Tag: Shernaz Patel

  • ZEE5 announces season third of ‘Tripling’

    ZEE5 announces season third of ‘Tripling’

    Mumbai: ZEE5 has announced the third instalment of Tripling, featuring Sumeet Vyas, Maanvi Gagroo, Amol Parashar, Kumud Mishra, Shernaz Patel and Kunaal Roy Kapur in significant roles.

    Produced by Arunabh Kumar, the series is directed by Neeraj Udhwani; the story is by Arunabh Kumar and Sumeet Vyas; the screenplay is by Sumeet Vyas; and the dialogues are by Sumeet Vyas and Abbas Dalal.

    The family friendliness and banter that made the earlier seasons of the programme so relevant and entertaining contributed to its initial success, and this season won’t be any different.

    The third season of Tripling will span five episodes and capture the essence of the three siblings and their relationship as they set out on a new adventure this season with the help of their parents and separate partners.  

    Speaking on the announcement, ZEE5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said, “Tripling is a popular series that has garnered a loyal following amongst the masses. We are excited to bring the third season on ZEE5 and are thankful to our partner, TVF, for enabling us to bring the fan-favourite to millions of homes this festive season, giving them a chance to enjoy their much-loved show with their family and friends. Staying true to our commitment to consumer-first, we will continue to invest in curating a diverse, relatable, and engaging portfolio on ZEE5.”

    ZEE5 chief content officer of Hindi originals Nimisha Pandey added, “After the heart-warming response to Saas Bahu Achaar Pvt Ltd, we are very excited to partner again with Arunabh Kumar and the TVF team. Director Neeraj Udhwani has brought to life in the new season of Tripling, the trials and tribulations of the three adorable and quirky siblings with a fun twist. This season delves into a unique but relatable facet of evolving relationships in today’s context and is peppered with the quintessential TVF humour. I hope audiences will enjoy bingeing on this perfect family entertainer during the festivities.”

    “While creating season three of Tripling, Sumeet and I wanted to get back to the original ethos of the show, which has always been about “Crisis mein family hi kaam aati hai,” but where the siblings face a major twist within the family itself. The season also includes a timely trek, replacing the trip with the usual dose of humour and relatable emotions,” said TVF founder Arunabh Kumar.

    “The uniqueness of season three lies in its focus on the family. We all know and love Chandan, Chitvan, and Chanchal, but where do their quirks and eccentricities come from? Their parents, obviously, who are as crazy as them and make their own unusual choices, which the three siblings have to deal with. The fans are in for a treat as this season has got a bit of everything—the usual humour and lots of drama,” commented Neeraj Udhwani.

  • Paytm Insider announces its new theatre initiative, ‘Front & Centre’

    Paytm Insider announces its new theatre initiative, ‘Front & Centre’

    NEW DELHI: India’s leading entertainment ticketing platform, Paytm Insider is set to deliver theatre experiences digitally with its new initiative, ‘Front & Centre’. Created keeping in mind storytellers as well as theatre-lovers, this initiative aims to bring the experience of theatre alive, online. 

    ‘Front & Centre’ is launching with a showcase of notable plays Every Brilliant Thing by QTP and Iti Ninna Amrita (Kannada) by Rangashankara Theatre in July, followed in August by One on One – Unlocked by Rage Productions, Timeloss produced by Akvarious Productions and Doppelganger by The Company Theatre. A key focus for Paytm Insider with this is bringing theatre productions in regional languages from across India in the spotlight. The plays currently featured are in Hindi, English and Kannada and more productions in other languages will continue to be added.

    Paytm Insider CEO, Shreyas Srinivasan, adds “Over the last year, we’ve brought several exciting theatre productions forward including plays by Aadyam, Salim-Suleiman’s Umrao Jaan and storytelling works by Kommune. The launch of Front & Centre reaffirms our investment in strengthening the vibrant theatre ecosystem in India.”

    ‘Front & Centre’ has conducted its first workshops with sessions on Audio Drama with Frederick Greenhalgh, Scriptwriting with Carl Miller, and Comedy writing with Anuvab Pal. With these workshops, Paytm Insider aims to provide a lens into the art of theatre for those already in the field, and even for those stepping into it. Paytm Insider is supported on this initiative by Shernaz Patel and Nadir Khan, using decades of their experience to re-imagine theatre for the digital world.

