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Tag: Bihar

  • Enjoy a devotional start to the day with big magic Bihar & Jharkhand

    Enjoy a devotional start to the day with big magic Bihar & Jharkhand

    MUMBAI: In Indian culture and diaspora where over 30,000 Gods co-exist, all good things begin with acknowledging the presence of this supreme power and reiterating an unwavering faith in His guidance. Moreover, in the Hindi Heartland, spirituality and devotion hold a special place in the hearts of adults and children alike.Celebrating this culture, BIG MAGIC Bihar and Jharkhand now ensures that viewers have a great start to their day by tuning in to the channel! With 5 new shows marking an exciting revamp of the morning slot, viewers can now enjoy devotional programming on their favorite channel with content ranging from devotional songs, musical recitals of Holy Scriptures, astrology, pilgrimage and mythology starting 30th September, 2013!

    The greatest and holiest of Hindu scriptures emphasizes the importance of Bhakti towards God. Viewers can start their day with Bhagwad at 6am where verses from the Holy Scripture will be presented as musical recitals. Viewers can then shop for spiritual products in the Teleshopping slot at 7am. Hindus have immense belief in astrology – to gain a scientific explanation to the ancient science of prediction, viewers can tune in to Grehnakshatra Aur Aap at 8am.

    Renownedastrological scholars Reena Kapoor and Astro Pandit Ramesh Bhojraj Dwivedi educate viewers about the calculations of the Planetary Movements that affects our life. Thereafter, viewers can enjoy devotional songs in Bhakti Sagar at 8.30am. India’s rich mythological past comes alive with numerous places of religious importance in Bihar and Jharkhand. Tour these mystic marvels with Yatra Express at 9.30am. The devotional band ends with the wonderful story of one of the favourite Hindu Gods – Lord Krishna. Catch the mythological story of the 8th avatar of Lord Vishnu in Jai Shri Krishna starting 10am.

    Commenting on the renewed programming, Mr. Sunil Kumaran, Business Head, Big Magic Bihar and Jharkhand said, “Big Magic Bihar and Jharkhand has been the No.1 channel in the region and we seek to consolidate our position by introducing brand new programming in the morning slot. We are confident viewers will enjoy their devotional mornings with us.”

  • Nawazuddin Sidiqqui stars as Manjhi in Ketan Mehta’s next directorial

    Nawazuddin Sidiqqui stars as Manjhi in Ketan Mehta’s next directorial

    MUMBAI: Taj Mahal was constructed in the loving memory of Mumtaz Mahal by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. This monument took 21 years to build and thousands of artisans and craftsmen worked tediously to erect the magnificent structure.

    Then there is Manjhi, an inspiring love story of a poor Shah Jahan, Dashrath Manjhi. Over 22 years, with just a hammer and a chisel, he carved out a path through a mountain, in memory of his beloved wife who had fallen down while trying to cross it. He did it so that no one else would have to suffer her fate.

    “The story of Manjhi is truly inspiring, and for a man to actually break a mountain with just a hammer and a chisel for 22 years for his lost love just gave me goosebumps”, said director Ketan Mehta. “This has certainly been the toughest shoot of my life; we shot in Naxal infested areas on actual location in Bihar.”

    Marking the occasion of Dashrath Manjhi’s sixth death anniversary, renowned director Ketan Mehta announced the completion of his movie Manjhi – The Mountain Man. A biopic on Dashrath Manjhi, famous for being the man who broke a mountain for love, is a co-production between Maya Movies and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

    The movie is co-written and directed by Ketan Mehta and produced by Deepa Sahi and Nina Lath Gupta, with an ensemble cast. The movie has been shot on actual locations in remote areas of Bihar.

    “It was one of the most difficult films to shoot, with the unit having to climb a mountain on foot, every day literally”, said Manjhi – The Mountain Man producer Deepa Sahi. “The movie is looking very nice with brilliant performances by all the artists. We have completed the post-production and are looking forward to release it by the end of this year”, she further added.


     Acclaimed actor, Nawazuddin Sidiqqui, who has won the hearts of audience and critics alike, for his commendable performances in Gangs of Wasseypur, Talaash, Kahaani and Bombay Talkies, will be essaying the role of Dashrath Manjhi. Actress Radhika Apte, will be seen as Manjhi’s wife. Tigmanshu Dhulia, Pankaj Tripathi, Prashant Narayan, Gaurav Dwivedi, amongst others round up the ensamble cast.

