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Tag: Dibakar Banerjee

  • Poster of ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ launched in Kolkata

    Poster of ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ launched in Kolkata

    KOLKATA: Director Dibakar Banerjee along with his lead actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, released the first look poster of the upcoming film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! at the Great Eastern Hotel in Kolkata (now The Lalit Great Eastern Hotel).

     

    The film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is set in the back drop of World War 2 and it captures the Calcutta (now Kolkata) of that time. The motion poster was also released as a fitting tribute to a World War II air-raid in the war-torn history of Kolkata.

     

    Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is an upcoming Hindi crime thriller film directed by Dibakar Banerjee and produced by Aditya Chopra in association with Yash Raj Films and Dibakar Banerjee Productions. The film is based on the detective character Byomkesh Bakshi created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay and the film is titled ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy’ to make it more contemporary. The film stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari and Swastika Mukherjee in principal roles. The film is scheduled for release on 10 April 2015.

     

    Dibakar Banerjee told the media, “In late 1942 and early 1943, Calcutta was the last frontier of the British Empire, holding out against the Japanese invasion of Asia. As Japanese bombs were falling on Calcutta dockyard, around The Great Eastern Hotel, history was being created and Calcutta stepped on to the world stage. It’s right here that Byomkesh’s first adventure catapulted him from anonymity to dangerous fame. I can’t imagine a more fitting place to launch the first look of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! than this hotel and right on this day in 1942, this would have been full of chaos and mayhem as bombs fell around it seventy years ago!”

     

    Shooting for the film began in early 2014, and ended in May 2014.  A part of the movie has been shot in Kolkata and Mumbai. Some scenes were shot in an abandoned mill in Mumbai’s Byculla region.

     

    “Shooting locations of the film in Kolkata was finalized in February 2012. Shooting did take place in Lalbazar, Presidency University, Coffee House and Bow Barracks. The cast was shooting for the film in Agarpara in January 2014,” said a cast member.

     

    Dibakar Banerjee has paid attention to every detail and he further said that every aspect of his film brings back the bygone era.

     

    “The planes seen on the poster of the film are the exact replica of the real Japanese planes which were used during the bombing in 1943. The planes at that time looked very different from the way the planes look today. Japan had done an aerial bombing attack on Calcutta and this is the central theme of the film,” he concluded.

  • India’s Qissa to compete at Vesoul Filmfest in France

    India’s Qissa to compete at Vesoul Filmfest in France

    NEW DELHI: The Indian film Qissa by Anup Singh, which has already won accolades on the international festival circuit, will one of the nine Asian films in competition at the 20th Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie.

     

    The Cinemas d’Asie which is a specific festival for developing film industries in Asia will be held from 11 to 18 February in Vesoul in France next month.

     

    There are two films from Japan, both receiving their European premiere, and one each from China, India, Iran, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey in the Festival. Five of these nine films were also screened at last year’s Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

     

    Qissa was also the opening film of the 43rd International Film Festival at Rotterdam from 22 January to 2 February and this marked the European premiere of the film. It won the Audience Award at that Festival. 

     

    The award comprising Euro 10,000 (INR 9 Lakh Approx) is given to the most voted film supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

    Qissa which received the Hubert Bals Fund for Script & Project Development in 2004, was made with further support from the Netherlands Film Fund, and was co-produced by Dutch company Augustus Film.

     

    Set in post-colonial India, the film stars Irrfan Khan as a Sikh who has fled his village to escape ethnic cleansing at the time of partition who tries to start a new life for his family.

     

    The choice of opening slot for the drama is part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund, which had supported the Indian film’s script development ten years ago.

     

    The festival will also host a retrospective, Mysterious Objects: 25 Years of Hubert Bals Fund, including a screening of the fund’s first recipient, Chen Kaige’s Life on a String (1991).

     

    Qissa is represented internationally by Germany’s The Match Factory GmbH. The film had its North American and Asian premieres at the Toronto International Film Festivaland Busan International Film Festival respectively.