    Speaking on the IP, Creative consultant, Front & Centre, Nadir Khan, said, “Lockdowns and social-distancing provide much disturbance to a form that is meant to be consumed live and is essentially a dialogue between a performer and a live audience. At its very core, however, theatre is about story-telling. Stories that need to be told and need to be heard. Stories that excite, entertain, provoke, educate and inspire. With Front & Centre, we’re hoping to provide a home for theatre practitioners to continue doing just that, albeit online for now. It’s a new medium, really, and the challenges that come with that are both exciting and daunting.  I’m very happy, therefore, that Paytm Insider has decided to dive head-first into it with Front & Centre and has allowed me to be a part of that journey. I’m certain that this will help Indian theatre to continue to work, grow, collaborate, innovate, stay relevant, engage and (most of all) continue that dialogue between the performer and  audience.”

    Speaking on the IP, Creative consultant, Front & Centre, Shernaz Patel – "If I had been told three months ago that the internet would be my new stage and the sofa my new auditorium I would have laughed disbelievingly. I am a purist. I thrive on the live and immediate thrill of theatre and shy away from technology. And yet like it or not here we are. I could have hibernated. But Insider’s Front & Centre came along at the right time and made me embrace this new normal. Because it’s a platform that understands that theatre is vital. That theatre is where compelling stories get told. That theatre has a unique place in our collective culture to educate, inspire and entertain." 

    Speaking on the launch, Paytm Insider Business Head Live entertainment (IPs & Partnerships) –  Varun  Khare said, “As large gatherings to watch theatre productions remain a thing of the distant future and live performing arts are adopting a new alternative of moving online. We're working hard to create a sustainable ecosystem for artists, producers, promoters & all those behind the scenes to come together to continue entertaining fans across the country. We strive to make it a great alternative medium to entertain fans. With Front & Centre, we hope to (re)connect fans with the power of theatre and storytelling.”

  • Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films presents Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café

    Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films presents Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café

    NEW DELHI: “Interior Café”, a light hearted film by Adhiraj Bose starring the legend of parallel cinema Naseeruddin Shah and distinguished theatre personality Shernaz Patel is the next presentation by Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films after Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Ahalya’ and Jaydeep Sarkar’s ‘Nayantara’s necklace’.

    Themed on the objective of “keep perfecting”, the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a platform for aspiring directors to feature along with mainstream Bollywood directors and chase their creative energy to establish themselves in the industry. The platform gives a stage to storytellers to showcase their artistic creativity and reach out to their target audience through the online world.

    With short films like ‘Last Day’ and ‘Goonj’ to his credit, Adhiraj Bose has explored the nuances of human relationships in a 12 minute time frame where both the lives of the characters revolve around love, loss and reunion. Set in an old school café in Mumbai, the characters of Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel are shown conversing with each other, thereby signifying the lost love and longing which they have treasured amongst themselves. It is a perfectly told love tale which resonates with the idea of youthful love which had faded away and has come back to find itself again.

    Pernod Ricard India Marketing Assistant Vice President Raja Banerji said “Today the approach of filmmaking has transformed completely and being digitally connected has opened up various suitable outlets for filmmakers to express themselves in their own style to the audiences they want to connect to. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has built its credibility by collaborating with top Bollywood directors regularly. It is also the most inspiring platform for aspiring directors to showcase their creativity. Resonating with the core philosophy of Royal Stag Barrel Select, the platform is meant to help them keep perfecting their skills and establish themselves in the market. We are very excited to associate ourselves with the relentless creative spirit of Adhiraj Bose’s new film – Interior Café”.

    Bose said, “The story of Interior Cafe is an amalgamation of human emotions and what we as humans deal with in some point in our life. As a story, I approached it in a very realistic way, as every short film you see nowadays concludes with a social cause but what excited me to do this project was the opposite. With the legendary Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel on board I was pretty convinced of the choices I made in this film. As a filmmaker it is very important to have an outlet to showcase your creativity and Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has truly made this a great experience for me and helped me connect to the audience. I was also excited to work with my long time best friend Shweta Basu Prasad as an actor and producer and my cinematographer Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran who executed his brilliant camera skills in this film”.

