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Tag: Ugly

  • India’s ‘Masaan’ wins two awards at Cannes, including Un Certain Regard

    India’s ‘Masaan’ wins two awards at Cannes, including Un Certain Regard

    NEW DELHI: India’s Masaan by Neeraj Ghaywan became a big winner in the Un Certain Regard section of the 68th Cannes International Film Festival by bagging two awards, even as the top award in this category went to Rams, a drama set among farmers and their sheep in a remote Icelandic valley.

     

    Masaan also received the Promising Future Prize, apart from bagging the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) award.

     

    Actress Richa Chadha, who features in a key role in the film, said the team feels “blessed.”  “#MasaanAtCannes just got the FIPRESCI award. #blessed. Team, take a bow,” Chadha tweeted.

     

    The film won a five-minute standing ovation post its screening, leaving Chadha and Ghaywan in tears of joy.

     

    Ghaywan’s debut feature project, Masaan is set in Varanasi and follows the stories of four people from a small town and how they fit in to the moralities.

     

    It also features Shweta Tripathi, Sanjay Mishra and Vicky Kaushal.

     

    The film is an Indian-French co-production with names like Manish Mundra of Drishyam Films, Macassar Productions, Phantom Films, Sikhya Entertainment, Arte France Cinema and Pathe productions.

     

    “I’m ecstatic to win these two awards for India and the team of Masaan more than myself. This was long overdue. We had a truly global team that was purely driven by passion and utmost honesty, which has gotten us this far. I can’t wait to show this film in India,” Ghaywan said.

     

    Ghaywan also thanked filmmaker Anurag Kashyap with whom he had worked as assistant director on Gangs of Wasseypur and second unit director on Ugly.

     

    Jury president Isabella Rossellini said Grimur Hakonarson’s film Rams was honoured for “treating in a masterful, tragicomic way the undeniable bond that links all humans to animals.”

     

    Six of the 19 films in the Un Certain Regard competition, which honours new directors and more offbeat films than those up for Cannes’ main Palme d’Or prize, won prizes.

     

    The second-place Jury Prize went to Croatian director Dalibor Matanic for Zvizdan (The High Sun), which explores love and ethnic hatred in the Balkans.

     

    The jury bestowed the directing prize on Kiyoshi Kurosawa for Journey to the Shore, and gave the Talent award to Treasure, by Romania’s Corneliu Porumboiu, and the Special Jury award to Nahid by Iranian director Ida Panahandeh.

     

    Actress-director Rossellini said serving on the jury had been “like taking a flight over the planet and seeing all its inhabitants and their emotions. I think we are the envy of every anthropologist,” she said. 

  • ‘Alone’ tots Rs 11.4 crore at BO

    ‘Alone’ tots Rs 11.4 crore at BO

    MUMBAI: Bipasha Basu’s sex appeal and skin show does not quite work at the box office as the content and treatment of Alone don’t back her up. A routine horror film with forced scary moments, which fail to scare, the film opens with tepid response.

     

    Not a film for single screens, its magic has limited appeal even at the multiplexes, where it was aimed. Alone has managed to put together collections of Rs 11.4 crore in its opening weekend with Saturday and Sunday showing a symbolic growth over its opening day.

     

    Sharafat Gayee Tel Lene took home a few lakhs with poor performance at the box office. Crazy Cukkad Family followed suit at the box office, its investment being total waste of resources.

     

    I (dubbed but promoted as the Hindi version) gets better response than all other films of the week though the collections remain at below average levels as South actors and films don’t find ready takers in the Hindi market. The film has collected about Rs 6.5 crore over the weekend including paid previews on Thursday.

     

    Tevar, with its adverse reports and weak opening, ends the first week with uninspiring figures. The film collects Rs 33.15 crore. Not much is expected in its second week.

     

    Coming at the end of its run at the box office, Ugly adds Rs 60 lakh to its second week to take its three week tally to Rs 8.4 crore.

     

    On the other hand, the Aamir Khan starrer PK, which is directed by Rajkumar Hirani, remains rock steady in its fourth week. The film collects Rs 12.5 crore and takes its four week tally to Rs 324.2 crore.

  • ‘Tevar’ collects Rs 21.7 crore in opening weekend

    ‘Tevar’ collects Rs 21.7 crore in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: The solo release of the week, ‘Tevar’ suffered due to its outdated theme as the film is a remake of a 2003 Telugu original, ‘Ukkadu’. The action, the film’s mainstay, is oft repeated over the past few years. The film also lacks in romance as well as chemistry between the lead pair – Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha.

     

    ‘Tevar’ opened to an average response and the collections dropped in the following shows as unfavourable reports emerged. The film has collected a mere Rs 21.7 crore in its opening weekend.

