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Tag: Pankaj Kapur

  • &pictures to premiere “Bheed” on 12 July

    &pictures to premiere “Bheed” on 12 July

    Mumbai: “Bheed” promises to redefine storytelling, breaking norms and exploring new narrative horizons. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie follows a dedicated police officer facing the daunting task of preventing migrant workers from crossing the border. As he navigates this crisis, he discovers pervasive prejudice and deep human suffering, transforming his duty into a passionate fight for humanity. Directed by the acclaimed Anubhav Sinha, the film features a stellar cast including Pankaj Kapur, Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Dia Mirza, and Kritika Kamra.

    Rajkummar Rao shared his excitement for the premiere on &pictures, saying, “This film isn’t just a project; it’s like opening a door to uncharted storytelling. &pictures is the perfect home for our unique journey, and I’m genuinely thrilled to share this experience with everyone. ‘Bheed’ is not your typical movie; it’s an exploration, a challenge to norms, and I can’t wait for the audience to dive into this distinctive narrative.”

    Dia Mirza added, “I truly believe that if we protect Mother Earth, she will protect us right back. Bheed resonates deeply with the challenges humanity faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and being part of a story that addresses such profound themes has always been, both, rewarding and invigorating. The pandemic made it abundantly clear that we have to change the way we live, produce, manufacture, and consume. Shooting this film has been an emotional journey, a transformative one more than anything and I’m eager for audiences of &pictures to embark on this exploration of humanity and resilience.”

    Director Anubhav Sinha expresses his enthusiasm for the premiere on &pictures, saying, “For us, ‘Bheed’ is more than a film; it’s an exploration of the human experience. I truly believe that with its premiere on &pictures, we will be able to reach a wider audience who will be able to understand the crux of the film. Shooting with the cast of Bheed was truly a delight making it a memorable experience for the whole team.”

    Join &pictures on 12 July at 10:15 pm for an unforgettable experience with “Bheed”.

  • ‘Shaandaar:’ Not really!

    ‘Shaandaar:’ Not really!

    Director Vikas Bahl has made a wedding movie of 146-minute duration. But, at the same time, he wants to be different from similar ‘wedding videos’ made in the past. After all, a comparison to the pioneer wedding movie, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun would be inevitable. To avoid this, Bahl tries to treat his film in a fairytale style. To this end, the film has been shot in a huge country side palace. The film even starts with Naseeruddin Shah narrating what is to follow a la ‘once upon a time’.

    Sushma Seth is a billionaire tycoon occupying the palace with her family of three sons, a daughter-in-law and the older son Pankaj Kapur’s two daughters, Sanah Kapoor and Alia Bhatt; Alia being an adopted child. Pankaj and his two brothers as well as the rest of the family are totally under Sushma’s thumb. She rules the palace like her own domain and its inhabitants like her slaves.

    Sushma has made it to the cover page of Forbes magazine but also sharing the cover with her is her relative to be, Sanjay Kapoor, who goes by the name of Fundwani. He is also a local tycoon. The wedding between Sanjay’s son and Sanah is actually a business deal for Sushma for her enterprise has gone broke and she expects this liaison with Sanjay’s family to give her bank balance some stability.

    For Sanjay, being a Sindhi is the ultimate thing to be and all those who are successful, including Queen Elizabeth and Michael Jackson are, in fact, Sindhi. Sanjay wears a huge pendant with the dollar sign, which he says stands for Sindhi. Well, that is meant to be the comic content in the film.

    Sushma wants the wedding to be a big tamasha and has appointed Shahid Kapoor to manage the event. Shahid has his first encounter with Pankaj and, soon enough, with Alia. Love happens at first sight. The rest of the film is about Shahid and Alia coming closer while Pankaj does his best to keep them part. All this while the rest of the wedding programme, including the sangeet, mehndi etc, takes place in the background. An attempt is made to make it funny by having Karan Johar in a cameo to compere Mehndi with Karan. Actually, there is nothing worthwhile happening in the film.

