Category: Movies

MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films‘ next venture, Band Baaja Baaraat, will be releasing on 10 December in cinemas worldwide, says the production house.

Produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Maneesh Sharma, who was associate director of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, the film stars newcomer Ranveer Singh along with Anushka Sharma. 

Ranveer is a fresher with no modelling or acting experience and was selected after his very first audition. Anushka, after her dream debut in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Lafangey Parindey, has a challenging role in her third film with YRF.

In the film, Shruti (Anushka) and Bittoo (Ranveer), just out of Delhi University, together start a tumultuous entrepreneurial venture as Wedding Planners.
Their business enters the ups and downs of the lavish world of the glamour and glitz of Delhi baaraats and weddings that test their friendship over time.

MUMBAI: The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is conducting its first ever Students’ International Film Festival. The four-day festival, which kicked off on Friday, has the participation of 28 film schools, out of which 23 were from overseas.

The films are categorised into three segments – animation, fiction and non-fiction. The festival, inaugurated by veteran filmmaker Govind Nihalani, will end on 28 September.
 
Says FTII director Pankaj Rag, “The festival, part of the ongoing Golden Jubilee celebrations, is a first-of-its kind endeavour at the institute and aims at presenting a forceful and more vivid picture of the finer aspects of filmmaking that students now-a-days are exposed to.”

As part of the inauguration, films like Deccan Queen (directed by K S Raju), Turbulence (directed by Gulam Shaffi Khan), Jugni (directed by Dipti Gogna) and The Solitary Sandpiper (directed by Ajita Suchitraveera) were screened.

MUMBAI: After signing in singer Akon and Chinese actor Tom Wu for his ambitious project Ra One (Random Access – Version One)[, Shah Rukh Khan has roped in music composer Hans Zimmer of The Dark Knight fame to provide music for his film.

Zimmer will charge Rs 20 million for providing the background score for the film

Wanting his film to be of international standard, Khan spoke to his director Anubhav Sinha who suggested Hans Zimmer’s name for the background score. The director then took the help of his contacts and arranged a meeting between Hans and his producer. With time, Hans agreed to come on board.

Ra One based on Gaming, Bad Guys and Super Heroes, has Khan playing the role of a gaming freak who falls in love with Kareena Kapoor. The film has lot of stunts that can be compared to any international film.

Hans Zimmer has scored music for films like The Lion King, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Pirates of The Caribbean series, The Da Vinci Code, The Dark Knight, Sherlock Holmes and Inception.
 

MUMBAI: The Namaste Bulgaria! Indian Film Festival will be held in Sofia (Bulgaria) from 1 to 10 October.

The festival will screen films featuring the best works of Bollywood of the last six years. Among the films to be shown during the festival are Jodhaa Akbar, Fashion, Dhoom – 2, Fanaa, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Aaja Nachle.

The festival will mark the first advertising presence of Incredible India – the Ministry of Indian Tourism and five colourful spots from their campaign will present India as a tourism destination.

Namaste Bulgaria! Indian Film Festival is being supported by the Embassy of India in Sofia. The other partners of the Festival are DHL, Kohinoor Restaurant, Attica Media, Cinefish, Fame cards and Programata. Film partners of the festival are Yash Raj Films and UTV.

Said Cineplex Sofia General Manager Eleonora Staykova, “We are happy to welcome the Namaste Bulgaria! Indian Film Festival in the halls of the Cineplex and to be a partner of the first edition of the festival. The way we see it, during the 10 days of the festival, we would like to create a celebration of music, colors, emotions and a lot of smiles.”

Those who will attend the festival from Bollywood include Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hritikh Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan.

MUMBAI: Aamir Khan has scored a hat trick as far as the Oscars are concerned. His Peepli Live has been chosen as India‘s official entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language film category.

“We chose Peepli Live for its stark portrayal of the state of Indian farmers and the vibrant depiction of the media in our country,” said Film Federation of India chairperson L Suresh.

It may be noted that there were as many as 27 films in the running for the coveted nomination. In fact, a Tamil film Angadi Theru was also in the running and the two – Peepli Live and Angadi Theru – were very close.

Incidentally, Khan‘s two other earlier films, Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par, were also chosen in the same category for the Oscar awards. An Indian film has never won the Best Foreign Language film Oscar award but Lagaan, Salaam Bombay and Mother India were shortlisted for taking a shot at the coveted prize.
 

MUMBAI: Manoj Kumar will be felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year‘s 12th Mumbai Film Festival.

In the past, the producer-actor-director has received awards such as the Padma Shri Award, Phalke Ratna Award, Best Director Award, Best Actor Award aming others for his exceptional contribution to Indian Cinema. 

But this year, the 12th Mumbai Film Festival takes a proud step towards honouring Manoj Kumar with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his valuable contribution.
Said director of MAMI V Narayanan, “His contribution to Indian cinema is considerable. No Independence Day is complete without songs from his films. We will confer the award on Manoj Kumar. It will be presented to him at the award function on 28 October.”

Manoj Kumar is best known as ‘Bharat‘ Kumar for his patriotic roles and exceptional work in films like Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim and Kranti.

MUMBAI: After four decades, the external affairs ministry has decided to lift the ban on the Satyajit Ray documentary, Sikkim, made in 1971 and allowed the film for public screening.

But there‘s a hitch. The original negative has withered away. But a print has been partly restored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

“If we can acquire the print from the Academy, we can formally release the film here in India,” asserts Sandip Ray, director-son of Satyajit Ray.

The film had been commissioned by the last Chogyal (king) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal, and his American-born wife Hope Cooke. “It was actually the Chogyal‘s American wife who wanted Ray to make a documentary on Sikkim,” avers Sandip.

However, when the film was completed after “being shot for three different seasons”, the Chogyal was upset about some of the candid reality portrayed in it. It included the Sikkim‘s poor alongside the grandeur of the royalty. In one of his shots. Ray, for instance, showed the poor scrambling for leftover food dumped behind the palace after a grand royal dinner.

When the royal couple viewed the film in Kolkata for the first time, they were unhappy about such shots and ordered cuts, says Sandip. “Baba (My father) was “unhappy with the final cut,” he sighs.

After Sikkim was merged with India in 1975, it was still considered a sensitive region and the Centre decided to ban the film that was commissioned by the monarchy as a result of which there was no screening of the film in India.

Now after 40 years the external affairs ministry has lifted the ban and allowed the film to be screened.

Sandip recollects that he had seen the restored copy a few years ago at the Nantes Three Continents Film Festival in France and has called for the copy. He hopes to acquire a copy and screen it on his father‘s 90th birth anniversary on 2 May next year.