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Tag: Anupam Kher

  • Curtain call for ‘DDLJ’ at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir

    Curtain call for ‘DDLJ’ at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir

    MUMBAI: After a historic 1000 week run, the iconic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) made its final curtain call at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir on 19 February, 2015.

     

     Post the 1000 week celebrations in December last year, the theatre had requested YRF to prepone the DDLJ morning show to 9:15 am instead of 11:30 am as it was becoming difficult for the cinema to accommodate multiple new releases every week with just three regular shows.

     

     YRF obliged from 13 February, 2015. However, while the theatre management was happy to continue the film for as long as it continued to draw in the audiences, owing to logistical issues of their staff having to work inordinately long hours to accommodate an additional early morning show, it was mutually decided to end the films historic and record breaking run.

     

     After playing for 1009 uninterrupted weeks, the films unprecedented performance has come to an end at the Maratha Mandir. The film played out in the 9:15 am today for the last time at the theatre.

     

    The movie, which is directed by Aditya Chopra, stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead along with the late Amrish Puri, Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher, Satish Kaushik, Mandira Bedi and Parmeet Sethi amongst others.

  • ‘Roy’: Shot in the dark

    ‘Roy’: Shot in the dark

    MUMBAI: The title often shows a lack of imagination and is an indication of what is to follow. Roy, as it turns out after eons through the film, is the name Ranbir Kapoor goes by. Roy looks like a film inspired by watching a lot of the last century’s Hollywood and European films.

    Arjun Rampal is a film maker, who is on his third version of a series, Guns III, having earlier made two very successful versions. His inspiration comes from a suave robber, Ranbir Kapoor, who steals antiques and paintings. Having bumped into Ranbir once, he puts Ranbir’s exploits on screen.

    This once, Rampal is stuck for ideas and keeps working on his antique typewriter but nothing comes across on paper that he can go with. He realizes he needs inspiration. He proceeds to Malaysia without a script and starts shooting the film at random. No wonder then that what he comes up with through the Roy’s first part looks like a film to promote Malaysian tourism.

    Soon, Rampal finds his inspiration in Jacqueline Fernandez. She is in Malaysia to shoot a short film. Rampal makes her a part of his story. Roy is out to steal a part of a portrait of which the other part is with his handler. There is a huge offer if both the parts are available together to complete the portrait. Rampal manipulates his story idea where now the part of the portrait is in Jacqueline’s possession from where Ranbir will steal it. For this purpose, he also finds an actress who is Jacqueline’s lookalike.

    Producers: Divya Khosla Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar
    Director: Vikramjit Singh
    Cast: Arjun Rampal, Jacqueline Frenandez, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher (guest role), Shibani Dandekar

    As in most of the film, what happens thereafter is beyond understanding. The job is made easy for Ranbir as the actress has lured Ranbir to her bed and he just has to pick up the portrait hanging on the wall and make an early departure. Actually, it is all quite confusing.

    This is a film of whims and fancy. There is no script and a thin line about a thief inspiring film stories, which qualifies as cock and bull stuff. The director has no clue what he wants to make and seems to think that shooting low light dark scenes makes one a genius. The film, however, has excellent visual value backed by a good background score. Mumbling passes as dialogue and is not easy to catch. Songs are good but orchestra overpowers the lyrics.

    There is little in this film for actors: Rampal is lovelorn but hardly looks it. Ranbir Kapoor sleepwalks through his brief role. Jacqueline emerges the most sincere of the lot. Anupam Kher has a brief role, which is irrelevant.

    Roy is a waste of lot of resources with no hope of returns.

     

     

     

    ‘MSG: The Messenger’: Of self-gratification

    Having gained some recognition through media because of his numerous controversies, Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, as he calls himself, decides to use his film watching hobby to help promote him and his cult, Dera Sacha Sauda, on a national level. The result is MSG: The Messenger, a film for the janata.

    Producer: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    Director: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    Cast: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    And, no he does need stars to project him on screen; he can do it himself. So the Insan plays himself as a pure hearted person who is clean of thoughts and deeds, full of energy and preaches others to be like himself.

