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Tag: Nawazuddin Siddique

  • Dive into ‘The Last Secrets of Humankind’ in Ancient Asia

    Dive into ‘The Last Secrets of Humankind’ in Ancient Asia

    Mumbai: Dive into the mysteries of prehistoric Asia with ‘The Last Secrets of Humankind’, which premieres on discovery+ and airing Mondays on Discovery Channel on 24 June 2024. This docu-drama offers a rare and insightful glimpse into the Asian jungle and the relationship of human ancestors with nature. The 90-minute, two-part docu-drama is set to captivate Indian audiences with Hindi narration by renowned actor Nawazuddin Siddique and Tamil narration in the invigorating voice of popular actor Ashok Selvan.

    Expressing his excitement, Nawazuddin Siddique, remarked, ‘Narrating ‘The Last Secrets of Humankind’ has been a deeply enriching experience, delving into the depths of Asia’s ancient origins and bringing this story to life through my narration. It was an incredible opportunity to highlight the latest scientific discoveries in Asian prehistory, still unknown to the wider public, and to unravel the extraordinary tapestry of this era, revealing secrets that redefine our understanding of human history.”

    A Franco-Chinese co-production supported by UNESCO, the show highlights spectacular scientific discoveries from nearly 800,000 years ago. Directed by Jacques Malaterre, renowned for the acclaimed A Species Odyssey, and featuring the final work of esteemed paleontologist Yves Coppens, this docu-drama recreates the Zhoukoudian fauna using state-of-the-art CGI and 3D production.

    Ashok Selvan added, “I am excited about my role in ‘The Last Secrets of Humankind,’ a project that delves into the captivating history of our ancestors. It’s incredibly rewarding to see this docuseries reach Tamil-speaking audiences through its translation. Narrating this journey in Tamil has been a truly enriching experience for me, and I’m honored to play a part in bringing this fascinating story to life.

    Shot by an all-Chinese crew, this series unearths stories from East Asia based on the latest scientific discoveries with dramatized recreations.

    Don’t miss the premiere of “The Last Secrets of Humankind” as discovery+ and Discovery Channel takes you on a captivating journey through ancient history on 24 June 2024.

  • JioCinema launches Digital Film Festival starting 29 September!

    JioCinema launches Digital Film Festival starting 29 September!

    Mumbai: JioCinema, a streaming destination is all set to launch a digital film festival, JioCinema Film Fest, starting 29 September. The festival is an incredible cinematic celebration that will bring together Kala, Kalakaar aur anokhi Kahaniyaan, through 20 remarkable films across 20 days. These captivating and award-winning stories will bring together a distinguished repertoire of artists such as Nawazuddin Siddique, Naseeruddin Shah, Ira Dubey, Supriya Pathak, Sheeba Chaddha, Amit Sadh, Satish Kaushik, Rajat Kapoor, and Adah Sharma amongst others.

    A celebration of India’s rich storytelling, JioCinema Film Fest includes a robust line-up of films such as The Comedian that will throw light on an ageing comedic actor in the Indian film industry who has no laughter left in his life and Birha (The Journey Back Home), a winner at multiple international film festivals that describes the heart-wrenching story of a family that tears apart due to the unjustified ambitions of a young child.  Other films in the line-up include Ghuspaith: Between Borders, which inspired by the life and tragic death of renowned Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui; Rat in the Kitchen, a Neo-Noir Thriller is a story of a man going through loneliness and witnessing surreal experiences while being home alone; Bebaak is a gripping film about a woman’s identity crisis as a Muslim woman in India, trying to make her place in a prejudice-ridden world. Set in an Indian town under curfew, The Daughter is a film about a young woman who sets out in search of a man who can help her carry out an act that will test her limits.

    In addition to this, the film festival boasts of some exceptional stories that include Ring Mili Kya, Munna Ka Bachpan, Laar, Mein Mehmood, Gangster Ganga, Armaand, Maachis Ki Dibiya, Phone Call, Murakh (The Idiot), Before We Die, Dammy, The Last Envelope, Coming Out with the help of a Time Machine and Kofuku.

    Witness the magic of films, starting 29 September streaming exclusively on JioCinema Film Fest. 

  • Nawazuddin Siddique says to ask the right questions when buying insurance

    Nawazuddin Siddique says to ask the right questions when buying insurance

    Mumbai: General insurance company HDFC Ergo has released a new TVC campaign ‘Poochoge toh aapko milega sahi jawaab’, urging consumers to ask the right questions while buying general insurance. The two-film campaign features brand ambassador Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a double role.

    Conceptualised by Mullen Lowe Lintas, the film communicates the benefits and services provided by HDFC Ergo across their plethora of insurance products related to health, motor and travel amongst others. Furthermore, the campaign also highlights that Indians are inherently curious and inquisitive by nature but when it’s about buying the right insurance policy, they don't make an informed decision, often due to lack of awareness.

    Raat Akeli Hai star Nawazuddin Siddique said, “Insurance plays a very important role in our financial wellbeing. It helps in providing financial security for you and your loved ones when needed most. It was a beautiful experience partnering with HDFC Ergo, it helped me in being a part of an initiative creating awareness among people about getting our knowledge right when it comes to insurance.’’