    Royal stag Barrel Select Large Short Films (LSF) is a portal that is the hub of Indian short films. It gives the audience the window to enjoy short films made by large directors. It gives budding film makers a platform to showcase their short films with large ideas. Pioneered under the aegis of Royal Stag Mega Movies, and Royal Stag Large short Film gains the first mover advantage in a medium that will be the future of entertainment.

    Follow on:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LargeShortFilms

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/LargeShortFilms

  • Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films presents Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café

    Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films presents Adhiraj Bose’s Interior Café

    NEW DELHI: “Interior Café”, a light hearted film by Adhiraj Bose starring the legend of parallel cinema Naseeruddin Shah and distinguished theatre personality Shernaz Patel is the next presentation by Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films after Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Ahalya’ and Jaydeep Sarkar’s ‘Nayantara’s necklace’.

    Themed on the objective of “keep perfecting”, the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a platform for aspiring directors to feature along with mainstream Bollywood directors and chase their creative energy to establish themselves in the industry. The platform gives a stage to storytellers to showcase their artistic creativity and reach out to their target audience through the online world.

    With short films like ‘Last Day’ and ‘Goonj’ to his credit, Adhiraj Bose has explored the nuances of human relationships in a 12 minute time frame where both the lives of the characters revolve around love, loss and reunion. Set in an old school café in Mumbai, the characters of Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel are shown conversing with each other, thereby signifying the lost love and longing which they have treasured amongst themselves. It is a perfectly told love tale which resonates with the idea of youthful love which had faded away and has come back to find itself again.

    Pernod Ricard India Marketing Assistant Vice President Raja Banerji said “Today the approach of filmmaking has transformed completely and being digitally connected has opened up various suitable outlets for filmmakers to express themselves in their own style to the audiences they want to connect to. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has built its credibility by collaborating with top Bollywood directors regularly. It is also the most inspiring platform for aspiring directors to showcase their creativity. Resonating with the core philosophy of Royal Stag Barrel Select, the platform is meant to help them keep perfecting their skills and establish themselves in the market. We are very excited to associate ourselves with the relentless creative spirit of Adhiraj Bose’s new film – Interior Café”.

    Bose said, “The story of Interior Cafe is an amalgamation of human emotions and what we as humans deal with in some point in our life. As a story, I approached it in a very realistic way, as every short film you see nowadays concludes with a social cause but what excited me to do this project was the opposite. With the legendary Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel on board I was pretty convinced of the choices I made in this film. As a filmmaker it is very important to have an outlet to showcase your creativity and Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has truly made this a great experience for me and helped me connect to the audience. I was also excited to work with my long time best friend Shweta Basu Prasad as an actor and producer and my cinematographer Santhana Krishnan Ravichandran who executed his brilliant camera skills in this film”.

    Royal stag Barrel Select Large Short Films (LSF) is a portal that is the hub of Indian short films. It gives the audience the window to enjoy short films made by large directors. It gives budding film makers a platform to showcase their short films with large ideas. Pioneered under the aegis of Royal Stag Mega Movies, and Royal Stag Large short Film gains the first mover advantage in a medium that will be the future of entertainment.

    Follow on:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LargeShortFilms

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/LargeShortFilms

  • Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Himesh Reshammiya counts mostly on his musical score to make his films and attract audience. His latest, Teraa Surroor, is described as a ‘Lethal love story’, Earlier titled Guns N Roses, the film is a sequel of his 2007 movie, AapKaaSurroor.

    In the earlier film, AapKaaSurroor, Himesh, a singer, is framed for a murder and jailed in Germany where he is for a music concert. If he does not prove his innocence in a day’s time, he loses his lady love. The only way he can do that is by breaking out of jail and finding the real culprit.

    This time, in Teraa Surroor, Himesh changes roles. His girlfriend, Farah Karimaee, is arrested in Ireland and it is up to Himesh to prove her innocence.

