Jagran Film Festival awakens us to some great cinema Back after a three-year hiatus, prompted by the Coronavirus Covid 19, Jagran Film Festival (JFF) stuck to its base in Mumbai, the Cinépolis multiplex. It was held on four days, 12, 13, 14 and 15 October, 2023. JFF is one of the largest travelling film festivals in the world, and, probably, the only one of its kind in India. The International Film Festival of India, under the name Filmotsav, used to be held at different venues every a...

Vardi Ke Veer: Worthy of singing praise A press conference in the Padma Ranga Chamber Music Hall of the Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeetha Sabha? Why would anybody hold it there? But if you have an event coming up at the same venue, in the Sri Shanmukhananda Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium, on the 12th of August, Why not? It’s called Vardi Ke Veer (Braves in Uniform). Well known stage singer Ameya Dabli’s ADventures (clever play of his initials) outfit is putting t...

Marjavaan, Review: Monica, harmonica, loyalty, penalty, cute, mute, swords, words Umpteenth reworking of the Godfather theme, albeit with a couple of new angles, Marjaavaan is definitely not a film to die for. Old songs are recycled, the religious divide is milked, fights are conceived as moves of dance choruses and a violently doomed love story is thrown in to add to the misery of the lead couple. See it only if you like to feast yourself on blood and gore, tragedy and heartbreak. Translate...

P se Pyaar F se Farraar, Review: On a killing Alarming statistics at the end of the film reveal that killing of young men and women who elope or marry into other castes or religions increased by 769% last year. Reports of such barbaric brutality, called ‘honour killing’, appear in the newspapers and on TV channels regularly. States in the North, North-west and central parts of India are most severely affected. So, in the footsteps of Sairaat (Marathi) and Dhadak (Hindi), we have a...

Diorama screens 104 films; DIFF Film Bazaar conducts $3 million business The first Diorama International Film Festival (DIFF) concluded on the 20th of January, 2019, with a glittering function held at Siri Fort Auditorium No. 1. A total of 104 films were screened and 49 dignitaries attended. Iconic Iranian director Daruish Mehrjui and veteran Indian film producer-director Subhash Ghai won the lifetime achievement awards. The Golden Sparrow award for best Indian actor, male, went to Ayushma...

Aamir, Nasir, Tahir, Tariq, Mansoor, Amjad: Movies, Masti, Modernity, Flashback 7 To remind you, Aamir is indeed Aamir Khan, Amjad is definitely Gabbar Singh, and the triple M above is to acknowledge that it was Akshay Manwani’s biographical book on the cinema of Nasir Hussain that got me delving into the period of about 15 years, when I interacted with the Hussain Khans (first five) and the bare Khan (last, but the most imposing personality). Actually, Mansoor did not use his middle na...

Siraj Syed reviews Kaagaz Ki Kashti: Paper-boat ride across oceans of melody         When you are making a biopic, you first need to narrow down on either a famous person, or a commoner who has led an uncommon and highly captivating life. Jagjit Singh was an extremely popular singer, with dozens of albums and hundreds of songs to his credit. Next, it always helps if the person is alive, or has passed away not too long ago, because material used in the ...

Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon, Review: Odd Kapils                                                                                        What is Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon (KKPK)? A remake of the Kannada film Nimbe Huli, produced by Subhash Ghai? A remake of some yet to be identified Eng...

Directors’ Diaries, by Rakesh Anand Bakshi, Book Review: A dozen journeys, a dozen destinations Aspiring director and son of India’s renowned film-lyricist, late Anand Bakhshi, Rakesh Bakshi has been aspiring to make his first film for a real long time. In the meanwhile, he has been writing, cycling and doing his bit for the under-privileged of local society. So far, the trail to his big break has proven to be elusive. How elusive? How frustrating? As frustrating as that some of h...