ITV

Tag: Devika Bhagat

  • Over 150 films in Mumbai Women Film Festival next month

    Over 150 films in Mumbai Women Film Festival next month

    NEW DELHI: ‘The Grand Seduction’ by Don Mckellar starring Taylor Kitsch (actor of X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Brendon Gleeson (actor of Edge of Tomorrow, Harry Potter, etc) is the opening film of the Mumbai Women’s International Film Festival (MWIFF) commencing from 6 December.

     
    Hosted by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and organised by Oculus Creations, it will continue till 13 December,

     
    The six days of screening will be held at Liberty cinema, Marine Lines; Carnival Cinema, Borivali and Ravindra Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi.

     
    The festival will be showcasing 152 films judged by Jury members like writer of ‘Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl’ Devika Bhagat, editor of ‘My Name is Khan’ Deepa Bhatia, director of ‘Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge’ Nupur Asthana; Film ‘Bhool bhuliayya’ writer Manisha Korde, the ace ad filmmaker Shivendra Dungarpur and Director and producer Olivier Delahaye from France who has done films like ‘The Wooden Camera’, ‘Nothing But the Truth’, etc.

     
    “We have launched a collection of best films; documentaries, short films and feature films. The 2014 programme with a focus on German cinema will open a whole new corner of the cinematic universe to the audience. The women filmmakers will surely shine on the pink screen’, says Film Department head Ravi Hathalia announcing the schedule.

     
    The festival is also hosting a music concert on 12 December at Liberty Cinema, Marine Lines in association with MTV Indies. The festival will have independent artists and bands that are true to the music in their hearts and mainstream is not something they are drawn to.

     
    Furthermore, the festival is organising Industry Programme Conference that would highlight and provide insights to independent film makers on the most important lessons of ”Breaking In” into the movie business from the perspective of Industry Professionals.

     
    The ‘MWIFF Excellence Awards’ will celebrate the achievements of remarkable women who inspire those around them either through the media or films in their everyday lives.

     
    Apart from awarding the Women who have participated in the festival, the festival will felicitate Bollywood filmmakers from different departments.  

     

  • One By Two: A Lost Cause

    One By Two: A Lost Cause

    MUMBAI: One By Two is formula for an economic date where one shares a single soup with his date with the notion that he will get a little more than the other.

     

    Here, the title is also symbolic of the stories which move simultaneously of two people which become one only at the end. Described as a romantic comedy, the film has these ingredients missing, romance as well as comedy! In fact, the film lacks in a definite concept. What is it all about?

     

    Abahy Deol is a dejected man having been dumped by his girlfriend. However, he is bent on getting her back. He serenades under her balcony when he is not punching a computer keyboard in his office or strumming a sponsor’s (washing powder Nirma) jingle on a guitar. His prized possession is a DVD of a song he wrote for his girlfriend which he hopes to play for her again someday!  If this is an ode to youth today, it is a sad one. His girlfriend has dropped him in favour of her dance guru so that she gets selected for a famous TV dance show.

     

    There is another contender to the said TV show in Preeti Desai, a London trained ballet dancer. What is common between Preeti and Abhay’s ex girlfriend is that they are so determined to get on to the show carrying a prize of 10 lakh that they make it a practice of sleeping  with the guys in charge! In a supposedly contemporary film, prize money of 10 lakh in a TV show must be pittance, especially considering Preeti seems to be well-off with her mother, Lillete Dubey, consuming gallons of Scotch per day. The ground for Lillete to be sauced all day is that she was dumped by her moneybag paramour.

     

    The sequences in the film often have no relevance to previous happenings. Some things just drop from nowhere. The comedy in the film is in noisy passing of gas and other toilet humour, all repeated rather too often. The hero is confused, undecided all his life. When asked to marry a girl of family’s choice, the family being his mother Rati Agnihotri and father Jayant Kriplani, he is okay with it. The suitor is a full blown Punjabi girl endowed with all the Punjabi attributes. And, how does he make his intent of not wanting to get tied down known?  On the Roka ceremony, he emerges out of his bedroom in a worn out boxers and a T shirt; he welcomes the girl’s family with a loud song accompanied by his guitar! The idea of comedy is rather weird!

     

    Instead of a romantic comedy, the film comes out more as a story of two perpetual losers. The film can be called directionless. As for music, the film has a couple of decent tracks in Ishq ki khushfehmiyan… and Khuda na khasta. While the making is economical, the only positive aspect in the film is cinematography by Sameer Arya. Performances are generally ordinary.

     

    One By Two is a lost cause.

     

    Producers: Abhay Deol, Amit Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor, Vikram Khakhar.

    Director: Devika Bhagat.

    Cast: Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai, Lillete Dubey, Rati Agnihotri, Jayant Kriplani, Darshan Jariwala, Anish Trivedi.