MUMBAI: Inox Leisure Ltd has opened a new multiplex in Rajasthan comprising four screens with 750 seats.
Inox commenced commercial operations of the multiplex taken on management contract basis, which is located at Genesis Mall of Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.
Earlier this month, Inox also launched two multiplexes in Gujarat.
With this, Inox along with Satyam Cineplexes, now has a presence in 55 cities with 101 multiplexes, 393 screens and a total seating capacity of 1,02,785 across India.
Kapil Sharma has made a reputation on television as a comic entertainer. Director duo, Abbas Mustan, who started off with Gujarati films, made their mark in the Hindi film industry with a thriller, Khiladi (1992), inspired by Khel Khel Mein (1975), which met with reasonable success. The duo stuck to the formula with Baazigar (1993) and Daraar (1996) both of which were major hits. Since then, they expanded their field and got into other genres; mainly action. Kis Kisko Pyaar Karu is their first foray into the comedy genre.
In an era when a comedian need not be just a gap filler in a mainstream film, they have a ready ‘star’ in Kapil, who is at his peak on television. And a story is woven around a pure heart man, Kapil, who is talked into three marriages while all along, he loves a fourth girl. Comedy and logic are better not mixed up and you are likely to enjoy such a film. The film’s theme is similar to Saajan Chale Sasural (1996) where Govinda is trapped between two girls.
Out of circumstances Kapil marries three girls – Manjari Phadnis, Amrita Puri and Simran Kaur Mundi, while he actually loves Elli Avram who was aboard while all this happened.
Kapil has married the first one because she dropped a box of medicines she was carrying for her father lying on a hospital bed. He helps her pick up the stuff and walks into the hospital ward hand in hand with her. The girl’s dying father takes him to be her choice, blesses them and passes off before he can protest. The second one is spotted by him committing suicide while running away from her don brother, Arbaaz Khan. Arbaaz is stoned deaf because he shot his eardrums by mistake! Just when he has saved her, Arbaaz and his goonies arrive on the scene and Arbaaz likes her ‘choice’ instantly and makes him marry her at gunpoint. The third one he marries because his friend cons the girl’s family of Rs 50 lakh for marrying the girl but sends Kapil’s picture as the groom to be. Kapil goes to attend the wedding of his friends but ends up marrying her instead.
Thrice married, Kapil is at loss as to how he could be present at three places to keep his wives happy. All of them stay in suburbs far apart. Kapil is wealthy and on the advice of his lawyer friend, Varun Sharma, he locates all his three wives in the same building, ironically called Cocktail Towers and, as a buffer, also buys a flat for Varun in the same complex. He spends a night each with his three wives, working two night shifts after a day shift being his explanation.
Kapil’s shuttling between three homes in same building takes its toll on him and the situation gets tricky when all three meet by accident and become friends. To add to that, his divorced parents, Sharat Saxena and Supriya Patha land up in the city. Both are accommodated in different homes. But, they too meet in the complex garden and their love rekindles.
These are the events, which add to the fun part. But Kapil is hell bent on adding to his troubles still wanting to marry his heartthrob, Elli. This is notwithstanding her father, Manoj Joshi, who is always suspicious of him. That is when the bubble bursts.
The script is a bit tricky in that the writers would know they are contriving one. But, then, there would be no Kapil show on TV without such liberties. Abbas Mustan, who have been out of limelight awaiting a success, are back in the reckoning though with this limited budget film. The film has some good lines to make one laugh. Musical score is fair. Other aspects are in keeping with the film.
The film rests mainly on the shoulders of Kapil and, though one takes a while to get used to watching him on big screen, he manages to make his presence felt reliving his TV role on the backed by a longer script. The girls are all okay since they are incidental to the project. Arbaaz shines by underplaying his don thing. Sharat and Supriya add to the fun. Karan is good. Elli Avaram is okay.
Kis Kisko Pyaar Karu is a clean and fair entertainer which is, certainly a good deviation from Kapil’s TV shows. A good family fare. Having opened with very good response, the film can well be expected to break even during its first weekend.