    Insan does all the things NGOs around the world do: organises de-addiction programmes, blood donation camps, cleans streets, plants trees, rescues women from prostitution and also resettles eunuchs.

    Insan also has a cure for his followers’ ailments through his ‘Ruhaani jaam,’ which is his own concoction. Insan also fights the evils of the world as he can fly, throw a mean punch and do all the stunts seen in Hollywood and Indian films.

    The film, all of its 190+ minutes has Insan, each and every frame of it. What else would you expect? His costumes are garish and loud but that he has been seen to wear even in his real life.

    Insan has done everything in this film from producing, directing, scripting, cinematography et al.

    To make further sure his ‘hard work’ pays, Insan has also bought out tickets worth crores to make sure his followers don’t miss it!

  • Dilip Kumar gets Lifetime Achievement Award at JIFF

    Dilip Kumar gets Lifetime Achievement Award at JIFF

    NEW DELHI: Veteran Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Indian cinema at the Jaipur International Film Festival.
     
    The actor was not present to receive the award due to health reasons. The award was received by Anupam Kher on his behalf.
     
    In a video message, Kumar’s wife and yesteryear actress Saira Bano said, “Dilip sahib will be very happy and feel to be honoured by with this award. Due to doctor’s advise not to mingle with crowd, he could not come to Gulabi Nagari to receive the award. His health is good after recovering from pneumonia in the past. It is lovely to be honoured for all of us.”
     
    Jaipur International Film Festival also gave the lifetime achievement award to Iranian film-maker Majid Majidi for his upstanding contribution to the cinema.
  • CBFC mulling online methods to expedite film certification process: Nihalani

    CBFC mulling online methods to expedite film certification process: Nihalani

    NEW DELHI: Even as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is facing flak on social media for asking singer Mihir Joshi to beep the word ‘Bombay’ from the lyrics of one of his songs from the album ‘Mumbai Blues;’ the newly appointed chairman of the Board – Pahlaj Nihalani is clear on his stance as far as certification goes. 

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Nihalani said that one of the major tasks that he faced before him was to ensure speedy clearances of films submitted to the Board. “We will be looking at using more online methods to expedite this process with the least interference in the work of the film’s producer. The process will include introduction of an online ‘tatkal’ system to expedite the process of clearing films. The online system will be adapted to ensure that the board functions in a completely transparent manner and films can get certificates without much hassles,” he said. 

     

    What’s more, Nihalani, who has been appointed in an honorary capacity for three years from 18 January, also said that he would tender his resignation if he was unable to enforce the censorship guidelines while certifying films. “The guidelines don’t permit the use of vulgar or abusive language that I have seen in many films and it will be my attempt to stop the use of such language,” he stressed.

     

    He went on to add that while people on the CBFC changed and the society as a whole was assuming a different profile with a greater population of younger people, Indian cultural values remained as strong as ever and would continue to guide him. 

     

    He urged filmmakers to use their freedom of expression, but “do not rape free expression.”

     

    Nihalani said that while trailers of adult films were not being shown on television channels, he was conscious of trailers of films certified with U/A certificates being shown even during day time.

     

    “It is unfortunate that YouTube and other media are also being used for showing films, since it makes it easier for filmmakers to use filthy language. Stars on live shows on television are using abusive language but this is a matter that should be dealt with by the Inter-Ministerial Committee of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry,” he said.

     

    A matter that concerns Nihalani is that both social media channels and television channels were being seen by people of all ages.  

    Nihalani is also of the opinion that there was urgent need to amend the Cinematograph Act in view of the newer forms of screens coming up. “Although an amendment was contemplated by the previous government and put on the website, there may be need for greater change in view of fast advancements of technology,” he said.

     

    In India, there have been cases galore when political or social bodies turn vandals and take to the streets opposing certain films that were already certified by the CBFC. Nihalani stressed that as per the Courts, “there should be no interference once a film has been cleared by the Board.”

     

    When queried about the suggestion by actor and former chairperson Anupam Kher to permit adult films in late night hours on TV, Nihalani said, “This is a matter of policy relating to TV channels and it does not fall in the ambit of the CBFC.”

     

    According to him, certain suggestions were being formulated, which will then be sent to the government.

     

    Speaking about his priorities as the new CBFC chief, Nihalani said, “We need to request the Centre to implement the recommendations of the Justice Mudgal committee, which was set up in 2013 after the government felt the need to update the Cinematograph Act, 1952, in the wake of a controversy over the release of the Kamal Hasan starrer Vishwaroopam.”

     

    Along with Nihalani, nine other members were appointed to the Board recently in the wake of the erstwhile chief Leela Samson resigning. The new members are Mihir Bhuta, Prof. Syed Abdul Bari, Ramesh Patange, George Baker, Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, Jeevitha, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, S Ve Shekhar and Ashoke Pandit. Nihalani said that the Ministry was also working towards filling vacancies in the Board.

     

    Referring to the ‘mass resignations’ by Samson and other members, he said that their term had in any case ended several months earlier and they were continuing on extension pending new appointments.

     

    Nihalani is a Hindi film producer since the 1980s, who produced his first film Hathkadi in 1982, starring Sanjeev Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy. His last film titled Khushboo released in 2008. He was also the President of Association of Motion Pictures and TV Programs Producers for 29 years until 2009.

     

    Claiming that he had made 24 films of which none had faced any censor problems, Nihalani said that he had taken a break from film-making in recent years. However, one of the films he is currently making is under production, while two others were in the planning stage.

  • Essel Vision’s ‘Jazbaa’ starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to go on floors on 20 Jan

    Essel Vision’s ‘Jazbaa’ starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to go on floors on 20 Jan

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s (ZEEL) creative and production studio Essel Vision Productions is gearing up for its much anticipated film – Jazbaa. The movie, which is touted as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback film, is slated to go on floors on 20 January.

     

    Essel Vision Productions will be producing the movie in association with Sanjay Gupta’s White Feather Films and Sachiin Joshi’s Viiking Entertainment. The movie also stars Shabana Azmi, Irrfan Khan, Anupam Kher, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Atul Kulkarni, Siddharth Kapoor, Baby Sara Arjun and Priya Banerjee. It will be directed by Gupta.

     

    Speaking on its foray, Essel Vision CEO Nittin Keni said, “Jazbaa is an amazing story intertwined with superlative action, drama and mystery. It is the kind of entertaining and meaningful cinema that we want our audience to associate us with. Supported with keen creative & business acumen we are confident that we deliver compelling, profitable entertaining content to global audiences.”

     

    Jazbaa is a crime thriller and filled with unpredictable twists in the plot hence it was imperative for the actors to be completely in sync with their characters. With the film all set to go on the floors on 20 January, the makers organised a script reading session, which gave an opportunity for the cast and crew to come together to understand and prepare their roles thoroughly.

     

    The script reading session was helmed by Gupta along with scriptwriters Kamlesh Pandey and Robin Bhatt. It opened interesting conversations among the actors about the concept in India for a Bollywood film. This was later followed by a detailed dialogue with the creative team including sound designer Resul Pookutty and cinematographer Sameer Arya.

     

    Commenting on the narration, Gupta said, “The script reading session of Jazbaa with the entire cast and crew went off very well. Internationally, it’s the norm and I think it helps the cast bond with each other before the shooting starts. It’s a better arrangement than having the actors meet each other only when they reach the sets when the shoot begins. Writers sometimes tend to miss out certain elements when they are so close to the script. The inputs I received from the actors were fresh as they have interesting perspectives when they hear the story at one go like this and will only help us make a better film. It was also an ice breaker for the talent on the film since most of my cast are working with each other for the first time.”

     

    Keeping the lead actress’ parenting duties in mind, Gupta, who is also father to a young child, plans to shoot the film only on weekdays.

     

    Shabana and Aishwarya hit if off instantly as they waited for Irrfan to join them. It was not surprising to see Aishwarya go up to and welcome the young child actor, Sara, on board the film by hugging her. Even as Sara smiled and told her that was her huge fan, the actress responded by saying, “Don’t be my fan, you’re my daughter!”

     

  • Essel Vision enters into a multi-film deal with White Feather Films

    Essel Vision enters into a multi-film deal with White Feather Films

    MUMBAI: Essel Vision Productions Ltd (EVPL), the creative and production studio of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL), has announced a multi-film deal to make its foray into mainstream commercial Hindi films with writer, director and producer, Sanjay Gupta’s White Feather Films.