    The film has no story to tell and tries to weave this wedding video with a series of gags (poor), song-and-dance numbers and useless nothings. The attempt to give the fairytale touch to the story does not work despite gimmicks like bringing in a frog called Ashok or even choreographing a song in a Dick Tracy kind of setting. Some secrets tumble out through the course of the story. Sanjay himself is on the verge of bankruptcy and expects to benefit with this wedding deal into Sushma’s family. Meanwhile, Alia is actually Pankaj’s own daughter born out of an affair he had while training as a pilot.

    Scripting is very poor and patchy. Direction lacks imagination and the outcome is juvenile. The film has two hummable songs in Shaam saaandar…. and Nazdeekiyaan; a variety has been tried in song presentations to little effect. Editing needed to be crisper. Visually, efforts are made to give the film a pleasant look.

    No actor has a defined role to make an impression. While Pankaj is a pleasure to watch, Shahid and Alia play the usual romantic pair, Sanjay sticks to buffoonery. Of the rest, Sanah does well.

    Shaandaar caters to low IQ viewers which, at prevailing tickets rates, will be hard to find.

    Producers: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramditya Motwane, Karan Johar, Madhu Mantena.

    Director: Vikas Bahl

    Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Pankaj Kapur, Sanjay Kapoor, Sanah Kapoor, Sushma Seth, Karan Johar (cameo).

  • ‘Finding Fanny’…Some fun some yawn

    ‘Finding Fanny’…Some fun some yawn

    MUMBAI: Once in a while we get these zany films with no head or tail. It is usually a local story. Also, in most cases, it is related to characters of a minority community which are easy to caricature with no protest expected. This is a road movie taking you on a sightseeing tour of the countryside of Goa.

    Finding Fanny is Parsi director Homi Adajania’s take on small Goan village Catholic families. This is a small community where their preferences, hates, love and likes are limited to each other. So are their petty politics vis-a-vis families.

    Deepika Padukone who lives in the village is an orphan loved by two men, Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh who are also close friends. While Arjun plays shy, Ranveer steals a march by asking Deepika to marry him. She does but at his wedding he is so excited, he grabs a big helping of the wedding cake and gulps it down not realizing that he is also gulping down the usual decorated plastic bride and groom dolls placed on the cake. He dies of choking within 15 minutes of his wedding vows. Deepika, an instant widow, spends her life with Ranveer’s mother, Dimple Kapadia.

    This is a village where there is a post office but no mail is ever sent or received. The post master, Naseeruddin Shah, is always in lost memories of his childhood love, Fanny, to whom he could never propose face-to-face. The letter he once wrote to her returns undelivered after 46 years! Best he can do is sob aloud whenever he thinks of her.

    Producer:  Dinesh Vijan.

    Director: Homi Adajania.

    Cast: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Dimple Kapadia, Anand Tiwari, Anjali Patil, Ranveer Singh (cameo).

    The village scene has two new entrants, Pankaj Kapur, an internationally renowned artist, and Arjun Kapoor, a guy who was said to have made it big in Mumbai after Deepika decided to marry Ranveer instead of him.

    They all decide to go find Fanny for Shah in Kapur’s old car which Arjun fixes up. It is Deepika’s idea because she is fond of Shah. Arjun agrees because he still fancies Deepika. Kapur agrees because he has a glad eye for Dimple. The gang of five sets out to find Fanny. The rest of the film is about trying to create funny situations or dialogue which does not happen as often as one hopes. However, the film makes up with fun quotient in the last 20 minutes or so.

    There is no solid plot as the story is one line: finding fanny. The director’s enthusiasm with the theme comes alive only later in the film. The end is on expected lines but fun. The film has veterans like Shah and Kapur who along with Arjun and Dimple do well but the film’s mainstay is Deepika. And Goa locales are always a pleasure to watch.

    Finding Fanny will find its appreciation in select cities at elite location multiplexes.

     

    ‘Creature 3-D’…never-ending!