     

    Earlier, the film added one more feather in its cap when actor Tillotama Shome won the Best Actress award in the New Horizons competition at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

    In Qissa, Shome plays the youngest daughter of Umber Singh (Irrfan Khan) who decides to raise her as a boy.

     

    Shome made her screen debut with Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding in 2001 and went on to play roles in Florian Gallenberger’s Shadows of Time and Dibakar Banerjee’s Shanghai.

     

    Qissa earlier won the Silver Gateway Award in India Gold competition at the 15thMumbai Film Festival  and the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award for Best Asian Film at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival where it had its premiere.

     

    Set amidst the ethnic cleansing and general chaos that accompanied India’s partition in 1947, this sweeping drama stars Irrfan Khan as a Sikh attempting to forge a new life for his family while keeping their true identities a secret from their community.

     

    Beautiful, timeless, and touching the deepest of human impulses, Qissa carries the spirit of a great folk tale. Although it’s set in a particular time and place — the Punjab region that straddles India and Pakistan in the years immediately after partition — it is both deeper and broader than any one moment. As this eerie family drama progresses, it cuts to the heart of eternal desires for honour, empathy, and love.

     

    “Qissa” is originally an Arabic word meaning folk tale. Both the word and the idea migrated from the Gulf into the Punjab, still connected by the ancient oral narratives handed down in communal settings. Working within this tradition, director Anup Singh gives his film both the grand themes and elemental emotions of classic storytelling. As Umber’s daughter is raised as a boy, the characters are propelled with greater and greater urgency towards their inevitable fates.

  • Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    Kareena Kapoor heads for an unconventional path, career-wise

    MUMBAI: Kareena Kapoor Khan is keen to balance her work in commercial cinema with more challenging films. The 32-year-old Pataudi bahu has announced that she has been signed by director Dev Benegal for Bombay Samurai which features Farhan Akhtar as well as by Rohit Shetty for the sequel of Singham.

     

    While projects with Sudhir Mishra and Aanand Rai are also under discussion, Dibakar Banerjee is keen to cast the actress in his next film venture. Kapoor recently admitted that she missed out on working with Ram Leela director Sanjay Leela Bhansali after she walked out of the film, but claims she has “no regrets.”

  • 2014, a year of spy films?

    2014, a year of spy films?

    MUMBAI:However, it seems it’s going to change soon with a line-up of many detective movies in the coming year. So while we have Dibakar Banerjee’s highly anticipated spy thriller, Byomkesh Bakshi starring Sushant Singh Rajput and actress-turned-producer Dia Mirza’s Bobby Jasoos with Vidya Balan in the lead produced under her banner Born Free Entertainment, we also have a detective film for kids Jagga Jasoos with Ranbir Kapoor playing a 17-year-old. And not just this, there’s a franchise in the offering too – the Rajshri banner led by Kavita Barjatya with Samrat & Co starring Rajeev Khandelwal has announced a franchise of detective films.

     

    Samrat & Co that is set for release on 1 May, 2014 aims to target India’s young audiences with the very nuances of crime solving, human nature and the world of standalone private investigators will be presented on the big screen.

     

    The filmmakers seem to be investing some precious time in developing the detective characters. Dibakar Banerjee has been quoted as saying that the idea of an urban sleuth simply does not exist in the Indian popular culture and the Hindi film viewers have been watching recycled imitation that combine James Bond with a Sherlock Holmes and thus he is giving full-time in the development of his detective character.

     

    Even for Samrat & Co., it’s learnt that Kaushik Ghatak, the director of the film along with the producers is spending a lot of time on the lead character so that the storyline can be fleshed out well.

     

    It seems finally Indian filmmakers are taking a different route and experimenting with newer ideas.

  • Byomkesh Bakshi to be made into a feature film under the Yash Raj banner

    Byomkesh Bakshi to be made into a feature film under the Yash Raj banner

    MUMBAI: Yash Raj Films is all set to do what they have never done before. They have lots to say about its upcoming noteworthy detective venture with one of Bollywood‘s successful director Dibakar Banerjee.

