Tag: Ekta Kapoor

‘Ek Villain’…Box Office Hero

MUMBAI: In the old days, they would say that there are only seven story themes in this world and we keep making films around them. Then came television, and the serials took away more than half of them to beam into people’s drawing rooms on a daily basis. Of these, romance and comedy as feel-good themes work on both mediums, films as well as television.

The situation led to some trying out different storylines. So we have makers who work on finding new blends and we get a Vicky Donor or a Dirty Picture or a Kahaani once in a while. Ek Villain, for a change, combines many varied genres. It is a love story, it has that tried-and-tested Love Story (Erich Segal) angle of one of the leads having an expiry date, and it is a psycho killer thriller, with cops and criminal and also a dash of underworld. It takes all that to make the 209-minute saga that is Ek Villain. Film titles are at premium and, at times, (like this one) look forced.

Sidharth Malhotra had a bad childhood watching his parents being killed by goons while he hid under the bed. Next thing you know, he is all brawn punching people into oblivion. He represents the local Goa don played by Remo Fernandes. He plays the kind of character Dharmendra played in all time classic Phool Aur Paththar (1966); a heartless inhuman kind who melts due to circumstances.

Sidharth knows only one thing well, how to liquidate a person. And he does not use a gun to do that. Shraddha Kapoor, a journalist, spots him at a police station going through third degree. Sidharth catches her fancy and she chases him in her typical choolbooli ways, again done earlier by just about every heroine since the inception of cinema. But, Shraddha plays what Rajesh Khanna played in Anand or what Ranjeeta Kaur played in Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se. Sidharth is now in love with her. His softer side takes over and has a purpose to live.

Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor.

Director: Mohit Suri.

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Shradha Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Aamna Sharif, Shaad Randhawa, Remo Fernandes, Kamaal Rashid Khan and cameo by Prachi Desai.

He has changed, he has just managed to land a job when Shraddha is killed by a psycho even as he listens to her shrieks on his cell phone. There is no secret about who the psycho is as he is revealed to public soon enough though Sidharth has still to find out who he is and get after him. There is a cop who likes to play two sides against each other and he directs Sidharth to Remo as the killer of Shraddha which he has not but this opens an opportunity to add an action sequence to the film. Remo assures Sidharth that he looks upon him as a son and had no cause to kill his love.

Sidharth is back to square one but soon gets lucky as he comes across a young boy who leads him to the killer, Riteish Deshmukh. Sidharth decides to punish Riteish on regular basis instead of killing him in one go. Beaten badly, Riteish is delivered to a hospital doorstep by Sidharth and there he tries to kill a nurse. What sets off the murderer in him? It seems Riteish has always been ridiculed and humiliated mostly by women including his wife. But he loves his wife too much to kill her and takes his revenge on other women who provoke him in any way; whatever jewelry he finds on his victim, he gifts it to his wife to try to win her back.

The wrap of the story is on expected lines but convincing which works in the favour of the film. That it does not threaten the viewer with a sequel is a relief.

The script is generally well-etched; a few glitches and liberties here and there are accepted. Direction is able with Mohit Suri maintaining a generous dose of emotions throughout. The film drops momentum at times but catches up again soon. Suri has been able to eke out good performances from his cast when not through histrionics then through expressions. Sidharth does a lot just by his expressions and also doing well in brute action. Shraddha as a cute do-gooder waiting for her inevitable death impresses. Riteish gets a killer look with the help of grey contact lenses which are exploited mainly during his killer moods which also helps juxtapose his docile, henpecked husband at home. Aamna Sharif does a decent job of being his nagging wife. Shaad Randhwa as a sly cop is okay. But, what is Kamaal Rashid Khan doing here? He is supposedly the comic relief. Maybe the makers thought his very presence provides that.

One of the positives of the film is its music as it has already become popular. Item numbers are a norm nowadays but, here, Prachi Desai does an item on a sad number which is well thought of. Photography is good.

Ek Villain has had a bumper opening with positive word of mouth and looks set to be a hit.

June 27, 2014

Colors set to launch ‘Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi’

MUMBAI: TV czarina Ekta Kapoor who has been ruling the television industry for more than two decades is riding high on success. Colors together with Balaji Telefilms is all set to present one-sided love story, narrated from the male protagonist’s point of view. Nothing hurts more than love not reciprocated, and this is what exactly Kapoor’s next show deals with.

Christened Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi, the show is set in present-day Mumbai and narrates the story of two close friends Ranveer and Ishaani. The series will also highlight the thin line of difference between true friendship, loyalty and unending love.

Come 24 June, the new series will showcase the value of a big fat Gujarati family every Monday-Friday at 10pm. The show will replace Uttaran, which had a successful seven years stint in the industry.

Colors weekday programming head Prashant Bhatt said, “With Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi, we are looking forward to extending the love story offerings on Colors that will take the audiences on a whirlwind journey of every emotion associated with friendship and unrequited love. We are happy to collaborate with Ekta Kapoor yet again to put forth a refreshing and unexplored love story. We hope our viewers will revel in this avant-garde story presented to them from the male protagonist’s point of view.”