    Himesh is out partying and lures a dancer at the club to bed. Next, he walks into a hotel suite and shoots down a few drug dealers. Soon, like a good boy, he goes home and confesses to his girlfriend who he is slated to marry in a month’s time that he has strayed, that he slept with another woman!

    Farah sulks and does not want to have anything to do with Himesh. Despite her wedding being a month away, she decides to go on a singing assignment to Ireland to celebrate India Day on an invitation by a Facebook friend! Farah’s mother, Shernaz Patel, is fond of Himesh and wants the duo to talk over things and end their differences. But, Farah wants a break and proceeds to Ireland.

    When Farah lands in Ireland, she is asked to proceed to the hotel by her Facebook friend as he could not reach the airport to receive her. While she is on her way, her cab is surrounded by cops. She is found to be carrying contraband drugs. Arrested, she is tried and promptly sentenced to jail. When asked if she would like to inform anybody back home, she asks Himesh be informed. She also learns the hard way that the host country does not celebrate anything like India Day!

    Himesh is on mission now. He has to get his fiancée out of jail and find the culprit who planted the drugs on her. Farah’s lawyer, Monica Dogra, informs him that there is no way she can come out without completing her term. The only way to bring her out seems to be jailbreak. There are experts on just about everything and Himesh finds the expert on jailbreaks, Naseeruddin Shah, who has fled from various jails as many as 14 times!

    Meanwhile, Kabir Bedi, the police chief here, and Shekhar Kapur, the Indian Ambassador in Ireland, both old chums, are busy doing their bit.

    Shah makes up a plan to spring Farah out of jail and Himesh follows it to the T; Farah is out and the entire Irish police force is after them. Both make it safely to a port from where they would be helped to reach India. But, Himesh has a job to complete. He asks Farah to wait for him and returns to settle scores with the man who framed Farah.

    Teraa Surroor suffers from a patchy script. There are so many glitches and contradictions which are jarring. The director, Shawn Arrahna, concentrates more on scenic visuals and finesse rather than flaws in the content. Though he manages to keep the first part taut, the film meanders post interval. Not to deny that the attention to locations makes the film a visual delight. Though some of the songs are rehashed by Himesh from his earlier film, all six songs in the film are tuneful.

    Himesh has grown a six-pack and muscles and even bares given an opportunity. Otherwise, he carries a single look throughout. Guns speak louder than muscles in this film. Farah’s role is limited mainly to looking forlorn in a jail cell when not appearing in flashbacks in songs. Shekhar, Shah and Bedi just add some face value to the roaster, their roles being limited.

    Teraa Surroor has not had an expected opening response and its hope lies on the weekend.

    Producers: T Series, HR Musik.

    Director: Shawn Arranha.

    Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Shekhar Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra, Shernaz Patel.

    Global Baba…One more baba!

    As the media started exposing the misdeeds of various babas with huge following, they found a new breed of followers, the filmmakers. The reason being, the exploits of these babas offer a filmmaker a fair bit of scope for comedies.

    Abhimnayu Singh is a sharpshooter killing his targets at whim. He is the henchman of a local woman politician because of which no cop dare to touch him. Now, police, led by Ravi Kishan, has arrested Singh. Kishan is leading him towards deep woods on the pretext of wanting a leak. The purpose is to kill him and make it look like an encounter. Singh knows he is trapped and, as a sort of last wish, wants to know who dared order his kill. He learns that his death has been ordered by the same woman politician he did all the dirty work for.

    Singh uses the same ploy of wanting to relieve himself and, in the process, tries to escape. But, the full police force is after him and he is shot in the back by Kishan. Singh falls into a rapid and assumed dead by the police. But, in Hindi films, whoever is shot and falls in to a river or sea, never dies.

    Singh emerges on the other side of the river where some aghori baba removes a bullet from his back with his bare hands. He was seemingly shot thrice but removing one bullet somehow brings him back to life. He has surfaced in some holy town on the banks of a holy river.

    On the run, Singh comes across one of his own taporis, PankajTripathi, who now poses as a maunee baba. He chose to be so because he had a problem with his speech. Tripathi sells a grand plan to Singh and that is to turn into a baba. There are all kind of babas so standing across a shop, Global Hair Cutting Saloon, the name is decided. Singh will become Global Baba with a feigned global following.