     

    We have been watching run of the mill horror films since the days of Ramsay Brothers era. Many others have followed suit. But now international films get regular exposure in India and one is not competing with the local makers; it is time to match the international horror genre.

    Hollywood films have various justification for an invasion by an extra-terrestrial being; it could be from an outer planet or a scientific experiment gone wrong or just a creation of a revenge-seeking man. Here, in Creature 3D, the makers justify the creature by creating a new myth about it.

    Bipasha Basu has lost her mother early but has a gem of a father and both dote on each other. Her father has a lucrative job due to which he keeps maintaining a bungalow he has inherited in South Mumbai. No, they are not in Mumbai but somewhere in North. Soon, there is a powerful builder after him who wants to buy out his South Mumbai bungalow and use the plot to build a mall. The father’s continued resistance leads to him losing his job. The frustration and feeling that follows and he commits suicide.

    Sad though she may be, Bipasha does exactly what her father sacrificed his life resisting. She sells the bungalow in question to the same villains who were the cause of her father’s death and, with the monies so realised, buys a boutique forest lodge somewhere in Himachal. Her dad keeps coming in her imagination but never asks her why she gave up what he lost his life saving.

    The forest lodge is inaugurated on a Christmas Eve and nothing seems to work out as her supplies don’t reach her in time, the oven in her hotel is useless and her Christmas night band is late. However, the hero, Imran Abbas Naqvi, as heroes do in all films, comes to her rescue. She mistakes him for singer first and later for another guest booked at her lodge who does not show up. He has come on a mission at this lodge which remains unexplained until the end but, instead, falls in love with Bipasha at first glance!

    The Indian audience, probably, does not buy the idea of invaders from outer space. So here we have a local mumbo jumbo for the presence of this creature. This creature is a soul cursed by God Brahma and hence called Brahma-Rakshasa because he did evil deeds while being in an honourable position of a priest or some such thing! He is the second of his kind, the earlier one having been killed by 23 bullets from a single load ancient gun purified by some holy water.  

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar.

    Director: Vikram Bhatt.

    Cast: Bipasha Basu, Imran Abbas Naqvi, Mukul Dev.

     

    The more recent Brahma-Rakshasa was content living on a peepal tree secured by red threads. The creature was let loose when, one fine day, a labourer decided to cut that peepal tree. Now the creature is angry and starts attacking people. It eats them up almost in entirety, maybe leaving a small part or a limb behind for curious investigators, the head of which is not interested in such cases beyond closing files soon as they are opened.

    There is a village head around and hence there are also villagers. However, the creature would seem to have some grouse against Bipasha for it attacks only her guests, nobody else!

    The problem is, the film takes ages bringing the creature on the screen in its full form and goes on to take eons destroying it. Where this needed to be a 90 to 100 minute film, it stretches to 135 minutes. The creature attacks get monotonous without any twists. There is no surprise element.

    The computer generated creature is a triumph of Indian techies; this coupled with special effects are excellent to say the least. However this is a script of convenience with no concern to make it tight and plausible. The director being the story writer, he has no alternative but to follow his own convictions. His plus is the 3-D format which, thankfully, is not overused in this film and is usually effective. This being a T Series film, one expected the songs to be better but only one song, ‘Mehboob ki..’, has appeal because of its old world charm. The photography is very good. Performance wise, there is little that merits a mention. Bipasha is her usual self now lacking appeal for the audience. Imran fails to make his presence felt and lacks in expressions.

    Creature 3-D loses its appeal as it carries on for too long. The film has limited prospects at the box office.

  • ‘Finding Fanny’ and ‘Haider’ to be screened at BIFF

    ‘Finding Fanny’ and ‘Haider’ to be screened at BIFF

    MUMBAI: Deepika Padukone starrer Finding Fanny and Shahid Kapoor’s Haider have been selected to be screened at the forthcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea.

     

    The two films, along with Margarita, With A Straw, Labour Of Love, Goli Soda and Zahir from the country, will be showcased as part of the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ category at the fest.  The festival is scheduled to be held from 2-11 October 2014.  

