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MISMFF 2022, 04: Announcing the Jury for the 2022 film festival
With the Mestia International Short & Mountain Film Festival a fortnight away, we present the esteemed Jury that will officiate this year, and pick the winners.
HERVÉ SCHNEID, ACE. Award-winning editor, Hervé Schneid is one of the most respected editors working in films today. He has collaborated with a number of directors, including Sally Potter, Lars Von Trier, Mike Figgis, Regis Wargnier, Bille August, Jea...
MISMFF 2022, 03: The 2021 five-member Jury, which makes way for the 2022 five
An eminent five-member Jury judged the entries at the Mestia International Short & Mountain Film Festival (MISMFF) last year. As usual, judging is an onerous, albeit honourable, task. These were the five.
You will meet the 2022 Jury in this column. Just wath this space.
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Ek Villain Returns, Review: V for Villain, Q for Qiran
What do you call a serial killer? An Assistant Commissioner of Police, at a public forum, shows a picture of Rakesh Mahadkar, the serial killer in Ek Villain (2014), calls him “A “Villain,” as if Archimedes’ spirit has entered his body and he actually wanted to say “Eureka!” That does not mean that the new serial killer will get caught in the next few seconds. No way. It will be six months before he is ...
Vikrant Rona, Review: Ducking in 3D
Exotic, lush green locales and serial killing do not go together, but here they do. Vikrant Rona is the name of the protagonist (or is it?), the second part of which, ‘rona’, means ‘crying’ in Hindustani. The ‘n’ is pronounced more harshly in the film, so it is not exactly ‘rona’ but roȠa (approximation). The makers decided to retain this name from the original Kannada, although it could have easily been chan...
Trailer launch of Dobaaraa: EK and SK join hands with SK and AK in remake of Mirage
K is a constant, and most of Ektaa R. Kapoor’s TV and film forays have had titles beginning with the letter k. As have the films of Rakesh Roshan. Exceptions prove the rule, and Dobaaraa is one such vehicle. The other ‘k’s in the picture are Sunir Kheterpal (co-producer) and Anurag Kashyap (the director). The trailer of Dobaaraa was dropped on 27 July at PVR Icon Multiplex, Citi Mall, Andheri...
MISMFF 2022, 02: Georgia’s rich film heritage and list of 2021 festival winners
While the countdown has begun for the second Mestia International Short & Mountain Film Festival (MISMFF), some interesting facts about Georgia deserve mention. Documentary films have been made in Georgia since 1908, though the first feature was made in 1916. There was a period when 150 feature films and documentaries were shot a year, in a country of merely five million people.
Indians were really exp...
Crash Course Trailer launch and Press Conference: Puppets on a chain
From ambitions, aspirations and rivalry, to forging everlasting friendships... the trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s new OTT show, Crash Course, was launched at the R.D. National College’s Hekandbai Hall, Bandra, Mumbai, on 24 July. Created by Manish Hariprasad and directed by Vijay Maurya, Crash Course is produced by Owlet Films. It is set in Kota, Rajasthan and explores the twists of student life, after leaving s...
MISMFF 2022, 01: Film fest returns to the Mysterious, Magical Mountains of Mestia, Georgia
Confession: I had not heard about Mestia at all till I learnt about the Mestia International Short & Mountain Film Festival (MISMFF). And it is already in its second edition! So, where is Mestia? Mestia is a municipality, a ‘townlet’ in western Georgia, in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. Mestia, as well as the whole Svaneti, has a very old history. Distinguished by its amazing, beauti...
Branded in History, By Ramya Ramamurthy, a Hachette Publication: Review – Loads of Brands, Lots of History
While reading Branded in History, you often wonder how in heavens could she squeeze in so many brands, dates, statistics and quotes, in a mere 292 pages? That achievement lends itself to a text-book or thesis format, rather than a compilation of the highlights in the fields of brands and branding in pre-independence India, which she says she aims to chronicle. It eventually emerges...
Case Toh Banta Hai, Trailer Launch and Press Conference: Courting laughter
Trials and tribulations continue on the web. The genre has attracted Banijay Asia production house to create a show based on weird and ludicrous allegations levelled against film personalities that are debated and judged by TV/film/web veterans. A 'notice' of things to come was served to us today at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai. Some of the persons associated with the show were present, and many others...
Ladki – Enter the Girl Dragon, Review: Girl, drag on
It will take some jogging of the memory to recall any film wherein the auteur has showcased his heroine and/or his muse from the beginning till the end. While at it, you could also try and recall any film in which the lead actress is seen in the skimpiest of bikinis, and keeps splashing water or wading in it all through the film. Ladki - Enter the Girl Dragon, an Indo-Chinese co-production, by writer-director Ram Gopal Varma, is osten...
Amazon Prime Video shows trailer of Comicstaan Season 3 to select audience, and the joke is on you!
At the Mahi Banquet Hall of J.W. Marriott Hotel, Juhu, Mumbai, the makers of Comicstaan Season 3 promised that it will bring three times the fun, and will be bigger and grander, with a new co-host and new format.
Comicstaan Season 3 will see Zakir Khan, Neeti Palta, Kenny Sebastian and Sumukhi Suresh take the judge’s seats, while Rahul Subramanian (I thought I heard his name being annou...
