IFFI 2024, 13: OOH La La Gala prèmieres and bouncers to protect the carpetbaggers Gala premieres have become the most glamourous part of IFFI after it moved to Go, in 2004. They do draw audiences and photographers, but the regular film critic and film journalist is kept away from them. Camera and microphone men and women, who never bark but only byte, are the persons for whom this ceremony is engineered. Bouncers and other security personnel accompany the film team, as they are first l...

IFFI 2024, 13: OOH La La Gala prèmieres and bouncers to protect the carpetbaggers Gala premieres have become the most glamourous part of IFFI after it moved to Go, in 2004. They do draw audiences and photographers, but the regular film critic and film journalist is kept away from them. Camera and microphone men and women, who never bark but only byte, are the persons for whom this ceremony is engineered. Bouncers and other security personnel accompany the film team, as they are first l...

Mili, Review: Chilly A remake it is. And an ideal vehicle to draw boundless sympathy from audiences for the lead actress, Janhvi Kapoor. For who would not root for a girl locked in a freezer chamber and subjected to temperatures of -12 degrees to -18 degrees Celsius? What if hypothermia sets in, and she freezes to death? No chance. Mili is producer Boney Kapoor’s mini Titanic tale, minus the boy, and killing her would be like committing suicide. So, once the premise of a girl battling s...

Heropanti 2, Review: A bullet in his bum Denizens of Mumbai and environs might not need the meaning explained, but this is an international portal, and an explanation is in order. The title comes from two words, hero, which needs no translation, and panti, which does. Most probably, it is derived from panthi, which mean traveller. Panthi easily becomes panti, the combination with hero standing for one who follows the hero’s, or heroics’, path. Lead actor Tiger Shroff took a walk a...

Heropanti 2: Tiger does not roar, but croons, courtesy A.R. Rahman Young, macho, human weapon and dazzling dancer Tiger Shroff has sung a song in his latest film, Heropanti 2, titles Miss Hairaan. Is that taking you by surprise and making you hairan? It shouldn’t, because this is not the first time that Tiger has ventured into musical territory. Jai Hemant ‘Tiger’ Shroff has lent his voice to a handful of tracks, including Casanova and Vande Mataram, which got very popular a...

Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Review: Per capita “This Gandhi Jayanti, India unites to fight,” declares a large card on the trailer of Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. Mohandas Karamchand ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi (born 02 October 1869) was the father of the nation and an apostle of peace and non-violence. ‘Jayanti’(in Hindi) refers to his 150th birth anniversary, which is being celebrated with many campaigns across the country, like  voluntary service to society, cleanline...

Sarvam Thalam Mayam (Omnipresence of Rhythm) is inconsistent but watchable Music is the theme of this Tamil film, which is being released with English sub-titles. Once you have chosen music as your subject, endless possibilities exist: Indian, Western, classical, Carnatic, Hindustani, instrumental, pop, rhythm-percussion, strings, wood, brass, and more. Writer -director Rajiv Menon zeroes in on the Guru-Shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition) as the core, and then weaves a story around ...