     

    The director of Finding Fanny, Homi Adajania is ecstatic that his movie is among the projects chosen for the prestigious festival.

     

    “Yeehaa! @FindingFanny officially invited to the BUSAN International Film Festival! @arjunk26 @deepikapadukone @ankurtewari @Anaita_Adajania,” he tweeted.

     

    Finding Fanny is an off the wall, comical story about five people who venture out to find Stefanie Fernandes (Fanny). The movie stars Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Pankaj Kapur. The film has been produced by Maddock Films and is being presented by Fox Star Studios. Being hailed as the movie to watch out for, Finding Fanny is set to release on September 12.

     

    Meanwhile, Haider too is among the much-awaited Bollywood films this year. With Shahid Kapoor in the lead role, this Vishal Bhardwaj directorial is the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The movie also stars Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu and Kay Kay Menon. The movie is produced by VB Pictures and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. It will release on 2 October.

  • Coming Soon: ‘Finding Fanny ‘- the novel

    Coming Soon: ‘Finding Fanny ‘- the novel

    MUMBAI: With the release date nearing, for the most anticipated movie, Finding Fanny, the director Homi Adajania revealed that the movie will also be released in the form of a 200-plus page novel next year.

     

    Homi while speaking about the same said in a statement, “My co-writer, Kersi Khambatta, wrote the novel based on my short story of Finding Fanny, and then we used that to develop the screenplay. My only issue was that I told him to keep the book on ice until the film was out.”

     

    He further added that although he prefers books over films, he wanted people to watch Finding Fanny on the silver screen first. “Now that it is releasing soon, Kersi can sell the novel to publishers. It’s a funny read, and way more convoluted than the script.”

     

    The duo reportedly has an offer by a leading publisher. The co-writer of the film Kersi Khambhatta while talking about his experience on writing the screenplay for the film said, “His process (of adapting a screenplay from a book) gave us a lot of colour, description and detail to play with. It eventually lent itself to a fatter and fuller screenplay as well. Our main motive was to make the movie first. Now that it is done, publishers have expressed an interest in reading the original manuscript of the novel.”

     

    Finding Fanny is all set to hit the theatres on 12 September 2014 starring Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Naseerudin Shah and Pankaj Kapur. The movie is about five quirky characters in the sleepy village of Pocolim. They go out on a trip to find the long last girlfriend, Fanny Fernandez, of one of the characters.

  • Finding Fanny trailer crosses two million views in two days

    Finding Fanny trailer crosses two million views in two days

    NEW DELHI: The trailer of Homi Adajania’s satirical Finding Fanny has crossed two million in just two days. The upcoming English-Hindi film stars Arjun Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia in key roles. 

     

    Presented by Fox Star Studios, Finding Fanny is produced by Maddock Films. The film releases on 12 September.

     

    Producer Dinesh Vijan says, “The online community is king! It’s because of them that our trailer is happily galloping along and putting a smile on people’s faces.”

     

    “The response has been simply phenomenal. This does not happen with films on a regular basis and we are thrilled that Finding Fanny is getting this kind of universal positive response,” CEO Fox Star Studios Vijay Singh said. 

     

    Watch the Offical trailer

  • Naseer, Pankaj Kapur come together for Finding Fanny Fernandes

    Naseer, Pankaj Kapur come together for Finding Fanny Fernandes

    The multi-talented Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur are highly known for their strong performance oriented roles. And now for his next film Finding Fanny Fernandes, director Homi Adajania has signed the two veteran actors.

     

    Shah and Kapur already have some interesting satirical hits to their credits like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho etc. And Finding Fanny Fernandes being yet another satirical will see the actors once again in strong roles.

     

    Finding Fanny Fernandes also stars Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, and Dimple Kapadia in prominent roles.

  • Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola: Bharadwaj fails to enthrall

    Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola: Bharadwaj fails to enthrall

    MUMBAI: Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is a Haryanvi film made in Hindi and English. When the characters don‘t add ‘Se‘ to end a sentence like Hai in Hindi, Aahe in Marathi, Chhe in Gujarati, they are speaking immaculate Hindi or English. This time, the ardent Shakespeare devotee, Vishal Bhardwaj attempts to create his own masterpiece. He has Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma at his disposal but he chooses veteran Pankaj Kapur to be his star attraction.