Producers: Ganesh Jain, Ratan Jain, Abbas-Mustan.
Directors: Abbas Mustan
Cast: Kapil Sharma, Elli Avaram, Manjari Phadnis, Amrita Puri and Simran Kaur Mundi, Supriya Pathak, Sharat Saxena, Manoj Joshi, Varun Sharma, Jamie Liver, Arbaaz Khan
Time Out:’ Decent debuts
The title, Time Out reveals nothing about the film till you watch it as the relationship between two brothers faces a time out. This can be termed as a contemporary film in the Indian context though it is blended well with Indian families and traditions and society. Log kya kahanege – the fear of what the society will react is the deterrent when a family loses its balanced facade.
The film is about an upscale Delhi NCR family of four with a modern outlook. Husband, wife and two very loving and happening sons in Chirag Malhotra and Pranay Pachauri. Pranay is the older of the two who dotes on his younger brother while Gaurav, the younger one idolises him. With a working mother and not so occupied father, the boys chart their own way in life.
The school is the international kind in vogue lately. The atmosphere is straight out of early Archie comic era. Boys and girls fall in love early, smooch and neck on the campus. Also, the school encourages extracurricular activities as much as studies.
While Chirag is good at strumming a guitar and crooning, Pranay leads the school volleyball team. Pranay is the inspiration for Chirag till one day he discovers a thing about his older brother, which shatters him.
Chirag is upset when the girl he is attracted to in his class, Riya Kothari, does not accept his love for her readily. He leaves his crooning rehearsals and heads home early only to discover his older brother, indulging in something he can’t accept. Not used to the concept, he is shattered and withdraws himself from all concerned. He refuses to talk to his brother and snaps at the girl he loves.
Pranay, while having different orientations, also pretends to be close to a girl, Sanya Arora. Eventually, she is the one who edges him to own it up to his way of life and talk to his parents. He does and the whole world breaks loose. The so called upscale parents would have nothing of it. The school has no issues, the volley ball coach thinks nothing of it. However, it is all about Gaurav, the very beloved kid brother of Chirag and the family to accept it.
The later part of the film is all about acceptance. Though it sags at times compared to the earlier events, it is inevitable in telling of this story.
Considering Time Out boasts of an all new cast and technicians, it is a bold effort. In fact, the film is cute in parts. The international school ambience may have been exaggerated a bit but serves its purpose.
Direction is generally good though it mixes up the annual day of a school with students in uniforms also attending daily chores. Script and the idea are welcome. Music is soothing in most parts and youth oriented. Locations are pleasant to eye. Cinematography is praiseworthy. Editor has little scope as the film has a tolerable length.
The performances are good all round but, because of the weightage of their roles, Chirag and Pranay score closely followed by Riya and Sanya.
Time Out is not a well promoted film. However, it is worth a watch.
Producers: Sachi Sharma, Rikhil Bahadur, Viacom Motion Pictures.
Director: Rikhil Bahadur
Cast: Chirag Malhotra, Pranay Pachauri, Sanya Arora, Riya Kothari, Aditya Jain, Raunaq Chopra
‘Calendar Girls:’ Insufferable
Once upon a time, companies printed more calendars than people needed. Then came restrictions by law on such expenses and then came recession. A time came when one had to request their banks and such for a wall calendar or two! Then came along a liquor baron whose bashes to launch his calendars were more famous than the calendars; people saw and read about his parties but not the calendars ever!
Madhur Bhandarkar has this formula where he uses a woman or a bunch of women to wound his scripts around. He has this mixer grinder in which he puts the script of his Page 3, presses some buttons and thinks he is ready with his new script. What comes out may be good enough for Madhur, but, alas, not for the viewers!
The project was bouncing around in the market for a long time but, strangely, he found some backers eventually!
How long can you sell the idea of girls from the hinterlands of India (one being a Pakistani, too) striving to make it big in twinkle town, Mumbai and, then, show them being exploited by every person of social standing and repute?