    Soon enough, GB has earned name, fame and an unprecedented following. You don’t see any global followers but the politicians of all hue and cry line up at his ashram, built on a grabbed land. Baba has become all powerful, blackmails politicians and even swings arms deals. Politicians seek his favours because he can create a communal riot on whim, can turn public opinion against any politician.

    No baba vs. politicians film is complete without a media person involved, better still if the person happens to be a female. So there is Sandeepa Dhar, a TV reporter working for the channel owned by home minister, Akhilendra Mishra, who plants her at the Singh’s ashram. Finally, Kishan realizes that Singh survived the bullets and has become Global Baba now.

    Just about everything in this film is routine, oft seen in this kind of films which springs up time and again. Here, what keeps the film alive to an extent is the thrill angle. Sadly, that interest factor is killed in the climax when the makers decide to keep the end open. May be it is an ambition of a sequel or make an intellectual point, this is lame. No justice for the villain, no dhishoomdhishoom; you know the villain so now go home. But, villain is known to the viewer from frame one!

    There is not much to say about technical aspects of the film. However, there are a few performances worth a mention. Of the cast, Tripathi excels. Singh manages to look appropriately sinister. Tripathi is very good. Kishan has little scope. Sandeepa is fair. Sanjay Mishra is wasted.

    Global Baba lacks face value to attract the audience.

    Producers: Vijay Bansal, Priya Bansal.

    Director: ManojSidheshwari Tiwari.

    Cast: Abhimanyu Singh, PankajTripathi, Ravi Kishan, SandeepaDhar, Akhilendra Mishra, Sanjay Mishra. 

  • Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Teraa Surroor- One man show

    Himesh Reshammiya counts mostly on his musical score to make his films and attract audience. His latest, Teraa Surroor, is described as a ‘Lethal love story’, Earlier titled Guns N Roses, the film is a sequel of his 2007 movie, AapKaaSurroor.

    In the earlier film, AapKaaSurroor, Himesh, a singer, is framed for a murder and jailed in Germany where he is for a music concert. If he does not prove his innocence in a day’s time, he loses his lady love. The only way he can do that is by breaking out of jail and finding the real culprit.

    This time, in Teraa Surroor, Himesh changes roles. His girlfriend, Farah Karimaee, is arrested in Ireland and it is up to Himesh to prove her innocence.

    Himesh is out partying and lures a dancer at the club to bed. Next, he walks into a hotel suite and shoots down a few drug dealers. Soon, like a good boy, he goes home and confesses to his girlfriend who he is slated to marry in a month’s time that he has strayed, that he slept with another woman!

    Farah sulks and does not want to have anything to do with Himesh. Despite her wedding being a month away, she decides to go on a singing assignment to Ireland to celebrate India Day on an invitation by a Facebook friend! Farah’s mother, Shernaz Patel, is fond of Himesh and wants the duo to talk over things and end their differences. But, Farah wants a break and proceeds to Ireland.

    When Farah lands in Ireland, she is asked to proceed to the hotel by her Facebook friend as he could not reach the airport to receive her. While she is on her way, her cab is surrounded by cops. She is found to be carrying contraband drugs. Arrested, she is tried and promptly sentenced to jail. When asked if she would like to inform anybody back home, she asks Himesh be informed. She also learns the hard way that the host country does not celebrate anything like India Day!

    Himesh is on mission now. He has to get his fiancée out of jail and find the culprit who planted the drugs on her. Farah’s lawyer, Monica Dogra, informs him that there is no way she can come out without completing her term. The only way to bring her out seems to be jailbreak. There are experts on just about everything and Himesh finds the expert on jailbreaks, Naseeruddin Shah, who has fled from various jails as many as 14 times!

    Meanwhile, Kabir Bedi, the police chief here, and Shekhar Kapur, the Indian Ambassador in Ireland, both old chums, are busy doing their bit.