    Producers: Vishal Bhardwaj, Fox Star India.

    Director: Vishal Bhardwaj.

    Cast: Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Pankaj Kapur, ShabanaAzmi, Arya Babbar.

    Kapur‘s character is inspired from a Rajshri film, Sunayana (which was ‘inspired‘ by a Charlie Chaplin classic, City Lights) where a drunkard rich man has split personality, all heart when drunk and a tyrant when sober. The rest is loosely strewn around him.

    Kapur is Mr Mandola, the tycoon in a village populated of 300 farmers. His home is palatial and the village Mandola, district Rohtak, Haryana state, is named after his family. He is a single parent to his only daughter, Sharma, who has been away most of her growing years, first studying in Delhi and later attending Oxford. Since Kapur has this problem where after four pegs he tends to get generous and will donate his fortune, he has employed a retainer, Matru, played by Khan. His job is to drive Kapur around and stop him from drinking after fourth peg. Kapur is bent on quitting alcohol but lacks willpower. He has another problem. His preferred brand of alcohol is Gulabo and every time he tries to go off drinks, he sees a pink buffalo, which only makes him drink again.

    Kapur is a land-grabbing tycoon who has dreams of turning the village of Mandola into another Gurgaon, filled with malls, multiplexes, corporate parks et al. Sharing Kapur‘s dream is the state CM, Shabana Azmi. She is obsessed by Pragati-progress-and has one eye on Kapur‘s estate and the other on Delhi, for ultimate power. To keep Kapur in check, she keeps romancing him and playing footsie with him while planning to marry her son, Arya Babbar, to Kapur‘s daughter.

    So, what does the hero Khan do for there is no romance happening in this film? He plays retainer to Kapur by the day, is his drinking partner by night and also plays a Zorro like character on the side, a saviour of the village people whose land he wants to save.

    Azmi, once she is in Mandola, forgets her state and acts like the CM of the village! Along with Kapur, she tries all sorts of tricks to make sure the crop is destroyed and the farmers are compelled to sell their land. One of the tricks is to invoke the rain gods to flood the village and ruin the harvested crop stored all around the village. The prayers work and crops are destroyed. If this is comedy, it does not work on the audience.

    That is the problem with Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. Tagged as a romantic comedy, it fails on both counts. There is no romancing at all and the comedy is pathetic and juvenile. In fact, the first time one chuckles is a good 40 minutes into the film. There being no story as such, the film needed gags but they are sorely lacking. The film‘s co-writer, music composer and director fails on all counts. Gulzar‘s lyrics are uninspiring. And why did this charade have to last 150 minutes?

    Nothing much is expected from stars in this kind of film. Still, Kapoor, the veteran master, excels. To pit Khan against him is merciless act. Sharma is okay. Azmi‘s casting raises expectations but the characterisation is too bad for her to deliver. Babbar‘s job is to clown around and he is not good at that.

    Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola is poor at multiplexes and very poor at single screens. If it sustains through the week, it is only because the exhibitors have no other option to feed their screens.

     
    Gangoobai: Feel good movie

    Producer: National Film Development Corporation Ltd.

    Director: Priya Krishnaswami.

    Cast: Sarita Joshi, Purab Kohli, Meeta Vasisht, Raj Zutshi, Gopi Desai, Rushad Rana, Nidhi Sunil, Behram Rana, Ankita Shrivastav, Aparna Khanekar.

    MUMBAI: Gangoobai is mostly a Mumbai-centric subject; one which would have had some relevance in 1960s or thereabouts. It is a feel-good film in which there are no grey shades. All are positive, caring and considerate.