A big shot called Suhel Seth is launching his annual calendar a la the alcohol baron of yore. No sooner is the calendar launched, the five girls on the calendar become celebrities. Film offers pour in, they are made chief guests at events and the works.
The rest of the film follows set formula of Madhur’s films. The exploitation of the girls is what the film is about. One meets a tycoon who proposes to her on first look while she is in Jodhpur. Her older sister, who also happens to be around for inexplicable reasons, suggests she accept it. Her husband is a debauch but what the hell! She is the bahu of a rich family, which counts among fifty richest in the country!
The other one’s career is stalled by an event manager, who boasts of laying her and gets slapped instead. She finds and alternative career as a TV anchor. The third falls prey to an anti-Pakistan movement and is forced to take to high profile prostitution; she dies a sad death. One from Kolkata meets up with her ex-flame who runs an event management company handling some star cricketers (who look like WWF wrestlers or worse) wants to make it big through betting during the next IPL and move to the US. One of his cricketer ‘run machines’ wants to sleep with his girl and talks her in to doing it for the sake of their future! And, the last one knows better PR than any professional who, while ordering bouquets for others, also asks her secretary to order a cheap bouquet for her driver so she could click a selfi with and post it on her social network to show the world how much she cares for her underlings!
Actually, describing this film is quite an ordeal. Nothing works here, the script, the direction, the loud music, and the performances. For most of its footage, there is no decent or watch worthy face on the screen, be it men or women. The calendar girls are a put off to start with. The supporting cast is even worse.
Calendar Girls is insufferable.
Producer: Sangeeta Ahir
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast: Akanksha Puri, Avani Modi, Kyra Dutt, Ruhi Singh, Satrupa Pyne, Rushad Rana, Mita Vashisth
MUMBAI: National Award winning director Sanjoy Nag (Memories of March) has pulled a coup of sorts by casting two National Award winning actresses Revathy and Rituparna Sengupta in his next directorial venture titled Good Morning Sunshine.
The film also features Tejaswani Kolhapuri and Shweta Tripathi (Masaan). The film will be shot in Mumbai, Benaras, Lucknow and Mirzapur. The unit recently completed a two days schedule in Mumbai.
The film revolves around Rai (Rituparna Sengupta), an aspiring director, pulls off a casting coup of sorts when yesteryear diva Radha (Revathy) finally gives her consent to play the lead in her debut feature film. Rai in her earlier avatar as a film critic of a TV channel, had trashed Radha’s latest at the box office, resulting in an unpleasant manifestation of Radha’s ego, creating a vitiated atmosphere not to mention the frayed tempers.
Lack of access to hygienic sanitation and toilet facilities, especially for women in India, cutting across the socio-economic strata forms the thread, which ties the story of ‘Sunshine’, the film being conceived. The film delves into the lives of diverse and interesting characters such as Leelavati (Shweta Tripathi), a young runaway bride; Jamini (Tejaswini Kolhapure) battling amnesia post her alleged rape; Anjali losing her only daughter Sonali while defecating in the open, and others around them who form a silent majority in India.
Thereafter, the film is an exploration of how Radha’s life intertwines with that of Rai, Leelavati, Jamini and Anjali as they set about completing their film, till an accident throws the film out of gear.
NEW DELHI: The National Award winning Marathi film Court, written and directed by first-time filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane, is India’s official entry for the Oscars in the foreign language category.
The decision was taken by a 16-member committee headed by Amol Palekar set up by the Film Federation of India (FFI), which met in Hyderabad. Other contenders included Masaan, PK and Baahubali.
Court, which has already been to several international film festivals and won national and international awards, is the story of a radical poet who is accused of waging war against the state. It follows the never-ending trial of a balladeer who is accused of encouraging a municipal worker to commit suicide through his fiery songs. The multi-lingual arthouse drama examines the Indian judicial system from the perspectives of the accused, the lawyer defending him, the public prosecutor, and the judge presiding over the case.