    The film also communicates the fact that a well-comprehensive insurance policy provides peace of mind and helps in overcoming difficult situations. In testing times, the right kind of insurance will always protect an individual from digging into their savings.

  • Netflix: Kashyap, Motwane to direct parallel ‘Sacred Games’, targeting 5-6 originals in a year

    Netflix: Kashyap, Motwane to direct parallel ‘Sacred Games’, targeting 5-6 originals in a year

    MUMBAI: Renowned filmmakers Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap have been commissioned to work on two parallel stories in Netflix’s maiden India-set original series ‘Sacred Games’ based on Vikram Chandra’s best-selling novel.

    The series, to be produced in partnership with Phantom Films, will be available to Netflix’ over 100 million subscribers in over 190 countries. Netflix plans to gradually increase Indian originals following its recent announcements of three projects. Netflix said it was targeting “at least five to six Indian originals a year.” Netflix’s other planned Indian originals are — Again and Selection Day.

    Competitor Amazon Prime announced 18 homegrown originals when the service launched in December, which are at various stages of production. It already premiered its first original — “Inside Edge.”

    About ‘Sacred Games,’ a Netflix executive said: “This is an ambitious storytelling. We have two directors following two different decades of what’s happening in the Mumbai crime underworld.”

    At Jio MAMI, Netflix VP – international original series Erik Barmack said that the series, shot on real locations in Mumbai, will delve into the city’s intricate web of organised crime, politics, corruption, and espionage.

    At the festival, a few images from the series were unveiled featuring actors Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddique. The show sees Khan playing the role of cop Sartaj Singh, while Siddiqui portrays gangster Ganesh Gaitonde. Barmack said that the storytelling format was quite amazing and hoped the show made a mark globally.

    Vikramaditya and Anurag will follow two characters. One is on the Gaitonde storyline, the other on Sartaj. They, of course, collide (eventually).

    If one thought of the conventional storytelling and where TV was 15 years ago, the idea that you could do these things in different time periods with anti-hero and complex characters was quite amazing, he said.

    Netflix would, Barmack said, like to see more Indian talent working on its US productions, as The Lunchbox’ Ritesh Batra lead its original film “Our Souls at Night.” Netflix also plans to introduce Indian actors in its US productions, such as Sense8 featured Tina Desai in a major role.

  • Why Kross Pictures’ South Korea CEO Thomas Kim is happy with India

    MUMBAI: He is a South Korean who is plugging away with his ambition to leave his imprint on both, Bollywood and Indian television. And that’s one of the reasons why Kross Pictures CEO Thomas Kim set up an office in Mumbai in 2016, adding to his Los Angeles and Seoul outposts.

    From the company’s stable emerged the Amitabh Bachchan-Nawazuddin Siddique-starrer the critically acclaimed Te3n last year, which was adapted from the South Korean film Montage.

    Kim is excited about his next project for the Indian market: a web series for Amazon Prime called Suspect X, which is based on the Japanese author Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X. Kim acquired the film production rights from the author in 2011 and even signed a co-production agreement with Balaji Motion Pictures in 2013.

    However, that has been put on the backburner. “Earlier we thought to do this as a feature film but then this opportunity came so we are now actively developing the extended version of this script,” says Kim.

    Right now his goal is to get the third novel of the Detective Galieo series on the production floor. “We plan to start shooting Suspect X later this year. It is going to be shot like a long movie.”

    Why did he choose to go with an SVOD service like Amazon Prime and not a TV channel for Suspect X for his second Indian foray?

    Kim explains: “Indian channels are more conservative. They are less active in trying out different things and budgets are lower than we are used to at international levels. The kind of content we are bringing requires certain level of budgets. We were working with a big Hollywood production company and we were trying to create the Indian version of the show and we presented this idea to all the major GECs — Sony, Zee and Star. They all liked it but balked at writing the cheque that it required. On the television side, I think it will take a longer time, but on films and OTT side it’s possible.”

    However, that’s not all. Kim is in production pitches with both general entertainment channels and other OTT services such as Hotstar and ViuClip for other shows. Altogether, he has 15 projects lined up for the Indian market, a mix of TV shows for TV channels and OTT services and films for theatrical release.

    Says he: “We are planning to bring Korean stories so that these could be ‘Indianised’ by Indians for the Indian viewers. We will be teaming up with a number of talented people and companies. Directors such as Sujoy Ghosh, an actor like Amitabh Bachchan, companies like Phantom and Amazon to name a few.”

    Amongst the projects which he expects to announce soon figure two South Korean film adaptations for India with big stars — Miracle in Cell No 7 and Miss Granny. Additionally, he’s working on taking Indian content overseas as well. Recently, Kross Pictures flashed the top dollar and bought the rights to Queen and Kahani, and is planning to have them remade in Korea as well soon. And, he is also looking out for Indian TV shows that can travel.

    What is driving this South Korean to lay such a heavy emphasis on Korean and Indian content and work as a bridge between the two nations’ film and TV creative industries?