    Shah makes up a plan to spring Farah out of jail and Himesh follows it to the T; Farah is out and the entire Irish police force is after them. Both make it safely to a port from where they would be helped to reach India. But, Himesh has a job to complete. He asks Farah to wait for him and returns to settle scores with the man who framed Farah.

    Teraa Surroor suffers from a patchy script. There are so many glitches and contradictions which are jarring. The director, Shawn Arrahna, concentrates more on scenic visuals and finesse rather than flaws in the content. Though he manages to keep the first part taut, the film meanders post interval. Not to deny that the attention to locations makes the film a visual delight. Though some of the songs are rehashed by Himesh from his earlier film, all six songs in the film are tuneful.

    Himesh has grown a six-pack and muscles and even bares given an opportunity. Otherwise, he carries a single look throughout. Guns speak louder than muscles in this film. Farah’s role is limited mainly to looking forlorn in a jail cell when not appearing in flashbacks in songs. Shekhar, Shah and Bedi just add some face value to the roaster, their roles being limited.

    Teraa Surroor has not had an expected opening response and its hope lies on the weekend.

    Producers: T Series, HR Musik.

    Director: Shawn Arranha.

    Cast: Himesh Reshammiya, Farah Karimaee, Shekhar Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi, Monica Dogra, Shernaz Patel.

    Global Baba…One more baba!

    As the media started exposing the misdeeds of various babas with huge following, they found a new breed of followers, the filmmakers. The reason being, the exploits of these babas offer a filmmaker a fair bit of scope for comedies.

    Abhimnayu Singh is a sharpshooter killing his targets at whim. He is the henchman of a local woman politician because of which no cop dare to touch him. Now, police, led by Ravi Kishan, has arrested Singh. Kishan is leading him towards deep woods on the pretext of wanting a leak. The purpose is to kill him and make it look like an encounter. Singh knows he is trapped and, as a sort of last wish, wants to know who dared order his kill. He learns that his death has been ordered by the same woman politician he did all the dirty work for.

    Singh uses the same ploy of wanting to relieve himself and, in the process, tries to escape. But, the full police force is after him and he is shot in the back by Kishan. Singh falls into a rapid and assumed dead by the police. But, in Hindi films, whoever is shot and falls in to a river or sea, never dies.

    Singh emerges on the other side of the river where some aghori baba removes a bullet from his back with his bare hands. He was seemingly shot thrice but removing one bullet somehow brings him back to life. He has surfaced in some holy town on the banks of a holy river.

    On the run, Singh comes across one of his own taporis, PankajTripathi, who now poses as a maunee baba. He chose to be so because he had a problem with his speech. Tripathi sells a grand plan to Singh and that is to turn into a baba. There are all kind of babas so standing across a shop, Global Hair Cutting Saloon, the name is decided. Singh will become Global Baba with a feigned global following.

    Soon enough, GB has earned name, fame and an unprecedented following. You don’t see any global followers but the politicians of all hue and cry line up at his ashram, built on a grabbed land. Baba has become all powerful, blackmails politicians and even swings arms deals. Politicians seek his favours because he can create a communal riot on whim, can turn public opinion against any politician.

    No baba vs. politicians film is complete without a media person involved, better still if the person happens to be a female. So there is Sandeepa Dhar, a TV reporter working for the channel owned by home minister, Akhilendra Mishra, who plants her at the Singh’s ashram. Finally, Kishan realizes that Singh survived the bullets and has become Global Baba now.

    Just about everything in this film is routine, oft seen in this kind of films which springs up time and again. Here, what keeps the film alive to an extent is the thrill angle. Sadly, that interest factor is killed in the climax when the makers decide to keep the end open. May be it is an ambition of a sequel or make an intellectual point, this is lame. No justice for the villain, no dhishoomdhishoom; you know the villain so now go home. But, villain is known to the viewer from frame one!

    There is not much to say about technical aspects of the film. However, there are a few performances worth a mention. Of the cast, Tripathi excels. Singh manages to look appropriately sinister. Tripathi is very good. Kishan has little scope. Sandeepa is fair. Sanjay Mishra is wasted.

    Global Baba lacks face value to attract the audience.

    Producers: Vijay Bansal, Priya Bansal.

    Director: ManojSidheshwari Tiwari.

