sallas de Jager, Director of ‘Free State’; Director Mandla Dube along with Associate producer Lerato Louise Montoedi of ‘Kalushi: The Story of Soloman Mahlangu’; Thapelo Mokoena, Actor of ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ and Paul Egan, Producer of ‘Tess’.

    Jager said ‘Free State’ was shot two years ago and involved people from South Africa and India. It was a privilege for him to write the story, portraying the essence of a forbidden love story. The film represents the relation between parents and children. He noted that working with the Indian crew was a great learning experience.

    ‘Free State’ showcases the story of Jeanette, who is a beautiful open-minded law student. During her summer holiday with her father in the Free State, a random act of kindness by an attractive Indian sprouts an unexpected love affair. Secret meetings follow, since it was against the law at the time to have an inter-racial relationship. As the film progresses, their secret comes out and hell breaks loose.

    Dube said ‘Kalushi’ was shot eight years ago and had been screened at various film festivals including Cannes, and loved by the people of Edinburgh, South Africa, Zanzibar and London.

    Lerato Louise added that the idea of making this movie came from a stage play. The movie portrays the story of a young liberator who fought for the country. The story of Solomon relates to the connection of South Africa and India, as the lawyer of Kalushi was an Indian.

    Thapelo Mokoena said ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ revolved round a woman and is one of the three romantic comedy movies produced by the black community. He added that the film is more than just a struggle story of the past.

    ‘Mrs. Right Guy’ is the story of Gugu, a woman who rejects love before it can get too close to rock her from a self-imposed exile from love. But, to find bliss with the right guy she must first realize that no man is created equal.

    Paul Egan said the shooting of ‘Tess’ was completed in June 2016 and the audience outside South Africa witnessed it for the first time at this festival. The quality and precision of movies from the other countries screened at BRICS were extremely inspiring and that they were learning quite a lot from them, he added.

  • Dud weeks; Rustom brings some solace

    Dud weeks; Rustom brings some solace

    MUMBAI: A one-woman non-army. Akira, a film banking solely on Sonakshi Sinha with action as the main theme, fails on two counts. The film does not even contain as much action as its promos showed. And, Sonakshi does not quite manage to carry the film through.

    The film had no major opposition to contend with but that did not help it get a decent opening. Struggling from day one when the film collected Rs 4.6 crore, barely improving on Saturday while the expected Sunday rise also remained negligible. The film collected Rs 15.7 crore for its opening weekend.

    It film faced a major drop on Monday despite a holiday in some parts of India.

    *Yeh Toh Two Much Ho Gayaa fails badly.

    *Island City goes unnoticed.

    *Sunshine Music Tours and Travels fails to find an audience.

    *A Flying Jatt succumbs to its poor treatment and fails to appeal to its target audience, children. The film had an average opening response. After showing a weak trend during its opening weekend, the film dropped drastically Monday onwards managing just Rs 33.75 crore for its first week.

    *Happy Bhag Jayegi sustains with a decent second week in the absence of competition. The film adds Rs 6.3 crore for its second week taking its two-week total to Rs 23.2 crore.

    *Mohenjo Daro continues its poor run at the box office. The film added just about Rs 50 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 54.3 crore.

    *Rustom maintains strong collections in its third week being a universally-appealing film to watch. The film collects Rs 6.8 crore in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 121.6 crore.