    “The Indian market is huge; it comprises half or our global portfolio, and hence it is a very important market for us. In the long term, I think it can be bigger than Korea,” he elaborates. “Both countries being Asian… can come up with stories that can resonate with viewers and film-goers. The reason Indian-South Korean exchange has not been too big is that so far the two countries haven’t been active in exchanging cultures. Starting now, I think it will grow in future and soon we will see more and more Korean films remade in Bollywood and vice versa.”

  • Nawazuddin Siddique to shoot for two Khans back to back

    Nawazuddin Siddique to shoot for two Khans back to back

    MUMBAI: Nawazuddin Siddique is certainly on a career high. Not only has he defied all the norms with the incredible roles that he has earned for himself in several movies this past year, he has also earned the repute of being perhaps the most promising unconventional leading hero in today’s time. 

     

    His recent release, Badlapur has earned him some of the best reviews of his career with reports of audience bursting into applause each time he enters the screen with his quirky punch lines. Though the actor has too little time to relish this success, he will now be seen sharing screen space back to back with Bollywood’s biggest Khans. Starting off with Bajrangi Bhaijaan starring Salman Khan, Siddique will simultaneously rehearse for his role in Rais with Shah Rukh Khan.

     

    This is interesting as both the Khans are always pitted against each other and this time Siddique seems to be the common factor between the two. Co-incidentally both the films will be shot back to back and will have their schedules interspersed with Siddique being a part of both the films.

     

    He will start off the rehearsals for Rais in March while he continues to shoot for Bajrangi Bhaijaan around the same time.

  • Sony bets big with Big B’s ‘Yudh’

    Sony bets big with Big B’s ‘Yudh’

    NEW DELHI: After actor Anil Kapoor hit the small screen with the limited episode series  ‘24’, megastar Amitabh Bachchan is all set to launch himself as an actor on television with the series ‘Yudh’ commencing on Sony Entertainment Television (SET) next month.

     

    While ‘24’ on Colors was confined to just 24 episodes, Bachchan’s series will run for 20 episodes.

     

    Though the telecast schedule is not out yet, the series is expected to be aired at prime time from Monday to Thursday. Bachchan’s ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ is also slated to commence around the same time.

     

    ‘Yudh’ also stars senior actress Sarika along with Aahana Kumra, Pavail Gulati, Avinash Tiwari, Nawazuddin Siddique, Kay Kay Menon and Tigmanshu Dhulia among others.

     

    Bachchan revealed that he had approached the channel with the aim of doing a television series, after which he had been put in touch with Endemol. Though he had taken on Anurag Kashyap as the creative director, Shoojit Sircar also joined in as creative director. Bachchan’s Saraswati Creations is also a co-producer of the new show.

     

    The thespian said in reply to a question that the story of any film or TV series is of prime importance, followed by the director who is the captain. The actors were only puppets who followed the directives of the director.

     

    He denied that he was ever satisfied with what he had done or achieved. “Feeling satisfied is like ‘death’ for any creative artiste,” he said, adding it was erroneous to think that a senior actor did not need much preparation. “I take every performance as a new test,” added Bachchan.

     

    “Working on a TV series is a unique experience, compared to the big screen,” Bachchan said, revealing the first poster of the serial.

     

    “I would be prepared to work on television again if I get the right story and a good chance,” he added.

     

    The story revolves around a businessman who suffers from an incurable disease but does not want to reveal it to his family.

     

    Sarika, who has appeared on screen with Bachchan for the fourth time and the second time since her return to Bollywood said, “Working with him was always a novel experience as he helps the other artistes and puts them at ease.”

     

    “The series is different from the work I have done so far on the big screen,” she added.

     

    The series has been made like a movie on the small screen.  “It is like a film shown in episodes,” said Kashyap and Sircar.  “All the stereotypes that TV series have so far been associated with have been avoided,” informed Kashyap.

     

    MSM CEO N P Singh said that the marketing of the series will not be done through the normal route and there would be no hoardings. Apart from the promos on TV and use of social media like Facebook, there would be ground events in various cities where he expected Bachchan and other stars to be present.

     

    Informing about the on-ground activities, Singh said, “The next event is at the Bombay Stock Exchange.” When asked for the reason, he said the series has Bachchan as the head of a construction business empire with around 10,000 employees and “therefore it is appropriate to release the poster at the BSE.”

     

    Not revealing the exact marketing spent, Singh informed that 50 per cent of the total expenses reserved for the series were aimed to be spent after the completion of the entire shooting.

     

    “The expenditure on the series is the highest ever for a fiction show which is close to 200 times more than the normal expenses,” informed Singh.

     

    The series will be aired only after the entire shoot is complete. Singh said that while talks were on with sponsors and advertisers, “Cadbury has a special bond with Bachchan and is on board as title sponsor.” He admitted that the advertising tariff will be somewhat higher than the normal series as it demanded a premium rate as compared to other shows.

     

    MSM senior EVP and business head Nachiket Pantvaidya  informed that the entire shooting had taken five to six weeks during which 20 hours of filming was done.   

     

    He said that the series hoped to break new ground as far as advertisers were concerned as the channel was now being seen in more than 70 countries and could also be accessed on the app that came free.