    Cast: Abhimanyu Singh, PankajTripathi, Ravi Kishan, SandeepaDhar, Akhilendra Mishra, Sanjay Mishra. 

  • Y-Films readies new web series ‘Bang Baaja Baaraat;’ ropes in Lakme as sponsor

    Y-Films readies new web series ‘Bang Baaja Baaraat;’ ropes in Lakme as sponsor

    MUMBAI: Buoyed by the success of its maiden web series called Man’s World, Yash Raj Films’ youth films wing – Y-Films is planning to launch its second web series – Bang Baaja Baaraat – on 4 November.

     

    The five-part series is directed by Anand Tiwari and written by Sumeet Vyas, Amritpal Bindra and Anand Tiwari. Bang Baaja Baaraat is thestory of two crazy families that come together for one mental wedding. 

     

    The cast includes Ali Fazal, Rajit Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Gajraj Rao, Ayesha Raza, Neil Bhoopalam. The series will also mark the debut of YRF’s new find – Angira Dhar, who has also been signed up by the studio.

     

    Additionally, the studio has also brought on board Lakme as the sponsor of the series. 

     

    YRF talent management and Y-Films head and producer of the series Ashish Patil said, “Y-Films has always believed in pushing the boundaries of story-telling, our first series Man’s World was just the start of that journey on the web. With Bang Baaja Baaraat, we are upping the ante on the medium with one of the most incredible star casts that a web series has ever seen in India and a cinematic vision that’s never been seen on the net. The series itself is a fantastic ride, like a mad destination wedding gone wrong. Don’t miss it!”

     

    HUL vice president – skin care Srinandan Sundaram added, “Bang Baajaa Baaraat promises to be an entertaining wedding story that the young audiences will relate to. We are happy to partner with YRF on this endeavour with our brand Lakmé as this is a good opportunity to strengthen Lakmé’s image on styling for special occasions such as weddings, a pivotal moment in a woman’s life.”

     

    Mindshare Fulcrum leader Amin Lakhani said, “We, at Mindshare always thrive in coming up with unique ideas that connect a brand to its consumer. YRF’s forte of creating clutter breaking content & Mindshare’s expertise at driving innovations paves way for an iconic partnership. Given the grandeur & the star cast, we saw Bang Baaja Baaraat as a great opportunity for a contemporary brand like Lakmé. It has also given us a platform to engage the brand’s audience by creating interesting content around the series and its protagonist, Angira.”

     

    The series’ costumes have been exclusively designed and styled by Diva’ni – a YRF & KBSH brand.

  • John Day: Some thrills, some gore

    John Day: Some thrills, some gore

    New directors often choose to make their place in the film industry the hard way. They tend to experiment but to do that, one not only needs solid work on the script but also total conviction and confidence. The trick is also in knowing ones limits with experiment.

    Producers: K Asif, Anjum Rizvi, Aatef A Khan.
    Direction: Ahishor Solomon.
    Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda, Shernaz Patel, Sharat Saxena, Vipin Sharma, Elena Kazan, Makrand Deshpande, Bharat Dabholkar, Anant Mahadevan.

     

    Naseeruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel is a loving couple living with their adopted daughter. Then things suddenly start going wrong with them. Their daughter goes out with her boyfriend on the pretext of going out for a school project. They land up at a huge empty property far from crowds which is full of shrubs.  They go for a dip in the lake on the property. Her friend is still in the lake as she returns to the shack they are put up in, when the whole property along with the shack goes up in flames.

     

    The grief is great on the couple, especially Shernaz who, even after two years since the incident has not come out of it. Shah has got busy again with his job as a bank manager. That is when another tragedy strikes the family. Shernaz is kept hostage at her home by a thug whose partner has gone to the bank to rob it. Reluctantly, Shah hands over the keys for the sake of safety of his wife. But the goon has different plans; he hits Shernaz with a hammer even as his partner clears out all the bank lockers. Shernaz does not die. Worse, she goes into a vegetative state and is in no condition to help with the search for the culprits.