Emphasising the thought, “Even love unreturned has its rainbow” the show vividly traces the journey of Ranveer (Shakti Arora) whose amorous friendship with Ishaani (Radhika Madan) becomes a painful point in his life, as he finds himself unable to confess his undying love for her.

Speaking about show Kapoor opined, “The USP of the show is the emotional journey that the audiences will trace with Ranveer, as his feelings for Ishaani pull at their heartstrings and resonate the empathy that comes with a love that can never be his. Every actor in the show has been carefully chosen for the character they will be portraying, making them the perfect fit as they play crucial roles in taking the storyline forward. Our characters are relatable and if viewers are able to feel the pain that Ranveer feels every time his heart breaks a little more, it will be an ultimate win for us.”

Shakti Arora aka Ranveer said, “For Ranveer, his life revolves around Ishaani. He has been in love with her for as long as he can remember, but he is also conscious of the fact that his feelings will never be reciprocated. Getting into the skin of Ranveer’s character was extremely difficult for me because expression of emotion is very important to me. I hope audiences do enjoy my portrayal of a silent lover whose single aim in life is to ensure that Ishaani is happy.”

Speaking about her television debut, Radhika Madan aka Ishaani said, “I always aspired to be a choreographer…acting was never on the cards. However, now that I am making my television debut with Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi under the expert guidance of Ekta Kapoor and the Colors creative team, I feel elated yet anxious at the same time! Ishaani is the perfect Indian girl who believes in love and all the good things in life and I am working really hard to get into the mould of her character. The experience shooting for the show has been incredible so far and I hope that audiences support me as I venture into this new and unknown world of acting.”

Supporting the lead pair of Shakti and Radhika will be a powerful star studded cast which includes veteran actor Sarita Joshi as Ishaani’s tyrant grandmother together with Gauri Pradhan-Tejwani who is making a comeback on television after a gap of five and a half years with this show as Falguni.

Gauri Pradhan-Tejwani will be seen in a brand new avatar as Ishaani’s mother. Completing the picture-perfect family portrait will be popular theatre actor Prithvi Sankala as Ishaani’s father along with talented actor-writer Shahab Khan as Ranveer’s father, amongst others.

June 17, 2014
‘Citylights’ …Dark and drab…

MUMBAI: Citylights is a pretentious film which attempts to depict the plight of a migrant family in a metropolis like Mumbai! The film is actually a crime story but is touted as a poor migrant’s travails in a major city.

Rajkumar Rao is an ex-army man turned sari trader in Rajsthan’s Pali district. He fails to pay his liabilities and is thrown out of his shop by his creditors. After some deliberation, he decides to migrate to Mumbai with one contact number of a relative. He decides to do this with his wife and daughter, a move that you don’t see a sensible person make.

In Mumbai, where a newcomer ceases to be so within minutes as the city takes him into its embrace, Rao’s start is not good. His contact is not traceable on the number he has, and with just a name and no address to go on, Rao doesn’t make much progress. Next, someone offers him a one-bedroom home against Rs 10,000 deposit and rent to be paid later. The house is actually in the hands of painters who are giving it a fresh coat of paint. Rao has been duped of his money. Finally he finds shelter in an under construction building for Rs 100 a night.

From then on starts his struggle to find a job, which he lands eventually as a driver for a security company’s armoured car. These cars deliver sealed boxes to various clients and contain cash or stuff worth crores of rupees. Out of a horde of applicants, Manav Kaul, the supervisor, chooses Rao with a design in mind. Rao’s wife, Patralekha, meanwhile, finds a job with a dance bar.

Producer: Mukesh Bhatt.

Director: Hansal Mehta.

Cast: Rajkumar Rao, Patralekha, Manav Kaul.

Kaul gradually cultivates Rao and plots to involve him in an earlier foiled robbery. Kaul had managed to save the box from that robbery and now he needs Rao’s help to get the key lying in the security company’s locker room. The boxes can’t be forced open as doing that can detonate a bomb inside killing the one who attempts. Kaul shifts Rao to the house where he has hidden the box before telling him about his plan. Rao is livid but Kaul has trapped him from all sides. While on one assignment, the robbers catch up with Kaul and kill him. Rao is suspended for not saving him. He is now jobless and broke. Patralekha has kicked her job too. Exasperated, Rao decides to make a sacrifice for his family. He decides to execute the plan Kaul had made.

The direction is fair. Music has no place yet is forced in. The original simple script has been complicated here. Performances by Rao and Patralekha are very good. Kaul makes an impact.

A black film with no relief, Citylights is hard to take; all it can hope for is an award or two.

‘Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi’…Same to you…

This is one more film with Delhi flavour and locales. It is about a middle class locality of Delhi where two friends have grown up together. They are inseparable and the most clandestine thing they do is to indulge in fruit beer once in a while. And, lest the audience not believe it is truly a Delhi story, the inevitable statue of Bajrangbali of Jhandewalan/Karol Bagh does not fail to make its appearance like in all Delhi centric films! And, of course, the title, Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi, is a local colloquial having little to do with rest of the country.

Producers: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Bejoy Nambiar.

Director: Aman Sachdeva.

Cast: Sidharth Gupta, Ashish Juneja, Simran Kaur Mundi.