Court was premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2014 where it won the Lion of the Future Award for the best first feature as well as the top prize in the non-competitive Horizons category. Court also won the National Award for Best Feature Film at this year’s National Film Awards.
The movie’s cast includes its producer Vivek Gomber, Marathi stage veteran Geetanjali Kulkarni, and Vira Sathidar. It has been shot by Mrinal Desai and edited by Rikhav Desai. Tamhane and Gomber are in Japan at the Fukoka International Film Festival where the film is being screened.
This is the third Marathi film to be sent for the Oscars. The first was Sandeep Sawant’s Shwaas in 2004, while the second was Harichandrachi Factory by Paresh Mokakshi.
India has never won an Academy Award in the best foreign language movie category though it has figured in the nominations thrice: for Mehmoob Khan’s Mother India, Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and Ashuthosh Gowarikar’sLagaan.
MUMBAI: In this age when most actors compete amongst each other in the number game, Nandita Das, Manav Kaul and Saurabh Shukla, who play the lead roles in the remake of the cult film Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai, did not charge a penny as remuneration.
The move was to support the independent film directed and produced by Soumitra Ranade that faced budget constraints.
“Firstly I don’t equate money with work. There is a lot of work that I do without charging anything. Films of course, help me pay my bills and hence I don’t do them without any fees. But seldom do you get a project or a director where you know that they genuinely don’t have the money – and they just want to make a good film,” said Das, who is known for her critically acclaimed performances.
Shukla too echoed the same thoughts as an artist. “Soumitra approached me and told me that there is no money but you be a partner. So all of us are partners in this project and I think it is great idea, because there are scripts in which the ‘mainstream market’ doesn’t believe in. But as artists we know that it has content and also has commercial possibilities. So what should we do? Should we be slaves to the market and not do these films? Or should we try it? So when we try it, we have to cut down costs,” he said.
Touched by their gesture, Ranade has made them partners on the project and will be sharing the box office profit with the three actors once the film is released.
“It was a very challenging film but I could pull it off only because of my supportive actors who worked for free,” said the director.
The film is raising Rs 30 lakhs through a two-month long crowdfunding campaign on Wishberry, with 2 October, 2015 being the last date to contribute. The campaign started on 3 August to collect money for the post-production, animation and VFX of the film.
The original film, directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, was released in 1980 and starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Om Puri in the lead roles.
NEW DELHI: A total of 74 thematic films from 16 states and 11 countries will be screened at the oldest and largest Environment and Wildlife film festival in India, CMS Vatavaran, next month.
The Festival on the theme of ‘Water for Life’ will be celebrating its 8th competitive edition and will be held from 9 to 13 October at the NDMC Convention Centre in New Delhi.
CMS Vatavaran 2015 will be an amalgamation of celebration and discourse with film screenings, forums on critical water issues, panorama of international film festivals, workshops on filmmaking, exhibitions, green haat and much more.
The theme is ‘Water for Life’ with a special focus on “Conserving our Water Bodies”. It seeks to mark the interconnectedness of water and life and raise concern over the rapidly deteriorating condition of our water bodies.
Some Bollywood films will be screened, incliuding Kaun Kitne Paani Mein by Nila Madhab Panda; and Aisa Yeh Jahaan by Biswajeet Bora.
Media and filmmaking workshops will also be held.
Guests expected at the closing are Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
There will be a talk on River Rejuvenation by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.
A Green Haat has been set up by the Environment Ministry with UNDP and exhibitions are by New Delhi Nature Society, and Anthony Acciavatti.
The fact that India has just four per cent of the world’s fresh water but 16 per cent of the global population is reason enough to begin a serious discussion on proper and effective watermanagement and conservation. CMS Vatavaran with its theme ‘Water for Life’ aims to do just that.
Several interesting endeavors on the theme ‘Water for Life’ apart from film screenings like seminars, workshops, exhibition, cultural performances and award ceremony focusing on the environmental, social and economic aspects of water conservation will be part of the film festival and forum.
Contemporary issues related to water and conservation will be deliberated upon by eminent conservationists, policy makers, environment journalists and the concerned communities in the forum.
‘Water for Life’ being a cross cutting theme necessitates a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder participation in discussions to address the issues in a holistic manner.
The American Centre is the Country Partner of the 8th CMS Vatavatan. A special curtain raiser programme will also be organised on the evening of 8 October in the presence of American filmmakers, guests and delegates. Seminars, workshops, book launches and talks will be organised in partnership with The Asia Foundation, GIZ, Arghyam, CSE, CEE, RSTV and WWF to name a few.
“CMS Vatavaran is doing a magnificent job, making people aware by arranging these festivals and taking them to different cities and involving more and more from the younger generation. CMS Vatavaran is a great platform to inform people about issues like wildlife conservation, sustainable technology and climate change,” said veteran filmmaker and actor Amol Palekar, who is head of the award jury.
“In the 8th competitive festival, we are focusing on water and problems in water management systems around the world to show the disturbing effects these choices have on human beings. The theme has been chosen keeping in mind the fact that the way water scarcity issues are addressed, impacts upon the successful achievement of most of the development goals,” added CMS director general P N Vasanti.
MUMBAI: Carnival Cinemas, which has taken the acquisitions route to spread its footprints across the country, is eyeing a total screen count of 1000 by 2016. The multiplex chain currently operates 300 screens in over 82 cities and is looking to pump in a sum of Rs 800 – 900 crore to reach the 1000 screen milestone.
What’s more, sources close to the development inform Indiantelevision.com that Carnival Cinemas is also aggressively making in-roads in film production and distribution. The group has already started working on three South Indian film projects and has aspirations of making their first Bollywood movie in next three – six months. However, while the company is in talks with several directors, it is yet to zero in on its first commercial script.
Carnival Cinemas has roped in Ssarita Singh as business head of its motion pictures division to spearhead the production initiatives.
The Shrikant Bakshi owned Carnival Cinemas recently acquired the multiplex business of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) for a little over Rs 100 crore. It has also lapped up Big Cinemas multiplex chain from Anil Ambani’s Reliance MediaWorks for approximately Rs 700 crore. The chain also pocketed Star Gaze’s Glitz Cinemas from Mukesh Ambani-controlled Network 18 Media and Investments Ltd.
NEW DELHI: The Pune-based National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has launched a logo and tagline competition for the National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM).
The National Film Heritage Mission aims at restoration, preservation, digitization and conservation of the rich film heritage of the country.
NFAI seeks to crowd-source entries for the logo and tagline through the MyGov portal – www.mygov.in and the New Media Wing of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
The last date for submission of entries is 20 October, 2015.
The best logo would attract a cash prize of Rs 30,000, whereas the tagline would get a cash prize of Rs 15,000. A panel of experts at NFAI will finalise the winners of the competition.
“The crowd-sourcing of logo and tagline would enable participation in the implementation of the National Film Heritage Mission and preservation of our rich filmic heritage,” said NFAI director Prakash Magdum.
NFHM is a Mission Mode project launched by the Central Government with a total outlay of Rs 597.41 crore. This Mission is to be implemented during 12th and 13th Five Year Plan.
MUMBAI: It all started with Hollywood film, Love Story (1970) based on a bestseller novel of same name by Erich Segal about a couple madly in love only to realise one of them is terminally ill. The Rajshris followed it up with its Indian version in the musical hit, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) while Hrishikesh Mukerjee used the theme again, albeit, with no similarities with the two in Anand (1981), which went on to become an all-time classic. Since then, quite a few attempts have been made to use a terminal illness and, except Kal Ho Na Ho in (2003), none seem to have worked.
Katti Batti takes this theme and brutalises it badly. And, pays for it at both, the media as well as the box office. Besides poor merits, the film cuts corners heavily on supporting star cast. Having taken a poor opening, the film could not better its Friday collections on Saturday or on Sunday. All the film had to show for its opening weekend is Rs 15.5 crore.