    The first film to go on floors in January 2015 is directed by Sanjay Gupta. Titled Jazbaa, it is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback film as the dynamic lead protagonist and also stars Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi and Anupam Kher. Jazbaa will be Aishwarya’s first film after a gap of 5 years.

     Essel Vision has, in a short span of three years, emerged as a full-fledged state-of-the-art-studio that is a one-stop destination for all in film making, promotions, advertising, distribution and revenue generating streams. It has built a dynamic portfolio of regional cinema in Marathi and Bengali, top rated television shows and is now venturing into Hindi cinema. Wholly owned by ZEE, Essel Vision is backed by the conglomerate’s vast network of channels including its music company Zee Music.

     After being a trendsetter in Marathi and Bangla cinema and associations with the biggest names in regional language cinema, this announcement is a first from amongst a slate of films being made by Essel Vision.
     
    Acclaimed filmmaker Nittin Keni is Essel Vision’s CEO and has produced commercial and critical blockbusters like Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and half a dozen other successful films. On this multi-film deal, Nittin Keni says, “We are delighted to associate with Sanjay Gupta. The first offering Jazbaa is a brilliant script that is full of emotional texture and develops beautifully into a human story for global audiences. The partnership is a perfect fit for both companies and I am confident that together we will be in a better position to deliver compelling, profitable entertaining content to global audiences. Besides the films which we have already locked, we are in talks with several prolific content makers and will soon announce other projects in the pipeline.”
     
    Sanjay Gupta is known for his fast-paced action thrillers which include Kaante, Musafir, Zinda, Shootout at Lokhandwala and the recent blockbuster Shootout At Wadala amongst others. Commenting on their association, Sanjay Gupta, Chairman & MD, White Feather Films says, “It’s a pleasure to associate with Essel Vision on their foray into mainstream Hindi film production after the successes they have had in regional cinema. Having the largest Indian television conglomerate ZEEL backing us is a dream come true for any production house. We, at White Feather Films, could not be happier. Also, for me from doing fast paced action, I’m looking forward to Jazbaa as it’s a gripping, touching and terrifying drama. We have a stellar team, and a great dramatic conundrum that audiences should enjoy.”
     
    After creating an unprecedented record at the recently held 45th International Film Fesival of India (IFFI) in Goa, with four films produced by EVPL selected officially to be screened at the festival, the studio identifies and acquires powerful fresh and intellectual property based ideas and matches them with strong filmmakers to turn them into blockbusters. Essel Vision – Business Head, Akash Chawla says, “This is our first announcement and many more announcements can be expected from Essel Vision in the Hindi film space. Zee is here to make quality & commercially viable films and Essel Vision, as the creative and production arm of Zee, will lead the foray. We will be involved in all aspects right from film production, processing, distribution, exhibition and revenue streams of these films.”  

     

  • A boring week for box office

    A boring week for box office

    MUMBAI: Shaukeens, the remake of 1982 Basu Chatterjee film, Shaukeen, starring old stalwarts Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and AK Hangal is below the mark. The three characters being re-enacted by Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra are no patch on the veterans they replace. Plus, the script has been mutilated badly in an attempt to better it (old classics can’t be bettered).  The film opened low despite a weak opposition. And, the film has managed to collect just Rs 13.5 crore for its opening weekend.

     

    Rang Rasiya, an attempt to sell some nudity in the name of an artistic biopic about a celebrated artist Raja Ravi Varma, has not worked. Biopics about known recent heroes don’t work with our audience and this film working was a long shot. The film fares poorly, missing a first day crore by miles and going onto end the weekend with a poor Rs 2.1 crore.

     

    Super Nani fails at the box office. The subject, despite Rekha enacting the protagonist, is outdated and treated badly. The film has managed to collect a meagre Rs 2.75 crore in its first week.

     

    Roar, a rare film on human vs man eater tigers in a game of survival offered some novelty value which was not enough to save it at the box office. Laden with heavy special effects, which costs dearly, the film has managed just Rs 7.85 crore in its first week.