Siddharth Gupta (Kuku) is an average student who fails to get admission to a college after high school. He, like all boys of such age, has agendas they dare not open up about. Siddharth attends the English tuition class only because the girl living in the house opposite the class, Simran Kaur Mundi, has caught his fancy. He is motherless, responsible for looking after and cooking for his younger sister and father, a government servant. But cooking is something he relishes doing. His dream is to own a restaurant some day while his father wants him to become a NASA scientist.

Kuku’s best friend, Ashish Juneja, is a little better off, hailing from a trading family. His family runs a sari shop and decides to set up a matching centre for him next to the sari shop so those who buy saris may go next door to his shop to buy matching falls and blouse pieces. While Ashish gets busy selling matching blouse pieces, Siddharth manages a job as a spot boy with a Haryanvi film unit. Here, at the shooting, just about everybody humiliates Siddharth. He snaps when his best friend too insults him.

Siddharth is seething with anger when his cousin from Kanpur enters the scene. The cousin is as foxy as they come and, as a way of taking revenge on Ashish, suggests to Siddharth that they burn down the Sari godown owned by Ashish’s family after stealing all the goods which could be sold to another trader to finance Siddharth’s dream of starting a restaurant.

Siddharth is now a successful eatery owner. Things change, he now has a car and, finally, also starts dating Simran who never noticed him in the seven years that he pined for her. But, the Kanpur cousin proves destructor for the family; his father gives up on his job while his sister is talked into leaking exam papers, both on the cousin’s advice.

Siddharth’s conscience begins to bite him for his crime. He decides to meet Ashish and own up to his crime. Eventually, crime does not pay but friendship does.

It is tough to understand the title of Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi to care enough to watch it. It was explained to me by the director as the generally used term ‘Vaat lag gayi’ in Mumbai. That is the most likely fate of this film at the box office.

May 30, 2014
MTV ‘Bakra’ 2.0 is called MTV ‘Jhand Ho Gayi Sabki’

MUMBAI: Remember Cyrus Broacha playing pranks on MTV Bakra? The 90s popular show is being revived for the Gen Y on the lines of Ashton Kutcher’s MTV Punk’d, called MTV Jhand Ho Gayi Sabki.

MTV and Balaji Motion Pictures have teamed up to launch a prank-based reality series which will be hosted by young actors and co-conspirators, Siddharth Gupta and Ashish Juneja. The show will see celebrities pull tummy-hurting funny pranks on each other.

MTV India programming head Vikas Gupta says, “Our aim at MTV has always been to entertain the audience by presenting new and exciting content. MTV Jhand Hogi Sabki is just another step towards that. The show will present fun and amusing pranks pulled by Bollywood celebrities on their friends from the film industry. It is always interesting to know how celebrities react to certain situations and this show will capture just that! I am sure the youth will have a fun time watching the show.”

Having shot the series at various locales including movie sets with hand-held cameras, red-light cameras, CCTV cameras and range cameras; the footage, thus obtained, will give the audience first look into the “prankee’s” reaction to the prank. According to Gupta, the series is being used as a prototype to make way for further new content.

Gupta adds, “When we first released the sneak peek of Shraddha Kapoor being pranked on youtube, it crossed 4.2 million views in less than 24 hours. Not only did that take us by utter surprise, but we are now optimistic about the series’ potential and its reach to the wide technologically advanced youth.”

On why did MTV decide to re-launch MTV Bakra now, and without the legendary Cyrus Broacha, Gupta opines, “We wanted to revive Bakra for a long time, but somehow the timing just didn’t seem right. But now, with Ekta’s new film, Kuku Mathur ki Jhand Ho Gayi, it felt like we now have a base to revive an MTV classic. We specifically didn’t want to aim at the big celebrities as host, but the actors that MTV’s target audience i.e., 13-25 years can easily recognise. However, if and when the series does grow as popular as we hope it to be, we most certainly will try and rope in as many big guest stars as we can.”

MTV Jhand Hogi Sabki is a five-part half hour series that will replace the current season of MTV Roadies XI and will telecast every Saturday starting at 7 pm from 24 May.

The show is conceptualised in association with Balaji Motion Pictures’ upcoming movie Kuku Mathur Ki Toh Jhand Ho Gayi and will see celebrities such as Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra, Anu Malik and Ekta Kapoor spinning their evil plans to prank friends and colleagues.

The show will be supported by 360 degree marketing campaign and will be promoted across all social media platforms of the channel, in association with its title sponsors, Liberty Footwear and Adiction.

May 20, 2014
Television heartthrob makes his debut at Cannes

NEW DELHI: Marking his excellence on the small screen, actor Gautam Gulati of Diya Aur Baati Hum fame gears up to make his debut at Cannes Film Festival with screening of his release Coward (Darpok) by Rakesh Mehta.

Gulati said “Yes, I am starring in (Darpok) and going to France to attend the screening of the movie. I feel honoured to be a part of this film, this is a perfect inception for me to invade in movies”

He started off his journey as an actor with the experience of mastering in theater from Mandi House for a year. Leaving no stone unturned he also trained himself in dance from celebrated choreographer Shiamak Davar.