     

    On the other hand, the Rajkumar Hirani directed ‘PK’ starring Aamir Khan continued its dream run at the box office. Making the most of Christmas holidays and poor oppositions for three weeks, the movie crossed the Rs 300 crore mark. The film has collected Rs 42.1 crore in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 311.7 crore.

     

    ‘Take It Easy’, a film aimed at children, performed poorly at the box office, having collected only Rs 35 lakh in its first week.

     

    ‘Mumbai Can Dance Saala’ had a disastrous first week with collection figures barely crossing Rs 10 lakh mark.

     

    Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Ugly’ has managed to put together Rs 2.3 crore for its second week taking its two week total to Rs 7.8 crore.

     

    ‘Linga’ (dubbed) starring superstar Rajinikanth and Sonakshi Sinha has fared below average. The original Tamil movie has also suffered at the box office and not much was expected from the Hindi dubbed version as the South legend has little following in the Hindi market.

     

    Ajay Devgn’s ‘Action Jackson’ has added another Rs 10 lakh in its fifth week to take its five week tally to Rs 58.9 crore.

     

  • ‘PK’ continues to reign at the BO

    ‘PK’ continues to reign at the BO

    MUMBAI: The movie Mumbai Can Dance Saala finds no takers and grossly negative reviews make things worse for the film.

     

    Take It Easy, a film directed at kids, meets with poor response.

     

    Ugly, a bleak kind of film not quite welcome in the festive Christmas week, has been poor at the box office. The film has managed to collect Rs 3.5 crore in its first week.

     

    Rajinikanth’s Lingaa (Dubbed) just passes muster in its first week collecting Rs 4.1 crore.

     

    PK is running a one horse race as the film continues to rule at the box office with no worthy opposition and having made the most of the Christmas holidays. The film has added Rs 94.4 crore in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 269.6 crore. A strong third weekend of about Rs 50 crore sees the film through Rs 300 crore mark.

     

    Action Jackson has added another Rs 15 lakh to its total in its fourth week to take its four week total to Rs 58.8 crore.

     

    Badlapur Boys adds a symbolic Rs 5 lakh in its third week to take its three week total to Rs 98 lakh.

  • An ‘Ugly’ Box Office

    An ‘Ugly’ Box Office

    MUMBAI: Ugly is poor below redemption at the box office with collection figures staying limited to lakhs throughout its opening three days and managing to end its first weekend with a little over Rs 1.5 crore.

     

    PK is enjoying a bumper run. Having opened to mixed response and tepid opening collections, the film came into its own on its first Sunday with almost 33 per cent leap over its first day figures. The film is making the most of Christmas holidays though late shows do show the effect of severe winter in North and other parts of India.

     

    Having collected Rs 89.5 crore for its opening weekend, the film remained steady through the next four days to take its first week total to Rs 175.2 crore.

     

    There are some protests against the film from religious organisations but that is a storm in the tea cup looking at the way it is collecting.

     

    Badlapur Boys has collected Rs 7.5 lakh in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 97.5 lakh. Action Jackson has managed another Rs 30 lakh in its third week taking its three week total to Rs 58.65 crore.

  • ‘Ugly’…Horribly so!

    ‘Ugly’…Horribly so!

    MUMBAI: Ugly defies slotting. The closest it comes to in genre is 20th Century Hollywood noir thrillers shot in low lights. While the film adopts this pretentious low light option to look intelligent, its content lacks grossly in thrill of any kind. The film is a saga of double-crossing and backstabbing among friends and family members. But the content in the film has nothing to do with the film’s main story: that of kidnap of a 10 year girl.

    Ronit Roy is the top cop married to the girl he loved in college. It was a love triangle, with Ronit, Tejeswini Kolhapure and Rahul Bhatt, now a full time struggler wanting to make it as a star. Rahul seems to have been the lucky one who marries Tejaswini. The couple get one girl child who is usually witness to the violence between Rahul and Tejaswini who are eventually divorced. Ronit, by virtue of being next in line, marries her. But their marriage is cold with Tejaswini having turned an alcoholic.

    Saturday is the day for Rahul to meet his daughter, Kali, and as usual he takes her out. Rahul goes up to meet his casting director friend, Vineet Kumar Singh, leaving Kali in the car when Kali goes missing. She has been kidnapped. Initially, the film is all about finding her but soon turns in to blame game and finally into all the characters wanting to exploit the situation to their own advantage.

    Producers: DAR Motion Pictures, Phantom Films.

    Director: Anurag Kashyap.