    Gangoobai is portrayed by veteran stage and TV artiste Sarita Joshi. She works as domestic help in Matheran, a hill station near Mumbai. Her employers visit their bungalow once a month and are generous. That is except for one young girl, Ankita Srivastava, who stays put in Matheran and is rude and abusive with Gangoobai. But Gangoobai is oblivious to all that because she is nurturing a dream since she saw Srivastava in a Parsi Gara sari. The sari is worth Rs 45,000 but that is no deterrent for Gangoobai; she wants to own one soon. She promises her dead husband‘s picture she will get one. He had wished to gift her beautiful sari but died in an accident before he could. (This should have come in a flashback when she makes up her mind but comes much later in the story.)

    Gangoobai stretches her limits and takes up multiple assignments to collect the money. Finally, when she has collected Rs 50,000, she descends on Mumbai with a plan to visit the shop, buy the sari and return to Matheran by the evening. But what she thought was a shop was actually a boutique where saris are designed exclusively and displayed in live ramp shows to be picked up by discerning and rich clients. With her appearance, Gangoobai is not entertained by the manager, Meeta Vasisht. But after seeing Gangoobai‘s determination and listening to her story, she melts and makes place for her to attend the ramp show.

    Gangoobai chooses her sari and plans to go back. But it turns out that the sari she chose is a demo piece and she has to wait a week before they can have a new one ready for her. Her host for her stay is Purab Kohli, the store cashier. Nidhi Sunil is her escort to his house. While in Mumbai, Gangoobai wins over everybody who comes in contact with her. They all are nice, kind-hearted people and take her as one of them.

    Gangoobai returns to Matheran with her sari to face another twist of fate but the end is very happy for her because the film is all syrup.

    Gangoobai has been given a very limited release with a show a day only in Mumbai and few centres of Maharashtra.

  • AOC TV is the official brand partner of ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’

    MUMBAI: AOC TV, international lifestyle brand of TPV Technology, is the brand partner for Bollywood movie ‘Matru Ki Bijlee ka Mandola‘ that released on 11 January.

    Produced by Fox Star Studios and Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures, the film is directed by Bhardwaj, starring Pankaj Kapur, Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma, Shabana Azmi and Arya Babbar.

    As a brand partner, AOC TV will do marketing and promotional activities in print, radio, electronic, online and social media space.

    AOC TV director- India and SAARC Seema T Bhatnagar said, “We always tried innovative ways of promoting our brand. Just like the film, AOC TVs are meant for pure enjoyment the best entertainment experiences. With Dream Surround Sound, Real Colour Engine, USB ports, International quality and Artistic Design AOC TV stands Unique in the market at a very competitive price.”

    Fox Star Studios head – distribution, marketing and syndication Vivek Krishnani said, “Keeping in mind the tag line of the film ‘Dekho magar Pyaar Se‘, we thought it would be an interesting association with a leading TV brand in the country who has a like-minded fun and entertaining approach as the film. We are glad to partner with AOC and are happy with the additional reach that the brand is providing the film.”

    AOC is going to run a contest on FaceBook and winners of the contest can win movie tickets and movie merchandise plus five “lucky winners” will get a chance to meet the stars of the movie in Mumbai.

  • Vivek Agnihotri to cast Bachchan and Naseer in his remake of 12 Angry Men

    Vivek Agnihotri to cast Bachchan and Naseer in his remake of 12 Angry Men

    MUMBAI: Vivek Agnihotri, who had earlier directed films like Chocolate (2005) and Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, has signed Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah for his next film Twelve, a remake of Sidney Lumet‘s 1957 American drama film 12 Angry Men.

    The filmmaker is also planning to cast Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani, Pankaj Kapur and Annu Kapoor for the film.

    “It‘s a brilliant story, the action of which takes place within the confines of a single room. It‘s a classic play and every time it‘s been made into a film, it has won laurels,” said Agnihotri in a statement. The filmmaker has also conceded that he‘s spoken to every single person he has in mind.

    Interestingly, the film also marks the comeback of Ashutosh Gowariker to the acting field. Having started off with Kundan Shah‘s Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa in 1993, Gowariker also played a part in the detective series CID.