ITV

Category: Hindi

  • Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Sarbjit…Insufferable

    Wanting an easy way out, the run for biopics continues. The fact that biopics rarely work in India; an odd one which works to an extent, needs to be fictionalized in parts or more. If such films on Gandhi (which had just scrapped through in English original version but failed in its Hindi version) as well as films on Bose, Patel, Nehru, Savarkar, Ambedkar have all passed unnoticed, to think that Sarbjit was the least of a real life story to be adapted for a film! 
    Sarbjit Singh, played by Randeep Hooda, is a farm hand in the village of Bhikhi wind in Punjab near the India Pakistan border. His upbringing has mostly been under the aegis of his older sister, Dalbir Kaur, played by Aishwarya Rai. As he comes of age, he falls for the village belle, Richa Chaddha, and soon becomes the father of two daughters. 

    Fond of wrestling, Hooda is engrossed in the sport one day when Rai watches him from a passing street bus. For whatever reason, she is angry with him. The film or the script does not bother to tell you why for, in a small village, youth do indulge in such harmless sport for pastime. However, Rai decides to punish Hooda, married and father of two, for his indulgence as if he was a school kid. He is banished from house even as he keeps bantering from outside the main door. The scene has been prolonged unnecessarily and makes little sense.

    This is when a friend of Hooda enters the scene and flashes a quarter of alcohol (180ml) at Hooda and both vanish in to nearby fields to share the drinks. And, in no time, both are beyond themselves totally inebriated. Imagine, 90 ml of alcohol each doing that to two Punjabis! Leaving his two-wheeler for his friend to tend to, Hooda decides to amble home. Instead, he ambles into Pakistani territory where the rangers are ready to pounce on him and consign him to a jail. He is branded as an Indian terrorist, Ranjeet Singh, who bombed various locations in Pakistan killing many.

    The treatment meted out to Hooda in a Pakistani jail is inhuman to say the least. On the Indian side, Rai is desperately looking for her brother to no avail. She soon learns that he has landed in a Pakistani jail. There on starts her ordeal and, that of the viewer of this film, as she bangs on every possible door to come to help her get her brother released. She sits on fasts, leads numerous candle light marches (which have become popular in our films more than they happen in life) and these things get repetitive all through the film.

    Rai yells at people all around, may it be in Indian officialdom or in Pakistan jails as if her brother was the only Indian languishing in Pakistani jail and, as if, India did not have any Pakistanis in its prisons. Her approach as shown in the film, lacks logic or normalcy. 
    The film is titled after the so called victim, Sarbjit, but it is all about Rai. She is in each frame as a crusader on a mission to get her brother freed. Neither does she convince the authorities nor the audience with her tirades nor her overacting. 

    To think in its perspective, Sarbjit was not a subject to turn into a film; it is a local story with no identification with all India audiences. It is an inconclusive story where nothing positive comes out in the end. The other mistake was to cast the glamorous Ms Rai as the protagonist who neither looks nor convinces as Sarbjit’s sister, Dalbir Kaur would expected to be. She also lacks the native Punjabi twang as most of the time she mouths Hindi. In fact, Rai, expected to be the star and draw for this film, is its major drawback.

    In this film about Sarbjit, Hooda playing Sarbjit is sidelined as isRicha Chadha, playing his wife. The script is wonky and, at 131 minutes, intolerable. Direction is below par. Editing is poor. Cinematography is fair. Music had no place in this film except for one song in the beginning when Hooda and Chadha romance; the rest of the numbers are forced in. The film’s dialogue lacks spark. Richa, despite a much curtailed secondary role, stands her ground. Hoodagives into poor substance.

    Sarbjit is insufferable. Tax Free tag in a couple of states notwithstanding. 
    Producer: Vshu Bhagnani, Jackey Bhagnanai, Sandeep Singh, Deepshikha Deshmukh, Omung Kumar, KrIshan Kumar, Bhushan Kumar. 

    Director: Omung Kumar.

    Cast: Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadha, Darshan Chadha, Ankita Shrivastav, Shiwani  Saini. 

  • Azhar disappoints, Baaghi and Jungle Book going strong

    Azhar disappoints, Baaghi and Jungle Book going strong

    Azhar, the major release of the week, much touted to be a controversial saga of a great cricketer fallen on bad days, found indifferent response from the viewers. Memories are short, and with nothing positive to remind one of Azhar in the era of Kohli, Raina, Rohit , etc and, there was no inclination to make an aggrieved hero out of an alleged suspect.