    Cast: Ronit Roy, Rahul Bhatt, Vineet Kumar, Singh, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Surveen Chawla, Siddhanth Kapoor, Girish Kulkarni.

    Since nobody trusts anyone else they all suspect each other of the kidnap and don’t bother to check other possibilities. Ronit, being a cop, uses his office to tail and record the conversations of others including his wife, Tejaswini. He as well as his staff are completely devoted to this task. Rohit and Vineet are put behind bars and tortured in Ronit’s backroom. He has a motive since the court has restricted his visits to Kali to once a week only.

    A missing ad is put in the newspapers and Tejaswinis’ crook brother, Siddhanth Kapoor, decides to take advantage. He calls up his sister demanding 50 lakh ransom to return the girl and Tejaswini asks her father, the only moneybag around, for 65 lakh, keeping her share in the ransom! Tejaswini gives her 15 lakh to her friend, Surveen Chawla, who happens to be Rahul’s current girlfriend. Surveen, an ex-item girl is married to a filmmaker who is useless in bed. 

    Surveen thinks she can use the 15 lakh left with her and she absconds with Rahul and Vineet. The latter is killed by Rahul in a frenzy, and Tejaswini decides to shoot Ronit even as Kali’s rotting body is lying dumped in a public place, the stink of which nobody smells until police does!

    Script, direction as well as other aspects are negative in this senseless film. The characters don’t fit in our kind of films or mind-set. The film has been designed to be gloomy and drab with planned exposure of Mumbai’s poverty ridden locations and garbage so much so even the ACP Ronit’s office is in some dilapidated housing board tenement.

    Ugly is a pretentious, bad film.

  • Anurag Kashyap’s psychological thriller to release commercially in September

    Anurag Kashyap’s psychological thriller to release commercially in September

    NEW DELHI: Renowned filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s Ugly, which has already done well in the film festival circuit, is expected to be released in September in the country.

     

    The film received a world premiere at Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and has since been screened at several film festivals including Puchon, Warsaw and Melbourne.

     

    The Indian premiere of the film is taking place at the Ladakh International Film Festival next month, and the commercial release will be on 19 September.

     

    A psychological thriller, Ugly deals with a situation where no one can trust anyone amidst the scenes of brutality and psychological games after 10 year old Kali goes missing from the car she was left in by her father. 

     

    The film features Tejaswini Kolhapure and Ronit Roy in lead roles.

     

    The Indian release of the film was delayed by Kashyap to voice his protest against the anti-smoking tickers on screen.

  • Culinary comedy Jadoo to be Closing Night Gala Film at the 12th annual IFFLA

    Culinary comedy Jadoo to be Closing Night Gala Film at the 12th annual IFFLA

    MUMBAI: On Tuesday, 18 March, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) announced its 2014 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films for this year’s festival. The impressive program reflects the rich diversity of Indian cinema, as well as the future of Indian filmmaking, with filmmakers bringing their acclaimed films to Los Angeles (LA).

     

    The festival, widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema globally is celebrating its 12th year. The IFFLA will run from 8-13 April at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, the festival’s home since its inception.

     

    The culinary comedy, Jadoo has been chosen as the Closing Night Gala Film. Jadoo, a delightful and delicious exploration of family bonds amidst two feuding brothers’ restaurants in England, will screen as the festival’s Closing Night Gala. Jadoo is written and directed by IFFLA alum Amit Gupta, and first premiered at the 2013 Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival). It features a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Kulvinder Ghir, Amara Karan, Harish Patel, Tom Mison, and Madhur Jaffrey. The red-carpet screening will be followed by an exclusive after-party at Nirvana-Bombay Palace in Beverly Hills.

     

    As previously announced, IFFLA will open with Jeffrey D. Brown’s Sold, produced by Jane Charles, and executive produced by Emma Thompson.

     

     IFFLA’s Artistic Director Jasmine Jaisinghani expressed his excitement in a press release stating that he is proud of this year’s IFFLA line-up which includes an especially diverse range of cinematic experiences, covering many regions of India and the diaspora. Jaisinghani said, “We would like to thank our Programming Advisor in India, Uma Da Cunha, for helping our programming team source some of these exceptional films.”

     

    Program highlights also include the North American premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s latest, Ugly, an intense, masterfully directed psychological thriller that premiered in the 2013 Director’s Fortnight section of Cannes; Liar’s Dice, the remarkable directorial debut of South Indian actress Geetu Mohandas that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival; Anup Singh’s latest feature Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost, starring Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire), winner of NETPAC Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Dioraphte Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam; the Audience Award winner at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival Hank & Asha, an exploratory, romantic look at two people bonding in the digital age by newcomer James E. Duff; Nagraj Manjule’s Fandry, a highly praised debut feature for its multilayered emotion and realism on the subject of caste discrimination; Brahmin Bulls, starring Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mississippi Masala) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Beauty and the Beast, Heroes) as an estranged father and son unexpectedly brought together to confront the family’s past; and Siddharth, a nuanced look at a family whose son goes missing, by lauded Canadian director and IFFLA alum Richie Mehta (Amal).