     

    This is only the beginning of Shah’s problems though he is not aware of it. The coin drops only when a bank customer, Elena Kazan, comes to the bank to claim her papers back from the locker. The file she describes has Casablanca marked over it. Shah realises that the property where his daughter died was, in fact, called Casablanca. Shah now has a reason to believe that his daughter’s death was not an accident. He decides to start his own personal investigation.

     

    Kazan takes the file to Randeep Hooda, a suspended ACP, she also happens to be his mole. To Hooda’s surprise, the folder is the same he was looking for but the papers inside are missing. Hooda is a cop turned criminal. He blames the world for everything that has gone wrong with his life.He was an orphan who was exploited by the orphanage keeper and sodomised when he was nine. Hooda now plays up both sides of dons, one in Mumbai (Sharat Saxena) and the other in Dubai though both are sworn enemies. The Casablanca papers relate to the very property where Shah’s daughter died. The property is sought by both the dons and the Dubai don has promised Hooda Rs 50 crore if the papers are handed over to him. Hooda belives that the papers have gone with rest of the loot that the bank robbers took.

     

    Now, Hooda and Shah both are looking for the thieves. As expected, their paths are bound to cross but Shah manages to be one step ahead of Hooda most of the time. Gradually, Shah cracks the secrets and decides to finish all those who ruined his world.

     

    On and off, the film resorts to violence and some scenes have been made explicitly gory; the idea is to make Hooda’s character devilish and soulless. Unfortunately, the director fails to control his script and the ‘experiment’ seems to slip out of his grasp. A lot is taken for granted and illogical things happen to make the latter parts confusing. The mostly outdoor film has been shot well. Background score is effective. Performance wise, Shah excels. Hooda has his limitations as his character is one shade. Saxena and Shernaz are good. Vipin Sharma impresses. Bharat Dabholkar, Anant Mahadevan and Makrand Deshpande make cameos.

    John Day has gory scenes and an inconsistent second half going against its chances at the box office.

     

    Grand Masti: ABCD of sex
    Producers: Ashok Thakeria, Indra Kumar.
    Direction: : Indra Kumar.
    Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani.

     

    This may be a money-making formula but it sure isn’t cinema. Gather a bunch of not-in-demand actors (the term actors is used loosely because they are the only recognisable faces in the film), give a ‘break’ to as many new, aspiring starlets since they don’t matter anyway except they are willing to play along in a all the vulgarity that is dished out and let loose two and half hours of crassness backed by lewd gestures (acting is not part of the scheme here).

     

    Director Indra Kumar always exhibited the traits of a wannabe Dada Kondke when he made Gujarati films,which thrived due to the Gujarat government’s 100 per cent entertainment tax exemption policy. But Kondke at least tried garnishing his vulgarity under a veil of double meaning. Indra Kumar starts off his Grand Masti with cheap and gaudy titles in the fashion of 1960s and 70s films and then never looks back. It is cheap (in making) and vulgar and crass in its content. So much so that the next few rapes that happen in the country should probably be credited to this film.

     

    There are three guys, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Vivek Oberoi, doing their final year in college. In the college they pursue women as if they were fed on Viagra instead of milk as toddlers. It is not romance they seek, it is sex. In a quantum jump to five or six years after college, all three are married and one would think that their lust would have subsided by now. No, in a theme seen in many films before, these poor souls never get privacy with their spouses and are always left craving for some action.

     

    An opportunity comes their way when their college invites them for a reunion. Of course, the wives are too preoccupied to join them, opening the scope for three more girls willing to titillate and be part of the film. There are some imaginary seductions and there are some almost-there kinds but, it is a ‘clean’ Hindi film and the men must emerge clean and untouched at the end. Both parties realise their mistake and decide to mend their ways.

     

    For performance, the characters need to indulge in tomfoolery, which also takes some talent. Of the boys, Riteish does it the best; Aftab is passable while Vivek cuts a sorry picture in this department. Girls do what they are required to. Direction is okay. The gags are mostly reruns. Music has nothing much to write home about.

    Considering the opening response Grand Masti has got, this one seems to be working with the young lot despite or, probably, because of its vulgarity. However, its audience should soon dry up as this film, touted as Adult Comedy, is not the kind made for a family outing.