     

    Happy New Year, despite its negative reports, gets the advantage of poor oppositions and does better than merited in its second week. Even while on decline after its opening day, the film manages to collect Rs 32.4 crore in its second week taking its two week total to Rs 162.4 crore.

     

    Haidar has added Rs 10 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 40.5 crore.

     

    Bang Bang has collected Rs 15 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week total to Rs 145.75 crore.

     

     

     

  • Shaukeens …Not for a film shaukeen

    Shaukeens …Not for a film shaukeen

    Shaukeens is inspired from the 1982 film, Basu Chatterjee’s successful film Shaukeen, starring Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and A K Hangal. They are replaced here by Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra. The original had Mithun Chakraborty and Rati Agnihotri as romantic attractions. Their replacements here are Akshay Kumar and Lisa Haydon. Shaukeen was remade in Telugu as Prema Pichollu with Chiranjeevi and others in 1983.

    Producers: Murad Khetani, Ashwin Varde.
    Director: Abhishek Sharma.
    Cast: Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Piyush Mishra, Lisa Haydon, Rati Agnihotri and in cameos Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Suniel Shetty and, in a special appearance, Akshay Kumar.

    The actual theme, though with a different ending and with the approach of a thriller rather than a comedy was The Fan Club, a 1974 novel by Irving Wallace, made into a film the same year. Here an actress is kidnapped by a few men. In Shaukeen and Shaukeens, three old men, referred to in India as thirkee/lecherous men, bored with their daily routine, embark on a holiday with the express purpose of finding some sex.
    Kher, Kapoor and Mishra are deprived of sex for different reasons. Kher’s wife has turned full time religious and sex is taboo for her; Mishra’s wife is dead while Kapoor could not marry the woman he loved and, hence, has no sex life. Best they get is to ogle at young girls at morning exercise groups. This proves to be even more frustrating even as their attempts independent of each other fail.
    Having had enough, Kapoor comes up with an idea. Since they are well known in Delhi where they are based, they decide to land up in Bangkok. But the very mention of Bangkok is opposed by the two men with families, Kher and Mishra, as whatever the reason, Bangkok in the family and friends circle would create talks. They decide on Mauritius where they learn Akshay Kumar is slated to shoot his next film.

    They are lucky to get a house to themselves in Mauritius as the owner, Lisa Haydon, has decided to rent it out while she is away. The trio’s first night out at a club is a failure. But, to their surprise there is Lisa sleeping in the lawn; her programme got cancelled at the last minute.

    Haydon is a bindass, carefree girl and a self-proclaimed designer who makes a pendant out of a frog’s eye and glares for Akshay from her nails! Her carefree attitude is taken by the three men as an open invitation. They put their efforts into scoring with Haydon, collectively as well as individually.

    While these three are chasing Haydon, Akshay Kumar is in Mauritius for a film shoot. Haydon is a big fan of Akshay and she proposes that whoever of the three takes her to meet Akshay will get whatever he asks for from her. Kher manages first followed by Kapoor by which time has had enough of her.

    Mishra’s attempt is the last straw. A drunk Akshay (he is a closet alcoholic) is on stage at an Indian community event, bursts out in anger.

    Sadly, Shaukeens is a poorly adapted version of the original. Nothing about it looks natural: the way they behave or the way they try to court Haydon. The comedy is either absent or banal, making one laugh at the attempts to create comedy instead of the comedy itself. Direction is routine and lacking imagination. Music is poor. Not a very long film, but even at 135 minutes it offers much scope for further editing. Performance wise, while Kher and Mishra are routine, Kapoor is a little better. So much so that Akshay Kumar emerges the best of the male cast. Haydon is a wrong choice.

    Shaukeens fails to entertain. Having opened to poor response, it faces tough time ahead.

    Rang Rasiya ……Of colours and women shapes

    Producer: Deepa Sahi, Anand Mahendroo.
    Director: Ketan Mehta.
    Cast: Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen, Paresh Rawal.

     

    Rang Rasiya is based on the life of the renowned Indian artist and painter of the 19th Century, Raja Ravi Varma, who went on to become a legend. Born in Kerala, Varma was a painter trained in the basics of art followed by water painting and then oil painting by three different masters. He was driven out of his native Kerala by the local ruler for adding the prefix Raja to his name. But he was backed by the ruler of Mysore, who was also his patron, and his paintings adorn the Mysore Palace till date.