Titu Ambani, Review: Titular harakiri
You cannot but help notice it. You cannot even overlook it. It is so much in your face. After all, it is the title of the film. And it has nothing to do with the film. India’s richest person is Mukesh Ambani, for a few years in a row, and he also features closely behind the top ten wealthiest persons in the world. In one scene, the lead actor of the film says, “Ambani is Ambani because he has his hand in so many pies.” Very true. No disp...
Shehzade Hunar Ke: The princes and princesses of talent, picked from 30 cities
How long does it take to put together a reality show that picks the best of dancers, singers and models, all-in-one, from across India? Well, for starters, it takes ten years of preparation, if one goes by the time spent by Fame & Glory Media Pvt. Ltd. To launch Shehzade Hunar Ke (literal translation: Princes of Talent). And even the elimination rounds have not yet begun!
It turned out to be one of the wettest...
Minions-The Rise of Gru, Review: One in a minion
Minion and Villain don’t rhyme. They shouldn’t. After all, what is a primary school kid doing? Yes, he is almost a dwarf, and we would love to see his rise. But rise as what? An arch-villain? A super-villain? There are some movies in which good, clean, animation fun turns into adult stuff that can affect the mind-set of millions of viewers. Films need not preach or moralise, but they need not glorify villainy either. This is one suc...
Hachette’s The Bollywood Pocket Book Series, A 4-in-1 Set, by Diptakirti Chauduri: Get set
Yes, it’s a pun. I mean you should get the set, buy the book, or rather, books. They look deceptively thin when ensconced in the hardcover box, but provide a substantial reading once you pull them out. Book one is about Iconic Dates, with Raj Kapoor and Nargis on the cover, under an umbrella. The author reminds us about the calendar of events that begin with Raja Harishchandra’s releas...
ATxSG, 2: Post-event Official Press Release
Twelve days after the conclusion of Asia Tech x Singapore, which ended on 03 June, there came a press release by email. It is reproduced here, with minimal editing.
As Singapore’s largest technology event since the reopening of its borders, ATxSG brought together 16,600 hybrid (live and online) attendees from 93 countries and regions and 26,000 event visits (this includes repeat visitors). The Singapore Expo, located near the Changi airport ...
Medium Spicy, Review: Only medium, not spicy
This had to be a new take on love. In its promotion, the makers of the film Medium Spicy (in Marathi language) quoted from William Shakespeare’s all-time love classic, Romeo and Juliet, “Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake – it is everything except what it is!” – Act 1 Scene 1. The movie begins with a reunion party of former catering college students, where liquor ...
Bhirkit, Review: Two deaths, one funeral, one election and three greedy inheritors
Bhirkit (Marathi for ‘greed’, an approximate translation), has its heart in the right place. It deals with a subject with which millions of Indians will identify, both city-dwellers and villagers. The team gets the setting, the casting and the milieu right. The emotions are palpable and real. And yet, the film fails to knit all these elements together into a tight narrative. Inspired by his own memo...
ATxSG 2022, 01: Covid effects result in lower participation, media gets the axe
It was where it began, for me. The location this year was neither the top-of-the-line Marina Bay Sands Exhibition Centre nor the centrally located Suntec City. AsiaTechxSingapore (ATxSG), the new avatar of CommunicAsia, moved back to Singapore Expo, where I had first visited it, some 25 years ago. Though a standard exhibition and conference venue, it just cannot compare with Marina Bay Sands. As an add-on, rooms i...
Trailer launch of Om, The Battle Within: One man, three wars
Choreographer-director Ahmed Khan, who is adept at directing action as well, takes on the twin roles of co-producer and action designer, in the upcoming movie Om: The Battle Within, the trailer of which was released yesterday at the Juhu PVR multiplex. Present on the occasion were Khan himself, his better half Shaira Khan (co-producer), Shariq Patel (of Zee Studios, which is a co-producer as well as the worldwide distributor of the ...
Spring. Seeing Hong Kong again: Review by Siraj Syed
How do you define a city? Or, rather, how do you re-define a city, after two years of a pandemic? Covid had varying casualties across the world, and Hong Konghad its share. The 5th wave of the deadly virus brought with it 20,082 new cases, while the total number of confirmed infections exceeded one million. That is a huge number, considering the city’s population of about 7 million. But while the severe impact of the disease meant a t...
aNEk, Review: Many a dull moment
Many, several or various are the one-word translations of the title. The reference is to the various cultural and ethnic identities that inhabit India. This is popularly called ‘unity in diversity’. Under British rule, India consisted of hundreds of little ‘kingdoms’, most of which joined the Indian Union, when the British granted Independence. Collaterally, another nation, Pakistan, was carved out of India, and came into being a day be...
Haemolymph-The Invisible Blood, Review: Mumbai Police’s worst kept secret
Some real-life stories have been turned into good films, some have not. Haemolymph belongs to the latter category. Had we not seen 500+ Hindustani films about police excesses and third degree torture, Haemolymph (Oxford definition: a fluid equivalent to blood in most invertebrates, occupying the haemocoel) would have had some novelty. As it transpires, the real-life story of a man falsely accused of the 2006 Mumba...
Adrushya, Review: Invisible man meets blind twins
In the last two decades, Marathi films have thrown-up some real gems. They have also not fought shy of experimenting with both form and content. We have been treated to some films that were rooted deeply in Marathi culture and ethos, while there were others with more universal themes. Non-Marathi speaking producers, directors and writers have made their way towards Marathi filmdom, with varying degrees of success. Directed and co-written by a ...
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About Siraj Syed
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India.
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, Germany
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins.
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984.
Bandra West, Mumbai India View my profileSend me a message
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