Speckled by Balaji Production House, he was spotted by soup opera queen, Ekta Kapoor. Exploring his credentials, Gulati worked under the banner for three years where he became contempt and experienced every aspect of acting. Sighting the dedication and zeal he seizes he was chosen as for the role of Vikram in Diya aur Baati Hum as he aptly suited the character. Going by his vast fan following he absolutely justified the character. He went on to become a household name and gathered fame and recognition from the India soup opera.

Talking about his journey, he said “I belong to a simple family back ground where we don’t have any association with Bollywood, but it was my passion for this art which made me pursue acting. As I never had a mentor or a God father to guide me through.”

After working and attaining recognition for six years, perhaps he made up his mind to work within the industry and learn this way through. To be given an opportunity like Darpok, Gulati feels elated. Becoming the epitome of talent, the skilled actor perceives this international break as his golden chance to prove his masters in the field of acting.

May 19, 2014

‘Main Tera Hero’: David & Dhavan

MUMBAI: When watching a David Dhavan film, remember he is a Manmohan Desai fan and believes in making films to entertain. Ergo, don’t look for logic or argue about the last scene and the next being not connected. As long as the film gives you ‘time pass’ his agenda has been met. A father directing his son is a rare privilege enjoyed by very few filmmakers. Here, David directs his son, Varun Dhavan.

Varun is a good-for-nothing boy studying in Coonoor and, obviously, finds it hard to get through his class. Many of his fellow students go to Bengaluru to study and come back with better results. Varun also decides to do that. Once in a Bengaluru college, the inevitable happens. He spots Ileana D’Cruz and, for him, it is love at first sight. Since this is a remake of the Telugu film, Kandireega, what follows is bizarre! It happens only in South Indian films and that is, Ileana is being watched over by a bunch of goons delegated by Arunoday Singh, a local cop who is in love with her and overtly possessive about her so no one dare look at her, let alone come anywhere near her or love her. Arunoday is always accompanied by a fellow cop and his sidekick, Rajpal Yadav.

Well, Varun has already fallen for her and is not scared of Arunoday which he proves at first opportunity by thrashing his goons. Next he should be thrashing Arunoday and that would be the end of the story. But that would also mean the end of the film less than hour into it. For the sake of affording the film its full 2-hours-plus run, Arunoday challenges Varun to win over Ileana in the next three days or else face his wrath.

Varun wins over Ileana even before he starts and Arunoday should not be a hurdle anymore. And he is not, but there is a bigger challenge for Varun now. His lady love, Ileana is kidnapped and the man behind it is the father of a girl who fell for Varun when he was on his way to Bengaluru. It so happened that he fought some rowdy boys on the way and a girl, Nargis Fakhri, who captured his actions on her handycam had fallen for him. She happens to be the daughter of the biggest don operating between Asia and Africa, Anupam Kher. Ileana has been kidnapped by the don’s man so that Varun follows her and Kher can then make him marry his daughter, Nargis!

Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor.

Director: David Dhavan.

Cast: Varun Dhawa,Ileana D’Cruz, Nargis Fakhri, Arunoday Singh, Anupam Kher, Evelyn Sharma, Raju Kher.

Anupam is supposed to be sinister, pulling out a gun at the drop of a hat. But for the sake of entertainment, he is more of a caricature, with Saurabh Shukla as his sidekick. As if that were not enough, Arunoday, along with his sidekick, Rajpal, has also followed Varun to Anupam’s den. Varun has ten days to marry Nargis. Meanwhile, he has to pretend to be in love with Nargis while trying to get her out of his hair so he can romance with his true love, Ileana. The only help he has is from lord Ganesh and Jesus Christ, their statues talking back to him. Finally, Nargis finds her true love in Arunoday with some help and prodding from Varun.

While the first half is fun and dance and battles of one-upmanship with Arunoday, the film gathers more pace in second half as more characters are added in the form of Anupam, Saurabh and Nargis. Being a Telugu remake, some aspects may seem farfetched: like the character of Arunoday, a mere inspector who terrorises a girl and her parents as he plans to marry her, that too in a metro like Bengaluru.

David Dhavan directs his son and has rightly chosen to make a light entertainer which usually don’t backfire and fit the slot of a typical David film. As usual, he also does not get carried away with length and restricts the film to 128 minutes. The film has peppy music and provides scope for Varun to showcase his dancing prowess. However, the background score is full of pieces from RD Burman and Bappi Lahiri repertoire. Cinematography is good. Varun has an easy job of playing a carefree young man with the role requiring no drama. But why is he imitating Govinda and Anil Kapoor? Ileana is okay while Nargis has little to do. Anupam and Saurabh are in their element providing much of the fun. Shakti Kapoor in guest role lends his presence.

On the whole, Main Tera Hero is a fair entertainer with a reasonably good opening response. While the T20 may affect its collections on Friday and Sunday (if India qualifies for the finals), in many parts it will have the advantage of Ram Navami and election day holidays.

Jal: Dry run…

Kutch, the deserted district of north-west Gujarat, seems to have become the flavour of the season for both commercial as well as offbeat films. Jal is the latest film based in Kutch, dealing with its water problems. The film is about a clairvoyant who can pinpoint a spot where a well can be dug to find water. Now that Narmada waters have reached far-flung corners of Kutch including the borders manned by the army, the subject may seem a bit out of sync but mattered a lot not very long ago.