    The film version is an adaptation of a novel, Raja Ravi Varma, written by Ranjit Desai. It is a novel and not a life account of Varma and, hence, the film too has a commercial film-like approach. And, it turns out to be more about women and romances in Varma’s life and that is what is expected to attract the moviegoer. After, all painting and painters find their followers at art galleries not in cinema halls.
    Lying in cans since 2008 for want of censor clearance, the film was screened at various film festivals. It has only now finally got an Indian release. Married with five children, Varma, played by Randeep Hooda, has a glad eye for pretty women and admired their bodies; he was an eternal lover. His sexual encounters with women would be dream sequences, otherwise, for a common man. A flirt who uses women for his artistic inspiration as well as for what they are. Finally comes a woman, Nandana Sen, who he soon becomes passionate about.
    Not taking Varma seriously, she eventually becomes his model and lover. He has found a new inspiration only to be vehemently opposed by the self-styled custodians of culture and traditions. From being dragged to court to being blamed for the plague epidemic in Mumbai, he faces it all.

    Varma takes his art and admiration for the female further as he gives faces and form to Hindu gods and goddesses and paints their pictures, and sets up his own lithographic printing press to print and distribute these pictures free of cost to lakhs of people including those not allowed into temples. He provides a God/Goddess to every home. His one admirable act was to financially help the father of Indian cinema, Dada Saheb Phalke with his first film project.

    Ketan Mehta is a fine and sensitive director but here his priorities seem mixed up between depicting the life of one of the most renowned artist and his sex life. Rather than romance, the film and characters seem to thrive on lust. Hooda looks too hard faced to depict Varma. Girls are just okay.

    Biopics are not a very popular genre even about our recent heroes while this one is about one from a long past few can identify with, making the film a commercial liability.
     

     

  • Akshay Kumar strives hard for the National Award, in ‘The Shaukeens’

    Akshay Kumar strives hard for the National Award, in ‘The Shaukeens’

    MUMBAI: With Akshay Kumar’s latest flick The Shaukeens ready for release, his character in the movie was recently announced. The actor will play a real life version of himself, but with a surprising twist. He will be seen playing an alcoholic superstar in the feature.

     

    Director Abhishek Sharma reveals, “In the film, Akshay desperately wants to win the National Award. There is this huge conflict between him and his business manager (Cyrus Broacha), who wants him to break box-office records instead. But Akshay is ready to do anything to bag the most respected award in the country.”

     

    This interesting spin to the character goes on to form the highlight of the movie produced by Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde.

     

    Sharma further reveals that the manner in which the superstar achieves his goal goes on to become a crucial part of the films plot.

     

    “In the middle of all this mad conflict are a greedy secretary, an eccentric director and a commercial filmmaker — all driving Akshay crazy, who’s wasted, anyway! It is madness like never seen before,” adds Sharma.     

          

    The Shaukeens is a remake of 1982 comedy movie Shaukeen directed by Basu Chatterjee. It stars Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Piyush Mishra and Lisa Haydon along with Akshay Kumar.

     

    Produced by Cine1 Studios, Cape Of Good Films and Ashwin Varde Productions, the film is set to release on 7 November 2014.

  • ‘Super Nani’…From Nani’s era!

    ‘Super Nani’…From Nani’s era!

    MUMBAI: Indra Kumar, lately known for his crass comedies, this time tries an old fashioned family drama, a typical tear jerker about a suppressed woman who is taken for granted and generally insulted by her husband, son, daughter and daughter-in-law. The film is adapted from the Gujarati play, Baa Ae Mari Boundary (Mom Hits A Boundary).

    Rekha is told by her husband, Randhir Kapoor that her place is in the kitchen. He treats her just like a servant. According to him, the only contribution by his wife Rekha in his life was that she produced three children for him. Following his example, even her daughter, son and daughter-in-law treat her the same way. She has no place in their lives except to cook and serve them meals.

