ITV

Tag: Nitesh Pandey

  • SET gets back to basics with new series IndiawaaliMaa

    SET gets back to basics with new series IndiawaaliMaa

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has always differed from the rest of the pack in that it has done well with stories which appealed to the younger demographic and in more urban settings. (Remember the smash hit JassiJaisiKohiNahin, Bade AccheLagate Hai, Patiala Babes).

    Now, SET is all set to bring another series IndiawaaliMaa which tells an endearing relatable tale of a mother who helps her son through difficult times. The daily premieres on 31 August and will air from Monday to Friday at 8:30 pm.

    The show is produced by Jay Productions and has Suchita Trivedi (Kaushalya), Nitesh Pandey (Hasmukh), AkshayMhatre (Rohan), and Sheen Dass (Chinamma) in the main lead.

    Jay Productions founder Kinnari Mehta says the idea of making IndiawaaliMaa  was spawned eight months back when writer Imtiaz Patel narrated a story about a mother’s journey traveling to London for her son who gets into  trouble.

    “A few months back in a meeting with Sony TV, I narrated the idea,” she shares.  “They instantly loved it.” 

    Originally, the plan was to film in London, but with restrictions on travel and budgets brought about by the pandemic, the story was tweaked with Mumbai as a location.

    According to Mehta, the studio faced many challenges while drafting the script and shooting while adhering to all the SOPs with limited crew.  Additionally, multiple units where shoots are happening simultaneously, are being resorted to ensure that there is no overcrowding in one location and social distancing is maintained.

    Also, due to restrictions on travel, the team is doing most of the coordination over Zoom calls.

    Kinnari says, “We wanted someone who looks like my mother and for that, we conducted auditions, practically from the entire industry and the biggest challenge we faced was most of the women who are in their forties  have toned bodies. I couldn’t relate to them. When Suchitra came for the audition, she wore a normal saree, hooped earrings, and donned messy braids. I instantly chose her for the role as she perfectly fits in it.”

    As far as Nitish Pandey is concerned, Mehta wanted someone who is like a strict father but also a loving husband.

    “This is a show which will allow all of us to know the heart of a mother – the heart of an unconditionally loving  Indian mother –  closely. IndiawaaliMaa is not just a show it is an  emotion. A story that can’t be said and can only be felt,” says Kinnari.

    SPNI  digital business & SET content  head Ashish Golwalkar  says that the show will appeal to almost everyone as at its heart are real human emotions. “A mother is someone who stands by her son through thick and thin,” he says. “And in IndiawaaliMaa,Kaushalya or Kaku, the mother, takes it upon herself to resurrect her son Rohan who has lost direction and is struggling to cope,” says Golwalkar.

    Overall, he is pleased with the way that things are progressing with SET. Says he: The channel has always focused on relevant topics and at younger audiences. Our content is mostly around people and laughter. The Kapil Sharma Show is doing relatively well."

    He  is happy that the production of Kaun Banega Crorepati has commenced last week with extremely high safety precautions for its host Amitabh Bachchan and crew members. It may be recalled that Bachchan was discharged from hospital earlier this month after recovering from Covid2019. Says Golwarlkar: “We lost KBC around August and its shooting schedule was postponed. Hopefully, it will be launched next month.”

    The good news is that auditions for both Kaun Banega Crorepati and Indian Idol have been completed and the participants decided. Indian Idol is set to launch in end-October, replacing India’s Best Dancer which is in its final  stages.

    During the lockdown, Golwalkar has observed that audiences are preferring shows which are full of nostalgia. “There is no denying that digital consumption is growing very fast. I head content for SonyLIV and see that the younger generation watch more on the digital platforms,” he shares.He further adds, “Our digital platform still gets a lot of traction from Tarak Mehta KaUltaChashma, Balveer, The Kapil Sharma Show and India’s Best Dancer. A lot of television consumption is slowly shifting to digital but it is just the change of screen. I believe television is as relevant as it was before.”

  • Micky Virus: There is a virus in my cinema ticket!

    Micky Virus: There is a virus in my cinema ticket!

    MUMBAI: Micky Virus attempts a contemporary theme of computers and hackers, weaving it around a murder mystery and bank fraud. The approach is kept on a lighter note for the most part, at least until the interval.

    Manish Paul (Micky) belongs to a group of computer geeks in Delhi, with each member specialising in some sort of computer trick. They are led by the Harvard educated Nitesh Pandey, referred to as professor. The other members of the group are Puja Gupta, Raghav Kakkar and Vikesh Kumar. However, Paul has mastered the art of hacking and can get into any computer anywhere in the world however safe and secure.

    Now, the ACP Manish Chaudhary and Inspector Varun Badola are looking for Paul not because hacking is a crime but because they need his expertise to crack a very tricky case. Two hackers of repute, both foreign citizens, have been found murdered in broad daylight and in a public place in the city with no obvious marks of harm. On investigation, Chaudhary learns that they were killed with a cyanide-tipped needle, both are non-Indians. Concluding that they were called to India to break into some computer, the cops want to enrol Paul to hack a site belonging to a gang of hackers.

    Paul is allergic to any kind of job; the idea of working for someone is not his thing. But, with a little arm-twisting by the cops and a sudden need to make a living, as he has fallen in love in the meanwhile, make him accept the assignment. Paul’s romantic interest is Eli Avram, an executive at an investment firm. By the time the romance is a month old, Eli makes her move and asks Paul to correct a computer error she made with a client’s account. So far neither the film nor its story has moved anywhere except the hero falling in love with a very willing heroine.

    Producer: Arun Rangachari, Vivek Rangachari.
    Director: Saurabh Varma.
    Cast: Manish Paul, Eli Avram, Manish Chaudhary, Varun Badola, Puja Gupta, Nitesh Pandey, Raghav Kakkar, Vikesh Kumar.

    By the end of the interval, the director finally feels the need to introduce some story in the film. Paul has been used by Eli to transfer rupees 100 crore from a government middleman’s account to another account. He has been framed. What is more, Eli is not around to tell him what happened because she has been killed the same way two hackers were killed earlier, with a poisoned needle. Paul finds out whose account the money is transferred to but that story ends as soon as it started as the man is killed in a very predictable road accident while being chased by Paul!

    All the key punching in computers of all kinds continues until Paul suspects the identity of at least one of the people behind the plot. And after 2 hour and 10 minutes of running around, dropping hints, punching computers and displaying lot of geekeryon screen, it is not the script that tells you the story but through verbal outpouring by the culprits that all the plots are revealed. Some hacker story!

    Micky Virus tries to fit in too much of effects without relevance or to any positive results. The film should have had an ideal length of 90 to 100 minutes. But it stretches by almost 30 minutes. The one time that the film generates some interest is when Eli is killed. Direction falls victim to a weak script. Paul acts the typical loud Delhi lad with set expressions throughout. Eli Avram is a misfit. Puja Gupta is good while Chaudhary and Badola are impressive.