     

    The festival’s feature documentary competition includes an eclectic mix of films from established and upcoming filmmakers that consider India’s unique traditions and dynamic future. The films include: the world premiere of The Auction House, an intimate and funny look at two brothers trying to keep their anachronistic family business going in the digital age; festival favorite Powerless, which depicts intense struggles over electricity in a mid-size Indian city; Faith Connections, IFFLA alum Pan Nalin’s beautiful and rare look at the Kumbh Mela; and the National Award-winning Shepherds of Paradise, about an arduous, mountainous trek through an animal drive in the Kashmiri winter.

     

    The popular Bollywood by Night series returns this year with Bombay Talkies and Monsoon Shoutout. Premiering at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bombay Talkies is a quartet of short films that celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema. The omnibus film features work by four of India’s most exciting contemporary directors: Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, and Anurag Kashyap, as well as a stellar cast that includes Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, and Katrina Kaif. Monsoon Shootout is a thrilling debut by IFFLA alum writer/director Amit Kumar, about how a split-second decision made by a rookie police officer has rippling effects in his life and the lives of those around him.

     

    The shorts competition showcases a diverse selection of 15 films that include narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated works. Highlights of this year’s program include Academy Award shortlisted Kush; Sundance award winner Love.Love.Love; and the world premiere of acclaimed director Umesh Kulkarni’s The Fly.

  • Extravagant India awards in Paris was nothing short of extravagant

    Extravagant India awards in Paris was nothing short of extravagant

    NEW DELHI: Lunch Box by Ritesh Batra, which missed the Indian selection to the Oscars by a whisker, was voted the best film at the Extravagant India awards in Paris.

    Path-breaking filmmaker Anurag Kashyap received the best director award for his film Ugly, which is also being featured in a retrospective of his films in Europe as part of the Europalia.India Festival.

    The late Rituparno Ghosh, who passed away earlier this year, was named best actor for his own film Chitrangada.

    Actress Vidya Balan received the best actress award for The Dirty Picture by Milan Luthria and Kahaani by Sujoy Ghosh.

    The Festival was held from 16 to 22 October in Paris. The jury for the feature films comprised Coline Serreau (director and President of the jury), Armand Amar (composer), Joël Farges (producer).

     The best documentary award went to Children of the Pyre by Rajesh S Jala while the renowned Pan Nalin’s film Faith Connection got a special jury mention.  

    The Jury for documentaries comprised Euzhan Palcy (director and President of the jury), Charlotte Uzu (Les Fims d’ici), and Claude Gilaizeau (Productions de la Lanterne).

    The film Allah is Great by Andrea Iannetta, which was produced by the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, won the Best Short film award.

    The Jury for short films was Jean-Charles Mille (distribution Premium Films – President of the jury), Abel Jafry (actor), and Benoit Blanchard (producer).

    The Feature Jury president Coline Serreau said: “The selection was fascinating, rich and diverse. We plunged into the movies with delight, and with the feeling to approach and to discover this boiling continent, in which all the contradictions of the world in future are at work.”

    He added: “I hope that the Indian cinema will take from now on its just place in the French public. Long life to this festival, whose 2014 edition, I would love to already know.”

    Euzhan Palcy said: “This first edition of the Festival offered us an Indian cinema of a high quality and which participates of the cultural diversity which the world needs. By supporting this festival, France will continue to play its leader’s role for the cultural diversity.”

    Happiness Distribution is distributing Batra’s film in France on 13 December, while Kashyap’s film will be released in France in March 2014.

    Sophie Dulac Distribution will distribute Faith Connection by Pal Nalin under the title Kumbh Mela, Les chemins de la Foi.

    The Indian Delegation comprised Irrfan Khan (actor in Lunchbox), Prakash Jha (director of Raajneeti), Sujoy Gosh (director of Kahaani), Rajesh S. Jala (director of Children of the Pyre, Andrea Ianneta (director of Allah is Great), Film Federation of India President Bijay Khemka and Secretary General Supran Sen, Manoj Srivastava who is Head of Bollywood the film City project Marwan, Ranvir Nayar who is Director of Media India, Sutapa Sikdar (scriptwriter), and  Ramesh Tekwani, President of  “Docs & Shorts”.