    Rekha is an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and a regular at the local temple where she keeps making deals with God, like if God made sure Kapoor gets the best CEO award she would visit the temple to thank the God. Her son keeps making losses in the stock market. As a solution, she wants him to tie a sacred thread on his wrist and she also takes it upon herself to fast on his behalf, a ritual suggested by the temple priest.

     

    Producers: Indra Kumar, Ashok Thakeria.

    Director: Indra Kumar.

    Cast: Rekha, Sharman Joshi, Shweta Kumar, Randhir Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Rajesh Kumar

    All this religious stuff and her suggestions are totally unwelcome for all her family members. Her only sympathiser in her house is her servant who competes with Rekha in shedding tears every time she is humiliated. She prays to God to end her misery somehow. The servant’s plea is soon answered as her grandson, Sharman Josh, arrives from the US. Joshi adores Rekha and sees how badly she is treated by his nana and others in the house. He can’t tolerate his nani being treated the way she is. After all, she is educated, a Kathak exponent and though she may look washed out now, she was a pretty woman as Joshi remembers her from his childhood days spent with her.

    Joshi wants to change things for Rekha and decides that she can still be made to look as pretty as she was. Always with a camera around his neck, Joshi does a photo session with her making her dance to some of the old classic numbers from Shri 420, Mughal E Azam etc. While he sends copies to an ad agency managed by Anupam Kher, he also decides to blow up the pictures to display them in the family garden to surprise the family members.

    The display does not surprise the family members the way Joshi had planned. They are all livid and Kapoor asks his son, Rajesh Kumar, to burn the pictures.

    Anupam Kher, on his part, is impressed with Rekha’s pictures and turns up at her house with a contract for her for modelling. Kher also turns out to be Rekha’s childhood buddy. Kapoor as well as rest of her family wants her to reject the contract but, finally, Rekha rebels. She accepts the offer and is an overnight success.

    The family is handicapped without Rekha to run the household. But for Rekha, it is now time to turn her wayward family members around using her resources and the emotional connection with Joshi by her side thinking up ideas for her. Joshi is also romancing Rekha’s neighbour, Shweta Kumar (Daughter of producer- director, Indra Kumar).

    The problem with Super Nani is that while as a stage play it has to cater to a limited audience in a particular language, a film has to carry universal appeal. And, to top that, the story is too old fashioned for today’s generation as well as predictable as Rekha wins her family over one by one. The film also has limited face value. Direction is passable. Musically the film has one good song to offer in Maheroo Maheroo… and using a medley of old songs for Rekha’s photo shoot makes one conscious how deficient today’s music is. Rekha looks pretty as ever but not much fun to watch shedding tears all throughout. Joshi is good as her aide. Rest of the cast is okay with limited scope.

    Super Nani has had a poor opening and may find some patronage only from ladies audience.

     

    ‘Roar: Tigers Of The Sunderbans’….Visual pleasure

     

    Producer: Abis Rizvi.

    Director: Kamal Sadanah.

    Cast: Abhinav Shukla, Himarsha Venkatsamy, Achint Kaur, Subrat Dutta, Nora Fatehi, Ali Quli Mirza, Aadil Chahal, Varinder Singh Ghuman, Aaran Chaudhary, Pranay Dixit, Pulkit Jawahar.

    Roar is one of those rare films on wildlife India makers. Some producers in the south did venture into films involving animals but those were emotional dramas with animals acting as best friends of human master. Producer MM Chinappa Devar specialised in such films with Haathi Mere  Saathi, Gaai Aur Gauri etc. There have been other such films too like K C Bokadia’s Teri Meherbaniyan. Roar follows earlier films like Kal and Forest.

    Roar is about seven youngsters descending on Sunderbans, the famous Tiger Reserve in West Bengal which is known to have white tigers.

    These seven include trained commandoes and they are here in Sunderbans with a mission to kill a man-eater white tiger which had killed the brother of one of them. However, being a commando is not enough to face a man eater tiger, which they realise soon. Instead of them killing the tiger, they become its target.

    The film uses a lot of special effects and blends shots of Sunderbans with parts shot with trained tigers brought in from abroad. The film is directed by actor turned director, Kamal Sadanah whose direction as well as enthusiasm about the film is laudable.