    After Bombay Talkies, Dibakar Banerjee has zeroed down on India‘s first detective series made by Basu Chatterjee, Byomkesh Bakshi, a fictional character created by Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. He is also co- producing the movie along with Yash Raj Films and Sushant Singh Rajput has been signed on to reprise the lead role.

    The background of the movie is set against the backdrop of early 40s and sketching the college life of Byomkesh in order to feature how he came into being. The film will also have Byomkesh being pitted against the devil who is about to destroy the world. The film will go on floor in January next year and will release by end of 2014.

     

  • Standing ovation for ‘Bombay Talkies’ at Melbourne

    Standing ovation for ‘Bombay Talkies’ at Melbourne

    NEW DELHI: ‘Bombay Talkies‘, the closing film of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IIFM) received a rare honour by receiving a standing ovation by a 600 member strong audience.

    "We could not have wished for a better closing night movie than Bombay Talkies, making its Australian debut only three days after receiving a gala screening in Cannes. The response to the screening has been beyond expectation" said IFFM festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange.

    An anthology of four short films by four of India‘s most exciting directors – Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar – Bombay Talkies was the icing on the cake for the festival‘s own celebrations of 100 years of Indian cinema, and the packed audience loved it.

    "That was incredible. We saw aspects of India we rarely see, and could identify with every story," said one fan. "It was a real eye-opener about India, and Indian cinema. The gay kiss was refreshing to see too! And the film extremely confronting, especially coming from a mainstream film maker like Karan Johar", said Leima Popal who is an avid Bollywood fan.

    Following a long standing ovation, Aussies could be heard singing the Bombay Talkies song on their way out.

  • OMG, Paan Singh Tomar receive awards for spreading social messages

    OMG, Paan Singh Tomar receive awards for spreading social messages

    NEW DELHI: Akshay Kumar starrer Oh My God which was a satire on religious hypocrisy has been given the best Hindi film award for its impact on Indian socio-cultural life.

    The award has been given by the Lucknow-based Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS). This is the second year that the IRDS has announced awards for films concerned primarily with social issues. A jury headed by social activist IPS officer Amitabh Thakur selected the awards.

    Actor Irrfan Khan has been named the best male character for his role as the soldier-athlete turned dacoit Paan Singh Tomar. Veteran actress Sridevi gets the best female character award for her role as the linguistically troubled Shashi Godbole in the film English Vinglish.

    Dibakar Banerjee gets the best director award for Shanghai presenting intricate web of politics, finance and society. Vicky Donor which deals with sperm donation and is written by Juhi Chaturvedi gets the best story award, while the “Mehngaai” song by A M Turaz from Prakash Jha‘s Chakravyuh has been named the best song for depicting the hardship of rising prices.

  • Grey creates Network18’s corporate campaign

    MUMBAI: Grey Worldwide- Mumbai has created the new corporate campaign for Network18 titled ‘Red Tag‘. It has been directed by filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee.

    Grey India national creative director Malvika Mehra said, “The task very simply was to introduce Network18 to the world and explain the role it plays in impacting people‘s lives. We wanted to create something for Network18 that ‘connects‘ with the consumer. We did this in a very simple way. We took an element from the Network18 logo itself – ‘the red tag‘ and had some fun with it.

    “The brief was simple enough, but fitting all the pieces together in a script wasn‘t, believe me! We knew we wanted to be about omnipresence, we knew we had to be fresh, but above all we were sure we didn‘t want a stiff conventional, corporate approach,” Grey Mumbai senior ECD Rohit Malkani said.

    “Rather than have Network18 do a little chest thumping exercise, it made more sense to have people discover for themselves how big they really are. And that was the genesis for the ‘red tag‘ game,” Mehra added.

    The agency has used ‘BachkeRehna‘ track from Pukaar in an attempt to bring alive India and its people, whose lives Network 18 touches.

