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Tag: Paresh Ganatra

  • Sony MAX gives its viewers a reason to laugh

    Sony MAX gives its viewers a reason to laugh

    MUMBAI: Ever thought of watching a Bollywood style comic filler or a short movie spoof between movie breaks instead of a regular soap or a toothpaste advertisement?  India’s premier Hindi Movies channel, Sony MAX makes your wishes come true.  With its tagline of ‘Deewana Bana De’, the channel takes an initiative to provide its viewers with entertainment beyond movies. Focusing on generating excitement around films, MAX presents two short format comedy fillers namely ‘Bittu Bak Bak’ and ‘Fully Deewana’ to its viewers. The fillers are formulated to leave viewers in splits with interesting Bollywood facts presented in a comic manner.  The channel has roped in famous comedians Krushna Abhishek, Bharti Singh and Paresh Ganatra for the making of these fillers.

     

    In a classroom setup, ‘Bittu Bak Bak’ showcases the plight of a desperate teacher (Krushna Abhishek) who pulls out all stops to ensure his student Bittu (Bharti Singh) makes an improvement in class and succeeds in life. However, Bittu who seems to be bitten by the Bollywood bug, infuriates his teacher with hilarious responses that have a Bollywood connect. The filler is guaranteed to keep viewers thoroughly entertained with interesting Bollywood trivia. ‘Max Fully Deewana,’on the other hand, showcases hilarious comedy gags of some of the most iconic Bollywood scenes thus capturing the essence of the channel – ‘Deewana Bana De’. The gags will be performed by comedians Krushna Abhishek, Bharti Singh and Paresh Ganatra and will capture memorable Bollywood scenes in a comic fashion.

     

    On his association with the channel comedian Krushna Abhishek, says, “I have a long standing relationship with Sony and genuinely speaking, I feel it is my extended family. There is a certain comfort level that I feel whilst working for the channel. We have played many popular and downright hilarious characters from Bollywood that we could think of. I thoroughly enjoyed showcasing my filmi deewana side and am hoping the viewers will enjoy it too.”

     

    Talking about entertaining people in between movie screenings on the channel is comedian Bharati Singh, who says, “I have heard people complaining about ads on TV, especially during movies. But now, the audience will get to see comedy snippets in which Krushna Abhishek, Paresh Ganatra and I will ensure that they don’t have a reason to surf channels even during a commercial break.”

     

    Emphasizing the importance of making the movie watching experience more entertaining is Vice-President  & Head, Programming- Sony Max, Udayan Pradeep Shukla, who says, “For a library channel like us, it becomes a little difficult. On a general entertainment channel, the audience is conditioned to come back, but on a movie channel that’s not the case. So it was thus imperative for us to think of an idea that was unique and holds the viewers’ attention. The films are outright funny and will give the audience an opportunity to laugh in between the films.”

     

    Sony MAX’s comedy fillers – ‘Bittu Bak Bak’ & ‘Fully Deewana’ are guaranteed to leave you rolling on the floor laughing

  • Rowdy Rathore befits a B grade film of a bygone era

    Rowdy Rathore befits a B grade film of a bygone era

    MUMBAI: Rowdy Rathore is an action thriller depicting its hero as a sort of superman. In the style of the good old 1970s and 80s, he is mightier than the combined might of scores of villains. A remake of Telugu hit Vikramarkudu, nothing seems to have changed in this Hindi version except the language and a few known supporting artistes, retaining the villain clan mainly from South.

    Producers: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ronnie Screwvala.
    Director: Prabhu Dheva.
    Cast: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Yashpal Sharma, M Naseer, Paresh Ganatra, Anant Jog, Mushtaq Khan.

    The film aims at the masses, does not bother with finesse and lets minor details of crowds and costumes pass. The film has also been made in Tamil, Kannada and Bengali versions. The hero plays double role, which does not mean much since there few combined shots or drama on that count.

    Akshay Kumar as Shiva is a petty thief doing small tricks with his sidekick, a rather dumb-witted Paresh Ganatra. In short, he is a small-time tapori indulging in small-time sleight-of-hand, picking up mostly gold ornaments and cell phones. Just to establish how petty he is, his den is filled with a municipal garden bench to a railway clock! On one of his outings he sees Sonakshi Sinha and it is love at first sight. She has come to Mumbai from Patna to attend a cousin‘s wedding. Now Shiva is chasing Sonakshi when not chasing his victims and soon enough, Sonakshi too reciprocates. It is time to reveal his cards and confess to her that he is a petty crook. She makes him promise that he will give it up from ‘tomorrow‘, not because ‘today‘ was less auspicious but to facilitate a change of track in the story.

    Since Shiva has one last day before his promise takes effect, he decides to pull one major theft. He is lucky too, it would seem, because at the railway station a woman is flashing her money and advertising to anyone who will listen that the wooden chest she is carrying is full of gold. Shiva and his sidekick pick up the heavy chest. They open it to find a small girl sleeping soundly in the chest. The girl clings to Shiva and starts calling him papa.

    It is now time for Akshay Kumar 2 to emerge. Akshay Kumar 2, ASP Vikram Singh Rathore, is a top cop with guts and a widower. He is much-decorated and much-transferred from one posting to another for his forthright ways of dealing with criminals. He has taken on the local don of a town in Bihar called Devgadh. While fighting with his goons there, he was badly hurt and carries a bullet wound in his head which aggravates every time his head is hurt but also miraculously heals instantly with water!

    To demonstrate his hand-to-hand fighting skills to Shiva, he takes on the Devgadh goons again who have followed him to Mumbai where he has been brought on the sly by his loyal subordinates for treatment. The girl in the chest is his daughter who has been forced on to Shiva because he looks like the policeman. Vikram Singh succumbs to wounds inflicted on him in his demo fight.

    Shiva must fill Vikram Singh‘s shoes and complete the job, that of cleansing Devgadh of its tyrant, Bapji (M Naseer). What follows is pure frontbencher fare as Shiva picks up from where Rathore left off.

    Sonakshi Sinha drops in out of the blue to reclaim her love. A naach-gana routine follows before it is wrap up time. As in most south Indian films, the villagers are made witness and party to the demolition of the villain‘s empire as well as the villain.

    The making of Rowdy Rathore is that befitting a B grade film of a bygone era. The treatment is just about passable. Music is loud, with only one song, Chinta ta ta chita chita.., being entertaining. Dialogue lacks the punch needed in such a film. Technically it is average.

    It is an Akshay Kumar film all the way and he excels in action as usual. Sonakshi Sinha, made to vanish before interval and to emerge only towards end, is okay. Yashpal Sharma, doing a positive, restrained role for a change is very good. Paresh Ganatra makes his presence felt. M Naseer as the main villain is stereotype. Anant Jog and Mushtaq Khan are as usual.

    Rowdy Rathore caters to single screen cinemas. Its appeal with the multiplex audience, especially in up-market localities, is compromised by the theme and treatment. That is where first cracks on its box office performance will show