Vijayanand, Review: All Vijay, No Anand You might be pardoned for mistaking the film to be a bio-pic on the genius Hindi film director, Vijay Anand (Guide, Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam). But that can only arise out of ignorance, for if you have read anything about the film or seen a poster or video, you will be aware that this is nothing like a Vijay Anand bio-pic. It is, in fact, a docu-drama about a family in Karnataka that started with the printing industry and the next generation went in...

Trailer launch of 1st Marathi multilingual film Har Har Mahadev: 300 against 12,000 ZEE Studios' released the trailer of their upcoming film Har Har Mahadev on 10 October at the PVR Cinemas, Juhu, Mumbai. The film is the story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (King Shivaji), from the point of view of Baji Prabhu Deshpande, who was initially an opponent, but joined ranks with Shivaji later on. The trailer is trending high in the Tamil and Telugu versions. Har Har Mahadev (a battle cry among ...

Bullet Train, Review: Brad luck Pitt A Japanese book adapted into an American film, with Brad Pitt in the leading role, set on a high speed train, with armed and dangerous Mafia agents and gangsters on board, seems to be the menu for a high-octane entertainer. And for once, a film delivers most of what it promises. It is a quaint mix of mayhem, mirth and thrills. Bullet Train re-works the gangster genre with a twist that is so obvious that you wonder why did nobody think of it before. And tha...

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...

Trailer success meet and song launch of Major: Lookout, big fish, here comes the goldfish Three big, real BIG pictures are on the verge of release, simultaneously. Two are from the South, and one from Mumbai. Anybody who has been following release schedules will know that these three are Prithviraj from Yash Raj Films, KamalHaasan’s Vikram and a major film from Hyderabad, called, Major. I wonder whether the other two have been shown to anybody except the most selected of selective audie...

Sounds of The Kashmir Files: “Pray for all the oppressed people in the world” Royal Opera House was a surprising choice for the event. Once a landmark for big-budget film releases, it remained shut for about two decades, before it was revived, with plays and other events being held there, but no film shows. Makers of the film The Kashmir Files decided to kill two birds with one stone: reinforce their theme of oppression, persecution, brutal murders and more of Kashmiri Pandits in ...

KGF Chapter 2: Cinépolis IMAX, Seawoods, Navi Mumbai to be launched with Yash-starrer One ‘crazy’ fan, a man apparently in his late twenties, stood outside the Seawoods Grand Central in Navi (New) Mumbai, belting out dialogue from KGF 1 and expressing his absolute devotion to the lead actor, Yash. He said he had travelled all the way from Varanasi, a distance of 1,500 kms, to meet the superstar, and would not go away until he got a chance to meet Yash. This was happening on...

Incomparable Shachin Dev Burman: HQ Chowdhury’s labour of love, about the man and his music It is not often that one gets to hear about a book and its author first, and gets to spend some enriching time with the author afterwards, before getting an autographed copy of his book, as a gift. And to think this happened 2,500 km away from my city of Mumbai, in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, at Chowdhury’s posh guest house, seems almost unreal. Reading Incomparable Sachin Dev Burman ...

Minnal Murali, Review: Two bolts from the blue Minnal Murali’s première at the Mumbai Film Festival, on 16 December, was a grand affair. The venue was the recently constructed Jio World Drive in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex, and drinks and snacks were waiting for those who arrived early. The cast and crew were present too. Viewing the film came with an embargo that no reviews should be posted before December the 24th, the day of its release directly through the streaming p...

Babu Subramanian   Akshay Anand and Bijaya Jena in Abhaas The Hindi film Abhaas (Prologue) – about to enter its silver jubilee year in 2022 - is among the Indian art films which have aged well. It was directed by the FTII trained actor Bijaya Jena who also starred in it. Her first feature Tara (1992), a national award winning Odiya film, is about the journey of a woman in a men’s world which leads her to finding her calling. Jena acted as well as wore the director’s h...

IFFI 51, 2021, Goa, 16-24 January, 03: Minister Javadekar announces the selection of films in the Indian Panorama Information and Broadcasting Minister of the Government of India, Prakash Javadekar has announced the selection of 23 Feature and 20 non-feature films in Indian Panorama for the 51st International Film Festival of India, IFFI. The I&B Ministry organises the annual festival, through its Directorate of Film Festivals, along with the Government of Goa, in Panaji Goa. The annual ...

IFFI 50, XII: Rajinikanth to be Icon of Golden Jubilee Union (Central Government) Information & Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, announced on November 02 that, “In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema, during the past several decades, I am happy to announce that the award for the ‘Icon of the Golden Jubilee of IFFI 2019’ is being conferred on cine-star Shri. S. RajiniKanth”, said Javadekar. Carpenter-turned-porter-turned-bus conduc...

IPTA’s 48th ICDC: Testament to teenage talent An inter-collegiate short Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu) drama competition (ICDC), introduced by the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) 47 years ago, has captured the imagination of budding talent in Mumbai’s colleges. It was this contest that has given us actors like Aamir Khan, Kunal Khemu, Neha Sharad, Channa Ruparel and Deven Bhojani. The 48th edition took place, as usual, in September, attracting 23 entries from local educa...

Final day of Sanhita’s theatre festival: Language of Hindustani theatre, and ode to an iconic Hindi poet August 17 marked the end of the three-day Natya Mahotsav (theatre festival) organised by Sanhita Manch, an initiative of Being Association, at the P.L. Deshpande Auditorium at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Complex in central Mumbai. The festival included several interactive sessions and staging of three Hindi/Urdu plays selected from 77 entries. Held for the second year in succession, th...

Zikr Tera, CD Album review, by Siraj Syed: Cadence and decadence, allusion and illusion Film playback singer, musician and ghazal exponent RoopKumar Rathod partners life -partner Sunali on an eight-track journey that is full of lament and pathos, allusion and illusion, called Zikr Tera (‘your mention’, in Urdu). More ethereal than earthy, it caters to an elite audience, and the senior citizens among them, at that. There are things to admire and things to comment upon, along the wa...

For short films completed in 2011 (after June 1, 2011): October 15, 2012 For short films completed in 2012 (after January 1, 2012): December 20, 2012 Submissions must be postmarked by the applicable deadline based on the production year of your film, and late submissions will not be considered and screener DVDs cannot be returned under any circumstances. International / Asia International Competition 1. Japan Premieres Only: Your film MUST NOT have been screened in Japan on any media and oc...

Call for Script/Film Entries: The 6th Annual SURGE Film Festival Dear friends in this group and beyond, The Sixth Annual S.U.R.G.E. Film Festival is accepting entries. We accept Multimedia, Film and Script Entries. We offer wonderful Early Bird discounts until July 14th on all entry Fees. We accept entries through Withoutabox (click here) or through our website (click here). After that we accept entries until November 2011 for the 2012 festiva...

[Photo, venue of the SAFF at Goa, housed in an old colonial palatial mansion. Photo FN] Eight diverse countries, very differing historical and political traditions, unmatched cinematographic backgrounds, and over 45 films. Mixed together, the result is a South Asian Film Festival, the latest version of which is underway in Goa.This four-day festival, which ends on Monday, is seeing films from eight South Asian Countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepa...