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Category: Movies

  • Television heartthrob makes his debut at Cannes

    Television heartthrob makes his debut at Cannes

    NEW DELHI: Marking his excellence on the small screen, actor Gautam Gulati of Diya Aur Baati Hum fame gears up to make his debut at Cannes Film Festival with screening of his release Coward (Darpok) by Rakesh Mehta.

    Gulati said “Yes, I am starring in (Darpok) and going to France to attend the screening of the movie. I feel honoured to be a part of this film, this is a perfect inception for me to invade in movies”

    He started off his journey as an actor with the experience of mastering in theater from Mandi House for a year. Leaving no stone unturned he also trained himself in dance from celebrated choreographer Shiamak Davar.

     

    Speckled by Balaji Production House, he was spotted by soup opera queen, Ekta Kapoor. Exploring his credentials, Gulati worked under the banner for three years where he became contempt and experienced every aspect of acting. Sighting the dedication and zeal he seizes he was chosen as for the role of Vikram in Diya aur Baati Hum as he aptly suited the character. Going by his vast fan following he absolutely justified the character. He went on to become a household name and gathered fame and recognition from the India soup opera.

     

    Talking about his journey, he said “I belong to a simple family back ground where we don’t have any association with Bollywood, but it was my passion for this art which made me pursue acting. As I never had a mentor or a God father to guide me through.”

     

    After working and attaining recognition for six years, perhaps he made up his mind to work within the industry and learn this way through. To be given an opportunity like Darpok, Gulati feels elated. Becoming the epitome of talent, the skilled actor perceives this international break as his golden chance to prove his masters in the field of acting.

     

  • From reel to real: Actors piggy ride on populist parties

    From reel to real: Actors piggy ride on populist parties

    NEW DELHI: When megastar Amitabh Bachchan decided in the mid-eighties to wash his hands off politics (except on screen), one expected that very few from his fraternity would dare take the plunge.

     

    However, there were a few like Raj Babbar, Shatrughan Sinha and Sunil Dutt who entered politics. Perhaps the only notable entry from the Hindi cinema industry after that was Vinod Khanna, though several south Indian actors either joined the state or centre arena.

     

    The love between the two magnified as many political parties, particularly Bharatiya Janata Party and Trinamool Congress went all out to woo those from the reel world to the real world. Perhaps this exposure to politics and largely the anti-corruption wave that swept the country in the wake of Anna Hazare’s movement resulted in probably the largest number of film personalities entering the fray for the 2014 polls.

    The 16th Lok Sabha elections saw as many as 40 film personalities from different states, representing different parties campaigning, and many of them surprised all by coming out with flying (party) colours.

     

    But for the film industry, the constituencies that were worth watching were the ones where the members of the same fraternity pitted against each other.

     

    Of the most keenly watched battles was of Kirron Kher of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Admi Party’s Gul Panag. Kher was shown black flags when she first went to Chandigarh, unlike Panag and yet, Kher came out with flying colours. She defeated a veteran like Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress, though many from her constituency said it was more a victory of the party than of the actor herself.  

     

    Similarly, Mumbai West saw item girl Rakhi Sawant who represented the Rashtriya Aam Party battling it out with Mahesh Manjrekar who represented the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and ultimately emerged as the winner.

     

    The not-so-‘khamosh’ Shatrughan Sinha once again successfully represented the BJP from Patna Saheb in Bihar where he faced Bhojpuri actor Kunal Singh of the Congress.

    In Birbhum, actor Satabdi Roy of the Trinamool Congress successfully trounced actor Joy Banerjee of the BJP. Similarly, Singer Indranil Sen from TMC expectedly trounced Sidhanth Mahapatra of the Biju Janata Dal from Behrampur.

     

    For the BJP, versatile singer Bablu Supriya from Asansol, senior actor Hema Malini in Mathura despite initial criticism, Hindi and Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari in North East Delhi, versatile actor Paresh Rawal from Ahmedabad East, and veteran Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur emerged winners.

     

    Television actress Smiriti Irani from the high-profile constituency Amethi lost but with a considerably reduced margin, and others who lost included Nimu Bhowmik in Raiganj, George Baker representing Howrah and music maestro Bappi Lahiri from Serampore.

     

    For the Trinamool Congress, glamorous actor Moon Moon Sen in Bankura, reigning Bengali star Deb (Deepak Adhikari) in Ghatal, Sandhya Sen in Midnapore, actor Arpita Ghosh in Balurghat, and actor Tapas Paul in Krishnagar reached the finishing line ahead of the others, while actor Soumitra Roy from Malda North, and former Bollywood star Biswajit (Chatterjee) from New Delhi had to face defeat.

    The Congress had the largest number of star losers. They included Kannada heroine Ramya in Mandya, the high profile Raj Babbar in Ghaziabad, actor Aparajita Mohanty in Cuttack, veteran Oriya film actor Bijay Mohanty from Bhubaneswar, Hindi and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan from Jaunpur, petite actress Nagma in Meerut, actor Jayasudha in Secunderabad, actor Vijaya Shanthi from Medak, and D Napoleon from Perambalur in Tamil Nadu who was a Minister in the outgoing government.

       
    The AAP faced a similar fate with TV actress Rina Rani who contested from Maharajganj and the actor-dancer Javed Jaffery (son of former comedy actor Jagdeep) from Lucknow being shown the door.

     

    Actor Innocent representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from Chalakkudy in Kerala emerged victor, while renowned award-winning director Prakash Jha representing the Janata Dal (United) from West Champaran in Bihar and former actor Jayaprada of Rashtriya Lok Dal from Bijnor had to face defeats.

     

    Actor Murali Mohan won from the Rajahmundry seat for the Telugu Desam Party. 

     
    At present, the Rajya Sabha has Javed Akhtar, Jaya Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, K Chiranjeevi, Rekha and producer T Subbarami Reddy as members. Smriti Irani who lost to Rahul Gandhi also continues to be member of the Rajya Sabha.

     

    One cannot ignore the fact that while Bollywood has generally not been very successful in north India, the southern film industry is rich with examples of film-politicians. Some of the popular names are S S Rajendran (SSR), M G Ramachandran, J Jayalalithaa , S Chandrasekar.

     

    It remains to be seen if the film personalities will rise above to serve the people or will add glamour to the lower house of Parliament.

  • 41st Student Oscar winners announced

    41st Student Oscar winners announced

    MUMBAI: 15 students have been selected as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 41st Student Academy Awards competition.  They will arrive in Los Angeles for a week of industry activities that will culminate in the awards ceremony on Saturday, 7 June at 6 p.m. at the DGA Theater in Hollywood.  The medal placements – gold, silver and bronze – in the five award categories will be announced at the ceremony. 

     

    For the alternative category, the winners are “Oscillate,” Daniel Sierra, School of Visual Arts, New York and “Person,” Drew Brown, The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Florida. For the animation category, the winners include “Higher Sky,” Teng Cheng, University of Southern California; “Owned,” Daniel Clark and Wesley Tippetts, Brigham Young University, Utah and “Yamashita,” Hayley Foster, Loyola Marymount University, California.

     

    In the documentary category, the winners are “The Apothecary,” Helen Hood Scheer, Stanford University; “One Child,” Zijian Mu, New York University and “White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen, Stanford University.

     

    The winners in the narrative category include “Above the Sea,” Keola Racela, Columbia University, New York; “Door God,” Yulin Liu, New York University and “Interstate,” Camille Stochitch, American Film Institute, California. The winners who took home the coveted prize in the foreign category include “Border Patrol,” Peter Baumann, The Northern Film School, United Kingdom; “Nocebo,” Lennart Ruff, University of Television and Film Munich, Germany and “Paris on the Water,” Hadas Ayalon, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

     

    This year saw first-time honours go to Tel Aviv University, Israel, and The Northern Film School, United Kingdom, in the foreign competition.  Academy members voted the winners from a field of 49 finalists, announced earlier this month. The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. The previous Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. They include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

  • Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to walk the Cannes red carpet for L’Oréal Paris

    Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to walk the Cannes red carpet for L’Oréal Paris

    MUMBAI: L’Oréal Paris has confirmed that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will now walk the red carpet for the brand at Festival de Cannes on 20 and 21 May. After missing her first appearance due to the ATC strike in France, L’Oréal Paris India along with the team at Cannes have worked together to confirm her presence. She will walk the red carpet for the premiere of the film Deux Jours, Une Nuit, by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

     

    L’Oréal Paris India general manager Manashi Guha said, “We’re happy to announce the new dates for Aishwarya’s appearances at Cannes. While the flight delay was unexpected, we ensured that an alternative date was arranged for her, so that she can proudly represent the L’Oréal Paris and India at the festival.”

     

    Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been associated with L’Oréal Paris for over a decade and this will be her thirteenth year representing the brand at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Aishwarya will be sporting looks inspired by the L’Or Lumi?re theme for L’Oréal Paris.

  • ‘The Expose’…Limited Exposure

    ‘The Expose’…Limited Exposure

    MUMBAI: The composer singer Himesh Reshammiya, wanting to turn and be accepted as an actor, is a mission that is into its fourth essay with The Expose, a film to re-re-re- launch him. The earlier attempts being Aap Kaa Surroor, The Moviee–The Real Luv Story and Karzzzz which were blanks, neither earning Himesh monies nor stardom.

    In the latest search for recognition and stardom, Himesh has managed to shed much weight and assumed a new- mustached look. Also, the subject has been selected that does not tax an artiste too much while also creating the scope to play with music and atmosphere.

    This is 1960s and 70s and Himesh is a star from South films who was a cop responsible for shooting a politician. His carries an attitude like South superstar Rajnikant; he does not require his face to be touched up as he believes he was born with makeup. He is now making his debut in a Hindi film.

    There is a film awards function. Pitted against each other are two female debutantes, Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut, who shared a PG accommodation and struggled together. Sonali pips Zoya at the awards and a catfight follows. Next, one knows, Sonali has fallen from the terrace. After initially calling it a suicide, it is later declared a murder. This leads Himesh to assume his original profession, he is a cop again.

    Producers: Vipin Reshammiya.

    Director: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan. ,

    Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Sonali Raut, Zoya Afroz, Honey Singh, Ananth Mahadevan, Irrfan

    The director and the camera are dedicated to Himesh rather than get into the details of the era the film is set in; it tries to be smarty pants. The dialogue is the plus with Himesh’s sense for music adding to the advantage. While Himesh tries his best but remains static as an actor, the girls are okay while Irrfan as a ticket black-marketer is a misfit.

    The Expose holds limited appeal due to music factoronly.

  • A single computer would have taken 450 years to create ‘Godzilla’, say filmmakers

    A single computer would have taken 450 years to create ‘Godzilla’, say filmmakers

    NEW DELHI: Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, the newest iteration of the famed movie monster, is the tallest version to ever grace the screen coming in at 355 feet with a tail that spans 550 feet.

     

    It took 50,000 polygons to create the 3D model of thrashing purveyor of doom, which should explain the incredible amount of data that he is made of: it would take a single computer 445 years to render the monster.

     

    That means that one computer would have had to start work in 1569 to complete the film in time for its release.

     

    The film has several other impressive statistics that bode well for the upcoming film’s visual effects.

     

    According to The Creators Project, the $160-million blockbuster had 762 visual effects crewmembers working on its 960 shots. Four of those CGI artists were specifically tasked with creating Godzilla’s scales, and it took them six months to do so.

     

    The filmmakers were also keen on making Godzilla’s bark as big as his bite. His roar was recorded through a speaker array blasting 100,000 watts of sound in order to make it feel more real. The sound reverberates over three miles.

     

    The film stars Bryan Cranston in his first leading gig since Breaking Bad’s finale.

     

    The Movie Bit has made a video compiling all the statistics from both the production of the feature, as well as the nitty-gritty measurements of what this monster would look like if it were actually real.

     

    Godzilla may only have 60 teeth, but each canine is about 4-feet-long and 2-feet wide—about the size of a thin (and Hattori Hanzo-sharp) boogie board. It would take 90,000 tons of water to fill the monster to its brim.

     

    The Monster’s Stats: 

     

    Height: 355ft (108.2m) Godzilla’s towering height in the 2014 film—the tallest onscreen incarnation ever

    Tail: 550ft 4in (167.74m) Total length of Godzilla’s spiked tail

    Volume: 89,724 m3 Godzilla’s total volume in the 2014 film

    Volume: 90,000 tons Godzilla’s volume if filled with water

    Teeth: 1.73ft (53cm) Depth of Godzilla’s canine teeth at their widest point

    Teeth: 3.51ft (1.07m)  Length from the root to the tips of Godzilla’s canine teeth

    Teeth: 60 Teeth in Godzilla’s mouth

    Roar: 3 miles (4.83km) Approximate distance Godzilla’s roar reverberates. (100,000W Power of the 12-foot-high, 18-foot-wide speaker array from which the sound designers blasted Godzilla’s roar to record the sound in a “real world” context)

    Feet: 58ft (17.66m) Total width of Godzilla’s feet across the widest point

    Feet: 60ft (18.18m) Length of Godzilla’s footprint from toe to heel

    Fins: 89 Dorsal fins spiking down Godzilla’s back from his head to the tip of his tail

  • Be a part of the ‘Fugly’ experience

    Be a part of the ‘Fugly’ experience

    MUMBAI: Grazing Goat Pictures, the makers of the upcoming movie ‘Fugly’ are leaving no stone unturned to give their loyal fans a taste of the movie. They are revolutionising the movie scene, a new interactive trailer application that lets the users create their own ‘Fugly’ trailer featuring them and their friends. 

     

    The ‘Fugly’ team has been creating quite a buzz with its trailer and song release. They are now taking a step further by offering a once in a life time opportunity to the audience to be a part of the highly anticipated movie of the year. Fans can now make history by appearing in their own version of the trailer.

     

     The audience can be a part of this creative endeavour through the movie’s official website – http://fuglythefilm.com/. They can log on through their social networking profile account or manually manage their and their friends’ names and images to be included in the trailer. The website team then pulls out these names and images, seamlessly integrating them in the film’s trailer.

     

     This never done before activity shows the brilliance and hard work of the makers to connect with audience on a different level. Fans have willingly accepted the trailer and recently released song videos, the ‘Fugly’ title track featuring superstars Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan and Dhupchik, the party anthem of the season and are now looking forward to catching the movie in theatres soon.

  • Ranveer Singh makes Facebook debut

    Ranveer Singh makes Facebook debut

    MUMBAI: Bollywood’s boldest youth icon Ranveer Singh today made a dramatic entry on Facebook with his official page www.facebook.com/ranveersinghofficial. The exuberant actor will now interact with his fans on the platform about the news, his views and give them clues as to how to kill his dil.

     

    Consistent for making headlines with his bizarre yet lovable antics, the dynamic  and  zestful actor has partnered with CA Media Digital’s first venture, Fluence for this initiative to further create and leverage his digital presence across different digital platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Youtube, E-commerce, Games/Apps, Voice Blog, Telcos & OEMs and many more.

     

    Fans will also get a glimpse of the man behind the enigmatic personality, hints to imitate his  unique style statement and get a peek of the boy who grew up to be Ranveer Singh.

     

    “I am looking forward to being more active on social media platforms. The success of my first ad campaign that was carried out exclusively online opened my eyes to the potential of social media. It’s certainly the way of the future. Also, I wasn’t keen on being this active on social media platforms initially, but I’ve had to relent now given the number of people that have been urging me to be more connected so I’ll be using these platforms to stay connected with my fans whom I adore so much,” said Ranveer Singh.

     

    “After the stupendous success of the Durex Ad online and the subsequent signing of an e-commerce brand like Myntra, Ranveer now takes a plunge into the digital world by launching himself on social media. No one in Bollywood is as charged about things the way Ranveer Singh is, he doesn’t believe in doing things half way. With his debut on Facebook, I’m sure that his fans will get the full Ranveer experience. We look forward to unleashing his dynamism like never before across digital platforms,” added Fluence VP digital & business head Ashish Joshi.

     

    On joining Facebook Ranveer will interact with his fans on a live Q&A session for 30 minutes taking questions, asking some of his own and getting to know his fans better.

  • Sony Pictures to make Edward Snowden biopic

    Sony Pictures to make Edward Snowden biopic

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Entertainment has nabbed the film rights to Glenn Greenwald’s New York Times bestselling thriller, No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) reports.

     

    In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the 29-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the agency’s widespread, systemic overreach proved to be some of the most explosive and consequential news in recent history, triggering a fierce debate over national security and information privacy. As the arguments rage on and the government considers various proposals for reform, it is clear that we have yet to see the full impact of Snowden’s disclosures.

     

    Now for the first time, Greenwald fits all the pieces together, recounting his high-intensity 11-day trip to Hong Kong, examining the broader implications of the surveillance detailed in his reporting for The Guardian, and revealing fresh information on the NSA’s unprecedented abuse of power with never-before-seen documents entrusted to him by Snowden himself.

     

    Going beyond NSA specifics, Greenwald also takes on the establishment media, excoriating their habitual avoidance of adversarial reporting on the government and their failure to serve the interests of the people. Finally, he asks what it means both for individuals and for a nation’s political health when a government pries so invasively into the private lives of its citizens—and considers what safeguards and forms of oversight are necessary to protect democracy in the digital age. Coming at a landmark moment in American history, No Place to Hide is a fearless, incisive, and essential contribution to our understanding of the U.S. surveillance state.

     

    Michael G. Wilson (Octopussy) and Barbara Broccoli (Skyfall) will produce the politically themed drama with Elizabeth Contillon (Goosebumps) overseeing the film for Sony.

  • Kamal Haasan to open Indian Pavilion at 67th Cannes Film Festival

    Kamal Haasan to open Indian Pavilion at 67th Cannes Film Festival

    NEW DELHI: Versatile actor Kamal Haasan will inaugurate the Indian pavilion – 112 Village International Riviera with a terrace overlooking the Meditarranean Sea – at the 67th Cannes Film Festival commencing on 14 May.

     

     Being set up by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in coordination with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B), it will be inaugurated by Haasan who is chairman of the FICCI Media and Entertainment Business Conclave on 15 May in the presence of Indian Ambassador to France Arun K Singh, I&B secretary Bimal Julka, and Marche du Film (the Cannes Film Market) director Jerome Paillard.

     

    The inaugural addresses will be followed by a discussion on ‘The Making of Grace of Monaco’, the inaugural film of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. The interactive session anchored by veteran journalist Patrick Frater who is Asia Bureau Chief of Variety, will witness a discussion amongst key personnel from YRF Entertainment led by its head Uday Chopra – the Hollywood arm of the Bollywood powerhouse Yash Raj Films, and one of the producers of ‘The Grace of Monaco’, and the writer of the film; Development and Production at YRF Entertainment head and executive producer Jonathan Reiman and British-Iranian writer Arash Amel.

     

    The afternoon will see a discussion and felicitation of ‘Titli’, India’s official selection at the festival (Un Certain Regard section) along with the cast and crew including director Kanu Behl. The other Indian film selected at the Festival is Gitanjali Rao’s 19-minute animated romance ‘True Love Story’ which is the only Asian film in the Critics’ Week of the Festival. Titled ‘The Journey to Cannes’, this session will feature ‘Titli’ director Kanu Behl, YRF VP international operations Avtar Panesar, Sikhya Entertainment founder Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap and actor Ranvir Shorey.

     

    The India Pavilion will showcase 100 years of Indian cinema across linguistic, cultural and regional diversity with the aim of forging an increasing number of international partnerships in the realms of distribution, production, filming in India, script development and technology and promoting film sales and syndication.

     

     In particular, the area of focus at this year’s Cannes Film Festival is establishing India as a global film shooting destination and highlighting initiatives such as Single Window Clearance and co-production agreements with various countries that will enable this.

     

    The Ministry has ensured that the space available for Indian delegates is probably the biggest in the Cannes village (126 sq metres). To ensure optimum utilization of this coveted space, the Ministry and FICCI have worked to make a schedule of pre-structured B2B meetings for delegates.

     

    For the first time, the Ministry is releasing the “India Film Guide for Cannes” at the inaugural ceremony with exhaustive descriptions of the policy initiatives of the Ministry, its affiliated bodies; details of all India’s co-production agreements; all Indian films at Cannes and all visiting India delegates; key databases pertaining to the sector and the winners of this year’s national awards.

     

    FICCI, in association with the Ministry will be organising interactive sessions with Indian and international film industry stakeholders at the India Pavilion.

     

     Speakers at these sessions will include New Zealand Film Commission CEO Dave Gibson; Telefilm Canada CEO Carolle Brabant; Toronto Film Festival’s Artistic director Cameron Bailey; Rotterdam International Film Festival’s Cinemart manager Marit van den Elshout; Lighthouse Productions, China, CEO Cindy Shyu; John Penotti of Ivanhoe Productions in the United States; Special Treats Productions CEO Colin Burrows and crew members from Grace of Monaco.

     

    The India Pavilion will be showcasing trailers of recent Indian films and displaying brochures and other literature of Indian film companies. FICCI will be facilitating structured B2B meetings between Indian and international delegates at the festival, and coordinating for exclusive networking events. Alongside, the ‘India Film Guide’, which will list all film related initiatives undertaken by the Government of India and information about all Indian films and delegates at Cannes this year, will be distributed to key international stakeholders.

     

    India will be represented at Cannes by Julka as well as industry stakeholders such as Uday Chopra, Dibakar Banerjee, Bobby Bedi, Ravi Kottarakara and Supran Sen, president and secretary general respectively of the Film Federation of India; Film & Television Producers Guild of India CEO Kulmeet Makkar, and actors Mallika Sherawat and Ranvir Shorey among others.

     

     The India Pavilion will see the presence of Indian filmmakers whose films have been selected at Cannes this year – filmmakers Kanu Behl and Gitanjali Rao and other industry veterans and stars.

     

    “We are honoured and privileged to be working with and on behalf of the Ministry at the prestigious Festival,” FICCI secretary general Dr A. Didar Singh. “It is the next step in FICCI’s continual efforts to bring Indian entertainment to the global forefront.”