Meeruthiya Gangsters fails to find an audience.
Hero, an attempt to recreate the magic of the 1983 musical hit of the same name, proves disastrous. After a low opening weekend, the film closes its first week with Rs 29.2 crore not being able to sustain during the week days.
Welcome Back did reasonable business in its first week but started losing steam thereafter despite poor new releases to affect its business. The film managed to add about 25 per cent of its first week total collecting Rs 17.5 crore in second week to take its two week total to Rs 90.6 crore.
Phantom emerges a loser at the box office managing to add just about Rs 60 lakh in its third week to take its three week tally to Rs 50.5 crore.
Manjhi: The Mountain Man collects Rs 18 lakh in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 12.88 crore.
Katti Batti is an attempt to make a contemporary film about love at first sight and the couple deciding to get in to a live-in relationship. If a movie on a live-in relationship is new generation, the germ of the story and the treatment meted out to the film are so old-fashioned, it desensitises your mind and feelings.
Imran Khan is a student of architecture in Ahmedabad. He is supposed to be a scholar type and to that end the makers add thick-rimmed black spectacles to his look. While walking through the college common passages, he spots some colourful paper birds landing around him. He looks around to see Kangana Ranaut as the maker of the flight of birds. She gestures to say that she is doing it out of boredom in her classroom. While Imran has his name inscribed on his school kit, Kangana has a tattoo printed near her ankle pointing to the anklets she wears to convey that her name is Payal! That establishes she is a trendy girl of today, while he is old school.
However, Imran is not all that old school for he readily opts for a live-in relationship with Kangana. Imran becomes instantly possessive of her and has a fight with Vivaan Bhatena, a college toughie because he teased his girlfriend aka Kangana. To his chagrin, Kangana informs that the fight was because he happened to be her ex-boyfriend whom she dropped like a hot potato two days after meeting Imran. Imran has a friend who seems to have been pasted on him with Fevicol! At home, at college, at work, so much so that their sexual preferences are questioned. Well, this is the trivia that dominates the contents of this film.
Imran and his friends are the star architects of their office with a boss who is a caricature of a South Indian loudmouth, with decibel levels that breaks the sound barrier. In this office, you never see anybody working, let alone looking like architects. Either they are flirting, sleeping around or fighting around office fixtures.
After spending five years as partners, Imran and Kangana part ways, which Imran celebrates by guzzling down four bottles of phenyl. Constant fights were the reason for them parting. The couple decides to smoke a peace pipe with a break in Goa but end up having a fight just before boarding the flight. Imran turns back leaving Kangana alone and that is the last he sees of her. She has vanished, is incommunicado and none of her friends are willing to help Imran find her. So you spend an hour-long yawn trip with Imran trying to find her, sobbing all the way in regret of losing her.
That is about two hours into the film when the filmmakers decide to tell you what this film was all about! Which, in today’s media and social network era, just about everybody seems to know already.
The scripting, direction, music – songs as well as background score and editing are not worth discussing. While Kangana is burdened with an ill-conceived characterisation that can’t salvage an inch of the film, Imran proves to be a liability. Rest are inconsequential.
Katti Batti has disaster written all over it. The period from Ganesh festival to Diwali was never considered the right period to release a film, except for those which carried no hope.
Producer: Siddharth Roy Kapur
Director: Nikhil Advani
Cast: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut, Vivaan Bhatena
‘Meeruthiya Gangsters:’ What a waste!
The movies on UP and Bihar gangs are forced down the audiences’ throat despite regular rejections. The problem is that the audience does not care for a local small-town loser who unwittingly tastes success in a crime and becomes a regular gangster when the real-life one comes from the metros of India!
Some people may even need to Google where Meeruth (now Meerut) is! One of the best films ever made on these local gangs wasSaher (2005) starring Arshad Warsi but that also failed. What we have here is a film with an utterly senseless story to tell.