    The film begins in a regular looking office where a man shakes his head incredulously as he announces that the ‘rupee is 56 to the dollar‘. Suddenly he finds a female colleague rushing towards him with a red sticky tag/note, which she slaps on to his chest. He is surprised at first then realises why she did that as he checks the CNBC moneycontrol page on his phone. To his surprise he now sees her surfing some deals on Homeshop 18.com. In a ‘counter move‘, he rushes to her with glee and slaps her back with a red tag.

    And so it begins…a random, fun and exciting game where people across India tag each other with Red Tags each time they are touched by Network18. A young girl is tagged by her father because she pushes away her dinner plate after seeing a report on Anna, a boy is tagged by his friends after he lets out a volley of abuses at their neighbour, a grandmother is tagged by her granddaughter who spies her watching BalikaVadhu and dabbing her eyes etc. The film ends after a series of rapid tags with a voice over that highlights the penny drop moment. “If you were tagged for every way that we touched your life. This is what your world would look like. This is Network18. The life in your day.”

  • Grey creates Network 18’s corporate campaign

    MUMBAI: Grey Worldwide Mumbai has created the new corporate campaign for Network 18 titled ‘Red Tag‘. It has been directed by filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee.

    Grey India national creative director Malvika Mehra said, “The task very simply was to introduce Network 18 to the world and explain the role it plays in impacting people‘s lives. We wanted to create something for Network 18 that ‘connects‘ with the consumer. We did this in a very simple way, we took an element from the Network 18 logo itself – ‘the red tag‘ and had some fun with it.

    “The brief was simple enough, but fitting all the pieces together in a script wasn‘t, believe me! We knew we wanted it to be about omnipresence, we knew we had to be fresh, but above all we were sure we didn‘t want a stiff conventional, corporate approach,” Grey Mumbai senior ECD Rohit Malkani said.

    “Rather than have Network 18 do a little chest thumping exercise, it made more sense to have people discover for themselves how big they really are. And that was the genesis for the ‘red tag‘ game,” Mehra added.

    The agency has used ‘BachkeRehna‘ track from Pukaar in an attempt to bring alive India and its people, whose lives Network 18 touches.

    According to the company statement, the film begins in a regular looking office where a man shakes his head incredulously as he announces that the ‘rupee is 56 to the dollar‘. Suddenly he finds a female colleague rushing towards him with a red sticky tag/note, which she slaps on to his chest. He is surprised at first then realises why she did that as he checks the CNBC moneycontrol page on his phone. To his surprise he now sees her surfing some deals on Homeshop 18.com. In a ‘counter move‘ he rushes to her with glee and slaps her back with a red tag.

    And so it begins…a random, fun and exciting game where people across India tag each other with Red Tags each time they are touched by Network 18. A young girl is tagged by her father because she pushes away her dinner plate after seeing a report on Anna, a boy is tagged by his friends after he lets out a volley of abuses at their neighbor, a grandmother is tagged by her granddaughter who spies her watching BalikaVadhu and dabbing her eyes etc. The film ends after a series of rapid tags with a voice over that highlights the penny drop moment. “If you were tagged for every way that we touched your life. This is what your world would look like. This is Network 18. The life in your day.”

  • PVR Pictures’ Shanghai to premiere at IIFA

    PVR Pictures’ Shanghai to premiere at IIFA

    MUMBAI: : PVR Pictures‘ Dibakar Banerjee-directed thriller Shanghai is set to premiere at the 13th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards event starting 7 June in Singapore.

    The film, what stars Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin and Prosenjit Chatterjee in the lead role, will premiere on the first day at the Lido Cinemas, Shaw Theatre in Singapore, said IIFA.

    The film is based on a book titled Z by Vassilis Vassilikos that itself was adapted into the famous Academy Award-winning film Z, directed by Costa-Gavras.

    The makers are happy given the fact that IIFA‘s journey over the last 12 years has opened many doors for the Indian film industry.

    The film will have its worldwide release on 8 June.