Producers: Puneet Singh, Girish Malik, Sumit Kapoor, Yogesh Mittal.

Director: Girish Malik.

Cast: Purab H Kohli, Kirti Kulhari, Saidha Jules, Mukul Dev, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Yashpal

Sharma, Ravi Gossain, Vicky Ahuja.

Purab Kohli is Bakka who is gifted with this instinct of spotting water underground with the help of his two brass sticks. He is right 60 per cent of the time by his own admission and his village counts on him in the absence of an alternative. When he isolates a spot, they just dig! This is his livelihood. On a personal front, Bakka loves the daughter of the mukhiya of the neighbouring village, Kirti Kulhari, with which his village has a running feud because that village has abundant water while his village has no source of water. Bakka is also loved by his best friend’s sister in his own village, Tannishtha Chatterjee.

Things change for Bakka and his villagers when a researcher, Saidha Jules, arrives. She sets up her base on the waterfront where thousands of flamingos arrive each year. Soon she notices that the young ones of these flamingos die because of excess salt content in the water. The salt dries up in their wings rendering them flightless. She realises that sweet water needs to be added to this flow of water. Drilling machines are brought in and spots isolated where water could be found. This also provides labour to villagers who are engaged to take the dug sand away. However, despite the drill and the computer, the team fails to find water.

Bakka’s skills are called upon to identify spots with water. All the three spots he earmarks give water. Bakka becomes a small celebrity and also gets employment from the government. Now the neighbouring village mukhiya is ready to give his daughter to Bakka in marriage. All is going well when his own villagers expect Bakka to borrow the drilling machine from Saidha and her colleague Gary Richardson. But, before he could raise the subject with Saidha she has left having finished her job. Gary also feels he has no use for Bakka now and ignores him. It is while Gary and his team are away that Bakka lures their middleman, Yashpal Sharma, with gold collected from the villagers. But, tragedy strikes, the machine breaks down and all hell breaks loose.

The happy days are over for Bakka. His efforts to manually dig for water fail. The gold is stolen and he is blamed and thrown out of the village along with his heavily pregnant wife. When, finally, good news comes in the form of an article on his skills and a cheque as a reward, Bakka is nowhere around to collect it.

While the first half is light with a lot of bonhomie and humour among the villagers, the second half, especially towards the end, becomes heavy with some forced tragedy. Direction is generally good. Background score as well as the choice of folk songs is effective. The highlight of the film is cinematography by Sunita Radia who captures vast vistas of the desert beautifully while also excelling otherwise. Purab is impressive with another good performance coming from Tannishtha. The rest, cast as village folk are natural.

Jal will find a lot of appreciation from critics as well as on the festival circuit but not find many takers in cinema halls.

April 4, 2014

Zee TV’s ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ launches on April 15

MUMBAI: Narrating tales that have captivated audience attention for almost two decades now, the master storyteller Ekta Kapoor is back with a new offering on Zee TV. Her new show ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ launches on 15th April at 9 PM, this time replacing her own immensely successful show ‘Pavitra Rishta’ on the channel. Based loosely on Jane Austen’s classic ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ is its Indian interpretation, following the life of a Punjabi matriarch Sarla Arora who runs a marriage hall and lives with the hope of seeing her two daughters Pragya and Bulbul who’re poles apart, happily married some day! Known for making shows that are women-centric, the pivotal characters of this new show are a bunch of strong, feisty women, living together in an all-female, matriarchal family.

Sriti Jha plays the character of Pragya, the elder sister, who is practical, hardworking and committed to supporting her family … though she’s barely finished her own studies, she teaches at a college to ensure that her mother Sarla’s (Supriya Shukla) meager earnings from the ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ marriage hall never fall short in making the two ends meet. In the midst of all this pressure on her, she’s forgotten how to unwind or pursue any passions of her own. Mrunal Thakur plays Bulbul, the younger sister who has her head in the clouds. She’s vivacious, smart, stylish and a complete dreamer. It barely occurs to her to snap out her own make-believe, rose-tinted world and be of any real use to her family. She idolizes the ruling heartthrob of the country, Rockstar Abhi. Actor-turned-producer Shabir Ahluwalia, who has shied away from facing the camera since 2012, has been roped in to play Rockstar Abhi with a cult following of his own. Faisal Rashid will be seen as Suresh, the college professor who works closely with Pragya (Sriti Jha). Having led a tough life in the military and lost most of his close ones, he is an embittered soul with much angst and pent-up frustration about life. It remains to be seen how the lives of these two men intertwine with the Arora girls and change their destinies forever!

Talking about introducing a fresh concept on primetime, Zee TV Programming Head – Namit Sharma said, “It takes one epic show to replace another, so you can imagine the faith we have in Kumkum Bhagya, as a property, to replace a show that has been extremely special to Zee for over 4 glorious years. Pavitra Rishta has given Indian television audiences their most sought-after dinner table companions in Manav and Archana – star-crossed lovers that millions of viewers have loved, and idolized. Kumkum Bhagya is another extremely engrossing story from a Punjabi mohalla in Mumbai. It talks of a matriarch and her quest to find ideal grooms for her daughters who’re as different as chalk and cheese. Deriving its core from Sense and Sensibility, Ekta has Indianized it beautifully. It’s a passionate drama of love, a far cry from regular saas-bahu soaps and has an ensemble cast of some very talented actors.”

With ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ slated to air at 9 PM from the date of its launch on Zee TV, ‘Pavitra Rishta’ will now be aired Monday – Friday at 6:30 PM on the channel. Talking about the time shuffle amongst her projects on Zee TV, Ekta says, “While two of my shows (Pavitra Rishta and Jodha Akbar) are already on-air and doing immensely well on Zee TV, it’s a pleasure to extend my partnership with Zee to a third show. ‘Pavitra Rishta’ has had a run of over 4 years now and the journey has been most gratifying for me as a producer. While the audiences who are hooked on to ‘Pavitra Rishta’ will continue to enjoy the show at 6:30 PM, ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ will open at 9 PM, drawing maximum eyeballs. Kumkum Bhagya is so contemporary in its treatment that viewers will be able to instantly spot characters out of their own lives in the show. It’s a story of passionate love that anyone with a soul would be able to easily relate to.”

Speaking of his comeback as an actor, Shabir says, “With me producing shows, it was getting very difficult to manage time for acting assignments. But now, I have decided to concentrate on acting. You can’t be away from what you love doing for long. The role appealed to me a great deal. This is the first time that I will be playing a rockstar on television and in order to look my part, I had to ensure that I did not just get my costume and look right, but also get that attitude right that is required to portray a rockstar onscreen.”

Ekta Kapoor’s association with Zee TV dates back to almost two decades ago when the partnership produced one of the greatest successes of satellite television – Hum Paanch. Her soaps, be it Kasamh Se, Pavitra Rishta or Jodha Akbar – the latest historical to rule the roost on Indian television, have been universally appreciated and have enjoyed long, glorious runs on the tube.

Starting 15th April, stay tuned to Kumkum Bhagya at 9 PM every Monday-Friday, only on Zee TV!

March 29, 2014
Arise India to spend Rs 60 crore on marketing in 2014-2015

NEW DELHI: After the successful partnership with ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Doobara’, Arise India has once again partnered with Balaji Telefilms for its up-coming romantic comedy ‘Mai Tera Hero’.

The association is a part of an extensive brand promotion strategy of Arise India where it intends to reach out to the audience by increasing its brand visibility. For strategic cinema associations, the company has earmarked a budget of Rs 60 crore which is aimed to create a positive imagery by going all out with its media visibility program.

Arise India MD Avinash Jain said, “Balaji Telefilms today creates some of the most heart-touching movies in Bollywood, and our association with them is based on the massive love and affection that they get from the audience. Our current association follows the earlier immensely successful association with ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Doobara’, where we were able to create a positive vibe for the movie and our brand through a winning co-branded initiative. We seek to repeat the same endeavour with the current association and enable consumers to meet their favourite stars through the contest.”

He added, “Through this association we also seek to increase our brand visibility as Bollywood has a huge consumer connect and this will help us in creating that important bond with them. We have earmarked substantial marketing spends for movie promotions, and seek to nurture this relationship with Balaji Telefilms for mutual success in the future as well.”

The brand will sponsor the meet at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket (Delhi) with the cast and crew of the movie including Varun Dhawan, Illeana D’ Cruz and Nargis Fakhri along with director Ekta Kapoor. The contest is already on-air through radio promotions, online activations, co-branded TVC’s, BTL promotions and in-mall activations.

March 29, 2014

Ragini MMS 2: Sex sells

MUMBAI: Ragini MMS 2 has two major factors working for it: the brand equity created by Ragini MMS and the image of Sunny Leone. What is more, while anything goes in the name of horror genre, there is a lot of inspiration in Hollywood films so that you don’t need to copy only one source but use various sources to create characters, get-up and events.

A haunted house is the most convenient and plausible place to actually be haunted. Since this is a sequel, the ground is laid for the theme. A director, Pravin Dabas, wants to make a film on the Ragini case. He gets more than he asked for as the place has its own in-house chudail and spirits. For distractions, there are the side artistes in Sandhya Mridul who is prepared for the casting couch and there is Karan Mehra, the TV star and Divya Dutta, a psychiatrist, who treats the spirits rather than victims as she chants mantras to drive the evil away!

Though there is more horror than there is sex, it does not totally disappoint those who went mainly for Sunny. Starting with a display of Sunny’s daily change of colourful underwear to bathroom sex and lesbian scenes, the film delivers what it promises to viewers. When it comes to horror, the main source seems to be the TV serial, American Horror.

Sunny is competent in sex scenes. For the rest, she passes muster. After all, histrionics is not what people come expecting from her. Divya Dutta is good in a corny role. Sandhya Mridul and rest are okay. Direction is tacky. The film has two popular songs, Baby doll… and Char bottle vodka.. the latter one having been wasted on end titles.

Producers: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor.

Director: Bhushan Kapoor.

Cast: Sunny Leone, Pravin Dabas, Sahil Prem, Sandhya Mridul, Divya Dutta, Karan Mehra.