There are six college buddies of irrelevant pedigree as far as Hindi cinema is concerned. They look anything but college-going youth. However, anything goes when you are spinning a story about such a state as UP. The boys seek a job in a big private company for which they are needed to pay Rs 75,000 per head. There is some company in Meerut, which agrees to hire them en masse and promises all of them big posts along with big pay packages! But, they have no means of raising such a huge sum so they take to looting. The first victim is the very bar where this broke gang keeps guzzling beer.
Besides the bribe per head, they are also expected to entertain the boss of the company with a party, which means imported booze and a girl to go with it. After meeting the demands of the boss to be, the guys soon realise that the boss and the middleman have both conned them. They take the middleman as a hostage and demand ransom from his family. When they succeed, they decide to make this their regular business.
The guys may all look unkempt and thug-like but the girls they court would give the South Delhi disco crowd a complex! The gang now looks for bigger targets for ransom. They choose a company’s CA where the girlfriend of one of the gangsters works. Here starts the old belief that when a woman enters a scene, a bunch of friends will soon be divided.
The next big heist is planned. The target this time is the crorepati boss of the girl in the gang. His kidnap is too big for the UP cops to ignore. Enter Rahul Dev, a Dirty Harry kind of cop who believes neither in wearing a uniform nor discipline. The rest is utter bull, which one wonders if even UPites would identify with!
The film is poor in all respects. It has no script worth its name, poor direction with jerks and unexplained scenes aplenty. Musical score sounds like a picnic medley. Performances are stagy. Editing is non-existent. Production values are poor and a lot of liberty is taken with location as you don’t know whether the action is taking place in Meerut, Noida, Dehradun or Mumbai.
Meeruthiya Gangster is a total waste of time.
Producers: Prashant Tiwari, Prateek Tiwari, Shoeb Ahmed
Director: Zeishan Quadri
Cast: Sanjay Mishra, Rahul Dev, Brijendra Kala and others
‘MSG2: The Messenger:’ A selfie
Late last evening while returning from PVR Juhu, I met three lads and two girls sporting the Gurmet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan (GRRSJI) T-shirts. They wanted to know how to get to CST (VT) to be able to catch a train to Kaylan, which is another town on the outskirts of Mumbai! I told them to take some transport to Sion, which is closer to Kalyan by miles and more approachable than the CST. But, while they waited for a bus or something, they discussed fare comparison between a bus and a rickshaw.
This group was ‘imported’ from Karnal in Punjab and carried the smell of sarson ka tel (mustard oil), applied to body after bath as a routine where they came from. I got used to the smell after a while. They had come to PVR, Juhu all the way from Kalyan to find out if their net booking tickets could be collected a day before. Well, all they had to do was just show the reference of the booking on their cell phone and they could get in.
This lot was the typical GRRSJI devotees, who volunteered to ‘throng’ the 75 screens booked by the Guru in Mumbai (though the thronging crowd had to be transported to Mumbai from Karnal, in fact a village nearby Karnal.)
There you have the story of GRRJI’s foray into filmmaking.
This time, in the sequel, GRRSJI plays the Superman once again. This time, he recounts his year spent with an Adivasi lot (tribal) who used to roam naked and had no touch with the modern world. GRRJI has a job on his hand. He needs to bring them in touch with the realities. He teaches them to dress, build schools for them, also hospitals and other amnesties albeit, after destroying the traditional evil adivasi leaders who control their lives.
GRRSJI has superpowers, he overcomes all villains; changes the lot of tribals and comes back happily to his base preparing for his next sequel.
As I was enlightened by his five followers, MSG1 was completed in 67 days while this one took just 47 days! In the first instalment GRRSJI handled 17 technical departments like story, action and music. His followers are waiting to count how many more he has mastered this time.
GRRSJI has his own funds, own marketing (last time PVR did it for him; this time he stayed back in Mumbai at a suburban seven star to find some ‘reputed’ corporate house to do the needful). But, one thing is sure, he also transports in his own audience with a Mumbai sightseeing as a bonus for another 10 days, which he promises, Mumbai like nobody else ever seen before!
Producer and everything else: GRRSJI.