    “I wanted the character of Manjhi to be as real as possible and after considering a few actors Nawaz suited the bill perfectly”, Ketan expounded. “The feel of the movie is really raw, intense and earthy; I am really pleased with the final product and am confident the audience will be too.”

    NFDC was approached with the script and they agreed to co-produce the feature film. The complete film has been shot in digital and Ketan is really pleased with the outcome. “This is the first time that I have shot with Red Epic cameras and the result is just amazing.” The duration of the film is just over two hours and should be releasing by end of the year or early next year.

    On being asked if he is confident of the film raking in the moolah at the box-office, here is what Ketan had to say, “Cinema is not just a numbers game. I make movie for the sheer passion of cinema. This is not just a movie, but a triumph of human spirit and to prove that nothing in this world is impossible.”

    Ketan Mehta’s magnum opus – Rang Rasiya – that has been stuck in the doldrums for quite sometime now has also finally got the green signal and should see the light of day by end of this year.

    Ketan has been off the radar for quite sometime now, hope with Manjhi and Rang Rasiya his fans can again have the opportunity to connect with him on the silverscreen.

  • Anusha Rizvi’s next is titled Opium

    Anusha Rizvi’s next is titled Opium

    MUMBAI: Anusha Rizvi known for her film Peepli Live, has teamed up with husband Mahmood Farooqui to direct her second film titled Opium.

    Confirming the same, Anusha said, "I am busy scripting my next film which is titled Opium. It‘s based on Amitav Ghosh‘s novel. The film will be directed by me and Mahmood Farooqui. The film will go on the floors in 2013."

    Anusha is looking at a bigger canvas for her second film and said, "I, as a director, want my film to do commercially well and at the same time it should be accepted by the audiences and get critical acclaim."

    "The film will be widely shot in Bihar, UP (Uttar Pradesh) and Calcutta (in West Bengal),"she added.

    On the casting, she maintains, "Right now, I am not looking at the cast of the film. I am only concentrating on the script. Once the script is ready, I will think about the cast."

  • OMG collects Rs 159.4 million in opening weekend

    OMG collects Rs 159.4 million in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: OMG Oh My God! has been much appreciated thus creating good word of mouth for the film which in turn has helped soar its collections over the weekend to Rs 159.4 million.

    The movie collected Rs 34.8 million on Friday, Rs 58.1 million on Sunday and Rs 66.5 million on Sunday.

    While Gujarat contributed the most to its kitty, collections in East Punjab were affected as the film‘s screening was stopped by the local administration at a couple of centres after objections from activists.

    Their demand was to trim certain sections of the film which, however, amounted to over 35 minutes and would have rendered the film senseless. The figures were also affected to some degree due to India Pakistan T20 match on Sunday.

    The film collected Rs 159.4 million (which does not include West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other eastern territories) in its opening weekend. The film remained steady as the week began and is expected to get some added advantage due to a national holiday on 2 October.

    Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal, poor in content, was poor at box office as well. The film collected Rs 44 million during its first weekend.

    Heroine was not appreciated and the collections dropped as the week progressed. The film, which collected Rs 245 million for the weekend, managed to collect just Rs 331 million for the first week.

    Barfi! was excellent in its second week with figures of Rs 242.5 million taking its two week tally to Rs 828.5 million.

    Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal was out of contention after the second week.

    Raaz3 pulled in Rs 22 million in its third week despite new oppositions to take its three week total to Rs 713 million.

  • Kishore Kumar family green lights his biopic

    Kishore Kumar family green lights his biopic

    MUMBAI: After he met the family of Kishore Kumar recently, Anurag Basu has got the green signal to roll out the biopic of the legendary singer. The film was lying in the cold storage for three months.

    Confirming the same Basu said, “They have green lighted the film after they liked the idea of me doing the film.”

    Last month, Basu met the singer‘s family – wife Leena Chandarvarkar and his two sons, singer Amit Kumar and Sumeet Kumar – to discuss the project. Titled Kishore, the film is now finally on track.

    While Ranbir Kapoor will play Kishore Kumar in the film titled Kishore, Amit Kumar will not only sing his father‘s songs but also play a cameo.

    It is understood that Basu would take up the Kishore Kumar project first and then proceed with his next project about mathematician Anand Kumar who made a name for himself after he made use of his knowledge by taking it to the grassroots of Bihar.