With its ace of spade, Sunny, assures the film a good opening response. Merits won’t matter for Ragini MMS 2 at the box office as it should sail through in its opening weekend.

Lakshmi: Misnomer for box office

Lakshmi is about child prostitution and, hence, there is nothing that you have not seen often before. Sadly, it is so commonplace that even the newspapers don’t cover it except when it is something sensational or involves a famed NGO. However, it is a staple fodder for crime-based TV serials like Crime Patrol. The story of Lakshmi is also based on real life cases, though several incidents have been composited and told through one character, that of Lakshmi. The outcome is neither a formula for a box office hit nor a documentary.

Monali Thakur (Lakshmi) lives with her drunkard father and two younger sisters in a small Andhra village. She is pretty and presentable and her father sells her off to a local female municipal councilor, Gulfam Khan, who maintains a supply line of young girls for a brothel owned by Satish Kaushik and managed by his brother, Nagesh Kukunoor, in nearby Hyderabad. The brothers run a brothel under the guise of a needy women’s hostel. Kaushik, who initially berates Nagesh for bringing an underage girl, decides to keep her with him on the girl’s own insistence! Now, why would she want to give up her two loving younger sisters who depend totally on her in their village to willingly stay with Kaushik? This is only the beginning; the film’s script abounds in illogical inputs.

Kaushik who comes across as a pure heart, is not all that. He is getting the girl treated for early physical maturity through artificial hormonal enhancement. In three weeks, he is ready to rape her and then put her out in his brothel. Now Lakshmi is raped every day but, tutored by her roommate, Flora Saini, she learns to manage. Her attempts to escape continue on and off for which she pays heavily with bodily harm at the hands of Kukunoor.

Producers: Nagesh Kukunoor, Elahe Hiptoola, Satish Kaushik.

Director: NageshKukunoor.

Cast: Monali Thakur, Satish Kaushik, Nagesh Kukunoor, Shefali Shah, Ram Kapoor, Flora Saini.

Enter an NGO which sends a man in the guise of a customer who, with the help of the madam of the joint, Shifaali Shah, plants a video camera in Lakshmi’s room! Why only her room? Now it is time to bring the culprits to book. There is no scene wasted on establishing how and why Reddy brothers, Kaushik and Nagesh, are so dreaded but seems like no lawyer in his senses will accept Lakshmi’s case when she decides to file for rape. So, inspired by many Hollywood and some Indian films, it is left for a loser lawyer, Ram Kapoor, to take up the case. What follows is a test of tolerance of a viewer.

This can go down as one of the worst scripts complemented by most unimaginative direction. Unsurprisingly, the director and the writer happen to be the same person. Most characters contradict their part in the film. In later parts, the film resorts to gore and cheap gimmicks like a cigarette up a woman and hitting the victim girl with a rod prepared with multiple nails. This is frankly disgusting. The court trial is comic and the judge and the lawyers are caricatures. So is the courtroom set. Music is no help. Of all the performers, Monali tries her best despite her funny getup with a wig! Shifaali is okay despite her poor characterisation. Flora Saini emerges the best of the lot. Kaushik is a make-believe Andhrite. Kukunoor is rank bad as an actor. Direction is shoddy and visually too, the film is grim.

Lakshmi is one film which was better off not attempted.

Gang of Ghosts: Ghost of a chance

Since many people are worried that ghost stories may encourage superstition, such films often end with vested interests—all of the non-ghost variety—creating situations to drive people away from lucrative properties. However, Gang of Ghosts is a remake of a hit and much-acclaimed Bengali film, Bhooter Bhabishyat and actually tells the story of ghosts, the troubled souls whose abodes are being eyed by a greedy land grabber, Rajesh Khattar. It is about how a bunch of ghosts decide to take on the land mafia to save their terrain.

Royal Mansion is a palatial mansion built by Anupam Kher next to a mill in this pre-independence saga. Having sold his mill to the British Raj in exchange for the title of Rai Bahadur, he plans to use the place to fete and celebrate evenings with the rulers. You may compare this part to a chapter from Kolkata’s Jagirdari era when every evening was a celebration. But, by selling his mill to the British, Anupam has offended his mill workers who are now being exploited by the new owners. Deprived of their dues, the workers decide to burn down the mill as well as the adjoining Royal Mansion.

The burning mill and the mansion also take Anupam along. Anupam, now a ghost, is lonely in his mansion while a lot of stray ghosts are looking for a place to belong. He decides to accommodate some more ghosts in his mansion so as to make ghostly-hood livelier. Starting with an Empire era J Barandon Hill, the ghost family goes on to include Mahie Gill, Saurabh Shukla, Rajpal Yadav, Meera Chopra, Yashpal Sharma and the later additions Chunky Pandey and Jackie Shroff.

Producers: Venus Records & Tapes Ltd, Satish Kaushik Entertainment.

Director: Satish Kaushik.

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Parambrata Chatterjee, Mahie Gill, Anupam Kher, Meera Chopra, J. Brandon Hill, Rajesh Khattar, Saurabh Shukla, Rajpal Yadav, Yashpal Sharma, Vijay Verma, Chunky Pandey, Jackie Shroff, Paoli Dam and Aniruddh Dave (guest app).