    The film opened to a mediocre response on Friday, remained stagnant even on Saturday and did little on Sunday to show positive signs. The film had an opening weekend of Rs 20.6 crore. The drop from today onwards is inevitable looking at lack of appreciation.

    Dear Dad, a father son story, about a father wanting his on the verge of teens to accept his gay status, has failed to find its audience. Kids can’t see the film, elders would not want to watch it and that left little else. The film faced no audience, no show status at many cinemas.

    Buddha In A Traffic Jam released after last minute hassles went generally unnoticed. The theme of the film has no relevance in the scheme of things when it comes to cinema.

    Traffic, a film about a celebrity father buying a heart for transplant into his ailing daughter, is not accepted by Hindi audiences despite its success in the original Malayalam and other versions. More than a humane tale, it emerged as the depiction of money, might and clout. The film failed to touch the chord and collected barely Rs 3.2 crore in its first week.

    1920 London is the only film from the films released last week which made a mark, though to a limited extent. This horror drama with the credibility of Sharman Joshi riding on it, did decent business at the box office and collected Rs 12.1 crore.

    Sunny Leone and her sex appeal are at a stage of negative returns. One Night Stand, despite a suggestive title and Sunny Leone in the lead, failed to arouse curiosity. The film remained poor in its first week managing to garner together a bare Rs 3.15 crore.

    Baaghi was excellent in its second week as this mass appeal film went on to collect Rs 11.8 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 71.4 crore.

    Jungle Book collected Rs 6.25 crore in its fifth week with its five week being Rs 175.15 crore. 

  • Azhar disappoints, Baaghi and Jungle Book going strong

    Azhar disappoints, Baaghi and Jungle Book going strong

    Azhar, the major release of the week, much touted to be a controversial saga of a great cricketer fallen on bad days, found indifferent response from the viewers. Memories are short, and with nothing positive to remind one of Azhar in the era of Kohli, Raina, Rohit , etc and, there was no inclination to make an aggrieved hero out of an alleged suspect.

    The film opened to a mediocre response on Friday, remained stagnant even on Saturday and did little on Sunday to show positive signs. The film had an opening weekend of Rs 20.6 crore. The drop from today onwards is inevitable looking at lack of appreciation.

    Dear Dad, a father son story, about a father wanting his on the verge of teens to accept his gay status, has failed to find its audience. Kids can’t see the film, elders would not want to watch it and that left little else. The film faced no audience, no show status at many cinemas.

    Buddha In A Traffic Jam released after last minute hassles went generally unnoticed. The theme of the film has no relevance in the scheme of things when it comes to cinema.

    Traffic, a film about a celebrity father buying a heart for transplant into his ailing daughter, is not accepted by Hindi audiences despite its success in the original Malayalam and other versions. More than a humane tale, it emerged as the depiction of money, might and clout. The film failed to touch the chord and collected barely Rs 3.2 crore in its first week.

    1920 London is the only film from the films released last week which made a mark, though to a limited extent. This horror drama with the credibility of Sharman Joshi riding on it, did decent business at the box office and collected Rs 12.1 crore.

    Sunny Leone and her sex appeal are at a stage of negative returns. One Night Stand, despite a suggestive title and Sunny Leone in the lead, failed to arouse curiosity. The film remained poor in its first week managing to garner together a bare Rs 3.15 crore.

    Baaghi was excellent in its second week as this mass appeal film went on to collect Rs 11.8 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 71.4 crore.

    Jungle Book collected Rs 6.25 crore in its fifth week with its five week being Rs 175.15 crore. 

  • Azhar…Of a fallen idol!..Dear Dad…Its Complicated!

    Azhar…Of a fallen idol!..Dear Dad…Its Complicated!

    MUMBAI: Biographical or sports films are being mademore often in recent times than they ever were. With a dearth of script ideas as well as the writers to deliver, this is an easy way out to keep production lineup running for a studios like Balaji Motion Pictures. This genre facilitates mid-range star cast films at affordable budgets.

    Azhar is one such film from the Balaji stable which mixes the themes of sport as well as a biography and, as a bonus, promises a potential tale to tell which would complete the makers’ requirements.

    The film is said to be based on the life of the mercurial cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin; his cricketing career, his marriage followed by a romance with a film star and the controversy that followed implicating him in a match fixing scandal. However, a disclaimer in the titles belies all such claims as well as denies resemblance to any cricketer dead or alive.It is an account of the rise and fall of a celebrated Indian cricketer on his way to becoming a legend.

    There a great feeling of joy and celebrations in this Muslim household of Hyderabad as the scion to the family is born. The maternal grandfather, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, names the boyAzharuddin, an Arabic word meaning, brilliant, luminous and such. Kharbanda expects Azhar to shine, stand out and to this end, he hands over a cricket bat in the hands of the child. He has taught Emraan some mantras for success in life and also predicted that not only will he play for India but will play 100 test matches.

    Emraan Hashmi playing the protagonist is now grown up having championed the game of cricket at various levels starting from streets. Soon enough, he is selected for the state Ranji Trophy team. Before you realize the scene has changed and jumped several years into future, you seeAzhar playing test cricket for India.

    Azhar makes his debut with a ton and follows it up with two more hundreds in next two tests. He is an overnight sensation so much so that the past masters give him various complementary epitaphs. The next step is inevitable; Azhar is offered the captaincy of the Indian team. This is in a very dramatic filmy manner where, instead of the cricket board calling him to the office to convey the decision, it is done by an official of the board doing it in the middle of an empty stadium making it look morelike a conspiracy than anhonour.

    The rest of the team consists of senior players and the resentment at Azhar’s appointment to lead them is evident. Leading from the front, Azhar is soon in command and is now playing his 99th test match. That is when the bubble bursts as he is accused of match fixing. He is suspended and also found guilty by the CBI. What follows is an 11 year long court battle to clear his name. The board’s lawyer is Lara Dutta, imported from London. Lara has been an ardent Azhar fan all along, but feels betrayed now and fights the case vigorously.

    Azhar, the film, tries to change the deeply embedded perception of people who once idolized the star cricketer. It is not easy to erase their hurt. The script takes recourse to a haphazard narration with past and present overlapping ad nauseam. The direction lets many glitches pass. To claim to have made a film on Azharuddin with a disclaimer does not let one change the facts of the case which dominated the media for long. The only catchy song is the remix of the old time mass hit, Oyeoye…. from Tridev. Even at 131 minutes, the film needs further clipping.

    As for performances, Emraan does his best but, Azhar’s persona is too big to live up to even in a disgraced state. While Prachi Desai is impressive, NargisFakri, playing the second wife, is passable. Lara is okay.  The casting of other cricketers, especially Kapil is laughable. Kunal Roy Kapur saves quite a few scenes as an idiosyncratic defense lawyer.

    Azhar is about a disgraced hero: there may be a few who would watch his tale out of sympathy not as an idol, which is not enough to sustain at the box office.

    Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sony Pictures Network.

    Director: Tony D’Souza.

    Cast: Emraan Hashmi, NargisFakhri, Lara Dutta, Gautam Gulati, Manjot Singh, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Rajesh Sharma.

    Dear Dad

    Dear Dad is a father son bonding story. That would not have been fine thinking of a film like Masoom (1983). But, here, the already perfectly bonded family of two children and their loving parents is shattered as the father comes out the closet to declare his homosexual leanings.

    Himanshu Sharma is a 14 year old lad in Delhi living with his father, Arvind Swamy, mother and younger sister. He is ready to go back to hostel in the hill station of Mussorie. The plan is to travel with his friends. But, the father, Arvind, carries a load on his mind and offers to drop Himanshu to Mussorie. It is the coming of age for Himanshu and Swamy wants to first get through to his son’s teen mind presently fed on nude pictures, playing games on his mobile and generally enjoying the stage of life he is in along with his friends. On the drive to Mussorie, while Swamy tries to strike a conversation, the son is immersed in his cell phone.

    On the way to Mussorie, Swamy decides to stop at his parental home. Done with dotting momma, Swamy proceeds to see his father who has lost his speech. For, some reason, Swamy decides to tell his father that he was never interested in women. While his father has lost his speech (also, for no explicable reason, also his expressions!) and cant reply, the son overhears Swamy’s confession.

    The son, Himanshu, is devastated and feels betrayed. He withdraws from his father and all his affection and is in a rebel mode. The son also suspects his father of wanting to spend the night with a TV reality show celebrity, Aman Uppal, who they have given a lift on the way.

    Himanshu has confided in his closest buddy (all closest buddies in films are fat and seem to be jovial; this one fits the stereotypical, too). The friend takes him to a Bengali baba who can turn a homosexual in to a mard again!

    While Himanshu wanted a normal happy family of father, mother and sister living happily, his dream is shattered.

    Quite a few films seem to open the closet midway through the film lately; the recent examples being Kapoor & Sons while another one, Aligarh, was all about same sex attraction.

    Dear Dad is the maker’s film; the audience is less likely to participate. The film follows a script of convenience as things happen because they happen. While the theme is serious, the treatment is casual. The father son patch up is as hurried as the fallout was for after all, a Debonair collecting son should know both sides of a coin!

    What works for the film are the beautiful locales of Uttarkhand as the duo travel from Delhi by road, the scenic beauty has been beautifully captured.  As for the performances, Swamy underplays his being gay and the son, Himanshu, complements this with aggression. Uppal does very well. The rest are incidental.

    Dear Dad will find it tough fit into a slot when it comes to identifying its audience.

    Producers: Shaan Vyas, Ratnakar M.

    Director: TanujBhramar.

    Cast: Arvind Swamy, Himanshu Sharma, Ekavali Khanna, Aman Uppal, BhavikaBhasin.

  • Azhar…Of a fallen idol!..Dear Dad…Its Complicated!

    Azhar…Of a fallen idol!..Dear Dad…Its Complicated!

    MUMBAI: Biographical or sports films are being mademore often in recent times than they ever were. With a dearth of script ideas as well as the writers to deliver, this is an easy way out to keep production lineup running for a studios like Balaji Motion Pictures. This genre facilitates mid-range star cast films at affordable budgets.

    Azhar is one such film from the Balaji stable which mixes the themes of sport as well as a biography and, as a bonus, promises a potential tale to tell which would complete the makers’ requirements.

    The film is said to be based on the life of the mercurial cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin; his cricketing career, his marriage followed by a romance with a film star and the controversy that followed implicating him in a match fixing scandal. However, a disclaimer in the titles belies all such claims as well as denies resemblance to any cricketer dead or alive.It is an account of the rise and fall of a celebrated Indian cricketer on his way to becoming a legend.

    There a great feeling of joy and celebrations in this Muslim household of Hyderabad as the scion to the family is born. The maternal grandfather, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, names the boyAzharuddin, an Arabic word meaning, brilliant, luminous and such. Kharbanda expects Azhar to shine, stand out and to this end, he hands over a cricket bat in the hands of the child. He has taught Emraan some mantras for success in life and also predicted that not only will he play for India but will play 100 test matches.

    Emraan Hashmi playing the protagonist is now grown up having championed the game of cricket at various levels starting from streets. Soon enough, he is selected for the state Ranji Trophy team. Before you realize the scene has changed and jumped several years into future, you seeAzhar playing test cricket for India.

    Azhar makes his debut with a ton and follows it up with two more hundreds in next two tests. He is an overnight sensation so much so that the past masters give him various complementary epitaphs. The next step is inevitable; Azhar is offered the captaincy of the Indian team. This is in a very dramatic filmy manner where, instead of the cricket board calling him to the office to convey the decision, it is done by an official of the board doing it in the middle of an empty stadium making it look morelike a conspiracy than anhonour.

    The rest of the team consists of senior players and the resentment at Azhar’s appointment to lead them is evident. Leading from the front, Azhar is soon in command and is now playing his 99th test match. That is when the bubble bursts as he is accused of match fixing. He is suspended and also found guilty by the CBI. What follows is an 11 year long court battle to clear his name. The board’s lawyer is Lara Dutta, imported from London. Lara has been an ardent Azhar fan all along, but feels betrayed now and fights the case vigorously.

    Azhar, the film, tries to change the deeply embedded perception of people who once idolized the star cricketer. It is not easy to erase their hurt. The script takes recourse to a haphazard narration with past and present overlapping ad nauseam. The direction lets many glitches pass. To claim to have made a film on Azharuddin with a disclaimer does not let one change the facts of the case which dominated the media for long. The only catchy song is the remix of the old time mass hit, Oyeoye…. from Tridev. Even at 131 minutes, the film needs further clipping.

    As for performances, Emraan does his best but, Azhar’s persona is too big to live up to even in a disgraced state. While Prachi Desai is impressive, NargisFakri, playing the second wife, is passable. Lara is okay.  The casting of other cricketers, especially Kapil is laughable. Kunal Roy Kapur saves quite a few scenes as an idiosyncratic defense lawyer.

    Azhar is about a disgraced hero: there may be a few who would watch his tale out of sympathy not as an idol, which is not enough to sustain at the box office.

    Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sony Pictures Network.

    Director: Tony D’Souza.

    Cast: Emraan Hashmi, NargisFakhri, Lara Dutta, Gautam Gulati, Manjot Singh, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Rajesh Sharma.

    Dear Dad

    Dear Dad is a father son bonding story. That would not have been fine thinking of a film like Masoom (1983). But, here, the already perfectly bonded family of two children and their loving parents is shattered as the father comes out the closet to declare his homosexual leanings.

    Himanshu Sharma is a 14 year old lad in Delhi living with his father, Arvind Swamy, mother and younger sister. He is ready to go back to hostel in the hill station of Mussorie. The plan is to travel with his friends. But, the father, Arvind, carries a load on his mind and offers to drop Himanshu to Mussorie. It is the coming of age for Himanshu and Swamy wants to first get through to his son’s teen mind presently fed on nude pictures, playing games on his mobile and generally enjoying the stage of life he is in along with his friends. On the drive to Mussorie, while Swamy tries to strike a conversation, the son is immersed in his cell phone.

    On the way to Mussorie, Swamy decides to stop at his parental home. Done with dotting momma, Swamy proceeds to see his father who has lost his speech. For, some reason, Swamy decides to tell his father that he was never interested in women. While his father has lost his speech (also, for no explicable reason, also his expressions!) and cant reply, the son overhears Swamy’s confession.

    The son, Himanshu, is devastated and feels betrayed. He withdraws from his father and all his affection and is in a rebel mode. The son also suspects his father of wanting to spend the night with a TV reality show celebrity, Aman Uppal, who they have given a lift on the way.

    Himanshu has confided in his closest buddy (all closest buddies in films are fat and seem to be jovial; this one fits the stereotypical, too). The friend takes him to a Bengali baba who can turn a homosexual in to a mard again!

    While Himanshu wanted a normal happy family of father, mother and sister living happily, his dream is shattered.

    Quite a few films seem to open the closet midway through the film lately; the recent examples being Kapoor & Sons while another one, Aligarh, was all about same sex attraction.

    Dear Dad is the maker’s film; the audience is less likely to participate. The film follows a script of convenience as things happen because they happen. While the theme is serious, the treatment is casual. The father son patch up is as hurried as the fallout was for after all, a Debonair collecting son should know both sides of a coin!

    What works for the film are the beautiful locales of Uttarkhand as the duo travel from Delhi by road, the scenic beauty has been beautifully captured.  As for the performances, Swamy underplays his being gay and the son, Himanshu, complements this with aggression. Uppal does very well. The rest are incidental.

    Dear Dad will find it tough fit into a slot when it comes to identifying its audience.

    Producers: Shaan Vyas, Ratnakar M.

    Director: TanujBhramar.

    Cast: Arvind Swamy, Himanshu Sharma, Ekavali Khanna, Aman Uppal, BhavikaBhasin.

  • Jungle Book, Baghi continue strong, poor new releases

    Jungle Book, Baghi continue strong, poor new releases

    MUMBAI: Two of the three new releases of the week faced disastrous outcome.

    London 1920 was the sole release of the three which managed to cross the Rs crore mark on its opening day. This horror genre film has done fair business in its opening weekend by collecting Rs 7.3 crore.

    Traffic, a hit in three South Indian languages, failed to generate curiosity and failed to attract viewers. The film opened to poor footfalls. At ticket rates priced at hundreds and no entertainment, it failed to get the audience. The film had opening day way short of the Rs crore figure and ended up collecting Rs 2.1 crore for its first weekend.

    As for, One Night Stand, how long can one sell a revealing Sunny Leone’s sex appeal and a fetching title? The film fared the worst of the three releases. It collected Rs 2 crore for its opening weekend..

    Baaghi reaped the benefits of poor opposition in its second weekend. There has not been a mass entertainer in the last few months. The film, after a lucrative first weekend of Rs 38.7 crore, followed up with a reasonably good business in the following days to complete its first week with Rs 59.6 crore.

    Short Cut Safari remained very poor.

    Nil Battey Sannata just about managed to touch the Rs crore mark in its first week.

    Santa Banta Pvt Ltd added Rs 1.5 lakh in its second week, having Rs 71.5 lakh to show for its two week run.

    Fan has fallen badly. The film collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 83.8 crore.

    Jungle Book maintained its hold at the box office with amazing figures even in its fourth week. The film collected Rs 17.4 crore taking its four week total to Rs 168.9 crore.

    Ki & Ka added Rs 20 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 51.35 crore.

  • Jungle Book, Baghi continue strong, poor new releases

    Jungle Book, Baghi continue strong, poor new releases

    MUMBAI: Two of the three new releases of the week faced disastrous outcome.

    London 1920 was the sole release of the three which managed to cross the Rs crore mark on its opening day. This horror genre film has done fair business in its opening weekend by collecting Rs 7.3 crore.

    Traffic, a hit in three South Indian languages, failed to generate curiosity and failed to attract viewers. The film opened to poor footfalls. At ticket rates priced at hundreds and no entertainment, it failed to get the audience. The film had opening day way short of the Rs crore figure and ended up collecting Rs 2.1 crore for its first weekend.

    As for, One Night Stand, how long can one sell a revealing Sunny Leone’s sex appeal and a fetching title? The film fared the worst of the three releases. It collected Rs 2 crore for its opening weekend..

    Baaghi reaped the benefits of poor opposition in its second weekend. There has not been a mass entertainer in the last few months. The film, after a lucrative first weekend of Rs 38.7 crore, followed up with a reasonably good business in the following days to complete its first week with Rs 59.6 crore.

    Short Cut Safari remained very poor.

    Nil Battey Sannata just about managed to touch the Rs crore mark in its first week.

    Santa Banta Pvt Ltd added Rs 1.5 lakh in its second week, having Rs 71.5 lakh to show for its two week run.

    Fan has fallen badly. The film collected Rs 1.2 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 83.8 crore.

    Jungle Book maintained its hold at the box office with amazing figures even in its fourth week. The film collected Rs 17.4 crore taking its four week total to Rs 168.9 crore.

    Ki & Ka added Rs 20 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 51.35 crore.

  • Traffic – Slow moving: One Night Stand – Not sunny anymore!

    Traffic – Slow moving: One Night Stand – Not sunny anymore!

    Traffic is a remake of Malayalam film of the same name made in 2011. Following its success, the film was also remade into Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal and Kannada as Crazy Star. The film’s story is inspired by a real-life incident, which took place in Chennai, involving the transport of a body organ, a heart, to a donee with strict time limits. The film has multi-narrative scripting with a talented star cast giving equal importance to all.  This is also Endemol India’s foray into film production after making a making television content.

    Prosonjit is a big movie star whose daughter is lying in a Pune hospital and needs an urgent heart transplant without which she will not last much longer. That is when a young man, Vishal Singh, a budding journalist, on his way to work on a motorcycle meets with an accident and is pronounced brain-dead.

    Prosonjit pressures the young man’s parents by using his clout with politicians as well as the governor to convince them. The governor even calls up the parents to donate the heart.

    That done, the main task is to transport the heart to the doctor Parambrata Chatterjee in Pune, for the procedure. With the governor and the politicians by his side, the traffic chief gets on with the job. The task of driving the van to Pune is assigned to Manoj Bajpayee, who sees this as an opportunity to redeem himself from corruption charges.

    This needs perfect coordination between the police, the driver and the doctors besides the help of other vehicle drivers. With the governor and the police by Prosonjit’s side, nothing should come in the way.

    The Hindi version script has done away with the complicated narrative of the original Malayalam film. But, this takes away the drama and the urgency of whole operation. For the director, Rajesh Pillai, the job is relatively easy as he also directed the Malayalam version.

    However, what makes one wary is that Prosonjit is an actor who wields solid clout as well as has money power. Would such efforts have been made for a girl from any ordinary family? If that was the story, this would have been a film with much more human interest. Performances are generally good considering the film has a huge talent pool but that also does not help the proceedings to be convincing. Traffic is a dry film, not the kind for entertainment seekers.

    Producers: Deepak Dhar, Sameer Gogate, Sameer Rajendran.

    Director: Rajesh Pillai.

    Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Sachin Khedekar, Vishal Singh, Amol Parashar, Divya Dutta, Divya Unni, Nikita Thukral, Richa Panai,Kitu Gidwani.

    One Night Stand…..Not sunny anymore!

    The title, One Night Stand, and its actor, Sunny Leone, make an obvious and convenient combination. One can’t build a story around her really and just an excuse for a story would suffice and expect Sunny to attract the audience.

    Tanuj Virwani’s event management company has staged a successful event and, to celebrate the success, Tanuj and his mates decided to celebrate over drinks. During all the fun and bantering that follows, they spot a lonely Sunny sitting all by herself. They dare Tanuj to approach her and strike up a conversation with her. Tanuj accepts the wager, goes and chats up Sunny.

    Soon, Sunny and Tanuj are on a drinking binge, getting animated and, at the end of the session, end up in bed together. In the morning, when Tanuj wakes up, Sunny has already left leaving no trace of her whereabouts.

    Tanuj heads back home to Pune where life continues with his wife, Nyra Banerjee. All is as usual as if nothing had happened. That is till, one day, Tanuj is out shopping at a mall with Nyra. There he spots Sunny and his passions flare up again and he wants to meet her again.

    Sunny is now an obsession with Tanuj as he starts stalking her till his next major event comes up. This event springs a surprise on Tanuj. But, if you expect some twists and turns or shockers, there are none.

    The basic inspiration as far as One Night Stand goes seems to have been taken from the English film (1997) of the same name, the complications of the later parts dealing with a friendship and AIDS are avoided.

    Everybody seems to come to terms and goes back to the life prior to the encounter. The story and screenplay don’t offer much scope and the director Jasmine D’Souza does not manage to rise above it. The film has some good songs, Do peg maar…….being already popular. Cinematography is good. While the film boasts no great performers, Sunny gets some footage to show expressions which she does not. Tanuj is passable. Nyra is sincere.

    One Night Stand counts mainly on Sunny to manage the box office but she already seems to be on a diminishing returns chart.

    Producer: Pradeep Sharma, Furquan Khan.

    Director: Jasmine D’ Souza.

    Cast: Sunny Leone, Tanuj Virwani, Nyra Banerjee.

  • Traffic – Slow moving: One Night Stand – Not sunny anymore!

    Traffic – Slow moving: One Night Stand – Not sunny anymore!

    Traffic is a remake of Malayalam film of the same name made in 2011. Following its success, the film was also remade into Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal and Kannada as Crazy Star. The film’s story is inspired by a real-life incident, which took place in Chennai, involving the transport of a body organ, a heart, to a donee with strict time limits. The film has multi-narrative scripting with a talented star cast giving equal importance to all.  This is also Endemol India’s foray into film production after making a making television content.

    Prosonjit is a big movie star whose daughter is lying in a Pune hospital and needs an urgent heart transplant without which she will not last much longer. That is when a young man, Vishal Singh, a budding journalist, on his way to work on a motorcycle meets with an accident and is pronounced brain-dead.

    Prosonjit pressures the young man’s parents by using his clout with politicians as well as the governor to convince them. The governor even calls up the parents to donate the heart.

    That done, the main task is to transport the heart to the doctor Parambrata Chatterjee in Pune, for the procedure. With the governor and the politicians by his side, the traffic chief gets on with the job. The task of driving the van to Pune is assigned to Manoj Bajpayee, who sees this as an opportunity to redeem himself from corruption charges.

    This needs perfect coordination between the police, the driver and the doctors besides the help of other vehicle drivers. With the governor and the police by Prosonjit’s side, nothing should come in the way.

    The Hindi version script has done away with the complicated narrative of the original Malayalam film. But, this takes away the drama and the urgency of whole operation. For the director, Rajesh Pillai, the job is relatively easy as he also directed the Malayalam version.

    However, what makes one wary is that Prosonjit is an actor who wields solid clout as well as has money power. Would such efforts have been made for a girl from any ordinary family? If that was the story, this would have been a film with much more human interest. Performances are generally good considering the film has a huge talent pool but that also does not help the proceedings to be convincing. Traffic is a dry film, not the kind for entertainment seekers.

    Producers: Deepak Dhar, Sameer Gogate, Sameer Rajendran.

    Director: Rajesh Pillai.

    Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Jimmy Shergill, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Parambrata Chatterjee, Sachin Khedekar, Vishal Singh, Amol Parashar, Divya Dutta, Divya Unni, Nikita Thukral, Richa Panai,Kitu Gidwani.

    One Night Stand…..Not sunny anymore!

    The title, One Night Stand, and its actor, Sunny Leone, make an obvious and convenient combination. One can’t build a story around her really and just an excuse for a story would suffice and expect Sunny to attract the audience.

    Tanuj Virwani’s event management company has staged a successful event and, to celebrate the success, Tanuj and his mates decided to celebrate over drinks. During all the fun and bantering that follows, they spot a lonely Sunny sitting all by herself. They dare Tanuj to approach her and strike up a conversation with her. Tanuj accepts the wager, goes and chats up Sunny.

    Soon, Sunny and Tanuj are on a drinking binge, getting animated and, at the end of the session, end up in bed together. In the morning, when Tanuj wakes up, Sunny has already left leaving no trace of her whereabouts.

    Tanuj heads back home to Pune where life continues with his wife, Nyra Banerjee. All is as usual as if nothing had happened. That is till, one day, Tanuj is out shopping at a mall with Nyra. There he spots Sunny and his passions flare up again and he wants to meet her again.

    Sunny is now an obsession with Tanuj as he starts stalking her till his next major event comes up. This event springs a surprise on Tanuj. But, if you expect some twists and turns or shockers, there are none.

    The basic inspiration as far as One Night Stand goes seems to have been taken from the English film (1997) of the same name, the complications of the later parts dealing with a friendship and AIDS are avoided.

    Everybody seems to come to terms and goes back to the life prior to the encounter. The story and screenplay don’t offer much scope and the director Jasmine D’Souza does not manage to rise above it. The film has some good songs, Do peg maar…….being already popular. Cinematography is good. While the film boasts no great performers, Sunny gets some footage to show expressions which she does not. Tanuj is passable. Nyra is sincere.

    One Night Stand counts mainly on Sunny to manage the box office but she already seems to be on a diminishing returns chart.

    Producer: Pradeep Sharma, Furquan Khan.

    Director: Jasmine D’ Souza.

    Cast: Sunny Leone, Tanuj Virwani, Nyra Banerjee.

  • Telangana leads fight against online piracy in partnership with film industry

    Telangana leads fight against online piracy in partnership with film industry

    MUMBAI: A Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit (TIPCU) created by the state government with representatives state cyber crime police, state IT ministry, internet service providers (ISPs), the Telugu film industry, legal experts and financial experts.

    This follows the advocacy efforts following the content protection alliance between the Motion Picture Distributors Association, the Indian office of the Motion Pictures Association of America and the Telugu Film Chamber Of Commerce (TFCC) representing the Telugu film industry over the past five years.

    The establishment of the TIPCU on the lines of UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) will lead to even more effective enforcement mechanisms to fight online piracy.
    TIPCU is a specialized state-level enforcement task force to fight online content theft and will comprise several representatives from the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce.

    Chamber President D. Suresh Babu said, “In 2012, by joining hands with MPDA (the consortium of Hollywood studios), we as Telugu Film Industry had made a beginning in the right direction to protect creative content. With the setting up of TIPCU, we are on the verge of setting a great precedent in India that shall inspire other movie industries and bring them together. We are grateful for the visionary support of the Government of Telangana.”    

    Telangana IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan said, “The Government of Telangana firmly believes in creating a very conducive ecosystem for creators and creative industries to thrive and realize their full potential. Creating a robust mechanism to stop online piracy and protect the interests of the movie industries is an integral part of this belief. Under the inspiring and visionary leadership of chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and IT minister K T Rama Rao, we shall endeavor to create models like ‘TIPCU’ that can inspire confidence, in not only the Regional Movie Industry, but all Creative Industries across India, and allow them to benefit from these initiatives and turn Telangana into a globally recognizable Creative Hub with the best IPR protection mechanisms.”

    MPDA India managing director Uday Singh said, “Legitimate entertainment has never been so affordable and accessible with benefits for both creative industries and online consumers of content. We are happy to see that things are heading in the right direction in India. Our continued alliance with TFCC is the first step towards combating online content theft, which poses a serious threat to Internet users as well as the creative industry. We call on other interested stakeholders to join our efforts which will help our effort to sustain creative industries and encourage innovation and legitimate business models in the future.”

    Launched in 2012, with an objective to promote content protection, the alliance continues to pool resources and jointly tackle issues such as camcording, online content theft, and to promote public awareness and education campaigns on the importance of content protection. These efforts have resulted in successful enforcement operations in 2013 and 2015, which resulted in the arrest of members of major camcording syndicates in India and a decline in camcording by 73 percent in 2015 over 2012. 

    The MPDA and TFCC have also been instrumental in launching various public awareness campaigns to raise awareness about the need to protect content in the digital world. These include the multilingual, multi-platform anti-piracy mobile application Indian Movie Cop; launched in 2013 by former US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell.
    Over 4000 theatre managers and employees from different multiplex chains across India have been trained on the MPA Make A Difference training programme and Be a Movie Cop quiz so far. Outreach initiatives such as Comicorner and Comic Con supported by the Telugu Film Industry have helped raise awareness on the threats of source and online piracy amongst youth who watch content on the Internet.