  • Azaan: A montage of post-World War II espionage films

    Azaan: A montage of post-World War II espionage films








    Producer: JMJ Entertainment P Ltd, Alchemia Films.
    Director: Prashant Chadha.
    Cast: Sachin Joshi, Candice Boucher, Ravi Kissen, Arya Babbar, Dalip Tahil, Sajid Hassan, Sami Gharib, Aly Khan.


    MUMBAI: Most films in recent times may have been accused of having poor scripts, pilfered and plagiarised from western ideas; Azaan is the ultimate of such films. It has no script at all. It is just a sort of a montage of a number of post-World War II espionage films transposed in to the electronics/cell phone era.


    There is some sort of anti-India plot hatching somewhere or the other as the film makes it look and one Mr Azaan with the hand of God playing behind him feted to be the saviour. The film is also a sort of a travelogue without a planned itinerary. Wink and the hero is in some other country (the film has been shot in eight countries including India).
     
    Azaan Khan is an ex-army officer. Despite his mixed parentage of an Afghani father and Indian mother, he swears by Mother India and he has been enlisted by RAW (the Indianintelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing), nothing less, the head of which is some woman for whom a perpetually skewed face passes as acting.


    Azaan Khan’s brief is to find and eliminate a sinister enemy called Doctor (Sajid Hassan), who plans to destroy India with biological weapons through a virus called Ebola. Doctor has the backing of a powerful enemy of India–hinted at as being China. The other tracks are those of Azaan Khan’s younger brother suspected to be a terrorist and the love he finds in Candice Boucher.


    Azaan is all about action and special effects which to an extent helps camouflage lead actor Sachin Joshi’s acting limitations. Candice Boucher looks pretty but is removed from the proceedings just as suddenly as she was brought in. Ravi Kissen is economical with his expressions, using just one throughout. Rest are okay. The script is episodic and there is nothing linear about the narration which, coupled with poor direction, puts paid to any hopes of an interesting action film.The director seems to be fulfilling his fantasy of shooting a ‘Hollywood like’ film. Songs are all in the background and offer no foot-tapping numbers.


    Azaan is a waste of a huge budget befitting a star cast film.


     


    Jo Dooba So Paar: It’s Love In Bihar: A low-budget earthy comedy


     









    Producer: Andaaz Production.
    Director: Praveen Kumar.
    Cast: Anand Tiwari, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sita Ragione Spada, Pitobash Tripathy, Sadia Siddiqui, Dadhi Raj.


    For low-budget earthy comedies, the Hindi belt hinterland seems to be the preferred location. The television and computer may have now exposed people in the interiors to a lot of what others are exposed to but some things or people still can hold this audience in awe. Jo Dooba So Paar: Love In Bihar is the coming of age of a local young man.


    In the film Anand Tiwari is a brilliant school student who usually wastes his talent for wrong reasons, like spreading laughing gas during exams since his friends are not yet prepared to take the exam. He is booted out of the school and his father, a trucker, wants him to join him in running the truck. As is the wont of all such teenagers, Anand Tiwari is at loggerheads with his father, Dadhi Raj, chiding him for all the illegal things he does with his truck and yet expecting his son to do everything right.


    Things get worse between the two when an American girl, Sita Ragione Spada, enters the scene visiting Bihar to do research on the local art and staying with her uncle. She is white skinned, thanks to her American mother. The young man is besotted and it is love at first sight for him. He does not waste time and approaches the girl boldly and offers to be her guide. He is now head over heels in love and the day he decides to tell her he loves her, going to meet her with a watermelon as a gift, he sees her with a white American, kissing and getting cosy.


    This is when the Bihar angle comes in; the girl is kidnapped by a local mafia, her American boyfriend seeks Anand Tiwari’s help to find her but he is too heartbroken and feeling betrayed by her to agree. Finally, of course, it is happy ending and the boy and his father too are on the same wavelength.


    The problem with the film is that it is far too predictable and there are no high points. Direction is okay while the music provides some variety in the form of local flavour. Dialogue is well penned. Performances by Vinay Pathak and Anand Tiwari are natural with good support by the latter’s bunch of friends. Sita Ragione Spada is fair. Dadhi Raj and Sadia Siddiqui give a seasoned performance.


    Jo Dooba So Paar: It’s Love In Bihar is tolerable but not at multiplex admission rates; maybe later on DVDs and TV.


     

  • CNN IBN launches special series on drought

    CNN IBN launches special series on drought

    MUMBAI: CNN IBN is launching a special series covering the drought-affected areas across the nation, the worst in recent times.

    The channel, through its series Spectre of Drought, will try and analyse the impact of the drought throughout the week in the news wheel.

    The news correspondents will travel to all the major states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

    The series will attempt to gauge just how bad the impact of the drought is and how much will it affect the common man in urban areas who are dependent on these rural areas for food supplies.

    Says IBN18 Network editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai, “As the country witnesses a severe drought, CNN IBN brings Spectre of drought for it viewers to bring the real impact and effect of the drought in various parts of the country. The series will also look at the impact of drought on urban areas addressing problems like the food prices rising by the day.”

    The series will cover places like Aurangabad in Bihar where farmers have now begun using guns to protect the scanty and precious water in their barely functioning irrigation canals. It will also show western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana amongst others.

  • Bharti Airtel signs $400mn network deal with Nokia

    Bharti Airtel signs $400mn network deal with Nokia

    MUMBAI: Nokia has bagged a $400 million network expansion and services deal for over three years from Bharti Airtel Ltd, mobile services provider. 

    As per the three year contract, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Airtel networks to cover all towns and cities in the eight telecom circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand), Orissa, Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh), according to an official release.

    The network monitoring operations will be carried out from Nokia’s global network services center in Chennai.

    Nokia will also deploy its WAP solution across Airtel’s national network to enhance its mobile packet core network capabilities. 

    The WAP gateway to be implemented by Nokia shall enable easy usage of data services, thereby increasing the consumption of content on the Airtel network. Nokia will
    provide consulting services and integrate the WAP gateway into a multi-vendor environment.

    Nokia will also deploy the latest radio and core network equipment including softswitch, flexi-base stations and mini-Ultrasite base stations and provide services based on Bharti’s capacity requirements, delivering a cost-efficient rollout of on-demand capacity.

    The contract also has stringent service level agreements and performance metrics for both parties which are designed to provide consistently high quality services to subscribers and continuously enhance the user experience.

    Bharti Airtel president Manoj Kohli said, “Our network leadership across India is a critical driver in the Bharti Airtel success story. Our partnership with Nokia reinforces our commitment to this cause and Nokia will provide us the latest technology and expertise to drive growth in the latent market in Eastern India and rapidly expand our coverage in Western parts of India.

    “Nokia is proud to collaborate with Bharti on its initiative to take mobile services to millions of unconnected Indians and enhance the mobile data experience of its existing customers,” said Nokia India country director Ashish Chowdhary. “Our extensive managed services capability, powered with a comprehensive and high quality product portfolio makes Nokia a catalyst for providing affordable mobile services to rural consumers.

  • Bharti Airtel initiates management restructuring

    Bharti Airtel initiates management restructuring

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, mobile services provider has announced the appointment of Atul Bindal as joint president – Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services and has appointed Deepak Srivastava as chief operating officer, Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services, North region.

    Bindal will report to Bharti Airtel president Manoj Kohli and will be a member on the Airtel Management Board (AMB), and chair the Broadband and Telephone Services Management Board (BTMB). Srivastava will in turn report to Bindal.

    Bindal, in his new role will focus on taking Bharti Airtel’s Broadband and Telephone services division to new heights with increased town rollouts and introduction of new technologies. He will be supported by Rajiv Sharma (CEO-NCR), Deepak Srivastava (COO-North), Prem Pradeep (CEO-South Central), Deepak Khanna (CEO-West and MPCG), Randeep Narang (COO-MPCG), informs an official release.

    Prior to this, Bindal was the executive director – South for Mobile Services at Bharti Airtel. He has also had a stint as the Group chief marketing officer and director – Mobile Services at Bharti Airtel for over one and half years.

    Bharti Airtel president Manoj Kohli said, “I am delighted to
    announce the appointment of Atul as the Joint President of our Broadband and Telephone services. Atul, with his strategic business sense and people management skills will lead a set of highly talented and competent leaders to take Bharti Airtel’s Broadband and Telephone Services division to the next level of excellence in Broadband services in 92 towns.”
    Deepak Srivastava on the other hand, was the chief operating officer, Mobile Services, Bihar and Jharkhand. He joined Bharti Airtel in 2004.

    “Deepak Srivastava has successfully led the Bihar and Jharkhand market to leadership and I am confident that in his new assignment, he will continue to set new standards and scale new heights in North Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services,” added Kohli.