Sabyasachi Chakrabarty is an ad film maker on a visit to recce the mansion as a location for his ad film. The place used to be a popular location for film shoots but out of favour since a starlet saw a ghost in her makeup room mirror! Here, he is being stalked by an aspiring/ struggling script writer, Sharman Joshi. Sharman has a script on ghosts which he wants Sabyasachi to direct. Joshi narrates the script of the owner of Royal Mansion, Anupam, who haunts the mansion along with few others and how there is a plot by Rajesh Khattar to bring down the mansion and build a mall in its place. The ghosts have their own social networking media called Spook Book from where they trace Khattar’s ghost wife, who he killed, and a don-turned-ghost Jackie Shroff to tackle Khattar, in an effort to save the mansion.

After spending considerable footage on Sharman introducing the characters of his story, there is some song and dance as the ghosts party. But then the property and mall aspects of the film make it just another routine story. Suffering from a poorly written script despite adaption from an acclaimed Bengali film, Gang of Ghosts goes nowhere and lacks in substance. Satish Kaushik, who is known for his comic roles and who has found some success in directing remakes (usually from South) is totally at sea here. There is no comedy evident except some punning, which is over the top; only the characters on screen seem to enjoy the film since they laugh all the time. Music is bad with songs crammed in at random. Editing needed to be tighter as the film sags often. There is not much to performances unless loud gestures pass as acting.

Gang of Ghosts is poor in all respects and will remain so at the box office too.

Ankhon Dekhi : Seeing is believing…but not this one

Ankhon Dekhi is a film which you can’t slot in any year; it is so ancient! The closest you can come to identifying it is with the 1984 TV serial (in the era of Doordarshan’s monopoly days) Hum Log, which is about a middle class Old Delhi family. This film looks like a prequel to Hum Log if such a thing was possible. The ‘Hero’ of the film is Sanjay Mishra and his name is expected to draw the audience to cinema halls.What else can one expect when the maker calls Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani his idols or inspirations. Whatever you call it, this film has nothing to do with the business of high-risk filmmaking.

Producer: Manish Mundra.

Director: Rajat Kapoor.

Cast: Sanjay Mishra, Rajat Kapoor.

Sanjay Mishra and his brother, Rajat Kapoor, live jointly in a middleclass Old Delhi locality. The house is always bustling with activity and efforts to solve typical middleclass problems. Resolving one such problem, it dawns on Mishra that he should never believe in hearsay and commit himself only after being sure of facts. This is like a person swearing never to tell a lie. One can imagine the problems such a decision can produce. Mishra works at a travel agency. When a customer wanting to book a ticket wants to know about timings, Mishra refuses to commit on the basis of airline website since he has not travelled to the destination and has no first hand information! For him, the motto is ‘Seeing is Believing’. Not willing to continue with a job where he has to rely on secondhand information, he resigns.

For a few days, Mishra pretends to go to office. Instead, with his tiffin in hand, he roams around the city like a bunking school kid would. The family soon finds out and troubles start on home front too. Firstly, because Mishra has stopped praying as he used to since he has not seen God. Mainly, he counts on his brother and son to support the family. The inevitable happens, Rajat wants out while the son he was counting on has become a gambler and builtup debt with the local gambling den. That is when the film starts getting really odd: Mishra turns a professional gambler himself jockeying for the club. It is hard to think of many middle class homes where such things can happen.

Mishra is a seasoned artiste and does very well. Rajat is suitably restrained. The rest are okay. But where is the monotonous background music from, the Film Division library?

The film can be described as an old-fashioned family drama, the kind they made in mid-1900s, except that this one is an odd ball. With a slow-paced script and direction to match, shot on drab surroundings, it is not much of a viewing pleasure.

March 21, 2014

Ekta Kapoor, Sunny Leone promote Ragini MMS 2 in the capital

MUMBAI: Coming with a new version of horror with sex, or ‘Horrex’ as they call it, the cast of film Ragini MMS 2 attended the press conference at PVR Plaza, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Even producer Ekta Kapoor was in tow.

The film starts off from where its prequel Ragini MMS ended which revolved around a young couple Ragini and Uday who went to an isolated house for a dirty weekend and the creepy and paranormal happenings that took place to them there. Uday had planned to make an MMS scandal of Ragini in that house. But the MMS shot goes viral, Uday goes missing and Ragini after that incident became lunatic and ended up in a mental hospital. The Ragini MMS scandal catches the attention of a filmmaker who plans to make a film on it.

Leone, who is already making headlines for her performance in the song “Baby Doll’ and ‘Chaar Bottle Vodka’, talking about her experience of shooting the film said, “Sometimes its very scary to be alone at home after shooting.”

She also said that it was a great experience working with the singing sensation of the time- Honey Singh.

When Ekta was quizzed about the reason behind casting Leone, she said, “Sunny looks beautiful on camera and she suited the best for Horrex theme.”

Ragini MMS 2 is produced by Ekta Kapoor and directed by Bhushan Patel. Distribution rights are being controlled by Balaji Motion Pictures. Music of the film which is receiving great response from the audience is given by various artist like Honey Singh and Meet Brothers.

It is releasing on 21 March 2014.

March 15, 2014